Black Butler: The Stellar Dove

7.5

  "Hello, Elizabeth!" Ciel replied with a bit of fright as she stopped directly in front of him and threw her arms around his neck.

"I'm so glad I got to come over and see you today! As soon as I heard I—Oh, who's this?" she asked as she looked at me.

"Elizabeth, this is our guest, Lady Estella," Sebastian answered as he stood beside me. "She's taken residence at the manor for the past few days."

Elizabeth looked at Ciel, then back to me.

"It's nice to meet you, Elizabeth," I told her with a nod and a bright smile. She was such an adorable and cheery young girl!

"Nice to meet you too!" she answered. "So, Estella, why are you staying here?"

"Um, I..." I began, trying to think of a way to explain it. Even though she was the same age as the young master, she didn't seem to be anywhere near his level of maturity. I had to say something she would understand without questioning any further. "You could say I'm visiting."

"Well, alright then," she replied with a bit of a confused look.

"Elizabeth," Ciel began. "Why don't we go inside? I have a new game we could play and—"

"Oh, of course!" she clapped her hands in excitement. "And Estella and can play too!"

"Uh, I—" I stuttered. Sebastian looked at me and gave me a smile. Even though I'm not yet fluent in his silent language, I understood that. "If you'd like for me to." I smiled.

"Yay!" Elizabeth grabbed Ciel's hand and dragged him inside. "Come on, Estella!"

"My lady," Sebastian called to me with his bright smile. "Just go along with whatever she says and don't attempt to correct her. Oh, and have fun!" I laughed a little and nodded, then proceeded to follow Elizabeth and Ciel to the study. There was already a board set out on a table with three chairs around it.

"Ooh, this game looks fun!" Elizabeth smiled. "How do you play it, Ciel?"

I listened as Ciel explained the objective and rules of the game. We chose our pieces and dealt the cards. During the game, I observed the two of them. Elizabeth simply smiled and went along as if she was having the grandest time, even though the game wasn't always particularly interesting. She just loved playing with Ciel. Ciel, on the other hand, seemed to be enjoying himself, though he didn't exactly smile. He always played fairly with Elizabeth, but never missed a chance to swindle me. Each time this happened, he would look at me with a dark smirk—much like Sebastian's—then continue along as if nothing had happened.

Obviously, I lost miserably. Ciel won, with Elizabeth coming in close second.

"You're so good at games!" Elizabeth told him. "Though, I think you gave Estella a run for her money!"

"He did," I smiled, looking at Ciel.

He shrugged and half smiled back at me. "Don't worry, you'll get the hang of it soon."

Later, we went outside for tea in the garden. The three of us sat in a triangular formation at the table, so we were all equally distanced. I have to say, it was a bit of an awkward time.

I could tell Ciel was faking his happy mood easily—if it could be called that. Even though he strained to show the hint of a smile on his lips, his eyes reflected boredom and discomfort. He would occasionally look off in the distance as Elizabeth talked and blank out completely. I would attempt to bring him back with a look or cough or something of the sort.

Elizabeth, on the other hand, talked almost constantly about dresses or dolls or stories she heard. When I replied to Ciel she would glance over at me, her bright emerald eyes narrowing ever so slightly as if she were trying to read me. I grew a bit weary of her reaction towards me, wondering what could be going through her mind about me.

"I'm bored now," she finally said. "Let's go do something fun!"

"Hmm..." Ceil mused, looking at the tea cup on his plate. "We already played the new game."

"Master," Sebastian called from behind him. "If I could suggest an activity, why don't you show Lady Elizabeth the new violin song you learned?"

"Oh!" Elizabeth clapped her hands together in delight. "I would love to! Will you play for me, Ciel?"

"Of course," Ciel nodded. "Come with me and I will."

Elizabeth and I followed Ciel into the mansion and to the room where the instruments were kept. He uncased a beautiful violin, and set up his music. But, before he began playing, he looked towards the piano.

"Oh, right, this song is supposed to have an accompaniment. And my tutor's not here..."

"Aw," Elizabeth pouted. "But I wanted to hear it!"

"Let me see the music," I said quietly and curiously, peaking over at the stand. I silently hummed the melody as I read it. It was simple, and only harmonized with the violin. It was meant to be another string instrument, but I supposed it could be interchangeable on this occasion. "I think I know this song, actually. Would you mind if... I attempted to be the accompanist?"

Ciel looked up at me in shock. I gave him a smile.

"Not at all. But... what will you play?"

"I have my voice, don't I?" I told him confidently, taking a stand by the staff. "And if I mess up, I'll just walk out embarrassed, and you forget you ever saw me."

Ciel shrugged, and proceeded to take out his violin. After finding the time, Ciel started the melody and I soon joined in at the harmony. The sound of the stings and my voice weaved in and out with each other, resonating off the walls of the music room. I was proud to know that my own breath had created it, and amazed at how much singing had relaxed me.

As we played, we watched each other closely. That's what musicians have to do when they preform without a conductor. They must focus all their attention on what their partner is doing in order to keep their own melody flowing, otherwise the rhythm messes up.

I have to say, he was very talented. There was no telling how long it had taken him to play that as well as he did!

Elizabeth seemed as impressed as I was—if not, then more. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see her staring at him. My smile grew as the song went onto the final verse. Once we finished, I stopped and nodded to Ciel. He took the violin off his shoulder and went to replace it in the case. When I looked over to Elizabeth, I found that she was looking at me. She wasn't smiling at all, there was a hint of a glare in her eyes, and her face was red. Being a girl myself, I immediately knew what that meant.

"That was lovely," her (fake) bright smile returned as Ciel looked back at her. "You two make such beautiful music together!"

I laughed a bit anxiously, attempting to hide my cringe of nervousness.

"Master," Sebastian stepped into the room. I sighed with relief, thinking he had saved me from the awkwardness. "Pardon me for interrupting, but I have a message for you... about the case."

"You'll have to excuse me while I step out of the room for a moment," Ciel told us, following Sebastian into the hallway. The butler closed the door behind them so we couldn't hear the conversation. I tensed up at the shutting sound. Elizabeth immediately lost her mask and looked right at me.

er. T5R