Kuroshitsuji: The Contract from Birth [Ciel Phantomhive]

[40] Her Butler, Tragically In Love

"Bloody hell," Ciel muttered under his breath, eyes shut in rising anger as Rodric smiled pleasantly from the doorway.

I sighed and took a seat on the bed, glancing towards Ciel swiftly. He crossed his arms and leaned up against the wall.

"This is entirely gratuitous."

"Just as your childish complaints are," Rodric responded easily, smile widening.

I shook my head at their banters and refused to look up, knowing well enough that Ciel was probably turning a deep shade of fury. The door clicked shut soon after and I wiggled my feet that were tucked tightly inside my leather brown boots as an attempt to ease the tension that was settling in the room and on my shoulders.

Perched like an owl, delicate as a dove and as heavy as a stallion, the strain washed over until finally a cough from the Earl himself broke the glass thin silence.

"I am sincerely sorry for these series of unfortunate events," he mumbled, hand over his mouth. "But whatever it takes, I shall get to the bottom of it."

A smile crept up on my features as Ciel struggled to keep a distantly mature posture, widening gradually until finally a chuckle escaped me, quickly followed by another set of giggles until I surrendered in trying to stop them. He glared me and I stood up, hand on my stomach as the strange sound of my genuine laughter broke through, a sound that wasn't for being but certainly unheard of by Ciel.

I almost felt exposed of something that could possibly be considered as intimate but there were no means to stop them anytime soon. Personally, I felt helpless.

"S-Stop laughing," Ciel snapped, flushing red now. "I don't understand what could possibly be so humorous at a time like this."

My head shook in response to him and I leaned against the bed pole, hoping to sustain some sort of support while I continued to laugh. It was relieving, in all honesty. I nearly did not want to stop.

However, my reason behind my sudden explosion of happiness was quite the paradox.

"Y-You... can't p-possibly feel... as though I am n-not used to losing l-loved ones as such," I stammered through chuckles, wiping away the tears that brimmed my eyes. "If a-anything, I sh-should apologize to y-you for making you d-deal with such trifles!"

How comical --and so like Ciel-- to think that he would be my knight in shining armor.

The hopeful princess in me had died a long time ago; nothing would ever ease my eternal and unsettled flame of well-deserved despair.

Ciel stayed silent, face still with an unreadable expression that ultimately calmed down my dismal amusement. The bitterness that soon followed after my odd high brought about an unimpressed sigh and even I was taken aback at my quick change in temperament. Then again, I've noticed that my short-lived moments of happiness swiftly came and went much quicker than the last.

"You and I both know that such promises cannot be entirely fulfilled."

Unshaken, Ciel stepped towards me and raised an unimpressed brow. We locked eyes in what seemed to a battle for the most miserable and I frowned.

"I recall you being the one to tell me that during these times, a little bit of communication could ease the pain we both deny," Ciel said lowly, almost with a hiss. I blinked at the fact that he recalled what I had told him when Madame Red passed away and even more so flinched when he recited them to me word by word.

"Don't you want a bit of comfort? Even if it may be from someone you've just only met?"

My heart skipped a beat.