Early the next day, Ciel, Sebastian, and Adalina paid a visit to the one person who would be able to tell them more about the bodies.
"Why, if it isn't Earl Phantomhive and his butler," the gray-haired man said with a laugh. "And you've brought someone new. Who is this lady?"
"This is my head maid, Adalina," Ciel answered.
"I see. What brings you to my shop on this fine day?"
"I want to know about the three murders that have happened in the last two weeks."
"Yes, I remember those women. I made them all look quite pretty again."
"All of them died the same way, yes?"
"Maybe they did, maybe they didn't. I'd be willing to tell you for the usual price."
Ciel groaned. "Sebastian, take care of this."
"Why don't you get the lady to? I haven't had a laugh from a woman in ages!"
"That's impossible. She is a mute."
Undertaker chuckled a little. "Ah, very well. I guess as long as I get paid, it doesn't matter who delivers."
Sebastian fixed his gloves. "Young master, I must ask you to wait outside with Adalina."
"Fine," Ciel grumbled. "Come, Adalina."
Adalina raised her eyebrows as she followed Ciel outside the funeral parlor. She had never realized that the young earl associated himself with such…strange characters. It was amazing how much she hadn't known before she found out Sebastian was a demon. Now that she knew, they must've thought there was no need to keep anything a secret from her any longer. It was kind of interesting to see just what the Ciel did when working as the Queen's Guard Dog. She had always been rather curious about what exactly he got himself involved with.
After a few moments, loud laughter came from inside the funeral parlor so much that the sign over the shop shook, and Adalina worried for a moment that it was going to fall.
Sebastian opened the door with a smile. "You can come back in now."
Undertaker leaned on his desk hiding his face in his sleeves as he laughed. "Your jokes just get better and better! All right, here's what I know. All three women who were murdered had the same qualities. They were all around 24 years old, had light brown hair that had been curled and very slender bodies, and they all seemed to be wearing a very expensive and rare perfume. All of the ladies were part of the upper class and were dressed as if they were attending a social event that night."
"They were only killed at night?" Ciel asked.
"But of course. The murders were quite messy, so it wasn't done by someone who knew what they were doing. They made quick work of it so they could get away before anyone noticed. All the murders were done in the darkness of an alley or somewhere like it. And each lady was alone when she was murdered."
"If that's the case, then they must've been lured away by someone they trusted. Which means he must be part of the upper class as well. He gets them away from the party and then he kills them. But why? Why only target these specific women?"
"I'm not sure, my lord. But I suggest finding out who the murderer is soon before another poor young woman succumbs to his threats."
Ciel exited the funeral parlor with Sebastian and Adalina behind him. "Sebastian, find out when the next party is and make sure I am invited to it. I don't doubt this man will be attending in order to seek out his next victim."
"Certainly, my lord. Adalina, please return the young master to the manor and prepare him his afternoon tea. I shall be there to join you shortly."
Adalina politely curtseyed and escorted Ciel back to their carriage. They rode in silence as they made their way back to the manor. Once they arrived, Adalina stepped out and helped Ciel out after her. Then she opened the manor door for him and allowed him to go inside before her.
"I shall be in my study. Sebastian shouldn't be too much longer. Earl Grey will be fine for today."
Adalina curtseyed again and went to retrieve her master's tea. When she went up to his study with the tray, Sebastian was already inside.
"I've secured an invitation to Lord Walden's party this coming Thursday evening. He is a Viscount who regularly hosts social parties in the hopes of marrying off his three daughters. One of them is your age. For the sake of things, I did not mention that you were already engaged."
"With any luck, we won't be staying long anyway. Hopefully, we can catch the murderer before I have to dance or converse with anyone."
"Yes, your dancing skills are still sorely lacking."
"Oh, shut it."
When the party rolled around, Ciel dressed in his formal evening wear while Sebastian and Adalina wore their same clothes as usual. After all, they were just servants serving their master for the evening. They were not guests.
Ciel chose a spot against the wall, his eyes scanning the room for any suspicious activity that may lead him to the killer.
"I shall fetch you some drinks, Master," Sebastian said. "I should warn you, if you don't do something soon, it won't be long before Lord Walden asks you to dance with his youngest daughter."
Ciel glared at his butler. Sebastian just smirked as he went towards the refreshments.
Adalina looked towards the back of the room near the back entrance. Her eyebrows furrowed when she saw a man politely usher a brown-haired woman out the door.
She quickly tapped Ciel on the shoulder and discreetly pointed towards him. The man quickly looked around to see if anyone was watching him. He did not notice Ciel and Adalina's stares.
"After him," Ciel said quickly. "We have to stop him before he hurts anyone!"
Without waiting for either of his servants, Ciel quickly took off towards the back entrance but not so fast that he attracted attention from any of the other guests. Unable to get Sebastian's attention, Adalina quickly followed after him to make sure he didn't get hurt.
"You there!" the young boy shouted as he ran to towards the man.
The man took one look at Ciel and started running away.
"Lord Daniel?" the woman called in confusion.
"Please, ma'am," Ciel said to her. "It's in your best interest to return to the party."
"But what about—"
"We'll find him. Come, Adalina."
Adalina followed Ciel as he took off after the man called Daniel. It was very chilly outside seeing as it was well into winter and a thick layer of snow rested on the ground. She hadn't had time to grab her coat so she was understandably very cold by now. Ciel was wearing more layers than her so he was probably a bit warmer but not by much.
They chased Daniel down next to a frozen lake in the nearby park. He was faster than the two of them, and Adalina knew that neither of them were going to be able to catch him. Only Sebastian would be able to do so.
She frantically looked around her for anything that could possibly stop him and laid eyes on a long leather cord that had fallen from one of the riders who had passed by earlier in the day when training his horse.
She picked it up out of the snow, feeling a bit sick at something that vividly reminded her of her punishment when she got caught stealing.
Having seen other girls being whipped either for punishment or sometimes just for the men's sick enjoyment, she silently hoped that she could replicate what they had done for her own less vile purposes. With all her might, she flung the cord towards Lord Daniel. It tangled between his legs just enough to make him trip and fall over.
"Well done," Ciel complimented.
Adalina smiled a little. She couldn't believe that had actually worked.
Ciel walked over to the man with a smirk on his face.
It was too dark for Daniel to clearly see Ciel's face, and he couldn't make out Adalina at all. He just knew that he was in trouble, and he needed to do something about it.
He pretended to be unconscious until he felt the boy next to him. Then he quickly opened his eyes and kicked Ciel's feet out from under him before shoving him out onto the thin ice across the lake.
Adalina gasped when she saw the ice under Ciel begin to crack. Daniel made a run for it, but unfortunately, she couldn't focus on him at the moment. Ciel had to take first priority. It was her job as a Phantomhive servant.
Knowing that she couldn't reach him without cracking the ice further which would put him more at risk, she tightly gripped the cord in her hand. Then she flung it towards Ciel. It wrapped around his arm, and she quickly pulled as hard as she could to get him away from the cracking ice. The force of it propelled her forward, and she felt herself flying across the ice as Ciel was yanked back onto solid ground.
And then the ice broke.
Adalina felt herself go under the water. It was below freezing and her limbs went numb as the water surrounded her. She began to panic when she couldn't catch her breath. After all, she didn't know how to swim. No one had ever taught her, and it wasn't like she spent a lot of time near an ocean or a lake growing up. She frantically kicked under the water and reached up for the surface, hoping to get above the water for air.
She was sinking. She couldn't get any air into her lungs. She couldn't move. She couldn't breathe.
Suddenly, a hand firmly grasped her own, and she felt herself pulled up out of the frigid water. She began taking heaving breaths, trying to fill her emptied lungs. Her hands curled into tight fists as her whole body began to shake violently.
She was in someone's arms.
Sebastian.
Her breathing came in ragged gasps due to her shivering. She felt like she could not adequately fill her lungs with the oxygen they so desired.
"Young master, I shall return her to the manor myself since she cannot stay in these wet clothes for the entire duration of the carriage ride back. I trust you can return on your own."
"Yes, I'll be fine," Ciel stated. "Just make sure she's all right."
Ciel quickly turned back towards the party where his carriage would be waiting for him. He was furious that they had lost the killer and more so that Adalina had been put in harm's way protecting him. Even if he didn't show it, he greatly respected her and didn't take kindly to people who put her in danger.
He was going to find this Daniel, and he was going to make him pay.
Without dropping the young woman, Sebastian managed to take off his coat and cover her shaking body with it.
"I apologize for the discomfort you are about to feel," he told her. "The wind is going to be most unpleasant. But this is the quickest way back to the manor where you can get warmed up."
Sebastian began running back towards the manor, hopping up on trees and rooftops and any other thing he could use to propel his speed. The wind whipped through Adalina's hair and she felt the chill begin to seep even further into her bones than it already was.
"Just hang on a little bit longer," she heard Sebastian say calmly over the wind. "We're almost there."
She gripped his coat tighter around her body, seeking anything that would provide warmth.
Finally, the wind ceased, but her shaking did not. In fact, she was shaking even more than she had been before, and Sebastian knew that unless he got her warmed up soon, she could suffer from severe hypothermia.
"Mey-Rin!" he called as he entered the manor.
The maid ran down the stairs, tripped on the last two and fell on the floor, and then hurried over to the butler.
"Yes, Mr. Sebastian?"
Sebastian began carrying Adalina into the parlor since he knew that she would never be able to walk in her current condition. "Start a fire inside the parlor. Help Adalina undress and get her into something dry. Do it quickly please. And try to warm her up, but do so gradually. Don't do anything that will warm her too much, or her heart could fail."
"Right away, sir!"
He left the two women alone so the freezing girl could strip from the wet clothing.
"What on earth happened?" Mey-Rin asked as she undid the buttons on the back of Adalina's dress. "Are you all right?"
Adalina gave a small nod, but it was clearly a complete lie because she was still shaking fiercely.
"I'll get a fire started!"
Mey-Rin quickly sparked a fire up in the fireplace inside the parlor. It didn't take long for it to grow in strength and begin projecting heat all across the room. However, it didn't do much for Adalina's shivering.
The maid then helped Adalina out of her dress and got her into a dry one. When her shaking hadn't stopped, she quickly wrapped two blankets around her and rubbed her arms.
"I'll fetch Mr. Sebastian! He'll know what to do now!"
Adalina fought to keep her eyes open, but she was becoming more exhausted the longer she stayed awake. All of the shaking had worn her out. She had a feeling it probably wasn't good for her to fall asleep, but she couldn't help it.
She was just so tired.
When Sebastian entered the parlor, he saw Adalina passed out in front of the fire, her body continuing to shake. He sighed a little. She should know that it wasn't good for her to sleep when nearly dying of hypothermia. He turned and locked the door to the parlor. If anyone happened to walk in on what he had to do, he would never live it down.
He could sense that Adalina was alive, that much was certain. Now he just needed to make sure she stayed that way.
Desperate for anything to warm her up so her shivering ceased, he did the first thing that came to mind. He lied down on the floor next to her and put his arms around her.
It wasn't enough. Her shaking didn't stop, and her heartbeat was getting dangerously high. She needed body heat.
His skin was normally rather cold, but he was able to warm it up if the situation called for it. He rarely did so because it took more effort than he wished it would.
Sebastian removed his jacket and unbuttoned his shirt before removing the blankets from Adalina's shoulders. Then he pulled her close to his bare chest and let her shivering body warm against his now hot skin.
He usually only did something like warming his skin if he needed to get information out of someone. So why was he choosing to do so now for the sole purpose of making Adalina feel better?
After several minutes, her shaking very, very slowly began to stop. He continued listening for her heartbeat to make sure it was still strong, and it always was.
At one point, she stirred and lifted her head up. She started to turn towards him, but he put his hand to her face and gently pushed her head back down.
"Rest, now," he said quietly, not allowing her to see their current state.
Still exhausted and not completely aware of what was happening, Adalina returned to her sleep.
Sebastian ran one of his gloved hands through her still damp hair. What was it about this human that intrigued him so much? Why did he always have these strange feelings around her that he couldn't explain? Why did he have this desire to protect her from any harm? What made her so different from other humans?