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Chapter 99
This child…is the liege lord!?, everyone thought as Sieglinde Sullivan was carried to the group by a large German man with sideburns. He leaned in close to Sebastian’s face abruptly and his face contorted into a disturbingly, hideous glare.
“And from whence do you hail, peon?” the man asked in German. “Hnn?”
“Yes, well.” Sebastian replied, ready to explain, but the little girl smacked the German man upside his head.
“D’OW!”
“Enough, Wolfram.” Sieglinde scolded before looking at the group. “Excuse us. It has been quite some time since we last had visitors in the village. Moreover…”
As she trailed off, she looked over at Ciel from head to toe for a long time. Red’s eye began to twitch in irritation as the young girl ogled at her lover. However, Ciel was completely oblivious to what was currently going on.
Wh-What is it?, he thought to himself.
Wolfram cleared his throat before saying, “I don’t know how you managed to reach us, but here in our village of ‘Wolfs-schlucht’, outsiders are not welcome to stay. Now that we’re clear, go back to where you came from!”
“Best to retreat and consider alternative approaches, I think.” Ciel whispered to his butler.
“Yes, sir.” The demon responded before ushering the group back and responding to Wolfram. “Very well. Then we will take our lea-”
“Wait!!” Wolfram yelled, causing the other armed women to point their weapons at the group, causing them to look over at him. “You and your party don’t seem to understand how fortunate you are to have passed through the forest unscathed.”
“What do you mean?” Sebastian asked.
“Surely you must have heard the tales! About the noble wolfman who protects the forest!”
“Then this is indeed the witches’ village under the protection of the wolfman. Is that right?”
Everyone was silent for a moment before one of the women villagers spoke up.
“Herr Wolfram, these people are dangerous! Having them here is a risk! Especially with bringing another witch! We must finish them off at o-”
“Wait!” Sieglinde yelled at the woman before whispering into Wolfram’s ear, causing his eyes to widen.
“My lady, that is-” he started before being interrupted.
“Do you refuse to do as I bid?”
“…Ja…” Wolfram nodded before looking at the group. “Listen well. If you head back into the forest now, darkness will fall before you make it out. The forest at night is far too perilous a place. Safe passage through the forest a second time cannot be guaranteed…no. You’ll never be able to leave its confines again. So…we will make an exception and permit you all to stay the night.”
Finnian and Sebastian’s eyes widened at the offer as the villagers began to grow angry.
“We can provide beds for tonight. But come the very break of dawn-”
“Herr Wolfram!!” a village-woman yelled. “How could you invite strangers to the ‘Emerald Castle’…!?”
“Hilde.” Wolfram sighed. “It is as my lady wills.”
“Frau Hilde.” Another woman spoke in concern as Hilde gritted her teeth.
“What’s happening?” Ciel asked Sebastian.
“I believe we are being permitted to stay at the liege’s residence for the night.” Sebastian explained.
“I don’t like this.” Red frowned. “Something isn’t right here and I think we should take our chances with the forest.”
“Are you daft? We haven’t a clue what lies in the forest around this time that has these villagers so terrified of even thinking of stepping foot within. I am not risking my servants’ lives nor yours for some unknown danger we may face.” Ciel answered, placing his hand on the red head’s shoulder.
Staring at him for a second, Red sighed before nodding, “You’re right. I just don’t trust her.”
“That is my lady’s ‘Emerald Castle.’” Wolfram said, pointing at a crooked, yet elegant looking castle in the distance, having everyone look. “Follow me.”
The Phantomhive group then followed Wolfram and Sieglinde to the castle.
“They told us to leave, then to stay the night. Really, what are they playing at?” Red muttered to Sebastian and Ciel, crossing her arms.
“I cannot say.” Sebastian replied as the group walked past medieval torture devices. “But…it is clear that there is something afoot in this village.”
“Eep! What is this place!?” Mey-Rin exclaimed in fear.
“You do realise that it’s packed with instruments of torture!?...says Wilde.” Snake spoke, using one of his snakes’ voices.
“Those were quite popular in the witch trials.” Red commented, looking a little bit impressed at the outdated torture devices.
“This is all fast becoming outrageously occult for my tastes-” Ciel started but was interrupted.
“You there, little gnome.” Sieglinde said, looking at Ciel. “What is your name?”
“Oh dear! forgive us for not introducing ourselves sooner…” Sebastian replied to the little girl before speaking to his master in English. “She is asking for your name.”
“I get the feeling she said something passing rude just now…” Ciel whispered to his butler before speaking louder. “I’m Ciel Phantomhive.”
“How old are you?” Sieglinde asked.
“The young master is fourteen years old.” Sebastian replied, giving one of his fake smiles.
“Hmm.” The young girl hummed as she ogled at the young lord more, causing him to grow confused, and Red to grow angry.
The group soon arrived across a bridge at the tall black gates that guarded the castle.
“Whoa! Soooo high!” Baldroy exclaimed, looking over the bridge as Wolfram unlocked the gate. “I’d be dead meat if I fell from here!”
“Do a flip!” Red yelled, cheering on the American.
“We have arrived.” Wolfram said as he picked up Sieglinde and led the group through the front yard of the castle. “This is the ‘Emerald Castle.’”
“OOOOOOH! What a strange flower!” Finnian exclaimed, reaching out to touch the plant. “I’ve never seen one like it!”
“Be careful!” Red and Sieglinde yelled, one in English and one in German.
“It’s poisonous.” Sieglinde continued. “Your fingers will swell up if you touch it!”
“FWAAA-!?” Finnian yelled in fright. “R-Riight!”
“This way.” Wolfram said as he led the group inside the castle.
“You lot wait here.” Sebastian told the servants as he, his master, and Red continued on.
“’Kaaaay!” Finnian replied back happily.
Red, Sebastian, and Ciel followed Wolfram and Sieglinde up the stairs and into a dining room, where Wolfram set the little girl down into a chair.
“You are our first guests in many a year.” She spoke in German. “Let us treat you to a special feast.”
“We are much obliged.” Sebastian responded in German.
“Wolfram, make the preparations. And show the servants to their rooms.”
“Ja.” Wolfram responded before heading back to where the other Phantomhive servants were.
I’ve been wondering for a while now…, Ciel began to think to himself as he stared at Sieglinde’s feet while he and Red sat down at the table. Those tiny feet of hers…Aren’t they what’s known as “Lotus Feet”? I’ve heard about it from Lau. If I recall, it’s said to be a tradition peculiar to China, a corrective measure in which a young girl’s feet are tightly bound to keep them desirably small in size, making them unable to walk freely. So what’s it doing here in Germany? And why is it being practiced on the head of the village no less…?
“You there.” Sieglinde said, startling the young earl from his stare, making Red narrow her eyes at him.
“Oh? Eh!? Are you talking to me?” Ciel asked.
“I am very sorry. The young master has not yet achieved fluency in German, you see…” Sebastian explained to the little girl.
“Is that so?” she asked.
The room then fell in silence for over an hour before Ciel had finally had enough.
“Come on…you say something!” Ciel whispered harshly to his butler, feeling the silence has now been too awkward for too long. “You’re an expert at chatting with women!”
“…Be that as it may, I-” Sebastian started but was interrupted by the sound of Sieglinde’s stomach growling from hunger, causing everyone to look over at her.
“That is my body’s signal demanding I ingest some sustenance.” Sieglinde explained in German.
“Herr Wolfram seems to be delayed.” Sebastian sighed as he glanced at his watch. “Perhaps something untoward has taken place?”
“Not even a blush at the tremendous rumbling?” Ciel whispered to himself in shock.
“He is indeed later than usual.”
“May I visit the kitchen?” Sebastian asked with his famously fake smile.
“You may.” Sieglinde nodded.
“Well then, please excuse my brief absence.”
And with a wave, Sebastian disappeared around the corner, causing his master to freak out.
“Eh!? Wai-!” Ciel nearly screeched. What am I supposed to do by myself!? Ugh…this is awkward…
“Tell me.” Sieglinde said in German, catching Ciel’s and Red’s attention. “*&^% black hair *& man *&#% name?”
Oh! I can catch some words if I listen carefully.Whew! The man with the black hair…does she mean Sebastian?
“Erm…Sebastian. My. Butler.” Ciel said while pointing after where Sebastian left and at himself. “Understand?”
Sieglinde nodded, understanding the young earl. I got through to her!, he thought.
“Her. *&^% who?” Sieglinde asked, pointing at Red.
Red crossed her arms before looking at Ciel, waiting for his answer. The young lord thought for a second before answering.
“Red. My. Maid.”
Sieglinde nodded again as Red’s eye twitched in anger before asking, “Your *&%^$ parents *^$^ where #^$?”
“Huh? Parents?” Ciel sighed before shaking his head. “Parents. Not have. Dead.”
Sieglinde’s eyes widened before resting her head on her hand and began to think.
AAAAARGHHHH, Sebastian, get back here thiiiiiiiiis instant!!, Ciel thought in frustration. Looking over at Red, he could only see fury in her eyes as she stared deep into his soul, feeling as if he was looking at the gates of hell already.
After a while, Sebastian and Wolfram returned to the dining room and set different dishes on the table.
“Maultaschen and Wurst Soup.” Sebastian introduced with a smirk. “Eisbein made of Ham Hock. And for dessert, Rote Grutze.”
“Hohhhh… This is quite…” Sieglinde started before turning to Wolfram. “a marvelous feast. Nicely done, Wolf.”
“No…err…that butler assisted me.” Wolfram explained, which in turn means Sebastian did all the work.
“As you are allowing us to stay the night, it is only fair.” Sebastian explained. “I am the butler of the Phantomhive house. It goes without saying that I can provide assistance of this level.”
“Let’s have a taste.” The young girl said as she stabbed her fork and knife into the meal in front of her and began to devour it in an unladylike manner. “MMM. D’lish! I’b neber had sush shoft bwead befowe!”
“Sh-She eats with such gusto.” Ciel whispered, horrified.
“She must be unassuming as a matter of principle.” Sebastian replied.
Suddenly, everyone’s heads turned to the door at the sound of feet stomping grew louder and closer. The door then slammed open, revealing one of the women from the village.
“Herr Wolfram, it’s terrible!!” she shouted.
“What is it, Hilde?” Wolfram asked as the woman panted, out of breath.
“Th-The wolfman has come!!”
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Chapter 98
Upon arrival at the outskirts of Nuremberg, Germany, the Phantomhive group stood before a man in a cart, asking a question. However, the response they got was in a completely different language.
“Hey…Sebastian. What language are they speaking?” Ciel asked his butler.
“East Franconian. It is a southern German dialect.” Sebastian replied.
“The dialect is too strong! My studies were practically useless!! I can’t even follow what they’re saying!!”
“The fundamentals are vital in everything, young master.”
“So…what’s he saying?” Red asked as she walked up to the pair, now dressed in a pistachio-colored long skirt with a matching coat, a long-sleeved white blouse, a brown tied belt, and knee-high black heeled boots. Her makeup was done in a natural look and her hair was tied back partially with a matching bow.
“Ach, I ain’t gonna go bite it from the witch’s curse. No thanks.” Sebastian translated. “Dun matter how much gold you got, no’s a no… So he says.”
“Has he seen an accursed human?” Ciel asked before adding, “You don’t need to translate the dialect into your interpretation!”
Sebastian then went to translate his master’s question then translated the man’s answer to that he has seen them and how grotesque their appearance was.
“Their faces were swollen to twice the normal size. And their skin looked like it’d melted into a thick mud. One died right off. The other lived, but word has it he went nuts from the shock.” The German told Sebastian
“The other one survived?” Sebastian asked.
“Yep. He was all shook up with fear and kept screamin’…‘The wolfman’s coming!’”
“So where is he now?”
“He’s the eldest son of the Briegel family, rich folk who live on the outskirts of this village…but he’s gone now. The government came ‘n’ took him away to some big hospital in case whatever he had caught and they took the dead ‘un away too.” (IT’S ALWAYS THE GOVERNMENT!!)
Sebastian then turned to his master and the red head and said, “There is a survivor, but he was intensely confused and kept repeating ‘The wolfman’s coming.’”
“So he’s seen the wolfman?” Ciel asked.
“Government officials took him away to a major institution along with the other victim. Will you search all the hospitals in the country?”
“No need. There isn’t any point in speaking to a madman-”
“Yet you always spoke to my father.” Red smirked, interrupting the young lord who’s eye twitched in irritation.
“We should go at once to this ‘Werewolves’ Forest’ ourselves.” Ciel continued.
“However, the man refuses to take us in his carriage no matter how much we offer.”
Ciel then smirked and said, “Then ask him how much the carriage costs.” (Total Batman move. Just saying)
Meanwhile, over in a town square nearby, a bunch of children were playing around while Mey-Rin, Baldroy, Finnian, Tanaka, and Snake were huddled together, waiting for their master and Sebastian to return.
“AAARGH, my ass hurrrts.” Baldroy complained, rubbing his behind.
“Baldo, that’s indecent, it is!” Mey-rin scolded the American.
“But I’ve been sitting for more than a whole day! But I wonder why the young master brought us servants with him?”
“Why, indeed!”
While Finnian had dozed off, staring down at his feet, a ball suddenly rolled right to him. Picking it up, he looked over to the group of children who were waving to him.
“Excuse meee!” One of the kids yelled to him. “Please throw us the ball.”
“Sure! Here you go!” Finnian nodded happily before unintentionally flinging the ball a good distance away from the kids. He then bowed his head in apology as the children cried. “Augh! Sorry, sorry!”
“Do you understand German? …Asks Donne.” Snake asked the young blond.
“Ah…yep. A little.” Finnian grimaced.
“Everyone.” Sebastian spoke, turning all the servants’ attention to him. “We have secured a carriage. Load the luggage onto it, if you would.”
As all the servants started loading up the carriages with the luggage, Red nervously looked at Sebastian.
“Are we really travelling into these woods? With werewolves in them?” she asked the demon.
“Miss Red, you have faced reapers, living corpses, madmen, and Jack the Ripper. Yet, you’re afraid of the mythical werewolves?” Sebastian asked as he walked off.
“Haven’t any of you read Grimm’s fairy tales!?” Red shouted to the group.
“What is Grimm’s fairy tales?” Finnian asked as both he and Snake looked at the red head in curiosity.
Red then grinned like Sebastian would when he was up to mischief as she then asked, “Oh? You haven’t heard of them? Then do I have the perfect story to tell you two.”
Some time as the group traveled on to the beginning of the forest…
“‘Why, grandmother, what big eyes you have!’ Red Riding Hood exclaimed to the wolf disguised as her grandmother. ‘The better to see you with, my dear!’ the wolf replied as his ears flicked in delight. ‘Why, grandmother, what big ears you have!’ the little girl exclaimed. ‘The better to hear you with, my dear.’ The wolf said as he grinned, revealing his shiny, pointy teeth, causing the little girl to tremble with fright. ‘W-Why, g-grandmother! W-What b-big t-t-teeth you have!’ Red Riding Hood yelled. ‘THE BETTER TO EAT YOU WITH MY DEAR!!’” Red told the story before laughing maniacally, scaring the Phantomhive servants, much to Sebastian’s amusement.
“Enough already! Just finish the story.” Ciel yelled over to the group in irritation, yet secretly enjoyed Red’s storytelling.
“Haha, all right!” Red chuckled before continuing on with the story. “After that, the wolf chased Red Riding Hood all around her grandmother’s house before catching her, and gobbling her up just like her grandmother!”
The servants gasped in shock and fright before the red head continued on.
“However, it just so happened that a woodsman nearby wandered to the cottage and saw the wolf gobble up the little girl. So, he waited for the wolf to fall asleep. And when he did…WHAM! He cut open the wolf with his axe and pulled Red Riding Hood and her grandmother out safely! They all lived happily ever after. The End.”
“T-That was a morbid story, it was!” Mey-Rin exclaimed.
“I prefer Alice in Wonderland!” Finnian yelled.
“Oh, relax, you two! It’s just a story meant to give children a lesson.” Red chuckled.
“And what lesson is that!?” Baldroy asked.
“Children should never speak to strangers.”
“Ohhhh.” The Phantomhive servants said in unison with realization.
“You also forget that it is also in reference of a woman being pursued by a man.” Sebastian added, looking back over his shoulder for a second.
“What do you mean?” Red asked innocently as her and the others looked over at Sebastian.
The butler smirked as he replied, “Oh, nothing you need to worry about for now.”
The carriages rattled as the group started to enter the beginning of the Werewolves’ Forest.
“S-So this is the Werewolves’ Forest. It’s creepyyyyyy!” Mey-Rin let out as her and the other servants, except Tanaka of course, looked around in fear.
“Man, I get why people say it’s cursed…” Baldroy spoke nervously.
As the group continued on, Sebastian looked down at his compass and noticed the arrow begin to spin drastically.
“The compass has begun to drift.” He commented.
“It may just be that mineral resources are buried around here.” Ciel replied.
“It may just as easily be…a curse.” Sebastian smirked.
“Or…THE WOLF!!” Red cackled manically, scaring the servants again.
“Will you quit that!!!” Ciel yelled to her before turning back to his butler and sighing. “I can’t believe-”
“It amuses me that you refuse to believe in curses when you have a devil for a servant and have come eye-to-eye with grim reapers. Moreover, that which binds you and I is also a curse of sorts.”
“However, witches were humans falsely accused at ridiculous trials. They didn’t fly in the sky or create storms. It’s absurd to believe in supernatural entities…like a curse. That is why.” Ciel replied.
“Well, now, I wonder.”
“Hey, guys. Did you know during the Salem Witch Trials, and every other witch trial before and after that, that people with natural red hair were targeted as a witch?” Red asked the group.
“Really!?” Finnian asked.
“Yep! Over in Egypt, they burnt red heads as a form of a sacrifice. In Rome, they hunted them down. In Greece, they put cages over their graves in case they were to ever turn into vampires.”
“How do you know all this? …Asks Goethe.” Snake spoke.
“My father told me. There wasn’t really a safe place for people with red hair except Denmark, Scotland, and Ireland.”
“Huh.” Ciel said before looking at his butler. “By the way, have you ever met a real witch?”
“Yes. I have met those who went by that moniker on several occasions before.” Sebastian nodded.
“Hah! Did they summon you to the witches’ sabbath and worship you?”
“Summoning devils and worshipping them…I do not believe sabbaths were held for that purpose…they were times of social interaction for depraved adults who wished to escape reality by sinking into debauchery, offering us their souls in exchange for their desires. One cannot summon us devils without that degree of determination.”
“Are you…” Ciel started before going silent.
“Yes?” Sebastian asked, waiting for his master to continue.
“…Nothing.”
“Oh-hoh. Young master, please see for yourself. There are buildings over there.” Sebastian said, pointing to a village.
When the Phantomhive group arrived at the village, fog was spread around everywhere, giving a mysterious and creepy feeling to their surroundings.
“So there really was a village in this forest.” Ciel said as he and the group got out of their carriages and wondered into the village entrance and into the village itself.
“No one’s around…is it abandoned?” Mey-Rin wondered.
“No.” Sebastian replied before looking at a well. “The houses have been kept up. I am certain people do live here.”
“Heyyy! Is anybody heee-!” Finnian started to yell but was interrupted by the slamming of doors opening.
“Intruders!!” a woman yelled as she banged a pan with a ladle. “Everybody come out and fight!!”
Suddenly, more women appeared and ran to the group, surrounding them with pitchforks, rakes, and other gardening tools.
“Talk about a warm welcome.” Baldroy and Red muttered at the same time as they and the group backed up into each other as the women of the village got closer.
“Who are you bastards!?” a woman in old German clothes yelled in German. “How did you find your way here!?”
The village residents are all women?, Ciel thought as he stared with his wide eye. Furthermore…how ancient are their clothes!?
“Tell them we would like to speak to their lord.” Ciel whispered to his butler.
“Yes, sir.” The demon replied back before turning to the women and began to speak in fluent German. “We mean no harm. We beg an audience with your liege lord.”
“What?” the German woman asked. “Our liege?”
The German women began to mutter amongst one another, one of them asking, “Could they be targeting the honourable Sullivan!?”
“Sullivan?” Sebastian asked.
“Hey, what are they-” Red began to ask before some of the women started yelling in German.
“Witch!! Another witch has come to attack the honourable Sullivan!!”
“Uhhh…what?”
“It appears they believe you to be a witch, Miss Red.”
“ARE YOU KIDDING ME!? AFTER THE HISTORY LESSON I JUST GAVE!?”
“Quiet!!” the German woman yelled. “You villains must be betrayers-!!”
“B-Betrayers!?” Finnian yelled in German. “We’re not-”
“We will spare none of your ilk!” the German women shouted. “Don’t let them escape alive!! Death to betrayers!! Death to the red witch!! Death to betrayers!!”
As the German women grew closer with their weapons, Ciel held Red’s hand as the entire group became nervous before a young voice spoke up in German.
“What is the meaning of this!?”
The German women gasped and stepped back, parting a way for the person.
“Th-The honourable Sullivan!”
The women then bowed their heads in apology as the tall man walked by.
“We apologise for letting intruders enter the village!”
“Are you…the honourable Sullivan, the liege lord?” Sebastian asked in German.
“Indeed.” A very young, feminine voice said, revealing the man to be in a butler’s attire, holding a little girl with black hair, and green eyes in a fancy green and black dress. “I…am Sieglinde Sullivan! Liege of the forest!”
“…who is this tiny lost child?” Red whispered to Ciel.
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Chapter 97
Well my dears, I believe it is time to start out next arc off perfectly with this time of the month…also known as SPOOKY SEASON~!
Somewhere along the edge of a forest, a fox was sprinting for its life as three dogs were chasing after it with two men riding on horses following right behind them. However, the dogs soon stopped before entering the forest, barking loudly without making a motion to continue forward. The two men stopped their horses to gaze at the scene before them.
“Damn, it ran into the forest.” One of the men cursed.
“The hunt’s more worthwhile when the fox is sly.” The other man responded, moving to continue on. “Let’s go.”
“You can’t be serious!! This is the cursed forest, isn’t it!?”
“It’s an old wives’ tale. Surely you don’t believe in such things!?”
“O-Of course not!”
As the two men slowly ventured into the forest, not a sound could be heard except the cries of the crows as they flew away from the place. Suddenly, the two heard a loud, scratchy feminine voice, making them jump in fear.
“Begone from this place!!”
As the two men turned to where the voice came from, they also heard the jangle of metal as a disfigured woman in a cloak stepped forth, pointing right at them.
“This forest is protected by werewolves! You shall be cursed if they find you!!” the old crone shouted.
“What’s with that hag!?” one of the men cried out. “She’s scary.”
“Who knows.” Responded the other man. “Let’s hurry. She must be senile.”
“S-Sure.”
As the two galloped away from the woman, they could hear her shout echo around them.
“FOOOOOLS!!”
When the two men finally caught up to the dogs, they could see them sniffing around a bush, growling and barking.
“Oh-hoh! Found ‘em!” One of the two men exclaimed as they got closer, but grew confused. “Where’s the fox?”
The other man gasped then asked, “Why are they snarling…?”
Looking up at the sound of twigs snapping and leaves crunching, the two men watched in horror as a tall beast that resembled a wolf walked on its hind legs towards them, breathing loudly. The two screamed in terror and took off, their dogs trailing behind them.
“Wh-What was that!?” one of the men screamed.
“How should I know!!?” the other responded.
When the two returned to their large estate, they got off their horses and panted, shaking with fear.
“W-Was that-”
“A werewolf…?”
“Herr Reinald!” an old butler called out, scaring the two men as he greeted his master with a smile as a maid followed behind him. “Welcome back.”
“Oh, it’s just you!” Herr Reinald exclaimed in relief.
“How was the hunt?” the butler asked before his eyes grew wide at his master. “Oh? Herr Reinald. Your nose is bleeding.”
“Eh?” was all the man let out before swaying and collapsing to the ground. “Ah…”
“Herr Reinald!?” the two servants exclaimed.
“Hey, what’s wrong!? Get ahold of yourself!” the other man exclaimed, as he yanked Herr Reinald up into a sitting position. However, his eyes grew wide in terror when his friend wasn’t responding and his face started to swell up drastically in different places. “Wh-What is this!? Reinald! Wake up!”
In a panicked tone, the butler shouted, “Herr Briegel! Your face is…!!”
“Eh!?” Herr Briegel exclaimed as his nose started to bleed as well and his face began to swell up.
The servants screamed when the man collapsed on top of his friend, laying there motionless without life.
“Noooooo!!!” the maid screamed out.
Meanwhile, on a train travelling past a German village, a certain young earl sat in a train car with his butler and maid (*COUGH COUGH* LOVER *COUGH COUGH*), holding a book in his hands with a bored look on his face.
“Ihhi furoy-eh mihhi jii kenen tsureru nen.” Ciel spoke in German horribly, causing the red-haired maid to cringe and his butler to sigh. (Translation: “I am pleased to meet you.”)
“That will never do. You are stressing the wrong syllables.” Sebastian responded bluntly.
“Ich…Argh, I give up. I’m feeling sick!” Ciel complained, rolling over on the couch he sat on and laying his head in Red’s lap, causing her to shake her head in disappointment and pet his hair. “Reading in a train makes me-”
“You simply lack discipline.”
“German pronunciation is impossible. Being able to read it is enough.”
One Week Ago…
“Germany?” Sebastian asked as Red walked in with the young lord’s snack of the day, Coffee and Walnut Cake. “You will be going there?”
“Yes.” Ciel responded as Red sat the tray down in front of him. “I must investigate a number of inexplicable fatal incidents that have occurred by order of her majesty, the queen.”
“She has ordered you, her ‘watchdog,’ to go in person?”
“The duty of the Phantomhive house is to police the underworld of Great Britain. So why must I be sent all the way to Germany!?”
As Ciel tossed the letter onto his desk, Red picked it up and began to read it.
My Dear Boy,
There have been a succession of mysterious deaths in southern Germany. I am told those of sound body and mind become suddenly deformed and then expire. Germany is home to my late husband and mother. Many of my family members reside there. I would like to provide medical assistance if an epidemic has broken out, but neither the Kaiser, nor the German government have given me a straight answer. I am extremely concerned.
“She cannot dispatch an envoy without a formal answer from the Germans…so she has assigned that duty to you instead, young master…” Sebastian explained.
“I’ve left the country once before to investigate an incident.” Ciel spoke as he ate his cake. “But I haven’t the slightest idea why I’m being dispatched for this business.”
“Why not ask for a more definitive reason?” Red asked.
“I know she’ll dodge the question. The dog’s duty is to start running gleefully when the master throws him a bone, after all. The underworld intelligence network of the Phantomhive house operates from Europe to Asia. Perhaps she is placing her faith in that…particularly since I inherited him from the previous earl.”
“Who’s him?” Red asked.
“I’ll have Chlaus pay him a visit.” Ciel continued, ignoring the red-head’s question. “Get in touch with the old man, will you?”
“As you wish, sir.” Sebastian responded, bowing to his master before leaving.
At dinner, Ciel and Chlaus discussed his visit to him, but he refused to see Chlaus. Chlaus did investigating of his own and went to the villages affected, only to find no trace of an infectious disease, and when asking about it the villagers only talked about how “The witch’s curse had killed them all.” All the victims were different in appearance, but the one thing they had in common was visiting a certain forest full of werewolves. After discussing about the Undertaker and how he could know more, Ciel sent Sebastian to get the train tickets, which takes us to where we are now.
Somewhere, in southern Germany…
“AAAAGH! Good grief! They bring nothing but trouble! Father and son alike!” a German voice shouted as he shuffled through many papers on his desk and grabbed a sandwich. “Anyhow…already fourteen, isn’t he? He must be even more like his father now…”
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Chapter 96
After that night, Red and Ciel decided to keep their relationship quiet to the other servants until after Ciel breaks off his engagement to Elizabeth. However, they don’t plan to announce their relationship to the public until some time after that event. Which brings us to now, a couple weeks after that night.
As the Phantomhive servants and Red were tidying up the manor, Sebastian could hear the sound of a carriage approaching with the help of his demonic hearing, causing him to look out the window.
“Ah. I see.” He said before walking to his master’s office and knocking on the door. When given permission to enter, the demonic butler opened the door to his master writing on documents at his desk. “Do forgive my interruption, my lord, but it seems as Lady Elizabeth is going to arrive at the manor in less than five minutes.”
“Already!?” Ciel exclaimed, about to shoot out of his chair before his butler interrupted him.
“Not to worry, young master, the manor has been cleaned and ready for Lady Elizabeth’s unannounced arrivals.”
“It’s not that, Sebastian.” Ciel sighed, turning his chair to face the window. “I asked her to come over to talk.”
The room was silent for a moment as Sebastian tried to process his master’s words before responding with, “Eh?”
As Elizabeth’s carriage finally arrived at the manor, Elizabeth immediately shot out of the carriage and raced to the door, about to knock, but it had just been opened by Red.
“Hello, Lady Elizabeth.” Red smiled, dressed in her maid uniform, surprising the young blonde. “The young master has been expecting your arrival.”
Shaking her head, Elizabeth smiled and tackled the red head into a hug, exclaiming, “Red!!! I’ve missed you!!! We’re friends silly, so please still call me Lizzie!”
“Alright, Lizzie.” Red chuckled before a newspaper was smacked across the back of her head by Sebastian.
“That’s ‘Lady’ Lizzie, for you, Miss Red.” Sebastian said before turning to the young noble. “Lady Elizabeth, if you would be so kind to follow me to the young master’s study, he wishes to speak to you immediately.”
“All right!” Elizabeth responded, following after Sebastian, waving goodbye to Red.
Once in Ciel’s study, Elizabeth sat down in the chair across from Ciel’s desk, the young earl facing her.
“Elizabeth-” Ciel started but was cut off.
“I’ve missed you so much Ciel! I can’t believe Red is here working for you, too! How long has she been here?”
“Elizabeth-”
“It’ll be even more fun coming to visit now! All three of us can spend time together! And even Edward can start coming over!”
“Elizabeth-!”
“Though it’ll probably take him a bit to get used to the idea of coming over and not only having to face you.”
“Elizabeth-!!”
“And how many times have I told you to call me ‘Lizzie?’”
“Elizabeth!!” Ciel shouted loud enough to be heard from a couple hallways away.
“Y-Yes…?” she asked worriedly, afraid that she had somehow angered him.
Sighing for a moment, Ciel said, “Elizabeth…I want to call off our engagement.”
Elizabeth sat quietly for a minute, processing his words before looking up at him again and responding.
“Oh…wh…why? Did I do something wrong?”
“No. Elizabeth, you have done absolutely nothing wrong. It’s just…I don’t feel anything…romantic…in regards to my feelings towards you. I hope you can understand and not be angry with me.”
As Ciel looked down, Elizabeth became silent again before speaking up, “It’s Red, isn’t it?”
Ciel looked up at her with his wide eye in worry, only to be met with Elizabeth’s smile.
“It’s all right, Ciel. She makes you happy, doesn’t she?”
“She…she made me smile for the first time…and…I love her.”
“That’s all I could ever want for you, Ciel. I only want for you to be happy and loved. Does she love you in return?”
“…Yes.”
“Then that’s wonderful! I look forward to both of your happiness together and for what the future brings you.”
Ciel sighed in relief and nodded to Elizabeth in gratitude.
An hour later, Elizabeth was heading to leave, hugging both Ciel and Red goodbye before leaving in her carriage.
“I take it that it all went well?” Red asked Ciel.
“It did. She only wants us to be happy.” He responded.
“I see the two of you have finally decided to be with each other.” Sebastian commented.
The three were silent for a minute, staring at the sunset, before Sebastian spoke up again.
“It’s about damn time.”
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Chapter 95
I WAS WRONG!!! I WAS HORRIBLY, HORRIBLY WRONG!!!, I thought as I laid on my bed from an exhausting evening to late night of training. This is so different than taking care of the funeral parlour. At least Miss Diaz is taking care of Rire, I’d feel awful if I left him all alone at the shop. I sighed as I got up, headed to the basin, and scrubbed at the wax polish that coated my hands while I continued to think back to Irene’s letters. Miss Diaz reassured me that she’ll take care of Rire as best as she can. At least that’ll relieve me of some worry.
I changed into my nightgown, took my hair out of its braided bun, then sat on my bed with Irene’s letter, reading it over for the fifth time. I thought I was careful with hiding my emotions but it seems some people can see right through me. How Miss Diaz was able to put together how I felt towards Ciel is one thing, but for her to suggest I should pursue him is ridiculous. For one reason, he’s engaged to Lizzie and I never want to hurt her. For another, he’ll leave as soon as his “contract” is fulfilled. Finally, he’s a noble and I’m…nobody… I shook my head and paid closer attention at the words that read:
My Dear Red,
I would be more than happy to look over your precious little kitten while you are away on business, don’t overwork yourself excessively! Also, please be sure to visit as soon as you’re back.
Now, in regards to another matter, I’ve noticed at the banquet with how fond Earl Phantomhive is for you but he excuses it as you being his friend. I see doubt in his words when you gaze and interact with each other. As someone who has had experience, I implore you to pursue him before it is too late. One never knows when the open opportunity is their only one as life has many changes. Should things not turn out well, then at least you can say that you tried which is more than enough. I leave you with best wishes and hopes towards your love for the young earl.
Sincerely,
Irene Diaz
I’ll consider it…, I think as I folded the letter and place it in the vanity stand’s drawer. Until then, I have sleep to catch up on. I yawned and headed to my bed, laying down and closing my eyes. I was close onto the verge of dreaming before a loud scream echoed around the manor.
DAMN IT!!, I thought as I rushed up and out of my room, heading directly towards the scream. Without thinking when I reached my destination, I barged through the door into a living room of sorts then rushed to the door at the far left and opened it to reveal Ciel shaking in fear with wide eyes.
“Ciel…” I called out quietly as I moved towards him slowly. “Did you have another nightmare?”
He didn’t respond and only sat there as if he was staring off into another world, still trapped within his nightmare. Cautiously, I moved closer towards him and gently placed my hand on top of his head. When he didn’t flinch away, I slowly moved him to lay back down and tucked him in. I pushed his bangs out of his face and caressed his cheek.
“…Red?” he asked slowly.
“It’s only me.” I confirmed. “You had a nightmare and I came as soon as I heard you scream.”
“Usually Sebastian would come.”
“I assume he knew I’d come.”
Silence fell for a few minutes before I spoke up again.
“You should get some sleep. I’ll let you re-”
“No!” he exclaimed, nearly sitting up as I gently pushed him back down, shushing him. In a desperate plea he whispered, “Don’t go. Please.”
“All right. I’ll stay.” I nodded and sat on the edge of the bed beside him, placing my hands in my lap. “What would you like for me to do?”
“Just…tell me about your past. What it was like when Undertaker raised you.”
My eyes widened a bit before I stared at my hands, nodding as I said, “Okay. As you know, Undertaker took me in when my mother left me at his doorstep.”
“Why him of all people?”
“Because she loved him. And she knew she could trust him. He loved her, as well. After preparing his shop to be safe enough to raise me in, he called in for assistance.”
Flashback…
(Third POV)
“What have you done?” William asked Undertaker as Ronald stood beside him with his eyes as wide as saucers.
“It’s a long story. But she’s in my care now.” Undertaker replied as he held a baby with big blue eyes and copper hair. “And I’m not giving her up.”
“Very well. What do you expect us to do to supposedly help?”
“Just watch her when I have to work and help educate her.”
“Educate!?” Ronald exclaimed, pointing at the child. “She’s going to grow up to be a woman! Women aren’t educated like men are, it’ll just-”
The blond reaper stopped himself and stared at the baby grabbing onto his gloved finger and gnaw on it. Tears began to form in his eyes as he took the child from Undertaker’s arms and hugged her.
“Who cares what men say!? I’ll protect her with my life!!”
A sweat drop appeared on the back of the two older reapers’ heads as they watched the grown man cry and ramble on about how cute the child is.
“This may cause some issues later…” Undertaker mumbled, shaking his head.
“Indeed.” William nodded and sighed. “However, I’ll agree to this as long as it doesn’t interfere with my work. Understood?”
“Hehe! Indeed!”
“What’s her name?” Ronald asked as the child played with his glasses.
“Her name…” Undertaker frowned for a second before smiling. “Her name is Red.”
Ronald then smiled and held up the baby high in the air, causing her to giggle as he exclaimed, “Welcome to London, Little Red!”
Flashback End…
(Red’s POV)
“Why did he name you ‘Red’?” Ciel asked.
“I asked him that when I turned ten years old. He told me it wasn’t my real name, but it was the name he gave me to spare me the pain of those that were once in my past.” I explained.
“Spoken like a true madman. Do you know what your actual name is?”
“He doesn’t-…didn’t want me to know…Although, he did tell me my mother changed her surname during her time in London. But I do want to know what it was on my own journey…alone.”
“But you’re not alone.”
“Neither are you.”
I looked at Ciel with a frown as he stared back at me, reaching over and taking my hand in his own. I leaned over him and pressed my forehead against his, staring into his eyes.
“Hair and eyes can darken or become lighter over time. My hair became darker and so did my eyes from the events I have witnessed and heard.” I whispered. “But you…Your eyes are the same. Your eyes are so blue like the ocean, I could drown in them.”
Neither of us moved as we looked at one another. Suddenly, I could hear Irene’s words in my head saying, pursue him before it is too late.
“Ciel…” I spoke up as Ciel placed his hand on my cheek. “You belong with Lizzie-”
“By arrangement only.” He interrupted.
“Yes. But…I do- I do want to be with you…just as long as Lizzie isn’t hurt in the process! A-A-And-”
Ciel immediately sat up and stared into my eyes, causing me to go quiet. My face grew red as our faces were close to where we could hear one another breathe. The room itself was dead silent to where you could hear a pin drop to the ground and it would sound like a church bell clang loudly on a Sunday morning. Despite the darkness of the room, the purple contract of his eye shone brightly. I could feel myself almost get lost in it but his next words interrupted me.
“Say it.”
“Wh-What?”
“The truth. Say it.”
“I thought that if I acted like it didn’t matter, then it wouldn’t. That this, between us, wouldn’t matter…that it was just a kiss. But it does matter. I want to be happy but something inside me screams that I do not deserve it and I’m terrified. I’m always terrified for everything bad that can happen. And I act like I know what I’m doing and smile all the time but the truth is I don’t. It makes me feel as if I can’t breathe and that I will faint.” I ranted before taking a deep breath and continuing, taking a hold of Ciel’s hands. “Irene tells me to have courage and faith and to take risks. So that is what I am going to do. I don’t care where we are, I just care that we’re together. So, ask me, one more time, of your offer.”
Ciel’s eye widened before his grip tightened on my hands as he sat up straight and cleared his throat before speaking.
“Red…will you stay by my side, be mine, and let me court you?” he asked hopefully.
“Yes.”
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Chapter 94
(Red’s POV)
How…How did it get to this…?, I thought as I stared at the front doors to the Phantomhive manor in front of me. More importantly, why did I even agree to this!?
My mind flashed back to a few days ago where Ciel took care of all the taxes to my father’s shop then requesting I work for him in repayment.
Right…how idiotic of me to forget…I’m sure this will be fine! How bad can it possibly be?
Before I could knock, the doors opened to reveal Sebastian giving a closed-eyed smile down at me.
“Ah, Miss Red. How wonderful that you’ve arrived on time.” Sebastian said before the sound of an explosion echoed around the whole manor, followed by shouts and glass shattering.
…Maybe I can still turn back…
“Right this way, if you would, please.” The demon continued as he ushered me inside before I could plan my escape.
“Thank you.” I nodded as I stumbled inside with my large suitcase. “Is Ciel busy like the last time I visited?”
“Actually, the young master was awaiting your arrival like the other servants.”
“Mister Sebastian!!!” a string of voices screamed from further into the manor, causing the tall butler to sigh in frustration.
“Do excuse me, Miss Red. I’ll take care of the mess then fetch the young master. Please wait here.” Was all he said before hurrying off before I could reply.
I looked around the room I was in for a few minutes before sounds of footsteps echoed down the stairs, followed by quiet bickering. I moved back to the front and looked up at the stairs to see Ciel and Sebastian walking down, making me smile.
“Hi. Thank you again so much for helping me, hopefully I won’t mess up anything around here.” I greeted, feeling awkward.
“I’m sure it won’t be as bad as the other servants.” Ciel replied as he walked up to me. “Starting tomorrow, Sebastian will guide you around the manor and give you your list of duties. For now, Miss Hopkins has delivered your uniform.”
“Uniform?”
“You are a maid here after all, Miss Red. Not to mention, you will also be representing the Phantomhive manor like the other servants and I.” Sebastian replied as he smirked at me.
“O-Okay…” I replied. Please don’t be any of Nina’s new designs. Please don’t be any of Nina’s new designs.
I followed after the two upstairs and down a couple hallways to a room where it looked like it belonged to a tailor. Ciel sat at one of the chairs on one side of the room while Sebastian pushed me towards a closed off space where I would be changing.
“Now, do try on your uniform, Miss Hopkins did work hard on it after all.”
I looked down at the chair in front of me that held the outfit and frowned upon the sight of the torturous device that laid on top.
“No corset.” I replied firmly.
“Miss Red-”
“No. Corset. I’d rather die.”
“Miss Red-”
“And why are you in here with me in the first place!?”
“To help you change, now-”
“Like hell I’d ask for your help!!! Out, you pervert!!” I shouted at the old demon, kicking him away from the changing space and throwing the corset in his face. I then heard the sound of someone spitting out their drink. Must be Ciel…
I moved the screen to cover the open space more then took off my normal outfit I wear at the funeral parlor and started changing into the maid uniform. This is going to be fine. I will make this work. How different can cleaning a manor be from cleaning a funeral parlor? ...Minus the corpses…and surgical tools…and chemicals…you know what, I’m going to shut up now. Looking in the mirror beside the chair, my face immediately turned as red as my hair.
“What the hell is this!!?” I screeched.
“Something wrong, Miss Red?” Sebastian asked.
“Yes! This thing is too damn short!!”
“I see. I figured this might happen, so I arranged for Miss Nina to make another copy of Mey-Rin’s uniform.”
Another folded uniform plopped into the chair, followed by Sebastian’s footsteps to move further away. I quickly changed into the new uniform and folded the old one, then looked at myself in the mirror.
“Mey-Rin’s uniform is a bit too long, but I can make adjustments.” I said as I walked out and grabbed the white corset from Sebastian. “This too.”
“Very well.” Ciel said as he stood up. “Sebastian will then show you to your room in the servants’ quarters. I will be in my study if you should need me.”
I followed Sebastian after Ciel had left the room, carrying my suitcase and old clothes with me. After travelling downstairs and into several hallways, we arrived at a door. Sebastian unlocked it and held the door open for me to enter. I nodded to him in thanks and walked in to see a small room with bare walls, lit up from the sunlight outside and a small light in the middle of the ceiling. A vanity stand stood against the wall on the right, along with a closet and laundry basket. To the left was a bed and a small basin behind it alongside the window. (Picture above for chapter)
“Hopefully this room is to your liking, Miss Red.” Sebastian spoke aloud as he stood outside the door to the room.
I turned back to him with a smile and replied, “It’s perfect. Thank you, Sebastian.”
“Here is your key to this room. It is a copy of the one that I have on me. I shall allow you to settle in. Once you have finished, meet me in the foyer to start your training.”
“Yes, sir.”
Sebastian then handed me the key to my new room and left, closing the door while he was at it. I headed to my bed, placed my suitcase upon it, and opened it. I set my sewing supplies to the side and hung up all of my dresses, trousers, shirts, and my shoes. I picked up my journal and skimmed through the pages that held many pictures from my past, making me smile as I set it on the vanity stand. I then closed my suitcase and placed it under my new bed.
Grabbing the maid dress and corset, I got to work on alterations while letting my mind drift to my thoughts. It’s been such a strange year since I met Ciel…and yet I’ve learned so much. Although, it’s made me change a lot, too. I wonder how Lizzie’s been doing…heh, knowing my luck, she’ll probably visit soon. I look down at my finished work and nod in approval. My smile disappeared when I remembered my time at Weston College. The poor prefects, they just wanted to protect the school’s reputation. Redmond must’ve felt so betrayed…Greenhill with his guilt…Bluewer having to face his family with what has happened…and Violet-
I feel the blush rise to my cheeks as I gently touched my lips, still able to remember when Violet had kissed me. It was so sudden from him and yet…it felt nice…I slapped my cheeks a few times before getting up and changing into the new and improved maid outfit I had. Agh! Begone thoughts! Go away! This is too confusing to think about and I need to get started on training.
I moved in front of the vanity mirror and looked at my outfit, humming in thought. I fixed my hair in a braided bun and added on the maid headband, nodding in approval. I then left my room, locking the door behind me, and wandered down the hallways to the foyer.
Time to begin training under Sebastian’s instructions! This’ll be fun!...Right?
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Chapter 93
As the tea kettle whistled in the kitchen of the Phantomhive manor, Sebastian went to work on preparing his master’s tea.
“Mey-Rin.” He called over to the maid that just finished washing her hands. “Bring me Fortnum & Mason’s Royal Blend.”
“R-Right away!” Mey-Rin responded as she walked past Baldroy, who was furiously chopping something. As soon as she reached the cabinet of tea blends, she squinted to try to read them but still couldn’t, making her back away until she could.
“Hm…?”
“Mister Sebastian, I’ve picked the herbs!” Finnian exclaimed happily to the old demon.
“Now wash them.”
“‘Kay!”
Finnian bent next to a bucket of water with his basket of herbs and began to wash them. Sebastian looked over at the gardener and hummed in thought when he saw how worn out his hat was.
After preparing the tea, he made his way up to his master’s bedroom and opened the curtains.
“Young master. It is time to rise.” Sebastian said as he rolled the tea cart beside the bed Ciel laid in.
Ciel sat up, stretched, looked at his butler and said, “Today’s tea is a tea blend?”
“As sharp as ever, young master. The tea is from Fortnum & Mason. Would you care for milk?”
“Yes. And honey as well.”
After Ciel finished his tea, Sebastian helped him dress for the day.
“There is a stack of documents requiring your signature.” Sebastian informed as he buttoned up the young earl’s vest. “Furthermore, the person responsible for the new department at Harrod’s that has just recently opened would like you to visit…”
“Ah…I see.” Ciel responded as he sat down, lifting up his leg for the demonic butler to put on his socks and shoes. “Then I shall go today.”
“Very good, sir. In that case, I have a small request, young master.”
“Hmm?”
“I would like to purchase a new pair of glasses for Mey-Rin as her current pair seems to be well out of date and a new hat for Finny as his current one is full of conspicuous patches.”
“Fine. Then today I’ll take them a-”
Ciel was cut off by the sound of stomping footsteps and his bedroom door being slammed open by a certain Indian prince.
“Ciel!!” Soma exclaimed. “What were you thinking!?”
“Geh!” was all Ciel let out before Soma zoomed at him and shook him by his shoulders.
“How could you withdraw from school without telling me!? And how could you not tell me that Red wasn’t going to be teaching there anymore!!?”
“Y-You’re welcome to stay there until you complete your studies.” Ciel stuttered as the older teenager finally stopped shaking him. “School will be perfect for learning about the world.”
“School is boring without you two around!” Soma argued as he crossed his arms. “Besides! The coursework is too easy!! I studied all of that when I was a child.”
“Eh?” Ciel and Sebastian let out in surprise.
“Wh-What a great surprise.” Ciel commented.
“Royal education is in a class by itself all around the world it would seem…” Sebastian said to himself in wonder.
“Quite right!!” a cheerful voice responded, revealing to be Agni as he entered the room. “Namaste Jii. The intellectual brilliance of my prince was the pride of the court tutors!”
“So you’re here as well.” The young earl acknowledged the khansama as he tried to ignore the Indian prince on his shoulders, begging for attention.
“Yes! It has been a while!”
“A while…?” Sebastian wondered. “We just met at Weston College the other day.”
“Eh? EEEEHHHHH!?”
Sebastian then went into an explanation of how when Soma tried to ride the elephant to visit Ciel and caused a hole in the wall for red house’s dormitory, Agni was the cause of the rustling in the bushes that startled the elephant.
“-Is what happened then.” Sebastian smiled while Agni waved his hands around as he tried to deny it.
“Eh, no, um! That was-!!”
“You were at the cricket tourney as well.”
“Huh!?”
Sebastian went off into another explanation about when he switched the meat pies and Agni was underneath the table, having the same idea in mind. At the last second, he traded out the slice meant for his master for a slice of the chicken pie he prepared himself.
“-Is what happened then. Ha ha ha!”
“So that’s why he was the only one unaffected…” Ciel mumbled to himself.
“Ah bah bah bah bah bah! M-M-M-M-Mister Sebastian. That was…!!”
“Aaaagniiiii…..” Soma growled out in anger while the khansama held a look of fear. “Did you disobey me!?”
“Forgive me, my prince. I could not help but be worried.” Agni apologized weakly as Sebastian placed Ciel’s coat on and handed him his hat.
“Do you find me so unworthy of your trus-AH!!” Soma started to rage but was cut off at the sight of Ciel and Sebastian leaving the room.
“We have some errands to run.” Sebastian waved with an eye-closed smile.
“You two watch the house while we’re gone.” Ciel waved as he put his hat on.
“Ciel, wait…!!!” Soma called after the two, but they had already left with the other four servants.
As soon as the carriage and traveling cart just entered London, the servants gasped in wonder and excitement.
“What a big clock!” Finnian exclaimed as his eyes shone brightly.
“It’s called Big Ben.” Baldroy said as he and the other servants looked around through their ride.
“I wonder when the tower bridge will be complete.” Sebastian wondered as he and his master were in the carriage. “The plans were laid around the time you were born, young master. Construction began three years ago.”
“It will require a bit more time before it is finished.” Ciel responded.
“Humans have such short lives, yet they move ever so slowly.”
“We have various interests and other obligations unlike your devilish lot.”
The group parked the carriage and traveling cart on a street in London and made their way into an optometrist office and glasses shop. They then left Mey-Rin to figure out what glasses were good for her.
“How are they?” The optometrist asked.
After Mey-Rin put on the new pair of glasses, she could see everything clearly. She gasped as she saw her master and Finnian clearly, causing her to smile.
“I can see very well, I can!” she exclaimed happily.
“Then we shall take them.” Sebastian told the owner and looked directly into Mey-Rin’s face. “Does that suit?”
Mey-Rin blushed heavily as she freaked out and exclaimed, “Fwah! Seeing too well is a problem too, it is!!”
The group then moved to a gardening shop that was nearby. Everyone but Sebastian, Finnian, and Ciel looked around as a man walked up with a smile on his face.
“Are you looking for something in particular?” he asked.
“I’d like a straw hat that’s stylish like Big Ben.” Finnian requested eagerly.
“Eh?”
“An ordinary one will do.” Sebastian said as he clamped a hand on the young gardener’s head.
“Is there anything you two want?” Ciel asked to Baldroy and Snake.
Baldroy and Snake looked at one another before both them and the others made their way to a shop full of bags.
“You’re okay with that bag?” Ciel asked as Snake wore a satchel with a proud look.
“Yes. Then we can all travel together.” Snake replied as one of his snakes poked its head out of the side of the bag. “…says Wordswo-”
Baldroy and shopkeeper yelled in fright at the sight of the scaly creature. The group then moved on to the next place, which was a bookstore.
“Young master!” Baldroy exclaimed as he raced up to the young teenager and held up an old Victorian playboy’s magazine. “How about something like this!?”
“Absolutely not!” Sebastian responded, covering his master’s eye before he could see the item in the chef’s hand. “You have some gall showing the young master a thing like that!”
Baldroy clicked his tongue as he walked away to find something else with a frown on his face. Sebastian then uncovered Ciel’s eye and followed after him to a different genre section that held more books, making him look around in confusion. Once Ciel spotted the book he was looking for, he reached out to grab it but another hand bumped into his.
“Oh, do forgive-” Ciel and the red head beside him spoke in unison before they stopped, immediately recognizing one another. Red wore a blue and white dress, to where it looked as if a short-sleeved, white collared shirt was above a blue skirt, along with a copper string bow tie at the collar. Her shoes were blue heels and her hair was pinned up in a messy bun with a headband with her makeup neutrally done.
Red chuckled as she said, “Why, hello again, Ciel and Sebastian.”
“Good morning, Miss Red.” Sebastian smirked as his master grabbed two copies of the same novel and handed one to her.
“I see you came for the historical novel as well.” Ciel said as he skimmed through the pages of the book in his hands.
“Yep!” Red replied with a bright smile on her face.
Sebastian looked at the cover of the book and said, “Oh? That is a book by Professor Arthur, who was ever so good to us.”
“He can write historical fiction anytime.” Ciel commented. “The professor should be hard at work penning detective stories right now.”
Red chuckled at her friend as he placed the book into his butler’s hands and headed to the register with her in tow.
“Heh. You are purchasing it despite what you just said.” Sebastian chuckled.
“It will relieve my boredom.”
“I agree with you on that, but he is an amazing writer in general.” Red added.
“Sebastian, we’ll pay for Red’s as well.”
“What!? No, don’t you dare do that, Cie-”
“Very good, sir.” Sebastian replied as he paid for both of the books and Baldroy’s novel.
As Red stared down her friend, she crossed her arms and said, “That was completely unnecessary. I could’ve paid for it, you know? I saved up the money for it myself.”
“I know. Consider it a gift.” Ciel responded as he nodded to his butler and began to leave.
“Would you like to join us, Miss Red? That is, if you’re not busy.” Sebastian asked for the sake of his master’s pride.
“Sure! Where to next?”
The group and Red headed into a candy shop because of a certain young earl’s sweet tooth.
“Young master, if you have sweets now, you will spoil your dinner-” Sebastian began to reprimand before being interrupted by Ciel as he picked out his favorite candy.
“This is market research.” Ciel said in excuse as he kept up with his childish antics.
“Yes…definitely market research…” Red repeated after her friend as she nearly had a large bag full of candy.
Ciel’s eye then caught a product and added it to the other things he would buy. He then made his way to the register, where Red already was and paid for her items. She then looked at him and stuck her tongue out in a playful manner, leaving the shop soon after to join the others. Ciel chuckled as Sebastian paid for his items and left with the demon in tow.
“Baldo.” Ciel called out to his chef.
“Yes, sir!” Baldroy responded back in alert.
“Here.”
Baldroy let out a sound of surprise as a small pack landed in his hands from his master’s toss and saw it to be candy cigarettes.
“…This is candy?” he asked.
“I thought you should have something too.” Ciel said as he sucked on a lollipop. “I can’t have you losing your sense of taste from smoking too much. You’re my chef, aren’t you?”
“You betcha! Thanks muchly!”
“Well, now all that’s left is the inspection.” Ciel said as he walked ahead of Baldroy, Mey-Rin, and Finnian. He chose to partially focus on Red and Snake walking ahead of him and eating sweets from her bag.
“I do beg your pardon, sir…but may we make one last stop?” Sebastian requested.
“Hm? To?”
“Somerset House.”
Upon arrival at Somerset House, Ciel and Red waited for Sebastian to return. A few minutes of awkward silence passed before Sebastian reentered the carriage and dug in his coat.
“…Well?” Ciel asked in boredom. “What business did you have there?”
“This.” Sebastian replied as he held up Undertaker’s chain of lockets.
“That’s-!”
“Uncle Adrian’s lockets!” Red exclaimed as she moved to sit next to the demon and gently took them from his grasp.
“Yes. I thought it might yield some clues about him and his whereabouts, so I was doing a little research.” Sebastian explained. “The date of death inscribed upon each locket…it’s place of manufacture indicated by the hallmark on the back and the death records of all England kept on file at the general register office at Somerset House- I compared those pieces of information.”
“You could’ve just asked me about these, Sebastian.” Red commented as she looked up at the old demon.
“Yes, but humans do tend to lie.” The demonic butler replied with a smirk before handing his master several pieces of paper. “These are the death certificates of the seven owners of the hair in the lockets. My investigation did not uncover any commonalities, but one name among them disturbs me.”
Ciel’s eye widened as he said, “This is…! Cloudia Phantomhive!? I only know her by name but she’s my grandmother!”
“Why on earth would Uncle Adrian have a locket of remembrance for your grandmother…?” Red wondered to herself.
“That the Undertaker had this in his possession means he has been involved not only with the previous earl, but also with his predecessors. Surnames beginning with a ‘P’ are so common, I paid it no mind. I never for a moment dreamed this ‘P’ stood for ‘Phantomhive.’”
The three thought back to Undertaker speaking of “his treasures” and how he knew that Sebastian would protect Ciel. Red shook her head to try to get rid of the thoughts and focus on the matter at hand.
“Uncle Adrian…what exactly is his relationship with the Phantomhive house…?” Red asked aloud.
“I haven’t the slightest idea like you, Red.” Ciel responded as the carriage stopped at another part of London.
The three got out and followed after the servants, who looked at the many items being sold. What caught everyone’s eye was a perfume store that had the Funtom logo, a unicorn mascot, and a woman standing with a smile on her face.
“This is a new Funtom product-! Won’t you try this wonderful new perfume for young ladies?” The woman announced happily as she handed out tiny bottled samples to the whole group. “Please take a sample with you!”
“Why is she passing them out to men!!?” Ciel exclaimed quietly. “We don’t need them…!”
“The idea is for the men to buy the perfume for their sisters, daughters, nieces, wives, or women that they care about.” Red responded as took the cap off the small bottle and sniffed it, blinking rapidly as she put the cap back on. “It smells nice, but it’s too strong for me.”
“I will have a word with the manager.” Sebastian replied to the two. “But that aside, could you not have chosen something more suitable for the mascot?”
“Yeah, that thing is terrifying. And that’s coming from someone that works in a funeral parlor.” Red added as she watched a little girl cry from fright of the mascot.
“Funtom Corporation uses a different icon for each product line. We already have cats and bunnies, so you decided to use the unicorn with young ladies in mind…” Sebastian trailed off, thinking to himself.
“I’ve heard enough.” Ciel responded, thinking back to Elizabeth raging at him for how it wasn’t cute. “Lizzie has already given me a sound talking-to.”
“I applaud you for turning your attention to ladies’ products, the demand for which is growing remarkably…but capturing the hearts of women with data and product quality alone seems to have missed the mark somewhat.”
“H-Hold your tongue! And stop smirking!” Ciel exclaimed while Red fell to the floor laughing. “If I can invent a more effective method of advertising-”
The young earl was cut off from a scream and a crash outside, causing his butler to go into rescue mode and take off running towards the commotion.
“Wh-What was that!?” Baldroy exclaimed as Sebastian dashed past him. “Hey, where are you goin’!?”
“Take care of the young master and Miss Red!” Sebastian called back.
Upon arriving at the scene, a carriage had crashed and turned over in the process.
“The horses suddenly-! No one’s coming out. Are they all right? Someone get them out of there!” London citizens yelled over one another before becoming quiet at the sight of Sebastian landing on top of the carriage. He then ripped off the door and looked inside.
“Are you hurt?” Sebastian asked before immediately recognizing the woman inside. “Oh?”
“Y-You’re…!” the woman, revealing to be Irene Diaz.
“My, my. Why, Miss Irene Diaz. Thank you for attending that dinner party of ours.”
“M-My pleasure.”
“W-Would you mind saving your conversation for later?” a man in the carriage asked as he winced.
“Oh! Are you all right!?” Irene asked in concern.
“And you are…?” Sebastian asked.
“I’m Julius Pittman, a Haymarket actor.” The man introduced himself.
“…Ah! Now I understand!” Sebastian said in realization that this was Irene’s new lover and that her and Grimsby broke up. “By the way, were you not headed somewhere?”
“Yes, I was.” Irene gasped. “I’ll be late for the curtain call! And if the public discovers that I was with someone from a rival theatre…”
The tall butler smirked as he said, “I have a suggestion.”
Meanwhile, over at the theatre that Irene is supposed to be at, the whole cast and theatre workers were freaking out.
“Hey, isn’t Irene here yet!?” the manager exclaimed. “Without her, we’ll have to cancel the show and when so many of our sponsors are in attendance!”
“Please do calm down.” The manager’s assistant replied. “We’ll just have Juliet make her entrance a bit later than scripted…But there’s still the issue of time…”
“Huh!?”
Currently, Sebastian was using his demonic speed to drag the carriage with him to the theatre with Irene and her lover inside. The manager and his assistant watched in disbelief as the carriage and man came at the theatre.
“Wha-!? What in blazes is that-!!?” they exclaimed in unison.
Inside, the actors on stage continued to dance for the third time in a row.
“Aww, c’mon. We’ve already danced three times.” The actor for Mercutio muttered. “What should we do, Romeo?”
“Don’t ask me, I don’t wanna hear it.” The actor for Romeo whispered back. “We’ll lose the audience’s attention any minute now.”
He then shut his eyes tight, losing hope before the other actors gasped in shock.
“H-Hey, what is that!?” an actor exclaimed. “Is it a bird!?”
“A fairy!?” an audience member exclaimed.
“No-!” the actor for Romeo shouted as he took off his mask. “It’s Juliet!!”
The unicorn mascot soared above the actors with Irene Diaz in her Juliet costume, sending out tons of advertising cards for the new Funtom perfume into the audience.
“A card? Lily of the Valley…?” the women in the audience wondered to themselves. “What a wonderful scent. What lovely staging!”
“I do hope you will forgive my late arrival, milord.” Irene said, immediately getting into character. “I am Juliet, daughter of Lord Capulet.”
“A sweet fragrance…and a beautiful figure on the back of a unicorn.” The actor for Romeo said as he held out his hand to her. “You are a goddess, without doubt!”
The audience cheered at the continuation of the performance. The unicorn mascot looked at Irene as she walked up to him.
“Thank you for bringing me here, Mister Unicorn.” She said as she placed a kiss on the mascot’s snout.
Back where Ciel, Red, and the servants were, Ciel was raging.
“Where could he have gone!?” Ciel shouted in anger while Red patted his shoulder and offered him some candy.
“He still hasn’t come back…” Finnian commented as he looked at his master in worry.
“Hm?” the young earl wondered as he heard the sound of stomping footsteps drawing closer to where they all were.
Suddenly a horde of women barged into the shop and shouted, “There it is!! Funtom’s perfume! A bottle of Funtom’s perfume, please! Me too! Me too!”
“Wh-What’s going on here!?” Ciel shouted as he lost red in the crowd but stayed near Finnian.
“Don’t ask me!!” Finnian exclaimed.
The young earl then let out a yelp as he was lifted into the air by Sebastian.
“How wretchedly you are yelping…” Sebastian sighed.
“Sebastian!” Ciel shouted. “What have you been doing all this-…wait. Why in the world are you dressed like that!?”
As Sebastian put his master down, he realized he forgot to remove the rest of the unicorn mascot costume.
“I went out for a bit to promote the perfume.” He replied as he took the rest of the costume off.
“Huh?”
“The scream you heard. I thought I recognized the voice. It belonged to Miss Irene Diaz and I made a deal with her in exchange for my aid.”
“That’s what you were up to?” Red asked, startling Ciel from behind.
“I am butler to the Phantomhive family. It goes without saying I can double the sales of a new product.”
“Well. I suppose I won’t have to spend more on advertisements.” Ciel sighed. “Still…to think using a star to advertise a product would be so effective…”
“Heh. That is the mentality of the masses for you, young master.”
“Now, let us be on our way. We shall drop Red off back to her home.”
The three sent the servants back to the manor and left in their carriage in another direction to the funeral parlor.
“I appreciate you both for inviting me along, I found today to be amusing.” Red nodded in gratitude to the pair.
“It was our pleasure, Miss Red.” Sebastian smiled as he handed her an envelope. “Miss Diaz also wished for me to deliver this to you. She wanted to let you know that you can write to her and visit at any time that you wish.”
“That’s so sweet of her, I’ll write her my thanks.”
A few minutes passed by before the carriage stopped at their destination. The three then got out, Red being first with a smile. Her smile immediately disappeared at the sight of a middle-aged man about to place a notice on the door, causing her to rush up to him.
“Excuse me! Excuse me, sir!” she called, causing the man to look at her with an irritated look. “What are you doing?”
“This doesn’t concern you, lady. Get lost.” The man replied, turning back to the door.
“It does because I live here.”
“Oh? Well then, I’m closing this shop and your home ‘cause you didn’t pay off your taxes.”
“What!? I did!! I paid them off a couple weeks ago!”
“You didn’t pay all of it off.” The man said as he took out a few papers and handed them to her. “See?”
Red skimmed through the papers as Ciel and Sebastian walked up behind her. She stopped at one part of a page and turned it to face him.
“This isn’t right! These five taxes weren’t on the list like the others!!”
“Sorry, little lady. It’s the way it is. Although, you could still pay it off in other ways.” The man grinned creepily at her.
Before Red could react, Ciel beat her to it.
“That won’t be necessary.” Ciel said, moving in front of Red.
“Who’re you?” the man frowned.
“Earl Phantomhive.” The young earl tipped his hat in acknowledgement before looking at the funeral parlor. “I see that you were just about to use unlawful payment for this establishment. It would be a shame if you were to be reported to the higher authorities. Wouldn’t it, sir?”
“R-Right…”
“Hmm. Sebastian pay off what is left of the taxes for this month. As for you, sir, put this place’s tax payments under the Phantomhive name. Do I make myself clear?”
“Y-Yes…”
“Now move along.”
Before the man could leave, Sebastian paid him with a bag of coins. The man nodded before hurrying along his way.
Red sighed as she rubbed her eyes before turning to the two males and saying, “Thank you…I…this place means so much to me. Tell me how I can repay you.”
“Oh, it’s quite simple.” Ciel said as he looked at her. “Work for me.”
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Chapter 92
“This school is a respected institution that has produced elites who form the mainstay of Great Britain. Our generation cannot afford to defile the tradition that has been protected for hundreds of years since the founding of this school…for the history of Weston College is the history of England!” Bluewer explained in defense for him and his fellow prefects.
A razor thin line separates education and brainwashing. They act as if they’re slaves to tradition., Ciel thought as he sighed. It’s a waste of time to argue them to silence since they’ve been this way for six years.
“…Fine.” Ciel said, causing his butler and Red to turn to him with raised eyebrows. “We were investigating this incident…under the orders of a certain distinguished personage. I can’t keep silent now that I’ve uncovered the truth. However, I shall request measures which will take your circumstances into account. Now. That just leaves you. What are you after!?”
Ciel glared at the reaper that held a maniacal grin as he held his adopted daughter in a hug.
“You have just bestowed upon me plenty of laughter…hee hee! So I will explain for old times’ sake.” Undertaker responded as he began to eat one of the pastries on the table.
“It was only for a moment, but Derrick was conscious beyond a doubt.” Ciel spoke as he glared more at the man before him. “He was clearly different from the previous reanimated corpses…no. He has evolved!”
“It pleases me to hear that. Quite so. Especially after all of Red’s hard work.”
Red’s reaction was a mixture of denial and fear as she began to tremble more. She shook her head, not wanting to believe what Undertaker was saying as she thought back to all of the research both he and her had done as they both “fixed” countless corpses for funerals. She then looked at her adoptive father with a look of hurt.
“You used me…so it could progress the work on your creations…” she said, realizing every method she was taught was to help him.
The reaper only chuckled as he held out his arms and said, “The dead can also advance by way of episodes.”
“Episodes…?” Sebastian questioned in confusion. “Do you mean the counterfeit memories you have created? Connecting them to the cinematic records of the dead was how the corpses began moving.”
“Guess again. You’re close though. Those memories were gibberish. The current corpses are being moved by their longing for the future. Humans recall their pasts in their final moments. That is their cinematic record. At the same time, they crave the futures they were to have had, although those futures are incomplete. The fragments of those futures comprise their episodes. What if those episodes could be extracted? What if several tens of thousands of cuts can be had? What if the total length of the linked episodes was longer than their cinematic records? It’s akin to a future forecast. They are memories of the future…nothing like my counterfeit memories. If I connect such a thing to a cinematic record- Do you not agree that what will be perfected is a reanimated corpse infinitely approaching a living human!!? Well…the probability of success is still very low as it is dependent on the quantity and quality of the episodes.”
Ciel was silent for a moment as the gun in his hand shook before he pointed it at Undertaker as he shouted, “I just don’t understand. Why are you doing this!? Where is the sense in bringing back the dead!?”
“I simply want to look beyond the fated end.”
“Beyond the end?”
“Has it never occurred to you that something exceedingly amusing may unfold beyond the roll of the credits?”
“I disagree with you on that point. ‘Death’ is a hopeless and absolute ‘end.’ That is why I find it most beautiful.” Sebastian smirked as his eyes flashed fuchsia at the reaper before him.
“This is all I can tell you with the compensation I have received. Well, then.” Undertaker moved away from Red as he grabbed his top hat and turned away from the group. “It would be a nuisance if certain bothersome individuals were to discover my whereabouts. So I shall be going now.”
“I won’t let you escape again!!” Ciel shouted. “Capture him, Sebastian!”
“As you wish!” Sebastian replied as he lunged to attack the old reaper, only to be stopped by Agares, who grabbed his fists. “So! You were a corpse as well, Vice Headmaster Agares! That must be why I felt a sense of discomfort then.”
“That one is replete with episodes and is my crowning masterpiece for now.” Undertaker commented as he jumped onto ledge of a wall that surrounded the garden. He then snapped his fingers, causing corpses to rise from the ground and Agares to grab a hold of Sebastian.
“These are Derrick’s accomplices!” Ciel exclaimed as he gazed at the dead faces of the other missing students. “Run!!”
“Leave this garden now!” Edward shouted as he heaved Greenhill up on his shoulders. “Hurry!!”
Ciel raced to the door and held it open for the other students to escape but gasped at the sight of Harcourt unable to stand up from fear as a corpse came at him.
“I…I can’t move…” Harcourt cried as he shook.
A corpse then loomed in his face with its mouth open wide, making the young boy squeak in fright. Suddenly, the creature was kicked away from him just as Ciel grabbed his arm and ran to the door to help him escape. Harcourt looked back to see Red glaring down at the monster she had kicked.
“All right, you bastards. I’ve had enough of this.” Red growled out as she lifted her skirt above her midthigh and grabbed a couple daggers from their sheaths, then charged at the monsters.
“Miss Crevan!” Harcourt shouted in worry.
“She’ll be fine! Just come with me!” Ciel shouted to him as he hurried him to the door.
Undertaker watched his adopted daughter dodge and duck from the corpses’ grasps and stab them with her weapons as he said, “Just like her training…Hee! Hee!..He may have the Phantomhive blood, but he’s quite unlike his predecessors…What a riot this is!”
“My, you are quite carefree about all this.” Sebastian commented as Agares tried to squeeze the life out of him. “Do you believe you can stop me with something like this? How dare you underestimate me like that.”
“I’ve never underestimated you. All that sets us apart are our goals.” Undertaker grinned as he glanced at someone.
Is he-!, Sebastian thought of a plan, playing out the teacup crashing on the ground and flipping Agares over him, making him land headfirst. Along with Undertaker flicking his coat open to reveal multiple sotobas. Undertaker then threw three sotobas in Sebastian’s direction, who jumped high into the air in response to dodging them. He then came down, trying to hit the reaper but he dodged him and moved to another wall’s ledge. Sebastian then threw several knives at Undertaker, but he took out his scythe and sliced them as he moved away from his spot. Sebastian’s eyes widened as he remembered the Campania incident where Undertaker had taken his master as a hostage.
This is not good!! At this distance, he is closer to the young master than I!, Sebastian thought again as he actually flipped Agares over him, making the corpse land headfirst like his plan just as the teacup crashed onto the ground. But unlike his former plan, Sebastian took off in a different direction to his master. My first priority is to protect my contractor!!
As Undertaker jumped away in opposite direction of Sebastian running to Ciel, he said, “Just what I’d expect from you, master butler.”
Sebastian narrowed his eyes at the reaper just as he smirked back.
“Sebastian!?” Ciel exclaimed as his butler took a hold of him in a defensive stance.
“I do hope you’ll continue to protect milord so loyally.” Undertaker said as he landed on a wall’s ledge that had the moon above it. Raising his arms, as if he was holding the moon, he shook his hips side to side with unnatural speed as he chuckled. “Hee! Hee! Fare! Thee! Well!”
And then he disappeared.
“Hey, Sebas-” Ciel started but was interrupted by Sebastian’s hand.
“Stay behind me!” Sebastian shouted as a corpse came at them.
A pair of daggers stabbed into the sides of the head of the corpse, causing it to fall dead once again to reveal a furious Red, who had splatters of blood on her cheeks. She then looked around for the other two remaining corpses while Harcourt fainted.
“Sebastian! Why did you come to me!? I ordered you to seize-” Ciel began but was interrupted by his butler again.
“By the terms of our covenant, your life is my first priority. I have gone to great pains to cultivate you. I cannot afford to have him steal you away.” Sebastian responded. Just as Ciel was about to check on Harcourt, the demon said, “You should let him sleep. There is still much cleaning to be done in the wake of this tea party.”
Red ran at the two approaching corpses and sliced at them to slow down their movements more. She then kicked down one of the corpses and stabbed her daggers into its head. The other corpse came up behind her and grabbed her shoulder, causing her to grab its arm and flip the creature face first into the ground. She then yelled as she bashed its head into the ground. After minutes passed by and the corpse’s body was still unresponsive, Ciel moved behind the red head, who was now covered in blood, and pulled her off of the body and into a hug. She thrashed around for a moment before stopping and resting her head on his shoulder as she cried. He stared down at her form and petted her hair as he recognized that she felt betrayal from the one man she trusted her life to ever since he raised her.
As Ciel held her, he sighed as he said, “Dear me. How am I going to explain all this to her majesty?”
“Why not give her all the facts as they are?” Sebastian suggested. “Tell her that ‘a perverse, erstwhile grim reaper is reanimating the dead.’”
“She’ll never believe-”
“Ciel!! Red!!” The sound of Edward’s voice interrupted Ciel and brought Red back to her surroundings just as he barged through the door. “Everyone’s escaped safely…”
Edward stopped in his tracks as he stared at the lifeless corpses that laid around the garden.
“We’re done here too. Watch your step.” Ciel informed.
“…I will…Ciel. It frightens me to no end that I might have ended up like those prefects too. That I might’ve become a man who deluded himself into thinking that the sin of murder is equal to justice.” Edward spoke as the grip on his sword tightened while he shook.
“Don’t worry.” Ciel replied as he picked up Red and walked past Sebastian while throwing the flower on his suit to the ground. “Consider yourself normal if it scares you so. Unlike me.”
“Will she…Will she be all right?” Edward asked as he stared at the red head in the young earl’s arms.
Ciel was silent for a moment as his grip tightened on Red as he said, “…I’m not sure…But I know she would want you to be happy and to not worry about her. Heh…she worries more about everyone before herself.”
“You really care for her, don’t you?”
Ciel looked at Edward, who had a blank look, then looked back to the girl in his arms as he replied, “Yes.”
Edward sighed before saying, “Just…Don’t hurt Lizzie…That’s all I ask of you.”
The young teenager nodded as he walked away, his butler in tow, and said, “I’ll try, but I can’t make any promises.”
As they had just closed the door to the garden, Edward looked at the sword in his hands before sighing again and looking up at the sky as he said to himself, “I know.”
The next day…
In the aftermath…I gave her majesty a full account of what had come to pass. The punishment meted out to the P4 was expulsion, not imprisonment.
Just as the now former prefects were about to pass the gates of Weston College for the last time, a voice stopped them in their tracks.
“Redmond! Greenhill! Bluewer! Violet!” Red called as she raced to them as fast as she could.
“Miss Crevan…?” The four muttered to themselves before the red head came to a stop in front of them, bending over as she was out of breath.
“I…came…to…to say…goodbye.”
“You…” Bluewer started in surprise before Redmond beat him to it.
“You wanted to say goodbye to us…even after all we’ve done…?”
“Of course!” Red responded, finally catching her breath as she smiled at the four. “I also bring gifts!”
She then made her way in front of Redmond as she took out a small velvet box and handed it to him. He then opened it and saw a red silk hair ribbon with a steel fox charm that had rubies for eyes.
“I know I’ve always been cold towards you a bit, but I’ve always found you amusing. It took my mentor and I some time to design and make the charm. But we hope you like it!” Red smiled at the prefect, who began to tear up.
“This truly is an amazing gift, Miss Crevan…I’ll treasure it.” Redmond responded as he patted her head.
Red then moved to Greenhill and pullet out a green cricket ball with a lion painted on it. She then placed it in his hands and looked up at him.
“I know how much you loved cricket and how you cared deeply for your house and I thought this would be a good memory for it.”
“This…” Greenhill began as he tried his best to not tear up. “…This really is a great gift. Thank you, Miss Crevan.”
Red moved to Bluewer and held up a blue picture frame that had a couple white owls on the corners and held a picture of him and the other prefects smiling happily.
“Even though you never mentioned it, I could tell how much these three meant to you as a friend and, even though you all might keep in touch with one another, it’ll still serve as a good memory.”
Bluewer said nothing as he began to cry and hugged the short red head in a tight embrace, who, in response, hugged him back.
“Th-…Thank you…” He muttered through his sniffling.
The two then pulled away and Red moved to Violet while Bluewer wiped his eyes with a handkerchief. She then took out a small painting of a black wolf that was near a bush of purple dahlias.
“I know it isn’t much, but I know you like art and that purple dahlias are your favorite flower. I haven’t learned much about what you personally like so-” Red was cut off from her rambling by a pair of cold lips placed on her cheek. She looked up in surprise with a tiny blush as Violet gave a small smile at her.
“Thank you…for everything, Miss Crevan.” Violet responded as he held her painting in his hands.
Red smiled at the four, wiping at her eyes quickly as she said, “Geez, you all can stop calling me ‘Miss Crevan’ now, just ‘Red’ is fine…You should hurry before your carriages leave.”
One after the other, acting like the proper gentlemen they were raised to be, the prefects went down the line and kissed the back of Red’s hand before they left. First was Redmond, who waved back to her with a wink as he left the gates. Second was Greenhill, who was a blushing mess as he left the gates. Third was Bluewer, who smiled at the young teenager before leaving. Last was Violet, who stopped in his motion when he was about to kiss the red head’s hand and confused her until he stood up and placed a short but sweet kiss against her lips, surprising her in that moment.
When he pulled away, he smiled down at her as he said, “You’ve always told me that I should have more courage…goodbye, Red.”
As Violet walked through the gates, he looked back at the red head, who continued to stare at him in surprise, and sent her a real smile as the doors closed.
It was not a show of mercy. Rather, the expulsion was to suppress a scandal involving a blood relative of the queen, who lost his life due to his own troubles. Their comeuppance may indeed have been crueler than death to the P4, as they chose the traditions of the school over human lives. The disappearances of Derrick and his friends were explained away as accidental deaths from a boating mishap and their corpses were buried in secret. The parties involved were strictly forbidden from discussing the matter and life went on as always at Weston College, at least on the outside.
“Ah!” McMillan exclaimed at the sight of Edward, Cheslock, Clayton, and some other random dude from red house. “Look. It’s the new P4! I do so admire them!”
Edward and the other new prefects lifted up their foot and placed it on the grass, confirming them as the new prefects of Weston College. He grimaced from the thought of everything that occurred in only that couple of months.
Meanwhile, over at Buckingham Palace, Ciel Phantomhive and Queen Victoria were having a discussion over tea.
“Reanimating the dead?” Queen Victoria questioned.
“I understand it is difficult to ask your majesty to believe such a thing…” Ciel quickly responded but was cut off by the older woman smiling in front of him.
“I would never doubt your words, my boy. Reanimating the dead and then manipulating them…what horrifying technology. One that may someday prove a threat to Great Britain. My boy. I do hope you will continue sniffing around with that adorable little nose of yours.”
“You may count on it, your majesty. I shall report back as soon as I discover anything.”
Once their discussion had come to an end, Ciel bid the queen farewell and left the palace, joining his butler in the carriage.
“You must be exhausted.” Sebastian commented as the carriage traveled through London.
“Quite. I’d like to get home on the double and relax with some sweets.” Ciel responded tiredly.
“I will prepare something as soon as we return…Ah, yes.” Sebastian said in realization as he took out a small envelope and a large one. “I received this from the postman as we were about to leave. It should keep you busy until we reach the manor.”
“Hm?” Ciel mumbled as he took the envelopes from the demon. He held onto the large envelope but handed back the smaller one. “I don’t want it. Throw it away.”
“Oh? You do not mind discarding a letter from your former schoolmate without so much as a glance?”
“I don’t mind. I have no plans to return to that stuffy miniature garden.”
“Is that so?” Sebastian smirked to his master as the carriage finally arrived at the Phantomhive manor.
Upon exiting the carriage, the duo stared in surprise at the sight of a flock of sheep that surrounded the entrance to the manor.
“What the heavens…is this?” Sebastian wondered in bewilderment.
“Oh! Young master. Mister Sebastian.” Finnian acknowledged as he held onto one of the sheep. “Welcome back!”
“Welcome back!...says Emily.” Snake said in a feminine voice before returning to his normal voice.
“Old man Sam’s farm fence seems to have collapsed.” Baldroy explained as he struggled holding onto a sheep.
“Gyah! Don’t eat my skirt. Don’t, I say!” Mey-Rin exclaimed in surprise as she tried to tug her dress away from a sheep trying to chew on it.
“Ah! That chap’s headed for the herb garden!...says Wilde.” Snake pointed out.
“Waah! No, no!” Finnian exclaimed as he and the other servants took off after the sheep. “Wait!!”
“Heh!” Ciel chuckled in amusement for a moment before clearing his throat.
“Is something the matter?” Sebastian asked.
“No, it’s nothing…a lawn is simply a lawn. Tidy up quickly and prepare my afternoon tea.”
“Yes, my lord.”
After Sebastian helped the other servants return the sheep to where they belong, he headed into the kitchen to prepare his master’s tea.
“Now, what shall I make today?” the demon asked himself as he took off his coat and fixed it before hanging up, taking out the small envelope from McMillan in the process. Upon opening it, he ignored the letter and took out the picture of Ciel standing among his fellow blue house cricket team. “My. This photograph came out quite nicely.”
Before he crumpled it, he thought better and decided to deliver it to a certain red-haired female. He set the picture to the side and crumpled up McMillan’s letter, lighting it on fire with a match, and tossed it into small furnace for the stove.
“Now then. Time to bake the young master an extra-sweet cake.”
Meanwhile, back at Buckingham Palace…
“Tell me, John.” Queen Victoria addressed her butler as she sipped her tea. “Reanimated corpses with no feelings of pain or dread…The very thought terrifies me. What should we do if such monsters attack us?”
“I shall protect you in place of Prince Albert without fail.” John responded.
“Heh, thank you. But…would you not agree that if such monsters were to become our allies…it would be quite splendid?”
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Chapter 91
“Papa…”
Undertaker frowned for a second at the sound of his adopted daughter’s voice before he grinned maniacally at everyone.
“Why, hello there, milord! I see you’re undersized as ever.” Undertaker chuckled before looking over at the red head, causing Ciel to pull her closer to him in case he tries anything. “Dearie, you look even more just like your mother…I’m pleased to see you both looking so well. Have you enjoyed your first taste of the communal life? Hee! Hee!”
“I was wondering where you had run off to after Miss Red took over your shop…” Sebastian commented. “I never imagined you would have secured work at a school of all places.”
“Well, I am but a temporary tutor! Hee! Hee!”
“My word…Our investigation into a handful of runaways has taken a most outrageous turn.” Sebastian added before looking over at the guilty prefects and addressing them. “You four prefects murdered Mister Derrick and then you commissioned the Aurora Society to bring him back to life. What did you wish to protect so badly that would force you to resort to such measures?”
The prefects were unresponsive for a moment before a sigh broke their silence.
“He-…Derrick Arden was an individual who should never have been at this school.” Bluewer spoke up with a stutter.
“In what sense?” Ciel asked.
“Well, you see-”
About One Year Ago…
“Announcing the prefects of the current year.” Agares announced to the hall of students. “Scarlet Fox House- Edgar Redmond. Sapphire Owl House- Lawrence Bluewer. Green Lion House- Herman Greenhill. Violet Wolf House- Gregory Violet.”
The four students walked up to the vice headmaster and placed their hands atop one another’s to take their oath.
“We four, as prefects of esteemed Weston College, with its tried and true traditions, do hereby vow to strive to uphold the autonomy of the student body with pride.” They all spoke and bowed to the other students, who cheered for them.
“Yahoo!!” Redmond shouted in joy as he and the other prefects ran to the Swan Gazebo, with Bluewer lagging behind. “We’ve done it at least!!”
As they reached the entrance to the Swan Gazebo, they all stopped in a line before the grass with Bluewer hunched over and out of breath.
“Y-You ready?” Greenhill asked in nervousness.
“Y-Yes.” Redmond stuttered out in answer.
They each then lifted a foot and took a step out on the grass.
“We’ve been here five years and now we’re finally prefects, huh?” Bluewer asked.
“You bet!” Redmond responded, turning to look at his fellow prefect in question. “Lawrence?”
“…I’m sorry.” Bluewer said as a teardrop fell onto his foot. “I am at a loss for words.”
Redmond laughed at his friend’s emotional state and gave him a side hug as Greenhill began to cry tears of joy. Violet just sat on the ground in a bored manner, nearly asleep.
Some time had passed and the prefects each gained a fag of their choice.
“Bullying?”
“Yes. We’ve had a letter in the suggestion box asking us to keep a close eye everywhere, down to the nooks and crannies.” Bluewer explained with a frown. “Article 15 of Weston College’s school regulations. All students must be equal under the headmaster-”
“We can’t let this go unpunished! Allow me to patrol the grounds.” A young student spoke, determined to help the prefects.
“Good on you, Derrick.” Redmond nodded in respect. “We’ll let you handle it then.”
“Leave it to me!”
He’s a dependable sort, that one. Captain of his hometown cricket team. The embroidery skills of an artisan. His papers are always top-class. His talent in poetry is prodigious as well. The lineage of a marquess, a cheerful personality, an overabundance of talents- Derrick Arden shone bright indeed. And so, we failed to notice it- the darkest of shadows that spawned from that light…
One night when all was calm and quiet at Weston College, trouble was brewing…
“Leaving your house without permission is against the rules. Moreover! You were drinking!?” Redmond reprimanded as he smacked his hand on the table that had a bottle of whiskey, causing the younger student to flinch.
“Slighting the regulations is the same as throwing mud on the honour of this school and your family!!” Derrick Arden added.
“F-Forgive me!” the younger student squeaked out in fear.
“Three Ys for you. Have it done by the end of this week!” Redmond sighed tiredly.
“Yes…” the student replied as he left the room and shut the door on his way out.
“That reminds me. Have you made any progress with the bullying affair from the other day?”
“The thing is, I haven’t found anything unusual. The box tends to be full of nonsense anyway.” Derrick replied as he sighed.
“Is that so?”
The next day, at the Swan Gazebo, the prefects and their fags were discussing about the mail they had all received.
“There were two letters in the box today. ‘We would like to have more water for washing our faces in the mornings.’” Derrick said as he read off a piece of paper before turning to the envelope in his other hand and opening it. “And…What in the world is this? Poetry dedicated to the prefects? Thor, the god of thunder, lay down beside a clear lake. His torch nearby, he listened to the song of a lyre made of irregularly-shaped pearls plucked by a gracious apostle when a mischievous elf appeared, tossing the torch into the water. The flames of the torch were then no more, and the lake brimmed with stars. The beautiful lake became a legend with the power to heal but the god whose light was stolen away continues to wander blindly in the night. A poem dedicated to the prefects, huh- you certainly are the object of everyone’s adoration.”
As Redmond was handed the letter, a part caught his eye with suspicion.
Later that night, Redmond had called a secret meeting with the other prefects. Once they met him at the chapel, they all followed after Redmond as he explained the situation.
“What is it?” Bluewer asked. “Why have you summoned us?”
“That poem from before. It was a message for us. ‘Thor, the god of thunder’ is the origin of the word ‘Thursday’. The ‘gracious apostle’ must stand for ‘John the apostle’, whose Hebrew name means ‘The Lord is gracious’. ‘The lyre of irregularly-shaped pearls’ must mean ‘baroque music’. The ‘John’ of baroque music is Johann Sebastian Bach. There is a bust of Bach in the music room. I believe that ‘The flames of the torch were then no more’ refers to lights out.” Redmond explained as he ventured further into the school with his friends in tow behind him. “A date and time were cleverly woven into that poem. And it was addressed to us prefects.”
“In other words, someone wants us to come to the music room Thursday night?”
“The poem is an elaborate piece, the sole purpose of which is to convey a message to us. Although it’s a wonderful work of poetry in its own right too.”
“Still…I’m impressed you realized its true meaning.”
“Look closely at the ink. The meaningful words are all written in indigo. Anybody well versed in poetry would be able to decipher the message. But I couldn’t quite make out that last ‘Whose light was stolen away’ bit.”
Redmond and the prefects stopped in surprise at one of the doors in the hallway being open with a bright light shining out.
“Now on your feet!” A voice exclaimed, soon followed by thumping and pained shouts.
“What is going on in there!!?” Redmond shouted as he slammed the door open, the prefects behind him as they all shared looks of utter disbelief.
Inside the room were three young students tied up and on their knees with deep red bruises, marks, and paint on their chests. An older student stood in position to swing a cricket bat at the remaining two students still on their knees while another older student stood with his foot pushed down onto the third young student’s back. One older student sat against the wall with a cigarette in his mouth and matches beside him while another stood in position as if he just pitched a cricket ball. Besides the student in position to pitch was Derrick Arden sitting on a young student’s back like a seat. All stared at the prefects while the younger students’ eyes were shut tightly from fear and pain.
“Derrick?” Redmond uttered out, still trying to comprehend the scene before him.
‘The meaning of ‘Whose light was stolen away’ was this- All of Derrick Arden’s splendid achievements were false. Cricket. Embroidery. Term papers. Songwriting. Everything. He had stolen the talents of other students by way of despicable methods to make himself shine. He had been doing this for four years- ever since the day he enrolled.’
“You lot return to your rooms.” Bluewer instructed as he helped the younger students gather their belongings and ushering them out of the room while they nodded in response.
“I should’ve realized what was going on when you couldn’t crack the message in that poem.” Redmond growled out in anger just as Bluewer closed the door.
Derrick looked down before sneering with a disturbing, crooked grin. “Awww…I just had one more year to go. I’m the heir to a prestigious marquessate, aren’t I? So every successor who attends this school has to be a prefect. My parents won’t get off my back about it. I was sooo revolted by the thought of it! Getting thrown into a place like this when I didn’t even want to set foot here.”
“You bastard…” Greenhill managed to get out as he tried to control his anger.
“I do hope you’ll let me continue blowing off a little steam like this. Compared to your families, daddy makes contributions to this school after all. Oh, and I’ll accept Y’s if I have to-”
“ENOUGH!! I’ll have the vice headmaster report this to the head! Be prepared to receive a severe punishment!”
Derrick feigned a look of worry for a moment before calling over to the man playing the piano in boredom.
“Hey, did you get that?”
The man didn’t make any sound as he stopped playing the piano, placed the cover over its keys, stood up, and placed his hat on. The prefects’ eyes widened at the sight of who the man was when he stepped into the light.
“Vice Headmaster Agares!?” Redmond exclaimed. “What’s going on!? What are you-!?”
“I understand the situation. Derrick Arden and the other four.” Agares nodded to the prefects before looking at the students in trouble. “Two Y’s for leaving your house at night without permission.”
“We’re sooo veryyy sorry.” Derrick said, feigning an apologetic tone.
“Leaving their house at night!? You’re mistaken.” Redmond interjected.
“Vice Headmaster, they were bullying their fellows.” Bluewer explained more.
“Please report this incident to the headmaster tomorrow-!” Greenhill exclaimed before being cut off by Agares’s cold glare.
“This year’s prefects are most discourteous. You would dare stand against me?” Agares questioned.
“N-No. We don’t mean…”
“Very well. You may all leave now.”
Redmond was confused for a second before his eyes widened at the sight of Agares’s right hand, where a bottle of whisky was being held. He and the other prefects came into realization that he was being bribed by Derrick. They then wondered what they should do to stop them.
“Awww. I have it so rough. I’ll be prefect next year…” Derrick joked in mockery at the prefects as he stretched, finally making Greenhill snap.
‘This isn’t right.’
Greenhill then dashed with unchanneled fury and smashed Derrick Arden’s head open with a cricket bat.
‘The tradition of this school will continue to be undermined…as long as they’re here.’
The students in trouble yelled as they tried to escape through the door, but it was blocked off by Violet.
‘We can’t allow that…’
Redmond and Bluewer then grabbed a hold of Agares to prevent him from running away.
‘…Because-’
Greenhill quickly moved over to Agares after the remaining students that were in trouble and smashed his forehead in with the cricket bat.
‘Tradition is absolute!!’
As Greenhill panted from exerting a lot of energy and anger, he began to process what he had done as Violet checked Derrick Arden’s pulse.
“He’s…stopped breathing.”
“Th-The blame rests squarely on my shoulders. What on earth have I-” Greenhill trembled as he tightened his grip on the cricket bat.
“Calm down, Greenhill!” Bluewer exclaimed.
“This is as it should be…no. This was our only option.” Redmond clarified as he stared at the dead bodies.
“Indeed…but how should we handle the matter?” Bluewer asked. “Greenhill will be accused of murder if we do nothing.
“…I have an idea. Won’t you leave this to me?” Redmond offered.
“No! I can’t let you all take on the burden of my sin-” Greenhill refused before being cut off by Violet holding his cricket bat up higher.
“You’re not the only prefect.” Violet replied.
“Indeed. We prefects must protect this school.” Bluewer nodded in agreement with his friend as he took hold of the bat with him.
“Therefore, we will bear the burden of your sin with pride.” Redmond continued, taking hold of the bat as well.
“…You…” Greenhill started before going silent and taking a hold of the bat with them.
They all then held it in the air and said, “This is all for Weston College.”
The next day, the prefects met at Agares’s office to discuss what they have learned.
“The headmaster is taking a trip around the world and will not return until next autumn.” Redmond informed.
“That means he’s absenting himself from work by entrusting us with it…” Violet commented.
“Violet! Watch what you say!” Bluewer reprimanded.
“The headmaster trusts us.” Greenhill affirmed.
“Therefore, we must manage this situation ourselves.” Bluewer added.
“Will we be able to?” Greenhill asked.
“The reanimating is apparently going well, so we needn’t worry.” Redmond nodded in confidence while Violet stayed quiet. “We can protect this school.”
Back to the Present…
Everyone stood quiet as Bluewer finished speaking, all who were told the story stared at the prefects with shock.
“We have done their loved ones wrong, to be sure…” Bluewer agreed with the statement before continuing on. “But we had no other alternative in order to protect tradition and order. We did not wish to bring disgrace to this school by ruffling feathers. Surely you understand, Phantomhive?”
“How could you say that…when you’ve taken their lives?” Ciel asked in concern and surprise while Red trembled in slight fear beside him, thinking back to all her encounters with the prefects.
Everyone was silent again until Undertaker’s maniacal laughter echoed all around.
“Gyah ha ha ha! This is most amusing!” Undertaker laughed out, causing his daughter to turn to him in anger. “I have been gifted with more laughter than I deserve. Heehee-!”
Red cut him off as she grabbed him by his tie and shook him in anger as she shouted, “How dare you laugh at a time like this! Can’t you see that no one finds amusement to this!? Why…Are you even the same man who raised me for all of these years!!?”
Undertaker immediately stopped laughing as he watched his daughter in surprise and worry as she tried her hardest to not break down while tears filled her eyes that were nearly orange. He then pulled her into a gentle hug as he spoke his next words.
“Human beings…are supremely tragic…supremely absurd…” he then broke out of his frown and into a Cheshire cat-like grin. “And supremely delightful!”
“Oh? How curious.” Sebastian spoke up as he smirked at the reaper. “For once, I must say I agree with you there.”
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Chapter 90
Derrick Arden…He’s alive!?, Ciel thought as the smiling, blond student walked further towards the headmaster. Then why did he drop out of sight until now!?
“Well, rats! There he is, all fine and dandy.” Cheslock commented as all the prefects watched the striding student with wide eyes.
“Arden…?” Greenhill murmured before speaking up. “Are you really f-”
“Hullo…I detect the wonderful aroma of tea.” Derrick Arden said monotonously as he gave a deranged smile at the older student, sending shivers down his spine.
“A-Ard-” Greenhill started as he leaned back from the leering student before he was cut off by him biting into his arm. The prefect then let out a pained scream, causing the other students to jump out of their seat to aid him.
“You cur!!” Edward yelled as he delivered a punch at Derrick’s nose, knocking off his hat. “What d’you think you’re doing!?”
Derrick remained facing the sky for a second before he jerked his head forward and faced the ground.
“Wha-!?” Ciel and Edward yelled in flabbergast when the deranged students lunged forward, snarling at them.
“Ah…That wound is…!!” Ciel started, thinking back to the incident with the Campania from the sight of the stitches lined along his forehead. He then thought, It looks just like the ones on the creatures aboard the Campana!! He then clicked his tongue, took off his eyepatch, and shouted, “Come! Sebastian!”
Sebastian landed behind his master in a bow with Red clinging onto his back for dear life. His eyes flashed fuchsia as he stood up and smirked as Red got off of his back.
“Never…again…” Red muttered as she regained her balance and took off her glasses.
“Mister Michaelis!? Miss Red!?” Bluewer exclaimed in surprise.
“I command you!! Apprehend Derrick!” Ciel ordered.
“Yes, my lord.” Sebastian replied as he lifted part of the tablecloth and yanked it towards him without having any of the objects move away from their spot. He then launched himself into the air, his line of sight focused on Derrick Arden as he said, “It is unbecoming of an English gentleman to disregard etiquette at a tea party!!”
With demonic speed, the butler fixed the deranged student into a makeshift of a straitjacket with the tablecloth, causing him to fall over.
“M-My arm…!” Greenhill howled in pain.
“Greenhill!!” Edward exclaimed in worry.
“I will see to your injury presently.” Sebastian acknowledged the two.
“Allow me!” Red interrupted as she hurried over to the injured student and observed the damage before removing his necktie. “He bit away quite a bit.”
She then tightly tied the tie a little further up his arm away from the wound and tugged on it for security.
“I’m surprised you know how to use proper aid for this kind of situation, Miss Red.” Sebastian commented as he checked over her progress while she worked.
“Raise his arm.” The red head instructed Edward, who obeyed, as she took off her jacket and tied it around the wound. “This should help prevent any harmful bacteria to enter the wound. And in regards to that comment, Sebastian, I get bored easily when I have nothing to do so I go to the London library and read anything I find interesting.”
“What is Mister Michaelis and Miss Red doing here!?” Harcourt squeaked out.
“What on earth is going on!?” Clayton demanded.
“The episodes were too rough in the end…” Agares mumbled to himself.
“Episodes”…?, Ciel thought as he tied his eyepatch back on. What could he be talking about?
“Mister Michaelis…No, I should say…Sebastian…is my butler.” The young earl explained.
“Our tutor is a butler!?” Harcourt exclaimed.
“Huh!? Then what is Miss Red!?” Cheslock questioned.
“Me?” Red asked innocently, pointing at herself before replying, “I’m simply just a mortician’s daughter helping out a friend.”
“And I came to this school to look into the fate of Derrick and his friends.” Ciel continued. “However, even a devil of a butler like Sebastian would never have been able to ascertain their whereabouts. Because Derrick was already long dead.”
“Already dead? What are you saying?” Harcourt asked in confusion as he watched the deranged student squirm on the ground. “He’s still moving, don’t you s-”
“Hul…lo…I detect…the wonderful aroma…of tea…” Derrick Arden moaned out as he gnashed his teeth.
“Eep���!”
“Now. I’d like to hear an explanation from you. Headmaster!” Ciel spoke as he took out his handgun, pointing it in the direction of the headmaster.
“Phantomhive, what’s gotten into y-” Clayton began but was interrupted by another voice.
“Clayton!!” Edward yelled before lowering his voice. “Don’t challenge Ciel…no. Don’t defy ‘Earl Phantomhive’!”
“Wha-!?”
“Dash it! Will someone tell me what’s goin’ on!?” Cheslock shouted in frustration.
“Red and I have seen transformed humans like Derrick before.” Ciel explained as he kept his aim on the headmaster. “Tell me! What have you done to him?”
It was silent for a moment before Greenhill spoke up weakly.
“We…only wanted to protect…” he struggled to say.
“To protect?” Sebastian asked.
“Saint George…the symbol of our college…is said to have slain a dragon that jeopardized the peace in order to protect his country.” Bluewer elaborated further as he adjusted his glasses. “In short, one cannot avert disaster without striking down the source of it. We simply abided by that teaching. And so…we dealt with Derrick…and killed him.”
In Bluewer’s memory…
“He’s…stopped breathing.” Violet said as he checked for a pulse on Derrick Arden’s body.
“Th-The blame rests squarely on my shoulders. What on earth have I-” Greenhill said as he began to tremble in fear before he was interrupted.
“Calm down, Greenhill!” Redmond exclaimed, placing a hand on the prefect’s shoulder. “This is as it should be…no. this was our only option.”
“Indeed…but how should we handle the matter? Greenhill will be accused of murder if we do nothing.” Bluewer wondered in worry for his friend.
“…I have an idea. Won’t you leave this to me?”
After a couple of days, the prefects met up with one another again outside of the chapel.
“He says he’ll be here at first light tomorrow. What a relief. We have nothing to worry about now. Everything will work out in our favour.” Redmond told the others. They then continued on their day as if it was normal.
The next morning, Redmond rushed over to the front gate, where he let in a carriage.
“Hello! So you’re the Viscount of Druitt’s nephew!?” a deep, eccentric voice asked as his phoenix pin sparkled from the sunlight. “Your social status is nothing to scoff at, but you have wonderfully healthy features as well!”
The man then posed in an exaggerated manner with both arms and one leg in the air as he shouted, “‘Phoenix!!’ I am Rian Stoker! On the face of it, I’m the director of Karnstein Hospital!”
“P-Pleased to meet you…” Redmond responded.
“And over there…” Rian continued as he gestured into the carriage where another man was sitting. “That’s my research partner-”
Back in Present Time…
“No…It can’t be-…” Ciel started before remaining quiet while his butler glared.
“And so, we made a pact. With him.” Redmond finished.
“I see.” Sebastian began with a devilish grin. “Now all of the pieces of the puzzle have fallen into place. The student who disappeared, along with his soul- Derrick Arden. The man who eluded a devil’s pursuit- The Headmaster. The secret organization that experiments with the revival of human bodies- The Aurora Society. Each of them, minor incidents of little consequence. The one who made a labyrinth of them…is you.”
Clayton and Harcourt stared in shock from the butler’s words as he pointed at the headmaster.
“This has nothing to do with the headmaster!” Redmond argued. “We prefects took it upon ourselves to…”
“He never said the headmaster was involved.” Red interrupted with a sour look on her face.
“Well? What do you say we all drop our school acts?” Sebastian asked the man that remained sitting at the table.
The headmaster was silent for a second before he spoke with a Cheshire cat-like grin, spooking everyone all around him but Sebastian and Red, “Alaaas! I did quite enjoy this profession, I’ll have you know.”
Sebastian stood on guard in front of his master in a shielding manner.
“I watched your most delightful struggles from the grand tier. Once again, you bestowed upon me the choicest of laughter, see…? Hee! Hee.”
“It’s you…!” Ciel breathed out as the man took off his hat, letting his long grey hair flow out. “Undertaker!!”
Red’s eyes watered a bit as she shakily said, “Papa…”
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Chapter 89
A Weston College Institution, the fourth of June cricket tournament. The main event of the evening festivities following the contest is the winning house’s boat parade. The main event of the evening festivities following the contest is the winning house’s boat parade.
While everyone was racing around to get ready for the event, Ciel was trying on his costume for the parade with Sebastian’s help.
“Oh…So this is the cox costume that has been passed down in blue house for generations?” Sebastian asked as he observed the clothing on his master. “My that is quite something…Your appearance is far and away more unsightly than even I had expected.”
“Hold your tongue!” Ciel yelled as the costume was too baggy on him to where the sleeves and pants came down past his hands and feet. “Normally, it’d be an upperclassman in the parade. So we’ll have to make do. Still, for an outfit that’s only been worn once, this thing’s a mess. Sebastian, tailor these to fit, would you…?”
“There is no need.”
“Eh?”
“You said you would ‘win,’ young master.” Sebastian chuckled as he opened a suitcase and took out a smaller-made version of the costume. “It goes without saying that I, as your butler, would have seen to the necessary preparations. Thankfully, Miss Red made this in what small amount of time she was given.”
After putting on the new costume, Ciel walked out of the tent, heading towards his house’s team. His servants, Elizabeth, Elizabeth’s parents, Soma, Sebastian, and Red watched him with smiles on their faces.
“Come along now!” Clayton called to the young noble while a couple of the team members were finishing getting ready.
“We’re taking a photo!” McMillan waved over to his friend, being the photographer himself.
The blue house team stood in line beside one another, with Ciel at the end holding flowers, and smiled at the camera. McMillan then took the picture and grinned as he stood up straight.
“All done!” He cheered as the team headed towards the boat for their event. McMillan placed a hand on Ciel’s shoulder, stopping him in place. “One more photo for you, Phantomhive.”
“Eh? What do you me-” Ciel started before he was interrupted.
“Miss Red!” McMillan waved over the red head.
“Yes, McMillan?” Red asked as she walked up to the two students.
“Phantomhive wanted me to take a photo of you and him since you’re his favourite teacher and all!”
“W-Wha-!?” Ciel exclaimed with wide eyes as he blushed and took a few steps backwards. “I never said tha-!”
“All right.” Red nodded, smiling.
McMillan then instructed the two to take their places in front of the river and face the camera. He then had the two place their arms around the others’ waists and smile. Or in Ciel’s case, a fake smile. After a couple moments of holding the pose, McMillan gave a thumbs up and told them he was done. He then walked away, sending a wink over at Ciel, confusing the young earl.
“Let’s get you to your team, Phantomhive.” Red said, smiling to Ciel.
“Yes.” He nodded as he walked with her to his team.
“You know, for the past few days, you’ve been acting strange.”
“What do you mean?”
“You’ve been a lot more open than you have been when we first met. It’s a bit disturbing.”
“I thought it would be what you were looking for in some-”
Red then stopped him in his tracks and had him face her as she said, “Never assume anything you aren’t sure of, Ciel. I prefer your old self and I know you. This kind of thing you’re doing isn’t like you. I only want you to be yourself and not put up some kind of face to achieve something you have no control over like you do with everything else. I am my own person, not your pawn.”
Ciel was stunned for a moment as he stared into the chilling, grey eyes of his friend. Many thoughts and emotions flashed through his mind before he took a deep breath and sighed.
“You’re right.” He said softly, looking down at her feet. “I acted out of character to get what I want like I’ve always done. It didn’t work and I respect you and your choices for what continues on between us. Had I acted any more out of line, what is to say that you would still wish to even be my friend?”
Red lifted his chin to face her as the corners of her mouth turned up.
“I’m glad you understand. Now come along, don’t want to be late for your team’s parade.”
The two then parted ways to be ready for the parade.
“Now I’ll talk you through the sequence for the procession.” Bluewer started speaking to his team as soon as Ciel had arrived. “We will sail from Fellows’ Eyot and go down the Thames. Upon approaching Windsor Castle, we must all remove our hats and salute her majesty, the queen. Then, we’ll cast the flowers in our caps into the river before returning to the dock. There is no room for error! Stay focused till the very end!”
“Understood!” Everyone responded.
Later, when the sun had set, students were scattering around to finish the final preparations for the boat parade.
“The sun has set…” Violet informed Greenhill, both dressed in striped suits.
“Light the lanterns with the flames of Saint George!” Greenhill ordered the younger classmen, who saluted him in return and got to work.
The crowd stood amazed at the sight of the glowing lanterns that hung all around them and floated in the river. They then ventured over to gaze out at the water and waited for the parade.
“Ready, go!” Ciel shouted to his house’s team and instructed them with rowing the boat as the crowd cheered.
“Wow…” Red mumbled out in awe as she stood with the Phantomhive servants and Elizabeth.
“It’s so beautiful…” Elizabeth said as she smiled with wide eyes.
“It really is.”
The blue house team continued to row their boat to the bridge that stood on the river as a carriage stopped at the middle.
“There, on the bridge!! Her majesty, the queen!! Where!? I don’t see her-!” People in the crowd shouted over one another.
“I-I’m starting to get nervous!!” Koward squeaked out as he began to row the boat out of time with the rhythm of the whole team.
“Fool! Stay in rhythm!” Bluewer reprimanded.
The crowd cheered louder as one of people shouted, “Oh! The cox is up! Time to salute her majesty!”
Ciel stood on the boat as he looked up at the queen, who smiled down at him.
Your majesty., he silently addressed in his head.
“Her majesty, the queen! Long live her majesty, the queen!” the crowd exclaimed.
The truth is close at hand. And I shall present it to you without fail.
The young earl then took out his sword and held it upright near his face as he shouted, “Salute her majesty, the queen!”
The rest of the blue house team then stood up on the boat and held their oars at their side as they stared straight ahead.
“Phantomhive…” Bluewer whispered. “We won this tournament through meticulous calculation. However…we seem to have made one fatal error.”
“Eh?” was all Ciel let out as he looked at his upperclassman in confusion, who was shaking and trying to keep his balance on the boat with his oar.
“Because we never truly thought we would emerge victorious…we never once practiced for the boat parade.”
The entire team let out sounds of surprise as the boat swayed before they fell into the river. The crowd soon began to laugh, without mockery, as the blue house team swam to their boat that was turned over.
“That’s blue house for you!” Redmond cheered as he laughed along with the other prefects.
Sebastian and Red gazed at the group with smiles as they chuckled. Everyone’s attention was drawn to the sound and sight of fireworks bursting into the night sky, making them cheer in excitement.
“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Ciel asked to Bluewer.
“It’s dazzling…” Bluewer responded before turning to the young noble with a smile and tears in his eyes. “It’s so dazzling that I feel my eyes sting.”
With help from other students, the blue house team made it back to shore and changed out of their wet clothes. McMillan and Soma were currently trying to get Ciel to loosen up and have fun while everyone around them socialized. The prefects were conversing with the Double Charles, who were former alumni at Weston College.
Some time later, when Cheslock finally had enough with the band’s music, he took out his violin and instructed them to follow his lead with the music. Soma and Elizabeth sat in surprise at the calming melody the violet house student could create. Elizabeth then dragged Ciel out to dance with her with the help of Soma and McMillan. Redmond danced with one of Bluewer’s sisters, his fag doing the same while Bluewer stood in exasperation. Sebastian smirked at the sight of Alexis Midford asking his wife for a dance. Red stood along the sidelines, clapping along with the music as many people danced.
“Miss Red…?” a quiet voice spoke up beside her, causing her to look over and see Violet staring at the ground. “…Would you like to dance?”
In response, Red smiled and took his hand as she said, “Of course!”
The two then danced together with the crowd until their feet got sore…or in Violet’s case, when he got too dizzy.
Later, at the Sapphire Owl House…
“That was such fun!” a young blue house student exclaimed as he stretched.
“I ate too much…” another student grumbled out.
“I’m sleepy now…” another student yawned out.
Ciel rubbed the back of his neck as he walked over to his bed before letting out a sound of confusion at the sight of a wrapped teacup with a flower.
“What is it?” McMillan asked.
“This is…” Ciel started before being interrupted.
“I-I don’t believe it! You’ve been invited to the ‘Midnight Tea Party’!”
The young earl’s eye widened as he thought, I’ve done it! I’ve actually gotten my hands on the privilege to have a sit-down with the headmaster!
“I hear someone comes for you at midnight, when the Queen of the Night flower blooms. So put it in your lapel, and you can go to the party.”
“Gentlemen, it’s time for your baths.” Sebastian informed, stepping in front of the doorway before him and his master nodded to one another.
The fate of the missing students, the true identity of the head- I’ll find the answers to all the riddles at that tea party!
The fourth of June has fallen. Weston College, full of hustle and bustle during the day, is now cloaked in silence. All the doors are tightly bolted and the students are forbidden to leave their rooms. Only a handful among them are given leave to go out. Those attending the “Midnight Tea Party”.
A knock sounded at the door for the room Ciel stayed in before it opened to reveal Clayton.
“It’s time.” He said, addressing to the young noble who was done getting ready.
He then led Ciel out of the dormitory and into the chapel where the prefects all stood.
“Welcome Phantomhive.” They all said in unison.
“To the elegant…” Redmond started.
“Storied…” Bluewer continued.
“Lofty…” Greenhill continued.
“Curious…” Violet continued.
“Midnight Tea Party.” They all said in unison as the lights turned on and the music of the organ echoed around into the air as a door creaked open.
Ciel then followed the prefects through the door and down a dark hallway to another door, where Bluewer opened it to reveal a grand garden with a table set and two figures at the end of the table. The figure standing was Agares and the other figure sitting was unknown to the young earl, causing him to make assumptions.
So that’s him. The absolute ruler of Weston College. The headmaster., he thought as the other prefects and fags walked in.
“Welcome everyone. Please sit.” Agares greeted as the prefects, their fags, and Ciel did as they were asked before he spoke again. “You should all have your tea now.”
“It’s a little dull, but let’s toast with a cup of tea.” Redmond suggested as he turned to Bluewer. “Lawrence, propose a toast.”
“Very well, then.” Bluewer responded as he held his teacup up. “We have kept with tradition and seen the fourth of June through without incident. A toast…to Weston Col-”
“One moment, if you please.” Ciel interrupted, bringing everyone’s attention onto him. “As it stands, I can’t sincerely drink to this toast.”
“Why is that?”
“Something weighs on my mind. Derrick Arden and his friends.”
The prefects’ eyes widened at the sentence as their full attention was on the young noble.
“I can’t raise my teacup until I see them.” Ciel continued as he set his teacup down.”
“Ciel..?” Edward mumbled out.
“Headmaster, sir. Will you listen to what I have to say?”
“Phantomhive! You’re being rude.” Bluewer reprimanded.
“I’m well aware of that. But in Article 15 of the school regulations, it is written thus- ‘Be considerate of your schoolfellows and assist them with love and affection at all times.’”
Bluewer immediately shut his mouth, having his own mentioning of the rules thrown back at his face.
“Derrick Arden. Richard Gleason. Hans Hardy. Robert Isaac. Wayne Thewlis. I’ve heard it said that since about a year ago they’ve not once returned home and have shut themselves up in their house.” Ciel continued. “You see, when I enrolled at this school, their parents begged me to persuade them to return home just once.”
“Oh.” Was Agares’s only response as the young noble continued further.
“But when trying to come in contact with them, I was met with odd situations at every turn. And I’ve been unable to catch even a glimpse of them. Their sudden transfers from red house to purple house for one. More puzzling still is what occurred during the fire the other day. Every student of purple house ought to have evacuated, but the missing students were nowhere to be found. Yet Violet said, ‘everyone’ was safe.”
Violet’s eyes widened for a second before he turned his gaze to the table, making Cheslock look over at him.
“Violet…?” Cheslock muttered out.
“Violet must’ve simply lost his head, like everyone else.” Redmond spoke up in defense for the other prefect.
“Could a prefect, one who is granted autonomy here at illustrious Weston truly have made such a grave error?” Ciel questioned in persistence as Violet kept his gaze focused on the table.
“Well…who can say.” Agares responded.
“In any case!” the young noble continued, slamming his hands down on the table as he stood up. “The fact remains that they weren’t in purple house! Five students have disappeared from a public school where every single day is strictly managed. Something is clearly amiss here!”
Based on our investigation thus far…Derrick and the others are no longer at this school. At best, they’ve fled. At worst, they’re dead. The headmaster, who moved them between houses…the P4, who have free reign over the school- it’s obvious that they’re concealing something. They brushed me off before by saying “It was the headmaster’s decision,” but that excuse won’t work here, with both parties present. I’ll uncover what you’re hiding!, Ciel thought to himself.
“It seems increasingly likely that they’re in a situation of great peril.” The young noble interrogated further. “Headmaster! Why not ask for the yard’s assistance in getting to the bottom of this!?”
“There is no need to do that.” Agares spoke up.
“What?”
“For…they are right here in the school. Look.” Agares continued, pointing at the door, causing everyone to turn to look at it just as it opened.
“Hullo…I detect the wonderful aroma of tea.” A tall student with blond hair said as he walked in with the same smile as the person Ciel was in search for.
Derrick Arden!?
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Chapter 88
“He brought down the seasoned Edward Midford with one delivery…? What on earth was that ball!?” the crowd shouted as they cheered.
“Leave it to you to come up with that, Bluewer. A delivery calculated to within an inch of its life is so like you.” Greenhill spoke as he walked up to bat. “However…there’s no such thing as a ball I can’t hit!”
“The last batsman’s Greenhill. It’s a P4 showdown! Brains versus brawn…which will prevail!?” the crowd shouted.
“Here we go!” Bluewer exclaimed as he pitched the ball with the same move he used before, making the blue house players yell in anticipation.
Greenhill let out a yell as he swung the bat backwards, nearly hitting Ciel in the face, and smacked the ball far out to where it hit a seat in the crowd.
“A-…A…! A six!! It’s one hundred and five to one hundred three!!” the announcer announced as the crowd cheered.
“I’ve seen right through your bowling!” Greenhill shouted over to Bluewer.
He swings his bat down from overhead like he’s wielding a sword. It’s normally impossible for a ball hit from that form to make it all the way to the stands. Physical strength, dynamic visual acuity, and cricketing instinct. By excelling in all three areas, Greenhill makes that unviable batting form viable. It is a power only the chosen may wield. A mighty blade that lays waste to all in its path…
Sword Excalibur!
“With Greenhill at bat, our lead’s been reduced to almost nothing…blue house is finished.” The blue house supporters in the crowd commented in defeat.
“With this, our victory’s assured! Come from behind! Come from behind!” the green house supporters in the crowd cheered.
I put everything I had into mastering this delivery. For it…to be overcome so soon is…I haven’t any other weapons with which to fight…, Bluewer thought before he was interrupted by a small hand on his shoulder.
“Bluewer.” Ciel spoke calmly. “Let’s give it another go.”
“That bowl didn’t work! Shall we just hand them the runs, is that it?” Bluewer objected.
“Bluewer…I’m grateful to you. Because you took this seriously, the students of blue house were able to come together and fight as one. That’s why, I want you to bowl without any regrets. Win or lose. Yes…I think I can safely say everyone feels the same.”
Both males looked over to see the entire blue house team giving them a thumbs up in support.
“Please bowl us the best ball you’ve got.” Ciel finished before he walked back to his position behind Greenhill.
This delivery will decide it all. The last bowl of my school life. I’ll bet the pride of blue house…and my own pride too…on this one ball!!, was Bluewer’s only thought as he pitched the ball, using the same move from before.
“Child’s play!” Greenhill shouted as he prepared to hit the ball again, shuffling his feet. He then let out a shout as he swung the bat back, only for the sound of it colliding into something.
The entire crowd, Bluewer, Greenhill, Elizabeth, the servants, Soma, and Red watched in horror as Ciel fell back with a cut on his forehead.
“Ciel!!!” Elizabeth screamed as she clung onto Red, who watched helplessly.
“No ball!” the announcer announced.
Ciel then let out a pained scream as he clutched his forehead.
“Perfect! A green house player exclaimed as he dashed over to Greenhill. “Run!”
“Are you all right!?” Greenhill exclaimed in worry, hurrying over to the young noble.
“Eh!? Aren’t you gonna run!?”
Ciel’s eye widened as he forced himself up, grabbing a hold of the ball that landed a couple feet away from him and threw it at the wicket while the green house member ran to it, hitting sticks perfectly. Everyone watched in silence.
“Umpire!” Ciel yelled, causing the announcer to gasp.
“Out!” the announcer announced. “Green house, ten outs. Time! The match is over!!”
Blue house had one hundred and five points while green house had one hundred and four.
“…B-B-B-! Blue house won!!!” the entire blue house team shouted as they raced over to Ciel.
The crowd, Elizabeth, Soma, Red, and the servants cheered with McMillan being a sobbing mess as the blue house team group hugged Ciel. Greenhill watched with a smile on his face.
“It’s a second Miracle of Sapphires! Huzzah!!” The blue house team lifted Ciel up into the air and began tossing him. “Heave! Ho!-”
“Hold it right there!” Sebastian’s voice cut in, immediately whisking his master away from the group of students. “How could you be so reckless!? Getting that cut seen to comes first.”
“Mister Michaelis…” Ciel spoke, giving a fake smile. “But…winning alongside everyone has made me so happy…that I’ve all but forgotten the pain! We got to prove to everyone that even blue house can win if we put our minds to it.”
Members of the blue house team cried with joy, some wiping their noses. Bluewer, though was covering his face to not show anyone that he was crying.
Sebastian faked a smile as he said, “You really are a most incorrigible boy.”
Sebastian then walked off with his master to the infirmary as everyone around them applauded in cheer.
“Ow!” Ciel exclaimed as he held onto Red’s hands while his butler disinfected the cut on his forehead. “Ouch! Can’t you go about it a little more gently!!?”
“Heh! Dear, oh dear.” Sebastian chuckled while continuing his actions. “Had you not forgotten your pain out of happiness?”
“You must be joking!!? If it hurts, it hurts! Ow!!”
“I’m with Sebastian on this one, you acted like an idiot. I’m just glad this cut isn’t anything serious.” Red sighed as she squeezed her friend’s hands in her own.
“Your playmaking went exactly as planned. Superbly done. However, it appears you came away with an even finer badge of honour than you had anticipated…” Sebastian chuckled to himself while he put away the disinfectant materials.
“Curse that Greenhill…” Ciel muttered while Red patted his hand in comfort before walking out of the room to go change.
“Oh, yes. And I have retrieved the ball from earlier, per your command.” Sebastian mentioned as he smirked and took out the ball and an envelope. “Lau also sent you pictures of Miss Red in her attire when she aided in distracting the green house team.”
“Why on earth would I need that!?” Ciel exclaimed as he took both items from his butler. “Hmph. I really don’t think Bluewer would’ve noticed the trick. But better to be safe than sorry. After all, the weight of the ball only differs slightly. But thanks to this, we were able to take the championship all according to plan.”
Bluewer bowls this doctored ball like usual. The small difference in weight alters the course of the ball greatly. Greenhill, who can handle any type of ball, instinctively falls back a few steps to adjust for the change in the path of the ball and due to his steps back, the end of the bat that he holds aloft in a wide arc makes contact with the wicketkeeper. At the same time, Bluewer’s illegal delivery is declared a no ball, and green house comes within one point of blue house. Moreover, I, the wicketkeeper, have yet to retrieve the ball. Naturally, the batting team’s other player, the non-striker, runs with the aim of knotting up the score. But an accident occurs at this point. The striker prioritises “gentlemanly etiquette” over the outcome of the match. I, the wicketkeeper, having noticed this, chase the ball in spite of my injuries…curiouser still, it is the tenth out and blue house, famous for being the perennial loser, miraculously wins the championship thanks to the heroic efforts of the wicketkeeper. Yes, that’s how I scored and got my house the championship crown. A more perfect tearjerker of an ending I couldn’t hope for., Ciel thought as he elaborated over his master plan in his head.
“Still…to bowl a ball you know will be beat…I don’t understand that Bluewer and the others one bit.” Ciel commented.
“I too cannot comprehend the human aesthetic of a ‘beautiful defeat’ at all.” Sebastian replied as he wrapped bandages around his master’s head to cover the injury.
“Well? How did you do?”
“The headmaster…” Sebastian spoke as he picked up the folded clothes and top hat, displaying them before his master. “…is here.”
“Huh?”
“I regret to inform you that I did my utmost to pursue him, but the moment I had him, this was all there was.”
The headmaster escaped!? With a devil like Sebastian in all-out pursuit!? To think he managed to elude a devil…who in the world is this headmaster!? The plot continues to thicken…, Ciel thought before sighing in defeat.
“In that case, I should’ve just had you make me some desserts or something. I’m famished!”
“I thought you might say that. So I prepared this for you.” Red spoke as she entered the room with a tray in her hands, revealing it to be Eton mess with a side of iced summer pudding. Ciel stared at the dessert as if it was sent from heaven itself. “But…you will have to save this for later.”
She then put the lid over the tray just as all of the younger students of blue house barged into the room, shouting, “Phantomhive!”
Ciel immediately turned away and quickly placed his medical eyepatch on.
“You there! Quiet in the sanatorium!” Sebastian scolded.
“Oh! Pardon me, Mister Michaelis and Miss Red!” McMillan apologized before turning to Ciel. “Are you all right?”
“Yes, I think so.” Ciel responded.
“Bluewer was crying! Did you see?” Another student asked eagerly.
“No.”
“Even stingy old Clayton was raving about you!” A different student exclaimed.
“Oh?”
“I never imagined I would witness the Miracle of Sapphires firsthand…!” McMillan exclaimed, tearing up. “Thank you, Phantomhive!”
“It really wasn’t my doing.” Ciel replied, making his butler and Red chuckle quietly.
“Here you go!” a blue house student exclaimed as he placed a flowery hat on the young earl’s head. “Your hat for the boat parade! They said you get to be the cox!”
“Th-Thank you.”
“Well, let’s be off!” McMillan exclaimed happily as he pulled Ciel up onto his feet.
“Eh!?”
“It’s time for the champion house’s boat parade!!”
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Chapter 87
The headmaster has disappeared. He and his presence both-, Sebastian thought as he stared at the clothes in his hands. For him to be capable of such a feat means that he is most likely-
The demon then flexed his hand, thinking quietly to himself.
“Perhaps I should revisit the cricket field…?” he thought aloud as he stood up, folding the clothing in his arms. “The headmaster himself may return there after all.”
The crowd in the stadium was going wild with cheers for their favorite teams, all wondering who would come out victorious. An unanswered question lingered around with everyone, adding on to their curiosity.
“What are they aiming to do with all the defenders clumped around the batsman? They do realise they’ve left the front totally open, don’t they!?” Random students murmured to one another.
Bloody blue house what’re they playing at!?, the green house batsman thought to himself.
“Here I come!” Ciel exclaimed, preparing to throw the ball.
But look at the puny arms on that bowler…his ball won’t amount to much. He won’t get anywhere against me, a green house regular five years running!
Ciel then pitched the ball.
Hmph. I knew it! A slow ball.
The ball then collided to the ground and bounced at an intense velocity towards the batsman’s face. The batsman let out a shout from surprise and deflected the ball away with the bat in his hands, making it bounce over to Clayton, scoring no points for green house.
“Hey, watch where you’re bowling!” the batsman chided. “Well…it was a dot ball, so at least we get to have another go.”
“I do beg your pardon.” Ciel bowed to the older student in apology.
“It’s fine.”
Ciel then pitched the ball, causing the same affect to occur. The batsman deflected the ball quickly before it could hit his face.
“Again at the face!?” Edward exclaimed.
The ball soared behind the batsman, being caught into the hands of a blue house player.
“Out!” the announcer announced.
“Wha-!?” the batsman exclaimed.
“I do beg your pardon.” Ciel bowed in apology again.
“Now just a minute!! I was only avoiding a dangerous ball just now. First off, bowling so carelessly twice in a row is-”
Odd? Something hasn’t been right since this brat started bowling. Wait, hang on-…This array of fieldsmen…is odd too. It can’t be!? His bowling aims for my head. The ball strikes the bat I instinctively put up, only to be caught by one of the fieldsmen surrounding me. Was this really their strategy from the start!?
“How cowardly can you be!? We misjudged you, blue house! Will you really resort to foul play to win!?” the green house players shouted over one another in anger.
“Foul play?” Ciel questioned. “When did that happen? Who did such a thing?”
“What…!?” Edward exclaimed.
“A bowler delivers a ball toward the wicket. The batsman hits the ball in front of the wicket in order to defend it. The ball passes in the vicinity of the batsman as a matter of course. On this occasion, the ball traveled a path in the vicinity of the batsman’s face due to my poor control. The batsman, ‘for some reason or other,’ swung and hit that ball into the air and a fieldsman who ‘just happened’ to be near the ball, caught it before it hit the ground. Doesn’t that make this a ‘simple’ out?”
“T-True. It doesn’t violate the laws of cricket, but…”
“How can you call yourselves English gentlemen!?” a random green house student shouted.
“H-He’s right! It’s not cricket! It’s not cricket!” random members of the crowd roared over one another. “It’s not cricket! It’s not cricket! It’s not cricket!”
“Ciel…” Elizabeth spoke to herself as the servants worried behind her while Red drank her tea in boredom.
“Guess they figured out just how evil the young master is, huh?” Baldroy spoke to himself.
“Yep.” Red responded before taking a sip from her tea.
“Quiet!!” Greenhill roared, silencing everyone and catching their attention. “I won’t stand for heckling during this sacred match! And how can you, in good faith, call Phantomhive a coward!? Are you louts blind to this!?”
The prefect grabbed a hold of the young noble’s wrist, holding up his hand that was blistered and calloused.
“This hand tells the tale.” Greenhill continued. “The tale of his efforts. And his persistence. Bowling to accurately target a batsman’s head is easier said than done. He must’ve put in a good deal of training to make it this far. This small lad, who hails from the unathletic blue house, has gone to these great lengths! Do you understand what that means!? The owl has come with might and main to hunt the lion!”
The green house players gasped in surprise while the blue house players narrowed their eyes at the opposing team. The crowd murmured in surprise to the strategy, even Elizabeth and the servants.
“Does everyone overreact this much…?” Red whispered to herself.
“Is green house so weak that we’d fall to one little trick!?” Greenhill demanded in question.
“No, sir!!” the green house players responded back.
“So let’s bring ‘em down with everything we’ve got!!”
“Yes, sir!!”
The green house members raced over to their line of who will be up next to bat as the crowd cheered on for the game to continue. Greenhill then turned to Bluewer with a smirk.
“I’m glad to have the chance to take on the real you before graduation, Bluewer!” Greenhill nodded to the other prefect in respect.
“…Thank you. I share your sentiment, Greenhill.” Bluewer nodded in return as he and his team returned to their positions.
“Right then. Play!!” Ciel yelled as he pitched the ball to the next batsman.
If you know where the bowler’s aiming, it’s easy- it’s just going to be a high leg side ball., the batsman thought as he prepared to swing at the oncoming ball. I’ll pull it hard!
He then swung the bat but widened his eyes in shock as the ball dove low.
It’s low off side…!?
The batsman quickly swung the bat low managing to deflect the ball away but not score any points.
“Why, that little…!” he commented to himself while the young noble narrowed his eye at him.
The batsman assumes that “the ball’s coming for my head” and braces for a high leg side delivery. When they’re that tense, it’s virtually impossible for them to react to one coming in low off side. No penalties are assessed when a bowl strikes the batsman…moreover, “there does not exist a bowler who would ever bowl a dangerous ball by design.” Such gentlemanly agreements will drive you into a corner. Defend and you’re caught. Attack and you’re bowled. This is…over-the-edge tactics!
The batsman instinctively raised the bat to defend his face from the oncoming ball, causing it to deflect off the bat and land into the hands of a blue house player.
“Caught! Out!” the announcer announced.
So far, I’ve held them scoreless and secured two outs. I’ve got one bowl left. The next batsman up is…
Edward walked up into position, readying himself for whatever Ciel had in store.
“Fight me, Ciel!!” Edward shouted. (Wow, someone’s bringing 2018-2019 into the Victorian era so soon…)
“Here I come!!” Ciel yelled back as he pitched the ball.
Edward quickly turned his form to adjust the angle to where he’d hit the ball.
“Too slow!!” he shouted as he smacked the ball, sending it into the air at an intense velocity over to the field.
“A six!!” the announcer announced as Edward had the chance to bat again.
“Whoo boy! ‘Course his ball got hammered.” Baldroy sighed.
“Uhh…Should I be happy…or sad…?” Elizabeth muttered to herself in puzzlement.
“Oh? But the young master…” Mey-Rin trailed off as she lifted her glasses to see better.
“He’s smiling.” Red finished for the maid with a smile of her own.
This strategy is impotent against fearless mental strength and superior dynamic vision. I knew it wouldn’t hold Edward back. Well, that and I was the one bowling., Ciel thought to himself as the green house now had ninety-seven points. Everything that’s happened so far is all well within our expectations…the rest is-
Ciel’s thoughts were interrupted when a large hand ruffled his hair.
“Good job, Phantomhive.” Bluewer smiled to the young student before changing his expression into one of seriousness, rolling up his sleeves to reveal his forearms (NO! MY ONE TRUE WEAKNESS IN GUYS!!! I know I’m not the only one in this XD). “Leave the rest to me.”
Bluewer then prepared himself to pitch while Ciel dashed over behind Edward with mitts covering his hands so he could catch the ball.
“It’s been a year since the last time, Midford.” The blue house prefect commented.
“I scored thirty runs on you back then. And I’ll turn the tables here all by myself.” Edward responded.
“Article six of Weston College’s school regulations- ‘Students must make every effort to devote themselves to their studies and training daily.’ So this year, we will be taking the victory for ourselves!”
Bluewer then flung the ball high up into the air to where everyone lost sight of it. Some of the crowd murmured in confusion at the action while others laughed.
“He’s all show!” a member in the crowd shouted through his laughter. “Just ‘cos you got smarts doesn’t mean you oughta try your hand at sports too!”
Bluewer only turned around and walked away slowly, thinking back to how his and his team’s effort to win the tournament began.
It’s been six years since I enrolled here. In all that time, I’ve only ever gotten a taste of blue house being last. At some point, that sight just became the norm for bookish blue house. But one student alone stood apart from us. Smaller and weaker than all the rest he set his mind to one thing: winning. And he continued to endeavour for the sake of victory. When was it that I became accustomed to defeat? As long as I excel in academics, I’ll be all right coming in last everywhere else. That was a lie. I want to win. I want to be victorious in this, my last school tournament as blue house prefect. All I could do was make precise calculations and come up with detailed plans and train as hard as he did. Just that…that’s all there is to it., Bluewer thought as he adjusted his glasses just as the ball plummeted into the sticks behind Edward, shocking him, the crowd, and green house players.
“A…Amazing!! Whoa!? What was that!? How is that even possible!?” the crowd shouted over one another as they cheered.
The Phantomhive servants and Soma cheered loudly while Elizabeth was still torn for who she should cheer for.
“Yes!!!” Red screamed as she jumped up and down for the blue house team.
“You did it! Bang on, house captain!!” Koward screamed with tears of joy.
“Did you see that green house!?” Clayton shouted over at the other team.
“The ball…fell out of the sky…?” Edward muttered to himself.
“It just took a simple calculation of trajectory.” Bluewer spoke over to the green house team.
“H…How exactly are we s’posed to hit a ball like that…?” the green house team murmured.
Without even a hint of deviation to its straight path, the ball nose dives right out of the sky, hunting the wicket. It’s just like a…
Hunter in the Dark!
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Chapter 86
The headmaster has total control over this school. If we can talk to him, we should be able to get some kind of lead on what’s become of Derrick and the others! I’m counting on you! You hear me, Sebastian!?, Ciel thought as another blue house player struck out.
“Out!” announced the announcer.
“Uh…Huh!? What happened to the cue…?” wondered the blue house player.
“The music’s stopped…where did Mister Michaelis go!?” Bluewer anxiously exclaimed.
“To the facilities?” Ciel suggested.
“Again!!?” Clayton yelled.
“Ten outs. Switch off!” the announcer announced as the score for blue house was now sixty.
“I just knew we wouldn’t get far without our cheering section…” Clayton trailed off.
“Indeed…” Ciel nodded in agreement before thinking, We’re on our own now, so it’s up to us to fight it out.
Sebastian was currently dashing to the balcony where the headmaster was at. Upon arrival, he hid behind a corner and peered around, his eyes widening.
He is not here!?, he thought as he looked further around. Where could he possibly have-
The demon’s eyes widened even further when he noticed the headmaster out on the edge of the field, talking to a couple.
When did he get all the way over there!?
Sebastian then dashed off to find the headmaster again.
“All right, you chaps! Time to bat!! First order of business is evening out the score!!” Greenhill ordered his team as they got ready to bat.
“Yes sir!!” a green house player responded.
I can’t say I’m exactly thrilled about this, but it’s looking like that strategy is our only option., Ciel thought before he striking a strange pose just as the pitcher threw the ball.
Hmph! What a weak ball., the greenhouse player thought as he smirked, turning his head before doing a double take at a distraction, making him hit the ball incorrectly. Damn…!! I hit it high up in the air!?
“I’ve got it…WAH!” a blue house player shouted before the ball bounced out of his hands and into another player’s hands.
“Blue house got an out. Talk about lucky! Didn’t it seem a little like the batsman froze for a second?” The crowd spoke over one another.
“How could you let that pathetic ball get the better of you!?” a green house player scolded as he took the bat from his blushing team member.
“S-Sorry…” he mumbled.
“I’ll give it a right good smack!!” the green house player exclaimed as he turned to swing but froze up at the last second, his face turning red just as the ball hit the bat and wobbled into the air weakly.
“Not again!?” Edward exclaimed.
“What on earth is the matter with you lot!?” Greenhill demanded as the sheepish player walked up to him in apology.
Ciel smirked as he thought back to his conversation with Sebastian and Red.
Flashback…
“What?” Red asked, both her and Ciel looking at Sebastian in confusion.
“You want me to invite Lau on the fourth of June?” Ciel asked, resting his chin on his fist in an armchair.
“Yes. I am certain their support will prove to be an asset to the team.” Sebastian smirked.
“An asset?” Red questioned, raising an eyebrow.
“How do you figure?” Ciel asked soon after just as his butler smiled.
“Well…” Sebastian trailed off, whispering into his master’s ear.
“Wha-!?” Ciel exclaimed, blushing immensely as Red looked at him in confusion. “I can’t imagine it’ll be as effective as all that…”
“I would not call it refined, but it should work like a charm against the other team, isolated from the outside world as they are. Heh…but it may yet be too mature a ploy for you and Miss Red, young master.”
“You realize I’m older than your master, right Sebastian?” Red asked before grinning cluelessly. “Besides, I’m sure it isn’t that bad.”
End of Flashback…
Is everyone tense ‘cos this is the championship match?, Edward asked himself as he prepared to bat. I have to set a good example here as the prefect’s fag.
“Let’s do this!” he shouted, causing the pitcher to throw the ball at him.
There’s nothing special about his bowling. Why did the other fellows mishit…? This ball’s not getting away from me!!
Edward prepared to swing but froze in place, gasping in shock. In the last second, he managed to turn the bat and hit the ball, but only managed to get another turn to bat. Greenhill and Elizabeth stared in shock at the blond.
“Not you too! That was a golden opportunity!!” Greenhill reprimanded.
“I-I’m sorry!!” Edward nearly shrieked out as his face was flaming red.
“What’s happened to green house!? Don’t tell me they’re relaxing ‘cos they’re up against blue house!!” The crowd roared.
Damn…! What in blazes is going on!?, Edward thought as he looked behind Clayton to where Lau sat with Ran-Mao on his lap and many women in minidresses stood behind him. In front of them, Red was in a tight-fitting black and white Chinese minidress, her hair straightened and makeup perfectly done as she laid in an alluring pose. What is that brazen harem of women and Miss Red doing here!?! Did they distract everyone!? F-For ladies to expose so much leg…Th-Th-Th-Th-Th-They should be ashamed!!!
THIS IS COMPLETE HUMILIATION!!!! HOW WAS I TALKED INTO DOING THIS!? Red thought as she kept a straight face.
The pitcher threw the ball again.
No! I have to concentrate!!, Edward thought but got distracted from Red looking at him with a smirk, causing him to have blood gush out of his nose as he jerked the bat down just as the ball hit it.
“Out!” the announcer announced just as a blue house player caught the ball.
“Oh no! Young master Edward has been…” Paula trailed off.
“What’s gotten into my brother…?” Elizabeth wondered aloud.
What a remarkably potent strategy!, Ciel thought as he kept his sight away from the display. Luckily, the other students of blue house possess poor eyesight and have failed to notice the true nature of their success. But…I wonder how successful it will be against that Greenhill…
Greenhill marched up to bat with a frown as he shouted, “Let’s go!”
Just as he was about to swing, Greenhill let out a sound of surprise as he blushed gawked at the improper display. The flew past him, hitting the sticks and getting an out.
“Out!” the announcer announced just as blood also gushed out of Greenhill’s nose.
It proved most effective on him…, Ciel thought as he kept his line of sight away. It’s unbelievable that such an absurd scheme has gotten us this far…leave it to a devil and his thorough knowledge of human desires to come up with a plan like this one. If we can hold them to no runs this way-
“I am telling you to leave.” An Englishman yelled, catching Ciel’s attention.
“Ohh…I English no good understand!” Lau shrugged, smiling cluelessly with the women around him. Red had vanished before the man arrived.
“You cannot attend a cricket match in such indecent attire!!”
Damn! Foiled already! But it doesn’t seem like green house raised the cry about it…so who was it?, Ciel thought to himself.
“Hmph! What those cowards have running through their thick skulls is only too obvious!” Maurice yelled to himself in hiding, being guilty of a tattletale. “Still, how can they all turn into mooning idiots over a bunch of women!? Especially that ~CENSORSHIPPP~!”
“Ten overs! Switch!” The announcer announced. Blue house still having sixty points and green house now having fifty-two points.
“We’ve barely avoided getting the tables turned on us.” Clayton commented.
“But they’re catching up faster than we thought they would.” Ciel responded. “We have to score more runs in the next innings or else…”
Sebastian had finally arrived at the spot the headmaster was at…but currently wasn’t at.
He disappeared again!?, the demon thought before gasping and catching sight of the man at the other side of the stadium and taking off again. He is all the way over there already!?
“It’s the first half of the second innings!! We’ll keep our losses to a minimum!!” Greenhill shouted, blushing with the other team players as they all tried to get the displayed image out of their minds.
“Yes sir!!” The team responded back.
Bluewer then walked onto the field, ready to bat. He then crouched, firmly holding onto the bat, having it touch the ground.
“What kind of form is that!?” Edward exclaimed. “He’s holding his bat with a reverse grip!?”
“You there! Hold your bat properly!” The announcer ordered the prefect.
“No, this will do.” Bluewer responded, thinking back to the strategy he learned a few days earlier.
The green house player then pitched the ball. Bluewer twisted the bat just as the ball arrived and hitting it far into the field.
“Two runs!” the announcer announced.
“It worked!” Bluewer exclaimed as the next blue house member got up to bat, now recognizing this technique as a special move.
The Sword in the Stone!
“Three runs! Two runs!” The announcer announced when Clayton and Koward batted. “Ten overs. Switch!”
Blue house now had one hundred and five points.
“We did manage to score, but this paltry lead is nothing to green house.” Clayton told Ciel as they were with the team in the resting quarters.
“For this strategy, I’d say the result was plenty effective.” The young noble responded.
“There’s only one more inning to go, and green house is at bat! Can we really pull out the win with what points we have!?”
“We can curb their runs as long as Bluewer and I have our tactics.”
“But it will work only once. So everyone, please find a way to stand your ground until then!” Bluewer ordered.
“We will!!” the team exclaimed.
A little later into the final inning…
“A boundary for green house for four!” the announcer announced.
“Sorry, he hit my ball.” A blue house player apologized.
“Don’t worry. You did your best!” Bluewer reassured.
Green house now had ninety-one points.
“After eight overs, they’re at six outs…they’ve closed the gap quite a bit.” Clayton commented aloud.
“Yes. We’ve got to hang onto our lead in the last two overs no matter what.” Bluewer responded as he walked over to Ciel. “Next bowler up…we’re counting on you, Phantomhive!”
“Right!!” Ciel nodded. “You’ve saved me for this moment all along! I most certainly shan’t make you regret it!”
As Ciel got ready to pitch, his servants, fiancée, Red, and Soma were cheering for him.
“Oh! Ciel’s bowling!” Elizabeth exclaimed.
“Young master, give it your best!!” The servants cheered.
“Ciel!” Red shouted, now in her previous yellow dress, catching the young earl’s attention. “Bonne chance!!! (1)”
Ciel’s eye widened a bit at the red head’s use of the French language and smirked, figuring she was trying to learn how to speak it.
“Are they havin’ us on, lettin’ that runt bowl in this big match…?” Cheslock wondered aloud.
Ciel then struck a pose, causing the team to nod and move forward.
“Wh-What’re they up to?” Cheslock stuttered while his house’s prefect smiled beside him.
Most of the blue house players stood behind the green house batsman, causing the crowd to wonder what they were up to.
“Nearly all of the outfielders are positioned around the batsman!? How do they plan on defending like that!? Green house will be able to hit the ball to wherever they please!!” the crowd shouted over one another.
“It’s just one trick after another with this lot…are they messing us about!?” the batsman shouted as the crowd murmured.
Ciel only smirked in response.
How odd!, Sebastian thought as he ran around the building. He has me chasing him, but he continues to elude my grasp! Furthermore, his movements are those of a man intent on evasion…Impossible! Has he noticed my presence? In that case…I shall hunt him down without reserve!
Sebastian, while using his demonic abilities, hopped over each stair’s rail and flipped high above the headmaster. As he dove down towards the man, he stretched his hand out to grab a hold of him, but only grabbed a hold of clothes.
“Wha-!?” the demon exclaimed as he landed, still having a hold of the clothes but no headmaster in sight.
He vanished!?
1.) Good Luck!!!
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Chapter 85
After red house’s defeat, everyone in the stadium decided to eat lunch while they waited for the other two house’s game to be finished. Baldroy had just sat down the new dish for Soma, Elizabeth, McMillan, Red, Mey-Rin, Finnian, Lau, and Ran-Mao to eat.
“Mmm, delicious! You never let me down, Baldo!” Elizabeth exclaimed as she took a bite into the slice of meat pie.
“Aww, I’m not that great!” Baldroy replied sheepishly, scratching the back of his head while McMillan ate his slice. “But I feel like that pie is different from the one I made?”
“Hoh! Hoh! Hoh!” Tanaka chirped in his small form.
“I wonder where Red took Mister Baldo’s pie?” Finnian whispered to Mey-Rin.
“I’m not sure, but we were saved from imminent danger, we were!” Mey-Rin whispered back.
Red smirked at the two while she ate a few bone biscuits.
“Miss Red, aren’t you going to eat any of this pie like the others?” Soma asked, offering her a plate while holding a sandwich in his other hand.
Red smiled at the prince and replied, “I’m sorry, Soma, I’m a semi-vegetarian. I can’t eat that.”
“Eh?” Was the only thing that came out of the group’s mouth at that moment.
“It means I hardly eat any red meat. The only meat I eat more frequently is chicken. However, there are those that don’t eat red meat at all.”
“Oh.”
“By the way, how is your stomach faring, Prince Soma?” Lau asked, changing the topic.
“Nn?” Soma asked, his mouth full from a bite of his sandwich.
“It seems the stomachaches of the red house eleven were caused by their teatime repast!” McMillan exclaimed.
After swallowing his food, Soma proudly replied, “I’m dandy. I have the divine protection of Shiva, god of good health!”
“Ohhh? How convenient. Maybe I should convert to Hinduism too?” Lau questioned more to himself.
On a nearby balcony, Sebastian watched the group’s interaction.
“I had heard people from India have strong stomachs…but I did not think they were this tough.” Sebastian said to himself before hearing the deafening cheers in a nearby stadium. “It appears that the match over there is livening up as well.”
While Sebastian watched the game of the other two houses, Finnian took notice of a large bag beside Red.
“Red, what’s that bag beside you?” Finnian asked.
Red grinned as she held up the bag and said, “My winnings.”
“Ah, yes. It turns out that Miss Red won a large sum of money for betting on the little lord’s team.” Lau elaborated.
“Red!” Elizabeth exclaimed in a scolding tone.
Red only shrugged as she replied, “This’ll help pay off my uncle’s taxes on the shop for this month.”
“Only this month!? Why so much!?” exclaimed Mey-Rin.
“Well, the shop is also a home for my uncle and I, so we have to pay for living expenses to stay in our home. We also have to pay for coffins to be specially imported for certain families. We do cremations as well, therefore the urns have to be made. Finally, there’s certain chemicals we need for preservation of corpses.”
“Yeesh, so much for a place.” Baldroy muttered.
“How do you afford new clothes?” Finnian asked with wide eyes.
“A lot of times, families donate their deceased relative’s clothes to us. After that, I use dresses and other fabric to make new designs.”
“Wow!” Elizabeth exclaimed with a bright smile. “You should go see Miss Nina Hopkins, she tailors all of mine and Ciel’s outfit.”
“Funny you mention that name.” Red chuckled. “I actually started making clothes under her mentorship. Maybe we’ll see each other at her shop one day.”
“Maybe!”
With the blue house team…
“Our opponent in the final is green house, the absolute champions.” Koward informed the team. “Can we really win?”
“Let’s win this!” Ciel exclaimed. “Not just for us, but also for red house, who were regretfully eliminated!”
“Phantomhive…” Clayton murmured in surprise before everyone nodded and stood up with determined look.
“Yes! For red house too!” Bluewer said as he marched out the door with the team in tow.
Blue house and green house were now standing on the field, facing each other with seriousness.
“The final match- the Sapphire Owls versus the Green Lions- will now begin!” The announcer announced, making the crowd cheer.
“It’s as if men are playing against boys.” An older man chuckled to his wife, who sat near the Phantomhive group.
“Will it even be a game worth watching?” the man’s wife asked while chuckling.
Elizabeth had an angry look on her face at the rude couple. Before she could comment, a certain girl beat her to it.
“Oi! Shove it, you old gits!” Red yelled over at the couple.
“I beg your pardon?” the old woman asked in surprise from the red head’s outburst.
“This game will be worth watching more than your husband’s toupée!”
“How rude!”
“Be rude to young students, expect rudeness in return, lady!”
“Easy there, lil’ lady. Let’s just enjoy the game.” Baldroy said as he gently pushed Red back down into her seat.
“Cieeel, do your best!!” Elizabeth yelled out to her fiancé.
“Gah! Lizzie!!” Edward exclaimed in betrayal from his sister’s cheering.
“That attitude is unbecoming, Midford.” Greenhill commented.
“We’ll give you a thorough thrashing!” Edward growled out to Ciel, grinding his teeth.
“…Do go easy on us.” Ciel replied back sarcastically.
“We’ll come at you with everything we’ve got.” Greenhill spoke to Bluewer.
“We are honoured.” Bluewer replied monotonously.
“Blue house bats first!” The announcer announced as the players got into position. “Play!”
“Now then, time to put my back into cheering for my team as their coach.” Sebastian smirked as he turned to the orchestra before him. “Now everyone, together if you please.”
The orchestra opened up to their music sheet just as Sebastian heard a rude comment from an audience member.
“I see that green house cannot even afford to enjoy a little music.” The demonic butler said as he tapped his baton on the music stand. “First piece. ‘Radetzky March.’”
Following Sebastian’s lead, the trumpet players started playing just as the pitcher for green house pitched. Koward squeaked in fright as the ball came at him and swung his bat, hitting the ball at a far distance.
“H-He hit the ball-!? They got four runs just like that!!” The crowd gasped.
“That was pure luck!” Greenhill called to the pitcher as the next blue house player came up to bat. “Pull yourself together!”
“Right!” The pitcher nodded then threw the ball.
The blue house player swung the bat, sending the ball far away.
“What-!?” Greenhill and Edward exclaimed.
“Three runs!” The announcer announced just as a green house player managed to get the ball.
He was swinging in such weak form, but he managed to hit Heinz’s explosive fastball. How could he do that!?, Edward thought as he watched Clayton come up to bat. Looking closely at Clayton’s face, his eyes widened.
“Wha-!? His eyes are…they’re closed-!?” Edward managed to get out before going back to his thoughts.
What’s going on!? How can he manage to hit a ball like that!?
Ciel smirked at Edward’s current state as he remembered teaching the team to be able to hit the ball on cue to Sebastian’s music. Despite Bluewer saying it wasn’t fair, he agreed to the strategy once realizing that the team is at a disadvantage in strength.
Player after player managed to score more runs by following the strategy they were taught, causing Edward to look around the stadium to try to come up with an idea of how they were able to score greatly. He then spotted the orchestra, finally catching on.
“Now I get it…” Edward spoke aloud.
“So you picked up on it too?” Greenhill wondered. “They…really worked hard!”
“It’s true. I can’t condone their using music, but- EEH!?” Edward yelled in shock, causing the prefect to look at him in question.
Th-This man trusts people too much. That’s even more reason why I don’t want him to know about this trick., Edward thought as he suddenly got an idea.
“Greenhill. Will you let me bowl next?”
The blue house team looked at the scoreboard, seeing as they now have forty points.
“We scored forty runs! And we’re still batting!” Clayton exclaimed in surprise.
“Let’s score more runs while we still can.” Ciel said before spotting Edward in place of the pitcher.
“You’ve resorted to dirty tricks no gentleman should stoop to…” Edward spoke before yelling and pitching, “I will not tolerate it!!”
The crowd gasped in surprise at Edward’s next move.
Rushing Violet Vapour, Purple Burnout!!
Edward then pitched with such a great velocity, that the ball passed the batter just as he swung.
“Bowled!! Out!!” The announcer yelled just as everyone gasped in surprise and making Red spit out her tea.
“That’s the ball Cheslock of purple house bowled!!” A student exclaimed in the crowd. “How can a green house player bowl it?!”
“That louse, when did he…?” Cheslock wondered as Violet was drawing in his sketchbook.
Edward sighed as he looking up at the sky, remembering his past.
I’m…ordinary. When I was ten…I was beaten black-and-blue by my kid sister who’d just begun to learn to fence. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t frustrated. But I didn’t lose hope. A true genius was before my eyes. My genius of a little sister was the best example for her ordinary elder brother. This school is the same. Talents in all fields gather here and work hard. That’s why I can do my best too…so that I can come a little closer to the geniuses I admire., Edward thought before an image of Red flashed in his mind. However…would I ever be able to make her happy?
Edward managed to keep bowling out more blue house players, making Greenhill smile at him and think, Ordinary…that’s what he must be thinking. He genuinely respects the talents of others without envy and dedicates himself so his strengths can approach those of the geniuses. Single-minded respect. That’s your talent. You’re a genius.
“Out!” The announcer announced.
The speed and height of this ball changes dramatically after it bounces…it’ll be impossible to hit it with the cue that’s given before the ball hits the ground. I’ve smashed up the orchestra batting trick!, Edward thought with a smirk.
I did not think he would see through the trick this fast. Well done., Sebastian thought as he kept leading the orchestra. Then let us switch to our next scheme.
“Hey, look over there!” A random student shouted in the crowd. “It’s the headmaster!”
Sebastian eyes widened as he turned to look in the direction of that student. With his demonic vision, Sebastian noticed Agares standing behind a man in a top hat watching the game.
So that is the headmaster!, Sebastian thought as he turned to where his master was, seeking approval to investigate. Ciel, in return, nodded. “McMillan.”
“Yes?” the young student responded in question.
“You take care of the rest.”
“Eh!?” Was all McMillan let out as Sebastian handed the baton over to him. “Wait! Mister Michaelis!!?”
Sebastian then dashed away, leaving the student to lead the orchestra in his place.
You’ve finally made your appearance, Headmaster! Capturing you will solve everything., Ciel thought as he smirked at his butler. Go get him! Sebastian!
Radetzky’s March by Johann Strauss Sr.
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Chapter 84
The fourth of June arrived the next day, where blue house’s cricket team faced their opponent.
“Well then, the first match of the inter-house cricket tournament- The Sapphire Owls of blue house versus The Scarlet Foxes of red house- will now begin!” the announcer announced as the entire audience cheered.
“What unfortunate luck for you to be pitted against red house at the outset, Lawrence.” Redmond smirked as he stared at the other prefect.
Bluewer’s only reply was, “Hmph.”
“I may lose to you in chess, but I won’t lose at cricket!” Soma grinned at Ciel.
“We’ll see about that.” Ciel smirked in reply.
A referee walked onto the field and flipped a coin to decide which team will take the field. Once the coin landed back in his hand, the referee flipped it onto the back of his other hand and looked at it.
“Red house fields first! Blue house, change into your vests. In this tournament, each match will consist of two innings of twenty overs maximum!” the referee announced, making all the players move into their positions on the field. “Play!”
“Soma Asman Kadar. I’m a right arm.” Soma introduced himself to the blue house prefect, tossing the ball around his hands.
“Whenever you’re ready.” Bluewer replied, ignoring the cheers of the students from his house in the audience.
“Here I come!” Soma shouted as he pitched the ball with intense speed, making Bluewer’s eyes widen.
What velocity!, Bluewer thought to himself as he tried to swing at the ball, only for it to have passed him and break through several wooden sticks behind him.
“Out!” the referee announced, making blue house students in the audience shout in despair.
Bluewer sighed as he left his position, Clayton coming in and taking his place to bat.
He’s…as skilled at cricket as he made himself out to be, it would seem., Ciel thought as he watched Soma about to pitch.
“Here I go!” Soma exclaimed.
“Come on then, Kadar!” Clayton replied.
Soma then pitched the ball with the same intense speed as before, however Clayton managed to hit the ball, sending it into the air.
“Fellows, it’s up in the air!” The announcer announced.
“I was forced to hit it.” Clayton grumbled in irritation.
The ball then began to fall towards the field quickly before landing into Redmond’s hands.
“Nice fly ball.” Redmond commented as he kissed the ball, causing the ladies in the audience to squeal in delight.
“Caught!! Two outs!” the referee announced.
“Dammit…!!” Clayton sighed in frustration as he left the field and for another team member to take position to bat.
“Say, let’s pick up the pace!!” Soma exclaimed as he pitched the ball with the same speed but with a curve to it, making the blue house student squeak in fright and lift the bat to try to shield himself, accidentally hitting the ball and send it out into the outer field.
“What luck! The ball fell!” The announcer announced.
“Yes!” Clayton and Bluewer shouted.
The blue house student then dashed across towards the sticks just as one of the red house students managed to get the ball and toss it to another player, who threw it at a stick, knocking it down.
“Run out!” the referee announced.
“Aw, shucks.” Bard sighed as he rubbed the back of his head. “This is no good…”
“How come the blue house players are leaving the field so fast?” Finnian asked the older male.
The servants from the Phantomhive manor came to see their young master play, all were sitting on a blanket together with Red sitting in between Finnian and Mey-Rin. Elizabeth and McMillan sat in chairs under an umbrella as Paula, Elizabeth’s maid, stood behind them.
“It’s a shame that Snake couldn’t come along.” Red sighed as she held her parasol above her to protect her from the sun. (Melanoma? More like Mela-no-ma’am! As someone that’s pale as heck, I can relate to this.)
“Someone did need to keep an eye on the manor and Pluto.” Finnian replied.
“If the wicket behind the batsman’s put down, he’s been bowled, and it means he’s out on the spot.” Bard explained to Finnian. “If the batsman hits the ball, but it’s caught before it bounces on the ground, he’s also out. If the batsman’s wicket is put down while he’s not in his crease, he’s out then too.”
“So those were all terrible plays we saw…” Finnian mumbled sadly.
“Just how pathetic a bunch of sissies is blue house made up of anyway…?” Mey-Rin wondered.
“What an awful thing to say, miss maid!!” McMillan exclaimed.
“That’s right! We have to bear up and cheer our hearts out!” Elizabeth exclaimed as she shouted out towards the field. “Ciel! Give it all you’ve got! I know you can do it!”
“The young master ain’t even playin’ yet!” Bard commented, making Red chuckle. He then turned to the red head with a question. “Oi, Miss Red, why’re you wearing that dress? I didn’t take you to be one for wearing frilly stuff.”
“Oh, this is Lizzie’s. She gave it to me because apparently my clothes were apparently too dark to be worn under the sun with the heat and all.” Red replied before looking back out at the field. “Seems Clayton and Bluewer are off the field now.”
“Now that you mention it, why’re there only two blue house players on the field?” Mey-Rin asked.
“We made the trip here to cheer for the young master!” Finnian complained.
“Don’t tell me you two don’t know the rules at all?” Bard questioned.
The two servants chuckled nervously and scratched the back of their heads in guilt.
“Nope. And Me neither.” Red commented.
“Cricket is a game played between two teams of eleven players. Some say baseball’s modeled on it. Although baseball’s the more minor sport outside my good ol’ US of A.”
As Bard explained the game to the trio, Red began to smile and think to herself before being interrupted by Finnian and Mey-Rin’s shout.
“So long!! Five days for one match!?” the two exclaimed.
“Right? So today, an inning can end not only by the number of outs but by the number of bowls too…it’s kinda like a special rule.” Bard explained. “A match goes two innings, with each innings restricted to twenty total overs, so the teams change sides after ten overs (sixty bowls). So the whole tournament’ll be over by the end of the day. So don’t worry.”
“I’d like to visit America one day. I mean the century is almost over, so who knows what I can possibly miss out on?”
“Ya ain’t missin’ much about America, Miss Red. I would know.” Bard replied with a sigh before continuing with another explanation about the game. “Since cricket takes so long to play, there’re intervals for teatime every two hours.”
“My, how refined!” Mey-Rin said happily.
“And as the Phantomhive chef, I even baked an extra-special meat pie!” Bard grinned as he held up a picnic basket. “See!?”
Upon opening the basket, Mey-Rin and Finnian screeched in fright at the sight of the possibly inedible dish. Red merely stared in shock and horror.
I know Ciel said that Bard’s dishes sometimes came out as a disaster…BUT THIS IS A COMPLETE NIGHTMARE!, Red thought to herself as she tried her best to not gag.
“Th-This is…” Finnian muttered.
“If Lady Elizabeth eats this…” Mey-Rin continued.
“So hang in there till lunch!” Bard cheered cluelessly.
“Wh…Wh-Wh-What do we do!?” Finnian exclaimed in a whisper to which Mey-Rin replied with incoherent words.
“I’ve got an idea!” Red whispered quietly. “You two distract him and I’ll…”
As the three of them devised a plan quietly, a certain demonic butler sighed in slight frustration.
“Oh, dear me. What is that lot getting up to over there, I wonder…?” Sebastian questioned himself before his thought process was interrupted.
“Ten overs.” The referee called out.
“Oh my. Already time to switch off, I see…but to have managed a mere twenty-one runs is just…”
As Soma managed to hit the ball with the cricket bat, Clayton ran in the direction to where the ball was about to land.
“Catch it, Clayton!” Bluewer ordered.
“Understood!!” Clayton replied before the ball hit him right in the face, knocking him down.
“Clayton!” some of the blue house team members called out.
“Leave it to the bookworms of blue house!” a red house audience member laughed out with other red house students. “They’ll never get anywhere like that!”
“What!?” Red exclaimed, overhearing them. “Haven’t you gits any manners!?”
“Miss Red!” Finnian exclaimed, trying to calm down the female.
“Well!?” she shouted again, shaking her fist. “Say that again to my face, you limp noodles!!”
Certainly without a doubt that Miss Red has been spending too much time with certain reapers…, Sebastian thought as his master ran and caught the bouncing ball on the field.
“Damn!” Ciel exclaimed as he threw it to a blue house player that was standing beside the sticks across from where the person bats.
“Three runs!” the referee called out.
“Looks like it’s my turn.” Redmond stated as he fixed his low ponytail into a high one. “Ready when you are.”
All women from the crowd squealed in delight from his appearance except for Elizabeth, who was still cheering for Ciel, and Red, who was still yelling at the red house students from earlier.
“Next up is Redmond.” Bluewer commented through gritted teeth. “Brace yourself Koward!”
“Right!” Koward replied as he pitched the ball to the red house prefect that was ready to bat.
As the ball soared through the air slowly, audience members shouted their comments and questions about the speed of the ball and why is was supposedly “lagging”.
No. This is their strategy. Balls from a fast bowler are difficult to bat, but striking them usually results in long hits. Slow balls are the opposite- he ventured a slow ball to prevent a long hit! However-!, Redmond thought as he waved the bat up and down as audience members began to wonder what he was doing. The speed of the ball doesn’t matter in the slightest to me!!
Crimson Rose Tornado!!
Redmond then spun around and, with all of his might, smacked the ball high into the air, sending it out into the outer field. Audience members cheered and Viscount Druitt yelled in joy.
“I wouldn’t expect anything less of my dear nephew…!!” Viscount shouted with a rose in his hand.
Red, overhearing Viscount’s comment, shuddered from spotting him in the crowd.
A slog engineered to fly even farther due to the centrifugal force created by spinning, hm?, Sebastian thought to himself as he crossed his arms. Still, to be able to hit the ball squarely at its midpoint while revolving like that…is most impressive.
“Come on then. I’ll take any ball you’ve got.” Redmond smirked. “The dance of this game has only just begun.”
Bluewer let out a sound of shock as he shouted, “Field deeper!!”
“Right!” a blue house team member responded.
In the distance away from the field, a man smiled as he watched the game being played out.
“My, my. What a very much one-sided match…but you do still possess that card, don’t you?” The man asked as he is revealed to be Lau. “Hmm…my lord?”
“Say.” A random man said as he walked out from the shadows. “Give me a red card!”
“Awww, my good man. Going with the sure bet, I see!” Lau exclaimed as he handed the man a red card while standing in front of a large cart with a blackboard, taking in many men’s bets of which team house would win.
“Red for me as well!” another man exclaimed.
“Give me one over here too!!” another man shouted.
“Yes, yes. Be right with you!” Lau replied happily. “Come, come! These festivities are held only once a year! Aren’t there any gallant hearts who’ll put their money on blue house, the long shot!?”
“Goodness…gambling on sacred school grounds…” Sebastian sighed as Red walked up beside him.
“I see that fellow is up to his old tricks too. What idiotic activities to take part in.” She commented as she walked past him to the group of gambling men and exclaimed, “A card for blue house please!”
All the men that were gambling looked at her with shock before most of them laughed. Lau merely chuckled and handed her a card, taking in her money along with others and setting it aside.
“Why, Miss Red! I didn’t take you to be the kind to gamble! Especially for the house that’s in the long shot of winning.” Lau said as he smiled cluelessly.
With a smirk, she replied, “I’d surely say that my luck is going to go well on this activity.”
She then nodded to the others and walked away.
Later, at around lunch/break time…
Blue house’s cricket team was currently sitting at a long table to eat lunch and drink tea while discussing new game strategies in a gloomy atmosphere. The score between the two competing houses was twenty-one points for blue house and eighty points for red house.
“I should be next to bowl after all.” Bluewer said.
“Please wait!” Ciel exclaimed. “Weren’t you saving that for the final match-”
“But if we lose here, there won’t be a final for us.”
“We still have one innings. I’m sure we’ll get our chance!”
“We can’t allow them to score more runs. Don’t you agree, coach?”
After a moment of silence and no response, Bluewer and the other team members turned to look at the place where their coach, Sebastian, should be but only say his robes on a chair.
“Coach?”
“Where has Mister Michaelis gone!?” Bluewer exclaimed.
“Perhaps he’s in the lavatory.” Ciel suggested calmly.
“At a time like this!?” Clayton screeched.
“In any case, we should not be changing our game plan without consulting our coach!” Ciel said sternly.
“But…” Bluewer tried to argue but found no words to say.
“I’m batting next. Won’t you leave this to me?”
Other team members murmured as Bluewer asked, “Do you have a plan?”
“I do! I’ll find a way to turn the tables and get us back into the game, you’ll see!”
Meanwhile, where red house’s team is…
“Our good old red house is going to breeze to victory in this match!” a red house student chuckled as he fixed a plate from the buffet table for a red house cricket team member.
“But we knew that already, didn’t we?” another student asked.
“Would you chaps stop chatting and help ready the- oh?” a student reprimanded before spotting a certain food missing. “What happened to the meat pie that was here?”
“Maybe you forgot to put it out with the rest?”
“No, that can’t-”
“Oh!” a student exclaimed as he lifted a lid to reveal the meat pie. “Isn’t this it?”
“Who was it!? Who moved it there!!?”
“Isn’t the tea ready yet? Hurry it up!”
“Let’s serve it quick.”
“This match has been so easy to play, it feels like I’m simply taking a stroll.” Redmond commented with a smirk.
“So our true opponent is green house again this year, eh?” a red house student in the same year as Redmond asked with a chuckle.
“Sorry to keep you all waiting!” Harcourt apologized with a smile as he and the other younger red house students brought the rest of the team their food.
“Oh! Now that looks tasty.” Soma commented. “But is it made of beef? My religious beliefs forbid me to eat beef.”
“No, I believe it is chicken.” Harcourt mentioned.
“How very considerate! Then give me the biggest piece, do!”
Hm? Was it really a chicken pie?, a red house student questioned themselves before shrugging and serving the dish.
After serving the older students, the younger students left to their own meals. Harcourt bowed in thanks to Redmond as he left to eat his own meal.
“Perhaps I’ll have Harcourt bowl next?” Redmond suggested.
“Will he be all right with those slender arms of his?” Soma asked.
“In this situation, a gentleman must give his opponent a handicap. Besides, cricket is ‘a game to be taken in’ as well. And the spectators will be glad of the sight of the beauteous players.”
“Oh? Is that right?”
Meanwhile, where the blue house was at…
“Ah! Where were you, coach!?” Clayton screeched upon sight of Sebastian.
“I do apologise. I went to the lavatory.” Sebastian replied calmly.
“You took ages! For goodness sakes!!” a blue house student exclaimed.
“The second innings will now begin!” the announcer announced as Sebastian put his glasses back on.
“Let’s both give it everything we’ve got, Phantomhive.” Harcourt spoke out to his fellow fag with a strained smile.
“Of course, Harcourt.” Ciel replied.
“Oh, I say! What a fetching showdown this will be!” Viscount exclaimed as he looked through LaScala Optics (Opera glasses). “But that boy with the eyepatch…I feel sure I’ve seen him before…”
With a firm grip on the ball, Harcourt jumped and pitched the ball with intense speed at the young earl.
Spin bowling!, Ciel thought as he bent his bat and was able to hit the ball.
“Hey, that was a nice ball.” Soma commented, impressed.
“That’s my fag!” Redmond praised.
In cricket bowling, one bounce of the ball is allowed. A ball with a fast spin on it will bounce near the batsman’s legs and dramatically change trajectory!, Ciel thought over in his head as Harcourt pitched another ball.
Bending the bat lower, Ciel managed to hit it again. Harcourt then pitched again and Ciel was able to hit it in time.
“Why, he’s got his hands full just defending!!” Clayton exclaimed as he and Bluewer watched the young earl hit each of Harcourt’s pitches.
“No, wait…” Bluewer said as he noticed something.
Those aren’t the eyes of a fellow who’s already chucked it in!!, Bluewer thought.
However, he can’t totally read the course of the ball., Redmond thought. He won’t be able to hit Harcourt’s bowls.
“Your balls have more spin now! Finish him off with your next bowl!” Redmond shouted to his fag, who in return nodded.
I’m sorry, Phantomhive., Harcourt thought as he prepared to pitch his next ball. This, will be the end!!
Just as he was about to pitch, the ball fell to the ground from Harcourt’s hands as he collapsed face-first into the ground.
“What’s wrong Harcourt!?” Redmond exclaimed as a red house student beside him cried out in pain, followed by three more.
“What the-!?” Soma shouted. “What’s happening!?”
Redmond then gasped as his facial expression twisted into one of pain.
“M-My stomach…!” he gasped out while the ball that was dropped by Harcourt rolled over to Ciel’s foot, who had a sinister smirk on his face.
Looks like the time has come., Ciel thought as he looked over at a smirking Sebastian.
Flashback…
Red had just given Sebastian Bard’s horrid meat pie dish and Sebastian was walking around the area that the red house students were having lunch at. While the few students that were boasting about red house’s soon to be victory, Sebastian had swiped their meat pie and placed Bard’s onto the table in its place. He then proceeded to exit the area without being detected.
Flashback ends…
Batting isn’t the only way to turn the tables., Ciel thought as all of the red house students began to fall to their knees in pain. So tell me, how was it? How did you like the taste of meat pie with a dash of extra strength purgative added to it!?
(HOLY CRAP IT’S A LAXATIVE, I JUST REALIZED THIS NOW!!!!)
“We can’t expose the spectators here to such a shameful sight…” Redmond said to the red house team members.
“Retreat!! Retreat!!” red house students shouted.
“Wait! We’ve left one behind!!” Redmond shouted, spotting Harcourt still on the field.
“I can’t…if I move now, I’ll…” Harcourt managed to say through his pain.
“Harcourt!! I’ll come rescue y-” Redmond shouted as he tried to go after his fag but was held back by another red house student.
“Don’t act in haste. You’re a prefect!” the student shouted.
Harcourt then yelled in pain as he had an…(*Ahem*)…“accident”.
“Harcourt!” Redmond shouted in despair as two of the red house students dragged him away with tears in their eyes.
“Oh dear…! Quel tragedy!!” Viscount exclaimed excessively. “But…! That boy…is most fair!!”
Soma, being the only one unaffected by the meat pie, managed to help Harcourt out of the field and back to where red house members retreated to while everyone else was silent.
“Er…um…” the announcer cleared his throat before announcing, “The Scarlet Foxes are unable to continue playing and will therefore withdraw from the match. Thus, the first match goes to The Sapphire Owls!!”
“Eh…” Bluewer and Clayton let out in surprise before the entire audience shouted in surprise as well.
“Hell yes!!” Red shouted, completely focused on the fact that she won a gamble for a ton of money.
Later…
Sebastian was walking behind the stadium with a picnic basket before spotting a familiar figure walking towards him.
“Mister Tanaka!?” he exclaimed in surprise.
“Hoh! Hoh! Hoh! Well, well, Housemaster Michaelis.” Tanaka chuckled, lifting his bowler hat in greeting.
“What splendid timing. Please have this for your lunch.” Sebastian replied as he handed the picnic basket to the old man.
“Oh, thank you. Beef mince pie, eh?” Tanaka commented before looking back at the butler. “But, just one thing, if I may?”
“Hm?”
“Surely, partaking of this treat will not give me an upset stomach?” Tanaka winked in humor, causing the demon to nearly laugh.
“Certainly not.”
“I am looking forward to a second ‘Miracle of Sapphires.’” Tanaka gave a thumbs up as he walked back to his group with the picnic basket.
Sebastian bowed with a smile as he replied, “Yes, sir.”
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Chapter 83
The evening of the third of June…
In Weston College’s dining hall, ladies and gentlemen socialized in celebration of the cricket tournament to take place the next day.
“I do beg your pardon for interrupting your conversations, ladies and gentlemen.” Vice headmaster, Agares, announced to the guests, gathering their attention. “Hello, everyone. I welcome you all and thank you for attending the opening ceremony of our storied fourth of June cricket tournament. I am delighted to once again be able to hold the tournament this year. Please enjoy the festivities this tournament’s eve. Now then. Team representatives of each house, come forth!!”
People around the room gasped at thunderous sounds echoing around the room.
“The floor, it’s shaking!? Wh-What’s going on!?” A guest exclaimed.
“H-Here they come!! Their overwhelming physical prowess and teamwork are second to none!!” A random student cried out in excitement.
A set of double doors under a sign labelled “Green Lion” slammed open as the cricket team for green house marched in, dressed in knight uniforms.
“Absolute champions, top of the world! The Green Lions!!” A student exclaimed.
The audience cheered at the group’s entrance. Above them all, a high-pitched squeal could be heard.
“Big brother!! You look terribly handsome!” Elizabeth shouted to her brother, Edward, as their parents smiled behind her.
However, Elizabeth’s eyes widened at the sight of a flower petal floating past her face, causing her to turn her attention away.
“L-Look! It’s the second-place house that drove green house into a corner last year!” A student shouted. “Captivating spectators with their elegant plays…”
The set of doors under the sign labelled “Scarlet Fox” opened with thousands of flower petals casting into the air, flying all around the room.
“Brilliant Eden, a garden of fine plays! The Scarlet Foxes!!”
The cricket team for red house elegantly walked in, casting charming smiles to all women in the audience, making them squeal in joy and swoon. However, the lights went out and different torches were lit around the room, spooking everyone.
“C-Could this be…” A student clinging onto another student squeaked out.
“The house team they say throws their opponents into confusion with unpredictably tricky plays?” the other student finished the question.
The set of doors under the sign labelled “Violet Wolf” creaked open, causing an unsettling feeling to be cast upon the audience.
“The swarming spectres of ghost legion. The Violet Wolves!!”
The entire audience shrieked in fright at the cricket team for purple house as they shuffled in from where everyone stood. One person, however, didn’t back away when everyone did and just moved away casually.
“They’re at their tricks from the start, what with not coming in through the doors…” A random audience member muttered before turning their attention to the sound of birds that were flying above everyone. “Those birds are…that house, is it?”
“Though their physical strength may leave much to be desired…they aim for an opportunity to win the championship with their strategic game plans…”
The set of doors under the sign labelled “Sapphire Owl” creaked open.
“Attack of the cornered rats, god only knows. The Sapphire Owls.”
The entire audience merely clapped at the cricket team for blue house as they walked in with the owls from above landing on the arms, each of the members were dressed as scholars.
T-Talk about tepid…! Can’t expect anything else from the house that comes in last place every year, I suppose. Our entrance and the crowd response are far too plain!, Ciel grumbled in his thoughts as he walked with his house’s team, only to hear the all too familiar high-pitched squeal.
“Kyaaah! Ciel, you look absolutely charming! Give it your best!!” Elizabeth squealed, causing the young earl to blush in embarrassment as the audience murmured.
Somewhere in the crowd was a snickering demonic butler and an angry Edward, who were trying to do their best at maintaining their composure.
The prefects from each house stood around a giant goblet with different sources of fire.
“Now light the flame of Saint George!” Agares commanded.
“We, the players…” Greenhill started.
“…In accordance with the great tradition of Weston College…” Bluewer continued.
“…Shall fight fair and square until the very end.” Redmond continued.
“This we do solemnly swear.” Violet finished.
They then used their sources of fire to light the goblet as the audience cheered loudly.
(HARRY DIDJA PUTYA NAME IN THE GOBLET OF FIYAAAA!...sorry, had to be done.)
“Now…I do hereby declare open…the inter-house cricket tournament of 1889!” Agares exclaimed. “Tomorrow will surely be a day of fierce battles. So please enjoy this evening’s opening festivities to your hearts’ content.”
The audience clapped in response but gasped when Agares tripped and fell off the stage, landing face-first into the ground.
“V-Vice headmaster!!?” all of the students exclaimed.
“Forgive me, forgive me, forgive me.” Agares repeated as blood spurted out from under his cap as he walked away from everyone.
After the incident with Agares, everyone socialized and ate from the banquet table…some more aggressively than others…
“If you don’t fill your bellies, you won’t be able to keep up the fight through to the final!” Greenhill shouted to his team as he was eating. “So eat up! And then eat some more!!”
“Yef, fer!!” the cricket team for green house tried to reply through their mouths, which were filled with food.
The cricket team from purple house were eating lobsters nearby with a gloomy aura that scared away many audience members. The cricket team from red house were flirting and socializing with random women.
“Hmph…What a very relaxed bunch.” Bluewer commented as he fixed his glasses before turning to his team. “Blue house, we will hold a meeting to perfect our strategy! We cannot afford to waste even a minute.”
“Understood!” the rest of the team replied.
“Don’t be such a bore. Let down your hair a little at tonight’s party, why don’t you?” a feminine voice questioned as a hand was placed on Bluewer’s shoulder, before he was bombarded by three older women and four little girls.
“B-Big sister!?” Bluewer exclaimed.
“Let it down! Let your hair down!” two of Bluewer’s younger sisters exclaimed.
“Look at you acting all high and mighty when you’re the exact opposite at home!” Bluewer’s second older sister commented.
“The little boy who would always play house with me has grown up to be a prefect. How perfectly novel!” Bluewer’s third older sister commented happily.
“Big Sister!!” Bluewer yelled in embarrassment as his house’s team watched in a daze of what was going on. “Please stop with the unnecessary commentary, and go over there, would you!?”
“Ah, how do you do, everyone? Thank you for treating our little brother kindly.” Bluewer’s third older sister spoke to the group.
“Now just a minute, Lawrie! ‘Unnecessary’!? How dare you!?” Bluewer’s older sister yelled at him.
“Hey! Hey! Big brother, where’s Lord Edgar!?” Bluewer’s younger sister asked with a blush.
“How dare you!? How dare you!!” Two of Bluewer’s younger sisters yelled.
This is just like Violet’s drawing., Ciel thought as a sweat drop appeared on the back of his head. Be that as it may, this situation is quite mad.
“Oh?” Bluewer’s second older sister spoke, noticing the young earl and pointing at him. “And you must be young Phantomhive, hmm? The extremely talented first-former my little brother mentioned in his letters home.”
“You’re too kind…” Ciel spoke before Bluewer’s older sister zoomed in on him with gleaming eyes.
“My, you’re rather charming, aren’t you?” Bluewer’s older sister questioned.
“He has a good face, a good brain, and a good family.” Bluewer’s second older sister commented. “Why, he’s ideal. Though he is a little on the small side.”
“Erm…?”
“What do you say? Won’t you have our little sister for your wife, hmm?” Bluewer’s older sister asked as she held her younger sister with glasses in front of her.
“Huh!?” Ciel exclaimed as the females loomed over him.
“Stop it, sister!” Bluewer’s sister with glasses shouted.
“Why is your face all flushed.” Bluewer’s other younger sisters asked.
“You’re being most improper, Adela.” Bluewer’s third older sister commented.
“No, um…” Ciel tried to speak as he slowly backed away before a feminine voice called out to him.
“Ciel!!” the voice called out, revealing to be Elizabeth who curtsied to the other ladies. “Pleased to make your acquaintance, everyone! I am Ciel’s fiancée, Elizabeth!”
Meanwhile, Edward had grabbed a hold of Ciel and started shaking him like a maniac.
“Ciel, you little…! When you have a certain someone called Lizzie AL*X%O$#@ FDSASDF!!” Edward ranted.
“Aww. So he has a fiancée, after all.” Bluewer’s second older sister sighed.
“All the good men do, don’t they? Come with fiancées, that is.” Adela, Bluewer’s older sister commented.
“Edward, stop that!!” Elizabeth shouted before punching the life out of her brother in the face, making him drop the young earl in front of a lady. “Hm? Big brother?”
“Having quite the evening, aren’t we, Lord Phantomhive?” a familiar voice asked as the offer of a hand came in front of Ciel, who took it and was helped up. “Hopefully, I didn’t miss anything too entertaining.”
Ciel’s eye widened to Red standing in front of him in a floral green dress, her hair pinned up with three flowers, earthy-toned makeup and her necklace hanging around her neck.
“Miss Red…you look…” Ciel tried to speak but was too slow as Elizabeth had beaten him to it.
“Red!! You look adorable!!!” Elizabeth squealed as she hugged the red head in a death-like grip, causing Edward to sit up and look at the commotion and blush at the sight of the female his sister was hugging.
“Hmm?” Adela spoke, noticing the red head. “Oh! You must be Miss Crevan! Why, Lawrie can’t stop talking about you in his letters. He writes all about your intelligence!”
“Big sister!!!!” Bluewer nearly screeched as a tiny blush surfaced onto his face as he appeared beside Red.
Feeling a tug at her dress, Red looked down to see one of Bluewer’s youngest sisters looking up at her with wide eyes.
“Will you have our brother as a husband? He’s awfully hard to deal with when’s a stuffed shirt.” The young girl asked, causing Red’s and Bluewer’s face to turn as red as Red’s hair.
Bluewer then dragged all of his sisters away, ranting at them to quit embarrassing him while Ciel and Edward glared after his form.
“Oh my…that was…” Elizabeth commented as Red was speechless and red from embarrassment.
“Blue house is boisterous as always.” Redmond’s voice interrupted, catching their attention.
“Ciel! That strange hat looks good on you!” Soma laughed as he smiled at his friend.
“Goodness! They must be the sisters we’ve heard so much about.” Harcourt commented.
“I still can’t believe you were chosen to play for your house…” Ciel commented in disbelief.
“Naturally!!” Soma replied proudly.
“Kadar is a deft hand at cricket, you know!” Harcourt said cheerfully.
“Cricket, introduced by the British, is all the rage in India. Why, I even assembled my own team at the royal palace!” Soma explained.
“Oh.” Ciel replied.
“Wow! You have your own team back home!?” Red exclaimed in amazement.
“Yep! You look lovely this evening, Miss Red!” Soma replied happily with a tiny blush.
“Indeed.” Redmond commented before bowing and taking the red head’s hand. “You’re as lovely as the next blooming rose, Miss Crevan.”
“Gee…thanks.” Red commented monotonously as she lightly yanked her hand out of Redmond’s grip before he could kiss it.
“Lord Edgar!” one of Bluewer’s younger sister shouted to the older male. “How long must I wait before you ask me to dance!?”
“Perhaps until such time as you stop trampling on my feet?” Redmond replied casually.
“You are so cruel!”
“What foul words to fling at a fair lady, Edgar!” an over-exaggerative voice exclaimed, revealing to be the Viscount Druitt. “Have my teachings escaped you, dear nephew!?”
“Viscount of Druitt, my lord!” Bluewer’s younger sister squealed before an irritated Bluewer appeared and dragged her away.
“Uncle Aleister-!” Redmond started before he was interrupted.
“Non!! Do not call me uncle!”
I couldn’t shake the feeling that Redmond reminded me of someone, but to think it was him-!!, Ciel thought as he shuddered in disgust.
“Ah…My beloved alma mater! The fresh springtime of my youth, like roses moist with morning dew, washes over me as if it were only yesterday.” Viscount Druitt rambled on in his own world.
And he’s a graduate of this school to boot…
“I cannot bring myself to like gaudy men like him!!” Marchioness Midford grumbled.
Me too, Aunt Francis…, Ciel thought again as he tried to sneak away but stopped at his friend’s exclamation.
“OH COME ON!!” Red exclaimed as she tried to find a way out before she was recognized, but came in contact with Elizabeth’s mother. “Oh! Wonderful to see you again, Marchioness.”
“You as well, Miss Red.” Marchioness replied with a smile before catching sight of a familiar, lecherous-looking butler. “Do excuse me for a moment.”
(RIP Sebastian)
My, my…, Sebastian thought as he looked out into the audience. A most troublesome bunch has gathered in one place. Better to keep my distance, I daresay.
Suddenly a gloved hand clamped onto his shoulder, revealing to be Marchioness Midford.
“You there, indecent manservant. What brings you here?” Marchioness Midford asked in an interrogative manner.
“Goodness me…Marchioness Midford. Quite impressive of you to manage to catch me…” Sebastian replied.
“Just look at you!” she yelled as she grabbed a hold of Sebastian’s bangs and yanked them up, scaring the old demon. “What housemaster in his right mind would go around in so dissipated a guise as this!!?”
A moment passed by before she had let go of his hair and sighed.
“Hmph. No matter. If you’re here, then that must mean Ciel’s enrollment at Weston is…”
“It is as you suspect, my lady.” Sebastian bowed after fixing his hair.
“Hmph.”
“Oh? Why, if it isn’t Seba-” Elizabeth began before the demon placed his finger upon his lips in a shushing manner, she then covered her mouth immediately.
“Oh? Who is that chap, Francis?” Marquess Midford asked as he, Edward, Ciel, and Red walked up.
“Sir, are you acquainted with my mother?” Edward asked cluelessly.
“Oh, really now, you two! That tutor is…” Elizabeth whispered as she was about to reveal who he was before being interrupted by said demon.
“It has been quite a while, gentlemen.” Sebastian winked as he lowered his glasses a little bit.
“Oh! I didn’t realise at all.” Marquess Midford commented.
“Me neither.” Edward agreed.
“You mean you hadn’t actually noticed and weren’t keeping quiet about it this whole time!?” Ciel shouted in a rage at Edward, causing Red to chuckle.
“Well, when Lizzie’s around, everyone else fades into the background, don’t they? Recently, Miss Red has been appearing like Lizzie would.”
“Don’t come right out and say that like it’s some kind of given.” Ciel growled out.
“Does your work have anything to do with tomorrow’s matches-?”
“Can’t say it doesn’t, but you can have at it without worrying about that.”
“Then that’s just what I’ll be doing!”
“I’ll cheer my heart out for you, so make sure you come back victorious!” Elizabeth squealed as she squeezed Ciel in a death-like hug.
“R…Right.” Ciel managed to get out.
“NGAH!!” Edward raged. “You talk as if the perennially last place blue house has even a hope of winning!”
“Oh, but it does.” Marquess Midford commented, as he was an alumnus of Weston College. “Blue house did once win the tournament a long time ago.”
“A-Are you perhaps talking about the ‘Miracle of Sapphires’!?” McMillan exclaimed as he suddenly appeared from nowhere.
“WHERE’D YOU COME FROM!?” Red screeched as she was startled.
“Now you know how it feels…” Ciel muttered in remembrance from all the times that she had done the same thing to him.
“Oh! I’m McMillan, Phantomhive’s best friend.” McMillan introduced himself to Marquess Midford as he shook the older man’s hand.
“Best friend…?” Ciel mumbled.
“Gee, I thought I was your best friend.” Red joked quietly with a smirk.
“You could be more.” Ciel whispered, making the red head’s joking aura disappear as she stood up straighter and pretended to not hear what he had just said.
“Oh, won’t you tell us the story, Marquess!?” McMillan pleaded.
“Very well, young man! It was back when I too resided in green house and was the prefect’s fag, just like Ed-”
Flashback…
The clanging of Weston College’s bell sounded throughout the entire area as an angry German voice shouted.
“Why, that little-!” A tall, handsome, black-haired young green house prefect yelled as he stomped towards the direction of the green lawn that was forbidden for another other student that wasn’t a prefect to step on. “He’s got another thing coming if he thinks he can get away with it this time!!”
“Please do calm down!” A young blond green house student begged his senior.
“How can I be calm in the face of this, Midford!? What sort of prefect neglects preparations for the fourth of June!? First of all, he’s…”
A crowd of students were murmuring and pointing at a blue house prefect that laid on the green lawn, reading a book with his jacket discarded beside him.
“Hey, wake up!!” the green house prefect shouted as he stomped over to the blue house prefect. “Mole!!”
“Oh dear. Three more minutes, and I would’ve finished this book.” The blue house prefect commented carelessly.
“We prefects aren’t allowed on the lawn just to take afternoon naps, you know!”
“Don’t get so worked up, Diedrich.” The blue house prefect sighed as he rose up into a sitting position and closed his book. “Moreover, my name isn’t mole. It’s Vincent Phantomhive.”
“Don’t address me by my first name!” Diedrich shouted. “It is against school rules!”
“From its bread to its countrymen, Germany certainly is the land of the rigid.” Vincent commented as he stood up.
“How dare you…!? I won’t stand here and endure your insults!” Diedrich yelled as he lifted his cricket bat in the air.
“Wai…” Alexis Midford exclaimed before winced at the noise of the cricket bat whacking something.
When Diedrich went to whack Vincent, Vincent had jumped back and let go of his book. The cricket bat had come in contact with the book instead and wrinkled its pages.
“I say! What a rather large bookmark.” Vincent said with a smirk.
Diedrich growled in anger while his fag merely sighed in relief.
“Why did you skip out on the preparations, you sod!?” Diedrich continued yelling.
“Oh? Was that today?” Vincent asked cluelessly.
“Wha-!? I’ve about had it with you!”
“Sorry, sorry.”
“Thanks to your listless ways, all the work fell to me!!”
“Oh…!? So you did my share too! What a good friend you are old chap.”
“How someone like you got made a prefect is beyond me!”
“Same here!” Vincent replied as he put on his jacket.
“A prefect like you speaks volumes about the level of your house residents.”
Vincent was silent for a moment as the corner of his mouth twitched in anger before he smirked again.
“Say whatever you like about me, but won’t you spare the other blue house residents your scorn?” Vincent asked.
“A commanding officer is the embodiment of his company. Thus, those who obey a prefect of your ilk can only amount to so much…or perhaps I should say, so little.”
All was silent as Vincent’s eyes narrowed at the German while he thought for a moment before speaking up again.
“If you’re going to go that far, let’s make a right game of it.”
“What?” Diedrich asked.
“We’ll bet on which house will win the fourth of June cricket tournament. And the loser must comply with any one demand made by the winner. Well, what do you say to that?”
“…Fine.” Diedrich replied.
“What are you-!?” Alexis Midford tried to ask but was interrupted.
“How can green house possibly lose to the house that always comes in last!!?” Diedrich exclaimed as he pointed his cricket bat at the other prefect. “If green house wins, I’ll have you resign from your position as prefect.”
“Is that really all? Not terribly greedy of you.” Vincent commented. “Well, in that case, I’ll come up with something too.”
“You had better keep your word!”
“My sentiments exactly.”
When the time came for the fourth of June, the entire cricket team for green house were either on their knees or passed out from exhaustion. Diedrich, being the only one with enough energy to talk.
“No…How could I-…How could green house-!!? How could we lose to blue house-!!?”
The entire cricket team for blue house was cheering and shouting in joy as they lifted their prefect in the air.
“We did it-!! Blue house’s first ever championship in history!!”
The day after the game (also known as the author’s actual birthday lolol), Diedrich had come to the Swan Gazebo, where Vincent laid on one of the lounge couches and read his letters.
“Phantomhive!” Diedrich barked.
“Heh.” Vincent chuckled. “Finally recalled my name, eh, Diedrich?”
“We were soundly beaten. So, as promised, I will comply with your one demand.”
“We did say something of the sort, didn’t we? Well, then I only ask this of you…” Vincent replied before he stood up and faced the other prefect. “Become my fag.”
“Huh!? Wh-What are you saying? I’m in green house, and you’re in blue house. Besides which, I’m already a prefect, you know!?”
“Tradition’s a tradition. A promise is a promise. I did win, after all, didn’t I?”
Diedrich growled in frustration before the other male spoke up.
“So from now on, whenever I call for you, you must fly to my side wherever you are. No matter what!”
“H-How many months do you think we have left until graduation-!?” Diedrich yelled before being interrupted.
“Oh, dear-! I don’t remember saying anything about this being only until we graduate? Ha ha!”
“Eh!? Just what do you mean by- Hey!?” Diedrich shouted again as Vincent hopped into a small boat next to the dock and rowed away before waving to the other male. “Wait! We’re not done talking yet!!”
“Well, I am!”
“Get back here! Phantomhive!!!”
Vincent chuckled to himself before laying on the boat and stared at the sky.
“Mine at last. Just like I’ve always wanted. A faithful German dog of my very own.”
“Wait!!!!” Diedrich shouted as he jumped into the water and stomped after the boat.
“Ah ha ha ha! You’re ruining the mood, Die!” Vincent laughed.
“Just look at how much those two have opened up to each other…” Alexis Midford said to himself.
End of Flashback…
Alexis Midford smiled in fond memory while Soma, Elizabeth, and Ciel stood in shock of the story. McMillan stood in complete fascination while Sebastian glanced over at Francis Midford, who was covering her face with her fan to hide her embarrassment over her brother and husband. Red was on the ground, laughing her head off.
“Th-The previous earl was in blue house?” Ciel asked in shock.
“I can’t believe your dad was a key player in the ‘Miracle of Sapphires’!!” McMillan exclaimed.
“Ahh…You didn’t know yet, hm, Ciel?” Alexis Midford asked.
“Eh…? Father was a fag…?” Elizabeth murmured in surprise.
“He’s younger than uncle Vincent…?” Edward asked, trying to wrap his mind around that fact.
“It was a truly brilliant game. It pains me to say this, but we were utterly clobbered!” Alexis Midford chuckled before looking at Ciel. “You have the blood of a genius game strategist in your veins. Have faith in yourself and give it your best.”
“Oh! Something’s about to begin!” Soma exclaimed as the audience was murmuring at the sight of Agares returning onto the stage.
“Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for waiting.” Agares said as he held up four cards that represented all four houses. “We will now draw lots to decide the tournament fixtures.”
In keeping with the tradition of Weston College, the opposing teams are fairly determined by drawing lots., Ciel thought in remembrance to the explanation of how which team will be up against another.
“You there. Lend me your hat.” Agares requested from Clayton, who complied.
However, it has already been decided who blue house is to play against. That’s because-, Ciel’s thought was interrupted by the vice headmaster.
“Now then, all housemasters, come forward to draw the lots!” Agares called over to the four housemasters, which included Sebastian.
I can trust Sebastian to do his job. A “preliminary” celebration, was it? Don’t be daft. The game’s already begun!!
“We will now announce the teams for the first fixture!”
The “Miracle of Sapphires”? What a joke. I don’t believe in miracles. So I’ll snatch up the victory by force!, was Ciel’s final thought before Agares made his announcement.
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