"When did I agree to that?" Ciel asked two weeks later when Sebastian informed him that they would be heading to London to attend the ball held by one Earl Ashbourne.
"Two weeks ago, my lord. You picked his invitation out from the stack of invitations."
Ciel seemed to remember the incident. "Oh."
"Yes, the ball will be held in two days' time. Since you are heading to London, I have also arranged for your visit to the Funtom factory at West London tomorrow, as well as a couple of meetings this afternoon."
"Alright." Ciel said. "I take it you've made the travel arrangements as well?"
"The carriage is ready and waiting for you up front. We can leave after breakfast." Sebastian said as he finished tying Ciel's eyepatch.
"Very well. Let's not dawdle then." Ciel said and they headed downstairs.
After Ciel finished his breakfast, he took a quick look at the mail, but seeing that there was no important mail that needed his urgent attention, they left, with very stern warning that the servants must keep the manor intact, or there would be consequences.
"Well, at least we'll have some peace and quiet." Ciel said when they entered the townhouse a few hours later. "And we have the entire townhouse to ourselves, which means, I can do this." He grabbed Sebastian's tie and pulled him down for a kiss. "Oh yes, this is going to be fun." Ciel grinned after the kiss.
"There are some benefits." Sebastian agreed and fixed his tie.
They climbed up the stairs and Ciel headed to his study while Sebastian checked the rest of the house, making sure there was no unwanted surprises waiting for them. He didn't sense anything, but he checked anyway. He'd be damned if something were to happen because he was careless. That would be unbefitting for a butler and humiliating for a demon.
After lunch, Ciel was busy with meetings. They only got back to the townhouse in the early evening and Sebastian prepared dinner.
After dinner, Ciel decided to read in the library until bedtime.
At bedtime, instead of the usual routine, the two of them tumbled together into bed, hands and lips hungrily touching and kissing each other everywhere they could reach.
Ciel spent the morning visiting the Funtom factory before heading to Soma's house for lunch. Soma had wanted to go to Ciel's townhouse, but Ciel thought it would be much easier to leave when he wanted to, than to get the prince out of his townhouse when he had overstayed his welcome, which would definitely be the case.
"Ciel!" Soma welcomed him into his house with a big smile.
"Good morning, Soma, Sorry, I'm late. I was held up in my previous appointment." Ciel said politely.
"No problem at all. Lunch will be ready soon!" Soma said.
Ciel was worried that Soma would start to talk about his former fiancé again, but to his relief, the older man didn't say anything of that topic. He didn't even mention her name. Instead, they talked about the recent events and the weather.
Lunch was great, Agni's curry was always delicious, well, almost as delicious as Sebastian's curry, but Ciel was biased.
"Are you going to attend any soirees, Ciel?" Soma asked.
"Yes, I'm actually going to attend Lord Ashbourne's party tomorrow. How about you?"
"Oh, that's great! We'd be going too!" Soma said. "Maria has been looking forward to it all week!"
"Then I will see you both tomorrow evening." Ciel said.
"Yes." Soma nodded. "Oh, it's going to be exciting, Ciel!"
After lunch, Ciel excused himself and left, stating he had another appointment to get to. In reality, he went home and spent the rest of the afternoon sitting behind his desk, buried in paperwork.
After dinner, Ciel and Sebastian played chess and discussed about Ciel's plan to open a new factory in France.
Funtom was Ciel's most prized possession. It was something that he himself had built from the ground up. Unlike his title and his wealth which he had inherited from his father, Ciel had established Funtom and had developed it into what it was today. He had learned everything there was to learn about running a company and had adopted a hands-on approach. He was an excellent businessman and employer, and it was reflected in the quality of the company's products and the high morale of his employees.
While he had good employees, some would still try to take advantage of his generosity and his young age, thinking that they could fool him and gain a little something for themselves. He didn't really blame them. It was human nature, after all. But he also didn't trust them. So he handled everything himself.
But as the company grew, it was getting increasingly difficult to handle everything by himself, on top of his other duties, both as an earl and the Watchdog. He needed help, but he couldn't trust anyone else. Thus, Sebastian had been given extra work to help him manage the company.
It had helped, although Ciel was still buried in paperwork most of the time. He was hesitant about expanding the company, not sure if he could handle even more work, but at the same time, he knew that he couldn't stop now.
After their chess game, Ciel decided to retire for the night. He managed to persuade Sebastian to join him in the bathtub. They bathed together and then went to bed and Ciel fell asleep in Sebastian's arms.
The carriage stopped in front of the grand building and Sebastian pushed open the door before getting out and holding the door open for his master.
Ciel was dressed in white shirt, silver blue silk tie, dark blue waistcoat, black coat, and black trousers. His hair was combed to one side, with his fringe covering his eye patch.
Ciel entered the ballroom with Sebastian in tow. He was aware of the whispers around him. He didn't frequent parties, so for him to make an appearance was a surprise on its own, not to mention, he was recently single, or so everyone thought.
'Damn Sebastian for making me do this...' Ciel thought, already thinking about ways he could punish his butler.
"My lord, please try not to look like you are here to murder someone." Sebastian whispered and earned himself a glare.
"If I were to murder anyone tonight, it would be you, Sebas-chan." Ciel hissed.
Sebastian frowned slightly, but then he saw Soma heading towards them, his fiancé in tow. "Now, now, Young Master. The prince is on his way over. So, let us not kill the mood, yes?" There was a very slight lift at the corner of his mouth. It was so subtle that nobody would notice it, except for Ciel.
"Bastard..." Ciel whispered scathingly, but there was a faint blush on his cheeks.
"Ciel! You're really here!" Soma cried as he hugged the earl, making both Ciel and Sebastian cringe at the improper display. Even after all these years, the prince didn't seem to have learned anything about proper etiquette.
"Good evening, Prince Soma, Lady Maria." Ciel greeted them politely after he extracted himself from Soma.
"Good evening, Lord Phantomhive." Maria curtsied. "How are you this evening?"
"I'm quite well, my lady, thank you. I hope you're faring well also?" Ciel replied.
They talked for a little while before Soma dragged Ciel further inside, chattering about how great the party was.
"And now that you're single, you have to have fun, Ciel." Soma had whispered conspiratorially into his friend's ear.
"What do you mean?" Ciel asked and accepted a glass of white wine from his butler.
"Well, you're an eligible bachelor now. Enjoy the party. Dance, flirt, you know..." Soma kept his voice low, but winked at the young earl.
"I will do no such thing." Ciel said. He was hoping that he wouldn't have to dance at all this evening and he definitely wasn't going to flirt with anyone.
Someone called Soma and he reluctantly left Ciel's side.
Ciel looked around with distaste, reminded yet again why he hated parties. These people only gossiped about boring and meaningless things.
"Good evening, Lord Phantomhive."
Ciel turned. "Good evening, Viscount Gareth, Lady Gareth." He greeted the couple.
After the initial greeting and small talk, a young lady joined them, which the viscount introduced as his daughter.
More talk and it was soon clear to Ciel that the viscount was trying to... offer his daughter up to Ciel. It was quite awkward, but after a few minutes, Ciel managed to make some excuse and get away.
The music started and most people started to make their way to the dance floor. Ciel used this opportunity to slip out to the balcony instead. He hadn't asked anyone to dance and he wasn't planning to.
The balcony was dark and quiet. From here, they could hear the music in the background, but there was nobody within earshot.
"Honestly..." Ciel said. "He could've at least tried to be subtle about it."
"Well, you are an eligible bachelor of marriage age, Young Master." Sebastian pointed out
"You really want to die, don't you?" Ciel glared at him.
"Desperate to be one, are we?" Sebastian smirked.
Ciel realized he walked right into that one and scowled. "Oh, shut it." Then he leaned on the railing and looked at the dark garden.
"Prince Soma is right. There is no harm in having fun every now and then." Sebastian said. "Act like an eligible bachelor, be carefree. After all, you have just come out of a long term engagement not three months ago."
"You mean, flirt around, kiss everyone with abandon, and have wild trysts with the ladies?" Ciel smirked. "That doesn't sound so bad..."
"Perhaps a different kind of fun, sir." Sebastian suggested and Ciel's smirk got bigger. He could hear the possessiveness in the demon's voice, subtle as it was.
"Perhaps I should consider joining a gentlemen's club." Ciel backed off. As much as he liked to annoy his butler, he wasn't interested in making him jealous.
"That is a splendid idea, my lord." Sebastian agreed.
The music stopped and they went back inside. Ciel talked to a few people and discussed the weather. It was terribly dull and he couldn't wait to leave.
Finally, Ciel left the party the moment it was deemed appropriate for him to do so.
"So, after much consideration, I can safely say that I do not need anymore dance lessons." Ciel finished up his little speech.
Sebastian stared at him. "Young Master, just because you are no longer engaged to Lady Elizabeth, it does not mean you will stop dancing altogether. It is expected of someone of your station to dance during soirees."
"Oh, stop it! I'm awkward and I clearly have three left feet." Ciel said.
"I believe the correct phrase is..." Sebastian started, but was cut off when Ciel pulled his head down and kissed him impatiently, having figured out a long time ago that it was the best and quickest way to shut his butler up.
"No more dance lesson." Ciel said after the kiss.
Sebastian sighed. "Let us make a deal, shall we? If you could lead one dance without stepping on my foot, then there would be no more dance lesson."
"That is impossible!" Ciel exclaimed.
"Hence, the dance lesson, my lord." Sebastian said patiently.
Ciel scowled. "Very well, but why do I have to lead?"
"Because you are expected to be able to lead a lady in a dance, my lord. You cannot possibly expect the lady to lead, can you?" Sebastian asked.
Ciel couldn't argue with that logic. "Fine. One song. If I don't step on your foot, there will be no more dance lesson."
Sebastian inclined his head. "Is it a deal then?"
Ciel was determined. One song. He only needed to do one song and he'd be free of those horrendous dance lessons. "It's a deal. Let's do it."
Sebastian moved to the phonograph and set the song. Then he turned around to face his master expectantly.
Ciel extended his hand. "May I have this dance, Sebastian?"
The butler crossed the room to Ciel in three long strides. "Yes, you may, my lord." He placed his own hand in the smaller man's.
Ciel wrapped his arm around Sebastian, his hand resting on the demon's back, and the taller man placed his own hand on Ciel's shoulder. Their other hands were joined together. It was an unfamiliar position to them since Sebastian usually led when they danced. But they started moving, steps, spin, and twirl, around the room.
Ciel was stiff as he focused hard to lead the dance without stepping on his partner's foot. His eye was cast downward to watch his feet, his tongue poking out from between his lips in concentration.
If they did not have a wager, Sebastian would've kissed his master right there and right then. He looked absolutely kissable like this, brows furrowing together, nose wrinkling, and that tongue... The demon smirked. He could've been stricter, telling Ciel to actually look at his partner instead of his feet, but the boy was trying so hard.
Ciel was doing so well. He managed to do his steps correctly, awkward as they might be. Mid-song, he gained a little more confidence and was starting to move with more fluidity and grace.
"Very good, my lord." Sebastian murmured approvingly when he noted that Ciel was moving more easily now.
That boosted Ciel's confidence even more and he started to ease up. He no longer had to count his steps. His movements were more natural. He was actually looking at Sebastian's face as they finished up the song.
When the song finally ended, Ciel could've jumped with joy. He wouldn't have any more of those horrid dance lesson.
"I did it!" Ciel said, grinning widely.
"That you did. Very well done, my lord." Sebastian praised.
"No more dance lesson." Ciel said.
"As agreed." Sebastian bowed. When he straightened up, he smiled and placed his fingers under Ciel's chin and leaned closer. "Thank you for the dance, my love."
Ciel smiled widely at the term of endearment. He definitely liked it much better than 'my lord'. He closed his eyes when Sebastian closed the gap between them and kissed him. He returned the kiss eagerly, wrapping his arms around his demon's neck to pull him closer and deepen their kiss.
After a while, Sebastian broke their kiss and stepped back. "I shall prepare the carriage and we can depart." He said, not without reluctance.
Ciel nodded, but as the butler started to walk away, Ciel reached out and grabbed his arm. "One more kiss." He said and gave Sebastian exactly that. They were going back to the manor, so he wanted to savour this rare privacy that they had.