Author's Note: I realized that I made a mistake in the earlier chapters; Elizabeth's surname is not "Middleford" but "Midford" I'm sorry if I confused or annoyed any of my readers by messing up such a simple fact! Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter. I tried to post one a bit sooner than usual to make up for my lateness. Also, it is rather long... BTW - Here comes the antagonist!

Edward Midford watched suspiciously as the young earl and his older servant made their way towards the dining table, where his small family had been waiting for quite some time. His sister, obviously unaware of just how lengthy their absence had been, quickly rushed to the side of her fiance, who seemed bothered by her displays of affection.

"My Ciel! Your outfit is simply darling, and I've never seen such color in your face!" she squealed, causing a bit more red to become visible in the boy's cheeks. Edward squinted his eyes. Why would he blush at such a statement? Feeling the need to let the young Phantomhive know that such behavior was not permitted for someone who was to wed his sister (He was, after all, nearly ten minutes later than Edward had estimated), the blonde male began to speak.

"Did you have more important obligations, Phantomhive?" Edward didn't try to mask the cruel undertone of his voice. He needed to know that this wasn't acceptable, wasn't what was to be expected in the groom of a Midford lady. Ciel's blue eye widened at this remark, as if he hadn't expected such an accusation upon his arrival in the dining room. Gritting his teeth, Edward waited for an answer. Edward was certainly right; Ciel hadn't expected to be questioned about his absence. He honestly hadn't realized that he had been gone for too long. Luckily, he was an experienced liar. Even though it was one of the few things his beloved (That being Sebastian, not Elizabeth) despised about him, Ciel began to talk through this issue.

"Forgive my tardiness, sir, but your dear sister requested that I wear something with a bit more color than is displayed in my usual garb. I had a specific outfit in mind, but, as I have not worn it in quite some time, the exact location of it wasn't clear. This resulted in Sebastian having to do a bit more searching than usual."Ciel smirked at the boy, knowing perfectly well that whatever he accused him of, he could lie his way out of it. Hoping that Edward was done talking, he made his way to his usual chair at the dining room table and seated himself. Elizabeth was to his left, and Francis was to his right. Unlike most nobles, they often sat closer together so that they could converse easier (This was Elizabeth's idea, not Ciel's). Francis was not too fond of the idea, but since both her husband and daughter supported it, she had decided to go along with it. Edward seemed to have recovered a bit from Ciel's perfect response, and he began to ask yet another question. Luckily, Elizabeth had ceased talking.

"Doesn't that mean that your butler is at fault? The servants that dress you are expected to know exactly where everything is located, are they not?" Ciel shot a murderous glare towards Edward. Was he seriously going to try to keep this game up? Didn't he know that Ciel was going to win? Ciel always won; Seeing as how they had known each other for many a year, you would have thought that Edward would have learned this by now. The boy could see the hatred in Sebastian's eyes as he looked over at Edward. Nearly snickering, Ciel decided to satisfy this inquisitive young man with an answer.

"I honestly believed that the outfit would no longer fit me, seeing as how I have had a growth spurt in the past month or so. I informed Sebastian about this concern, and he agreed that it wouldn't do to have me wearing an outfit that it is a bit too short for my current height. I didn't want to throw it out just yet, as I hadn't tried it on for a while and I didn't know for sure whether or not it would fit me properly. Tanaka put it away in the back of my wardrobe until a later time, and, upon remembering this when Elizabeth requested that I wear a brighter outfit for breakfast, I asked Sebastian to look for it. There was no way he could have known the location of this outfit unless he had talked to Tanaka after his work was done, but this is strictly forbidden here. All of my servants are required to be in their rooms by nine o'clock at night, and Sebastian finishes his work around this time." Sebastian looked over at Ciel, a thankful smile upon his face. He honestly hadn't believed that the boy would stand up for him, and yet he had. Even though he disproved of lying himself, he was rather impressed by Ciel's fibbing capabilities.

"That was quite an explanation, Phantomhive." Edward raised his eyebrows as if challenging the younger noble.

"But why is it that you act so defensive over a servant?" Sebastian's crimson eyes became an even more noticeable shade of red, and Ciel shot him a warning glance.

"It merely bothers me that you're indicating that my finest servant has made a mistake. He's a Phantomhive butler, after all; He has to live up to high expectations, and I see to it that he meets them." The demon smiled to himself as he poured Elizabeth a cup of tea. He was the finest servant. Isn't that what his master had just said? He began to smirk a bit, realizing that he was reading a lot more in to this than the humans were.

"Does it really matter why he is defending his servant, son? It's rather rude to ask such questions, and some of these things are of a personal nature, I am sure." Ciel grinned triumphantly at Edward, who was being offered a scone from the serving tray that Sebastian had filled earlier. Francis cut a piece of her food in silence, her eyes glued to the fine china her breakfast rested upon. Elizabeth looked around happily, not understanding that Ciel and her brother were practically arguing.

"What are we going to do today, Ciel!? Can we go riding? We haven't done that in quite some time, you know! Or, perhaps we could go shopping in London together! We would have to ride a little while to get there, so we could have the best of both options!" She looked from face to face, hoping for the approval of both Ciel and her family members.

"Elizabeth -" Ciel started, but, upon seeing her brother's angry expression, he quickly changed the tone of his voice.

"Absolutely. We can do whatever you want." Sebastian looked over at him, hurt and surprised by this statement. Ciel caught his eyes, hoping to communicate his intentions to him. Seeming to understand, the demon finished his business at the table and then left the room. The young earl stared longingly after him. Could Sebastian tell that he was staring? Do demons have the ability to sense such things? Feeling alone, he began to eat and pretended to be interested in the droll conversations of the other nobles. Of course, his thoughts were elsewhere. All throughout the meal, he fantasized about Sebastian and how much better he had felt since he had taken it to the next level with him. Would life always be as sweet as this? A great deal of other thoughts and ideas traveled through his head, but the last of them before he agreed to spend his day with Elizabeth was simply a short question, and yet it seemed to matter the most to him. When can we be together again?

Eleven Hours Later...

Ciel pulled his soft comforter tighter around himself, shivering in the cold of his bedroom. When was Sebastian coming? It was eight o'clock at night, and, unable to fake interest in Elizabeth's new gowns she had purchased in town from the local seamstress, or even her father's new fencing match record, he had chosen to retire early this night. The room was dreadfully chilly, yet still Ciel didn't call for his butler, lest anyone should get suspicious. He'd even chosen to bathe himself this evening, though the results were disastrous and he'd still had to summon Sebastian. Ciel watched as the last embers of the fireplace began to disappear, leaving his room both dark and ridiculously cold. Suddenly, he heard the sound of the door opening. Was it Sebastian? Not wanting to take any chances, Ciel covered his marked eye with his bangs and feigned sleep, glancing up occasionally in hopes of seeing who was in his bedchamber. All doubt was erased from his mind once he heard Sebastian's whisper against his ear.

"Should we wait a while?" Ciel looked around, but could only see the glow of two red eyes next to him . This would have frightened most, but the shining crimson orbs were a welcome sight to the boy.

"Have we not waited long enough?" He reached his hand out in to the darkness, finding Sebastian's larger one almost instantly.

"I didn't think you liked to take chances."

"I try to avoid them at times."

"Then why are we taking one now?"

"Because I simply can't help myself, Sebastian!" With that, Ciel leaned forward a bit, and, even in the darkness, Sebastian was able to pull the boy against him in to a warm embrace. He could feel a hand lift his chin up ever so slightly, and then a pair of passionate lips collided with his own. Ciel closed his eyes, never wanting this moment to end. But, like everything else in his life, it would.

Elsewhere...

Edward walked down one of the many confusing hallways of Phantomhive manor, attempting to memorize every turn and curve he met along the way. What would his excuse be if he were to be discovered in this part of the house? He certainly couldn't tell the truth; The Phantomhive boy would be most upset by his snooping. What was he to say, then? He paused for a moment to contemplate this, but, upon seeing a bit of light up ahead, he chose to continue onward. He came to yet another staircase that led downwards, but to what he did not know. The light was visible somewhere at the bottom of the stairs. Edward allowed his curiosity to take control of him, and he followed the light up ahead. He passed many different doorways, but none were of interest to him. What he was looking for was the servant quarters. Even though it was rather unheard of for a noble to enter this part of a house, the boy had an overwhelming desire to see if what Ciel had said was true. If memory served him correctly, the child had said that all of the servants were to be in their rooms by nine o'clock. It was a bit past this hour, so Edward had decided that this was the perfect time to either confirm or debunk this fact. He suddenly realized that he had made it to what appeared to be the rooms of the household servants, and, without even thinking of the consequences that would follow, he opened the one door without light escaping from beneath it. The room was empty. A feeling of satisfaction came over the young man at the thought of Ciel's lie. This obviously meant that there was something to hide, but what it was was yet to be discovered. Perhaps if he were to find out which of the servants occupied this room... Edward paused, realizing that the uniform folded up on the bed was one of a butler, not one of a cook, gardener, or maid. Alongside it was a pin he had seen the main butler - Sebastian - wear. He began to think over his new discoveries, understanding that the butler was missing and he wasn't wearing his uniform, which meant he wasn't performing chores around the house. What on Earth was he doing then? Edward quickly left the room, finding his way back up to the main hallway, where he proceeded to locate the earl's bedchamber. He could clearly see a light still on, though the boy had supposedly retired nearly two hours ago. Why wasn't he asleep? Edward pressed his ear to the door, catching the voice of an older gentlemen, definitely not Ciel, say something. After listening for a few more moments, he caught another word, though he was sure that this was said in the voice of the earl.

"Se-Sebastian!" Edward's eyes widened. So Sebastian was here? And not in uniform? Just what was the earl up to? The voices rose, and he began to pay attention once again.

"...want this..." The words were muffled, and Edward had a hard time catching all of them, but he was certain that this was what he had heard. When he began to recognize the sound of footsteps approaching the door, he quickly slipped in to the shadows, watching as both a disheveled Ciel and his butler left the room, whispering to each other and laughing. Now is my chance... Edward rushed in to the bedroom, looking for any clues that may assist him in proving that Ciel was up to something and was not a suitable husband for Elizabeth. The bed was wrecked, but this was the only thing out of the ordinary. He was quite disappointed until a small volume caught his eye. There were no other books lying about in this room. Edward snatched it up and flipped to the first page, eager to learn the Phantomhive secrets. The first two words were written in Ciel's handwriting.

Dearest Diary

Edward stared at the page. "This is it" he whispered. He had finally found what he was looking for; a book full of secrets with which he could stop the marriage he had dreaded for so long. Surely there were better men for his darling little sister! Hastily, he left the room, ready to spoil the good name of the Phantomhive family.

Author's Note: So, what do you think? Did I make any errors? Do you have any suggestions to improve my writing (And this story)? What do you think is going to happen? I've made a few corrections since I first posted this, so hopefully it will be easier to read.