~The Queen's Butler...Arrogant~ (Charles Grey x Reader)

Chapter 31: The she-butler, confronted

Grey couldn't help but feel a mix of anticipation and anxiety. He had spent the past few days trying to process the events on the Campania, the encounter with (Y/n), and now, the letter she had sent him. It was a whirlwind of emotions, and he found himself oscillating between excitement and fear.

He couldn't deny the flood of relief that washed over him upon reading her words. She was alive, and she wanted to see him. The fact that she acknowledged their connection and expressed her love gave him a glimmer of hope amidst the chaos that had surrounded them.

Grey knew he had to be patient, waiting for their meeting in the main town square in a week's time. The days seemed to drag on, filled with restless anticipation and a longing to see (Y/n) again. He couldn't focus on anything else, and his duties as the Queen's butler had taken a backseat in his mind.

As the days passed, Grey couldn't help but wonder what (Y/n) had meant when she mentioned urgent business and things she needed to tend to before returning to her previous life. He knew she carried secrets and burdens, and he respected her need to address them. He wanted to support her, to be there for her, but he couldn't shake the nagging worry that she might be in danger.

-

(Y/n) neglected to formally borrow out those files on the Undertaker, instead sneaking them out of the library by hiding them away in her bag. Although the library had a strict policy in relation to stealing documents and not signing in or out it's belongings, she knew how to keep herself from looking suspicious.

She had since brought them to her office, to look over while she pretended to complete paperwork. She did have a darn lot of it after all, given the Campania situation and how many missing soul forms she, Ronald and Grell would have to fill out, even when the work load had been divided evenly amongst them. To be completely fair, she wasn't entirely neglecting her work, she had just done enough that she wouldn't be unreasonably far behind on the work load. 

Although it was hard  to discern what exactly she was doing, it certainly wasn't nothing. Realistically, she was trying to gage the kind of character she was to be facing alone, as well as determine his current location with recent known sightings of him, aside from the Campania incident. Though, from her partial association with him in life, that being his close relationship with Lord Phantomhive, she was able to narrow the possibilities down to one place - a funeral parlor in the midst of town. 

She was going to see him the same day that she was to see her lover, that much was settled. It'd be much too suspicious if she ran off on two separate occasions, especially with no reaping business at the current moment. 

(Y/n) was alarmed by the sound of her office door opening, the woman scrambling to cover the stolen documents as she looked up to see who had intruded on her so suddenly. 

It was Ronald, and the only reason she didn't scold him for not knocking was because she had made it very clear to him previously that he didn't have to knock on her office door and was welcome to come in whenever. Even given the circumstances of their rough break up, she still wasn't mad, just flustered. 

The look in his eyes told her that he was confused, and a little reluctant to enter the room after having seen the way she scrambled around when he opened the door. 

"...Am I...interrupting something?" he asked, his voice just above a whisper.
"N-no, not at all! Come in," (Y/n) welcomed him, her voice nervous as she tried to feign casual innocence.