Chapter Eighteen
Butler, Presenting. Bride, Protective
"Someone… Someone…" Ciel muttered, his head upon his knees as he sat in the cage, covered with nothing but his soiled shirt.
The eyes of the cult members stared back at him behind their masks.
"Anyone, I don't care… Just…"
Marianne struggled and fought as he was brought to the altar. She screamed along with him when the dagger was slammed into his abdomen, a fountain of scarlet gushing from his mouth.
"You have summoned me here." Sebastian said, completely shrouded in his demon form. "That can never be changed, and nothing sacrificed can be regained."
He smirked, magenta eyes glinting in the blackness of his face.
"Now choose."
Ciel willingly took the demon's hand. His right eye streamed with blood as the contract mark became emblazed upon his iris.
"I…"
Sebastian dressed within the confines of his room, tightening his tie and pulling on his tailcoat.
"A butler's mornings begin early."
He pulled on a pair of clean white gloves.
"He must start work before anyone else, ironing his master's newspaper and preparing the morning tea."
The demon performed those tasks, and went out to the back door to fuss the black cat that lurked outside. Along the way, he awakened Marianne and waited patiently for her to come out.
"Good morning," she said with a smile, kissing his cheek.
"Of course, a butler does take time for his mate when he can."
Sebastian smiled.
"Shall we?"
Together they made their way down the corridor with the tea trolley.
"A butler does his utmost to ensure that his master enjoys a consistent and comfortable daily life."
They walked into Ciel's bedchamber. Marianne went over to open the curtains while Sebastian delivered the trolley to the boy's bedside. Ciel was sound asleep, almost looking cherub-like in slumber.
"That is the butler aesthetic!"
The demon bowed low over his master.
"It is time to wake up, Young Master."
Ciel groaned from his slumber, blinking his sleepy eyes irritably and pulling himself upright with a grunt. Marianne poured a cup of tea for him and placed it in his hands as Sebastian gathered a blanket from the cupboard.
"Ceylon, hmm?"
The demon chuckled.
"Sharp as ever. I brought you Ringtons today."
He wrapped the blanket around Ciel's shoulders and gave him the newspaper. Ciel was quiet as he read, sipping his tea. The main story was on a business man who had acquired a long established tea manufacturer.
Marianne was obliged to leave the room while Sebastian dressed the young master. The demon rattled off the schedule for that day.
"Today you have a dance lesson with Mrs Mayerl in the morning. After lunch, you'll check over proposals from the Funtom Company's toy and confectionary divisions. At six 'o' clock, you'll meet with Mr Cedric Brandel of the Brandel Tea Company and Mr Lau of the trading company Kunlun."
Ciel looked at him for a moment and paused in thought.
"Brandel Tea?"
Sebastian slipped Ciel's jacket over his shoulders.
"They are planning a tea salon, and they would like Funtom products to sell to children."
As he assisted him with tying the eye patch over Ciel's left eye, the boy spoke up.
"We can't refuse an acquaintance of Lau's point blank." Ciel smirked. "Give him every hospitality."
Sebastian bowed.
"Yes, my Lord."
The three of them walked down the corridor.
"I must say, I'm not looking forward to it." Ciel complained.
Marianne shook her head and tapped him on the shoulder.
"Don't be rude! You can't cancel meetings on the day! Or lessons for that matter!" she chastised.
The boy scowled and glared at her out of the corner of his eye.
"How did you know it was the dance lesson I wanted to cancel and not the meeting?"
Sebastian smirked.
"Because you are utterly helpless at it. Let us hope you don't make a fool of yourself at the Queen's Ball next month."
"Don't be snide." Ciel retorted.
Sebastian walked ahead and pushed the next door open.
"Then this morning's dance lesson will proceed as planned," he smiled.
Marianne and Sebastian went about serving Ciel his breakfast.
"Today's breakfast is a ham and grapefruit salad, poached salmon, a roast vegetable soup, and croissants."
The boy nodded his head, sliced into the succulent pink fish, and took a bite.
"One, two, three! One, two, three!"
Ciel was as awkward as they came when he moved his feet in time with his teacher's beat.
"My Lord, your footwork is jerky. A little more grace, please."
He winced at the suggestion.
"One, two, three! One, two, three!"
The one small mercy for the young earl was that neither Sebastian or Marianne were watching him, although he suspected it was so Marianne could go most of the day without having to wear her wig.
Meanwhile, downstairs, Sebastian was speaking with the other servants, who all stood in a line before him.
"Now, today's tasks…" he said. "MeyRin, collect and launder all the sheets."
"Yes, Sir!" MeyRin saluted.
"Finny, tend to the plants in the greenhouse."
"Right!" Finny cheered.
"Bard, prepare some bread dough."
"Leave it to me!" smiled Bard.
Sebastian then turned to Tanaka, who was sat on the floor drinking tea in his chibi form.
"Tanaka, please act as usual."
"Ho, ho, ho." The old man chuckled.
Finally, he turned to Marianne.
"Marianne, you shall be assisting me."
He looked at them all with a stern expression.
"Also, we're expecting guests today."
Bard brightened up immediately.
"Then I, the chef, will make my special dinner-!"
He was interrupted when Sebastian produced a rolling pin and held before his face as though it was the tip of a blade.
"Therefore, you three please stay quietly out of sight, and don't do anything uncalled-for." Sebastian said with a shit-eating smile. "And I do mean quietly."
The demon handed Bard the rolling pin and clapped his hands.
"All right, to your stations!"
The three of them hurried away as quickly as they could, extremely terrified of his wrath. Marianne chuckled quietly.
"You really enjoy scaring them out of their wits, don't you?" she said.
Sebastian smirked.
"Not at all. I merely don't want to have to clean up their messes, or you for that matter. If they do become scared, it is simply their own doing."
By the afternoon, Ciel was going through the Funtom proposals, and was already needing a rush of sugar. Sebastian and Marianne were cleaning his study when he made his request.
"I want something sweet. A cake, or something."
The demon chuckled.
"You shouldn't spoil your appetite before your dinner meeting."
Marianne nodded her head as she delivered a tea tray to him.
"I want something sweet now." Ciel demanded, his head in his arms.
The girl smiled and placed the tray down on his desk.
"Then I hope you will make do with some hot chocolate. There's some caramel syrup and nuts for you as well. Enjoy your snack."
Ciel pouted as the two butlers left the room.
Sebastian bent down and pressed his lips to Marianne's cheek, letting his tongue slip out for a moment and tickling her blushing flesh.
"Now, let's start preparing to entertain, shall we?"
They went about their work with as much precision as a demon and a human can do.
"First, dish selection, which suits a meeting about children's goods."
Marianne picked up a plate with green, blue and pink decoration going around the edge and handed it to Sebastian.
"Next, polish the silverware until it gleams."
The demon was very efficient with that task, since he did it regularly to get rid of the bloodstains they often procured.
Just then, a scream echoed loudly throughout the house. The two mates looked at one another.
"That voice…" Sebastian muttered.
"MeyRin?" Marianne wondered.
They went upstairs, opened the door, and found themselves staring into a sea of bubbles.
"…"
"…"
MeyRin popped up out of the bubbles, barely distinguishable.
"Sebastian! Marianne!" she cried, shaking off the bubbles.
"What's all this?" Sebastian asked.
MeyRin smiled.
"I used thirty cups of detergent, just like the instructions said, and now the bubbles are out of control, yes! I don't understand!"
Marianne rubbed her brow awkwardly.
"Oh dear… You may want to check those instructions again…"
MeyRin took a closer look, but the numbers and letters just kept swinging back and forth in front of her glasses.
"It says three cups, not thirty." Sebastian elaborated.
He rolled his eyes.
Honestly, far-sightedness isn't sufficient to excuse what a fool-
"Rather, what a scatterbrain you are." He sighed heavily. "Stand back."
Marianne took MeyRin out of the room, while the demon swept away the bubbles at rapid speed, laundered all the sheets, and hung them all out to dry.
"That should do it." Sebastian said, gazing out at the fluttering linens. "You clean up the laundry room, please."
MeyRin saluted.
"R-Right!"
Sebastian looked out and watched the bubbles dance before his eyes, spotting something in the distance.
"For goodness sake," he muttered. "It's always when I'm busy…"
Sebastian and Marianne went back to the dining room, Sebastian with a bouquet of white flowers in his hands, and set about their tasks.
"Next, I'll set the table."
He threw a large white tablecloth over the table. Marianne went to smooth out the creases while the demon trimmed the flower for the centrepiece.
"The flower arrangement will be a refined mix of snowdrops and Christmas roses, to evoke winter."
The beautiful white flowers were set in the centre of the table with the plates and silverware arranged with perfect precision.
"I'll fold the napkins in a rose-like shape."
Sebastian was busy assisting his mate with the art of napkin folding when they heard a most dreadful scream from the direction of the greenhouse. Marianne sweatdropped.
"Oh dear… Not again."
They arrived at the greenhouse and were welcomed by an overwhelming heat.
"Finny!" Marianne cried out.
"Why on Earth is it so hot?" Sebastian asked.
Poor Finny was positively weeping. He went up and clung to Sebastian like a limpet.
"I'm so sorry! It looked like the roses were about to bloom, so I tried to speed them up by lighting the stove…" he explained through his tears.
A throb mark bulged on the demon's head.
To carry a stove out here, you'd have to be brainless-
"Or rather, brawny. It can't be helped."
He pulled at his gloves and immediately set to work.
Marianne took out the stove with Finny's help, and the two of them let Sebastian deal with the problem by bringing out all of the rose plant pots, along with all the dead roses.
"What a shame," sighed Sebastian. "If not for this, we'd have the pleasant smell of roses…"
He turned to the gardener.
"Finny, do the rest of the clean-up."
Finny nodded his head.
"R-Right!"
Sebastian and Marianne walked away, the girl keeping her hand in his as he muttered petulantly under his breath.
"For goodness sake, what a pain."
She winced when she realised he was falling into a dark mood.
"At least they keep things interesting, right?" she said, hoping to ease the ominous look on his face. "You would be bored otherwise."
He smirked.
"Maybe… You certainly keep me entertained."
Finally, it was time to deal with everything in the kitchen. Sebastian took the pheasant out from under his arm, filleted it, and got to work.
"Most important of all is the main dish. I'll sauté freshly caught pheasant with a rosemary and sage paste…"
Sebastian sprinkled the pheasant fillets with pepper, and placed one in the skillet with the simmered herb paste. Marianne watched him with rapt attention.
"And I'll pair it with a Grand Cru Champagne…"
Marianne retrieved this from the wine cellar.
However, from behind…
BOOM!
Bard had shot at a high window with a massive flamethrower, and the room was filled with black smoke. When it cleared, he was sporting an afro. Marianne pinched the bridge of her nose.
"Bard… Right, please explain yourself so you don't get into too much trouble with Sebastian," she said.
Bard smiled happily.
"I thought, since guests were comin', I'd treat them to a new menu…"
The girl sweatdropped.
"How many times have we told you that cooking doesn't require actual firepower?"
Sebastian, having emerged silently from the kitchen, was in complete agreement.
You're a colossal fool-
"Or rather, a fool!"
Marianne stared at him with wide eyes.
He didn't even really rephrase that… Bard is in big trouble this time…
Sebastian looked through the large hole in the wall and sighed.
"Again?"
Outside, Sebastian handed Bard a load of bricks.
"Use these to mend it. Now, until you are finished…"
While the cook struggled with the weight of the bricks, the demon took the flamethrower with little resistance.
"I'm confiscating this."
When he was back inside, he handed the flamethrower to Marianne.
"Can you hide this while I get back to the meal? The usual place should be fine," he told her.
"You mean it's fine because only we know where it is and can get to it?" she smiled.
"Exactly."
Marianne merely rolled her eyes and took the device upstairs, the heat coming from the container warming her back.
Sebastian sighed heavily.
"For goodness sake, I am getting nothing done," he complained while pulling on the edges of his gloves. He checked his pocket watch. "The guests will be here any moment. I must hurry."
Meanwhile, in the darkness of an oncoming carriage, Lau and Ran Mao sat opposite their acquaintance, Cedric Brandel. Brandel was a man of average stature and looks, with brown hair reaching down to his collar, and wild amber eyes that seemed to contradict his entirely put-together appearance.
"It's almost time. Are you ready?" Lau asked.
His companion chuckled.
"What is it?"
"Yes, I see it. This will work." Brandel answered. "Today, I shall succeed! Even if I'm up against Earl Phantomhive!"
Lau smiled.
"I don't think you need to get so worked up."
Brandel was chastised.
"Yes, of course, quite right."
"Though if you let your guard down, you may get bitten." Lau warned him with a glint in his eye. "I look forward to finding out what you'll show me today, my Lord…"
The carriage pulled up in front of the Phantomhive manor, the lights flickering prettily through the glass of the windows and through the open doors. When Brandel, Lau and Ran Mao were stood in the entrance foyer, Ciel came down the stairs to greet them.
"Thank you for coming today. I am Ciel Phantomhive, the current earl."
Brandel bowed.
"And I am Cedric Brandel. Pleased to make your acquaintance."
They shook each other's hands with cordial smiles. Sebastian and Marianne, wearing her wig once again, watched on quietly.
"I never imagined you were so young, my Lord." Brandel commented.
Lau laughed from behind them.
"I told you, no need to get worked up. He's so small and cute!"
The boy glared at the Asian man out of the corner of his uncovered eye before regaining his composure.
"I've had dinner prepared for us," he said as he gestured towards the dining room. "This way, please."
Sebastian popped the cork of the champagne bottle, and poured the bubbling liquid into a glass, which stood at the top of a pyramid of glasses. Trickling gold spilled over the rim and filled the glasses below. Marianne watched the demon with a smile as she held the ladder steady for him, even if she didn't need to. Brandel clapped his hands together.
"Oh! How lovely."
Ciel smirked.
"I thought simply setting out aperitifs lacked flair."
Just then MeyRin came rushing into the room.
"Good evening, yes! Here are some hors d'oeuvres…"
The poor maid was shaking; her glasses didn't make things any easier either. As she walked forward, a booted foot stepped on one of her loose laces. The tray went flying towards the glass tower, and knocked many of them out of their places. Marianne cried out in shock.
Sebastian's eyes flashed. He tossed the champagne bottle into the air and begun catching the glasses and all of their liquid. His spinning could have rivalled many a dancer and Marianne watched him in awe. Setting the glasses down into two smaller pyramids, Sebastian finished his incredible feat by kneeling down and catching the neck of the bottle and balancing the hors d'oeuvres on top of it.
"What just happened?" Brandel asked, blinking audibly.
Sebastian merely gave a shit-eating smile.
"Pardon me. This brand is a bit on the bubbly side, so we've given it a nice decanting."
He got to his feet and gestured towards the chairs.
"Please have a seat, and I'll bring it to you."
Ciel led the way, and as Lau and Ran Mao walked past, the man said.
"Good show! You'd leap to stardom in any acrobatics troupe."
Sebastian laughed.
"Me, a star? You jest." A smirk then spread across his face. "I am simply one Hell of a butler."
Marianne chuckled under her breath at his words.
Over dinner, Brandel was very complimentary of the proceedings.
"My Lord, your home provides no end of surprises. The manor is so beautiful; I can hardly believe it was in ashes over two years ago."
Ciel scowled and stared down at his dinner plate.
"This makes for dull dinner conversation. Let's get down to business."
Brandel of course was shocked by the abrupt change of topic, but accepted it with a strained smile as he took a sip of his dark wine.
"I'd like my new company to market to children for sustained profitability. And since all of the children of Europe love Funtom, I'd like to work with you."
The boy smirked, his fingers steeped under his chin.
"Ah yes. After all, children are better judges of both art and food than adults realise."
"Seeing you makes me even more convinced, my Lord. It must be the secret to your company's success in that market."
Ciel eyed him quietly, ran his finger over the rim of his wine glass.
"Oh? You're implying that I'm a child, and that's why my company succeeds?" he drawled.
Brandel was quick to protest.
"N-No! Not at all!"
"I'm joking." Ciel sniggered.
The man laughed.
"You're a wicked one, my Lord!"
Time passed slowly, but eventually people were beginning their preparations to retire. Lau was washing his hands in the bathroom when Brandel came through the door, muttering under his breath.
"Damned brat, making a fool of his elders…" He then spoke directly to Lau. "Lau! Is that boy really the Queen's Guard Dog?"
"Of course," laughed Lau. "Would this face really lie to you?"
Brandel walked through to the bedchamber and sat down on the sofa, a cigarette between his teeth and a lighter in his hand.
"A ruthless hunter of all who oppose him, known as 'the Queen's Guard Dog,' 'the order of England's underworld,' and a 'villainous noble'!" he said. He lit his cigarette and blew out a swirl of smoke. "An impressive set of nicknames. We could move weapons so cheaply using trade routes developed for tea, but no port will let me unload them for fear of the Queen's Guard Dog!"
He drew another puff of his cigarette.
"Are you sure you're not all just mindlessly accepting it? They say they don't even know what happens when you oppose the Guard Dog. I'd wager he's nothing, really."
Throughout his speech, Lau was watching him with narrowed eyes.
"What exactly are you planning?" he asked.
Brandel smiled.
"I see it. I see it! As of tonight at eight…"
The image of many men shooting their way through the mansion flashed through his mind, and a smirk spread across his face.
"…England's underworld will have a new order."
He walked away with a smile, smoking billowing behind him. Lau smiled.
"Well! I'll certainly look forward to that."
Brandel walked down the corridor, and then spotted a door slightly ajar. He reached for the handle, but was stopped when Sebastian opened the door for him.
"Oh, what happened to Mr Lau?" the demon asked.
Brandel walked inside the room.
"He excused himself, something about business he needed to attend to."
Ciel, who was seated in his chair with Marianne attending him, sighed irritably.
"As usual, he has no consideration."
Marianne presented Brandel with a covered silver tray as he took his seat.
"What a shame. We have a sweet to suggest for your tea salon," she smiled.
"Ah! Now I'm curious!"
She lifted the lid. Stood on the platter was a reddish brown cake surrounded by a gold crown. She stepped back, allowing Sebastian to take the lead.
"A galette des rois. It's conventional, but we've done it up with a thick crème de marron to go with your flavoured tea," he explained, taking a slice and placing it in front of Brandel. "According to tradition, one slice contains a doll called 'la feve', and whoever finds it receives this crown, along with God's blessings."
Marianne chuckled quietly at the subtle sarcasm the demon used when describing God's blessing, knowing that some things he did were not at all a blessing. Ciel leant back in his chair and smiled.
"Just the thing for children, who like games of chance like dice or drawing straws," he commented.
Brandel leant forward on his elbows and nodded his head.
"I see, a sweet with a game to it. Brats sure think up things no adult would."
Ciel glared at him.
"What?" he hissed.
Finally, he'd had enough of playing nice. Brandel leapt to his feet and snarled at the boy.
"'Queen's Guard Dog' or not, you're just a brat trying to show off! The two things I hate most are cocky brats and bets that don't make money!"
The clock chimed eight 'o' clock.
"Drop dead, Guard Dog!"
He then ducked under the table and waited for the chaos to begin.
Bursting into the room came men armed with large guns, who immediately opened fire on the room. Marianne dived for Ciel as a bullet hit him and threw his body and her own to the floor. Sebastian meanwhile was pierced with bullet after bullet, a rain of blood exploding from his torso. Glass shattered, ornaments were smashed, and curtains were shredded. The room was a scene of complete desolation only fit for a warzone.
Under the table, Brandel laughed to himself.
"I did it! I put down the Guard Dog!" he cried. "Now I'm the underworld's…"
Light flooded the room through the table cloth and the clock chimed eight once again.
When Brandel emerged from under the table, he looked around in shock, as though he was expected to see their bullet-ridden dead bodies on the floor and sprawled on the table.
"Did you drop something, Mr Brandel?" asked Sebastian.
Ciel chuckled under his breath as Brandel continued to search for the gunmen and bullets he had been anticipating.
"I do believe you're drunk," he smiled. "Please, try some of this, and no more alcohol."
Brandel wiped the sweat from his brow.
"Y-Yes, my Lord."
Marianne quietly helped him back into his chair. She watched him eat the dessert with a furrowed brow.
Why? Brandel thought to himself. Why is no one shooting? What are my men outside doing?!
He heard a crunch in his mouth and stopped eating. Sebastian smirked as he poured the guest more tea.
"Ah, congratulations! It seems you have la feve."
Brandel spat out the offending hard object. His eyes widened. Staring back at him on his plate was a bullet casing.
"Your friends left this behind, so I'll return it to you." Sebastian explained. "They arrived quite a while before you did, so I've already given them a warm Phantomhive welcome."
Rewinding back to when Sebastian, Marianne and MeyRin were out in the garden with the washing line…
Sebastian spotted the men in question reflected in the bubbles floating before him. No one saw a thing when he moved so quickly that he chopped one of the men on the back of the neck to knock the gunman out.
"Who the Hell are you?!" one cried out.
The demon was swift with knocking the man onto his stomach.
One after another, they went down. Crashing against trees, flying into the undergrowth, all manner of death and casualty fell upon them with the wrath of the beings of Hell. Sebastian finished the job by snapping the last man's neck. The dead man's arm fell near a patch of flowers, the same flowers that Sebastian took into the kitchen for the dinner's flower arrangement.
Fast forward to when the demon and his mate were outside with Finny…
He dispatched more of the armed men with his arsenal of silverware.
"Where is he?!"
Sebastian threw the knives and forks as though they were a ninja's shuriken, and made silver rain down on his opponents. All of the gunmen collapsed, dead from their bleeding wounds.
Another fork was embedded in the neck of a pheasant, the one that was going to be used for the night's dinner.
Fast forward to when Bard shot the hole in the wall…
Sebastian spotted the snipers in the trees. The two men looked at one another.
"I guess he didn't notice us."
Fire shot straight at them. The demon took care of the rest of the gunmen in a fiery torrent shooting from the confiscated flamethrower. He had considered using Pluto to deal with the latest batch of intruders, but decided he was far too unreliable, and would most likely have played with them and not got the job done in the time needed.
Later, he gave the flamethrower to Marianne to hide away from Bard.
Back at the dinner table, Brandel was staring at the bullet, unable to comprehend what was going on.
"That's… That's impossible…" he whispered. "There were at least fifty of them! You… fought them a-a-alone?!"
Sebastian only smirked. Ciel coughed to interrupt the exchange.
"Lau told me you were dealing guns on the black market," he said, sipping his tea.
"He sold me out?!" Brandel cried.
"No. He was never on your side to begin with." Ciel told him. "Her Majesty is distressed by the spread of gun-related crime among the underclasses."
He sipped his tea again, wrinkled his nose, and slammed the cup down in the saucer.
"Sebastian, make a new pot of tea! These low-grade leaves smell foul!" he snarled.
Sebastian bowed his head.
"Certainly."
He made to walk past Marianne towards Ciel when Brandel pulled a gun out of his jacket and aimed the barrel at the boy.
"Die!"
Brandel shot three times. Ciel merely smiled at him.
"This won't do." Sebastian said.
He held the three bullets between his fingers.
"I just gave back your belongings… and you've already lost more."
The shining pellets were dropped to the floor. Marianne stared at him and smiled.
"You really enjoy showing off, don't you?"
Brandel was in shock.
"W-What is this? How?!" he cried.
Sebastian gave a shit-eating smile.
"I simply can't be killed by such toys, I'm afraid."
The man continued to shoot, but they didn't stop the demon from strolling towards him and using his finger to stop the next bullet inside the barrel of the gun. The explosion sent Brandel to the ground, the gun blistered, and the barrel shredded from the pressure. Blood ran crimson from his hand. He scrambled to get away, limping helplessly while Marianne quietly picked up the smoking gun with gloved hands. Brandel opened the door, and was terrified when he saw Sebastian smirking at him on the other side.
"You've forgotten one more thing," he said. He went to place the crown on Brandel's head.
"M-Monster!" cried Brandel.
"Goodness! How very discerning for a human." Sebastian laughed.
The chandelier went out. Brandel fell to the floor. Sebastian let his demonic aura envelope the room with its seductive embrace, his eyes glowing magenta and shadows dancing around him.
"Yes," he said. "I'm one Hell of a butler."
Brandel was whimpering in terror.
"St-Stay away!"
"Brandel." Ciel spoke up.
Brandel looked behind him to see the boy on his feet, and Marianne at his side with her hands on his shoulders.
"Why do you suppose no one knows what punishment the Queen's Guard Dog inflicts?" Ciel asked. He removed the eye patch from his right eye, and displayed the pentagram branded upon the retina, glowing with power. "It's because dead men tell no tales."
Sebastian smirked as he removed his left glove with his teeth and showed the matching mark on the back of his hand, and the black fingernails he possessed. Marianne touched the jewel of her choker hidden beneath her shirt.
"May the demons of Hell feast upon your decrepit soul." She murmured, her left eye flickered demonically in the light.
Brandel's screams filled the room as the shadows descended upon him.
Later, Lau and Ran Mao entered the dining room.
"All finished, My Lord?" he asked.
Ciel, Sebastian and Marianne looked up from what they were doing.
"And where were you?" asked Ciel, sipping his new cup of tea.
Lau produced a letter with a red seal.
"Well, you see, someone gave me this…"
Marianne took the letter, broke the seal, and handed it to Ciel.
"It's… Who gave this to you?" the boy asked.
"Some man in white. He seemed to have taken me for a servant." Lau laughed.
The girl shuddered when she realised who he was talking about. How could Ash have gotten there without them knowing?
Ciel pulled three tickets out of the envelope.
My, my, those are tickets to the travelling circus coming to town. The 'Noah's Ark Circus,' as I recall," said Lau.
Meanwhile in Town, the Noah's Ark Circus were making their way through the streets. People were gathered from miles around, watching the extraordinary performances before their eyes.
"Ladies and gentlemen, step right up! The Noah's Ark Circus has arrived!" cried the ringmaster. "Forget the cold weather and the bleak news. The show of the century is about to begin!"
Back at the manor, Sebastian was getting Ciel ready for bed. Marianne was out of the room while the boy was changing into his nightshirt as she always did.
"You worked hard today, My Lord," said Sebastian.
Ciel yawned heavily and proceeded to climb into his plush bed.
"Today's game was dull," he moaned.
The demon reached forward and removed Ciel's eye patch.
"You can never lose while Marianne and I remain your loyal chess pieces," he said.
Ciel shook his head.
"Loyal? You just want my soul. And Marianne is no chess piece. I think you would kill me if I tried it."
Sebastian chuckled.
"Indeed, My Lord."
His gloves fingers ran up and down the length of Ciel's lower eyelid, where the contract mark lay watching.
"While this contract remains, I shall go wherever you go."
He went down on his knee and bowed low.
"All the way to the end, even should your wish be a foolish revenge."
Ciel stared at him through misty eyes.
"'Foolish?' Yes, I suppose it is."
He allowed himself to be tucked in by Sebastian, and saw that Marianne had come back inside his bed chambers.
"You have a full schedule tomorrow. Sleep now, Young Master." Sebastian said.
Marianne stroked the boy's head, and pressed her lips to his forehead.
"Rest well, Ciel. We shall see you in the morning," she whispered.
Sebastian took the candelabra from the bedside, grabbed the girl's hand, and proceeded to walk towards the door.
"Sebastian. Marianne." Ciel called from his curled-up position under the covers. "Stay there. Until I fall asleep…"
Sebastian and Marianne smiled at one another.
"Yes, My Lord."
"Of course, Ciel."
Together they walked back to the boy's bedside, waiting for Ciel to finally drift off to sleep.
"A demon's nights are long. He must keep a sharp watch to prevent anyone from breaking his weak and delicate prey."
Sebastian pressed a kiss to his mate's upturned lips and stroked his hand down the length of her back, leaving his hand upon her mark.
"He does his utmost to ensure that he will receive a soul brimming with despair upon completion of his master's foolish wish."
His eyes glowed demonically as he gazed down at his Young Master.
"That is the demon aesthetic."
Sebastian looked down at Marianne, who kept her loving eyes upon Ciel as he went to sleep.
"Still, a demon puts the needs of his mate above all else, and mine is particularly attached to this child. She will be a perfect mother, when the day comes. For now, her need to love and care for this boy as if he was her own… our own… is far more important. Her love is indeed worth earning."
He pressed his lips to the crown of her head.
"That is the mate aesthetic."
Because of the immense popularity of this arc, and a professed enjoyment of it myself, I have decided to also write the Circus Arc for this fic, with some alterations so that it fits in with the anime. Although, keep in mind I am following the episodes from Season 3.
Another thing, if anyone has any ideas for what Marianne could be doing when she joins the circus, let me know.
Should you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask.
Please read and review!
