"I am the butler of this estate, Sebastian Michaelis," Sebastian said as he placed his hand over his chest, masking his extreme irritation well. "You are at Phantomhive Manor, and you work here as the head maid alongside me."

Wait a moment…she was working as a head maid for nobility? How had such a thing happened? Why couldn't she remember that?

"Adalina!"

The young woman turned to find a young boy and another woman running up to her. She quickly pressed herself against the wall to avoid them.

"Are you feeling better?" the boy asked with a large innocent smile on his face.

Adalina looked over at Sebastian.

"This is Finnian, our gardener," he calmly explained. "And this is Mey-Rin, the housemaid."

Finnian and Mey-Rin exchanged a confused glance. Why was Sebastian introducing them to Adalina when they had all worked together for years?

"Baldroy is around here somewhere. He is our cook. I'm sure you will meet him before the day is over. If you would get dressed, I'll introduce you to the young master."

Adalina nodded a little and returned to her room.

"What's wrong with Adalina?" Mey-Rin asked.

"I'm afraid she's lost some of her memories. She can't remember ever working here."

"That's so terrible, yes it is!"

"For now, just go about your business and try not to overwhelm her."

"Yes, sir!" the two servants answered.

Sebastian went to Adalina's room and knocked on the door. "Are you finished dressing?"

Adalina opened the door, all dressed in her normal maid clothing.

Sebastian smiled a little when he saw that the apron wasn't tied right. "May I?"

Adalina slowly nodded and turned around.

Sebastian quickly fixed the apron so that her uniform was properly adjusted.

"Very good. If you'll follow me."

The young woman followed Sebastian up the stairs and down the hall towards Ciel's study.

He knocked on the door before opening it, and she saw a very young boy sitting at a large desk sifting through various papers.

"This is the young master, Earl Phantomhive. You have worked for him for several years now."

She had worked here for years? Why couldn't she remember any of this?

Ciel tossed a confused look towards Sebastian. Sebastian sent him a look back that clearly told him to go along with it.

The boy came around his desk and took Adalina's hand. "It's good to meet you, Adalina."

"If you'll just wait outside, I'll be with you in a moment," Sebastian said to her.

Adalina nodded and exited the room.

"What's going on?" Ciel asked once the butler had closed the door.

"Adalina lost some of her memories as a result of the drug. I'm not sure if it's permanent or if they will eventually return to her, but as of right now, she cannot recall anything about being a servant here. If I'm correct, in her mind, she was either in captivity yesterday or she was poor on the streets. Either way, she recalls nothing about working here."

Ciel placed his hand over his face. "Splendid. Contact William now. I'm tired of Lukas coming after all of us."

Sebastian placed his hand over his chest and bowed. "Certainly, my young lord."

Adalina flinched a little as the door to the study opened and Sebastian walked out.

"I'll show you what your normal chores are so you can get started on those, and the other servants will help you out."

Adalina nodded as she followed him around the manor and watched as he showed her each of her jobs. It was a lot to remember and she had a feeling that she was going to forget some of it. Hopefully, he wouldn't get mad at her for not doing one of the jobs she was supposed to do.

"Try to do as much as you can. I have business to attend to, so I'll be going out for a few hours. If you have any other questions, just find Mey-Rin, Baldroy, or Finny. They won't be much help, but it's better than nothing."

Sebastian turned to leave when he felt a firm hand on his arm. He turned to find Adalina clutching his sleeve, her eyes wide and worried.

He was reminded of when he had first brought her to the manor. She had hardly ever left his side and looked afraid each time he said he was leaving as if she was terrified that he was never going to come back.

Every time she did something wrong, she panicked because she had learned to associate mistakes and even speaking with physical punishment. It took a while for Sebastian to calm her down and let her know that just because she made a mistake, nothing bad was going to happen to her. For a while, she was worried so often, he seriously questioned if hiring her was a good decision.

And there was that one incident…

The manor was quiet. The young master had gone to sleep, the servants had finished their chores and retired, Sebastian was the only one awake since he never slept anyway.

He went about cleaning the manor and patrolling the grounds like he did every night while the rest of the city slept.

Several times during the night, he attempted to sense if any soul that did not belong was approaching the manor, and several times, he had had to take care of intruders who meant his young master harm. It had taken a bit of time for him to dispose of them without waking the young earl who was in an absolutely terrible mood if woken up too soon.

When he sensed the souls of those in the manor, he picked something else up. Someone was having a very fitful rest. It most likely belonged to their newest resident.

Sebastian went down to the head maid's quarters and politely knocked on the door, for courtesy's sake if nothing else. When there was no answer, he went inside the room. The newest servant he had just hired earlier that day tossed and turned in her bed, small whimpers escaping from her mouth. Sebastian then realized that her vocals cords indeed worked which meant that she probably could speak, but she simply chose not to. She must've been through something really terrible to warrant her refusal to talk.

He slowly approached the bed to wake her. There was no need for the new servant to have a terrible night's sleep and be exhausted the next day. Then she wouldn't perform her duties correctly, and the young master certainly wouldn't hesitate to give him an earful for that.

"Adalina," he said quietly as he lightly touched her shoulder.

Adalina's arm flew out and would've connected with Sebastian's face had he not been able to catch her wrist in time. Her eyes widened when she realized what she had done, and he could almost smell the panic emanating from her body.

"You were having a bad dream," he said calmly.

This quite reminded him of when he had first started serving the young master. He had also had frequent nightmares when he had returned to the manor. There was only one thing to help.

"If you'll follow me to the kitchen, I believe I know of something that will help you relax."

Adalina hesitantly got out of bed and wrapped a shawl around her arms before following Sebastian down to the kitchen in the manor.

He soon handed her a mug filled with warm milk and honey. "The young master sometimes has nightmares as well. This particular drink always seems to calm him."

Adalina took a small sip from the mug. It tasted incredible and did indeed help her feel more relaxed.

"Better?"

Adalina nodded just a little, but Sebastian could still sense her lingering fear.

"Whatever may have happened to you before, you shall not come to any harm in this manor. All I ask in return for your presence here is that you serve the young master to the best of your ability and do whatever it takes to protect him."

Adalina took a deep breath as she finished off the milk. She nodded again, and Sebastian smiled. It was much more reassuring than the constant smirk he had been giving her. It made her feel more at ease.

"Get some rest now. You have a busy day tomorrow."

That night, Adalina slept soundly for the first time in months.

At least now, Sebastian knew why she was so scared.

He longed to wrap her up in his arms and kiss her and let her know that nothing would ever happen to her as long as he loved her.

But he couldn't.

It had taken a long time before she was comfortable in the manor with the others enough to the point where she didn't have a panic attack each time something went wrong.

Then there came a time when she changed completely…

"We have a guest coming today," Sebastian announced to the servants. "Please stay out of the way while he is here. Adalina and I will see to him."

"Yes, sir," the servants chorused.

Sebastian gave his overly polite smile to Adalina. "Come now, we must prepare."

Adalina politely curtseyed and followed him towards the foyer where they would greet their guest.

The visitor ended up being a British nobleman who apparently did business with Ciel. Sebastian acted like his polite self with him, but Adalina couldn't help but notice a rather cold demeanor about him. Perhaps the British man was not as kind as he seemed. After all, Sebastian seemed to be an excellent judge of character.

The two servants stood to the side in Ciel's study as he met with the man, only moving to pour tea and serve food.

"If you'll excuse us, my lord," Sebastian said with a small bow. "We shall retrieve the cake from the kitchen."

"Very well," Ciel said with a dismissive wave.

Sebastian quickly exited the study with Adalina close behind him. They headed down to the kitchen where Sebastian had spent a good amount of time creating a cake worthy of their visiting guest.

"I'll finish everything here. You are free to retire for the evening."

Adalina curtseyed again and left the kitchen. Realizing that she had previously left some cleaning supplies in the bathroom from earlier, she went to clean that up before Sebastian got upset for her carelessness.

On the way there, she saw their guest in one of the rooms quickly looking around him. Believing no one to be around, he quickly stuffed a couple of very expensive necklaces into his suit pocket.

Adalina's eyes widened a little. He was stealing from the earl? How long had this been going on?

Before he could see her, she quickly got out of his sight so he could believe he was still in the clear.

She was not going to let him get away with this.

That night, as the British man was about to leave the manor, he quickly checked his pockets. Nothing was there. He frantically checked every pocket on him. No necklaces. Had he dropped them?

"Are you missing something?"

The British man quickly turned around to see the butler and the head maid. "Uh, no. No, I'm not."

"Would it be these?"

Adalina held up the two necklaces he had tried to steal. The British man looked at her in disbelief. How had she possibly gotten those from his suit pocket?!

Sebastian must've rubbed off on her because she smirked. Just a little. Just enough to terrify him.

"Stealing is not tolerated in this manor, sir."

The man's jaw clenched. "It's not like he can't afford it. The stupid brat's got a million of those things. What's a couple necklaces gonna hurt? I just needed a bit of extra cash."

Sebastian stepped closer to the man. "Perhaps I did not make myself clear." His eyes began to glow bright pink and his pupils turned into slits. "Stealing…is not…tolerated."

The man began screaming as he ran out of the manor.

Sebastian returned to the head maid's side. "Well done, Adalina."

For the first time since she had come to the manor, Sebastian sensed happiness from her.

Sebastian gave Adalina a small reassuring smile. "There's no need to be afraid, miss. I promise that no one here wishes you any harm, and we will do our best to help you retrieve your memories. I will return shortly, I assure you. And I never lie."

Adalina's grip on his sleeve slowly loosened, and she let go of him.

"For now, just do the jobs I showed you, and I'll be back to check on you soon."

Adalina curtseyed a little.

Wait…why had she done that? Why did curtseying in response to someone seem so normal?