Ciel and Miriam sat parallel to each other in the dining hall, their gazes locked as a solemn aura enveloped the room. Sebastian stood at the side of the table, preparing tea for the pair of nobles.

"So, Hades didn't go to your manor?" Ciel inquired, a hint of disappointment in his tone that only seemed to be noticed by the butler. It's not that he was necessarily expecting Hades to have gone there, but he was at least hoping.

Miriam ran her fingers through her curly blonde locks, sighing heavily as she looked away to conceal the tears that had begun to brim her eyes from the earl's view. "No, he didn't... I thought if anything, maybe he'd be here since your estate is closer to his than mine is, but..." Her words trailed off as she took a breath, shifting her sight to the ceiling in attempt to keep the transparent tears in their barrier.

The bluenette's brows furrowed and his lips curled downwards into a small scowl as a heavy feeling had begun to form in his chest. He didn't even wait for her to fully compose herself and continue what she was saying as he spoke up, "I'm going to bring him back, Miriam. I promise I will bring him back."

A faint, heartbreaking smile formed across the girl's pallid features as she shook her head. "Don't make promises you know you can't keep. I appreciate the gesture, but even by the slim chance you do actually find Hades- he'd be sentenced to death without a trial. Everyone knows this..."

"He didn't d-"

"It doesn't matter if he didn't do it!" She exclaimed, tears now flowing down her face as she pinched the bridge of her nose. "The Yard's already made it known that they don't want to mess with this case, and Hades' is their perfect scapegoat!"

This only caused anger to arise in the boy's heart, and he shot up from his seat; a fire burning behind his bicolored eyes, "I'm going to prove he's innocent! The queen herself asked me to investigate this case and find out the truth, and that's exactly what I plan to do!"

"How?" She asked, an expression of utter hopelessness forming on her face. "How do you expect to do that? How do you know Hades didn't kill them? How are you so confident?"

"Because I believe in him!" His brain didn't even get the chance to process a response, and he spoke without thinking, which unfortunately for his 'cold' image, was out of character. Just as he realized what he had said, he sat back down in his chair and pinched the bridge of his nose in an annoyed manner, "Why would Hades have killed his parents and servants? It just doesn't make any sense. He's already lost Eden, so why would he throw away all that he has left?"

Just the mere mention of Eden caused the entire room to grow silent. Again, Ciel was not thinking before speaking, and unintentionally brought back horrible memories for both Miriam and him.

Eden was Hades' twin sister. There was an accident that happened years ago, which unfortunately resulted in the young girl's death... She was just as close to Ciel and Miriam as Hades was, and so this tragedy impacted all three of them intensely. Just the thought of her left a hollow feeling in their chests...

There was a moment of silence before Miriam finally spoke up, "I wasn't implying that I think Hades killed them... I know he didn't; I believe in him too. I just don't believe justice will prevail when everyone else seems to be against him..." Glassy eyes lowered to the ground as she then murmured, "...It wasn't necessary for you to bring up Eden..."

"I apologize..." He sighed, hiding his face behind the palm of his hand as a feeling of dread took over his mind.

The blonde lifted her hand to brush away a single fallen tear from her cheek as she then rose from her seat, "Anyways, I should be leaving. I have to help my mother make arrangements for the funeral..."

"Of course." He uttered before pursing his lips together and offering the girl a curt nod. "Sebastian, please lead Lady Miriam to her carriage."

"Yes, my lord." The butler replied stoically, taking his place at the girl's side and escorting her out the door.

As soon as Ciel was left alone, his eyes came to a tired close and he leaned back in his chair lazily. A heavy sigh slipped past his lips as a troubled expression made its way across his features, "Hades, you idiot..." As if he weren't worried enough, this bit of information he'd gathered today only seemed to make the feeling worse.

He opened his eyes and stood up, exiting the dining room and making his way to the entrance hall. He glanced over the windows that were scattered throughout the room, and saw that the sun was beginning to set. "You're not dumb enough to actually have let yourself get kidnapped, are you?"

"Young master?" A voice from behind spoke up curiously.

Ciel nearly jumped, but masked his sudden fright with anger as he turned to scowl at the servant. "Sebastian," he deadpanned, "Make it known when you enter a room; I don't want you sneaking up on me."

"Forgive me, my lord. Should I start narrating my every movement?" The demon retorted, smirking widely at the irritated expression his words had provoked on the young boy's face.

"Forget it." He grunted, shifting his gaze. Ciel's currently too mentally exhausted to feed Sebastian's ego.

The butler noticed this and furrowed his brows, taking a step forward as he constricted his gaze on the young earl. "Is something troubling you?"

"What do you think?" The boy muttered under his breath, his voice vaguely audible to even his own ears.

"Pardon?"

"I'm fine, Sebastian..." He voiced louder; sighing heavily as he spun on his heel, beginning to walk away. "Prepare the-"

But before Ciel could even finish his sentence, there was a scratching sound coming from behind the large set of doors the noble was previously facing. It sounded like an animal or something desperately trying to catch the attention of whoever's lurking behind the doors, and much to the creature's fortune, it had done exactly that.

"Sebastian." Ciel stated sternly, eyes intently glancing over to the butler.

The demon nodded his head, swiftly making his way over to the door as Ciel took a step back, eyes squinted as he awaited to see just what was on the other side of the door.

Sebastian swung the door open, and immediately, a large black and white husky came into sight.

"Asher?" Ciel spoke up, almost in shock. He'd recognize that hound anywhere- it was Hades'.

The dog barked hysterically like it was trying to tell him something, before quickly running off in direction of the forest.

"Follow him!" Ciel demanded, chasing after the hound; his heart was racing at this point- just what the hell was Hades' dog doing here?!

When they had finally come to a stop, it was like everything had come to an end; like the world was at a complete standstill. Ivory legs collapsed to the ground and bicolored hues had a film of tears hazing over their frozen expression.

"Young master, is this-"

"Hades..." Ciel uttered breathlessly. His heart was pounding so intensely in his chest, the drumming of it had caused the boy's ears to completely mute everything out.

On the ground before the bluenette and his butler lied a bloodied boy covered in dirt and sweat, his chest just vaguely rising and falling indicating that he was still alive; Hades. His eyes fluttered open slowly, his expression and sluggish movements resembling that of someone in a drunken state, before his gaze landed on the pair in front of him. "C-Ciel..." He struggled to voice, his words hardly a whisper, "...How ab-bout... a sleepover..? Hahah... heh..." The injured boy had attempted to laugh, but only caused himself more pain as he began coughing violently, blood trickling past his lips before he ultimately lost consciousness in his weakened state, and everything was engulfed in darkness...