Ciel's eyes opened abruptly. Something's not right. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but in the pit of his stomach was a feeling that something was off. Sitting up, he looked around the room. From the wallpapered walls and the vases of blue germaniums to the mahogany cabinets and the ivory curtains covering his window, daylight bleeding in through it, there was no butler to be seen.

Just then the door creaked open and entered a slender man dressed in black, pushing in a silver cart with his master's morning tea. He stopped a few feet away from the bed and began pouring into a porcelain cup.

"This morning I have prepared a jasmine infused black tea with milk. Today's breakfast is millet porridge sweetened with honey and strawber-"

"Sebastian, what time is it?" The butler hesitated for a second before answering.

"A quarter after seven, my lord."

"You're late."

"I'm terribly sorry, I had to repair the chandelier after that stupid maid tripped on the ladder and shattered it. Then I had to refertilize the garden with that idiotic brute of a gardener sprayed too much of that weed killing chemical on the plants again, and I had to build the entire kitchen again when that good-for-nothing dumba-"

"Sebastian!" Ciel shouted, cutting his servant's rant.

"What?!" Sebastian hissed. Ciel stared back at him with a mixture of shock and anger.

"I was going to tell you the tea is spilling," he said pointing to the overflowing teacup, "but I think we should address your little sudden outburst."

"I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me," he muttered, rubbing two gloved fingers over the bridge of his nose.

"Then I suggest you figure out what the cause of this is and get your act together!" Ciel told him harshly. "Your job is to serve me with respect and dignity and right now, you are disgracing yourself. Understood?"

"Yes, young master. Shall I fetch you today's wardrobe?"

"Proceed." Sebastian walk out the room to fetch his master's clothes. Ciel sat back against the headboard, suspicious of his butler's strange behavior. He was fully aware of how Sebastian felt about his staff but never once did he ever voice those thoughts.

The butler returned with a tailored grey suit. As Sebastian began to unbutton his master's nightshirt, Ciel arched his eyebrow.

"Are you planning on dressing me in the dark?" Sebastian glanced up, his features hidden in the shadows except for his crimson eyes.

"Of course not." He got up and went towards the the window. Once the curtains were drawn, Sebastian flinched, turning away from the sunlight. Ciel observed with curiosity.

"Is there a problem, Sebastian?"

"N-not at all, my lord. Come, there is much to do today."

•••

He could feel his master observing him intensely as the day progressed. After breakfast was served, Sebastian led Ciel to his study for his lessons. His head began to throb while he was going over grammar with the young master and tried to ignore it. After a while, the burning sensation began to fade. But when it was time for his master to practice the violin, he found the pain almost too strong to endure. It got to the point where listening to Ciel's off-key playing became so intolerable, he decided to cut the lesson short.

"But I still haven't mastered the first page."

"That's fine, we'll work on it tomorrow."

Next, Sebastian had to prepare Darjeeling tea and scones while his master had a business meeting with Lau. As he poured the hot liquid into the cups, he felt as if a blade was stabbing his wrist. The growing pain made it hard for Sebastian to hold the pot steady and saw how his hand trembled as he poured. Afraid of spilling the tea, he quickly served them as they are. Ciel gave him a questioning look after being handed a half-empty cup, but said nothing and sipped his tea anyway.

The clock now read half past noon, which meant it was time to make dinner preparations. He escorted Ciel to his office and made his way to the kitchen. Sebastian made sure to schedule extra time in case any of the staff made a mess of things. And sure enough they did, as Meyrin was the first to confront Sebastian with her dilemma.

Meyrin had used too much wax on the floor, making the tiled surface a hazard to walk on.

"I'm sorry M-mr. Sebastian, I thought I was following the directions!" Sighing, Sebastian scrubbed and rewaxed the floors of the entire manor, his back to feeling sore the longer he spent on the task. By the time he finished, he headed down the hall. But as he passed the window facing the outside, he found Finnian had cut all the roses in the garden until the rose bushes looked like bald shrubs.

"What are you doing?" Sebastian gasped as he ran out to where Finny was.

"You wanted me to pick some of these pretty flowers, remember?"

Yes, but I didn't want you to cut all of them, you dolt! But Sebastian simply bit his tongue and rolled up his sleeves. He began to plant magnolia seeds into the ground, as well as trim the bushes that once held roses, into sculptures of cats. He slowly pulled himself to his feet, feeling stiffer than he did before, and headed back into the mansion. He entered the kitchen where the white walls and counters were charred black from Bard's attempt to make crème brûlée with a flame thrower.

"How many times must I tell you to use the stove?" Sebastian asked, massaging away the headache that had returned. Bard was about to explain when the butler raised his hand. Sebastian was running out of the patience he needed to deal with them.

"Save it, just get out of the kitchen so I can clean it," he spat as he pushed him out, slamming the door in the process.

Bard stood in front of the kitchen door, shaking his head. Soon, the maid and the gardener met up with the chef to talk about Sebastian.

"I-it seems as if Mr. Sebastian is constantly fixing our mistakes," Meyrin stammered, "w-we're always causing trouble."

"He was very upset with me about the flowers," Finny said as he thought back to the events of earlier.

"You should've seen him this morning, I thought he was going to explode on me, Bard spoke as they past the dining room. "I know, how about we help out Sebastian set up the dining table?"

"Oh yes! I'm sure he will be most pleased," Finny grinned.

"I-I'll get the fresh linen!"

"Yeah, we'll show Sebastian how useful we are!"

The three of them scattered into the dining room, eager to please their master. Laughter and the sound of objects dropping were heard outside the door by Tanaka, who simply replied with: "Ho, ho, ho."