Chapter 4

Raising an eyebrow as he watched Estella instantly grew rigid after his announcement of their arrival at their destination. Shrugging off at that girl's odd reaction, Ciel turned back to study the manor through the window as the carriage trudged through its wide open gates.

It was a pretty big-looking manor, though not bigger than his own. Green mosses that crept up its walls indicated the lack of maintenance. Ciel also noted the few of its broken windows as his pupil flicked about the manor, studying it with curiosity written in his eye. The two huge lawns at the either sides of the path which the carriage was now trudging on were fields of untamable-looking tall grass.

Done taking in all the details, Ciel turned away from the window and was about to open his mouth to comment something about the manor and closed it back again when he saw the girl staring wide eyes at the manor. He frowned when he also noticed that she was gripping onto the edge of the seat tightly.

Flicking his eye back up at her face, he frowned with a small glint of concern in his eye as he studied her face. He then froze with eye widened in recognition as that expression on her face stirred something deep within his mind. Memories... Dark and haunting ones. The memories which he had tried so hard to forget. Those pair of ice blue eyes was stirring with the similar mixed emotions in them as the ones he once had and felt. Fear and anticipation. He had those same eyes when he finally met his family manor again for the first time after years of being a captive, and the manor was where his nightmare took place. The Phantomhive Tragedy.

Snapping out of his trance, his gaze on the girl softened. She had gone through the same thing as him. Both of them had suffered a great deal of similar fate. Gingerly reaching out a hand, Ciel reached out towards the girl and abruptly stopped before hastily pulling it back. Look down at his hand with widened eye; he gave himself a mental slap.

What do you think you are doing? Trying to comfort her? Mind your own business!

Adjusting his eye patch in frustration, he glanced up at the girl again and sighed inwardly. Leaning back onto the seat, Ciel closed his eyes and spoke nonchalantly. "Something once lost will never return."

Behind his closed lids, he could feel her staring at him.

"What…?"

Sighing, he opened his eyes to meet the girl's stare. He stared back for a brief moment and sighed again. "I said… Something once lost will never return..."

Ciel watched as one of her eyebrow shot up high, disappearing under her fringe, the girl shot him a questioning look. "Wha-"

The carriage door suddenly swung opened which interrupted her, revealed a bowing Sebastian standing outside its mouth.

"We have arrived, Young Master."

Ciel glanced back at the girl before turning back to his butler and nodded. Pushing off the seat to stand, he turned back to the girl again. "Let's go, Blancbaston."

Strolling towards the door, Ciel took the waiting hand of his butler and stepped out onto the stone path. Moving a little away from the carriage door, Ciel studied the porch.

There was a fountain which was crept up with many green algae, making it look greenish white, located right at the front of the manor. Water can barely be seen in it. Flicking his eye away, he turned back to face his two other companions, just in time to see the girl stepping out of the carriage.

….

Watching as Ciel strolled towards the door; she stared at his retreating back in puzzlement and shrugged, pushing herself off the seat. Waiting for the boy to step out, she slowly strolled towards the door and watched as he took his butler's hand and stepped out onto the ground. When Ciel moved away from the door, she too followed suit and landed heavily onto the ground. Straightening up, she snapped her head up to see the boy watching her and his butler.

Sebastian behind her, who was done shutting the door, turned to face his master for further instructions. Estella with arms folded across her chest stared back at the boy, spoke. "Let's get to work, Phantomhive."

Seeing when Ciel just snorted and grunted in response, she started forward to stroll around the carriage to the entrance of the manor.

….

Ciel narrowed his eye at the girl's back as he watched her stroll towards the entrance of the manor, and snorted. Flicking his eye away, he turned to Sebastian and gave him a curt nod.

"Let's go."

Sighing heavily, he started forward to follow the girl. His eye widened when the entrance came into view. Ciel noted splinters poking out in several angles from the both doors of the huge entrance. With eyes still lingering on the splinters for a moment, he frowned at them before turning to the girl walking in front of him. Cursing under his breath when he nearly crash into the girl who came to a halt out of a sudden, Ciel skidded just in time to a stop right behind her. Eyes widened when he realized he had stopped too close to the girl, Ciel hastily took a step back and glared at her back.

"Can you not stop out of sudden?" He snapped in annoyance. His butler, who was trailing behind them, cocked his eyebrow in question at the girl.

When there was no response from her, Ciel walked up to her front to face her, was about to open his mouth to yell at her but stopped when he noticed the faraway look in her eyes. Sighing when he realized this, he raised a hand up and snapped his fingers at her face.

"Hey…Blancbaston, snap it out!..." He frowned when the girl still stood there motionless; he placed his hand on one of her shoulders and begun shaking her. "Blancbaston….Estella Blancbaston…Bla-"

Pulling back his hand when the girl snapped up her head at him with a look of bewilderment, Ciel narrowed his eye at her. He then raised an eyebrow at her when the girl narrowed her eyes back at him. Pulling away from the eye contact, the girl buried her face into the palm of one hand and sighed before looking up at him again.

"Erm….Sorry…I was just thinking of something….Now, let's go…Phantomhive." With a curt nod, the girl strolled past him and continued towards the entrance. Ciel still with a raised eyebrow stared at her retreating back before turning to follow.

…..

Sighing while she buried her face into her hand, Estella snapped her head up to look at the boy again.

"Erm….Sorry…I was just thinking of something….Now, let's go…Phantomhive."

Giving him a curt nod, Estella started forward and strolled past him towards the entrance. When she finally reached the doors, Estella took a deep breath and gingerly reached out both hands to push the doors. Hands clutching onto her nightgown, she watched the doors swung opened in anticipation and fear. The doors slightly opened to reveal only darkness.

She jumped when Ciel who was standing behind her ordered. "Sebastian, go in and light this place." With an utter of a 'Yes, my lord' from somewhere behind her, Sebastian strolled past her to push the doors, opening them wider, before continuing his way into the manor to carry out the order.

When the dark room slowly lightened up, Ciel behind her strolled past her into the lighted room before pausing to turn back to her. "Blancbaston, don't stand there. I don't have all day…."

Rolling her eyes at his retreating back, she gingerly took a step in and followed the boy in.

...

Strolling into the room, Ciel gazed around it. A wallpaper of what he recognized, an 'Ornate Damask Seamless' Gold wallpaper, were up on the surrounding walls. The floor was carpeted with an almond brown carpet. His visible eye followed the steps up the huge staircase in the middle of the room, widened in recognition when it landed on the wall at the top of the stairs. It was a huge and tattered portrait of who he could recognize, the man who was an owner of a company that used to be a successful and existing- The Blancbaston Empire. There in the portrait stood the late owner of the no-longer-existing company, Lord Alexander Blancbaston.

Flicking his eye away, he turned away from it and immediately realized that Estella was standing behind, too staring up at the same thing. Leaving her to it, Ciel continued looking around and noted the large chandelier hanging from the high ceiling. Looking back down at the floor, his eye widened at the little patch of red at the corner foot of the staircase. Walking forward to get a closer look, he also caught a gash on the carpet near the railing. Folding his arms across his chest, he bends forward to examine it.

His investigation was then interrupted when the girl yelled, half way up the stairs. "Hey, midget! Let's move up to the next floor!"

Glaring at the girl's back, he growled in frustration and snarled. "Midget? Didn't I already tell you not to me a Midget?...Y-You... Urgh! Forget it!"

Turning to his amused butler who now standing at the foot of stairs, he snapped angrily. "Let's go, Sebastian!"

Climbing up the stairs in quick strides, Ciel glared up at the girl that now stood at the top of it.

That girl! Seriously... an extremely annoying one…..

….

Gazing up the portrait of her father sadly while waiting for the duo to reach, she sighed. Flicking away her eyes to the two flight of stairs which leads to the next floor at the either side of the stair landing where she now stood, she dreaded moving up to the next floor. The next floor was where most of that nightmare happened on that night. Looking at the stairs at the right, she sighed and turned back to look up at the portrait.

Father….

When she heard the sound of footsteps moving towards her, Estella took a deep breath before spinning around to face the approaching duo.

"Well…Now, let's go to the next floor."

…..

-End of Chapter-