Author note: Sorry this chapter took so long, my coauthor and I have had busy schedules but will be posting when we can!
Her Butler, Traitor
Ciel sighed as she pet Elvira who had curled around her lap since Cerin took up the seat across from them in the enclosed carriage, looking out the small window she saw the familiar town of home. Sadly the two weeks had come and gone but it had been great after Cyril had seemed to clear out of Houndsworth. Sebastian and her had continued their relationship, though still being discreet. Spying the familiar gates she sighed and tried adjusting her skirts once more, it was her least favorite black dress with many white frills upon it. She admitted that it was one of the more figure flattering ones but she hated the ruffles, yet she did love the little hat Sebastian had custom made to give the outfit a more regal feel rather than a doll. She didn't mind it so much when she remember Madam Red had said how well she and Sebastian looked together when she wore it, but then again she hadn't had such strong feelings for him back then as she did now. She gasped and caught herself from falling forward as the cart came to an abrupt stop, she heard the horses whinny and immediately snapped her fingers making Elvira meow and jump off of her. She reached for the door until Sebastian opened it, his face showing he was furious.
"I'm sorry to ask this of you Mistress but I need you to stay in the carriage... It seems to be a bit of a mess to clean up." Ciel blinked but frowned, her eye glowing beneath the black and white rose patch.
"Sebastian I order you to let me out of here." She watched him ball his fist but promptly step to the side as she exited, only to nearly fall over. Her entire manor had piles of presents in front of it, along with a horse grazing upon the yard. She stared in horror when she saw a familiar boy run across the grounds trying to get the horse to move. She heard the others pile out of the carriage behind her, Baldroy speaking as they approached where she stood.
"Sebastian what- WHAT THE HELL?" She closed her eyes, trying to keep her temper under control as the three ran in front of her to gawk at the scene. She heard Mey-Rin and Finny praising all the presents.
"Oh my, I can't believe all the beautiful presents. The Young Mistress does have quite the admirers!" Mey-Rin's head bobbed in agreement.
"I say she does, yes I do. She must be one of the most wanted girls in the world!" Ciel cleared her throat loud enough for the three to hear her.
"Enough of this. Sebastian please take care of this... mess. Just put them somewhere until I have time to send the thank you notes." She groaned thinking of all the more paperwork this now made for her. "I'll deal with Dudley personally." She began walking away but was able to hear Sebastian giving orders, along with a bit of scolding.
"You three, don't insult her by calling her a Young Mistress anymore. She has come of the marrying age and is to be called simply Mistress. I need you three to start helping out by collecting the presents, Tanaka just carry on. I must attend to the felines then I will be out to help. Make sure nothing, absolutely nothing, gets broken." Ciel couldn't help but smile at the scolding, it made her feel a bit more prideful. She stopped a few feet away from where Dudley was trying to push on the horse, of which wasn't moving. She blinked when she heard him speaking to the horse.
"Come on Lady Mary, I need to get you out of here before Cyril yells at me for you being out of the stable before he presents you to Lady Phantomhive!" Ciel cleared her throat making Dudley jump and turn to her. He blushed and stammered before kneeling in front of her. "Lady Phantomhive! I'm so sorry! I was just trying to get Lady Mary back to the-" She raised her hand and promptly cut him off.
"It's quite alright Dudley, what on earth is all this?" She motioned to the piles of presents that her household had begun taking into the Manor. Dudley scratched his head while standing before shrugging and smiling to her.
"I can honestly say I know nuthin about those presents, but Lady Mary here." He patted the mare on the side who smacked him on the back of his head with her tail, making him laugh as he fixed his messy hair. "Well my brother wanted to give her as a gift in a way of showing his gratitude of your forgiveness." Ciel covered her smile as she laughed, Dudley looked at her confused.
"Forgive my laughter Dudley but I never forgave your brother, he forced his way past my butler and into the vacation house I was staying at only to make matters worse on his part. My forgiveness was not given, nor is it earned like this." She watched Dudley's smile disappear when he realized that his brother had made a mistake, she realized she felt pity for the boy. She blinked when she realized he reminded her of Freckles, or Doll as she had found out was her true name; he was innocent and so sweet.
"Right then. I'll inform my brother at once, but I'll be sure to leave her with you even still." Ciel smiled when she saw how lovingly Dudley looked at Lady Mary. He smiled and pet her, speaking his mind out loud. "Lady Mary and I go back to when I was just a lad, father bought her for Cyril to ride but she hates him. She only let me take care of her and I just want to see her well taken care of." Ciel sighed and looked around for Sebastian, spying him just coming back out of the manor and heading straight for them. She turned back to Dudley with a smile
"Well Dudley please do make her comfortable and come see me afterwards, I will speak to your family about hiring your services on since I have no personal on hand with taking care of a horse." He blinked and grinned to her.
"Do you really mean it? Oh golly that would be wonderful, I mean do you have the room?" Sebastian smiled as he approached the two.
"If you prove yourself capable and are able to do your chores without floundering then yes we have more than enough room here at the Phantomhive estate." Ciel nodded and sighed when she saw the last of the gifts being carried in.
"I'm afraid I must go, there seems to be more than I expected to attend to. Please take your time tending to Lady Mary." Dudley bowed his head as Ciel walked away with Sebastian, once more trying to coax Lady Mary to move.
Ciel sighed as she leaned back in her chair, a frown fixated upon her face when Sebastian entered with her noon tea.
"My Lady is something the matter?" She shook her head as he poured her a cup, smelling it she looked to him.
"Dudley's parents were more than willing to have me accept Dudley into our household but wanted me to pay absolutely nothing to the poor boy, insisting he and the horse are a package deal." Sebastian raised a brow and frowned.
"Parents so willing to let go of their child? How odd." Ciel was about to speak when a soft knock came upon the door. It opened revealing a shy Dudley peaking in.
"I am awfully sorry if I'm interrupting Miss, I just wanted you to know that Lady Mary is put away in the stables." Ciel nodded and sipped her tea.
"Very good Dudley, I have already spoken with your parents and you are now working under the Phantomhive name. You will report to Sebastian daily for your chores and with any questions you may have." Dudley nodded and was about to speak when they all heard Mey-Rin's scream. Poor Dudley looked down the hall terrified, Ciel looked at Sebastian and smiled. "Oh yes I suppose you should meet the rest of the household, Sebastian why don't you show him around?" Sebastian smiled and bowed to her.
"Of course Mistress. This way Dudley." Sebastian closed the door behind them with a bit of a slam that made Ciel drop her head onto her desk with a groan, she remembered she had to go through all those damnable presents yet. As if it wasnt' bad enough she nearly screamed when she heard an all too familiar voice.
"CIEEEEEEEEEEEL!" Ciel scarcely had enough time to sit up when her cousin came running into her office. She wasn't surprised to see her cousin all dolled up in a pink dress with far too many bows on it, her hair still done up in the familiar curls. Lizzie slammed her hands on Ciel's desk, surprisingly without knocking anything over.
"Lizzie? Do your parents know you're here?" Lizzie smiled and nodded her head fervently.
"They do, I came out to welcome you home silly! I wanted to bring Edward along but he wouldn't come! Did you have a party or something earlier, I saw all those lovely presents for you!" Ciel sighed at the mention of Edward, she had been lucky that he didn't come around much after refusing to be engaged to her. Their parents had been more than furious when he announced his engagement with another lady but Ciel hadn't been too concerned, honestly it made her happy.
"I see... and no those were all waiting for me when I arrived here today. I'll be needing help organizing them all and figuring out who I need to send thank you notes to." Lizzie squealed and jumped up and down.
"Oh goody-goody! It'll be like your birthday all over!" Ciel shook her head, standing slowly as Sebastian entered into the doorway.
"My Lady the gifts are all counted and listed as to who sent what, all that is left is for you to open them." Ciel smiled at the hinted hatred in Sebastian's voice when he bowed to her.
"Very well, Lizzie would you like to join me?" Lizzie nodded energetically before taking Ciel's hand and walking down to the room, Ciel once more scowled at the sight of all the boxes. Lizzie stopped to spin around and look at all the boxes that were stacked neatly, each with a card in front of it. Ciel blinked when she saw one box by itself, it was a simple black box wrapped in a red ribbon. Lizzie blinked when she saw Ciel staring at something and looked, she wrinkled her nose at the lack of cuteness but realized that it was the only one without a name. She giggled and clasped her hands.
"Oh my goodness! Who could've sent that one? Why don't we save it for last?" Ciel blinked and shook her head before nodding. She sat on the love seat next to Lizzie as Sebastian began handing her the presents one by one, ticking off each one on his list.
Almost three hours later Lizzie and Ciel were complete with the presents. Ciel sighed as she handed the swan to Sebastian, most of the gifts had been some sort of book, jewelry, or a crystal figurine. Sebastian had dutifully been organizing the figurines in a curio cabinet, the books upon a special shelf, and the jewelry in a display case.
"Men, no taste in what a woman truly likes..." Lizzie looked at her cousin confused before blinking when she noticed the choker around her neck.
"Ciel, when did you start wearing the choker?" Ciel blushed and laid her hand upon it, Sebastian watched the two closely trying not to show his concern.
"I received it on the first night of my vacation..." Lizzie blinked as Ciel smiled, placing her hand over her heart. "Someone very dear gave it to me and I have no intentions of letting it go." Lizzie blinked as Ciel looked up at Sebastian before quickly turning her eyes away, the flush on her cheeks showing brightly against her perfect skin. Sebastian cleared his throat and left the room with the bags of trash, Lizzie waited until he closed the door to turn back to her cousin.
"Ciel... are you in love with Sebastian?" Ciel gasped and looked to her cousin, who had a soft smile upon her face.
"Wh- why would you even ask that?" Lizzie gasped and hugged her cousin, Ciel's heart was racing knowing her cousin's tendencies of letting things slip out in public.
"Oh I knew it! I knew you'd find someone!" Lizzie pulled back to smile at her cousin. "Don't you worry! I won't tell a single soul, I promise!" Ciel blinked as Lizzie ungloved her hand and held up a pinkie, smiling at her. "Just like when we were kids." Ciel couldn't help the tears in her eyes as she ungloved her hand and took Lizzie's pinkie in hers.
"Just like when we were younger..." The two giggled, smiles wide upon their faces. Ciel cleared her throat when they began placing their gloves back on. "I'm trusting you with that Lizzie, no one must ever know... The family name would be ruined if it got out." Lizzie nodded, the smile still on her face. She opened her mouth to speak but Sebastian came back in, a smirk on his face making Ciel smile knowing that he knew.
"Oh Ciel that one box is left!" Lizzie pointed at the black bo from earlier that made Ciel blink. Sebastian smiled and swept it up before setting it upon her lap.
She stared at the box a bit in awe, it was the perfect black box with a complex bow on the top so much she almost didn't want to open it. Lizzie leaned over Ciel's shoulder as she touched the bow, enjoying how the light shimmered upon it. The two girls jumped when the manor bell rang loudly, Ciel looked to Sebastian as he frowned but left to answer it. Lizzie took the box and set it aside while pulling Ciel up from the chair.
"Come on Ciel we can't have guest waiting now can we?" She groaned as they made their way from the room to the top of the stairs, Ciel's irritation became clear when the guest slipped past Sebastian followed by a maid. Her eyes grew wide when she saw the familiar white hair, clamping her hands over her mouth to stifle her scream of horror at seeing the demon again.
The dark box smelled of mold, Ciel hugged her knees close as she awaited Sebastian's return. She didn't understand why he had put her in a box but she felt safe, as if she had been in a box once before. She groaned when she heard the children playing outside singing London Bridge, oh how she had learned to hate that song. It seemed it was the unlucky song for her, anytime she heard it something bad always seemed to happen.
"She is in there." She gasped hearing the feminine voice, almost immediately she seemed blinded by the lights in her face as the top of the crate was torn off.
"Aloisa Trancy you are under-arrest!" Ciel screamed as the men pulled her from the crate roughly, tearing her beautiful peach dress with their carelessness. She struggled against them, glaring at Hannah.
"What the devil is going on? I am Ciel Phantomhive!" The men smirked at her, the leader laughed in her face.
"Right, now you said this is your Mistress?" Hannah nodded, she opened her mouth to speak when a fiery red-head came rushing to them, sweeping Ciel from the men with a hug.
"Oh Ciel! I was looking everywhere for you, when I agreed to play hide-and-seek with you and Sebastian I didn't know you meant we could use crates!" Ciel blinked and looked up at Grell in shock, the men around them stood stunned as Ciel smirked, Sebastian's voice rang from the darkness.
"Pardon me sirs but it seems that maid has tricked you, that woman you so rudely handled is in fact Ciel Phantomhive, Countess of the Phantomhive estate. Her father was the late Earl Vincent Phantomhive. I'm sure the Queen would love to hear how everyone is treating her Watchdog." HIs smile showed through the darkness, Ciel felt Grell shudder and nudge her, whispering in her ear so no one else could hear.
"Look behind him in the shadows, he's demoning!" Ciel gasped when she saw the shadows around him dancing, a frightening aura pouring from them like water. The lead man cleared his throat before looking to Sebastian as he stepped out with his smile, the one that hide all of his true emotions from everything.
"I say sir, what proof do you have in this?" Sebastian simply produced a letter with the Queen's seal. The man gasped and tried taking it, only for Sebastian to snatch it back.
"All you needed was proof, the seal is more than enough. Now then we shall be off, though I wish to know what will happen to that maid?" Hannah stood, frozen in shock as the men roughly grabbed her, the lead man glaring her down.
"We will take care of her don't you worry, no one lies to Scotland Yard and gets away with it!"Hannah said something Ciel didn't catch as she was led away, Grell and Sebastian blocking her view.
"Ah hello Countess Phantomhive, how good it is to see you." Hannah gave a low curtsy to her, Cyril barely gave a tip of his hat to the two ladies. Ciel stood shaking in her shoes, Lizzie looked at her confused as Ciel tried to compose herself.
"Obviously you two know each other? Either way, I'm here to say thank you for accepting my gift-" Ciel couldn't help herself but to laugh, making everyone look at her but Sebastian smiled knowing exactly why she was laughing.
"Your gift? Are you truly that fatuous or do you not speak with your parents so often? I have hired your brother into the Phantomhive servants and your parents have given Lady Mary to me as a sign of gratitude for me hiring him." Cyril gasped and shook his head.
"I... I see, well then thank you indeed. May I have a word with you?" Ciel shook her head before looking to Sebastian.
"Sebastian please see to his maid, I wish to walk through the gardens with Cyril on my own." Lizzie giggled and hugged Ciel.
"I'll go and see if that Prince Soma is around, he is awfully lovely with his games!" Ciel nodded and calmly climbed down the stairs, easily slipping into her white coat. Sebastian buttoned it up before handing her the white parasol Lizzie had given her ages ago. She forced a smile upon her face to Cyril, he stared at her awe-struck.
"Shall we go Lord Cyril?" He collects himself and nods, quickly chasing after her as she briskly walked away.
The scent of roses filled the air as Ciel escorted Cyril around her garden, admiring how perfect everything was. She looked to Cyril and smirked at him staring, amazed at everything.
"I do hope you find everything satisfactory, may I inquire what this unexpected visit is for Lord Cyril?" He blinked and looked to her as she stopped, spinning her parasol as she opened it, gently laying it upon her shoulder to block the noon sun. He looked dazed at her movements, as if she had some how stunned him. Cyril cleared his throat before gathering himself.
"I'm sorry Lady Phantomhive, I know you said before that I was not forgiven and I accept that. I was just hoping that I might get to know you better, if not as a friend then perhaps as an acquaintance at least?" Ciel blinked, she had never had any man speak so boldly to her.
"Friends are so fickle in this time.." She turned and sighed, staring at the white roses she had specifically planted in the center of her garden. The memories flooded her mind, she closed her eye with a sigh. "They come and go like the wind and the rain, it's hard to find someone who will keep their loyalty to you and not betray you behind your back." Cyril bowed his head and smiled, Ciel reluctantly admitted he looked handsome when he smiled.
"I agree with your words completely My Lady, I want you to know that because you have hired Dudley," He paused, taking a knee as he bowed to Ciel, making her raise her brow. "As long as you take good care of my brother you will always have my services, I merely wish to be an extension of your arm. A tool for you to use and put away whenever you see fit." Ciel nodded, not trusting her voice as she offered him her hand. Cyril gently took it within his and kissed it gently, staring into her eye as he did so. Standing the two stared at each other, not speaking a word but almost as if challenging one another to make the first move. Ciel blinked when she heard Lizzie's voice, looking over her shoulder she saw Lizzie running to her.
"Ciel! Ciel! Ciel!" Ciel sighed and turned, her cousin grabbed her shoulder, covering her ear with her hand. "You need to see Sebastian, he's with that maid in his room..." Ciel gasped, dropping the parasol as her heart seemed to chip in her chest. Sebastian...
"Ciel is something the matter?" Ciel didn't give either an explanation as she pushed Lizzie aside, bolting for the manor. Sebastian and Hannah? No surely he wouldn't betray me, Sebastian swore to me he never would...
Ciel gasped as she entered the manor, running past Tanaka without so much as a word. She ran straight for the servants quarters and held her breath when she saw Sebastian's door ajar. She quietly approached, her heart breaking in her chest when she heard the sounds only a woman would make in the midst of pleasure. SHe peered in the crack and clasped a hand over her mouth, tears flowing to her wide eyes. Sebastian had Hannah pinned against the wall, his hand buried in her massive chest. Hannah's face showed her pleasure, Sebastian's back was to her but she knew he must've been enjoying himself. She felt her rage as she grabbed the choker at her neck, shoving the door open she called his name.
"Sebastian!" She heard Hannah gasp and look at her, Sebastian turned with his red eyes only to immediately let Hannah go, who tumbled to the ground.
"Ciel. I-" She waved her free hand, not caring about the tears flowing as he quickly cut off.
"Enough! How dare you do this to me! Did I honestly mean nothing to you?" The look of pain on his face made her even angrier. How dare he have such an innocent look. She growled and ripped the choker off her neck, tossing it so it hit him in right in his face. "Take this accursed thing back!" He looked at her with those eyes that she had loved to see but now she saw his anger at her, he opened his mouth once more to speak as he began to reach for the choker that had fallen to his feet. She balled her first and held her head high, refusing to show him how much he hurt her. "I do not want to see you for the rest of this week, that is an order!" Sebastian reached for her as she turned, running from him, from the pain. She didn't stop when she heard the others calling her name, knowing that she didn't want anyone in this state.
She ran back to her old room and slammed the door, collapsing against it as it hit her. The room was deserted save for the furniture she had left here. That apartment had been built for her to escape reality and have a few moments of peace with Sebastian. Sebastian... She laughed as she thought about it, of course she was so stupid. She had truly believed his words, but tonight she had been shown his true colors. Leaning her head back against the door she slowly removed the eye-patch, remembering what the Undertaker had warned her about. He may say you have his heart and soul but remember a demon has neither, they grow with hunger and only wish to devour that of which is sealed to be her knees to her she smiled sadly, it was almost as if her heart had fully shattered within her chest. She hung her head and whispered, knowing that Sebastian would be the only one to hear her since he was always listening for her.
"I suppose it's not meant to be..." She cried quietly, not noticing the storm raging outside her room window.