Sebastian entered the library to light the evening candles, as the twilight sun gradually begun to descend behind the far-off horizon. While he did so, he directed the keenest part of his attention to the eighteen-year-old maiden nestled in one of the armchairs, cradling a dark emerald novel between her lean fair fingers.
"Lady Phantomhive," he adressed calmly, "forgive me if I'm interrupting, but the Master wanted to know if you desired some tea or treats of any kind? He's heard that you haven't had anything since early this morning."
"Oh?" Elizabeth questioned, glancing up from the aged, arid pages. "Yes, well that…you see, I became so engrossed with my reading. It's quite fascinating, and I must have lost track of time. I did not intend to make him worry because I missed my lunch."
"That's alright," Sebastian assured her, "I'm positive the Master will be relieved to hear that you are not ill at least."
Elizabeth rolled her eyes, "Of course I'm alright, my health is perfectly in check. Now Sebastian, tell me, did Ciel not find his concern strong enough to confront me himself about this?"
The butler instantly detected that Elizabeth was trying to suppress her sudden-bubbling fury towards the Master; as if she felt cast aside, undervalued. "Lady Phantomhive, the Master has a few more documents covering the company's stocks and laboring processes to review for tonight yet. Otherwise, he would have come to you instead in my place. He told me to inform of just that, possibly sensing you would react this way. He considers your existence to exceeding heights, believe me. More than anyone's."
"Well, I suppose who should know better than you, right Sebastian?" And she gave him that look again. You cannot fool me as simply as you'd hope.
"Lady Phantomhive…." Sebastian partook in a short, soundless and thoughtful stare-down with the maiden, before his level of interest had gotten the better of him—and that was when six certain words rolled off his tongue. "…do you know what I am?"
Elizabeth's eyes narrowed then, glaring, lips pressed with genuine concentration.
Surely to the ears of the Master, or to a number of his kin's, Sebastian had just asked a rather chancy question. Especially, when the human he was currently trialing, was not the exact human whom he supernaturally linked himself to in the first place.
Exposure was quite unwanted amongst otherworldly beings. (Except of course, if they readily chose that path, but even that case was rare.) The secretiveness was all for the sake of sparing the mortalkind mass despair, anxiety, paranoia, or self-damaging aching to know more of them as well. Though for the specific races which were born within the darkness—like Sebastian's own species—always had a knack for playing on the immoral side, and had an appetite for rousing temptation within the most guiltless, or more curious of hearts.
"No." her answer was that plain, and that simple. But then she added with sheer confidence, "But I know… you are not who…or what you claim to be. You are not bound by the common ropes of humanity, are you? You may be able to fool number of people, Sebastian, but I honestly cannot understand how no one has ever caught onto you, not even in the slightest…. I must finally express that I think your "common mortal" act is relatively cheap. Your all-too-amused expressions and words of occasional naivety give you away. It's as if before now, you've never really experienced the silly, ordinary little situations that a regular human deals with day after day. Consider yourself lucky, Sebastian, that you are surrounded by such slow minds." Elizabeth said efficiently, with no fear, and with no sudden regret. "Perhaps you should ask Ciel if he would grant you permission to take time to learn some more substantial theater, for your sake. Or perhaps…you could learn from watching me. After all, I am a very convincing actress when I need to be, as you are able to tell."
The demon stared. Elizabeth's free-going character edge was undoubtedly, showing its true colors again. He seemed graciously impressed with her. "Milady…may I be as so bold as to inquire further what makes you think of these things? What makes you think so differently? You seem to have knowledge on many unordinary topics, aside from the mainstream curriculum and customs most people are raised to follow."
"I read, Sebastian." Elizabeth looked at him rather evenly yet, though her retort was speckled with similar bluntness and wiseacre mockery.
She continued, exhaling deeply. "I do realize if I say these type things before any public parties, there's a chance they might try to place me into a madhouse. However, I still possess the blood of a Knight. I come from a prideful line of the Royal Guard, born into an assembled clan that once consisted of the highest thought-of combatants in England's defense. Therefore, my family is still tied to the Law of Chivalry."
Sebastian nodded as if to say, naturally.
"But my main point in stressing this," Elizabeth pointed out firmly, "is that Knights, no matter what Order they belong to, are usually trained thoroughly to build profound senses, to gain knowledge of patterns of the human mind, to be swift, to be observant of detail, to be emotionally sturdy, and to be ready to take life with a blade, or poison, or an arrow, if needed. My Order had done so much more than fending off the Royals' enemies in battle, Sebastian. They fought off many different things. In fact, the specific Order that all of my ancestors belonged to, from both sides of my family, had done a number of tasks which were never meant to be documented for the mutual eye to evaluate. Our clan was very covert when it came to their duties. Regrettably though, overtime oral myths began to figurate ensuing our Order's eventual disappearance. Our Order's history is rarely spoken today in factual terms."
"Oh, and what distinctive Order of Knights do you belong to, Milady? Are your current family members not associates in the Knights Companion or the Ladies Companion? That is what I assumed."
Elizabeth's graceful mouth upturned into a knowing smirk. And with that, she lifted the novel from her lap, and turned the cover towards the butler so he could finally view what material she had been studying for all this time. And quite frankly, it was the last type of text Sebastian had expected a person like the Master's "Lizzie" would touch.
"The Order of Garter is what you're referring to, correct? Those joining groups were established during the 1300s. Our Knights Order is much older than that even." Upon the dark green surface, was gold stitching, twining into the shape of a grand reptile with wings wide spread out. The top boarder was scripted: Dragonology: The Underground Manuscripts of Past Slayers.
"This is the latest issue Mother and Father sent to me. Before it was the volume covering goblins, ogres, hobs, and other mystical beasts. And prior to that, it had been the well-kept and reserved records of The Arts of Parapsychology. Although, naturally Edward has already finished the next series on the Elder Elven culture, since he's older than I. With a bit of luck, I'll be allowed to view those in another year or two. They are very difficult to fully comprehend, Edward says."
Sebastian swallowed heavily. "Is that so? And those kinds of texts help you enhance your Knightly skills, Lady Phantomhive?"
"Sebastian, come now, are you not familiar with the Knights of the Round Table of Camelot? Hunters and slayers of things beyond mortal beings? Of Supernatural beings as well."
Two Weeks Following
"Milady?" Elizabeth was pulled out of her slumber, by the sound of the door's handle ring clashing back against the wood. "It's time to have breakfast."
Elizabeth drew herself up, clutching the quilt to her font to shield out the cool draft that flowed in as the door was shut behind the maid clad in blue. And on customary instinct, she glanced to the right side of the grand sized bed to find it empty. Ciel already awoke? She could've have slept in that late, could she?
"Is Ciel already off doing wretched paperwork so soon?"
Meirin nearly stuttered with panic, hearing her Lady's disappointed tone. Maybe, even if the Master personally sent her up, had she done wrong by waking a maiden from her beauty sleep? Seven-thirty was fairly early after all, for one who was not usually accustomed to stirring at such a time.
"M-Milady, the Master is actually d-down at the dining table patiently awaiting your arrival, he is."
"Is he now? Well in that case, I believe I should prepare myself then. You may go, Meirin, I'll be along shortly." Elizabeth appeared to be calmed by the gesture, which also gave Meirin an amount of relief. The maid had heard Sebastian mutter under breath on occasion regarding Lady Elizabeth while carrying out daily chores. Lady Elizabeth was certainly the not one to cross at the incorrect timing. And Meirin did not want to chance to start the day by causing any sort of trouble.
"Yes, Milady! I shall tell him."
It had been a good twenty-five minutes before Elizabeth had left the master bedroom, to make her way down to the Dining Hall. Her pastel skirts rustled against the floor when approaching the chair opposite from the Master.
As she did, Ciel pushed away from the edge of the table, strolling over. Thus, like a perfect gentleman, Ciel stroked a stray strand of her hair behind her ear, and he also granted her knuckles a tender kiss before assisting his Lady into his seat.
"I hope you're not too upset, Lizzie." Ciel said, settling himself back down as well. "I know breakfast seems an hour early today, although I know how much you enjoy eating together. And besides that, it is your birthday."
It was true. As independent as Elizabeth truly was deep inside, it didn't mean she was absolutely alright with spending day by day utterly unaccompanied. (Particularly, not on her nineteenth birthday, either. Who actually would desire a lonely birthday?) Yes, Ciel's work was important to maintain their public status and their financial stability. It would be to any other Nobel couple. But ordinarily, his work was incredibly time-consuming. The longest times Elizabeth could truly be with him was during supper, if not even then, it was during nightly tea. Or else, it was when Ciel would just have the quickly-diminishing energy left to create kind small talk about how her own day went in bed before they would fall asleep.
He added, "You see, the sooner I get to work, the more time I will have to spend with you this afternoon and evening. Do you approve? We can do whatever you'd like."
Elizabeth smiled brightly in thanks, nodding, and Sebastian arrived not long after with their meal treys balanced in hand.
Breakfast passed generously and efficiently, without the slightest of interruptions. Ciel must've ordered Sebastian to practically breathe down the other servants' necks to keep them out of trouble, for the time being at least. Then it was finally time for Ciel to see to the day's work. But as he promised her, he had finished as soon as he managed to, and met up with his Lady hours later.
The Master and his butler found Elizabeth in the Great Room, and she was unexpectedly accompanied by her brother. The siblings stood on the far end, hovering over the small table which had a narrow briefcase resting on top of it. When Ciel led Sebastian in, he noticed how exquisite Elizabeth's light golden curls appeared beneath the sunbeams that poured in through the glass, and onto the floor. He observed how gentle and fluid her hand moved as it rose away from her side, kindheartedly caressing the objects within the case, protected by a velvet sheet of burgundy.
They both steered their courtesy at Ceil when he cleared his throat. "Uh…Lizzie, I wasn't told your brother planned on visiting the Manor."
It had not taken long for Edward's sincere expression form into a bitter scowl. However, before the two boys were able to leap into a jealous battle-of-wits, Elizabeth of course broke the tension straightway by her most loving smile. "Ceil! You're finished now? Edward just came to drop off Cemella and Hototo for me as a gift, since he was in town running errands. I apologize if it was a surprise, but he will not stay long."
Ciel's most visible eyebrow raised in personal inquiry, "Cemella…and Hototo, you said?"
Elizabeth motioned to the case again. "Yes, my twins. Remember them?"
Ciel trailed her gaze down to see two brilliant blades, two swords shaped sharply and seamlessly from their rain guard to their points. Their grips were made from silver and gold, and were crafted into a graceful twist, utterly symbolic for any worthy Knight of England.
"A warrior's sword without a name is no proper weapon for a warrior at all. The warrior has to not only focus on challenging his or her energy towards the opponent, but also the weapon's energy as well. That's how a warrior wins—they rely on their weapon, and not just on themselves." Edward clarified further. "These two swords were made together on the same day, and thereby by the same blacksmith. Most children receive hand-made quilts or little trinkets from their parents the day they are born. But once Mother knew she was carrying me inside her, and then Sister—she and Father made certain our gifts by birthright were most appropriate for our future."
"How very interesting," Sebastian offered from the background.
Since the very day Elizabeth began to walk on her own as a youngling, she held the twins for the first time. She never had sliced her own skin once with either of them. Edward also had never with his own Evergleam and Nike. Their emotional bond with their swords was almost human as it could get. It may sound trivial, though it was as if the swords weren't just made for them to have, but they were destined for their swords. During each practice session, during every tournament, is the chance to learn the language of the sword. With the precise amount tolerance and dedication, Elizabeth soon began to feel her twins move and work with her. That was when she knew she could give each of them their names.
Cemella was Elizabeth's personal adaptation of Carmela, the name meaning orchard or a vineyard. (Lizzie was to Cemella; as Elizabeth was to Carmela, in her mind.) Cemella was the first twin to grow on Elizabeth. She was sturdy with each suave swish and silent slash, like a vine in a garden, hence the given name. Cemella aided Elizabeth to sense the accurate points where to strike and to coil. Elizabeth soon after, learned to listen to Hototo, he who whistles. He sang to her. Every clash and every clang was a rhythm he released, signaling her where to step next, teaching her a dance of security and endurance.
Edward retrieved his coat by then, and made sure that his sister would preserve her blades. To always keep them polished and refined, in case they ever would come of use. Pleased by her mutual agreement he bid his farewell. The Lady and Master of the house, along with their loyal butler, watched up high from the second-story windows as Edward's private carriage wheeled away safely.
"I guess I should go and prepare some tea for the both of you." Sebastian piped up suddenly. So like each time over, the butler dramatically, yet politely excused himself from the room.
Once alone together, Ciel turned towards his Lady, "Lizzie…."
"Hm?" she hummed out sweetly.
"Would you like to have your, ah, twins hung and mounted in the main gallery? That way we could all honor them as much as you do."
Elizabeth completely understood the motives behind his repeating attempts to appease her. He under no circumstances ever had any aim of ignoring her needs. Ciel was aware of the little self-sacrifices that Lizzie made every day, just for the sake of creating an even more-so contented companionship, and an unruffled marriage.
Ciel wanted to continue to give her the diminutive, simple things that kept her cheerful. Because from the beginning, and up to this day, Ciel still couldn't exactly clarify why he had to the things he did. Like as to why he had strongly insisted on having their official wedding ceremony inside the Courthouse, in place of the traditional chapel of the Christian Church. Making their union authentic only under England's Law, and not under the more-so romanticized Holy Matrimony. Hence, if even Lizzie didn't get to have the wedding of her dreams, alike most women, he would grant her anything else he had control over. Because, he was going to be an attentive King—he was the King, very considerate.
Afterwards, Ciel and Lizzie shared a quality evening with freshly-made tea before them, and when it was time to retire, they climbed the staircase hand in hand.
But little did Elizabeth know, her nineteenth year would be the last year her love would be there to spend it with her.
Or was it…?