Hi! :) Before you start reading this story, I want to tell you that I will use "Cloudia Phantomhive" rather than "Claudia Phantomhive" for this story. Also, even though Undertaker stated that "it's been half a century since someone last called me [a Grim Reaper]" (Chapter 60, page 5), he is still a Grim Reaper in this story. I also extended the name "Cedric K. Ros-" to "Cedric K. Rossdale" and gave it to Undertaker.

Also, the story's summary is a reference to Heartless by Marissa Meyer! ("Long before she was the terror of Wonderland—the infamous Queen of Hearts—she was just a girl who wanted to fall in love.")

I guess that would be enough for now. :)

I cannot believe that there are so few stories about Undertaker and Cloudia... Of course, we do not know much about Cloudia and their relationship, but I think this freedom to create our very own "Cloudia" makes the whole thing even more "interesting." Whatever...

But there are Undertaker/Cloudia stories, which makes me quite happy - especially because they are mostly so WELL written. And I hope that my story doesn't stand out between all these great ones about them...

I really do hope that you will enjoy my story! :) Have fun reading it! :D

"To the last hour of my life, you cannot choose but remain part of my character, part of the little good in me, part of the evil."
‒ Charles Dickens, Great Expectations

Chapter One:

The Countess, Encounter

"Everything you know is a lie. The stories you've heard aren't real, the reports you've read are all fake. The truth was hidden behind rows and rows of never-ending lies a long time ago.

"I will now tell you a story ‒ the genuine story."

INNER LONDON MURDERS ARC

"And I am bored to death with it. Bored to death with this place, bored to death with my life, bored to death with myself."

– Charles Dickens, Bleak House

London, England, United Kingdom ‒ January 1847

No matter how hard I tried, I was not able to properly recall the face of the previous Earl of Phantomhive.

When I closed my eyes and tried to remember anything, I could only recall the powerful and triumphal feeling, that I could see everything and everyone when he had picked me up. I could still feel the wind against my cheeks when he carried me around, and the voices of him and his clients and partners when he had taken me with him to events.

But no matter how long I stared at his portrait in the mansion, Simon Phantomhive's face didn't reappear in my memory.

Almost thirteen years had passed since the butlers of King William IV confirmed his death, and told my mother that her beloved husband was no more.

In thirteen years, many things had changed. Not only for me but for the whole kingdom.

Because, while I had lost my father and my mother her husband, the King had lost its Watchdog who looked over the Underworld. And so, the Underworld had fallen into chaos for the next years – until the position as the Majesty's Watchdog was finally filled again.

The hall was decorated with colourful, exotic flowers in exquisite and expensive porcelain vases. Men and women in elegant and beautiful dresses walked around the room, filling the hall with laughter and chatter. Butlers carried around fine appetisers and glasses filled with sparkling wine. The huge chandelier, which hung exactly in the middle of the room, filled the whole scenery in golden light.

This atmosphere was far too cheerful.

I walked around the hall, exchanging short greetings with people I didn't know before he finally approached me.

"Am I to be mistaken, or did I just meet Lady Cloudia Phantomhive at a party?" the man said, bowing in front of her. She, however, didn't even think about moving a muscle.

He smiled widely at her after he had straightened up again. "You look even lovelier than the last time I have had the pleasure to meet you, Mylady."

"And you look exactly the same than the last time I have met you, Lord Parrish," she said, allowing herself to smile mischievously.

He laughed. "As always, you are an enrichment for every party, Lady Phantomhive. How is your dear mother, the Countess of Phantomhive, doing?"

"She is doing quite well if you ignore the fact that she refuses to go out, or to speak to any new people."

"Even after all those years, the Countess is still heartbroken due to the Earl's death, as it seems. It is such a tragedy, Lady Cloudia."

Lord Ronan Parrish was the reason why I had come to this boring, dull party all the way from my comfortable, quiet and orderly mansion in the countryside.

"Speaking of the last Earl of Phantomhive," Parrish continued. "How is the current one doing? I have heard that around five years ago, the title was finally passed down. However, even if so many years have passed, nobody has ever met the new Earl of Phantomhive."

My father had been the last Watchdog to King William IV. Three years after Simon Phantomhive's death, the King had passed away, making his niece, Princess Alexandrina Victoria of Kent, to the current reigning Queen of the United Kingdom.

Eight years after my father's death, the very first Watchdog of Her Majesty the Queen had finally been decorated with the needed titles and arms.

And the family burden which had been passed down along the noble title for generations.

The current "Earl of Phantomhive" was supposedly my cousin – and my fiancé.

Her smile widened a bit. "He is doing quite well, Lord. But I am afraid that the Earl wants to stay in the background for the time being. He has spent his whole life in the background after all. And only because his predecessor died before having a male heir, he will not change his way of living."

"I still hope that the Earl will eventually appear in public," Parrish replied. "But how about me treating you to dance? The first one will start in the foreseeable future, and it would be an honour to me to be your partner, dear Lady Cloudia."

Cloudia Phantomhive's smile became even more mischievous when she spoke. "I would love to, my dear Lord Parrish."

"You are a fairly gifted dancer, Lady Cloudia," Parrish told her after their dance had ended.

"You are not that bad yourself, Lord. Your footwork is exquisite," she complimented him.

He laughed. "You are flattering me, Lady Cloudia."

I wasn't lying – I found his footwork as exquisite as the appetisers given out at this party. Clearly, the man who dared to call himself a cook and prepared these abnormalities should be hanged immediately. I had to speak with the host, Baron Charles Worthington, about this when everything was over.

"Oh, I do not flatter you, Lord Parrish! I was just stating the obvious." Cloudia put out her fan, which she had got by her cousin Constantia as a gift after she had visited Japan, and tried cooling herself down with it. "However, I have to admit that I have not danced for quite a while now, and I am fairly exhausted and heated up due to this instance. May you accompany me outside to get some fresh air?"

Parrish bowed in front of her. "With pleasure, Lady Cloudia."

"I am sorry, my dear Lord, but I think that refreshing is better done in a place which is not crowded, unlike the balconies of Baron Worthington's villa."

"No, Lady Cloudia, I think your view is an interesting and rightful one."

Cloudia blinked at him and smiled. "Oh, I thank you, Lord Parrish, even though you are being dragged out into the cold by me."

"I have experienced far colder winters than this one, Lady Cloudia, so you do not have to apologise. Also, a nice walk has never killed a man."

"You are right. A nice walk has never killed anyone."

While we walked down the street, I had to listen to his boring chatter. He was speaking of his company all the time. But I had to play my role, so I stayed polite, smiled and laughed at the right times, even though I was scowling inside.

Tomorrow you're back home again, and you can ignore all these strains in a foam bath, I told myself like a mantra to stay sane.

After a while, I stopped walking, and only a few seconds later, Parrish stopped too and turned around to face me.

Oh, it was showtime.

"Is anything wrong, Lady Cloudia? Why did you..." His eyes widened. "What is the matter, Lady Cloudia?"

Cloudia wiped away her tears with the back of her hand. "I am sorry that you have to experience me in such a state, but I am afraid that I am not able to do anything against it."

"Against what? What is wrong?" Parrish slowly walked towards her, one arm reaching out to her.

"Against my grief, Lord Parrish," Cloudia answered with a sob. "My dear father used to take me on walks in the dead of night. Our walk reminded me of him, and now I cannot hold back my tears. My father would not have wanted me, his first and only child, to be such a weakling."

He had finally reached her and put his hand on one of her shoulders. "That is not a reason to cry, Lady Cloudia! Your father would be proud of you if he knew what a fine, young woman you have beco..."

Before Parrish could divine anything, Cloudia had already pulled out the dagger which she always carried in the blink of an eye, and stabbed him with it. His eyes widened in shock when he looked down the handle sticking out of his chest and then looked back at Cloudia.

She met his eyes while her face showed clear disgust. "Lord Ronan Parrish, head of the Parrish Company which illegally employs children among a few adult workers. The company pays few to nothing to the children and lets them work all day under inhumane conditions. It was estimated that around five children die a day in the Parrish Company due to the lack of security, and the usage of dangerous, unauthorised machines."

Parrish's face became ashen, and a thin smile crawled on Cloudia's lovely, doll-like face. "I'm afraid, you fool of a Lord, but at this point in time, no Earl of Phantomhive exists." She put her mouth right next to his ear, so, even though his life was slowly leaving his body, he would be able to hear her clearly.

"Thus, I am not the Watchdog's fiancée," she whispered into his ear.

All the previous Watchdogs had been males. But then my father had died without having a son.

They say that for every rule there were exceptions.

And I was the exception for this one.

"There is no such person as the son of the last Earl's late younger brother; there is not even a late brother. I am the daughter of Lady Penelope Phantomhive, born Penelope Houghton, and Earl Simon Phantomhive, the previous Watchdog to the Royal family of the United Kingdom: Cloudia Phantomhive. The sole heir to the name of Phantomhive."

Cloudia pulled herself away from Parrish, taking the dagger with her. Blood splattered all over his clothes when his wound widened. His hands, by which he had held Cloudia's shoulders in a tight, mechanical grip a second ago, fell loose to his sides. The next moment, Parrish tumbled down onto the hard road made of cobblestone, painting it crimson red.

Cloudia hauled out a tissue and calmly began to clean the dagger's blade while Parrish choked on his own blood. When she was done, she wrapped the blade in a towel and put it back into the pocket of her coat. Parrish lifted himself up a bit from the ground, looking at her with his disgusting face.

"L... Lady Cloudia..." he whimpered, spitting out blood.

She looked down at him, her large eyes shining darkly in the pale light of the moon. "That's Cloudia Phantomhive, Countess of Phantomhive for you. Her Majesty the Queen Victoria's Watchdog."

The first quote, the one from "Great Expectations," is for the whole story! And the second one... well that's not a quote I took from a book or anything, but it's still somehow a "quote." :)

I hope you enjoyed reading the first chapter!

Until next time! :D