Chapter Thirty-Three
Butler, Engaging Servants. Bride, Butler's Apprentice
The night was cold and a gentle wind blew through the streets of London. The glowing face of the capital's clock struck nine. Standing atop Big Ben stood a woman with long, purple-red hair flowed around her head and shoulders.
"The name of your target is unimportant."
She readied her sniper rifle and sought out her target.
"There's only one thing you're good for."
She huffed loudly.
"This is in the way!" she said, tossing aside the sniper scope.
The woman spotted her target down below and aimed.
"You were made for this. That's why you were born with those inhuman eyes. The better to see your prey. Understand?"
She stopped when she saw her target's wife and children approach him.
"There's only one thing you're good for."
Her thumb rested on the trigger.
Just then, a voice interrupted her.
"You have incredible eyes. I'd like to offer you a position."
Behind her stood Sebastian.
"Room and board would be included, of course."
The woman swiftly turned around and aimed her rifle at him, but he had vanished. She gasped when she felt his presence behind her.
"No experience necessary."
He said this as he took hold of the barrel of her gun.
"I'll teach you everything you need to know, if you agree?"
She paused for a moment before a sigh escaped her.
"And what would I have to do?" she asked, turning her head to reveal her wide brown eyes.
Tanaka opened the back door of the mansion and saw Sebastian and the woman on the doorstep.
"I've engaged a housemaid." Sebastian said.
Tanaka stepped aside and allowed them through.
"This way."
Inside the maid's room, Marianne had laid out the woman's new uniform. She wiped her brow and smiled.
"That looks good."
Hearing the door open, she patted her wig and turned to greet the new employee.
"Welcome to Phantomhive Manor."
The woman dressed into the clothes once Sebastian and Marianne had left. It was a slow process, having been quite some time since she had worn a dress. The buttons and frills took some getting used to. Once fully dressed, she stared at herself in the mirror.
"A skirt…" she said. "That's new."
She heard a knock on the door, and it opened to reveal Tanaka with a tray. Turning around, she was offered what lay upon it.
"A gift from the Young Master." Tanaka said.
She stared down at the present. A pair of round glasses stared back at her, gleaming in the light.
"Master?"
When she put on the glasses, the face that stared back at her smiled brightly. A flush spread across her cheeks, and a giggle fell from her lips.
It was MeyRin.
In the present, Sebastian, Ciel and Marianne were walking down the stairs into the entrance foyer. The servant trio and Tanaka were lined up before them. Sebastian and Marianne went off to the side and let them address the Young Master.
"Good morning, hope you slept well, Sir."
Ciel didn't glance their way.
"Good morning," he said in response before walking off after the demon and his mate.
They stared after him in confusion.
"Master?" Finny called out.
"Feeling down, he is." MeyRin said.
Bard scratched his head.
"'Fraid so."
Tanaka peered over the frames of his glasses.
"Oh? What can you be so certain about that, Bardroy?" he asked.
The cook smirked.
"Well, he may look the same as ever to an outsider, but his servants can see the difference, clear as day."
Finny and MeyRin nodded their heads in agreement.
"So, we'll just have to do our best to give the Young Master's spirits a boost!" Bard said.
"That's a brilliant idea." MeyRin cried, clapping her hands.
"We're going to throw him a party."
As they talked, Tanaka shook his head.
"Equanimity."
He shrunk to his chibi form and took a sip of green tea. MeyRin arched a brow.
"What's equanimity?" she asked.
Bard shrugged.
"I think it's to do with equal nimity."
Finny however knew what it meant, or at least something close to it.
"I think Tanaka means we should help the Earl relax by keeping things normal."
"Oh, we can do that," said the maid. "I'll polish the manor until it gleams like new, yes I will."
Bard nodded his head.
"And I think it's time to pull out a few of my secret recipes."
"And I'll make sure all the trees on the grounds are healthy as can be!" Finny cheered.
"Let's go!"
"Right!"
They dashed out of the foyer soon after that.
Pluto, in his Demon Hound form, was breathing fire all over the grounds, resulting in a great number of burnt trees. Finny was riding on his back as though he was a giant horse.
"Cut that out, Pluto," he said. "You sure are full of energy today."
The Demon Hound lit fire to one of the trees, and caused two birds to fly out of it. He immediately gave chase. As his gaping maw grew closer to them, Finny clamped down on his neck.
"No, please don't eat them, Pluto," he cried. "No."
Pluto stopped when he was in such a firm chokehold.
Finny watched as the birds flew away.
"Sorry, little birdies," he said. He turned to Pluto. "Sorry to you too, boy."
As he stroked the Hound's muzzle, a small smile spread across his face.
"You know, it's funny. Before I came here, the birds were my only real friends. But since I started working for the Earl, I've been able to go outside every single day, rain or shine."
A sigh escaped him.
"Sometimes… I wonder what it was like for the Young Master, before we all got here."
Pluto's ear twitched. His nose sniffed at the air. He let out a long howl. Finny looked up at him.
"Smell something?" he asked.
Sebastian looked up from his work when he heard the Demon Hound. Ciel was sat at the head of the dining table with Marianne sat to his right. The demon offered the boy a newspaper on a silver platter.
"I imagine this year's exhibition will be grand," he said. "It is the one hundredth anniversary of the French Revolution. They're building a colossal tower in Paris for the World's Fair, I hear. The Eiffel Tower, I believe they're calling it."
"Yes…" Ciel answered as he browsed through the article.
"Doesn't it recall you to the Tower of Babel, when the people incurred God's wrath trying to build a tower to the heavens?"
Marianne stirred her tea quietly.
"A foolish endeavour really. Heaven cannot be reached by mere mortals," she said.
Ciel nodded his head.
"Yes…"
Sebastian and Marianne looked at one another. The demon lowered his gaze to the tea tray.
"Ash has informed me Her Majesty will be travelling covertly to Paris to see it for herself."
"Yes…"
"Will Earl Grey do today, Ciel?"
"Yes."
The girl pinched the bridge of her nose.
Time for more drastic measures, dear.
Sebastian smiled.
"Once upon a time, in a land far away, lived an old man and an even older woman."
Ciel dropped the newspaper onto the table.
"What the Devil are you on about?" he asked.
"Ah, so you are listening to me, Ciel." Sebastian smirked.
"Yes, of course I am." Ciel took a sip of his tea. "Has there been any word from Her Majesty about the incident the other day?"
Sebastian turned away.
"None. I'm sorry."
"I see." Ciel sighed. "Good then."
Sebastian and Marianne left the dining room after that.
"This matter with the Queen is weighing more heavily on him than he says," she said. "In the past, her methods have always been a promotion of peace. Unless she has become hypocritical over the years, there is no fathomable reason why she would form such an alliance."
The demon looked down at her and stroked his hand against her cheek.
"I am impressed with your knowledge of these things, but I think you forget that our boy has been forced to mature more rapidly than most," he replied. "While he may have softened, and accepted us as his parents, he still has his duty to the Phantomhive legacy."
She pressed her lips to his.
"I suppose. I just hate seeing him like this though."
More than anything did Sebastian want to pin her to the wall and kiss her senseless, but as his hands moved to grip her wrists, they heard a cry. The couple hurried down the corridor and saw MeyRin.
"I'll make it all clean!" she cried. "I'll make it all nice and sparkly, yes I will."
Marianne sweatdropped as she and Sebastian walked towards the maid.
"MeyRin."
"Yes, Sebastian?"
"What are you doing?" he asked.
"I'm cleaning," she responded. "I'm polishing the railing."
Marianne bit her lip.
"Then are you aware that you're using shoe polish to do it with?"
MeyRin looked down at her work and screamed. The railing was almost completely black.
"I mistook the shoe polish for wax, I did."
In the midst of her panicking, she didn't realise that she was leaving black smudges all over her face. Marianne shook her head and offered her a napkin.
"Wipe your face, MeyRin."
Sebastian then spoke.
"MeyRin, do you mind if I ask you a personal question?" he asked. "Are you in need of a different pair of spectacles?"
The maid jumped away, clutching her glasses.
"Oh no. These were a gift from the Young Master. Please don't take them away from me!"
The demon's eyelids drooped.
"Very well." He swiped a finger across the blackened bannister. "Clean this off as soon as possible, won't you?"
MeyRin hurried up the stairs.
"Yes, Sir. Right away, Sir."
Sebastian and Marianne turned around and walked across the foyer.
"We best see if lunch preparations are underway…"
There was a loud boom. The girl blinked.
"Didn't you confiscate all of Bard's explosives?" she asked.
"Apparently, he got some more." Sebastian responded.
They arrived in the kitchen. It was filled with black smoke. Bard coughed loudly, and was sporting a burnt afro for his troubles. He was holding sticks of unused dynamite.
"Bardroy." Sebastian chastised. "I do not approve of dynamite as a cooking utensil. I believe I've mentioned this before."
Bard scratched his head.
"I'm sorry. I just thought it would be faster this way."
Marianne surveyed the damage to the kitchen, knowing full well she was going to be the one cleaning up.
"Well, there goes my afternoon."
Sebastian slid his arm around her shoulders.
"Why must you always be in such a hurry?" he asked the cook. "There's plenty of time to get everything done."
Bard used his burning hair to light a match and relit his cigarette.
"Yeah, I guess logically, I know that's true," he said. "I guess it's just in the past, if I didn't hurry up making my food, I didn't eat, you know?"
Sebastian stared at him with wide eyes.
"So, I always end up rushing and messing things up." Bard explained.
Marianne smiled and took a dishcloth from one of the drawers that were still standing. She offered it to him, her eyes solemn.
"You're not in the wars anymore, Bard," she said.
Bard took the cloth and scrubbed one of his cheeks. He blew a plume of smoke and sighed.
"Problem is I never got used to peace. I don't really know what to do with myself in a quiet place like this."
Sebastian smiled indulgently.
"Marianne and I will prepare the Master's lunch," he said. "You stay here. Clean this place up."
Bard tossed aside his cigarette and got to work.
Meanwhile, Ciel was staring out the window of his study. He remembered how he regretted the words he said to Aberline, knowing they weren't true.
"I don't need anyone on my side. I'm the one playing the game. All I need are my pawns."
Yet Aberline chose to stand by him anyway.
"Such a fool," he muttered before turning back to his desk.
"You want to know what it was like before we got here?" MeyRin asked.
The servant trio were all sat in the servants' dining room having lunch. Finny had brought up the matter while they were chewing on their bread rolls.
"Well," said Bard. "The only one who'd know that, would be Tanaka now, wouldn't it?"
They all turned to the chibi house steward, who was quite happy sipping his tea.
"And I wouldn't bother. That bloke's a waste of time."
MeyRin put a finger to her lips.
"There is one more person we can ask, I think," she said.
"Eh?"
Elizabeth stared up at the large Demon Hound, stroking his side. She looked over her shoulder and stared at the three servants.
"Oh! You want to know about the Phantomhive Manor?" she asked.
Finny nodded his head.
"Erm… yes. We were wondering what it was like here before we were all hired."
Lizzie sighed.
"I remember it so well…"
Lizzie was being chased by Ciel around the garden with one of his toys in her hands. Rachel and Madame Red were sat on a blanket watching them, Vincent stood sentinel at their side.
"Ciel's father, mother and aunt; they smiled all the time. Ciel did too, all the time. The Phantomhive home was always full of smiles."
Finny and MeyRin clapped their hands together.
"That's it!"
They smiled widely. As they turned back to Elizabeth, Finny said.
"We just have to fill the Manor full of smiles again."
"That will help the Master recover his spirits, yes it will." MeyRin agreed.
The girl stared at them blankly for a moment before she cried out with joy.
"I love it! Oh, it's perfect!"
Bard shook his head.
"Right… So, we're supposed to smile like lunatics for no reason?" he groused.
MeyRin and Finny ran up to him and pinched his cheeks.
"No! We do it for the Young Master!"
"Yeah, Bard, smile!"
His face was very sore when he did finally smile. Lizzie nodded her head.
"Oh goodie, I'll help out as well."
Suddenly, an ominous wind settled over the mansion. The servant trio let their smiles fade when they focused on the horizon.
Inside, Sebastian snapped his fingers. Marianne bit her lip and threaded her fingers together.
The three of them hurried towards the manor, Elizabeth being carried in Finny's arms. Pluto bounded ahead of them as they leapt around the courtyard fountain.
"What's happening?" Lizzie screamed.
The back door opened and Tanaka let them inside while the Demon Hound guarded the door.
Tanaka closed the door behind them. Finny set Elizabeth to the floor.
"What was the meaning of that?" she asked.
Sebastian suddenly appeared before them with a composed smile on his face. Marianne stood beside him, her hands clasped behind her back.
"There's some time yet before dinner. Please retire to the salon until then, Lady Elizabeth. Marianne will be happy to escort you there," he said.
"What is going on here, Sebastian?" Elizabeth asked.
MeyRin then whispered to her.
"Lady Elizabeth…"
Elizabeth turned and saw the servant trio smiling at her. She bowed her head.
"Yes, I forgot. I'll keep smiling."
She smiled back at them.
Marianne led the way to the salon.
"Right this way, Young Mistress."
As they walked away, Sebastian turned to Bard, Finny and MeyRin.
"Take care of this," he said. "I leave it to you three."
They nodded their heads.
Sebastian listened for any sounds outside, and smiled devilishly.
"Now, then…"
Ciel was making a tower out of cards when the door opened. Elizabeth walked in with a smile.
"Hello. Did you miss me, Ciel?" she greeted.
His concentration was broken, and his tower fell to pieces on his desk. He sighed heavily and looked up at the girl.
"Hello Elizabeth. When did you get here?" he asked. "You might send a footman over to warn me."
"Every time I want to see my fiancé? Don't be silly." She hurried over to his desk and leant forward. "Now, teach me to play chess!"
Ciel arched a brow.
"Right now?"
"Oh yes! A lady who knows nothing about chess, knows nothing at all. That's what my mother has always said to me. Only I'm having a hard time learning it, and Paula is positively hopeless, naturally." Lizzie explained. "So, you're the only one I can ask. Please, Ciel? Please? Just for me?"
Just then, there was a knock at the door. Sebastian walked in with a tea tray.
"Pardon me."
Ciel smiled.
"Good. Sebastian?"
"Yes, My Lord?"
"We'll be needing the chess board."
The demon nodded his head.
"Of course," he said. "Right away."
Marianne was sat with Tanaka. They were enjoying cups of freshly brewed green tea. The girl noticed a single tea stalk in Tanaka's cup.
"Would that be considered lucky?" she asked.
"Ho, ho, ho." Tanaka responded.
"Good fortune for you then."
They sipped their tea. Sebastian walked past them with a smile, and stole a kiss from Marianne.
"Marianne, my dear, would you mind assisting me in attending the Young Master and Lady Elizabeth?" he asked.
Marianne got to her feet.
"Sure, no problem."
They stood by the windows while Ciel set up the chess pieces on the board. He and Elizabeth sat opposite one another.
"There are sixty-four squares on this chess board." Ciel explained. "Your objective is to checkmate your opponent's king by moving your pieces one at a time until he is trapped."
Sebastian then began to play the violin. Ciel and Marianne stared at him, for a moment unsure what to make of his actions. She then turned to the window. Ciel got to his feet.
"Dammit! What are you trying to do?" he snapped.
Elizabeth clapped her hands together.
"Oh, it's lovely, isn't it?" she said.
Ciel sighed and sat down again. When he looked up, he saw Lizzie staring at him with a delicate flush to her cheeks.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"It's just been such a long time since we did anything fun together like this," she answered.
He shook his head and leant back in his seat.
"White moves first."
"Right!"
She moved a piece on the board.
Marianne drifted closer to Sebastian and leant against the wall. Sebastian watched her out of the corner of his eye, and glanced out the window intermittently.
Outside, loud shots were fired. Bullets were flying and slamming into the walls. MeyRin ran along the borders with her handguns at the ready. Her glasses had been removed for better visual of her targets. She moved with the same precision as she had been trained with, firing cartridges as she cartwheeled between the bushes.
A particularly loud shot caused Ciel to look forwards the window for a moment. Elizabeth called out to him.
"Is something wrong?" she asked.
He jolted.
"No. Nothing."
Bard loaded his shotgun from the courtyard balcony; he fired a shot, and ducked down behind the balustrade when bullets were shot his way. He removed the empty casings with a click of the magazine.
He did the same thing on the front lines. Bard ducked down into the shell hole when bullets flew over his head. He was dressed in a red army uniform with white and gold adornments.
"Just like I told them it would happen!" he shouted.
He remembered the officers' meeting before they were sent out…
"This battlement is a weak point in their line. We break through here, and penetrate their territory."
Those were the words of his commanding officer. Bard slammed his hands on the table.
"But Sir!" he cried. "That's obviously a trap!"
The commander snorted.
"Oh, is that so, Sergeant? Or could it be you've simply lost your nerve?"
Bard sighed.
"No, Sir. I just think we should look for another way."
"That's enough! We march on my order."
The dead bodies that followed, with their bloodless veins and gaunt faces, Bard sat heavily in the hole; a cigarette smouldered between his lips. He stared at the body of his commander.
"Are you listening to me now, you old bastard?" he said.
He heard a voice.
"My, my, what a mess."
Looking up over the top of the hole, his rifle at the ready, he saw Sebastian standing before him.
"Not even a Grim Reaper could create such chaos."
The demon smiled at him.
"You have superb instincts, and an amazing ability to evade any trap. I find you quite promising."
Bard arched a brow and slowly lowered his gun.
"Are you an enemy, or an ally?" he asked.
Sebastian smirked.
"Oh, neither, I assure you. No, I am simply one Hell of a butler."
He took out another gunman before he rose up from behind the balustrade.
"Oi! If I were you, I'd have that looked at right away, otherwise you'd probably die!" he shouted.
Bard slapped himself in the face when he realised he wasn't smiling.
As more gunmen moved around the grounds, Kuraro stroked his gold gun, feet propped up on his desk.
"I can promise you all this," he said. "That little cur will be gone soon enough."
Many other mafia leaders stood before him.
"And once he is, there is money to be made in this country."
He twirled the gun on his finger.
"As for noblemen with dirt on their hands, their time has passed."
Ciel's black knight fell to the floor. His eye trailed up to Sebastian and Marianne for a moment.
More men went down. MeyRin's impeccable aim proved true as she shot them down one by one.
"I'm sorry, but I'm sworn to protect this estate with my life."
She then realised something.
"Oh, right, I forgot to smile!" she said, putting her glasses back in place over her eyes. "That's how I've got to bring the Master's spirits back up!"
Pluto chased after the stragglers. His fiery breath caught up with them at rapid speed. Their screams rang throughout the grounds.
Elizabeth smiled as she lined up her pieces.
"Let's see now."
She pointed to the first piece.
"There's the knight."
Followed by the next.
"And the rook."
The third.
"And the pawn."
And the last.
"And there's the bishop."
She looked up at Ciel.
"Right?"
Ciel's lip quirked slightly.
"Yes."
She squealed happily.
"I got them all!"
In her delight, she didn't see Ciel's frown as he stared down at the board.
His eye remained on the black king that still stood amongst all the fallen pieces. The image of him on a throne, with the bodies of everyone he knew lying around him, with dead eyes as the king finally fell. He looked at Marianne and Sebastian out of the corner of his eye, and gave them a brief smile.
Finny was running up the stairs to the roof. He remembered a life before the outside world…
He was sat in a plain white room, with windows too high above his head to reach. A little bird flew in and sat on the window sill. The room darkened into a dungeon once more when the door opened. The bird flew away. Finny looked up and stared at the men and women in brilliant white coats, and faces that all looked the same.
Dozens of track marks littered the crease of his elbow. He was strapped down to a table and pinned by two of the doctors as the third tested the plunger of a hypodermic needle.
"No!" Finny screamed. "Stop it! Please!"
"Someday this drug will give you strength you've never dreamed of, boy," said the doctor.
Despite Finny's protests, the doctor pushed the needle into the boy's arm.
Finny was silent for a moment, his eyes bleeding red. Suddenly, he pushed all the doctors away and snapped the straps in the process. The doctors were crumpled on the floor. He ran out of the room and into the corridor. As he glanced behind him, Finny ran into the broad chest of Sebastian.
"You're not hurt from me bumping into you?" he gasped.
The demon smirked.
"Actually, your incredible strength is the reason I am here to offer you a position," he explained. "You'll receive regular wages, plus incentive pay and a large twice-yearly bonus."
Finny shook his head.
"I don't need any of that. I just want…"
Sebastian's eyes widened.
Finny continued to run up the stairs…
"…I want to go outside!"
When he got up to the roof, he basked in the sunlight.
"It's beautiful," he said.
Taking several deep breaths of crisp, clean air, Finny hoisted a pair of large logs up onto his shoulders. He smiled broadly.
"Take this!"
He threw the logs off the roof as though they were missiles. The bombardment sent the gunmen running for cover.
Ciel clutched the black king in his hand. He didn't blink even once.
"And that, that's the king, isn't it?" Lizzie asked.
He looked up and stared at her bright smile.
"That's right."
She picked up her white queen.
"And this is his queen," she giggled. "Chess is so cute."
Ciel's thoughts wandered…
"It would appear your beloved Queen is trying to plunge Europe, not to mention the rest of the world into full-scale war." Lau said. "I suppose she'll trigger it by attacking France through the opium trade with this new drug, Lady Blanc. Just as your country invaded my own by inundating it with opium not so long ago, leading to the Opium Wars."
Ciel glared at the Asian man.
"Do you think you'll still be her little Guard Dog when the guns start firing, My Lord?"
Ciel remembered Aberline's words…
"Me. I'll be on your side, Ciel. I will."
"You do have a chance, Ciel. To move forward and build a brand-new future for yourself. And you've started it, by building yourself a new family. Don't ever forget you can build a better future. Promise, you won't."
The black king fell from his fingers.
As the sun set over the mansion, Ferro's men ran and limped away as quickly as they could.
"Who the Hell are these people?!"
MeyRin, Bard and Finny smiled as they brandished their weapons.
"If we couldn't do this much for the Young Master, what kind of Phantomhive servants would we be?"
Pluto howled to the sky.
Sebastian finished his piece on the violin and bowed.
"Master. Lady Elizabeth. I'm afraid I must excuse myself to begin dinner preparations."
Ciel nodded his head.
"Fine."
Lizzie smiled.
"Thank you for the music, Sebastian."
The demon extended a hand to Marianne.
"If you would assist me, Marianne?"
She looked up at him with eyes alight with the rays of the setting sun.
"Of course."
The couple walked out of the room together, and left Ciel with Elizabeth. The boy turned to his fiancée.
"Why don't we stop here for today?"
She nodded her head.
"'Kay."
The servant trio walked down the stairs. Tanaka was waiting for them, fully grown and with a tepid smile on his face.
"Thank you as always for your excellent work," he said.
They smiled brightly.
In the darkness of his study, Ciel was reading the front page of the newspaper.
"Paris."
Sebastian tidied away the chess pieces with Marianne. They looked down and stared at the fallen black king, and the white queen that still stood. He remembered his conversation with Angela in the Tower of London…
"The true Doomsday will arrive in due time."
He picked them up and placed them upright, but didn't move to place them back in the box. Marianne looked at him in confusion as he turned away, his hand laced through hers.
"Sebastian?"
His eyes glowed in the darkness. He swiftly pinned her to a wall and took her mouth in his. She let out a moan as his tongue snaked behind her teeth and lavished every crevice of her mouth. His hand pinned her wrists above her head. She squirmed beneath him as his body pressed against hers. A small whimper escaped her when he finally released her lips.
"I have been craving you all day." Sebastian said, drawing away slowly. "Alas, we cannot continue now. We still have our duties."
Marianne panted for a moment before she nodded her head.
"Right… Let's go."
They joined Ciel and Elizabeth to the foyer. Sebastian turned to Ciel and arched his brow.
"You've had more leisure time today than you've had in a while. I assume you were able to fret to your satisfaction?" he said.
Ciel scowled.
"I'm not fretting, F-Sebastian."
Marianne giggled at the petulant expression on his face.
At the bottom of the stairs, the servant trio stood smiling at them, covered head-to-toe with dirt. Marianne sweatdropped at the sight of them.
"What have you been doing today? Rolling around in the dirt with Pluto?" she asked. She then spotted the footprints on the floor. "And I'm going to have to clean that up as well."
Ciel smiled slightly.
"You all look wretched. Go and change your clothes at once," he ordered.
Bard, MeyRin and Finny smiled.
"Yes, Young Master!"
They ran off cheering.
Making their way into the dining room, Ciel and Lizzie were greeted by Sebastian.
"For today's main dish, My Lord, we have filet du boeuf a la Parisienne; a most delightful Parisian-style grilled fillet of beef."
Marianne watched Ciel escort Elizabeth to the table, a small smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. She remembered a day when she and Sebastian were working together…
Marianne patted down her new wig, making sure it was still in place, and turned to Sebastian.
"Sebastian, have you ever thought about getting more staff?" she asked, setting down a plate.
The demon arched a brow.
"Why do you say that? I assure you, I can do everything that needs to be done here," he said.
The girl shook her head.
"That's all well and good, but I'm talking about hiring people to take care of the mansion. They protect it while we remain with Ciel," she explained. "His safety comes first, and it is clear that he expects everything to be in order when he is absent. The servants will take care of that."
He drummed a finger against his chin. There was silence for a moment before he spoke.
"Your idea has merit. I shall look into it."
Marianne smiled.
"Good. We will need a gardener, a maid, and a cook. The rest we can take care of."
Sebastian nodded his head.
"Very well, Marianne. Inform Tanaka that we shall be recruiting new servants. I shall see to the candidates."
He watched her as she walked away in search of the house steward. Part of him wondered why he would even consider an idea from a human. But he shrugged his shoulders and continued with his work.
Another thing that intrigues me about you. It is very rare that a human earns a demon's respect.
Another chapter done. I found that this episode always ended up being a filler between arcs, but I always liked the focus on the servants and their backstories.
One thing that I thought about was Sebastian is a superior being, and wouldn't have gone to hire the servants without someone prompting him. So, in the early stages of their relationship, I had Marianne exert some of her influence on Sebastian. I suppose you could call it foreshadowing the feelings to come.
Should you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask.
Please read and review!
