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Anais gave a heavy sigh.

Surely it was a bad sign that she felt more comfortable cross-dressing as her brother rather than being presented as herself? She could not tell, but she would rather much prefer wearing her hat and wig right now, surrounded by all these people.

It was her own suspicions, but she wondered if Ciel had deliberately planned for this sort of outcome. She would not be too surprised- The Ciel she knew in her childhood was innocent, but still he was a Phantomhive. Ciel had now grown up and accepted the responsibility of continuing his family duty, just like how she herself indirectly did.

Deciding that she felt uncomfortable showing her face so openly, Anais decided to borrow a hat from Elisabeth. Lizzy herself disliked the hat, despite a friend having gave it to her as it was a pitch black in colour, decorated with white flowers and green sprigs. However, Anais borrowed it, seeing as it matched her dress rather well, and thus should not be that much of a problem.

Anais felt one of her eyes dilate and flash pink, and immediately she pulled down her hat to further cover her eyes.

She felt herself beginning to question she had made the right choice in agreeing to Marchioness Midford's proposal.

After all, Edward seemed to hate her guts. (Or at least her brother's guts, but there wasn't much difference anyway.)

Glancing up, she sighed, briefly allowing her own confusion to show before getting up, dusting off the smooth fabric of her dress.

Somewhere outside the room, she could hear Elizabeth's bright and cheery voice calling for her.

And soon, Anais' engagement to Edward Midford would be made public and official.

"Lady Anais. Do note that a lady properly addresses those around her."

Anais gave a closed-eye smile, however she was inwardly groaning as Ciel walked past her, his head held high as a small smirk played on his lips. Behind him, Sebastian stood with a closed-eye smile.

Holding a lace handkerchief up to her mouth, she gave a small cough before curtseying, stowing away the handkerchief before she amended her statement.

"Pardon my impudence, Earl Phantomhive. Have a good day."

With that, she spun on her heel and walked straight back down the corridor, the clicking of her heels sounding almost cross.

The party had started only a little while ago, and already her mannerisms were unacceptable. Chastising her before she made her official appearance, Ciel was harsh but yet he was helpful in his own cunning way.

Was she really so used to being Anubis that she had no idea how to be herself?

She had picked up Japanese suffixes when she met Andrew's mother a few years ago, but she never would have thought that it would actually be a problem. Not only that, Anais had to keep in mind that right now she wasn't the head of the Kane family, she was merely the supposed sickly little sister of Anubis Kane.

Her eyes flashed a hot pink multiple times before she pulled down her hat, giving a sigh. Going out there once again was something she had to resurrect her courage before she was able to do. A sharp sting at the end of her pinky finger caused her to pull of her glove and examine it.

A dark look of looming recognition dawned on her face as she stared at the nail on her pinky finger.

A smudge of black was made present on the side of her nail.

Pulling her glove back on immediately, she sighed heavily. It was times like this she wished that her brother could be here.

It was then did she frown. Ciel paid no objection to her addressing him as 'Ciel-san' the other day, so this must have been his own cunning way of reminding her that she was to address others with more care, lest she ruin her family's reputation, or rather what was left of it.

As Anais stared at the green of Edward's eyes, she could feel the stares of dozens of people, half of whom she had never even met before.

Feeling extremely uncomfortable, she glanced at Edward who seemed to be equally uncomfortable judged by the confusion in his features.

Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath before attempting to calm herself.

So today, she would be engaged to the son of Marquis and Marchioness Midford, Edward.

While it was the best option to secure her future, Anais wondered how awkward it would be- She who have never talked to him before as Anais, and he who seemingly hated her when she was dressed as her brother Anubis.

They exchanged engagement bands- It was a pretty gold color, embedded with a pattern of flowers.

As she slid her engagement band on Edward's left ring finger, and he wordlessly did the same, she couldn't help but glance at the audience present that day.

What she saw was a sea of people dressed in overly-fancy clothes, men with mocking smiles on their faces, women who hid their faces behind elaborate fans as they looked forward to gossiping about the new and sudden engagement.

Glancing at Edward, as she realised he had his own look of uncertainty on his features as well, he happened to glance over as well, green eyes catching her own as he shot her a small and slightly flustered smile.

Reaching out, Anais grabbed his hand and quietly stepped closer to him. For what reason, she couldn't discern. Maybe she was afraid. Maybe she was looking for reassurance that she wasn't alone. Maybe she was insecure.

She felt his hand tighten around hers, and if he was surprised at her sudden gesture, he did a good job hiding it. It was strange really- Two people who were practically strangers were now engaged to each other... But what bonded them wasn't love, it was mutual uncertainty at best, or empathy.

Feeling her hand in his, Anais started to question why she didn't feel jumpy with someone she just met, someone who would probably hate her once he uncovered her facade.

But maybe, it was because she knew that Edward Midford was someone she could trust.