Yeah, I'm sorry for that mistake I just made. Hehe. That was 28 days. Obviously, this was a crammed chapter and I made a lot of mistakes. I sorta forgot the rule. Enjoy! :D
The Condition
Chapter 2
The Card
Dinner. Just like he was supposed to be then.
It was worth it. Avenging his parents, identifying his torturers, reflecting all the pain in his life.
Yes, it was worth it. When he almost surrendered his soul to the demon, it was because he won. He got what he wanted. Luckily, he did not become the meat that he expected. He was destined for something else. And he knew it was not in the demon world also known as the Underground. He was not going to be with Sebastian for all eternity.
Now was a different situation. They gave the butler permission to punish him again. And giving his soul would mean that he lost. And that was bad.
He had already decided.
He was not in the running to be dinner again.
"Alright," he started, crossing his arms across his chest and leaning back on his chair. "Let us get started."
Sebastian, ever so politely, smiled and replied, "Yes," before taking the deck from the desk and shuffling it with his skillful gloved hands. Ciel watched his butler, trying to decipher whether there was a trick hidden under his sleeves. There seemed to be none. He was only shuffling the cards. After three years of being a demon himself, he already knew the ways of their kind.
Finally, the demon stopped what he was doing and carefully laid out each card on his master's spacious desk neatly. Ciel watched the cards as they started to fill his much of his small vision. What is up with these cards? There was something going on. He just knew it.
When Sebastian finished what he was doing, the boy noticed something. There were 60 cards all in all. That is not right. There should only be 54. His eye narrowed at what he was looking at. The butler merely just chuckled once again. That cannot be…
"Yes, Milord, there are 60 cards. Eight of them are jokers."
Ciel's eyes widened, its owner taken aback once again. So, the probability of getting a joker is bigger than what he expected. He returned to his calm demeanor and loosening his crossed arms. Sensing that his master was not going to speak anymore, Sebastian smiled politely and continued, "Pick one, Sir."
The boy took a glance to the butler and leaned forward. He transferred his gaze to the objects in front of him. He needed to concentrate more on this. He started to move his arm towards the cards when Sebastian suddenly said, obviously amused, "Be careful in choosing, Young Master."
His arm stopped in midair when he looked at his butler again. The man was putting on his trademark smirk on, crossing his arms across his chest this time. His red eyes shone evilly like a predator looked at his prey. Obviously the prey was him. That was why the demon was looking at him.
He chuckled, remembering that he never saw Sebastian's face with anything but a stoic look in the three years he spent as a demon. It seemed that the idea of being a butler—make that his butler—forever made him feel…imprisoned. Restrained. Trapped. Unable to seal a contract freely now.
But now, the only demon in the room had a smirk on his face. Somehow, he understood that as a smile in the Underground. Smirking meant you were up to something. That was the highest form of excitement they could have. Because if you are a member of the Underground, there is no such thing as happiness.
"This must be a very big source of anticipation for you, Sebastian. An opportunity like this—to be free again—is so rare that you would do anything for me to fail in this challenge, am I correct?" He asked with his voice deep and laced with darkness that crept into everything in sight. Darkness that Sebastian, oh, so loved.
With that, his smirk got bigger. His red eyes glowed with malice that seemed to be standing up to the glare his master was giving him. Instead of giving Ciel the answer that he expected, he told him something else instead. "Oh, but, Sir," he interjected with an innocent tone that contradicted to his look, "I was told not to intervene with this…mission of yours. I am only supposed to answer to your needs and be the host of this little game being played. Nothing more."
This was the Sebastian that he formed that damned contract with. The hungry demon that went to the point of sabotaging him just to have claim to his soul. Ciel knew his soul was the tastiest to all demons at the time because of all the bitterness and remorse in his very being.
'Let us see if you are going to have a taste at anything now,' he thought. He swore that he would not make the same mistakes he had done before.
Ciel immediately looked away and continued his task at hand. He breathed in deeply before he picked up the card at the upmost corner in the right portion of the formation a using his dominant hand, his right hand. He flipped the card in his hand and exhaled.
Four. Four hearts at that.
He just stared at the card blankly and sighed in relief. Well, he got quite lucky. He could have gotten one of the jokers. But he did not. He got a 4. 28 days. That is quite long considering the number of people who were involved.
Or was it?
Seeing the card like a having a third eye, Sebastian uncrossed his arms this time and wiped out the smirk he was wearing just moments ago. He smiled politely and greeted Ciel, "Congratulations, Master Ciel. I say 28 days is only sufficient for your mission."
Ciel snapped out of his daze and looked at him again. The card was still in his hand. It was like he had to hold onto it.
"Sufficient? How many people are we talking about here, Sebastian?" He questioned, his mind recounting the persons he thought he should save. To his annoyance, Sebastian's smirk was put on again as if he was wearing a mask and he just took it off.
"That is up for you to know, Milord."
Ciel sighed. He knew it already. And he felt stupid to ask.
"If I may ask, My Lord. Who are you going to go to first?"
That was a question that did not leave Ciel blank this time. He knew exactly who. But the way the butler asked just screamed that he already knew. But he answered anyway, "Who do you think, you moron?"
He looked away to the view outside his window again and sighed. "Elizabeth."
The blood-eyed demon merely chuckled and held out a folded newspaper with the upper half of the front page toward his master. Ciel looked at it first and immediately caught the headline.
'DUKE OF MARLBOROUGH, ENGAGED TO MARQUESS'S FIRST DAUGHTER, ELIZABETH'
Thanks for reading! Well, I really suck at making titles or headlines soooo... I'm so sorry. And please tell me about my many mistakes and how to improve them. Hihi. I know I still suck.
Thanks again and please REVIEW! :D