"Sophia, you are excused." Says Sebastian.
"No, I'd like her to stay." Says Master Phantomhive.
He takes his seat at the small table placing a cloth napkin in his lap.
"I'd like to hear all about her courtship. Unless there's a reason not to." He says
He looks again to Sebastian who keeps his eyes straight ahead. Both Sophia and Sebastian are on opposite sides of The Master with their backs straight, waiting to serve his every need.
"Speak! Did you not hear the master's request?" Says Sebastian
His eyes are void of emotion as he glances at Sophia.
"Sorry—it's going good." Sophia answers quickly.
"Is that all? I allowed you the time and all you say is it's going good." Says The Master
He waits as Sebastian applies the butter to his toast. Momentarily he looks away so he doesn't see the vein rise in the side of Sophia's neck. She is terribly nervous. Why was he grilling her? What did he want to hear? All she really did was sleep with Claude but she couldn't tell him that.
"The trip to town must have been nice." Says Sebastian
He places the now buttered toast in front of The Master as he locks eyes with him. It doesn't appear to be a malicious stare. Master Phantomhive grazes Sebastian's hand gently with his own. Sophia is at a loss for words.
"Well this conversation is proving to be very uninteresting." Says Master Phantomhive
"We will be discussing wedding plans soon." Blurts out Sophia.
"You don't say." Says The Master
His uncovered eye studies Sophia for a minute.
"Yes, Claude and me are very excited." Says Sophia
She pastes on a fake smile.
"That is very good news." He says plainly.
"Sebastian ready the carriage. We must journey to town shortly."
"Of course, Master." Says Sebastian.
He walks past Sophia to leave and doesn't even look in her direction. She is left on the terrace with The Master trying to play down her pain and anger. Master Phantomhive speaks without ever looking up from his breakfast.
"I am glad things have worked out for you. We weren't sure you would pull through that rather nasty fall."
"It will take more than a fall down the stairs to wipe me out." Says Sophia with confidence.
Master Phantomhive pauses at the statement before continuing to eat.
"Conditions can be very agreeable if everyone knows their place here. Don't you agree?"
Master Phantomhive looks up from his plate.
"Yes Master."
"Very well. I am finished with breakfast."
Sophia bows her head slightly as The Master excuses himself.
She absolutely hated that fucking little shit! Sophia was tempted to smash his damn breakfast plate over his head. He was a cunning little asshole that made Sophia so damn angry. The killing spree should begin with him. There could be some truth to Sebastian's claim but Sophia doesn't care. Sebastian was a demon that contracted souls. He could find a loophole somehow. He just wasn't trying which further proved he didn't care enough. Sophia silently scolds herself for ever getting involved with him as she begins to clear the table. Mey-Rin comes out to help.
"Where is The Master going?" she asks.
Sophia is so lost in her anger that she almost doesn't hear the question.
"O…into town for whatever." Says Sophia
"That's sudden. Maybe Sebastian will pick something up for me."
Mey-Rin's eyes light up.
"Yeah, like maybe a rope. You can hang yourself." Sophia mutters under her breath.
"What did you say?" asks Mey-Rin
"Nothing—just wondered if he will return for lunch."
She doesn't have the energy left to argue.
"It won't hurt to prepare it anyway." Says Mey-Rin
"We can always just eat it if he doesn't.
"Sophia! That's against house rules. You better not or else." Says Mey-Rin
Sophia shakes her head and goes to the kitchen. There wasn't a lot of dishes to be hand washed so afterwards she could get to dusting, cleaning sheets, and polishing silverware. Mey-Rin enters the kitchen and makes a face at her.
"I'm doing the dishes and silverware today."
"Fine." Says Sophia throwing up her hands.
"You're not going to say anything back?"
"Mey-Rin I am not in the mood to argue. I just want to get my chores done. I'm going to do linens."
Rising depression was quickly overtaking Sophia's anger.
"Well if you mess up Sebastian won't be so easy on you now." Snaps Mey-Rin
Sophia shakes her head without responding and walks away. How can a woman be so obsessed with one man or demon in man form? It was beyond Sophia and still out of her control. She starts up the steps and gets an idea. She remembers the turns and stops outside Sebastian's door. Turning the knob, it opens right up. She goes inside closing the door behind her, carefully staying quiet. It's nothing miraculous about his room. There's a bed, dresser, curtain over the window. All the usual things that a bedroom contains. Sophia can't help herself. She falls face down on his bed and takes a huge whiff. The sheets have his fresh scent trapped in them. The realization didn't hit her as hard as right now, but she missed everything about him. Why couldn't they run away together? Why had she stalled in the closet when he first asked for her soul? How come she didn't give him an answer? She was afraid that everything would change in the most drastic ways if she said yes, but honestly things were at their worst right now.
She was a fool for not saying yes to him when she had the chance. Now there's no hope in getting him back. It was easiest to blame everything on him but if she had said yes there is a good chance that things might not have gotten this broken. There was Claude which was her only option now maybe even forever. Tears swell in her eyes and she quickly blinks them away. Her situation was sad but she'd have no choice but to make the best of it. After all there was nothing wrong with Claude. He was handsome, intelligent, and well dressed. Just then Sophia hears a noise coming from the closet. She flings open the closet door and two kittens emerge. One orange and the other white. They meow softly and rub against her ankles. Sophia melts as she rubs her fingers through their soft fur. They had been well taken care of. This was a big surprise. Sebastian was a cat lover. How many more things was he hiding?