Silence

Chapter 29

Sebastian clapped his hands together, drawing the attention of the four other servants. "If I could have your attention, Adalina has something she wants you all to know."

Adalina stepped up next to him with a small smile. "I got my memories back."

There was silence in the room for a long time as the servants just stared at the head maid. Then they all rushed forward towards her in a frenzy.

"You just spoke, you did!" Mey-Rin exclaimed. "That's amazing!"

For the first time, the servants got to see her truly smile in front of them as she embraced them. Not her barely noticeable smile that she always gave them. A real smile that showed her beautiful white teeth.

"I can't believe you really talked!" Baldroy said with a laugh. "Didn't think I'd ever see that in my lifetime!"

"If I may, miss."

Adalina turned around at the sound of the elderly man's voice. Her eyes widened a little as she saw Tanaka restored to his full form, a rare sight for her indeed.

Tanaka approached her with a gentle smile. "You've earned this for your service to the Earl Phantomhive." He pinned a small button of the Phantomhive crest onto the cuff of her sleeve on her uniform. Such a pin was usually only reserved for the butler. Tanaka bowed a little. "No one is more deserving of your position here."

"Thank you so much, Tanaka. It means a lot to me that you think so." She looked over at the cook. "Bard, thank you for looking out for me these past few weeks while I was dealing with my memory loss."

"It's no big deal," Bard said, waving his hand dismissively. "Though if you don't mind my askin', what exactly had you so...troubled?"

Adalina let out a small laugh. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"All right, enough celebrations," Sebastian said. "You all have chores to finish. Mey-Rin, please mop the ballrooms and clean the rug in the foyer. Finny, remove the weeds from the gardens, and please do mind the weed-killer this time. Bard, begin preparations for dinner. And Tanaka...you're fine just as you are."

"Ho, ho, ho," the man laughed, having returned to his usual small form with his tea in hand.

"Meanwhile, Adalina and I shall attend to other matters."

"Yes, sir!" the servants chorused.

Adalina and Sebastian began to head out while the others went to their various stations.

"Adalina," Finnian called before he left, a small trace of a blush gracing his cheeks and moving up to his ears. "Your voice is really, really pretty."

Adalina smiled again which caused his blush to deepen. "Thank you, Finny."

For the first time in many, many years, Sebastian got to understand what it felt like to be full and well-fed. When he ate his first food as a human, he now understood why humans loved it so much. As a demon, he had not been able to appreciate all the many dishes and flavors because human food had no taste to him. Souls had varying tastes depending on the person. He had eaten some really good ones and some really bad ones, but there were endless limits to the incredible amounts of combinations it was possible to make with actual human food.

Baldroy's cooking truly was terrible.

After a while, the servants quickly realized that Sebastian and Adalina liked each other as more than fellow servants. The head servants had tried to keep it a secret from them per Ciel's indirect wishes, but it became increasingly difficult with each passing day. Had Tanaka been in his true form, he never would've approved being the traditional man he was. But fortunately for them, his true form had yet to appear. They would deal with that when the time came.