Chapter 13
A weary sigh came after the sound of a heavy dull thud as Estella eyed tiredly at the bucket of chalky gray water which she have just put down.
Eyes flicking over to the shelves, she surveyed the result of the interminable chore of dusting and wiping the damn furniture and its books. A feeling of relief and accomplishment washed over her when she checked that she has really finished this back-breaking chore.
Estella then yawned, stretching her arms above her head tiredly. She then cursed at the dull feeling of fatigue which lingered in her muscles. "I can't believe I have to do this thrice a week! Argh…!" She groaned in frustration.
Glaring in annoyance at the rows of shelves, her eyes suddenly widened in remembrance.
Oh yeah, why does Phantomhive want me to meet him in his study…? She sighed at that thought. That demanding little boy…!
Shaking her head in bewilderment, Estella snatched up the bucket at her foot and stalked towards the wide opened doors of the library.
…..
The door swung opened the moment Ciel uttered a 'Come in' as a reply to the sound of knocking which emitted from its other side. Without needing to glance up from his paperwork to identify the visitor, he asked nonchalantly. "What is it, Sebastian…?"
"It's time for your dance lesson, Young Master." Sebastian bowed with a hand on his chest.
The reply Sebastian gave Ciel had Ciel snapping his head up to look at him with an incredulous look. "Dance lesson?"
An annoyed frown then marred his face. "Che."
With an annoyed sigh, Ciel pushed himself up to stand before moving over to his butler. The annoyed frown still on his face, Ciel snapped. "This better be quick, Sebastian."
"How quick this lesson is going to go depends on you, Young Master." Sebastian said with a serene smile. He then stretched a hand out to his master and prompted. "Let's get started, shall we?"
Ciel stared at the hand with an annoyed frown and snorted before reaching out to accept it.
...
Estella sighed, making her way down the hallway with the bucket of water she used for her earlier tiring chore. Trudging down the stretch of hallway, she finally came to a stop in front of a huge door. Giving a knock, she pushed opened the doors without bothering to wait for permission to do so; she froze with widened eyes the moment the doors swung opened to reveal something she did not expect to see behind the doors.
There was the Phantomhive boy standing in a close proximity with his butler. Flicking her eyes down to the hand Ciel had on Sebastian's waist and his other hand held in Sebastian's gloved hand in mid-air, she quickly figured that they were dancing. Blinking dumbly at the scene before her, the duo that have too froze in the middle of their dance, stared back. An unnerving silence hung between them.
Okaayyy… didn't know they were like this… Still staring at the duo, she blushed at her thoughts.
Clearing her throat, Estella shot them an apologetic look. "Sorry for disturbing…er…your dance, please do continue."
Eyes darting from Ciel to Sebastian, she took a step back and quickly pulled the doors back towards her, shutting it.
...
Watching the doors swung shut again, Ciel raised an eyebrow at whatever that had just happen. Eyes widening when realization dawned upon him, he gasped inwardly at what he figured out.
Don't tell me she thinks that Sebastian and me are….
Grimacing in disgust at his thoughts, Ciel quickly freed himself from the amused butler before stalking up to pull open the doors to see the Blancbaston girl snapping her head up in surprise.
"So…" The girl started hesitantly.
Eyebrows moving down to a glare, Ciel snapped in annoyance. "I don't care what you thought that was just now, just know that was just my dance lesson, got it?"
Fuming, Ciel watched a sheepish smile grew across her face. "Oh ho…I thought you two were…you know…"
"It's not, okay?" He growled irritably.
"Yeah, yeah…" Estella rolled her eyes at the annoyed male. The two adolescences then turned to the silent butler when Sebastian spoke. "Let's continue the dance lesson but I think this time, it's better and easier for Young Master to dance with someone shorter so now, Estella shall take my place."
This had the two staring wide eyes at each other in bewilderment and disbelief.
"WHAT?" They yelled in unison at the amused butler.
…..
"You suck at dancing." Ciel stated bluntly as he stared at the shorter female in his arms emotionlessly. He could still feel the dull pain in his both foot. His stupid butler must be crazy to ask the Blancbaston girl to dance with him, it have already been the fourth time his poor foot had been stepped on.
The girl snapped her head up at him and glared at him irritably."You think I want to do this? You know what, you suck too…!" She growled.
Sebastian, who was watching quietly at the side, chuckled at this. Their interaction was just too…interesting. It was amusing to see his master grimace in pain whenever his feet were stepped on and simply fascinating to watch how much Estella could annoy his master. An amused smirk crept across his face as he continued watching the two in silence.
Unfazed by her outburst, Ciel raised an eyebrow at Estella and drawled mockingly. "Che. It's a wonder how you managed to dance with this kind of skill at Trancy's party…. "
"You consider that as a dance…? Throughout, all Trancy did was press me against him. That definitely does not seem like a dance to me." Estella shot him a deadpanned look. The deadpanned look reverted into a puzzled look when no respond came, she then raised an eyebrow when she felt his body grow rigid.
Frowning, Ciel could not figure out the reason for the unsettling feeling what Estella said him brought him and he certainly did not like them.
This is stup-
A sudden pain in his left foot interrupted him in the midst of his thoughts. Grimacing in pain, he shot Estella an annoyed glare. "This is the fifth time, Blancbaston!" He snarled.
Shooting back an indifferent look, she shrugged. "Well, at least, you're back. What are you thinking of? "
"None of your business." Ciel replied curtly.
"Whatever." Estella rolled her eyes in response. She then glanced down at her waist to see his hand which supposedly should be circled around her waist, hovering over it. Glancing back up at Ciel to see him watching her, he spoke before she could say anything.
"Don't comment. Look at how you put your hand on my shoulder first before you say anything, Blancbaston." Ciel said, gesturing at her hand which was hovering over his shoulder with a jut of his chin.
"Hn. Look, Phantomhi-"
"It's Master to you. " Ciel cut her off swiftly and shot her an annoyed glare. "How many times do-"
A sudden pressure on his left foot interrupted him. Estella have did it again.
"That's it! This lesson's over!" He detached himself from the girl abruptly, only to have the unsuspecting girl to shriek in surprise as her loss of balance cause her to fall onto the carpeted floor, landing hard on her bottom.
"Damn you, Phantomhive!" Estella shot him a heated glare as she scrambled up to stand.
"It's Master." Ciel snapped in annoyance. Without another glance, he spun towards his butler and spoke.
"Enough with the lesson, it's time to brief her on the mission, we've wasted enough time, Sebastian." Ciel sighed, stalking towards his desk and quickly settled down on his chair.
"Then I shall go get some tea." Sebastian bowed before he moved towards and disappeared behind the doors.
"Mission? What mission?" Estella tilted her head at Ciel in puzzlement, instantly forgetting that she was mad at him.
"Sit down first." Ciel jutted his chin towards the chair opposite him. With a sigh, Estella obligingly walked over to the seat and plopped down on it. "So what is this mission that you were talking about, hmm…?"
…..
"So all we need to do is attend this ball…? That's all for the mission? Then why do I need to participate in this mission?" Estella asked with a raised eyebrow.
Ciel took a sip of tea from his cup before setting it back down. He glanced up at her with an all-business look. "Because this mission involves SIGMA and I need you to help me gather information on them for me."
Her eyes widened in shock upon hearing him mention that hateful organization. "S-SIGMA? Are you insane? That's too dangerous! Why does it have to be me that gathers information, why not you?"
Ruffling his hair in frustration, Ciel explained. "You're not the only one doing so. I am too, but it will be difficult for me."
"And why is that so?" Estella narrowed at her eyes at his answer.
The male opposite her then curtly replied. "You will know when we are there."
Scoffing at his words, she leaned forward to rest her arms on his desk. "Tell me why I should do that." She questioned challengingly.
Taking a long sip from his cup, Ciel turned to Sebastian and gestured at his cup for a refill before turning to her to meet the challenging look on her face with a look of indifference. "Didn't you say that you want to take revenge on them? What you are going to do is going to benefit us both. Me as the Queen's watchdog like I have told you earlier and you who want to take revenge on them. It will be like a stepping stone to get to your goal. Secondly, because I'm your master so you should serve me in any way I want."
Smirking inwardly, Ciel knew he had partly won when he saw that Estella was deep in thoughts. Leaning back on his chair, Ciel eyed thoughtlessly at her.
When a heavy sigh of resignation escaped from her lips, he knew he had won.
"Fine, I'll do it. But I will need to disguise myself for it; I don't want anyone to recognize me." Estella said, straightening up into an upright position.
"Don't worry, I have already thought of everything for this mission." Ciel leaned forward to rest both of his arms on his desk.
He then continued, this time, with a knowing smirk on his face.
"On that night…..You, Estella Blancbaston, will become Adrian Blackwell, a male cousin of mine."