That Butler, New Face

That Butler, At the Helm

Lizzie, dressed in a cute sailor-style dress, was trembling with pink cheeks and tears in her eyes.

"I—I had hoped to surprise you," Ciel greeted her a little awkwardly as they stood facing each other on the first-class deck with her family behind her and his servants behind him.

"You said you couldn't come with us! I'm so very happy!!" Lizzie exclaimed joyfully, hugging him tight.

"Elizabeth! Stop behaving so indecently in public at once!!" Francis scolded her daughter.

"..." the Marquess of Midford, Alexis Leon Midford, was looking stern.

"Quite right, Lizzie," said her older brother, Edward. "Besides..." He looked at Ciel and how Lizzie had settled for linking arms with him. "... I have yet to acknowledge you as my future brother-in-law!! So hurry up and move away from her!!" he roared, pointing at the young earl.

"Haah..." Ciel said, sweat-dropping.

"Really! There you go saying those things again, Edward!" Lizzie huffed. Ciel noticed the Marquess was still staring hard at him.

"L-Lord Midford. It has been quite some time since we last met," Ciel greeted him politely, although the way he kept staring so intensely was a little unsettling to say the least. "Erm..." The Marquess's eyes widened in a glare, and the next thing Ciel knew, he was being hugged tight and nuzzled by the older man.

"You are adooorable as usual~!♥" Alexis told him brightly, very much resembling his daughter.

'So that's where she gets it from...' Chêne thought, suppressing a wry smile and sweat-dropping.

"Really, my lord! That's quite enough!!" Francis said sternly with a vein throbbing on her forehead.

"father, that's not fair! I want to do that, too!" Lizzie said.

"Stop that, you two!" Francis yelled with another vein throbbing on her head.

=†=†=†=†=†=

"So we'll get to be together for the whole three weeks?" Elizabeth asked once they were all seated for tea in the dining room. Sebastian and Snake stood at attention with their hair slicked back, courtesy of the marchioness, while Chêne saw to the rooms along with Paula, Lizzie's maid. It was probably for the best, as Chêne began to feel more seasick as time passed.

"Yes, that's right," Ciel replied.

"This will be our first time being together for so long!" Lizzie said, blushing, excited. "You must escort me to the dinner parties, Ciel!"

"I will, I will," he promised. He flinched a little in surprise when he was suddenly hit by a sharp glare from her brother, who had a vein throbbing on his forehead.

"I was going to be the one escorting her..." Edward grumbled darkly. Ciel sweat-dropped.

"What exactly have I gotten myself into...?" Ciel asked gloomily. He could sense a lot of headaches in his future.

"Heh! Is it not just as well?" Sebastian asked. "The meeting of which we spoke will be held on the eve of the nineteenth. Why not leisurely enjoy a rare holiday?" Ciel glanced at Lizzie.

"I must dress uppp!♥" she said happily to herself.

"... Well... I guess a break is called for every so often..." Ciel said with a sigh.

=†=†=†=†=†=

"We're back," Ciel announced as they entered his first-class cabin.

"Welcome... back..." Chêne said, looking and sounding exhausted. There was a sheen of sweat on her forehead, and she had a bad headache. "Ugh..."