𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝕼𝖚𝖊𝖊𝖓'𝖘 𝕷𝖎𝖔𝖓: 𝕯𝖎𝖘𝖈𝖎𝖕𝖑𝖎𝖓𝖊𝖉

The Banquet

TW: Charles Grey and Charles Phipps mentioned (I'm so sorry), mentions of the Kelvin Manor and the children

"Well?" Ciel asked as he sipped on his morning tea. "How much longer do you two plan on staying here at the manor?" Prince Soma and Agni had come back home with Ciel and Y/N to 'help her prepare for her meeting with the Queen'. It was a very sweet notion, and Y/N did love having them around all day, but Ciel hadn't found it near as fun as she had.

"I'm staying just so I can spend the long-awaited winter holiday with you, so how could you say that?" Soma huffed. The Prince was looking for any excuse to stay with his best friends.

"Exactly, Ciel, how could you say that?" Y/N repeated with a smirk as she sipped her tea. She made sure to disregard any of the manners Sebastian had taught her. While they had definitely saved her from making a fool of herself in front of the Queen, Y/N never wanted to act so polite and uptight ever again in her life.

"Don't you two go on making up your own holidays!" Ciel grumbled as he looked over the morning's paper. A certain headline caught his eye and Y/N could read the words 'Diamond trade' in big, bold, black print. She caught a glimpse of the photograph under the article's title as well, it was a man laid out on his back in a pool of blood. Ciel looked over the paper a little longer before sliding it over to Y/N so she could skim over it as well. The Earl and Lady shared a knowing look after she finished taking in the crime scene's photo. Out of curiosity, Y/N flipped the page to look at the other articles and she almost choked on her tea. On the back of the page was a picture of the charred remains of the Kelvin manor with the words 'The Lion Takes Down Child Trafficking Ring' printed across the top. She had a feeling that someone would put two and two together and figure out it was her who had done the dirty work, but she had hoped it wouldn't make it into the paper.

"You see, today is the day I shall beat you in chess!" Soma claimed as he pointed triumphantly towards Ciel. The Prince had been working very hard to improve his nonexistent knowledge of chess so he might play with Ciel.

"Forgive me, but I have work today," Ciel informed Soma as he stood up from his seat at the breakfast table. "Come, Y/N, Sebastian."

"Yes, sir." Sebastian pushed Ciel's chair back into its place before going to help Y/N out of her seat.

"But you said that yesterday too and played only one game with me!" Pouted Prince Soma as he looked to Y/N, very clearly upset she was leaving too. "And this time you're even taking Y/N with you."

"Sorry Soma, duty calls today," Y/N sighed as the Prince gave her a flash of his puppy eyes. Y/N swore she saw Agni flash her a similar look over his Prince's shoulder as well.

"Why don't you try improving your game by studying up on chess problems while we're working? You're too weak," Huffed Ciel as he turned away from them.

"Dammit, I'll get you! Agni, assist me with my special training!" Soma commanded.

"Jo aagyaa!" Agni bowed before his Prince, both of them very excited for what the day would bring them.

"Have fun you two," Y/N called over her shoulder as she, Ciel, and Sebastian left the room and closed the door behind themselves. "So does anyone else have a foreboding sense of something oddly specific but they can't place what it's for?" Y/N asked.

"Did you get any sleep last night?" Ciel replied as he looked her over as if she had sprouted another head.

"I slept well, actually. Lydia Smith's mother wrote to me to thank us for finding her daughter. It was very kind of her, she asked if she could continue to write to me, giving me updates on Lydia's condition. One day she hopes to meet us," Y/N told the Earl. He didn't look like he particularly liked that idea because his frown deepened. "I figured you wouldn't want to, but I do want to meet her family, and it would be nice to know about how her recovery process is going."