Hi! Wishing everyone an awesome weekend! Our beloved trio is still suffering in this chapter, but... it can't be all bad, right? That is why... WARNING: slightly adult content, to lighten the suffering a little! 😉
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Kuroshitsuji or its characters. I entirely own only my OCs, arcs and ideas/themes not mentioned in any form of the franchise (manga, anime, games, movies or musicals).
Chapter 28: The Tutor, Cursed
"Lady Sullivan! Your help if you please, Lady Sullivan!" Sebastian yelled, furiously knocking the door of the girl's bedchamber; an unconscious Ciel in his arms.
"Mm? What is it? Have you come to sneak into my bed?" The sleepy girl asked as she dragged herself to open the door; however, sleep left her for good as soon as she saw the three faces in front of her quite swollen and bleeding. "You three have been in the forest, have you not?" She asked although it was pretty obvious.
"I am at a loss as to how to express my deepest apologies. I will accept any punishment you see fit later… so please, save the young master!" Sebastian pleaded, watching Selina ignoring her own pain and shoving her fingers between Ciel's tightly clenched teeth, preventing him from biting his tongue as he was starting to shake.
A door further down the corridor opened and Wolfram in his night clothes appeared. He started calling names at Sebastian, but Sieglinde cut him off, ordering to prepare the cauldron chamber to perform the rite of purification. Soon they had all climbed a great spiral staircase leading to the top of one of the manor's turrets, where a great cauldron was seated right in the middle of a room that looked more like a laboratory.
"Hurry! We have not much time! Take off your clothes and throw them into the oven!" The little witch ordered and Sebastian placed a now screaming Ciel on one table and started undressing him.
"I gave him a healing potion and applied a salve on the blotches." Selina said Sieglinde via Sebastian as she was getting off her own clothes.
"What were the ingredients?" The girl asked and Selina with everything she could remember of the lessons her mother taught her – terms of her craft in all languages, so that never make a mistake in case she found herself in a foreign country in need of ingredients – she managed to correctly inform Sieglinde. The girl shook her head. "Too weak. It might have just bought us a minute or two."
Selina was left speechless by that. She never claimed to be a great witch, but surely she knew her potions quite well, and that was the strongest concoction she could think of against any kind of curse that caused physical damage. Suddenly, she felt a pull and saw a naked Sebastian forcefully removing the rest of her clothing; he grabbed the rest of the bundle his and Ciel's clothes made and threw them in the oven.
"Now into the cauldron all of you, quickly!" Sieglinde said and they followed. "When did you go into the forest?"
"About fifteen minutes ago." Sebastian informed her as he got into the cauldron filled with water. His answer seemed to infuriate the young lady more, she ordered Wolfram to bring more water and herbs, while mixing various strange powders.
"Submerge yourselves in the water while I chant the spell! Stay in there until I tell you to come out!" She went on and Sebastian with Selina obeyed taking Ciel with them, who immediately regained his senses and started screaming once again.
They stayed under water for not more than a minute, listening to the muffled voice of Sieglinde's reciting an old pagan prayer, later believed to be an incantation of witches'. Selina was listening utterly confused and then saw Sebastian sticking his tongue out and taking a taste of the powder the girl was pouring in there. They emerged from the water as soon as she told them and it was right on time since Ciel would actually drown in a while.
"We need to cleanse your bodies from the inside! Make him drink this decoction and have him retch." She said and gave a funnel and a jug to Sebastian.
Her eyes opened wide seeing Sebastian's seal on his left hand while handing him the funnel; but opened even wider at Selina's forearms covered in seals, spells and flames, as the woman moved behind Ciel. She circled him with one arm and steadied his head on her chest with her hand, while Sebastian shoved the funnel in Ciel's mouth and started pouring in the liquid ignoring the gurgling sounds the child made.
"Now make him bring it up!" Sieglinde said again and retching sounds were heard after Sebastian pushed two fingers in the boy's mouth activating exactly that instinctive function of the human body. "What about you two? Are you feeling ill?" Sieglinde's questioning gaze went from Sebastian to Selina.
"There is no need to worry about me! Please see to the young master and Selina first!" Sebastian said not paying attention to the surprised look the woman gave him.
"I am fine too. I do not need anything!" Selina declared.
"Please Lady Sullivan; give this decoction to Selina too, as soon as we are done with young master!" He insisted, seemingly ignoring Selina but then glared at her exactly like earlier, ordering her without hearing any word.
"Very well. Then do it once more!" Sieglinde said and the process was repeated to the boy, now clawing at the demon's forearm as he was forced to gulp down that liquid a minute before losing his senses for good.
{~}
Almost two hours later both Ciel and Selina were bandaged up and in their beds to rest. Due to her agony for the boy, Selina was in a state of overstimulation until she was certain he was out of danger; as soon as that was verified, she felt all her strength being drained and would have collapsed on the stony floor in the cauldron chamber, if Sebastian was not fast enough to grab her. He did not like the idea of having someone else handle his master or his woman but had no choice; therefore he allowed Wolfram to take Selina in the bedchamber next to Ciel's, intended for the demon, and then roused the Phantomhive servants to assist him. Mey-Rin was sent to dress and put Selina in bed, as well as stay with her until Sebastian could go and check on her. He took care of young master and the rest of the servants were running from one room to the other full of worry for both master and tutor.
After Sebastian made sure Ciel was sleeping as peacefully as he could and Finny was kneeled beside him, holding the boy's hand so tenderly, he went to his room to properly dress himself - he had been given a robe to cover his naked body - and check Selina. The woman had been restless, constantly asking to go to master's side, even though she had fainted earlier, and Sieglinde had given her another potion to relax her and allow her to sleep.
Sebastian closed the door behind him, after sending Mey-Rin to master's room, and went to sit on the bed where the witch was sleeping. Hands, neck and legs wrapped in long bandages while her red face, still marked by what was left of the blotches, and gold hair flowing on the pillows were drenched in sweat. He dipped a towel in the basin on the night-stand and wiped away the sweat on her forehead; that simple and gentle touch woke the woman up. She half-opened her still blurry eyes, called him softly, and to his surprise, she found the strength to take hold of his robe and pull herself up, ending in hugging his torso as she leaned her head on his bare chest peeking out of the robe.
"I'm sorry! Forgive me… please!" She whispered in a broken voice as her body trembled with weakness.
Sebastian looked at her wide eyed and a second later softly embraced her trying not to hurt her worn out body. "My dear, forgive you for what? You did nothing wrong."
She shook her head. "No, I was weak. I couldn't help young master. He could have died and I was useless, my potions nothing more than colorful water. All I did was panicking and being afraid that I would lose him too… as well as you. You have every right to hate me; I saw it in your face when you stormed in the room." She was clutching the robe trying to hug Sebastian tighter, like it would be the last time she would be allowed to hold him; uncontrollable tears started flowing from her eyes.
Sebastian hugged the back of her head and made her look at him. "This here seems to be a case where both of us are out of our depths; we both sense no magic but evidence show the curse part might be true, else I would not be harmed by that miasma. You know very well, purely evil spirits cannot harm a demon, they are different from the confused souls ghosts are." She weakly nodded. "I will investigate the forest further, because I am thinking of something that I want to check, but please… rest assured. There is no reason for me to hate you. You did what you could, my Selina. You acted correctly based on what you knew. Besides…" He smiled while caressing her gold curls and leaning closer. "You care for my master so deeply that I never doubted you would do everything in your power to help him-"
"That is another reason for you to hate me!" She cried tightening her hold even more. "I constantly claim I won't interfere in your contract with the boy… I had even been warned not to go beyond simply understanding him but I failed! I was told more than once not to see him as a replacement… not to love him as my own!" Now she was crying for real and was in an emotional turmoil, the first time Sebastian saw her like that and… he was not bothered or disgusted… "Now I am not sure… I don't trust myself to stand aside and watch him dying." She moved her hands at the front of the robe and pulled Sebastian closer. "I beg you! If I turn against you at the end, just kill me and be done with me. Either way, I don't care for my life or soul, I'm merely doing my sentence and I can't do even that correctly! I am a failure to my superiors and to you-"
Suddenly, Sebastian felt furious listening to the woman's nonsense, obviously affected by everything she had gone through, by her fear for young master – and for him too! – as well as the sleeping potion she had drank. How could she dare decide for him what to do with her? How could she ask him to kill her? Her of all people! Not able to keep listening to her, he sealed her mouth with his in a rough kiss 'eating' her lips along with what she was about to say.
Selina was taken by surprise but found her body getting weaker by the second and his hold tighter as he felt her melting in his arms. That kiss was really effective, since it helped her relax more than any potion, by making her forget everything else and in a while she was gently laid back on the bed and pillows; Sebastian's lips left hers only for the sake of breath. His face hovered over hers as her eyelids fluttered, trying to resist sleep and exhaustion; her gold eyelashes making them more hooded so that Sebastian had to remind himself she was a hurt human and her body would not take more strain. He sufficed in lightly kissing away her tears, lulling her into deeper sleep.
"I know you care for my master as a mother would, and I know his end will sadden you very much, but… we will cross that bridge when we get there, do not think of it before; it is of no use." His breath caressed her ear as he whispered with a deep, little raspy voice. "And never again ask of me to kill or hate you… You robbed me of that ability, my-" He softly kissed the outer shell of her ear, because a lump in his throat stole away the word he was about to utter.
He sat there watching her sleep for a while; his fingers absentmindedly playing with her hair and his face and eyes looked so soft and peaceful; if someone took a look at him would not believe him to be a hungry, vile demon preying on desperate human souls; he was more like a man in love with the woman sleeping in his arms, in his bed.
He blinked sensing his master's sleep being disturbed by nightmares. He straightened up and shook his head, wondering what came over him and made him lazing about, staring at the beautiful witch, when he had so many other things to do. He got up and quickly dressed with his usual butler uniform. He left the room after glancing at the soundly sleeping woman and noting to himself to come and check her again during the night.
{~}
When Selina woke up feeling significantly better and well rested, found Mey-Rin in a chair by the side of the bed, crying and sniffing quite inconsolable while rubbing her puffy red eyes.
"Mey-Rin?" Selina called with tension in her voice as she quickly sat up.
"Selina? Oh Selina, you are alright, yes you are!" The maid cried and dashed to the bed hugging her friend a little tighter than it should. "I am really sorry! Sorry!" She apologized releasing Selina, who had stiffened up from a sharp pain through her body.
"It's okay, no problem." Selina assured her while rubbing her friend's arms. "Mey-Rin, what happened? Why are you crying, did something happen to young master?" The calming effects of Sebastian's kiss and embrace had already gone as the woman felt panic rushing through her again.
"Well… it is not that he is not fine… entirely. Humph! I do not really know what I should say. He is alive, if that is what you mean by something happening to him, but… he is not fine so something is happening to him!" Mey-Rin tried to explain but ended up more confused.
"Mey? Please dear… just tell me what happened." Selina encouraged the red headed.
She took a breath and began. "Just an hour ago he finally woke up, although gasping as he was being chased or something. We were all there, since Sebastian had told us not to disturb you as you finally slept, and then we were so happy young master was alright. However, Sebastian noticed he was staring at the ceiling, not us, and his body was trembling as if in great terror; he approached him and attempted to touch his hand blindly grasping at the air and then the unthinkable happened! Young master screamed and slapped Sebastian's hand away so violently! He seemed to be in a frenzy as he hang on to Finny and said those weird things… he addressed himself in third person!" She explained and seemed really troubled just by thinking these events.
"What do you mean?" Selina asked completely engrossed in the maid's narration.
"He suddenly screamed 'Ciel does not want to be hurt any more!'"
That made Selina's stomach turn and placed a hand on her lips in an effort to push down the feeling of vomiting and crying she had. She briefly closed her eyes before asking Mey-Rin to go on.
"Then he started asking where he was and why everything was so dark, when the room was already lightened up by the chandelier and other lights. Sebastian tried to reach for him again, but Mr. Tanaka stopped him and then young master asked who is there and said he cannot see anything. Oh my God! Young master has lost his sight, what shall we do?" She was ready to cry again and Selina stroked her beautiful magenta hair to calm her down.
"Do not worry, we will find a way to help him. But… tell me; didn't he recognize Sebastian's voice, everyone's voices?"
"I honestly do not know. We all called him and spoke to him, but he seemed getting more frightened at every new voice he heard and every new presence he sensed approaching. He kept clinging on Finny and in the end we had to leave the room, let him alone with Finny since he was not letting him go. Sebastian said he would ask lady's Sullivan advice once she would awake; he then sent us to rest and left to do something… he did not say what, though." Mey-Rin seemed a little confused by that.
"Like he ever shares what is in his mind… that man loves his secrets. Do not worry about him, I am sure he knows what he is doing. But he was right, you must go get some rest; you spend most of the night either by my side or by master's; you must be exhausted." Selina said smiling and encouraging her friend to go to sleep.
"I cannot leave you alone! Sebastian will hang me!"
"Why? Didn't he say that you must rest? Did he order you to stay with me?" The young maid shook her head. "Well then, that's it. I am awake and much better than last night and I assure you I can take care of myself." Selina said and blew a feathery kiss on Mey-Rin's cheek making the young woman smile and finally accept the offer to go to sleep.
She paused as she was heading for the door. "Selina?" She called hesitantly. "Please tell me… whatever happened to you three last night? You all have similar scars and wounds. It scares me just by thinking what could happen to all of you."
Selina sighed. "My dear Mey-Rin, I really wish I could tell you but you know I cannot break master's trust in me." The maid nodded understanding; then apologized and left the room rubbing her still teary eyes.
The blond woman stayed in bed for a while thinking. She vaguely remembered Sebastian last night, telling her the case could be out of their abilities and the curse thing could actually be real. It was hard to believe and accept that, since she never sensed even a sparkle of magic in the villagers, in Sieglinde or anyone, and she knew for sure that magic could not 'run thin' in a witch's line no matter the centuries. That would mean losing their souls; something really impossible to happen, since witches could grow weaker in practising magic but would always be considered supernaturals from the rest, from a werewolf for instance. On the other hand, whatever was that they breathed in and made them sick had the characteristics of a curse, but could not be cured with magic, and brought back their worst nightmares causing hallucinations and confusing them; just like a curse would do.
She ran her bandaged fingers through her hair and sighed. She could still see… him telling her that he loved her very much, but really wanted to have kids one day and since she could not have any anymore… he should think about his future and the family he always wished for. A usual nightmare for three years now; only this time, he had Sebastian's face and cold eyes and then saw him standing up and exiting the hospital room without looking back, not even once.
She took a deep breath and shook her head. She reluctantly left the bed and very slowly and cautiously managed to dress herself - of course skipping the corset and some of the many layers - and headed for Ciel's room. The boy was awake but still huddled up in his covers, holding Finny's hand like it was his only link to life. The blond boy was kneeled beside him, whispering softly in an effort to calm his master down and sent away the irrational fear that had taken hold of his mind and heart.
Finny's face brightened up, once he saw Selina entering the room soundlessly as a cat, but did not speak since Selina pressed a finger on her lips signalling the boy to remain silent. However, Ciel sensed the new presence and sprang up in bed, pulling himself to Finny as a new violent trembling shook the fragile body.
"Who is there? Stay away! Do not hurt me, do not hurt Ciel!" He yelled and his broken, hysterical voice was like a knife stabbing Selina's heart.
She swallowed, mustering all the courage needed for what she was about to do. "My love, my treasure." She said in the softest voice she had ever used. "You do not have to be afraid my baby, mum is here."
Ciel's blind eye started wildly searching the room and Finny felt him freezing in his arms. "Mum? Is that really you?" His voice was that of a small child now.
"Yes, my love. Everything is going to be fine." Selina had reached the great bed and was now stretching a hand in an attempt to touch him lightly.
"Ciel…"
"He is fine too, waiting for you to get well and go outside to play. Please, my precious child."
The tips of her fingers were mere inches away from the boy's hair. He seemed to have calmed down greatly and that made Finny and Selina hold their breath, hoping there would be success, but then Ciel's face hardened and slapped Selina's hand away exactly like he had done to Sebastian's.
"Go away!" He screamed. "You are not mum! You do not smell like her, never! She is gone, dad is gone, Ciel is gone; everyone is gone!" He almost climbed on a frightened, silently crying Finny, who hugged him as gently as he could while trying to control his strength.
Finny got ready to explain Ciel that it was Selina there, their dear friend, but Selina shook her head signalling it was fine; he did not have to explain anything or apologize. She ruffled his hair and lightly kissed him at the top of his head before running out of the room whispering "Forgive me, my lord".
She closed the door behind her and, once she leaned on the opposite wall, left her tears run freely down her cheeks. The boy was indeed trapped in his past, his worst fears and the greatest loss a child could ever experience… and she had used the worst trick she ever could, the only one she never wanted to use on the boy. Feeling quite useless once again, hit the back of her head lightly on the wall, once… twice, stronger and then felt something soft and smooth stopping her before crashing on the wall again. She opened her eyes and saw Sebastian standing beside her and his gloved hand cupping the back of her head.
"Is your desire to die that strong that you intend to bash your head against the wall?" He asked with his usual ironic tone and glance at her; she glared at him while wiping her tears and he smirked, satisfied to see the fire he so loved burning in her eyes. "What exactly did you do to upset our master again?" He arched one eyebrow.
Selina sighed, took his hand and pulled him in their bedchamber. "I used the last and worst trick I had in my inventory… I pretended to be his mother." She crossed her hands on chest, obviously disgusted by herself.
"Oh… You told me last night you care for him as if he was your own child, but I did not expect for your obsession to reach that level that fast. Or is it you did it on purpose? That would be so low." He kept smirking.
"Hey! Screw you! You took a form that 'coincidentally' looks like an even handsomer version of his father, in order to torment the boy even more; so what makes you think a reason I was chosen to be sent here was not because of my physical appearance too, in order to soothe his troubled soul and gain his trust blindly? Do you have any idea how persistent Spears was to make sure I would leave my hair grow back in their natural color and not dye them again?" He looked at her curiously. "Yes, when your case was assigned to me I was not really… my good self and I had dyed my hair… pitch black while… killing humans. It worked! Police never thought of me as a suspect."
She saw his smirk widen and his eyes sparkling red and intrigued as he slowly approached and actually cornered her in front of a table, caging her with his arms. "I must admit, you are the most interesting human I have ever come across. Every time I think I have deciphered the riddle you are to me, you present me with new pieces of your puzzle. I wonder… will I ever see the complete picture of you?" He whispered seductively as his lips were lightly teasing her chin and jaw.
"Wha-What are you doing?" Selina managed to say, struggling to resist him.
"Well, you said something about screwing and something tells me you did not mean a simple screw, right?" He arched an eyebrow.
"Well yes, but it was meant as swearing, like that you… should do it… by yourself?" Selina said at a loss having to explain an expression everyone used in her era, without sparing a thought on what they actually said.
Sebastian paused for a second and thought of it. "Mm… no thanks, I will pass since doing it by myself is not even close to how enjoyable it is with you." He glued his body on Selina's and dived for a kiss, but her fingers on his lips stopped him.
"A-Are you serious? Are you saying you have..." Selina could not believe her ears.
A displeased grimace appeared on his face. "What is it with you witches; always doubting our functionality in that field, when you know lust can be one of our weapons. And if you must know, yes, I have pleasured myself quite a few times, first while in Weston but also later; fantasizing you in various positions was the only and best fuel." He let a throaty chuckle, seeing an explosion of red painting the woman's face; a mischievous light shined in his eyes. "Have you ever done it... thinking about me?" He licked her lips seductively.
A deeper shade of red reached her hairline as she stared at him with slightly guilty eyes, before pulling them away and furrowing her brow. "That would be... truly... erm... dangerous..."
The demon chuckled satisfied feeling how hot her body instantly turned at the thought... or perhaps memory? "Dangerous? That is too harsh, my lady. I am simply one hell of a... lover!" He said teasingly and when the woman turned to him, ready to reply with a sharp remark, his lips stole it away along with her breath.
Soon, she was kissing him back with a passion matching his as her hands pulled him even closer. The demon's hands were already on their way to reach under her skirt, to the hotness between her legs, as he reassured her he would be gentle since her body was not fully healed, despite how much it had recovered in such a short time. Selina was not in a state to question his words; her last coherent thought was how the hell they were in a mood of doing lewd activities, while their young master was in the room next door, trembling like a terrified little animal, his inner demons torturing him so ruthlessly.
{~}
Selina could feel Sebastian's heartbeat and breath as her head was resting on his shoulder, and her body cuddled up in his lap while he was slumping in one of the room's armchairs.
Their clothes still a mess; Sebastian's tie loose, tailcoat, vest and shirt open revealing the mostly healed pale chest on which Selina had forgotten her hand, his trousers still on but unfastened and his hair quite dishevelled. Selina's jacket discarded on the floor along with her boots, drawers, pants and leg bandages, her shirt also open and the skirt hitched up to give Sebastian access to her thigh where his fingers were absentmindedly teasingly raking the smooth skin, despite the red traces of the blotches.
They were sitting there in perfect silence and stillness enjoying the warmth still radiating from each other's body, after their short but no less passionate lovemaking, helping both blow off some steam and relax from the anxiousness Ciel's condition caused them. Their magic seemed unable to help the boy escape the dark mazes of his mind and that seemed to have unnerved the supernatural couple quite a bit.
After a few minutes, as their heartbeat and breathing calmed down, Selina managed to speak without panting. "I think I can tell when you feed from my aura or not. Right now... you didn't." She moved her head to look at the demon's eyes.
"Really? That is... good for you... I believe. How can you tell?" He asked, staring straight in her blue eyes.
"Hmm... I think that when you do, I can't keep my eyes open afterwards. At first, I thought it was because of... all the activity." The woman responded struggling to keep a new blush away.
"Of course it is because of all the activity!" Sebastian arched an eyebrow as his lips smirked teasingly. "Miss Clark, are you saying that my... one hell of a lovemaking alone, can't exhaust a magical woman to the point of deep sleep? Should I give you a demonstration?" His fingers started sliding upwards on Selina's thigh, with a direction under her skirt.
"No! I get what you mean, Mr. Michaelis!" She said smiling, while grabbing the wrist of the teasing hand. "Yes, it is because of all the activity too, but when you feed... it feels somehow different... I can't explain it better. I just know." She finished and let her palm settle back on the pale rising and falling chest.
"Hmm... I believe I also can tell when it happens. The abundance of energy I feel is a little different from the one when my... hunger for your hot body alone is satiated." At that his eyes flashed red with male pride in view of the clearly scandalized face of the woman in his arms. They sat silent for a while, before Sebastian pulled his watch out of the pocket. "Almost nine o'clock, I guess Lady Sullivan will be waking up right about now. I have to go prepare breakfast." He sighed obviously disapproving of a young lady sleeping until so late in the morning.
Selina chuckled as she ran her hand up from his chest to his collarbone. "Has it become such a great habit of yours to take care of a child that you were self-appointed as a cook for little Sieglinde?"
Sebastian looked at her with a look saying "You do enjoy making fun of me, do you not?" and with a sudden swift movement changed position by getting up and placing Selina in the armchair. He ran a hand through his hair as he stretched his body, and allowed more of his chest to be revealed right in front of Selina's wide, appreciating and still craving eyes. He smirked with a teasing glimpse in his eyes, making obvious this was a way of payback for her comment.
"First of all, our master might not want me anywhere near him, but he most certainly needs to be fed properly in order to heal, and… Mr. Wolfram proved he has great difficulties in preparing a meal fast enough in order to be considered breakfast... or any other meal in its right time." He picked Selina's bandages from the floor, kneeled in front of her and started wrapping them back. "Second, you saw how the supposed little witch enjoyed my dinner last night; it is a perfect way to ask and buy off her help for getting young master back in shape soon. And last but not least, I have four imbeciles and an old man to feed, along with a ravenous witch who will otherwise eat me alive." He gifted Selina a seductive smile full of innuendos as he slipped his hands up her thighs, having finished wrapping, and pulled her forwards while he lifted his body enough so that their mouths met in a kiss quite ravenous indeed.
They soon parted, in an effort to douse the embers of desire coming to life in their bodies; if they did not, they would get out of the room late at night. They sighed with regret, as Sebastian stood up straightening his clothes and Selina followed by picking up her underwear; thankfully her futuristic pants had escaped in one piece from Sebastian's hands. Well, he was a man of his word and had promised to be gentle.
"Oh! Mey-Rin told me you went somewhere after leaving master with Finny." She suddenly remembered.
"Ah, yes. I went back to the forest to see if I could find anything. That murk Sullivan calls miasma was gone, but still there was no sign of life anywhere, not even a bird. I collected a small tree branch as a sample and… 'shipped' it to the Queen for chemical analysis, since smelling it did not point me towards any known poison."
Selina nodded approving the demon's actions. "You are right. If the thing that did this to us is clearly a chemical it would explain a great part of this case. It might be a hallucinogen that projects and twists the person's worst experiences and fears. Young master has been talking about… Ciel all the time."
"Yes, he has… Indeed a hallucinogen could cause something like that but then you would have been affected too." The man said and paused, suspiciously looking at the woman, who nodded and turned her back to him, while tying half her hair up in a small ponytail, letting it rest upon the other half freely falling on her shoulders. Sebastian moved closer and leaned whispering to her ear. "Unless you have been affected and you keep it secret from me." He chuckled when he saw the surprised look she gave him. "My dear, your cute face and beautiful eyes are an open book to me." He said while gently stroking her chin.
"Oh com' on. It was nothing but a stupid dream." She said furrowing her brows in indifference and turned her face the other way.
Sebastian turned it back to him. "Oh dear… why do I have an impression I was present in your so called stupid dream?" He said with a supposed worried look.
"And what if you were? It did not imprison me, because I know pretty well there is no way it could come true, unless Hell freezes over and you develop a paternal instinct out of the blue, so… that's all." She gifted him a disarming smile and slipping out of his hold went to open the door. "Come on, you have a breakfast to prepare and I am ravenous!"
{~}
"I apologise for all the trouble we caused last night. As a token of gratitude I have prepared a late breakfast for you, my lady. I hope you enjoy it." Said a very cheerful and smiling Sebastian as he presented a table full of any kind of delicacy young, drooling Sieglinde could think of and to her butler's annoyance, evident on his hard features.
"This is delicious! What is this divine thing?! It is the best!" She was saying in between stuffed mouthfuls and while Sebastian was explaining her Ciel's condition. "I see. So the miasma has impaired his sight…"
"Will the young master's eyes heal, my lady?"
"I need to examine him first, but you say no one can get near him?" She asked crossing her eating utensils on her plate signalling she was done.
"For some reason he will allow our gardener alone to touch him." Sebastian informed.
"Mm… So he goes for the halfway between muscular and soft type, does he? What a peculiar fellow…" She mumbled thoughtfully.
"Pardon me, Lady Sullivan?" Sebastian asked with wide eyes not sure he heard right.
"Oh! No-nothing!" She said quickly and coughed trying to hide her blushing cheeks. "The miasma of the werewolves' forest weakens a human's heart and intensifies his fear. There may be a reason why he only allows the gardener to approach him."
"If that is so… then it might be 'adults' whom the young master wishes to keep away…" Sebastian said now fully understanding what his master faces and fears.
"Why would that be?" Sieglinde asked curiously.
"The young master has his reasons… In any case, what specifically causes the murk in the forest?" Sebastian asked directing the discussion to more important things.
Young Sullivan went on to explain miasma is the wolf man's evil magical power that takes the shape of something very much like a demon, driving insane its victim and only the secret elixir of the emerald witch can break the curse. Sebastian seemed impressed.
"That is why I told you not to enter the forest!" Wolfram yelled furiously banging his palms on the table and then dashing and grabbing Sebastian by his shirt. "So why would you go in, when you had already been warned off, huh? The wolf man has no desire to hurt people indiscriminately! Why will you not understand?" He kept yelling and shaking Sebastian until Sieglinde ordered him to stop. The blond man seemed more furious looking at the emotionless face of Sebastian, who was staring at him unfazed, with a growl he released him and turned to get back to his lady's side.
Sebastian straightened his clothes once again. "I went into the forest… because I was curious about herr wolf man, you see. I have yet to meet one, despite having encountered any number of devils, grim reapers and recently a living breathing natural witch." He finished with a smile.
"Come again?" Both Wolfram and Sieglinde looked at him confused.
Selina happened to approach the dining room at that moment, heard Sebastian's stupid, although partly real, excuse and having understood the gist of it, dashed in the room, stood beside him and with a smile and a waving hand she said "Scherz", as it was the first German word for joke that came to mind. Sebastian glanced at her a little annoyed at her intervention, since he knew he was doing perfectly all right.
"Well, anyway… Only you can break the young master's curse." He said and the girl agreed. Then Sebastian, perfect as always in his role of the flawless butler, kneeled down with one hand over his heart. "Lady Sullivan. Please, save the young master from what ails him. If you help him, I shall gladly do whatever you bid of me." His face so honest and humble that made Selina's jaw drop even though she had seen the same scene many times.
Wolfram seemed quite shocked from what he was seeing and Sieglinde chuckled as she extended a small, delicate hand towards the demon.
"Then Sebastian, I shall have you as my butler, until Ciel has completely recovered!" She announced with a victorious little smirk and look in her eyes making Selina look at her quite surprised.
Such a little opportunist our Sieglinde... and I love her for that! Of course, she will use the chance she has of enjoying delicious food and sweets... I would do exactly the same... and then wonder why my clothes don't fit! 😂
Note: I have no idea how "Scherz" is used or if it is even a word often used in Germany... I apologize to German readers if I butchered it entirely, but... I put the blame on Wordreference, my always present translation tool. 😁
That's all for now... Till next time (with more suffering? 😈)! Bye!