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

2. Sebastian Michaelis

Sebastian headed for the kitchen to commence his work. A butler must always be at the service of the young master, no matter how tedious the task may be. His eyes slightly turned red at the thought of tonight's meeting. If all goes well, I might have something to eat, after all. It won't be as fulfilling as the young master's soul for him, but at least, it should help keep the hunger at bay. So it was important for this night to go extremely well. The last thing Sebastian needed was for the evening to end in disappointment. Not to mention that the young master would never let Sebastian hear the end of it. Or worse, question his usefulness as a butler.

After the master had his dinner, Sebastian already left him in the hands of Mr. Hughes, his tutor of the day. He arrived at 10 o' clock sharp. At least, that human is more punctual than Niall.

Hopefully, the young master would have a better attention span and not fall asleep in the middle of his lessons like last time when one of his tutors tried to teach him Mathematics.

Sebastian entered the kitchen where Baldroy should be present and already preparing the master's lunch before 12 pm. Alas, he was nowhere to be found. He should be working. Usually, breakfast for the servants would end before they start making the master's breakfast. So, Baldroy shouldn't be eating at this hour.

That could only mean one thing...

Sebastian sighed. Baldroy must be outside smoking again. Wasting his time as always. Honestly, why must he ever vex me so?

 
He went outside to check if he was there. And just as he predicted, Baldroy was reclined against the wall near the entrance, with a lit cigarette between his fingers.

 
Typical fool, Sebastian thought.

"Bard!"

Baldroy jumped from fright, nearly slipping off the wall. "Oh shit!" He then sighed in relief when he saw it was only Sebastian. "Oh, it's just you."

"Baldroy, you're supposed to be in charge of preparing tonight's dinner."

As usual, Baldroy complained. "I don't even know what I'm supposed to cook. Every time I make a suggestion, you shut me down."

"I have a list of instructions and recipes for you to follow," Sebastian said as he held up a scrap of paper. "Tonight, we're having cold chicken."

Baldroy frowned at this. "What the hell is wrong with hot chicken -?"

"You will be making cold chicken, as instructed on the list," Sebastian continued sternly, not liking how Baldroy both interrupted and questioned him. "You will also be making the curried eggs while I take care of the honeycombs. Lemon meringue pie is dessert so that will be made last. This needs to be done before evening. Do you think you can do that?"

Baldroy shrugged. "I guess so." He tossed the cigarette onto the ground and crushed it with his boot. "I get the curried eggs and the lemon meringue pie, but how the hell do you make cold chicken -?"

Sebastian gave him the list. "Follow the recipe, Bard. That's all you need to do. Do you understand?"

"Yes, yes, all right, I understand," Baldroy said as he rolled his eyes.

"Good, now get to work. Stop wasting time!" Sebastian snapped at him harshly.

Baldroy flinched before rushing back inside the kitchen. "Okay, okay, I'm going."

Sebastian sighed, tired and annoyed with Baldroy's laid back and careless attitude. Sometimes he regretted bringing him to England to work for the young master. He could have left him starving where he found him. Even today, Sebastian felt Baldroy was being ungrateful and gave him many reasons to fire him. However, Baldroy still had his uses, despite being a terrible cook.