Darkness' Touch

Chapter 36: A little surprise

Avy not sleeping in her own room almost caused another uproar that morning when Mariel burst into a screaming fit when she saw nothing but a pile of blankets and a messy bed inside her mistress' bedroom, thinking that once again, the Lady went on an out-of-the-wall adventure without telling anyone. If not for Sir Hayward calming her down and canceling the search consists of every knight present in the Manor including the Young Master and the Prince who was awakened by the chaos of maids running around looking for the girl, it would've been a huge problem given the fact that Ashton instructed Ciel that he should be called if Avy disappeared again.

Fortunately, the eldest son left the same morning with the crown Prince before anyone could open their eyes to bid them goodbyes. Avy exited the room where she spent the night in and was greeted by Ciel and Light along with the weeping Mariel, her personal Knight, and the smiling butler who then looked at the others with a knowing look as if telling them 'See? The Lady is right here.'

If not for Ares' reassurance that he created a magic field whenever he shows up so that none of their conversations would be heard by other people, Avy would've set herself on fire, guessing that those people have been waiting for her to come out for a fair amount of time. She looked at them one by one as they showed signs of relief after confirming that she was indeed still inside the Mansion.

Why were they standing in front of her door? Was it Avy's birthday? She doesn't think so. But not as if she knows when her birthday is.

Oh. 

Right. She left her own room to sleep next to her fiance's quarters. That would surely stir a little bit of problem right? 

"What?" she asked, slowly closing the door behind her without breaking eye contact with her maid who stared at her in tears. She remembered how Mariel told her that she would no longer let her leave the mansion on her own to ensure her safety. Well, she had caused too much trouble, and it would be a bad idea to create another problem or else she might get watched twenty-four-seven and she surely wouldn't want that to happen when she's happy with the freedom she has. 

She heard Light groan, saying something along the lines 'he should've just let Arkwright search for his sister on his own' before lazily telling them that he would wash up before going down to the dining hall to eat because apparently, he had to go straight from his comfortable bed to make himself of use. Avy clearly doesn't understand why he had to do that, but considering the fact that he and Ciel are always glued together, she didn't question it any further. 

The rest of them went on ahead to eat breakfast, Mariel who finally pulled herself together tailing them along with Clerivan while Sir Hayward went back to his duty. Avy saw a small frown on her brother's face as if he wanted to say something, but in the end, chose not to. She just shrugged it off and ate her breakfast peacefully.

~~~

Breakfast was nothing new, the usual comfortable silence and only the sound of dishes clattering lingered in the air. Except, of course, the atmosphere was lighter than before. Avy looked more approachable and even though she still seemed like she would rip someone to shreds if she was angered, the servants became less frightened in her presence that they were able to serve them without looking away and fearing that they might get yelled at if they made a small mistake in front of the Dukedom's Lady.

Ciel was the happiest of this improvement. Not only his sister started eating meals with him, but she was also not as quiet as before although her way of speaking became bolder and more straightforward, the distressed look on her face whenever someone was around slowly faded over time. 

"Where's Ashton?" he heard his sister speak, he lifted his head to answer properly but before he could even open his mouth, Light already beat him to it.