Chapter Two
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"Very good," Ciel said. "The ball is tonight...you have roughly 5 hours before we leave...can you be ready by then?" I froze my heart sinking.
"But I don't even have a costume." I said, biting my lip in nervous habit. He smirked.
"Sebastian will take care of it...won't you Sebastian?" the butler nodded, bowing deeply.
"Yes my lord." he stood up, reaching a hand out to me. "Please follow me my lady," I nodded taking his hand and allowing him to lead me upstairs into an extra room. He dug through a small closet before pulling out a measuring tape and sewing materials. He pushed his new glasses up the bridge of his nose and he suddenly seemed extremely elegant.
"Now miss." he said kindly. "What kind of costume would you like?" I hesitated, was it even possible to make a costume from scratch in 5 hours? "May I recommend a cat?" he asked with a smile, it sounded cute...however not really my thing.
"What about a pirate?" I asked shyly, his eyes widened and I could tell I had caught him off guard but he smiled after a moment.
"What a lovely idea...I will get started right away." he stepped forward to measure my waist and I stepped back, cheeks flushed. He paused, not knowing what he had done wrong until the realization crossed his eyes. "My dear I must get your measurements...without them the dress might be too big, or two small, or even uncomfortable...and here at Phantomhive we only give the best...come now...I don't bite." he smiled playfully and I stuttered.
This is so awkward I wanted to whine before stepping forward quietly, my skin crawling when he placed the tape around my waist, pulling it away a second later.
"Very good." he said, and I could see costume ideas flipping through his mind. He took a few less awkward measurements of my height and arm span before finally stepping back. "All done." he said. I hesitated before asking.
"Do you really think you will be able to create a costume in a few hours?" he smiled.
"Oh my dear, if I couldn't create an original costume within a few hours what kind of butler would I be?" he said smiling as he pulled the service bell rope, a red haired maid appeared in the doorway, large glasses completely covered her eyes and she stumbled in.
"Y-yes Sebastian." she stuttered looking at me in amazement.
"Meirin please take young Miss Crystal here to the kitchen and tell Bard to make whatever she asks... she must be famished." he said. She nodded, bowing clumsily before taking my hand and leading me towards the door.
"Yes Sebastian!"
"Oh and Meirin...make sure there are no accidents." Meirin let out a nervous laugh, before leading me out the door embarrassed.
"Accidents?" I asked as we made our way down the hall. Meirin twiddled her thumbs in front of her nervously.
"Well uh, ya see." she said, her thick accent muffling her words. "The last time I tried to serve a guest I missed the glass when pouring wine see." she said, looking up at me before adding quickly. "I promise I won't do it again miss I swear!" I let out a light chuckle.
"It's alright." I told her kindly. "It happens to everyone once in a while, no harm done." she seemed to freeze in shock before smiling.
"Yes I suppose it does." she laughed, suddenly walking faster, more excited. "Here we are!" she said opening the door to the kitchen where there stood two blonde haired boys.
"Hey Meirin..." they began, trailing off when they saw me. "Who-who's this?" the older man asked, a stumble around his chin and a half smoked cigarette in his mouth.
"This is Miss Crystal." Meirin introduced, "She's mighty nice."
"That's not all." the older man said boyishly, putting out his cigarette and smiling at me. "My name's Bard, I'm the chef, what'll be having?" I smiled it was odd, yet kind of cute, but if Bard was cute then the younger one had to have been adorable when he introduced himself, a hand flying to his straw hat as if in salute,
"My names Finnian, but you can call me Finny, I'm the gardener nice to meet ya!" he said like a child, an excited smile spreading, he was like a little boy! I smiled at them all politely attempting to leave a good impression; they certainly were a happy bunch.
"It's nice to meet you all." I said, curtsying. They all stared at me in silence for a moment before the younger boy, Finny, clapped his hands in excitement, a wide smile, identical to the others, never faltering.
"No one's ever Curtsied to us before!" he exclaimed in excitement.
"I know! It's mighty nice of ya!" the maid chimed in.
"Whatever ya want!" the cook said. "I'll make it for you real fast like!" he said, all of their accents very thick, contrasting to the one before.
"Umm," I fumbled feeling a little awkward under their gazes. "Just some toast and eggs please." I said when their smiling eyes never left me. The three seemed to leap with excitement.
"Yes ma'am!" they all said, the two turning to help the chef as he ordered them about the kitchen. Meirin took me by the hand and led me out into the dining hall, leaving me at a table before turning and accidently running into a wall, falling on her back. I stood up to see if she was alright, surprise and panic crossing my face but she jumped to her feet before I could speak.
"I'm alright miss." she said dizzily, she wobbled for a moment before stumbling into the kitchen again. I sat silently for a moment, listening to the frantic yelling and crashing of plates from the next room. Ciel walked in a moment later, his gaze shifting to the closed door of the kitchen before falling on me silently. A moment later the door burst open and the three servants rushed in, Bard was carrying a tray and the other two followed closely on either side. He placed the plates down before me and I could finally see the toast and eggs, if you could even call it that. The toast was burned black and the eggs were hard and rubbery, both burnt beyond compare. The Smokey stench rose up, making my eyes want to water.
"Here ya go!" Finnian exclaimed, putting a glass down beside me. "I made you some lemonade!" I glanced at the lemonade, it at least looked normal.
"Thank you." I told them with a nod of my head. "It looks... delicious." I almost hesitated. I paused for a second but they didn't leave, their wide eyes watching me in excitement. I took a deep breath before taking a bite of the black buttered toast, smiling up at them with a weak smile. I quickly took a couple bites of the rubbery eggs, doing my best not to gag, and once I ate a decent amount I swallowed hard, quickly gulping down the lemonade, my face twisted and my lips puckered, and I immediately squeezed my eyes closed. It was so sour! Finny frowned, lifting a finger innocently to his lips.
"You don't like it?" he asked, I shook my head.
"No, no it's great...it's all great." I said. It was a chore just to open my mouth enough to speak.
"Maybe I should have put sugar in it." he muttered to himself in thought and my eyes nearly bulged from my head.
"Yes, I think that would have been a good idea...how much water did you put in here?"
"Water?" he asked me in confusion. "I just squeezed lemons from the garden." I felt like collapsing to the floor. How were these three still in the job?
"It's alright?" I said "it was all good." they smiled brightly.
"I can go make some more eggs!" Bard volunteered.
"And lemonade!"
"I'll make the toast!" Meirin added.
"Oh, no, no, no," I stopped them. "I'm so full." I lied, rubbing my stomach. They nodded still smiling. Ciel sighed from his corner, shaking his head before turning and walking away. That was when Sebastian entered.
"My lady." he said with a grin. "You're costume for tonight is complete." the three servants stiffened as he looked at them, spotting the crumbs and remains of the burnt food. He looked up at them distastefully. "Did you three finish your chores?" he asked, looking at each of them in turn. "The garden has been tended to?"
"J-just a moment Sebastian!" Finnian said, turning and hurrying from the room.
"Has launched been prepared yet?"
"I'll get right on it." Bard grumbled, flashing me a final smile before turning, mumbling something under his breath.
"And Meirin, please explain the shattered plates from the china case in the foyer."
"I-I'm sorry Sebastian, I'll clean that up right away!" she said turning and clumsily bumping into the door to the hall. She mumbled dizzily to herself before running out of the room. Sebastian sighed, taking me by the hand and helping me to my feet.
"Please, do not take their actions to heart, they mean well." he said leading me back upstairs to the room I'd left him in. the costume was wonderful yet simple, a leather vest over a beautiful white dress. I looked around for Meirin or at least for Sebastian to leave but he just continued to smile at me.
"I am glad you like It." he said. Had he really made this all from scratch within that short hour? It didn't seem possible, for a human that is. I glanced up at him wearily and he seemed to notice. His eyes sharpened for an instant, normal people wouldn't have noticed but was it possible he knew what I was thinking? Could he really not be human? He smiled again, he approached me and I took a step back. In silence, the room seemed to fill with silent tension.
"Where is Meirin?" I blurted out. Sebastian took a deep breath before ringing the service bell again, Meirin and the other two burst through the door half a second later each falling on the floor.
"Were you eavesdropping on us?" Sebastian asked. The three shook their head nervously. The boys no and Meirin yes, each switching.
"I'm sorry Sebastian!"
"Won't happen again, no it won't Sebastian!"
"Please forgive us Sebastian!" Sebastian sighed, before turning to Meirin.
"Crystal needs help changing into her costume." he explained, grabbing the two boys by the ear and dragging them to the door. "And please do make it quick, we only have a while to get to the ball."
"Yes sir Sebastian sir!" she called out enthusiastically as the two boys cried out and complained as they were dragged from the room.
I emerged from the room a little while later, the white dress underneath fell down to my knees which felt too short for me but it was the longest a pirate could do. I tugged on the tight leather straps that formed a vest. I had a large red hat that tilted down the side of my head a large white feather sticking out of the hem.
"Wow!" Bard said with a whistle and Finny clapped his hands together in excitement.
"You look mighty nice yes you do." Meirin added. My cheeks were flushed and I momentarily wished I could melt into the ground.
"t-thank you." I stuttered nervously. "C-come on lets go." I said glancing up from the ground and noticing a smug smirk across the butler's face. Sebastian led me downstairs by the hand, leading me towards the front door. I could see the carriage through the foyer windows and my mind instantly flashed to the night before, the carriage in the pouring rain.
"Crystal." Sebastian said, snapping me out of my daze with a gentle pull of the hand and I realized I had stopped walking.
"I-I'm sorry." I said trying to collect my thoughts, looking up to smile at him with a forced smile. I watched his scarlet eyes unwavering as they looked right through me, reading me like a book.
"Thinking about last night?" I nodded shyly, looking down, I had so many questions. I didn't even know how I got to the Phantomhive estate, or how I got the letter, and where the hell did my driver go?
"Your driver," Sebastian asked me, gathering my attention. "Was he tall? With black hair, golden eyes and glasses?" I looked up at him suspiciously.
"How did you know?" I questioned. Something seemed definitely wrong here. Sebastian nodded as if in understanding.
"It was Claude, The Butler of Alois Trancy, posing as your driver last night."