Kuroshitsuji: The Contract from Birth [Ciel Phantomhive]

[17] Her Butler, Lecturing

Agni's stunned expression and Soma's distressed cries only worsened my inner notion. There was something awfully amiss.

"Ah, so this is your master, Agni?" Harold asked in amusement. Pulling back from where I was peeking from, Ciel and I exchanged a glance and quietly stood back up, leaning against the wall beside the doorway. Now that the door was even more open than before, it would be easier to spot five shadows trying to catch a glimpse of the room. I could hear Prince Soma's clear abhor towards West intensify as he realized that it was him who took Mina, and he ordered Agni to fight him with a desperate command. I waited for the sound of furniture to fly but instead was met with silence, and after a few moments, snickering.

"Agni, throw this annoying Prince out of here."

A loud argument ensued, and Sebastian glanced into the room while Ciel and I closed our eyes in fatigue, ignoring Lau who was clearly bored out of his mind. Rodric stood up and began to look around the hallway, hand at his chin and Sebastian followed suit. I had no idea what to expect now.

"Though there's no mistaking West's involvement with the hangings based on their little chat," Lau whispered after a while, happily standing from his crouch to meet us, "they no longer seem to be 'incidents from the underworld'."

"Which means that this is out of the Snake's area of expertise and the Watchdog's jurisdiction," I concluded sourly. Both Ciel and I sighed heavily, feeling as though our time had been wasted immensely.

"...Indeed." Ciel mumbled in defeat. Lau slipped his hands into his dangling silk sleeves and closed his eyes.

"But reporting this to the yard would be problematic, so why don't we just leave and--"

"That would be the preferable option," Rodric suddenly cut in, smiling brightly, "But it would be beneficial to leave West at large for a bit longer."

Hearing Soma continue to cry out in confusion, I shook my head in pity.

"We should also probably try and save that idiotic Prince, don't you think?" I suggested with a small shrug.

"But West knows what the Sebastian and I look like," Ciel pointed out, and Rodric gave a proud smirk, raising a gloved finger in the air to point at Sebastian.

"I have a great idea."

Ciel and I turned our heads to watch the scene unfold before us, and I was disgusted to realize that Agni had been bought in some type of manner to go against Soma's words. Harold West smirked triumphantly once Soma was held back in Agni's arms, and gave the order to shut him up, leaving me in shock. He was positively shaking, almost holding back tears at his actions, but didn't dare make a move to stop himself. Would Agni dare raise a hand at his old Master?

"Sebastian, whatever you two are doing," I whispered, eyes wide when I saw Agni's wrapped hand raise, "act now!"

A shade of black rushed past Ciel and me, and our coats fluttered loudly, hair whipping by as Sebastian sprinted to step in between Agni and Prince Soma. I scurried back to my feet and my eyes maintained glued towards the four men, but I instantly took a step backward in bewilderment when I realized what Sebastian was wearing in order to conceal his identity. Frowning, I spun around to glare at Rodric, who was chuckling with enjoyment.

"A deer head?" I hissed, shaking my head, "Honestly!"

"WH-WH-WHO THE HELL IS THIS!?" West cried out as his hairs stood on end, backing up into the wall behind him in fright. Even though the whole ordeal was a major catastrophe, I couldn't hide my undeniable smile as Sebastian turned to face him, the deer head unsettling even Ciel for a bit.