Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroshitsuji!
But I DO own Juliet (Katheryn)!
Here's the third chapter! Hope you like it!
Enjoy!
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I awoke, yet again, after a few-minute nap. But, this time when I woke, the door was just opening to reveal Sebastian yet again.
"I'm terribly sorry, my lady. Did I wake you?" he asked as he stepped inside and shut the door.
"No, it's quite alright." I said, turning over onto my back carefully and turning my head to face him.
"My master requests that I give you a tour of the manor, and he also requests that you join him for dinner, if of course you feel well enough to." he said, bowing slightly.
"Oh, yes. I think I feel up to it." I answered, gently touching my bruise with my fingertips. Sebastian smiled gently at me.
"In that case, I shall leave you to let you dress. There are a variety of dresses in that wardrobe," he said, gesturing towards the grand piece of furniture. "you may choose one and wear it. Will you be requiring any assistance? We have a maid here that could help you, if you need it."
"Oh, that's alright." I said, carefully sitting up, "I can manage on my own." I gave him a small smile.
"Of course." Sebastian said as he bowed low and turned to the door. "I will be back in a few moments to retrieve you. Please wait here for me, my lady." he opened the door and stepped out into the hallway, after giving me another small smile.
Once the door had closed, I got up and carefully removed my nightgown and peered down at my side. My corset had been removed, leaving me to better see my bruise. It was about the size of a horse's hove, and it was dark purple. I lightly touched it, cringing slightly at the small jolt of pain that was sent through my body. I laid the nightgown out on the bed and went to the wardrobe.
When I opened it, my eyes were met with so many colors, colors I hadn't worn in a few months, because I had been stuck wearing my dark, depressing blue dress the whole time. I stared hungrily at all of the greens, reds, purples, yellows, pinks, and bright blues of women's dresses. I finally decided on a hunter green dress that nearly touched the floor, made with barely noticeable vertical lines through it. With it a square neckline and sleeves that reached my wrists and, with white lace attached to the ends of them. I also noticed that my corset was inside the wardrobe, and I was thankful that it wasn't left out in the open.
I put on my clothes, with some difficulty, and my boots, then looked into the mirror. The dress looked quite good on me, and it hugged my waist and hips gently. But, my hair was a matted mess. I used my fingertips to brush it out, and I laid some over my shoulders and kept some trailing down my back.
I looked at my eyes; my very unusual eyes. My eyes were ocean blue, for the most part. Around my pupil was a golden ring, with lines of it shooting out and mixing with the blue, like golden rays of sunshine. My eyes were piercing, and no one I had ever seen had eyes anything like mine, except for my mother.
He had the exact same eyes that I do now. My father and I looked, and were exactly like each other. We had the same hair color, same nose, same eyes, same fair skin, same smile. . . My mind trailed off as I thought about them, my parents, and how horrible their last few hours on earth were. I saw my eyes get glassy with tears, and I pressed the heels of my hands to my eyes, as if to push them away.
I heard a knock on the door, and I assumed it was Sebastian.
"Come in." I said, putting my hands down and standing behind the chair. Sebastian opened the door and stood in the doorway, smiling softly.
"Are you ready, Miss Katheryn?" he asked.
"Yes, Sebastian." I said as I smiled back and walked over towards him.
"Let us be off then," he said as he stepped back into the hallway, keeping his hand on the doorknob, gesturing for me to go ahead. I stepped out into the hallway and Sebastian closed the door after me. I looked down the long hallway we were in. to my left I could see a few more doors and the end of the hall. To my right I could see one more door and where the hallway turns, leading to another part of the mansion.
"Down that way," said Sebastian as he pointed towards my left, "are two guest bedrooms and two bathing rooms." I nodded slightly for him to continue. "And to your right, is a bathing room also." he stepped forward and stood at the corner to my right. "Now, if you will follow me this way,"
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"Through this door is the library." said Sebastian as he opened the door for me. What I saw in front of me made me gasp with surprise. There was shelf after shelf of books! I absolutely loved to read, but never got the time or money to buy a book anymore. I stepped inside, taking in my surroundings. Grand bookcases lined the walls, filled with hundreds of old-looking, dusty books that I would be more than happy to read. There were a few chairs and tables against one wall, to sit down and read there was my guess. I eyed the books with wide-eyes.
"I take it you like books." said Sebastian, with an amused grin on his face.
"No, I love books!" I said as I threw my arms into the air over dramatically and giggled. "This room is huge!" I exclaimed as I made my way over to a bookshelf and picked up a random, dusty old book and flipped to a random page.
"These bookshelves are filled with books that have been collected by the Phantomhive head year after year," said Sebastian, looking around himself as if seeing it for the first time. I placed the book back in it's proper place and walked towards Sebastian.
"Let's continue, shall we?" I asked as I stepped out of the library, Sebastian following suit. Sebastian pointed to the door across from the library.
"That is the master's study, he is currently tending to business in there, so I'm afraid I can't show it to you today." he said.
"Oh, that's alright, I understand." I said as I followed him further into the depths of the Phantomhive Manor.
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We were now downstairs, on the first floor of the manor. Sebastian then said, "In here is the lounge," he opened the door and I stepped inside. There was a bookcase with only a few books on it, several storage cabinets, and a few sofas and chairs spread throughout the room. Huge windows lined the back wall, the drapes pulled back, letting the sun shine several rays through into the brilliant room.
On one of the chairs sat a very short, old-looking man with a monocle on his right eye, and he was holding a Japanese-looking tea cup. He said "Ho, ho, ho!" when we walked in. I arched an eyebrow in question, then Sebastian stepped forward and gestured towards the man.
"This, is Tanaka. He has been with us for a very long time." he said, and Tanaka replied with a "Ho, ho, ho!"
"What does he do?" I asked, considering he was just sitting there.
"Well. . ." said Sebastian, looking uneasily at Tanaka. "That." he said. I raised an eyebrow, but a smile broke out on my face, and I giggled.
"What an easy job!" I said, still giggling lightly. Tanaka answered with his usual answer: "Ho, ho, ho!"
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After the lounge, we walked to the next door down, and inside was a large, dimmed room with no windows, the only place light could come from was the six-light bulb lamp hanging over a billiard table. Attached to it was a cord, to turn the lights on, I presumed, Sebastian pulled the cord to turn the light on, and surprisingly, it lit most of the room. I could see a dark green sofa against the far wall, a matching chair next to it, several more cushioned chairs, and on the opposite side sat a lone red chair.
"This," Sebastian said, "is the billiards room." he said, gesturing towards the billiard table. It already had the balls lined up in a neat triangle, the cue ball sitting out in front of it, waiting to be hit, and two large billiard sticks were resting on the edge.
I walked over to the billiard table and lightly brushed my fingertips against the green, fuzzy material of the billiard table. There was a room very similar to this in my old mansion, and I actually learned how to play. Sure, it may not be considered lady-like to some people, but I found billiards to be very entertaining. I was actually pretty good, too.
"Do you play?" asked Sebastian with a hint of a grin.
"Actually," I started, lifting my gaze to his, "yes. I do." I grinned slightly along with him.
"Would you be kind enough to show me?" he asked, standing next to one end of the table.
I smirked lightly and grabbed a billiards stick from one side of the table and propped the other up against the wall. I bent down low, making the sore muscles in my body stretch, and held the stick in my hands, my fingers positioned to guide the stick, aiming for the cue ball. I brought my arm forwards and backwards a few times, practicing my aim. I brought the stick forward and hit the ball with a surge of strength from my arm. The ball went forward and hit the other balls, sending two solids into the pockets, and spreading the others out well. I smirked lightly at my first shot, and glanced up to see a look of amazement of Sebastian's face, and my smirk grew slightly in size.
"I've still got it!" I exclaimed, standing straight and holding my stick upright with one hand and the other on my hip.
"Amazing," he said, his voice full of awe and wonder.
I examined the table and looked for another good shot. I saw a shot where I could get two balls at once, if I aimed and hit the cue ball just right. I moved to the opposite side of the table and bent low, preparing to strike the cue ball once again. I hit the cue ball, and it hit the solid red one, and it was sent flying to the side pocket, hitting the green solid along the way, and they both landed in a pocket. I smiled in triumph at my amazing shot.
"You're as good as my master," muttered Sebastian, still staring at me in awe.
"Oh?" I asked raising an eyebrow. "Maybe we will just have to put our skills to the test one day." I said as I set the stick up against the billiards table. "Let's continue with the tour, shall we?" I asked, walking past him and towards the still open door, Sebastian following close behind me. He led me to a door at the end of the hall.
"Please watch your step, Miss Katheryn," he said as he opened the door, and I watched as his body sunk lower and lower with every step he took. I carefully lifted my dress up slightly, so I wouldn't trip on it, and used my hand as a guide against the wall as I cautiously walked down the stairs after Sebastian.
When we reached the bottom of the staircase, I found myself in a dim-lit corridor with no windows what-so-ever. 'This must be a basement of some sort.' I thought to myself. There were a few wooden crates lining the hall, and there weren't many doors in the hall. Sebastian led me down the corridor, and said that the first few doors were the servant's rooms.
"And, my lady," started Sebastian, turning to face me. "please, do not go into my room without my permission. Even I have my secrets." he said with a sly grin, which was a bit frightening.
"Of course, Sebastian. I would never dream of it." I said, looking up at him. He smiled in approval and continued on down the hall. He came to a stop in front of one door near the end.
"This," he said, placing a hand on the doorknob. "is the kitchen." but, before he could open it, we heard an explosion coming from what sounded like inside the kitchen. The smile disappeared off Sebastian's face. First, his eyes went slightly wide with shock, then, they narrowed and he furrowed his brows in anger. He threw open the door, revealing a soot-stained and messy kitchen.
"Bardroy!" he yelled in anger at the man with his back to us, dressed in a blackened chef's uniform and black rubber boots, with his hair poofed up and on end, also blackened. He turned around, and I was met with a pale-skinned man's face and a cigarette in the corner of his mouth. He had some sort of goggles resting around his neck. He kept his eyes low, scratching the back of his head.
"Hello, Sebastian. How. . . nice to see you." he said in a heavy English accent. He glanced up at me, and his brilliant blue eyes widened in shock.
"Wha-" he started to say, but he was cut off by Sebastian.
"This is the new guest I informed you about, and precisely why I wanted you on your best behavior!" Sebastian roared, his voice dripping with anger, making the man shrink back slightly.
"She's a pretty lil' thing, isn't she?" he asked, eying me with a small grin. I arched an eyebrow at his comment. Sebastian said, "Bardroy, please mind your manners." his eyes widened and he looked down in shame.
"Sorry, Sebastian. Anyways, about the kitchen, I was tryin' to cook the meat, and since it was taking too long, I. . . well. . . I used me flamethrower." he explained, averting his eyes from us. Sebastian opened his mouth as if to say something, but shut it and held out his hand.
"Give it." he said, staring him down to the size of a mouse. The chef sighed and pulled out a miniature flamethrower. Sebastian snatched it from his hands, and said, "It's amazing how much damage such a small tool can cause." he sighed. "My lady," he said, turning to me. "please excuse this horrible incident." he said, his face lined with worry.
"It's alright." I say simply, still staring at the soot-stained man in front of me 'A flamethrower? Seriously?' Sebastian sighed softly before turning back to the chef.
"Please, introduce yourself to the lady." stated Sebastian, toying with the flamethrower in his hands.
"Oh, yes! Please forgive me manners. I'm Bardroy, the cook around this place!" he said, pointing to himself with a grin. I gave a small smile back.
"My name is Katheryn Brooks, it is very nice to meet you Bardroy." I said, giving a short curtsey. His eyes widened slightly before he gave a small bow in return.
"Shall we continue?" asked Sebastian, turning to me.
"Yes." I said simply, following him out.
"Now, Bardroy," said Sebastian, turning back to him once he was out in the hall. "I expect you to behave yourself." he said, giving him a glare. Bardroy straightened and gave a salute.
"Sir, yes sir!" he barked. Sebastian shut the door behind him and sighed. I smiled and tried not to giggle.
Sebastian opened up a wooden crate, empty, and carefully placed the flamethrower inside. He shut the crate with a bang, and said, "Now, if you would please follow me this way," he said as he motioned for me to follow him.
I followed him across the hall and we went into a room filled with glass cabinets with fine china inside. There was a girl in a blue dress reaching to her knees, with a maid's apron around her waist. She was standing on a chair, reaching for some plates. Her hair was the color of red wine, and it was in a high double ponytail, with a frilly maid's bonnet covering the top of her head. She wore black stockings and black lace-up boots.
"Please be care-" Sebastian started to say, but the girl yelped and the chair wobbled uncontrollably.
The tall stack of plates in her hands went flying, and she started to fall backwards. I acted on instinct and lunged forward, catching her before she could hit the ground. I landed on my knees and caught her head with one hand, the other her back. Out of my peripheral vision, I saw Sebastian moving at inhuman speed, amazingly catching all of the plates before they clattered to the ground. I didn't think the girl noticed, because she had her back to him. I was amazed at how fast and precise his movements were, and made a mental note of this and put it in the back of my mind.
The girl I had just caught stared back up at me, at least, I think. She had huge, round glasses covering her eyes, and I could not see past them. She shuddered slightly in my hold.
"Are you alright, miss?" I asked, giving a careful smile. She 'uhh'ed and shuddered more.
"I-I'm alright." she finally stuttered with a heavy English accent, similar to Bardroy, but her accent had it's differences.
"Good." I said, helping her to sit up. "You really should be more careful, it would be most dreadful if someone like you were to fall and get hurt." I said sympathetically. She blushed slightly and smiled at me weakly. "Only take down as many at a time that you can handle."
"Aww, thank you, miss. Sebastian tells me that all the time." she said, fiddling with the hem of her dress.
"Did you ever listen to him?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. She just colored more at my question, and I took it as a 'no'. "Maybe you should, it sounds to me that he offers some pretty good advice!" I said, standing and holding out a hand to her. She took it and I pulled her up. She formed an 'o' with her mouth and leaned in slightly.
"What is it? I asked, cocking my head to the side slightly.
"Those are such beautiful eyes you've got there, miss!" she exclaimed, beaming and studying my eyes. I smiled and simply said, "Thank you." at the mention of my eyes, I thought of my father, and how he had the same exact eyes.
"Well, thank you for catching me miss." she said curtsying. "My name's Mey-Rin, and I'm a maid!" she exclaimed, pointing to herself.
"It's very nice to meet you, Mey-Rin," I said, smiling sweetly at her. "my name is Katheryn Brooks." I said, giving her a curtsey back, which made her beam.
"Oh, you're so polite, yes you are!" she exclaimed, nearly jumping out of her skin. "Almost all of the other guests that come here would never be so nice to us servants!"
"That's dreadful." I said, furrowing my brows. "Servants are people too." I said, more to myself than anyone.
"Oh, I'm so glad you understand, miss!" she exclaimed. I giggled at her enthusiasm and offered a kind smile. She reminded me of a servant that used to work at my mansion. "Just remember to be more careful in the future, Mey-Rin." I said, giving her a kind smile.
"Yes, Miss Katheryn!" she barked as she gave me a salute. I giggled lightly as she turned and picked up half of the stack of plates Sebastian had set on a table on the other side of the room. Sebastian walked over to me, his face full of confusion.
"Why does she listen to you, but not me?" he asked me. I giggled and answered, "Why don't you ask her?"
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Sebastian and I had finished the tour of the inside, so he was bringing me outside to show me the garden. He opened the door for me, and I was hit with the sweet smell of flowers; it was almost overpowering. The garden was full of several different flowers; there were white roses, purple lilies, pink pansies, and so many more! I carefully walked down the few marble steps and looked around me, eyes full of wonder and excitement.
I loved nature. It was one of the characteristics I inherited from my mother. She always loved to go out into my family's garden every day and just lay out in the grass, and so did I. We always made flower rings, crowns, necklaces, just about anything we could think of. We always used red roses, because they were our favorite flower. We had vases filled with red roses all around our mansion, and my father gave my mother a red rose every day, and I thought it was very sweet. These memories made me beam, also they made my eyes water.
The huge manor was visible in the background, making the garden all the more grander. There was a water fountain in the center of the garden, and several stone benches standing about around the garden. As I looked, I couldn't find a single red rose. I was almost glad, because if I did, the tears in my eyes would probably spill over, and I didn't want that to happen. Not here, not now.
Among one patch of the flowers, I noticed an older boy tending to the flowers. His hair was strawberry blonde hair with yellow mixed in with it. He had a white shirt with red at the hems, and a straw sun hat on a string resting on his back. He had dark yellow and dull orange plaid pants, with a brown belt around his hips, with a pocket on the side containing small gardening tools. He wore high black socks and black working boots, with red lining the top. He turned around after hearing my footsteps, and smiled happily at me.
"Hello, there!" he said in a very high-pitched voice. His big eyes were a green-blue color, and he had five red pins holding his hair back, with one single fringe hovering beside his eyebrows. "You must be the new guest! It's very nice to meet you!" he exclaimed, standing up from his spot on the ground.
"Hello, there! It's very nice to meet you too!" I said, smiling happily right back at him. He gave a short bow and said, "My name's Finnian, but you can call me Finny!" he said, smiling toothily at me. "I'm the gardener!" he said, pointing at himself, like the others did.
"My name is Katheryn Brooks," I said, giving him a small curtsey. His eyes widened slightly at my kindness, but it was replaced with a beaming smile.
"You're very nice!" commented Finny.
"You're very nice, as well Finny! I feel so welcome here with all of the friendly faces!" I exclaimed, clasping my hands together in front of me. Finny smiled in response.
"I don't want to be a spoil sport," said Sebastian, walking over towards us, "but Finnian? What is that?" he asked, pointing towards the pile of leaves and stems near his feet.
"Weeds I pulled." said Finny simply, turning away from me to face Sebastian. Sebastian reached down and pulled a few 'weeds' from the pile and held them up. The 'weeds' were actually flowers.
"Do you call these weeds?" he asked. Finny screamed in horror and snatched the rooted flowers from his hand, starting to cry.
"I'm so sorry you beautiful flowers! Oh, I always end up pulling the flowers instead of the weeds!" he cried, flailing around. Sebastian sighed and face palmed. I carefully got down on my knees beside Finny, who was sitting on the ground, mourning the flowers.
"Finny, it's alright." I said, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Everyone makes mistakes, you just need to learn from them." I said, and a faint smile graced my lips. "That's what my parents always told me when I made a mistake. You need to realize your mistake, admit you were wrong, and take the precautions necessary to avoid making that same mistake again." he looked up at me, his tears had subsided, but his eyes were still glassy. He sniffed and wiped the tear streaks from his pale cheeks.
"Thank you for being to nice to me, Miss Katheryn. You're the only one who's treated me so kindly!" his eyes watered up again and he cried silently, smiling at me faintly. The next thing I knew, his arms were around my neck and he was sobbing into my shoulder. But, this time, he didn't seem upset about the flowers. I tenderly wrapped my arms around his waist and rubbed his back soothingly, and making soft 'shh' noises, trying to calm him.
After a few moments, his cries stopped and he released me from his grip. He rubbed his eyes, and said, "I'm sorry," I wasn't too sure why he was apologizing; maybe it was because servants aren't supposed to do things like cry on the guests, but I didn't mind.
"There's nothing to apologize for, Finny." he looked up at me with a questioning eye. "Everyone needs to cry some time or another, and everyone deserves a shoulder to cry on." I gave him a kind smile, and he smiled back at me.
"You're so nice to me!" he said as I stood and brushed off my dress, and I held a hand out to him. Finny stared at my hand wide-eyed for a moment, then took it, hesitantly, and I helped him to his feet. He brushed the dirt from his clothes and said, "Thank you, Miss Katheryn." he said, smiling at me once more, before turning to Sebastian as he took out his pocket watch and checked the time.
"Miss Katheryn, I'm afraid dinner is nearing, and we have reached the end of our tour." he said, clicking his pocket watch shut and placing it back into his pocket. "If you are ready, I will escort you back to your room until it is time to eat dinner."
"Of course," I said, turning back to Finny.
"It was nice talking with you, Finny. Now, remember what I said!" I said as I turned to leave.
"I will, and thank you!" Finny said, his usual happy self as he waved to me as I walked up the marble steps and back inside the mansion.
"You're very welcome. Goodbye!" I said as I returned his wave and smiled cutely at him.
With one last wave, Finny said, "Goodbye!" and with that, I walked into the open door of the Phantomhive manor, to prepare to meet the Earl Phantomhive. Little did I know, that I would be shocked by what was next to come.
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* Takes deep breath and wipes forehead with back of hand * Whew! That was quite a long chapter! I guess that makes up for that really short previous chapter. . . I hope, at least!
Well, Katheryn's met the rest of the Phantomhive servants, next it's time to meet Ciel! Finally! Speaking of the servants, they all really like her, don't they? And Katheryn and Finny have something in common, too!
What will Ciel have to say about Katheryn's billiard skills? What is Katheryn's mysterious past? Maybe you'll find out. . . In the next chapter!
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