Story: A Touch of Colour in the Gray

Book 1: Shading the black.

Date: June 25, 2020, corrected February 2023

Beta: Nouillesverte (2020) and Nobody (2023)

Fandom: D Gray Man

Disclaimer: No, I don't own D Gray Man and I'm not making any money on this story.

Summary: After landing in the 19th century, Estelle, taking the name Eve, becomes Tricia Kamelott's lady-in-waiting. Eve quickly becomes aware of the social and gender differences of the time and begins to fear for her future, especially when Road, the twins, Tyki and even Allen arrive. But the exorcist leaves for India and the twins are sent to boarding school. She meets Baroness Lucie Belle, the twins' older sister and her feline counterpart, and then follows her employers to Portugal when Sheryl wins the election.

Chapter trigger: None, I think (let me know if you think it's necessary to add one!)

My exams went very well so I'm going home tomorrow! I'm so excited : D But that also means I have to perfectly clean my room and pack my bags today, and that I'm not so excited about…

Enjoy your reading!

Shading the Black Chapter 33: Making friends with the Millennium Earl

Tuesday 25 May 1886

There are times in life when choices have to be made.

There are important choices, and less important ones, and the important ones that seem not really important at first, and the not that important ones that turn out to be very important. That's just the thing with choices. Most of the time, we don't really know what we choose, and the result often ends up being different from what we expected anyway.

Today, for example. I had hoped for a quiet day in my room to do nothing but enjoy the peace and quiet. Having returned from Portugal a few days earlier and with all the potential troublemakers being too busy to meddle in my projects, it looked perfectly feasible.

But it was still pretty damn boring to do nothing, so after a while, I continued with my current project: a new card game. It was a Timeline this time, a nice game that consisted in putting historical events in order in turn, but that became more often than not a game of cooperation as my family and I were not very knowledgeable about history. Adding to that my terrible memory, this game was a never-ending fun, especially since the only date that I ever seemed to remember was the release of the first Sherlock Holmes book, an event that had not even happened yet, in that world. Anyway, the twins had complained about their History lessons containing too many dates to remember, this seemed to be a good learning technique, the previous games having worked wonders for them in that respect. Unfortunately, as I said, dates were not my forte and not even being sure that the big events would remain the same here, I had to do some serious research.

And so, logically, I had chosen to camp at the library.

"If I may ask, what are you working on?" A curious voice asked over my shoulder causing me to jump violently and spill the inkwell on my notes, my dress but most importantly: the reference books. Cursing, I stumbled to my feet as I grabbed the books, trying to pull them away from the disaster before I realised that, having stepped aside, there was nothing to stop the liquid from falling onto Sheryl's very expensive carpet. Jumping forward, I stuck a piece of my dress on the table, preventing the ink from falling further.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to..." exclaimed the Earl, because of course it was him, before taking out his white handkerchief and trying to mop up my dress. Unsuccessful business, however, as he managed to spread the stain liberally instead. Pausing for a second, we looked at the disaster we had made before I dropped my dress, the ink on the table no longer threatening to fall off. Darn, I was sure my shorts (the underwear of the time) were stained too and...

Oh, Merlin.

"Road va me tuer, elle adore cette robe." I muttered how Road was going to kill me because of how she liked the dress as I stared at the mangled fabric with wide, desperate eyes.

"Je ne pense pas qu'elle irait jusque là..." The Earl said softly he didn't think she would go this far but he didn't sound very sure of himself. And then suddenly I was looking at him, my eyes even wider as his words sunk into my mind; Was that French? Did I speak in French?! No worse, did he...

"Do you speak French?" I asked, my brain furiously searching to see if I had said anything problematic in my native tongue in front of him in the last year. Now that I thought about it, he had answered me in French when I had woken up from my nap the day I had met Lulubelle. But to be honest, I'd been so much sleepy that I hadn't caught on until now.

"Of course, speaking French is a requisite for people of our standing." The Earl replied, sounding surprised.

"Oh, I didn't know, no one except Tri-... Lady Kamelott ever speaks French in the manor." I knew this because Tricia had made conversation with me once or twice when she was browsing one of those fashion magazines in the language of Molière. But I'd never heard Sheryl or Road utter even one French word, and the less said about Tyki's attempts at Paris, the less likely I was to burst out laughing just from remembering it.

"If there's one similarity between Tyki and his brother, it is, with certainty, their lack of enthusiasm for foreign languages" Smiled the Earl conspiratorially, as if he were confiding a great secret to me. "It took them years to learn English! To be honest, I'd be satisfied if they could even simply understand what is said to them in French, let alone hold a conversation" laughed the Duke while sitting down in a nearby chair. Automatically, I sat down too, the stained dress momentarily forgotten after that little chat. It was amusing to imagine the perfect Sheryl struggling to learn a language and I couldn't help but smile a little as I imagined him rubbing his perfectly combed hair in frustration, as Tyki did when in the grip of doubt.

My smile did not go unnoticed, however. At once, the Earl's eyes took on a joyful gleam and his body language changed completely: I was looking at the playful teenager and no longer at the wise old Duke.

"And what were you doing exactly?" He asked, but didn't even wait for my answer, grabbing the reference book I'd saved from the ink to glance at the title. "The Life of Alexander the Great?" He said in surprise and I nodded. I might as well tell him what I was doing, right? It's not like it was anything special, it didn't hurt, and anyway it looked like he was going to stay so...

"I'm making a new card game called the 'Timeline'." I replied, showing him my card drafts. I was suddenly terribly ashamed of my drawings, and had to restrain myself from snatching them out of his hands when he pulled out his reading glasses to get a better look at them. "The goal is to put the events back in order like with a timeline" I faltered, without knowing why I felt so anxious.

"I've never heard of it..." The Earl muttered before putting the drafts down, to my relief. "Now that I remember, the twins and Road played several of those new board games these last months, I see now where they were coming from", he smiled, and I couldn't help but to smile back at him. No! It was the whole piano scene all over again! Is it even possible to have so much charisma? "You've created them all? I've particularly liked the one with the pebbles, what was it again?"

"The Awalé?" I asked, and the Earl beamed in response. "It is an African game. I didn't invent any of the games I showed the children, I just learned them... here and there." I replied awkwardly before moving on just as quickly so as not to get into the complicated issues that were my life story again. "The twins seem to have trouble remembering dates, I thought maybe this would help them."

"That's a good idea! I'd even say it wouldn't be too much for Road either." Laughs the Earl. "And you illustrate and write descriptions for each of them? That must be a lot of work."

"Well, I have a lot of free time..." I replied, feeling the conversation dying. But instead of leaving as I thought, the Earl only made himself more comfortable and grabbed one of the stationery papers I was using to take notes.

"Me too!" He said. "I might as well help you and save you some research. Indeed, did you know I have a little talent in history?"

No, I didn't know, and I'm not sure that it was information I needed to know about the destroyer of humanity either... again, not that anyone asked my opinion... But, it turned out that the Millennium Earl was fantastic at history. Really, really good. And by that I mean that he was able to discuss a key point of any great historical moment and support his arguments with accurate information, dates and amusing anecdotes. Listening to him speak was like watching a live YouTube video, but with the added bonus of being able to ask questions and move the topic around.

It was so interesting that I didn't even realise I was writing down everything he said, at least until I ran out of paper and had to take the ones the Earl had borrowed earlier and not used. And that was... fun too, I suppose. Duke Campbell was easy to talk to, always listening, understanding and with a great sense of humour. If I hadn't known he was Earl Millennium, I would never have run away from him like that. In fact, I'm pretty sure I would have followed him around to have more interesting conversations.

As I began my seventh sheet of notes on the Hundred Years' War, vaguely wondering if I would even be able to read it again with how fast I was writing, I thought it was time I stopped running away from him. It's not like there's any point, is there? In fact, spending time with him would be more in line with my principles, as he would have less time to make akumas.

And I would feel less lonely, too.

And the downside? Self-administered psychological torture because I was spending time with the destroyer of humanity? Well, it was an old friend now, I felt it daily with the other Noahs.

So yes, I shouldn't really hesitate, should I?

So, taking a deep breath, I cemented my resolve and began to actively participate in the conversation. It was like a weight off my shoulders, the more the conversation spread, the more easily I smiled and answered, my shoulders relaxed and I stopped clutching my fingers at my pencil. It was nice to finally be able to talk to him without a thousand alarms ringing in my head, screaming for me to pay attention to my every word, my every move.

In fact, I relaxed so much that I laughed heartily when the Earl told me an unlikely anecdote about King Clovis. It was so vivid that I wondered for a moment if it was something he remembered because of the Noah memory. It surely was. Of course, it was at this point that Road slammed the door open, still with no respect for privacy. Meh, I'll make her understand one day... I have hope.

Turning my head, my shoulders still shaking with laughter and a happy smile on my lips, I found Road and Tyki frozen in the doorway, their eyes round and their mouths gaping. This was not surprising, I had been running from the Earl like the plague for over a year now and these two had been my gracious escape partners on many occasions. It must have been very strange for them to see me laughing with the Earl as if nothing had happened.

I didn't get to hear their feelings about it though, because it was then that Road registered the disaster that my dress had become and she wasted no time in screaming as if she were being murdered with a rusty knife. Or rather as if I were being murdered with a rusty knife. I wasn't too sure it would do much for her after all… I have to say, the rest of the afternoon was less than pleasant for all concerned. I was still angry at Tyki for running away without supporting me.

Traitor.

Fortunately for me, it didn't take too long to find an opportunity for revenge: the Kamelotts were reorganising a ball.

Saturday 29 May 1886

To be completely honest, when Tricia announced the news one evening while the whole family was gathered in the small living room (including the twins and even Lulu the cat, but without the Earl. Well, otherwise I wouldn't be there, Sheryl would have thrown me out as soon as the Earl arrived. But since he wasn't there, Tricia had got what she wanted: my presence) I had for a second the fear of being dragged into this mess. I was about to throw my cards at Tyki as a diversion and jump out the window for a strategic retreat when Sheryl calmed my fears.

"Miss Campbell will not be required to participate this time, obviously, Tyki can't be shown twice accompanied by the same person, or rumours might start" he declared in an implacable voice and I saw Tricia wilt a little. She seemed saddened but understanding, and just for that look on her face I could've gone up against Sheryl… if the solution to the issue hadn't been me attending the next ball.

I really, really didn't want to go... Once was enough, thank you very much!

Tyki, on the other hand, immediately turned white as a sheet. "But, brother..." He said, and I knew he was going to beg Sheryl: he only mentioned their relationship when he wanted something. "You just became a minister, I'm going to be even more of a political target than before." He almost whined, and I saw Road snicker beside me.

"You should have thought of this last year if it bothers you so much, but, who knows? Maybe this extra attention will help a nice young Lady to take your fancies!" Sheryl replied, sounding almost excited. I was surprised that Tricia wasn't more excited, she was trying to fit Tyki in as much as her husband, she should have been happy about that. Yet she looked more pensive than thrilled.

Tyki was definitely green now, and his eyes were blurry, as if he was imagining something awful. I would have scoffed and rolled my eyes and said he was exaggerating, but I'd seen his fangirls run at us at the ball last year, and they were truly terrifying. Sheryl didn't give him the time to object, however, and he turned to the twins, who had stayed as quiet and discreet as possible since Sheryl had started speaking. Unfortunately for them, they had not escaped the attention of the master of the house.

"The twins will also be attending, this will be your first ball and I expect you to be on your best behaviour. As you have just turned fourteen, it is only appropriate." Devit frowned and started loudly complaining, followed by his brother. "Duke Campbell has decided so", he cut short, and to my great surprise, the twin stopped immediately and sat down on the floor. That didn't stop them from sulking, though...

Uh. I'll have to keep the technique in mind.

Oh, but if it was a ball for Road's birthday again, that meant I had to find her a present... Last year I was able to participate in the staff's gift but on the one hand I doubt I would be welcomed this time, on the other hand I had been with Road on a daily basis for more than a year now, so a personal present would surely be more appreciated. But what to do? Oooh, I could give her the Timeline! I still had a lot of work to do, but it should be finished before her birthday. Road was as bad at history as the twins anyway and it was still a game so it should be fine.

Satisfied with my choice, I spent the next few weeks working on it with the notes I had taken at the Earl's lecture. Fortunately, the illustrations weren't that difficult to make. The hardest part was the writing, as my XXIth century scribbling did not fit the diligent calligraphy of that time. But at least Road could not say I didn't try! I had even asked help from Tyki who, to my surprise, had a beautiful handwriting. Perhaps this was because he practised daily, I had seen him several times with a notebook in his hands and I was pretty sure he kept a diary. It was a bit funny to imagine, but I didn't dare bring it up. If it was his secret garden, I wouldn't want to intrude and spoil it.

Sunday 20 June 1886

On Road's birthday I got up early to give her my present. Or, it would be more accurate to say that she got me up early to give her a present. It wasn't even five o'clock that she was already jumping into my bed, preventing me from escaping back under the covers and whispering in my ear.

"Come on, Eve! I'm bored alone in my room, you're the only one awake!" She moaned, dropping onto my back as I clung to my pillow with all my might, refusing to leave the mattress even though she had already ripped the blanket off me.

"Whose fault is it?" I grumbled. "What's wrong with you? Waking me up at five in the morning?!" I complained, turning to face her.

"Tyki's not at the manor, the twins are at their sister's place and I can't possibly wake up Dad. Mother is with him, and she needs her sleep." She announced logically, raising an eyebrow gracefully as if she thought I was silly for even asking the question.

"And so you preferred to bother me? That's very mean, and thus it deserves… revenge!" I said, jumping on her with a savage smile as I tickled her mercilessly. Immediately, she screamed and laughed as she barely made a real attempt to push me back. She let me, of course, I could never have tickled her if she didn't want me to.

"Shhhh!" I hissed as I gagged her, straining my ear to see if her screams had woken the householders. Hearing nothing, I let go of her, wiping the drool she had smeared on my hand on the sheet. About dry, I lay down beside her, folding the blanket over us. "You may not need it, but if you want me to be fit enough to play with you all day, you'll have to let me have a few more hours of sleep!" I whispered to her and when I saw her pout I quickly followed up. "Why don't you tell me a bedtime story? Let's switch roles for once."

"Hmmm." She sang, pretending to think. "If you give me my present now, I'll let you sleep and even tell you a story!" She offered, and I flicked her nose in response.

"You had it all planned! Sneaky little devil." I laughed before leaning on my elbow to grab her gift from the night stand drawer.

"As long as I'm the cutest of all devils…", she said in a cute tone before taking the small cloth pouch directly from my fingers. "A deck of cards?" She guessed curiously before untying the string to peek inside.

"You guessed way too fast, I'll have to stop doing games for next year." I smiled a little nervously. I was pretty sure she wouldn't do anything to me even if she didn't like her present, but I wasn't absolutely 100% sure and I was starting to have a little internal panic wondering if I should have started something from scratch after all.

"No! I like your games, you always have good ideas and the Jungle Speed was really fun, I'm sure this one will be as well." She reassured me gently as she looked curiously at the cards, chuckling at some of the funny illustrations.

"I don't create them, I just craft them again from memories." I told her again but she didn't even bother to grace me with a nod before asking her next question.

"I don't understand what the rules are... it's historical events, with dates... You have to guess the event?" She asked and for the fourth time in as many people I gave her my little speech about the game. I ended up asking her to talk about it later in the morning when the twins arrived, though, when she began asking questions. She nodded grudgingly and offered to tell me a story but despite my request I was far too tired to hear it and asked her to tell it to me next time.

As soon as my eyes closed, I fell asleep immediately and didn't wake up until well after three hours later. Eight o'clock may still seem early, but as I was getting up every day at 7am sharp, I was very surprised that I hadn't woken up before then. Especially as I would surely have slept longer if the twins hadn't burst into my room with the discretion of an elephant in a china shop.

And I am weighing my words.

They had practically destroyed my little round table where I usually played cards with Tyki as they stormed into the room like savages, fighting each other. Fortunately, it was unharmed except for a few scratches. The probably expensive vase that Tricia had put on it a couple of weeks earlier was not so lucky though and went crashing to the carpet. In spite of myself, I couldn't be angry though: That vase was hideous and if it hadn't made Tricia sad, I would have probably defenestrated it the second I discovered it in my room. As it was, I had an excuse and convenient scapegoats, and I only groaned because my sleep had been disturbed again.

"Sorry, Eve." Jasdero promptly apologised with his puppy dog face, the one that just made me want to hug him and absolve him of all sins. I was pretty sure at this point that he was doing it on purpose... His twin grumbled a similar apology but with a more mutinous face, and I only sighed in return before sitting up in bed.

Or try to, because it turned out that Road had, in fact, been sleeping with me. And, well, she didn't seem to want to get up as she clung to my waist like a barnacle to her rock.

"Good Lord... David, Jasper?! What are you doing in Eve's room, come out immediately! Don't you two have any decency?" Tricia's voice suddenly shouted and I looked up to see her standing in the doorway, horrified, Tyki and the Earl not far behind looking curiously at the whole situation. Having hardly ever heard Tricia raise her voice I could only look at her frozen, puzzled, and the boys seemed to be in the same state, for it took them a good thirty seconds before they took a step towards the door. Unfortunately for them, in the meantime, Tricia noticed the overturned table and then the remains of the very dead ugly vase and rushed into the room blocking their exit. What followed was a very strange situation where Tricia was lamenting the fallen vase while the twins looked like slaughtered kittens, Road and I were still in our nightgowns in bed and the Earl and Tyki were standing in the doorway, not sure what to do. In any case, you can bet I was glad that I had tidied up my room the day before.

"Millenia!" Road suddenly exclaimed, raising his arms in the universal gesture of asking to be carried, effectively cutting off the strange atmosphere.

"Road, no!", Tricia scolded, her hands on her hips. "You're still in your nightgown, you can't…", she started, but the Earl had already obliged, and effortlessly took the little girl in his arms.

"It's nothing really, Tricia. And with those glass shards all over the ground, I'd rather carry her back to her room", he declared, holding the girl in such a way that she would rest on his hip. It felt as if Tricia was about to object, but she suddenly turned her attention to me, as I was about to put a foot to the ground. Suddenly, her eyes lit up in this particular way they did whenever she was caught in her romantic frenzy, I was not even slightly surprised when she asked me not to stand up and risk walking on the shards of glass. Note that my lack of acceptable dress seemed suddenly much less important than an opportunity to marry me off...

Sensing trouble coming, I quickly asked Tyki to hand me my shoes. Which he did with extreme speed, even adding my dressing gown on top of that and looking away as I put it on. Always the gentleman... Tricia almost pouted and suddenly I saw with a blatant fluidity the resemblance between mother and daughter. I guess they had managed to influence each other after all.

After defusing one of Tricia's umpteenth matchmaking attempts, I was left alone to dress before joining Road and the twins to play their new card game together. They weren't too keen at first, I guess dates weren't really their thing, but in the end the cooperative effect worked pretty well and everyone got into the game. Tyki even made an appearance, just for a second between a request from Tricia and a meeting with Sheryl to put down some cards with a smug look on his face (Tyki was pretty good at history. Strangely good actually, I always wondered if he'd found a way to cheat...) before escaping swiftly through the window when he heard Sheryl grumble in the corridor.

After that, things happened one after the other: Tricia almost screamed when she saw the children still playing when it was already lunchtime. They spent the whole afternoon preparing for the evening, while I just watched them running around, with a good cup of tea. I was infinitely grateful not to be part of the whole ordeal, especially when Road threw a tantrum in the middle of her third hairstyle change: I would never have put up with that for that long.

I was at this point in my blithe complacency when karma comes back to bite me and the Earl joins me for tea. I may have accepted my fate a few days earlier, but a year of running from it didn't just go away, and I found myself actively looking for a way out. So, deciding to take a step in what I hoped was the right direction, I started the conversation. As long as we avoided all the music-related talk, it was kind of nice. It matched the mood of a few days earlier and even when he had the look of a wise old man (and not the teenage excitement) it was nice.

We were having a lovely discussion about the appropriate amount of sugar to put in the tea for the circumstances (he always aimed way too high for me) while Tyki was struggling to put the laces back on his shoes that Road had taken off and Tricia was trying to tie the twins' ties in a hurry when a cute little cat jumped on the Earl's shoulders.

"Oh, you're here too?" Smiled the Earl as he scratched his head, receiving a happy purr for his efforts. The cat rubbed against his hand before jumping up on the table (much to the dismay of Tricia who still holds her tongue and quickly left the room to answer a question from the maids) and approached my outstretched fingers to sniff them.

"Hello, Lulu." I smiled as I petted her but she froze at my words and I looked up to see that the Earl had done the same. Realising my mistake (no one had named the cat before! It was a good thing I hadn't called her Lulubelle at least...) I was relieved to see that the other Noahs in the room weren't paying attention to us. But it still made the main one concerned and the Earl listening and terribly curious...

"Lulu?" Asked the Earl. His voice was so light it was suspicious.

With a neutral face that I didn't think I was capable of, I calmly answered "Oh, sorry, I don't know her name but she reminds me of the twins' sister, so…", I let the sentence pending before wondering if it had been a good idea to imply that I had seen a resemblance between the cat and Lulubelle… No, not really, but it was too late anyway, and the Earl opened his mouth to answer.

"It's true, the name does fit her well", he said, finally turning to the cat and looking at it instead. "What do you think? Lulu's a cute name, isn't it?"

The cat didn't seem too keen on the idea, but she meowed in such a way that it still sounded like an agreement, however grudgingly. She glowered at me anyway, and then waddled over to the Earl, tail high and all her contempt palpable.

Welp.

And another screw-up to add to my list…

Hope you liked this chapter ! Eve can finally talk with the earl without running the other side X) Next chapter, she is going to have some... hmmm... trouble with Tyki :3 Wait and see!

(edit 2023: exams must not have done me any good because this is the most error-ridden chapter I've had the misfortune to correct so far! Sentences that don't mean anything, words that aren't the right ones, typos, punctuation that got out of hand... I don't swear it's perfect now, but it should at least be more readable!)

Have a good day, think about the reviews and see you on the 25th of next month!