Black Maid

His Maid, Standing By

Ciel sat at his desk, staring. Not at the paperwork scattered across it. Not at the chocolate cake beside his tea in front of him. Not at the unfinished tower of cards, either. He was staring at the ring.

The ring left to him by his maid. The maid that had left him, abandoned him to stay with the Angel that killed his parents. But he didn't even care about that.

He looked up from the ring. "Have you found anything?"

Sebastian stood in the darkness surrounding the corner of the room with his face clear of any emotion. "No. There has been no word from the Queen and no-one has witnessed seeing anyone fitting Isabella's description."

Ciel sighed. "I've always seen her wear this. I've never thought twice about it. But...there is something familiar about it."

He heavily sighed, placing the ring down on his desk and squinted his eyes as he remembered something.

"Sebastian..."

"Yes, master?"

Ciel nervously gulped before speaking. "You heard what Sir Arthur said. Do you really believe Isabella could be lying about what happened to my parents?"

Sebastian couldn't help the soft laugh that came from him. "In all honesty, my young lord, I don't believe she is capable of ever harming any phantomhive. She is far too devoted to you and your family, that it is far more likely to be a front for what really happened."

Ciel said nothing at first while he thought about Sebastian'a words, then straightened up in his seat and eyed him.

"I suppose you're right. It's idiotic of me to even consider it."

He picked the ring back up and shook his head in annoyance. "At this rate we'll never find her, we don't even have anything to go on."

As he grumbled in frustration, Sebastian looked to the side and became deep in thought. I hate to even think of it, but I know as much about her as the servants in this manor do. All I know is that she is a demon, a feline at that, and can be a complete tease when nobody is watching. Because of that, there is only one person who knows her better than anyone else in England.

Ciel looked up by hearing Sebastian clear his throat.

"Master, there is someone who might be able to tell us the origin of this ring. Perhaps even the whereabouts of Isabella."

Ciel rolled his eyes. "God, don't tell me..."

. . .

The sounds of humming filled the building. The origin of it was reading a coffin catalog and turned the page. "Ooh, that looks lovely."

He circled a black one with silver carvings from the pen beside him and grabbed another bone-shaped biscuit.

When the bell rang, signaling the entrance of a customer, he held up a finger as he finished chewing on it. "Just a moment, please." He took a couple more bites and swallowed, then sat up and looked towards the entrance.

He grinned once he saw Ciel, but frowned when he realized the only person shadowing him was his butler.

Ciel walked closer to the coffin he was sitting in. "Undertaker, I'm glad you're here."

Said person was still frowning and stood up from the coffin and stepped out. He kept his arms at his sides as he walked to the counter. "Lord Phantomhive. What could you possibly need this time?"

Ciel was a bit thrown off by the slightly annoyed tone in his voice, but still stepped forward. "I need you to tell me what you know..." He reached into his pocket and held up the ring. "About this."