Chapter 3

Her Maid, Untrustworthy

The raven haired butler rapped the back of his gloved hand against the door to his master's study before opening it up. "Young master, there appears to be a carriage in the drive." He informed him.

The bluenette didn't glance up from his work, continuing to lean over documents and reports from people who had claimed to have spotted his missing fiancee. "Any idea on who it is?"

"None, sir. The carriage doesn't appear as if it belongs to anyone we know." Sebastian dipped his head to Ciel.

The butler and his master both turned to the hallway as they heard rapid footsteps approaching.

"Me lord!" Mey-Rin panted as she entered the doorway. "It's Lady Elizabeth! She's returned!"

Ciel Phantomhive stood up from his desk at once, palms flat against its surface. "Are you certain?!"

"There's no mistaking it, me lord!" Mey-Rin answered. "She's got someone with her, as well!"

"Sebastian!" Ciel turned towards his butler.

"Yes, my lord." The butler crossed a hand over his chest and bowed.

"This is it." Elizabeth sighed once she and Aurora were before the doors to the Phantomhive Manor. Before Aurora could reach out to touch the doors, they were swung open from the inside to reveal Sebastian, Ciel, and the other Phantomhive servants.

"Welcome back, Lady Elizabeth!" The servants cheered from behind Sebastian and Ciel.

"Elizabeth.." Ciel stared at his fiancee with his blue eye. Had she grown taller, or was it just the shoes she was wearing? She certainly seemed to be a little bit thinner.

"Why?" He asked her.

Elizabeth could not meet Ciel's gaze, instead gazing down at both their shoes. "Does "why" matter after all this time?"

"Of course it does!" Ciel nearly snapped. "I mean, of course it does. Everyone was worried about you. Everyone had thought you had died, except-" Except for Ciel. He had used Sebastian to get information out of a certain redheaded reaper that Elizabeth's soul had not been collected. He thought that her soul was safe.

He was so terribly wrong.

"..Your pigtails are lopsided." The bluenette said suddenly. "Who did them? It looks positively-"

Elizabeth let out a small gasp of embarrassment. "Lopsided?! No, no, no! Aurora spent such a long time on them, so they must be perfect!"

Ciel sighed. "Come inside. We'll have Mey-Rin fix them up."

Elizabeth smiled a bit and entered the manor, quickly being ushered away by Mey-Rin, who reassured the girl that her hairstyle would be cute again in no time. Ciel followed after them, wanting to speak with Elizabeth about her experiences as soon as possible. Aurora moved to catch up with her mistress, only to be stopped by Sebastian.

"Miss Aurora, was it? There's no need for you to proceed any further. I will alert Lady Elizabeth's maid that her mistress has returned."

"You need not do that." Aurora began. "Lady Elizabeth has declared me her new lady's maid." Her lips curled up into a smirk. "There is no need to alert Miss Paula."

Sebastian narrowed his crimson eyes. "I shouldn't be surprised to see that you are playing the role of a maid. I am a butler, afterall. But the form you've chosen is quite unusual."

"I'm afraid I haven't any idea what you're talking about." Aurora lied teasingly.

"You may be able to fool the others, but not I. If your skills as a lady's maid weren't already lacking.." Sebastian began, referring to Aurora's dreary attempt to dress Elizabeth's hair. "I would have to rely solely on your unholy scent that only another demon can pick up on. There's no concealing it. You're after Lady Elizabeth's soul."

Aurora narrowed her solferino purple eyes at Sebastian. She could smell it, too. His demonic scent. During the carriage ride to the Phantomhive Manor, Elizabeth had told the maid all about her fiancee and his butler clad in black. Just based off of the things that her mistress had to say about the butler, Aurora suspected that he was otherworldly. But now, she had confirmation. They were one in the same.

"Sebastian." Ciel suddenly called out. "Quit dawdling and come over here at once."

"Yes, my young lord." Sebastian responded, taking one last look at Aurora before following after his master. Aurora waited a moment or two, putting some space between her and the butler before proceeding after Elizabeth.

"All done, me lady!" Mey-Rin announced to Elizabeth, showing the girl her adjusted pigtails with a hand mirror after setting aside Aurora's hair clasps. "Those silly brass clasps didn't go with your hair color at all! Lucky that I had some spare elastics on me, eh?"

"Mey-Rin, it looks wonderful!" Elizabeth clasped her hands together in delight as she gazed at her reflection. "Oh, how embarrassing that I had lopsided pigtails all this time!"

A small twinge of irritability surged through Aurora when she overheard that. She knew that her handiwork wasn't great, but she had tried her best! She retrieved her hair clasps without a word and proceeded to fix her own hair into her loose, low hanging pigtails.

Aurora soon found herself in the parlor of the Phantomhive Manor along with Elizabeth, Ciel and Sebastian. She stood patiently by the blonde's side as Sebastian served up earl grey tea, and Ciel began to speak.

"Elizabeth.." He began gently. "Why did you disappear from my townhouse? Why did you hide for so long, making everyone worry?"

Elizabeth gazed down at her lap sadly, thinking about the Sphere Music Hall and the events that took place up until her disappearance out of the window at Ciel's townhouse. "..I can't tell you that."

Ciel leaned forward a bit in his chair. "Then at least tell me what's happened to you. You don't seem well at all. You're frightfully thin, and I can see scratches all over your exposed skin."

Tears began to well up in Elizabeth's emerald eyes. She clutched at the skirt of her dress, voice cracking. "I can't tell you that, either." She felt her throat beginning to go dry and sore at the thought of what had happened to her while she was on her own.

Ciel sighed a bit. "Please, drink some tea. I can't imagine that your fluids were well replenished, wherever it was that you were.." He suddenly gazed up at the raven haired butler. "Sebastian, see to it that a meal is prepared for Elizabeth. She's far too thin for us to stand by and do nothing."

"Yes, my lord." Sebastian responded with a small bow before excusing himself from the room.

Elizabeth shakily raised her teacup and saucer, her mind still glued to the horrible things that she saw and experienced while she was gone. Her heart began to race in her chest. Her blood pressure began to rise. The dishes in her hands clattered together incessantly.

"My lady." Aurora's voice reached down into the mental hell that Elizabeth had been trapped in, dragging her out and back into the parlor where she and Ciel were. "Please, allow me to hold it to your lips."

Aurora's gloved hands touched the bare hands of the blonde. Elizabeth's hands were clean now, but remained covered in scratches. The maid gently held the teacup to the lips of her mistress, urging her to drink.

Tears welled up in Elizabeth's emerald eyes once more, this time in embarrassment, as she drank reluctantly. She felt as though she was being treated like a small child, and in front of Ciel! She felt so useless.

Aurora pulled the now empty cup away from Elizabeth's chapped lips, placing it on its saucer and setting both upon the coffee table between her and Ciel Phantomhive. Elizabeth gazed down at her lap once more, unable to meet Ciel's gaze.

Seeing that his fiancee was distressed, Ciel quickly tried to find a topic of discussion that hopefully wouldn't upset Elizabeth, but would provide him with some answers.

"I'm surprised that you've returned with a new maid by your side." Ciel began. It was eerily similar to how he himself had returned from his own disappearance with Sebastian. "Where did you meet her, and why has she agreed to serve you when you undoubtedly had no way to pay her, given how you're so thin from having barely eaten?"

Elizabeth closed her eyes momentarily. She knew that no one, not even Ciel, could find out that Aurora was a demon and that the two were contracted together. Maybe she would have felt differently if she knew about Ciel and Sebastian's secret, but she didn't.

"You're asking.. A lot of questions for someone who didn't want to talk after their own return.." Elizabeth let out.

Ciel's visible eye widened a bit. She had a point, but.. He grimaced. Was this how Elizabeth felt when he suddenly returned with Sebastian a few years ago? Was Elizabeth feeling the way that Ciel did upon his return? He quickly changed the subject. "Sebastian has been gone for far too long."

"Right here, my lord." Sebastian's voice came as he entered the parlor once more. "Do excuse my extended absence. I saw to it that Lady Elizabeth's relatives were contacted and informed of her return. And, of course, a meal preparation is underway."

Elizabeth's chest tightened when she heard that her family had been contacted. Although she had missed her family dearly, a part of her dreaded seeing them again. Her father would cry tears of joy, her mother would be furious, and her brother would likely shed frustrated tears as he hugged her. Then there was Paula, who she'd have to tell that she'd been replaced by Aurora.

Would her family even approve of Aurora? There was no doubt in her mind that her mother would strongly disapprove of Aurora's hairstyle. But Elizabeth liked how the style looked on her maid, and she had a feeling that Aurora had a great preference for the hairstyle, too. Elizabeth suddenly realized that she had a bit of an upper hand. A family who had just had their lost daughter and sister returned to them would surely do anything to keep her happy, wouldn't they? She felt bad about it, but Elizabeth would have to use that to her advantage in regards to Aurora.

The blonde broke the silence. "I bet my family's rushing over here as we speak, aren't they?" She didn't gaze up from her lap. She hadn't in quite awhile now.

"You are correct, my lady." Sebastian responded. "They could barely contain their emotions as I spoke to them over the telephone. They are most excited to be seeing you once more."

"I'm certain they are." Elizabeth responded. No doubt they'd interrogate her even more than Ciel already had. She didn't look forward to that.

Sebastian suddenly gazed at his pocket watch. "The meal should be ready anytime now. Shall we migrate to the dining hall?"

"Yes, we shall." Ciel responded, rising from his chair. "I will wait to eat until Aunt Francis and the others arrive, but Elizabeth should proceed to dine before us, seeing as she needs it." He gazed at his fiancee. "Is that quite alright?"

"Yes, it is." Elizabeth responded, slowly rising from where she was seated. It concerned Ciel that she was still refusing to make eye contact with him, but he didn't say anything as he followed Sebastian to the dining hall.

Ciel fell back, allowing Elizabeth and her maid to walk ahead. Sebastian, noticing this, approached his master. "My lord?"

Ciel lowered his voice, speaking quickly before Elizabeth or her maid noticed that they weren't following them. "Find out what you can about that green haired woman and inform me of what you've discovered later on. I don't trust her." Ciel then proceeded towards the dining hall.

Sebastian smirked, putting his hand to his chest and bowing as Ciel walked away from him. "Yes, my young lord."