"Elizabeth."

"Lizzy."

"Elizabeth Midford."

"Lizzy!"

These were the rare times when Elizabeth didn't care what Ciel called her. But even so, these were also the rare times when it was important for her to play along like it bothered her. She couldn't figure out why, but he seemed to find it fun, and if not that, then he found it amusing in one respect or another.

"Lady Elizabeth Ethel Cordelia Midford, the young woman chosen to wed the Queen's Guard Dog himself."

"LIZZY!"

"Not so loud. Shouting like that isn't cute."

Immediately, Elizabeth clapped both her hands over her mouth and her cheeks turned bright red. Perhaps that was too much... No, of course that was too much! She should have known better, but in the heat of the moment, she just blurted it out without even controlling her tone.

Blast it!

Apparently, she looked horrified, because Ciel gave a very small and quiet laugh, putting his hand on top of her head. "You look as if you've seen a ghost. It was only a joke."

Elizabeth didn't know what else to say, so she just gave him a little nudge. "You scared me for a moment there!"

"Next time, shout something more cute, okay? Elizabeth sounds cuter than Lizzy, if you want my opinion. But if you still want me to call you Lizzy..."

"Elizabeth!"

And for the first time in such a long time, Ciel laughed. Actually, truly, genuinely laughed.

That left Elizabeth with no other choice then to laugh as well.