Chapter 21

There was none she liked from the enormous collection of books in front of her; being really boring books were not much of a help making her chore any more pleasant. A wipe of the wet cloth across its cover, Estella slid the book back to the shelf with a contented sigh before turning away from it to once again be met with the familiar sight of the study. She turned to the silent male at his desk to find him staring very intently at a paper which was held in a hand.

"I'm done."

His eye flicked up from the paper and to her at that. He nodded. "Move on to the next one then." He waved dismissively at her, turning back to the paper.

Estella snorted with an incredulous frown on her face. "Can you have some sympathy for me?" Ciel glanced up at her with a raised eyebrow. "My back is breaking from cleaning your stupid damn boooooooring books for like almost two hours. It always these books. Isn't there anything that's actually interesting to read from these shelves or even this manor?"

"It's your job to clean, not to read." Ciel stated dryly, eye still fixated on the paper.

She let out an exasperated sigh. "Well, at least-"

The doors swinging opened had them both turning to see Elizabeth skipping in.

Ciel straightened up in surprise at her unexpected arrival. "Elizabeth!"

"Ciel! Ciel! Let's have a Winter Ball on Friday night!" She chirped, skipping her way towards him.

"What?" An incredulous frown at her, he shook his head. "No."

"Please?" She pouted. "It'll be so fun!"

Estella sighed when the male gave Elizabeth another stubborn 'no'.

She rolled her eyes at him. He seriously needs to get a life.

"Just let her do it." Elizabeth turned to her in surprise, finally aware of her presence. "Besides…Your birthday is nearing, isn't it?"

"Like what she said! Let me do it! This ball can be an early birthday celebration for you too! Just gets this ball going and over, I promise that there won't be any ball on your birthday!" Elizabeth said, nodding at him. "Please…?"

Ciel raised an eyebrow. "Really? There will be none on my birthday if I allow this ball to take place?"

"Promise!"

He let out a resigned sigh. "Fine."

"Thank you, Ciel!" Elizabeth ran around the desk to him and pulled him into a hug.

Estella strolled forward. "Lady Elizabeth."

The said female glanced over at her with a questioning look at that, releasing Ciel.

"I can help you with the preparation if you want." Estella offered with a shrug.

"Oh! That's great!" Elizabeth clapped her hands in delight.

Ciel glanced over at his fiance at that. "There's no need, Elizabeth." He said, letting the pen in his hand drop. "Just tell Sebastian how you want the manor to be and he will get the job done."

"I better head over to him now!" She nodded at him and waltzed over to the door but abruptly stopped when she was only four steps away from it. She turned to Estella with an excited smile. "You can invite your friends along too! "

Ciel raised an eyebrow at that. "Don't bother, Elizabeth. She doesn't have any." He said flatly.

"Oh…" Elizabeth's face fell at that but went unnoticed by Estella who was staring at the male with an annoyed look.

Estella folded her arms across her chest. "Who says?" She asked heatedly with an image of Brandon in her head. She ignored the skeptical look Ciel had on his face, turning away to his fiance with a smile. "I will, Lady Elizabeth." She said, bowing to the female.

"Good!" Elizabeth cheered and made her way out of the study. "Oh, this is so exciting!" A squeal from her was all before she disappeared from view.

Movements caught through the side of her eyes had her turning back to Ciel to see him standing at the window, staring out.

She strolled over to the window and stood beside him. Ciel continued staring out of the window, not a glance spared at her. She too stared out. She could feel the coolness emitting from the glass before her. Snow continued falling, making the things outside white to the extent that they could not be any more whiter.

Estella turned to Ciel who was still staring out. She frowned at the vacant look in his eye. A look that was too painfully familiar and an emotion in it that seemed like sadness but yet, also not. An emotion that she could not place her finger on, something that was so deep and unreadable. She shook the prickling sensation of chills running down her spine away. "Hey…"

His head snapped over to her, surprised to find her beside him. She continued. "Sebastian told me to prepare your tea today, so…which tea do you want to drink?"

A blink at her, he composed himself. His eye went back to being guarded and void once again. "Earl Grey. Don't make the tea yet, I'll have it later."

"Alright…" She nodded slowly. "Then…. I'll go take a break first since I have no more chores. I'll come back in an hour and a half with your tea." She said, turning away from the window.

"Wait."

Estella stopped in her tracks and turned back to him with a questioning look. "What?"

"Come here." He gestured her over.

She walked back to him and stopped beside him to see him looking out of the window, eye fixated on something below. With a puzzled look, she too looked out. Her face fell at an instant when she realized what he was looking at. The path Elizabeth's carriage was parked on- to her annoyance- was covered with snow once again.

The thought of the exhausting time she had clearing the path of those damn annoying snow in the morning, she groaned. She turned to Ciel to see him now staring at her expectantly; it was clear as day that he wanted her to do it again.

Estella shook her head at him. "No. Freaking. Way."

"This is an order. Clear the path now."

Her eyes narrowed defiantly at him. "No."

He said nothing, but just continued eying her heatedly.

A groan at the look on his face, she gave in and let out a sigh. "Fine."

…..

Cold.

She tucked a loose strand behind her ear before stabbing the shovel into the snow. Her breath came out in thin wisps as she breathed out heavily, heaving a pile of snow up with the shovel. She could feel her muscles protesting as she struggled her way to the huge pile of snow she gathered at the side and dumped the pile on the shovel onto it. Cold and tired, she has already been doing this for twenty minutes.

Squeals and bubbly chatters had her turning. Side by side, Elizabeth and Ciel were making their way down the steps with Paula trailing behind them. Elizabeth was engaging in a nearly one-sided conversation with Ciel who did not looked very engaged- nodding and replying curtly to her chatter. Shrugging, she turned back to the snow, lifting another pile of it to the side.

"Stop calling me Elizabeth! It's Lizzy!" She heard Elizabeth exclaim and a mumble of words she couldn't hear from Ciel in return.

From the side of her eyes, she could see that they were walking towards the carriage.

Her eyes narrowed at the snow at her feet.

Invite Brandon to the ball, huh… Would Brandon actually come if she invited him? Speaking of Brandon, she still hasn't read that Angels and Demons book he gave her last week; something just made her felt like not doing so. It just reminded her of the demon blood experiment SIGMA performed on her. Every time she touch or even just a glance at it, there will always be this strange prickling feeling. It made her even more reluctant to read that book.

"Estella!" A yell broke into her thoughts.

She turned to see Elizabeth waving at her. She tilted her head in question at the female. "Yes, Lady Elizabeth?"

"I'll help you with the make-up and hair before the ball!" Elizabeth chirped.

A thought back to the time of the Trancy ball when the female did the same for her, she was about to decline but stopped when she saw that Elizabeth has already disappeared into the carriage.

"Bye, Estella!" Paula called out to her before she too climbed aboard.

Ciel stood unmoving as the carriage started to move, watching it go. He sighed, not aware of how Estella was grinning slyly at him.

A lot of things had been going on in his mind. Most revolved around SIGMA. Under the Queen's order, it was his task to rid of that organization. But how? So what if he did find out what were the things they purchased from the Black Market? Let the purchaser lead them into the heart of that organization? It's so obvious that he should do that yet extremely dangerous even if he have Sebastian with him. It was unknown what SIGMA has behind its doors. They-

He jerked upright in surprise when something shockingly cold hit him at the side of his face. Wet coldness slid down his face, he turned to find Estella smirking at him.

His eyebrows furrowed into a glare. "Blancbaston!" He growled.

Instead, she threw another, this time, hitting his chest. She rolled her eyes at her. "C'mon! When there's snow, play with it!" When she saw Ciel stood there unmoving with a stony stare at her, she sighed exasperatedly." Why are you always so serious? You are as boring as your books! Get a life!"

She sent another ball of snow at him and cheered when it hit him squarely at the face.

"Hey, stop that!" Ciel yelled, wiping the snow off his face to reveal a furious look

"Get back at me! Don't just stand there!" She yelled over in return to his furious look. She slapped her forehead, rolling her eyes exasperatedly at him. "God, you're such a sissy!"

Ciel's eye twitched at that. "What did you just call me?"

"A sissy~" She said airily. "A sissy who is scared to participate in a snowball fight." She- to his annoyance- stuck out her tongue at him.

She smirked when she saw that he was bending down, gathering the snow at his feet. Before she could even bend down to gather her own, a ball of snow flew at her and landed at her shoulder. "I'm not." He growled.

Everything happened so quickly.

Ciel, unintentionally, got himself in a snowball fight with her. All he wanted to do was send over a ball of snow as revenge for the three snowballs she shot at him and return to his study to continue his paperwork, but instead, he found himself immersed in this snowball fight. Furthermore, enjoying it. They were throwing snow at each other, dodging each other's incoming ones. There was only one thing running through his mind and that was to make sure he hit her.

Feeling so free and alive was a first for him. His heart skipped a beat when he noticed how the red blush on her cheeks adorned her face. He knew that it was not because of him, it was the coldness. That jumpy feeling inside him felt so strange. Why was he feeling like this? Weird.

"Looks like Master's not a sissy afterall!" Estella yelled over and burst into laughter.

Ciel who was about to throw the snow he gathered in his hand, froze the instant those words flew out from her mouth. He then suddenly remembered that he was the master and she was the servant. What on earth was he doing? Playing with a servant? This was so wrong of him to behave like this. The gathered snow in his hand fell out when he lowered his arm. He cussed inwardly at himself.

He glanced up with a serious look but only to be hit squarely in the face by another snowball. Wiping the snow off his face indifferently, he glanced over at her with a pointed look. "Enough, you idiot. Playing are for kids." He said, suddenly turning his back to her. He started towards the manor.

"Huh?" Surprise passed her face, taken back by his sudden change of attitude.

"Continue with your chore. After that, head over to my study with Earl Grey tea." Ciel called over his shoulder.

She watched him pulled open the door and disappeared into the manor, blinking owlishly.

The gathered snow in her hand slipping out, she stared dumbfounded at the door. "What the hell?"

….

Finny with Bard and Meirin behind, rushed up to her the moment she stepped into the kitchen. All had awe and disbelief on their faces. "How did you get Master to play snowball fight with you?" They asked in unison the instant they reached her.

"What?" She said, taking a step back in surprise at their question.

Estella jumped, startled when Meirin abruptly placed her hands on her shoulders. "We saw you two playing outside! It was unbelievable! He always refuses when we ask him to join us. Even with Lady Elizabeth asking too!"

She turned when she felt a tug at her sleeve to find Finny eying her with envy. "Not fair! Finny wants to play with him too!" He pouted.

"You…" Bard narrowed his eyes with an eyebrow raised suggestively. "What did you do? Hmmm? "

"Nothing much. It's actually pretty easy to get that stubborn head to do it." She paused and gave out a nervous laugh when she noticed that all three were staring very intently at her. She cleared her throat. "Well…I insulted his manhood."

A pause when she noticed that all had shock written over their face, she continued despite them. "I called him a sissy."

There was an awkward silence the moment those words left her mouth.

"You did WHAT?"

An eyebrow rose at their outburst. "I called him a sissy."She shrugged again. "You guys should try that. It works." She nodded matter-of-factly at them.

They just stared at her as though she was crazy.

"Estella,"

A deep silky voice had them all turning to see Sebastian walking into the kitchen.

"Yes, Sebastian?" Estella asked, turning her back to the others.

"The tea." Sebastian eyed her with a pointed look.

"Oh, right." She strolled over to the cabinets at that and started making tea like how Sebastian taught her after he decided that she should be in charge of making and delivering teas to her master. After practices Sebastian made her go through, it took her only a minute to get the tea done. Throughout the process of making tea, she could hear the three telling the snowball fight she had with the master to Sebastian. She could feel Sebastian's stare on her.

Placing the teapot and cup onto a silver round tray, she carefully lifted the tray and exited the kitchen.

"She called Master a sissy!" She heard a voice that belonged to Finny exclaimed.

A sheepish look at that, she could hear no more when she round a corner.

…..

"Here's your Earl Grey tea." She said, setting the tea on the desk.

Estella watched him nod, letting go of the pen in his hand. He leaned back on the chair with a tired sigh and massaged his temples wearily before reaching out for a sip. For reasons unknown, something about those actions just made her stay. She watched silently as he set the cup down and went back to the paper in front of him.

She frowned at how tired he looked; it was as though he hasn't slept for days. Noticing the large pile of papers beside him, she felt sympathy for him. A sigh, she placed the tray down on the chair she was standing beside and wordlessly made her way round the desk.

Ciel stiffened in surprise when he felt something rest on his shoulders. He turned back and saw that it was Estella. He frowned in puzzlement. "What are you doing?"

"A massage." She merely said, starting to do what she told him.

He was about to protest but stopped. It felt good, he realized. She was very skillfully easing his shoulder of their stiffness, the pressure applied on them were slow and firm. He found himself closing his eye to it.

"Where did you learn this from?" He mumbled.

The hands on his shoulders shifted. "I learned this by myself. I used to do this for my parents."

"Not bad."

They lapsed into silence.

The sudden stop of the massage had him opening his eye to see her walking over to the chair opposite him. He watched her picked up the tray on it and frowned at a realization. "That's it?"

Estella glanced up at him, hooking the tray under an arm. "Yeah. I'm heading to town."

"Town? What for?"

"Invite my friend for the ball and to help Sebastian run an errand." She started towards the door and pulled it open.

An eyebrow rose. "You actually have friends?

"Of course." With that, the door shut closed.

A finger tapping on the desk, Ciel eyed the door thoughtfully and quickly came to a decision.

Massaging him should definitely be added to her list of chores.

…..

Winter Ball came fast. In fact, too fast for his liking.

Ciel stood on the stairs, observing the on-going ball from it. Most of his guests had arrived and Elizabeth was very enthusiastically attending to them. A distant crash had him glancing away from his fiance; a shake of head was his instant reaction to what he saw. There was Meirin, gaping in horror at the shattered pieces of the plates she broke. He sighed exasperatedly. Why was she so careless?

His eye came to fix on a duo from the dancing crowd and he scowled.

Brandon Christensen was who Estella introduced to him as before they went into dancing. For some reason unknown, it irked him how this male could turn his servant with such defiant character into a nervous wreck. Blushing and stuttering seemed so unlike her.

Before this ball started, she came out, he have to admit, dressed especially beautiful tonight. And he knew that it was for that friend she invited. She seemed so nervous when the entrance hall was starting to fill with guests, tensing up whenever a new arrival came. It was just…unbelievable. He couldn't tell what was the thing about the male that made her like this. The very good-looking face was his guess.

Ciel watched from the stairs as the two danced, Estella's dark purple dress spinning around her body as the male spun her around. He suddenly felt unease at the sight of her pink-tinted cheeks and nervous smile as she clumsily tried to match her steps with the male's once again when she completed the twirl. The girl, however, missed a step, nearly falling. But the male caught her effortlessly. The stunned look and red blush on the girl's face made Ciel's eye narrowed.

He sighed heavily. Why was he feeling so disturbed by that? How was it that this pawn was able to cause him these weird feelings?

Catching another glance at the duo, he turned away with a frown and made his way down the steps to join the ball.

He gave out a sigh.

"Annoying."