Kuroshitsuji: The Contract from Birth [Ciel Phantomhive]

[8] Her Butler, Defamed

"I'm the Phantomhive m-maid. Please, come in!"

The stuttering maid stepped aside and Rodric and I took a few steps inside, slightly uncertain. The interior of the manor was sparkling clean, and smelled like fresh bleach and soap, (the lemon scented kind), I almost slipped when I stepped on the marble flooring because of how waxed it was. Luckily, Rodric grabbed my arm before I fell, but the maid didn't seem to notice. She was wringing her apron around in her hands and seemed rather nervous.

"My name is Mey-Rin, and I'll take you both up to see the Master and his fiancée."

Fiancée? Ciel? I wouldn't have thought it. Instantly I wanted to see who could be betrothed to such an arrogant Earl, but there were a couple questions still tugging at my conscious. Such as, where was Sebastian?

"Hold on a moment," I said when we had reached the top of the stairs, "could you please ex--"

"Ah! Maldoris!"

All three of us spun to the left and saw a rather weary looking Sebastian at the top of the staircase, a bead of sweat on his forehead. His hair had been streaked back from the usual style he had it in, and his smile was extremely forced. Whatever had Mey-Rin on edge obviously affected Sebastian too. This meant nothing good.

"Mey-Rin go to the main hall. Madame Adelina and Maldoris, come." Sebastian ordered, waving his hand. "Quickly."

Rodric blinked but nonetheless followed Sebastian's instructions, walking up the steps while I followed at his side. This was extremely out of the ordinary, (not that we had experienced anything ordinary when it came to Lord Phantomhive and his butler), and I couldn't help but start to feel uneasy as well. After following the black butler for what felt to be a few minutes, he stopped and ushered us all into a tiny closet, shutting the door behind us. We all had little to no space available to each of us, but both butlers made it very clear that they wanted to give me my own space out of respect, leaving them smushed and entangled with each other on the other side of the small cupboard. At second glance, I realized that the shelves held extra covers and pillows.

"Now, listen to me very carefully," Sebastian whispered, moving his arm so it wasn't digging into Rodric's side. "Whatever you do... do not make any mistakes. She notices everything with such precision, it's a wonder she even has a husband."

"Who the blazes are you talking about?" Rodric hissed.

"His fiancée?" I asked, puzzled.

Sebastian scoffed and rolled his eyes, shaking his head as much as he could with the limited space he had. "Non, elle est très bête... Je parle de sa mère.1"

As Sebastian insulted Ciel's fiancée, I smiled, knowing already that she and I would not be the best of friends. I wasn't one for troublesome friendships. I also wasn't surprised in the slightest that Sebastian was fluent in French. So was Rodric, and he hadn't stepped on French ground in all his demon life. I was raised bilingual, with French and English being my first two languages, while Italian, Spanish, Japanese and Latin came in my later years.

"Sa mère?" I asked incredulously. "Elle est la cause de toute cette nervosité? 2"

"Oui, et elle est trop strict. Elle ne sait pas que vous êtes arrivé, donc être prudent, s'il vous plaît.3"

"Bien sûr.4" Rodric responded, nodding. This breakfast invitation was only getting more and more peculiar and questionable. Why wouldn't Ciel let his other guests know? I opened the door as carefully as I could, and we all fell out, landing on the marble floor with small thumps. I was stuck at the bottom, and as I opened my mouth to complain about the excessive weight, Rodric and Sebastian placed their gloved hands over my mouth. Each placed a finger over their lips and silently picked me up, brushing off my dress.