The Hunt for Jack the Ripper (The Phantomhive Diaries #1)

1. Ciel Phantomhive

Ciel woke up to the morning sun bathing into his chamber through the large glass windows. When he saw Sebastian opening the last window curtain, Ciel groaned and turned his back to the butler, covering his head with the red duvet.

"Could you be any ruder?" Ciel asked with bitterness and sarcasm.

"Forgive me, young master," Sebastian bowed his head. "But it is time to wake up. After all, we do have guests coming this evening and it would be best to have everything prepared beforehand."

Ciel let out a deep sigh. "Yes. I suppose you're right." He removed the sheets from himself and sat up. "It would be rude to receive guests without the necessary preparations."

"Indeed, my lord." Sebastian served him a cup of earl grey tea which was still steaming hot. "Today, you will be taking Mathematics with Mr. Hughes."

Ciel scoffed. "I would have preferred French literature. I despise Mathematics."

"I am aware of your lack of interest in Mathematics but while your marks on other subjects have been excellent, you're lagging in one subject. And that is the subject you despise the most. So, whether you wish for it or not, you need to study Mathematics thoroughly until you get higher marks."

Ciel groaned in annoyance. "Fine. Anything else?"

"After your studies, you'll have a meeting with Lord Damiano in the evening."

Ciel sipped his tea. "Is that the man I have in charge of my factory in India?"

"I hear he's Italian. He'll be sent here by Master Chlaus Albiker via carriage."

"Hmm. If Chlaus is sending Lord Damiano to meet with me here, then it must be serious." He finally jumped out of bed. "Very well. Then let us begin. Make sure he receives all the hospitality the Phantomhive Estate can offer him."

"As you wish, my lord," Sebastian bowed with his usual polite smile.

After washing his face with cold water, Ciel was dressed first before starting breakfast. Sebastian, as per usual, had him dressed in his frock. For the frock, Ciel preferred the color blue. It had always been his favourite colour. Though, today, instead of blue like yesterday, Ciel decided to receive tonight's guest with emerald green. Once Sebastian dressed him in his frock and black shorts, he helped the young earl put on his shoes and tied a blue bow around his shirt collar. Ciel flinched when Sebastian tightened the bow a little further, almost choking him. And all the butler did was chuckle in amusement. Ciel would have slapped him in the bloody face for that, but he was still too tired for it. And it was obvious Sebastian knew this. Fucking bastard.
Sebastian straightened up and bowed once more. "I shall meet you at the dining hall, my young lord."

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Sebastian served Ciel his breakfast. "Today we have kedgeree with cheese seftons, a side of grapes and cambric tea."

Ciel frowned in confusion. This is a lot of food, even for him. "So you decided to spoil me today? What seems to be the occasion?"

"Well, after your nightmare from last night, it seems that a heavier breakfast would be appropriate for you. It would keep you from being tempted to eat sweets before bed. They often cause nightmares."

The boy's hand clenched around the fork, tempted into stabbing Sebastian's gloved hand. So, he believes I had nightmares because I ate sweets last night? He blames me? The audacity...

Ciel decided to change the subject before he could lose his temper.

"Where's the newspaper?" he asked.

Sebastian sighed. Ciel knew he would get aggravated by just asking. For they both knew that the delivery boy was always late. And as if on purpose, he would drive Sebastian insane. A non-stop yammerer, as Ciel would put it lightly. So he was delighted to see Sebastian have a negative reaction.

"I'm sorry, my lord," he said. "But it seems that Niall is late as always. I'm not surprised at this point. Perhaps we should consider having another delivery boy bring in the papers."

Ciel scoffed after taking a bite at the cheese sefton. "He's the only one who doesn't think this mansion is haunted or cursed. So we have to make do with what we have."

"Speaking of making do with what we have," Sebastian continued. "The house cleaning might not be complete before evening's dinner. May I suggest cleaning one of the guest rooms as well as the dining hall?"

"I thought you were faster than that."

"Yes, well, my lord, I could. But even demons can get a bit winded after a while. And yesterday's cleaning proved to be a lot more tedious than before. And I'm certain Bard is no help at all."

"Does he keep finding the flamethrower?"

"I'm afraid so."

Ciel rolled his eyes. "Honestly, that man is a menace to the house and to himself. How the bloody hell does he keep finding the wretched thing?"

"He is a veteran if I recall correctly, my lord. He still treats the estate like a battlefield. A mindset that still works in our favour, I'm afraid. But back to the subject, may I suggest hiring more servants? It might help keep others from asking too many questions about the mansion's state."

"Hmm. I suppose you're right. It wouldn't be a bad idea to have a few more employees working at the mansion. Having one butler in charge of a large house can prove tiresome. Besides, as you said, it would be better to keep up appearances. I don't want my aunts or anyone else getting suspicious of you."

"Perhaps I can schedule an interview with the townsfolk nearby or even some of the Londoners, my lord."

"Perhaps."

"How many staff members would you require?"

"Two."

Sebastian looked at the boy strangely. "Two? Are you sure?"

"I have no interest in hiring an entire staff if it's just me living here. We already have a cook. All I need now is a maid and a groundskeeper. The garden is being neglected for too long."

"I suppose I'll be in charge of that before our guest arrives as well."

"I understand if it's an exhausting task but I refuse to welcome our guest with a disheveled garden."

"Very well, my lord. I shall have everything prepared for this evening and tomorrow we will acquire more house staff."

"All right," Ciel continued eating his breakfast before he had to start his day being bored to death by Mr. Hughes.