Hello everyone! How is your summer so far 😎? I wish and hope it is cooler and... with fewer fires than what we have here. Every year the same story 😑... Anyway! Sieglinde's rescue continues, plus some... spicy revelations! *wink wink*
Also, I apologize, in advance, to my German readers and dear friend for some things Selina says in this chapter, but she means them only for a very specific group of people in history that happened to be Germans. I don't mean to offend anyone, so... yes, that's all from me. Please, enjoy!
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 33: The Tutor, Metallic Monster
"A panzer!" Diedrich had just said and that single word shook everyone up, making their hearts beat faster than what they already did, and placed wings at their feet. "It was developed so massive cannons, previously carried only by warships, could now be utilized on land. Your country is manufacturing them too, no?!" He asked Ciel.
"I had heard as much, but as far as I am aware, they are not ready yet! I had no idea… German weapons' development was so advanced!" Ciel answered breathlessly.
"Bastards!" Bard cried with passion.
"Just another reason to hate Germans!" Selina added, able to run on her own since the haziness had been lifted from her eyes. Now her cracked nose was giving her the worst pain causing her headache too.
However, running to get out of the panzer's firing range was not enough for their pursuers, and suddenly a small infantry team appeared at the sides of the vehicle and started firing, forcing them to cover behind trees once again. Bard started shooting at the vehicle, making his currently favourite word, 'bastards' that is, a battle cry. He kept shooting only to see he achieved nothing, not even to make a dent at the metallic skin of the tank.
"Listen, stubbly! We will be defenceless if the cannon set its sights on us! So just keep moving those legs!" Diedrich informed him without stopping running. "Son! How were you planning to get out of here?" He now asked Ciel.
"I never expected that giant vessel to appear!" Ciel cried with obvious frustration.
"There is a military railway on the eastern edge of the forest. It was used to bring in materiel when 'Wolfsschlucht' was built. We should be able to make our escape if the railcar is still running!"
"All right." The boy accepted the suggestion. "Let us take our chances wi…" He did not finish his word as a cry of pain left his lips and felt his body swaying for a second, before falling on the ground having finally reached his physical limits and now was unable to even move a muscle.
"Son!" Diedrich yelled as he saw the panzer zeroing in on the fallen boy and loading.
Diedrich was a really practical man, therefore, never wasted time to think what he saw in the few seconds that followed. First, he heard the black clad blond woman calling her master, ignoring the coming blast from the panzer and her own instinct of life preservation - that normally should make her take cover somewhere like the others did - despite the evident distress for their master. On the contrary, she ran to the boy and in a second had covered him with her body taking him in her arms, right before another dark and tall figure joined them and grabbed both to move them out of the blast's way. What made Diedrich blink a few times, besides the bright light caused by the explosion of the vehicle's shot, was that as soon as the woman reached the boy it seemed like a purple, almost transparent dome covered both and allowed entrance only to the new figure.
When smoke and dust dispersed, Bard could not describe how happy he was hearing a familiar cool voice making a rather displeased comment. He lifted his head and saw Sebastian, perfect as always, holding Selina in his arms who in turn was holding young master. They were both shaking and groaning from pain as the explosion shockwave was still running up and down their bodies. Selina relieved left her head fall back at the butler's strong chest.
"It was a terrible blunder, going so far as to dress up like Lady Sullivan… You should have simply left it all to me." Sebastian said, wiping a little blood from his master cheek; when he saw there was no wound on the boy from which the blood could come, he touched the woman's chin and turned her head to him. The lower half of her face was drenched in blood running freely from her nose, that now seemed swollen and a little crooked as she was struggling to breath.
"I do not want to hear it, certainly not from someone who was as late to the party as you." The boy said through clenched teeth trying to maintain his authoritarian look, which seemed to amuse the butler.
"You three, hurry up! We will get caught in the line of fire again!" Diedrich yelled at them, pointing to the direction they should go.
Sebastian made a move to readjust his hold on woman and child while carrying the small briefcase too, but was stopped by Selina who slipped out of his arms placing young master in her place and stood up, declaring she could walk. The butler only smirked with a spark in his eyes. He got up and followed the others.
"So where is the new-fangled 'SuLIN' gas?" Ciel asked a few minutes later as they were running and having caught the much needed breath.
"Right here. I have appropriated all the samples." Sebastian informed him showing the briefcase.
"Bard, Selina, Snake. You are to go to the railway with Diedrch! Use the flare gun to signal the direction to which Finny should head." The young Earl ordered his servants; the two men saluted him in military style and accepted the order, but the woman denied quite bluntly. "Diedrich, you take care of this." He went on throwing the briefcase to a terrified Diedrich, who instantly started objecting to his task, but could not say anything when the boy stated in a wooden manner he trusted him completely. Ciel turned to Selina now. "You are disobeying your master!"
"I know and I apologise master, but no. I will not stay behind this time… I should have protected you more efficiently from Wolfram!" She yelled furious at herself.
"You did what you could; you withstood his beatings better than anyone else could… I mean look at you." He pointed to her bloody face and mouth still dripping, giving her the look of a wild beast, and at her nose making her pant all the time.
"I'm fine! Sebastian can fix my nose for now." She said looking at the butler.
He arched a brow looking at her. "It will hurt." He said simply, only to hear her growl that she knew it but kept staring at him determined.
The butler sighed and shrugged a shoulder, before taking hold of her nose and pressing hard, putting the cracked bone back in its place, reopening - at least - her airway that would help her breath normally. She left a scream and staggered for a second but did not allow herself to collapse, only to keep running, as a new flood of blood came flowing from her nostrils. She gasped for a few seconds while mumbling something about "-cking Germans… -skin them alive, feed them metal" and such obscenities; but soon she was back in her calm self, breathing much better. A handkerchief appeared magically on Sebastian's hand and Selina took it to wipe her nose and try to stop the bleeding.
Ciel sighed. "All right then. You two and I will do something about that panzer." He ordered butler and tutor and received an affirmative answer from both.
Diedrich saw them halting all of a sudden and was terrified but Bard, with an utterly proud look and smile, reassured him that everything would be fine. He was sure his master had a plan and anyway… their butler and tutor were a superman and a superwoman respectively, a lethal combination guaranteeing young master's safety. Diedrich swallowed in awe remembering the image of the instant purple dome around her, obviously meant to protect the boy, and sighed running behind chef and footman.
Ciel asked Sebastian to let him down now, but his butler wore his concerned mask on and claimed his position did not allow him to let his master step barefoot on the harsh ground, pointing at the boy's torn socks revealing his scratched small feet. He then praised his master's impersonation of lady Sullivan and asked him to keep up the good work. The boy was getting angry hearing all this mocking politeness coming from the demon, but the last straw was when he called him 'my lady', and the woman beside them started laughing, although it obviously hurt her as the air passed through her swollen nose.
"I jest, I jest." The butler said lightly chuckling. "Now, young master." He could not hide completely his excitement at what was about to come.
"I command you!" The boy in the demon's arms cried revealing his marked eye, where the demon's seal glowed in a dark purple colour. "Destroy the panzer!"
"Yes, my lord." He said not able to contain himself, allowing for his slightly pointy teeth to be visible in his smile.
A woman's voice from inside the tank yelled at them; they were fools to think they could win over them and then she gave an order. Machine guns appeared at the sides of the vehicle and started firing at all directions. Sebastian was jumping around testing their firing range and avoiding the shots, despite Selina's purple dome surrounding demon and child. The woman was doing her best to keep up with the demon's speed and, for her own protection, her whole body was engulfed in blue fire.
At some point, Sebastian jumped forth and landed a kick on the metallic face of the tank that caused only a dent with the shape of his foot. Two infantry men instantly appeared from one side firing at them, but the bullets ricocheted on the dome and the men dropped lifeless as Selina aimed and threw her daggers directly at their throats, deeply puncturing their carotid artery.
"What is the matter?" Ciel asked as they were retreating behind a tree.
"The armour is much thicker than I had imagined. The infantrymen are making a nuisance of themselves as well." Sebastian informed him with furrowed brows.
"I could take them out with the swords faster than with the daggers but I would not be able to shield you at the same time." The woman told them panting, a little drained.
Ciel nodded deep in thought. Sebastian had told him the protective spells drew more energy from Selina and now he sees it with his own eyes, he could not have her getting drained and weak. As for the panzer, it was impossible to have every inch of its body covered in steel or else it would not be able to move, due to its extreme weight. He was sure there were thinner spots on this massive body.
"Sebastian, get near the side of the panzer again. Selina, stop using the shield unless necessary and stick with us. First, let us scatter the fruit flies, and... I think I have something better than swords." He finished with a devilish look and motioning Selina to keep close to them instead of exterminating soldiers.
They ran straight to the shooting men, avoiding their bullets; Sebastian with his characteristic gracious movements and Selina by turning her body transparent. The soldiers were left speechless when the couple jumped over the panzer, landing behind them. But they had no time to ponder more on the matter, as they saw a marmalade can rolling at their feet right before exploding, burning every last one infantry man.
"I was right to have Bard give them to me." Ciel said with a mocking look towards the dying and screaming men.
"And that is the only reason I like dresses… you can hide whatever you want under the skirt." Selina said impishly and Sebastian glanced at her smirking amused.
Ciel also smirked slightly, already preparing one more of Bard's explosive marmalades. "Now, we have finished the hors d'oeuvres. Time for the main course!"
They could clearly hear new orders being barked in German from inside the panzer, as its main gun turned and locked on them standing out in the open. The gun was ready to fire when Ciel gave the signal and they started running right in front of the huge gun's mouth, making the Germans laugh satisfied, since their targets were delivering themselves freely to their feet.
However, they did not expect to see a… simple man, holding a child in his arms, jumping so high and landing a kick on the barrel so hard, that the metal folded making the gun useless and the whole vehicle shaking almost flipping over. In the seconds it took the panzer staff to collect themselves, a fist punched a hole on the top part of the vehicle and the butler's smiling face appeared while his hands were widening the opening.
"The young master was right. The upper half is indeed thin and malleable." Hilde from the village was the commander of the panzer and was the first to pull a gun and shoot at Sebastian repeatedly; but was left speechless hearing him chuckling while holding the bullets between his fingers and teeth. "My, my… Here you are, huddled together and trembling in a tiny box, like wretched rats caught in a trap." He went on in German, feeling rather entertained.
"A-are you… a monster?!" Hilde asked certain that some of her bullets had got him, she could actually see one still stuck between his eyes but he seemed to not paying any attention, much less dying.
"And to you, poor and huddled masses… courtesy of my master… I deliver you these special provisions prepared by our house chef. I do hope you will savour them to your hearts' content." He said before jumping away right at the moment the special marmalade he threw in the tank exploded.
He landed next to a tree where Selina with young master in her arms was standing under the protective purple sphere she projected right before the explosion, to be sure. He took back his master and they all stood for a while looking at the panzer on fire.
"Now, rather than a 'running battleship' it is more of a 'running oven', hmm?" Ciel said smirking and his butler and tutor answered chuckling at the sound of the blood-curling screams of pain coming from the vehicle.
Normally, the woman and the boy should be at least appalled by these sounds, but the so different yet so similar lives they had lived and brought them here, made them not feeling much for people that brought destruction upon themselves.
"Just a sec." Selina said when Sebastian turned ready to depart the site. He paused and she brought her fingers on his forehead, grabbing and pulling the bullet still sticking out of the demon's head. "Ready!" She smiled and dropped it on the ground.
"Thank you very much, dear. I had forgotten it." He said cheerfully; the hole in his skin already closed.
Ciel looked at him curiously. "You forgot you had a bullet lodged in your head?! Did it not bother you even a little?" He sighed at his butler shaking his head.
"Well, master… you need to have brains in here to be bothered by something like that, while when it is totally hollow…" Selina joked knocking lightly with her knuckles Sebastian's head.
Ciel smirked seeing the supposed hurt expression his butler took at the woman's words. But then felt a chill running through his body and instantly turned his head back. He was surprised to see two people on one of the trees; one was sitting on the thick branch holding a book in both hands and the other was standing leaning with one hand on the tree and another on a chainsaw. They were both wearing glasses and their eyes were a glowing yellow green colour while their clothes were indicating to office workers.
"These clothes… Are they grim reapers?!" Ciel asked and Sebastian threw an annoyed glance behind him while Selina turned and her still bloodied face, although she had wiped most of it, was lightened up by seeing them.
The reapers were looking at the child with wide eyes, and the younger one with the book, seemed really excited upon realizing who the cross dressed boy was. The other one recovered from surprise pretty quickly, looked at his wrist watch and in German announced they should leave. The younger one smiled, waved at the trio beneath them and seemed really happy when Selina waved back with both hands really excited, right before they disappeared.
"They are gone…" Ciel said to Sebastian quite confused.
The demon sighed relieved. "That lot is guaranteed to appear in the event of any human death. I must say, I much prefer them to the British variety, seeing as they refrained from meddling with us…" For a second, he seemed deep in thought but then went on announcing they should hurry, the boy agreed and the woman followed; they left the place turning their backs to the roaring flames still devouring the metallic corpse of the military vehicle.
{~}
After a while, they saw the flare the others shot in the sky guiding everyone to the railway, obviously in the hands of the Phantomhive party now. Sebastian and Selina sped up but did even more when they were close enough for the demon to hear a gunshot. His eyes opened wide and then narrowed, his brows furrowed and took a look of emergency.
"Faster!" He ordered the woman beside him before doing so himself.
"What's wrong?" She asked matching her stride to his.
"A gunshot from the railway."
"Sieglinde!" The boy in his arms whispered and worry was evident in his voice.
Thankfully, once they entered the station saw one of the village women shot and dead among the rest of the soldiers, but Sebastian could tell she was killed not long ago. The train had already departed but it was not far, and at the moment Wolfram was screaming his apology to his lady, ready to reveal a relieving truth to her.
"I am sorry… for lying to you all this time!" He was yelling while running behind the departing train, never leaving his lady's eyes and ignoring the not so small amount of blood he was already losing. "Despise us if you like! You need never forgive us! But… my lady… you… you are-" A new gunshot from behind cut his words short. He looked at his chest from where a new fountain of blood had sprung and then staggering fell on the railroad losing the last ounce of strength left in him.
It was Hilde that shot him and now was aiming her gun to Lady Sullivan. The woman was half-burned, obviously having managed to escape from the burning panzer. Her face was distorted and deformed from burns, a fiery hate and the determination of zealotry to her cause made her look like a rabid dog. However, she did not have the time to take her shot, since Sebastian landed right behind her with a faked troubled look and Selina was right beside her, despise obvious in her blue eyes.
"Oh dear. It would seem a stray ingredient has found its way out of the oven. The temperature must not have been high enough." Sebastian mocked as he stabbed the woman at the side of her throat, while Selina did the same at the other side, both tearing up her jugular and killing her instantly. She collapsed without a sound.
"Sorry Hilde, never liked you anyways." Selina said coldly at the dead woman as Sebastian and Ciel were giving her a similar look.
The train's last carriage was actually a flat platform where goods, and guns in this case, would be placed and moved in and out of the Wolfsschlucht facilities; it was there that lady Sullivan, along with the Phantomhive servants, was and kept screaming, calling for Wolfram with tears and sobs making her sound quite raspy; Mey-Rin was hugging the little girl, in an effort to keep her from falling off the train, as she was stretching her hand and body to reach the fallen man.
The blond butler leaned on his elbows and lifted his head to tell her the absolute truth with the little strength he could muster. "My lady… you are… not a witch. You are just an ordinary girl." The man said finally, allowing tears kept from falling for years, to freely flow down his face and stretched his hand in a last effort of reaching hers.
"Wolf!" Young Sieglinde screamed the moment she saw him dropping his head on the railway once again, having lost consciousness.
Sebastian and Selina reached the train, but the girl did not pay attention. She did not hear Ciel ordering Sebastian to retrieve Wolfram, as soon as he was safely placed among his other servants, and did not feel one more pair of hands stroking her hair in an effort to calm her down and consolidate her. She only saw the black haired butler jumping over the fallen Wolfram and lifting up the heavier, bigger man with no effort before jumping back on the train and laying him down.
It was her crying voice full of agony that brought the wounded man back from the darkness he had been pulled in. He slightly opened his eyes when felt warm tears dropping on his face, and the first thing he saw was indeed the small face of his lady he had come to love so much and her big, teary green eyes. The blond woman he had beat up so savagely not long ago was sitting next to Sieglinde and looked at him compassionately; on his other side was the black haired butler Wolfram disliked from the very beginning, looking at him with something resembling sympathy towards a peer worthy of respect, next to him the boy he had tried to strangle with a neutral distant look in his eye. A small, well known hand took his, drawing his attention back to Sieglinde. He tried to speak but was ordered not to and he instantly found the only he could do was keep wheezing while struggling to breathe.
"Herr Wolfram." The calm voice of the other butler called him. "A butler is not permitted to die in advance of his master. So says the veteran butler amongst us." He said and a soft "Hoh!" from the said old man was heard as a verification.
"Sebastian, heat up a knife red-hot. Mey-Rin! Get out all the cloth and water you can find!" Ciel gave the orders and were executed immediately. "Hold him down so he does not thrash about and gag him so he does not bite his tongue." He said once the butler gave him the hot knife.
Selina had already stripped the man's upper body, removed and folded her coat placing it as a pillow under his head. Now Sebastian took hold of his shoulders as Selina was placing a piece of cloth between his teeth and tying it behind his head. She ordered Finny to keep his legs from kicking and called Snake and Bard to take hold of his hands, while she was ready to push down his hips in case he arched his body up while in pain.
Sieglinde had surrendered herself to tears and desperation calling out to Wolfram not to die. However, a loud reprimanding voice ordering her to pull herself together and a childish hand - that now felt quite strong and manly - grabbing her jaw and cheeks and forcefully turning her face to the voice's direction, was a harsh but strong wake up call for the second time in the same night.
"It is the duty of the emerald witch to protect the people of the village. You said as much yourself! This man here is all that is left of your villagers. You will not find magic or miracles here in the outside world. So now you are going to save him. With your own hands!" Ciel yelled at her while forcing her fingers close around the knife's handle.
The girl was trembling quite terrified and glanced at the wounded man whose eyes were telling her everything would be fine; he would not blame her for any failure. And then a new fire ignited in her eyes as she clutched the knife harder.
"If you die here, I will never ever forgive you, not as long as I live, do you hear?" She yelled immensely determined and the man realised how much she had grown to a strong, independent in heart and mind woman, so different from the little girl trembling even before he started the horrendous process of breaking her feet. Wolfram closed his eyes, completely surrendering himself in her hands exactly as she did for years in his.
The process of removing the bullet from his chest and stopping the bleeding was hard, stressful and long. Selina was right to have everyone hold him down, since the man had so strong muscles, that even if his mind was telling him not to resist, his body had a different opinion and made their work harder. However, after some time they finally managed to stop the bleeding and save his life, at least for now.
"You have fulfilled your duty most admirably… my lady." Sebastian said to the panting girl, placing a gentle and comforting hand on her back, while Selina's fingers combed her hair back, out of her face, so gently like a mother's touch. Both butler and tutor looked quite proud of her.
It seemed this gentleness was all it took for the girl to finally break down and start crying gravely, with sobs shaking her whole body lying her small head on the bandaged big chest of the unconscious blond butler. Sebastian looked at his master with a satisfied smirk and the boy released a breath he seemed to hold from the beginning of the operation. Ciel announced to Diedrich they could not take the man to hospital, therefore they should use his hideout, making the older man complain they would come even if he denied, and ended up mumbling something on how the son was the same as the father.
Sebastian removed his tailcoat and wrapped it around his master's shoulders as the night was getting chillier. "You telling me to retrieve him was rather a surprise." He said with a smile.
"The outside world has many more monsters, far more troubling than wolf men. She could use a guard dog at her side, do you not think?" The boy said looking at the still distressed girl, who seemed to cry for more than just Wolfram... It was only logical as in one night her whole world turned upside down and then crushed in millions of pieces. "Besides which… she is my insurance against being eliminated for knowing too much, that is." He added all seriously.
"I see. But to require insurance when you have one hell of a butler like me in your employ… you really are such a worry-wart." Sebastian said smirking with a supposed troubled look.
The young earl chuckled. "Do not be absurd. I trust you least of all."
These last words made the demon chuckle also and the witch sitting further away, but having listened everything, to smirk satisfied and glance at the demon with a look saying "Ha, ha! You asked for it! That should teach you not to be so full of yourself!"
After a while, Ciel joined Sieglinde again to try to consolidate her, since the teary eyed maid and the so emotional gardener had failed, and Mr. Tanaka along with Bard and Snake were struggling to keep pretending to be unaffected by the girl's tears.
Sebastian discreetly pulled Selina to the far end of the platform, away from the others, and with some clean linen and a little water bandaged her slashed hand, and then started cleaning the woman's face and mouth from all the blood she had lost that night. She complained she could do it on her own, but the look he gave her ceased her objections. He was very meticulous and gentle so that her blue and purple swollen nose did not hurt at all. Soon there was no trace of blood on her now obviously tired but serene features.
"You know… all this gas and poison… left quite a bitter taste in my mouth." Sebastian told her with a smile and a slightly mischievous twinkle in his eyes.
"Really? Well… I'm sorry we have nothing sweet to help you with that… Oh, I apologise, you do not like sweet tastes." She said imitating his perfect British accent.
"Oh, but there is a sweet taste I like and it is right here." Sebastian said and as the woman was about to ask what it was, he lightly cupped the back of her head and pulled her to a deep and long kiss.
Selina was left staring at him with wide eyes utterly surprised. His face was so calm and peaceful, his eyes closed as he was obviously enjoying this. Soon, she had no strength or will to resist; she closed her eyes and responded happily. His kiss was so thorough like he was indeed trying to wash a bad taste from his mouth and her lips were exactly the antidote he needed. Selina felt her insides quivering at the thought and melted in his arms. She remembered they were in front of the others only when Finny was heard gasping and Bard whistling quite surprised and approvingly.
She immediately broke the kiss and pulled away; turned to the others and saw everyone looking at them with wide eyes. Finny's mouth was hanging open and his big round eyes had gotten bigger. Bard was biting the end of his cigarette trying not to snicker and Snake's face had an unreadable expression, as usual, but his eyes were sparkling mischievously and his snakes were hissing as if they were laughing.
"Oh no…" Selina cried, still in the smirking demon's arms, as her gaze landed on Mey-Rin.
The maid seemed frozen in her place with eyes wide open, looking at the couple, unable to speak or react. Selina pushed Sebastian away, ignoring his arrogant smirk and boastful gaze, obviously teasing her and enjoying her embarrassment, and while on four, she crawled to Mey-Rin with a clearly apologetic look in her eyes.
"Mey? Please forgive me! I will accept whatever punishment you see fit... even if you don't want to speak to me again! Forgive me!" She cried suddenly bowing with her head on the wooden platform, like a criminal stoically waiting for her sentence.
Silence fell over everyone like a heavy blanket for a while, and then the steady voice of the maid full of confidence was heard. "Is there something that I must forgive? Did you do something bad?"
Selina lifted her head and looked at her questioningly. Mey-Rin's eyes were sparkling smiling and her face followed although red from a deep blush.
"Mey-Rin, dear? Are you sure you are okay, did you see clearly what happened?" Selina could not believe the other woman would be so calm and cool.
"Yes, yes I am. I saw, we all saw, you and Mr. Sebastian kissing on the lips with so much passion and love!" She finished louder as her voice turned to her usual trembling tone and threw her arms around the woman, hugging her. "And you looked so perfect together as I knew you would, yes I did!"
"Eh?" That was all Selina could say at the moment, but in a while managed to free herself from the maid's embrace. "Are you really okay? I mean… he is the… man you like, you have a crush on… everybody knows that… and now you saw him…" She seemed like she could not finish.
Mey-Rin's face got more serious now, but her pleasant smile was still on her lips; she took Selina's hands. "My dear Selina… the fact that I liked him does not mean I was expecting anything. Mr. Sebastian was never interested in me and had made it clear to me; he never implied our relationship could be something else other than professional. Therefore I always knew I would admire him from afar."
"Well done, Mey-Rin, these were the wisest and to the point words to ever leave your mouth." Sebastian said in his slightly ironic tone, while he leaned his back on the low metal rail of the platform and stretched his legs.
"Thank you, Mr. Sebastian!" She said blushing furiously and placing her hands on her cheeks. She then turned to Selina again. "From the first time I met you, I saw how compatible you would be together and the passion growing between you was evident in every interaction you had! Although, both of you continued to be perfect professionals, no doubt about that!"
"E-Evident?" Selina stuttered and looked at the other servants nodding in agreement, the snakes followed suit. Only Finny was still trying to figure out what exactly was going on.
Mey-Rin leaned closer to Selina with a mischievous sparkle in her hazel eyes. "It was the professor's outfit that did the trick, was it not?" She said and winked at the tutor that instantly started blushing, to Bard's and Mr. Tanaka's delight. Snake smirked.
A "humph" was heard from young master's side and Selina got really pale all of a sudden. "Is it not funny for two servants to ask for forgiveness from each other over the… romantic attention of a third one, while ignoring their master so ostentatiously?"
Selina turned to him now and saw his face all serious and authoritative… and blushing at the same time, as lady Sullivan had finally cried herself to sleep… in his lap. The woman went close to him and bowed once again.
"I am deeply sorry, my lord, it was not my intention to ignore or disobey you. I know that kind of relationship between servants is prohibited and-" She began but was interrupted by the boy's hand.
"In other households, maybe. In mine, I never bothered to set any other rules aside from my servants being loyal to me. Also, you did nothing wrong to forgive you; ever since you returned from St. Ives, I knew Sebastian had harassed you in some way, although you denied it with such fervour. Do I need to order him not to touch you again, Miss Selina?" His look was quite cold, revealing this would be one of the few and extremely rare cases he would allow for others to decide for within his household.
Selina did not speak and turned to look at Sebastian. The man was sitting with one arm on the rail, bent elbow and head leaning casually on his fist. He seemed so relaxed, like he did not care what Selina would say, but his burning eyes were smirking challengingly, making her wanting to stab that pale, chiselled chest, puffing proudly underneath the shirt... but at the same time not waiting to touch it and feel the lean muscles tighten under her fingers. She turned her gaze away, before the blush threatening to appear finally explodes on her face. She looked at her master.
"Thank you, my lord, but I think I can handle him. I have been trained for the likes of him…" She ignored the mocking look the boy gave her. "And I can do what needs to be done if the situation demands it." She really hoped her words were true, because if she ended up being so weak willed against the demon's charms, it would be the end of her once and for all, if he decided so.
"All right. I trust you on that; either way, I do not care what you do between you. What I care for is your loyalty to me to remain unaffected by other… sentiments and the same goes for your performance. If I detect any change in any of these or any neglect to your duties by either of you or both, my punishment will be relentless, be certain of that." He said looking both witch and demon, warning them to keep their lovers' passion or quarrels to the minimum and not fight each other to the death – if their passion turned to hate for whatever reason – until he was done with them.
Selina bowed once again and Sebastian came to his usual kneeling posture and bowed with a hand over his heart as they both uttered a synchronized "Of course, my lord."
"Look! They are in perfect harmony even in the simplest things!" Mey-Rin cried excited, pulling Bard's sleeve and obviously fan-girling over the now revealed couple. The chef agreed and smiling gave a thumbs up to the butler, approving of his new relationship to the blond tutor. Sebastian could not care less about their opinion.
"So, Mr. Sebastian and Miss Selina love each other and will get married?" Finny finally said and seemed really ecstatic and happy. "I never realised that! And when was Mey-Rin in love with Mr. Sebastian? I never realised that either!"
Snake looked at him like he was joking. "Finny boy, you are too innocent for your own good… says Oscar." He said and patted the young boy on the shoulder as Mr. Tanaka let a soft "Ho ho!"
All these made Selina start blushing uncontrollably, but before she could say anything, a steely arm circled around her waist and pulled her back to the other end of the platform.
"Ouch!" She cried lightly as the hand belonging to the arm was pressed on her stomach and then the metal rail touched her spine. The butler looked at her questioningly. "Well… Wolfram kicked me on the waist and then my stomach before throwing me with my back on a tree." She said looking at his eyes, as if she was caught doing something bad... like keeping silent about her injuries.
Sebastian sighed and slightly lifted her shirt only to see a bruise at the shape of a knee on her stomach and then another on her spine, that looked like the toe of a boot, and long bruises on the rest of her back caused from the tree she crashed on. Sebastian's eyes were burning red with wrath.
"He did all this, fractured and thankfully slightly dislocated your nose, slashed your hand and bruised your other one… and you worked so hard on helping Lady Sullivan saving his… pathetic ass." He growled, surprising the woman for borrowing an expression from her so 'improper and unladylike' vocabulary. He was obviously really angry. He glared at the still unconscious wounded man and his jaw tightened making him look more furious.
Selina felt his aura getting stronger and realised he could easily shift right at that moment and finish the man in one swipe. Only his obligation to his master was holding him back, but the woman feared even that was not strong enough to subdue his burning anger. She instinctively placed a hand on his cheek and gently made him look at her.
"Hey!" She called softly. "We were both doing our jobs, following orders that just happened to be contradictory to each other, no biggie." She smiled trying to calm the demon in her arms.
"But he… hurt you!" Again he growled clenching his pointy teeth and tightening his hold on the woman, as he was embracing her flushed on his body but minding not to hurt her further.
"It's okay, I'm alright. Calm down…" She seemed like she wanted to say something more, but thought again and instead placed a tender kiss on his pulled back lips and teeth, that could easily tear her lips, but she never felt afraid of them or him, for some reason she could not explain.
She immediately felt him relaxing and the deep sigh that left his chest made her fall deeper in his embrace. He gave in her kiss and turned in such a way that their faces were hidden from the others, as he hungrily sought her tongue with his and began their sensual dance. Their breathing had become heavier and their bodies were aching for more, when the strict voice of Diedrich made them land harshly back to reality.
"Like father like son, indeed. Always so easygoing with his servants, as long as they never betrayed his trust and neglected their duties… and the bastard managed to make them respect him fully with this technique. I hope you two do the same and never turn against the boy, or else…" He left his threat hanging; that made butler and witch smile and swear they would stay loyal to the boy till the end. "Good. We have two more hours until the end of the railway and then we will have to walk quite a lot to reach my estate, so I would advice everyone to get some sleep, which I do not think you had at all tonight." He said louder and turned back to take his position at the train engine, stating he would stay awake keeping an eye on it.
Sebastian and Selina went to tend to their master, who was already yawning quite exhausted. Selina removed little Sieglinde from his lap and Sebastian helped him lie down and get as comfortable as he could by using any sheets and cloths he could find; then Selina placed the still sleeping girl by the boy's side, and that made him blush furiously, suddenly feeling anxious.
"Do not worry, my lord. I think she is too exhausted to attempt anything embarrassing and she obviously feels safe and relaxed when she is close to you; I think you can do her a favor just for one night." Selina whispered smiling.
"W-Well yes, but… if Lizzie-" The boy stuttered.
"That will be one of the Phantomhive secrets lady Lizzie will never find out and I, as the Phantomhive butler, take it upon myself to make sure of it. You can rest assured, my lord." Sebastian also whispered smirking at his master, as he was covering both of them with Ciel's light but warm furry cape.
The boy seemed to either settle for that or being too exhausted for any further argument; both children were soon sleeping soundly. The rest of the servants did the same, snuggling close to each other to keep warm. Selina checked Wolfram for any fever - thankfully he did not have any - and then managed to cover the man with his already bloodied clothes and any remaining piece of cloth; it was the last thing they needed, have him burning in fever and taking a turn to worse, due to exposure to night's lower temperatures. She then settled next to Sebastian at their usual spot. She leaned her head on his shoulder as he wrapped an arm around her.
"You know… I think you can be quite good and gentle with kids when you want to. You might complain for our master being disagreeable and a brat sometimes, but I think you enjoy this entire taking-care-of-a-child thing a little more than you want to admit." Selina said in a teasing manner.
Sebastian chuckled. "Yes, I really do enjoy wiping the private parts of a young, whiny, grumpy human who is totally incapable of taking care of himself… how fun!" He said ironically and Selina smiling said he was exaggerating. "I am being good and gentle with my food because I do not desire to spoil the taste, please do not forget that."
"Yes, I know…" Selina said more seriously, but in a few seconds her eyes sparkled once again with a clear intention of continuing teasing the demon. "But I still think that deep down you enjoy it in a more… let's say father-like way rather than in a cooking one."
Sebastian arched a brow looking at her. "I do not, I assure you. But how come and you came up with such a notion? Is it maybe that you decided to overlook this hollow head and got a desire to put my incompatible genes in use?" He whispered while bringing his smirking face closer to Selina's.
Upon hearing that she tried to stifle a laugh, without great success. "Oh, I'm sorry. I thought I was doing you a service. I didn't realize your male pride was so strong, that you would be pleased to add an adolescent 'witch' in your collection of love stricken human women drooling over you. Besides… even if I was interested in your genes…" She unconsciously brought her hand on her lower belly, over that big scar she had there. "I wouldn't be able to do anything about it, not anymore." She was not looking at him but somewhere else in the endless horizon, nowhere specific in the dark night.
Sebastian remained silent for a while, and then gently pushed her head on his shoulder and actually ordered her to go to sleep, since he could sense how tired she was and really needing of some sleep. Soon the woman was indeed in deep sleep without needing any cover, the demon's body heat was enough to warm her as she was snuggling closer. She did not see his eyes sparkling red and only sighed lightly when felt his hand resting on her belly over that same scar.
Sebastian... you can be such a tease when you want to! Embarrassing my poor Selina like that! *Sebastian smirks pleased with himself*
I thought a lot about having Sebastian making public something so private, as a relationship of that nature is and considering how... private Sebastian is as a personality, so far. At first, this whole scene and how relaxed he is, looked a lot out of character to me, but then I thought two things:
1) It would be practically impossible to have his relationship with Selina kept secret for the entire story (Selina would not bear it much longer) and I really did not want any extreme drama or fights when the revelation would be made in a more relaxed time... I think that now everyone is too stressed and exhausted to pay more than the needed attention to this. Plus, I like them being so supportive... even Mey-Rin!
2) Maybe, not minding to reveal his relationship with a human is a sign of character development for Sebastian. Thanks to Selina he slowly starts changing in some aspects and... perhaps that's the first step. What do you, guys, think about that? Does it look too out of character? What about Mey-Rin's reaction?
Thank you all! Till next time! Bye! 😊