Much Coveted Servility

Chapter 3

Early May, 1889

The London Library, founded in 1841, was currently England's largest resource of literature and historical documentation. It had been blessed with the luck of attracting the attention of the cream of the crop in high society – wealthy barons, earls, nobles, and talented writers donated towards its construction. For this very reason, Ciel believed that if he needed to find an obscure piece of information, this library would be the place to look. The mysterious name on the locket haunted him, as did the thought about why the Undertaker would show sentimentality by keeping a piece of jewelry. He hypothesized, at first, that the lockets belonged to his previous victims – perhaps people that he hadn't wanted to forget.

Is a Shinigami even capable of such feelings? – this question was quite an obstacle. A sudden jerk snapped him out of his reverie. His carriage had arrived at St. James Square. Sebastian hopped out first and assisted him down the steps. Outside, a freezing wind made Ciel wrap his cloak tighter around his body. He shivered and coughed a few times to clear his throat.

"Sebastian," the boy held out his hand. Without missing a beat, the demon handed him his cane – a beautifully crafted rod of black-lacquered ivory with gold accents. Tipping up his hat so he could see better, the young Earl examined the library building. Towering three stories upwards, the library was an impressive sight indeed. The entrance consisted of a pair of wooden double-doors set in a wall of rain-soaked, white, stone. In front, a sizeable courtyard sported a garden with several types trees, bushes, and flowers. He'd only ever set foot in it once before – long ago, when his predecessors were still alive. Seeing what renovations his society's generous donation had purchased was an activity he looked forward to.

Motioning for his butler to follow, Ciel walked towards the doors at a lazy pace, enjoying the fresh air despite what would normally be considered somber weather. He watched children running in the streets, laughing gaily as they romped around in puddles of mud and rain water. A part of him wondered what that would be like. The heady smell of meat pastries wafted towards him, reminding him that he hadn't eaten much for breakfast that morning. All around, the city of London buzzed with life and commotion. Newspaper boys solicited their goods at the top of their voice, luxurious carriages zoomed by, and Gentlemen strolled down the streets with their Ladies smiling as they windows shopped. Reluctantly, the young Earl admitted that sometimes London was a nice place to be.

Sebastian held the heavy library doors open for him as he entered. With practiced movements, the butler helped his Master shrug out of his thick, wool, cloak and deposited it on a nearby coat hanger. His hat was also removed. The air inside the building smelled like stale parchment and dust. Ciel made his way over to the front desk and rang the bell for service. A few minutes later, a young woman appeared from behind a bookshelf in the back of the room. When she made it to the desk, she took off her pair of heavy spectacles and smiled.

"Good morning, My Lord. My name is Andrea Lowell, and I am one of the librarians here. How may I assist you?" Despite her drab clothing and ink-stained fingers, Ciel thought she was rather pretty. He couldn't be sure, but she looked to be in her early twenties. She put her hair up in a tight bun on top of her head, but a few brown locks fell forward to rest on her cheeks. Sparkling, vivid, blue eyes looked at him with genuine kindness – something that was difficult to come by in his experience. In some ways, her aura reminded him of Lizzy's. The young Earl inclined his head respectfully.

"I am looking for an old newspaper from a particular date. I assume this facility keeps such things on hand?"

"We do, indeed, Sir!" she replied enthusiastically. "Please, follow me." Ciel's heeled shoes tapped neatly on the hardwood floor as the woman lead them to the back of the library. The main hall itself was rather narrow, but four sets of stairs rose up to allow visitors to reach the second floor. Overall, the library gave the illusion that its walls were made entirely of books. One, large window decorated the very end of the hall, where a set of lavish curtains were draped aside to reveal a stunning view of the city. "May I inquire as to which date My Lord is looking for?"

"July of 1866." For a moment, the girl paused in mid-step, nearly tripping over her skirt. As Ciel raised a brow in surprise, she recovered.

"I see," she affirmed hesitantly. "Well, I think My Lord will find our collection quite extensive." His eyes shot sideways towards Sebastian. Apparently, the demon had also caught the librarian's reaction. He pressed his fingers to his lips to show that they should just go along with the flow for the moment. Eventually, Andrea led them to a walled off section of the library. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a small, golden, key and inserted it into the lock of the door in front of her. The room was dark. As she showed them in, Andrea pulled out a box of matches from her skirt and lit a few oil lamps that rested on a set of desks. The walls here were covered in bookshelves with a few display cases littered here and there. The young woman immediately apologized for the mess, explaining that due to recent renovations, this section had been abruptly moved to allow the workers space. Ciel pursed his lips as he examined the surrounding clutter, preparing himself for a long workday.

"I'm so sorry, My Lord. I don't think I caught your name." Her eyes flitted over the ring on his thumb briefly.

"Phantomhive," the Earl declared proudly. "Earl Ciel Phantomhive." The young woman blushed and hurried to curtsy.

"My apologies, My Lord. I didn't recognize you!" For a moment, Ciel stared down at her bowed head. Naturally, she hadn't. First, most saw him as nothing more than a wandering child who'd gotten away from his parents' keen eyes. Second, those who did recognize the Phantomhive name knew only his predecessors. The situation irritated him to no end, but he supposed that - in time - he would get used to it. Appearances could be deceiving. While his childish looks were a cause of many misunderstandings, they also gave him an edge in some cases.

"Leave us," the young Earl commanded. "My butler will fetch you if we need further assistance." When she slipped out of the room with a silent bow, he turned back to the shelves. "Sebastian, light as many lamps as you can without burning this place down. If I'm going to find anything around here, I need more light."

"Yes, My Lord." Ciel forced his thoughts away from the demon, focusing on finding the correct newspaper. Fortunately, most of them were bound in leather books. The coverings served to protect them from damaging elements such as the constant moisture - and mildew - that pervaded all buildings in England. As he leafed through each one and tossed it aside, he felt his frustration mount. None of the books were in any remote chronological order. At this rate, he would be stuck here for hours. After shifting his weight between his feet to alleviate some of their soreness, he picked up a few volumes and took a seat on one of the chairs. Though he turned his nose up at the dust on it at first, the tingling in his heels won over his distaste for dirtying his tunic. The shoes were another product of London's constantly shifting fashion. He'd purchased them on Lizzy's whim. Higher heels meant he would stand taller than her, but in turn he suffered from severe discomfort.

"Are you alright, Young Master?" Sebastian's voice cut into his thoughts. He looked up from his chosen work place, surprised to see that the butler was standing directly above him. In the flickering lamp light, he looked more pale than usual. In stark contrast, his red eyes glimmered like brilliant rubies. The image brought up things he hadn't meant to think of this day - nightmares he swore to leave buried at the manor in favor of having a productive few hours to himself. Doing his best to conceal his sudden uneasiness, he waved him off.

"I'm fine." He gasped when Sebastian's gloved hand settled against his cheek.

"You don't have a fever, at least. It's much too soon for you to be out and about in such hideous weather, Young Master."

"If you have time to talk of ridiculous things, Sebastian," Ciel chided as he brushed aside the demon's hand, "then I have something for you to do. See what you can find out about the date I mentioned." His mind strayed to the young librarian's odd reaction.

"The girl?" Sebastian asked, a mischievous note in his voice. Ciel glanced up at him.

"You know what to do."

"Yes, My Lord." With that, he disappeared. In the wake of his absence, Ciel felt a little empty. He hated the odd ache he experienced in his chest when Sebastian left his side. Naturally, he blamed his recurring nightmares. His discomposure could be explained with logic. Sebastian was his butler - his servant, his strongest pawn, and someone he could trust. No matter the situation, by contract he could never betray him or lie. Anyone would be upset at the prospect of losing such a piece. Certainly, he wasn't truly lonely. Certainly, his feelings didn't go deeper than that. As he continued to assure himself of this, his movements became more hurried. Soon, a rather sizable pile of bound newspapers sat next to him. Just as he prepared to give in and call for Sebastian's demonic assistance, he finally found what he'd been searching for -

13 July, 1866

The paper was covered in massive, dark brown, age spots. The corners were wrinkled. Clearly, this issue had seen better days. A few headlines spoke of major news in the world, but none really caught his attention. He leafed through several pages, squinting to read the tiny font on the obituaries. At last, he came to the last page. From the very bottom corner, a headline jumped out at him in bold, black, letters:

Misfortune Strikes on Friday the 13th! Storm Claims Six Ships Off New Zealand Coast!

Six ships at once? Why wasn't this a major headline? The gears in his mind began to turn more vigorously. Despite his rush of excitement, however, the article disappointed him. Suspiciously, it only consisted of two paragraphs that mentioned vague information. Apparently, a mysterious storm sank several cargo ships carrying cedar in various places off the coast of New Zealand. Though the ships were all lost beyond assistance, only ten casualties were reported. The author then glossed over the entire event by jokingly blaming it on the misfortunes that normally occurred on Friday the 13th. The incredulity of such a large event not making the front page or attracting more attention bothered him. For a disaster of such magnitude to produce only ten deaths was also quite the mystery.

What about Claudia P? - Ciel turned to the obituaries from that day. As he suspected, her name wasn't mentioned. Not that this signified much, for not everyone who died appeared in the obituaries. Still, if Claudia P. had been a Phantomhive or another figure from nobility, surely her name would have cropped up somewhere. Looking around to make sure he was alone, Ciel silently tore out the newspaper page, folded it up, and tucked it into the lapel of his tunic. Fortunately, he already knew where he would go next. The paper had mentioned that all the sunken ships were cargo ships. Though the event itself had occurred years ago, there was one person who would be able to tell him anything he needed to know about lost trade ships.

Lau.

Loathe as he was to see the man's smug face and watch him gloat over a pipe of tobacco, he had no other options. Lau was a very useful pawn, albeit an unpredictable one at times. He imagined how the conversation would play out as he doused the surrounding oil lamps. Suddenly, a thought struck him. Where was his butler? Still investigating? Because he couldn't be certain that the demon hadn't come across a lead, he hesitated to summon him. Instead, he picked his way through the library in search of him, peeking around each towering bookshelf one by one. The sun shone brightly through the large window in the main hall, evidence that he'd been working for over an hour. Odd. It didn't usually take Sebastian this long to do anything. Ciel passed the last corner of the library when he heard it -

"Please, wait...I truly don't know..." The whisper was so faint that, had the library not been deathly quiet, he probably wouldn't have heard it. The sound had come from what resembled a storage room. No lights were on inside.

"Are you sure about that?" Ciel's blood froze. He would have recognized that voice even if he'd been blindfolded. Eyes wide, he crept towards the doorway, his senses on high alert. He didn't want to be seen, so trying to look inside the room wasn't an option. Instead, he stayed around the corner and listened. From within, he heard shuffling - the sound of fabric shifting. A feminine gasp. An all-too-familiar chuckle. "Hurry, now. My Master doesn't like to be kept waiting."

"But, like I said. He only came in once, and I didn't see his face," the same feminine voice protested. "Please, Sir. We can't...not here..."

"Why not, Andrea?" Sebastian asked in a silky murmur. "No one can see us here. We are completely..." something fell to the ground in a swish of cotton, "...utterly..." the sound of a sharp gasp, "...alone." A ragged moan. Ciel felt his face catch fire. For the first time, the young Earl felt entirely conflicted about making a decision. Should he stay and continue listening to this spectacle? Or should he move away and...and what? Give his butler privacy to seduce a woman in public? On some level, he wondered if he should feel outraged. The act itself was scandalous, but he trusted Sebastian. Didn't he? The demon wouldn't be engaging in such behavior unless there was a good reason for it. He tried to focus on the intelligible bits of conversation among the moans and sighs. Apparently, the woman knew something important. As the seconds passed, his hands clenched into fists at his sides. He couldn't see what was happening; his ignorance to such matters didn't help. Ciel could only envision one thing for certain - Sebastian's cunning smirk. No matter the situation, no matter how passionate the woman's feelings were or how much she lost herself in the moment, Sebastian would never be lost. The demon would never allow himself to indulge in the moment or lose sight of his goals. He was always in control - always smiling.

"What is it, Andrea? You look flushed. Should I stop?" More shuffling. Another gasp. "Your skin is so soft. Let me taste it while you tell me more about this gentleman visitor." Ciel couldn't suppress his curiosity. Before he could stop himself, he peeked around the corner. His pupils dilated to adjust to the darkness. Within, he saw two figures moving. Sebastian pressed the librarian woman they'd met earlier against the wall. Her hair bun had fallen loose. From his angle, he could see her shoulders quivering as she struggled against the demon's grip. Sebastian, to his surprise, was facing him. But, for the moment, he didn't seem to notice his Master. His attention was completely focused on the woman's face. At some point, he'd unbuttoned the front of her blouse. Her bare chest pressed up against his silk shirt. As the young Earl surmised, the butler was indeed smiling.

"He came to...to...ask about the Earl."

"And?" Sebastian drawled.

"Earlier...he saw the Earl and asked me...what he was looking for..."

"And what did you tell him?"

"Just that...ah!...newspapers..."

"Who was it?"

"Not sure...wore black...long, silver, hair."

"Good," the demon purred. "Now your reward." It was not the first kiss Ciel had ever seen between adults, though what he witnessed now would haunt him for some time to come. Not because of how inappropriate the scene itself was, but because of a string of seemingly inconsequential elements that caught his attention. The way the woman's face was reflected in Sebastian's eyes; the way the demon's strong hands kept her from falling when her knees went weak; the way the woman seemed to drown in a pleasure he couldn't understand. Separately, these things posed no threat to Ciel's calm. Yet, together, they appealed to a side of him that he couldn't always control -

His curiosity.

Suddenly, Ciel felt a powerful urge to tear them apart. He couldn't rationalize the impulse with logic, so he was able to ignore it. But, that didn't stop the unpleasant emotions that rampaged through him. In many other instances, he'd wrapped his arms around Sebastian's neck like that when his butler carried him. He'd been that close to him - had touched his face, his clothes, even his hair. The same gestures as this woman. Yet, not. Could a touch really bring so much pleasure? The only pleasant sensations he could use as a reference from memory were physicals ones, such as eating sweets or taking hot baths after a long day. Yet that didn't seem to be the same kind of pleasure that this woman was experiencing. And from what? From touching her lips to Sebastian's? As an afterthought, his hand came up to brush across his mouth.

Nothing.

Did it have to be someone of the opposite sex? He'd seen plenty of adults engage in such illicit behavior, especially when he visited Lau. Up until this moment, he'd never wondered about why they did so. He assumed it was all just a part of being an adult, an unnecessary waste of time that people with too few responsibilities partook in. But, the way the woman's face flushed a bright crimson, the way Sebastian's mouth tilted in a lustful, dangerous smirk, the way his partner sighed, and the way the demon's eyes glowed in the darkness...the effect of witnessing it all made Ciel's breath catch in his throat. Would it feel like that if he kissed Elizabeth? He shrugged the image away almost immediately. No, he wouldn't disrespect Lizzy with such thoughts.

This is ridiculous - he decided. No longer willing to be a part of this insanity, he cleared his throat. The woman would have jumped out of her skin had Sebastian not been holding her so firmly. She gave a little shriek and hurried to cover herself, spouting a long train of unintelligible apologies and excuses. Meanwhile, Sebastian looked entirely composed. He looked at Ciel with eyes devoid of either surprise or remorse. That's when the young Earl understood. No doubt about it. The bastard had known that he was standing there the entire time! The blush on his cheeks intensified tenfold. Ciel wasn't sure what to feel first - shock, embarrassment, or fury. Once she finished straightening her clothing, the girl rushed out of the room, too mortified to even glance at the intruder.

"I hope you had a good reason for that," Ciel bit out when they were alone.

"In fact I did," the butler replied serenely.

"And?" Ciel urged past a wave of impatience.

"It seems we were followed here." With a snap, he straightened his own clothes to perfection and readjusted his gloves. "I also found an item you may take interest in, Young Master." Reaching up, he plucked a small book off of a shelf on the nearby wall, dusted it off, and offered it to the young Earl.

"What's this?" For the moment, Ciel decided to let go of his anger and focus on the task at hand. He thumbed through aged pages of what appeared to be a journal.

"I assume the Young Master already knows about the large amount of ships that sank on the specific date you mentioned." Ciel nodded distractedly. "This journal was recovered from one of the ships along with a mass amount of translated foreign books."

"I thought they were cargo ships," Ciel stated, more than a little peeved that his butler already knew more than he did about the situation.

"All but one. It seems that one of the casualties was a wealthy nobleman from France. He was transporting a rare collection of written works to his new home when misfortune struck."

"And since he's dead now..." The boy frowned at the text. "Do we have a name?"

"Even better." Sebastian looked pleased with himself. "It seems that he has relatives here in England. In fact, one of his distant cousins is a Baron."

"Which one?"

"Baron Ralph Constantine. Have you heard this name before, Young Master?" Ciel pondered for a moment then shook his head. "He isn't very well known because he travels so much that he is rarely in residence. The only lead I was able to find was the name of his young son, who is attending the famous Weston College."

"Weston?" The young Earl looked surprised.

"Indeed. It would seem that he is a fifth year there now."

"That complicates things. It's not as simple as just going there and asking to see someone." He continued to flip through journal pages until Sebastian stepped towards him and leaned forward.

"Allow me, Young Master." Placing one hand under Ciel's to prop up the book, Sebastian licked his thumb and began to turn the pages. Ciel felt like his heart had stopped. From this angle, the demon's lips were so close that he could feel him breathing. His luminous eyes moved across lines of text, intensely focused. Desperately, Ciel tore his gaze away from his butler's face and forced himself to stare at the journal. Inwardly, he chided himself severely. This wasn't the first time Sebastian had been this close to him. In fact, on countless other occasions, he'd stood even closer. So, why was he suddenly so aware of him? Was it because of what he'd seen him do to the young librarian? "Here it is," the demon cut into his thoughts. Ciel glanced at the spot he pointed to and immediately went white as a sheet.

"That's..." he couldn't bring himself to finish the sentence. There, masterfully sketched, was the symbol that had been branded into him so many years ago. Seeing it again made his heart leap into his throat. Impossible.

"I think that we will have to pay this Constantine boy a visit at school. Don't you, Young Master?"