Comforting Darkness

Chapter 41: The Tutor, Events of Instrumental Importance

The following days, the entire Phantomhive household was conscious of the deliberate distance Sebastian kept from Selina and his unreasonable anger towards her, ignited by almost everything she did. The atmosphere in the manor was filled with tension and frustration; Sebastian was never openly rude to the tutor - as he never was to anyone - but Bard, Mey-Rin and Finny knew very well how to detect his bad mood. He was treating Selina exactly as he did them; words filled with covered irony and always finding faults in every chore she did.

Truth is, Selina also seemed not herself, becoming a little sloppy in many things as she always had a distant, deep in thought look in her eyes. What worried the trio more, was that the tutor never talked back to Sebastian, as it would be normal for her; she only accepted his reprimands and complains, sighing patiently or at least glaring at him when he did not look, and there was always a sad expression on her face when doing that.

"Something really serious has happened this time, yes, it has!!" Mey-Rin stuttered one day, while they were all in the kitchen; except the couple discussed, of course.

"Do ya think they fought?" Bard asked chewing his cigarette and then left a tsk sound and a sigh, as Mey-Rin nodded. "Then they broke up, already?"

"What? No!!! I do not want Mr. Sebastian and Miss Selina apart!! I want them to be together and love each other!!" Finny said at the verge of tears.

"Finny boy, things are not that easy and simple between adults. You will see for yourself when time comes... says Oscar." Snake said making Finny sadder. Mr. Tanaka let a soft "Ho!" and patted the boy's blond hair quite fatherly.

"Still, they were just fine a few days ago! After Miranda's visit, it feels like everything changed." Mey-Rin seriously wanted to find out the truth.

"Indeed... Ever since you returned from the townhouse, I have not seen them heading for the east wing at nights, like before. Smile's tutor goes to her room and Black wanders around almost all night, every night... says Bronte." Snake contributed again.

"What??" Bard seemed too shocked. "Then there's a serious lovers' quarrel between them! That's why Sebastian is so angry! It's the... the... the... how it's called?"

"Abstinence frustration?... says Oscar."

"Yeah, exactly!"

"Then we must investigate!" Mey-Rin announced with a determined gleam in her eyes as she straightened her glasses. The others looked at her surprised. They would never understand this woman; rooting so hard for the man she liked being with another woman, her friend no less... That maid was so strange.

"I want in! I want in too!" Finny yelled enthusiastically. His eyes sparkled.

"Oh, my boy! Please, leave the grown-ups deal with it. They know how to approach them!" Mr. Tanaka said, obviously wanting to protect Finny's innocence.

With no delay, they sat down to make a plan of capturing their preys... actually prey, because they soon agreed it was impossible to catch Sebastian off guard. Plus, the thought of how he would repay them, was not appealing at all.

They put their plan in action one evening, after Selina finished a philosophy lesson with the young Earl, and was heading to the kitchen to get a glass of cool lemonade to fight off the still hot weather, in the last days of August.

She was absentminded and quite relaxed, when out of the blue, hands appeared from a room and pulled her in; one shutting her mouth while others grabbed her waist and hands to prevent her from fighting. In a second, she found herself cornered to a wall and something a little slippery crawling around her, confining her arms and body in its leathery coils. A familiar trembling voice begged her not to scream and when her eyes focused saw a terrified Mey-Rin, surprised by her own audacity, standing in front of Selina, lifting her hand from the woman's lips while apologizing, and Bard and Snake at her sides, Goethe's narrow face also entered her vision and the intelligent snake seemed to smile at her ironically.