Comforting Darkness

Chapter 65: The Tutor, The Earl Ciel Phantomhive

London's society was following the case of the Phantomhive impostor twin pretty closely; the common people were intrigued - like it was one of the Penny Dreadful stories they enjoyed reading - and the high society felt utterly confused and betrayed. The fact that the majority of Counts, Earls, Lords and Ladies had associated themselves, one way or another, with the Earl Phantomhive but never, never suspected of something being off, upset each and every one of them. That was why, they eagerly kept reading the newspapers for anything new - like the groundbreaking announcement Vicount Druitt did about the true mastermind of all - and were at the edge of their seat, when it became known that the Queen had sent the alleged impostor - the surviving Phantomhive brother and her Watchdog for three years - an invitation to discuss the matter privately.

That same invitation had upset the entire Phantomhive household since, although private, it was extended to all the residents of the manor, meaning the Queen wanted to meet the people supporting the sole Phantomhive survivor. The reasons behind that were a mystery, but just the thought of meeting the Queen of Britain herself was enough to create chaos in the manor.

"Mey-Rin, will you please stop thinking about it and focus on work? We are almost out of plates and the new ones will come in a couple of days." That was Selina, treating a few more cuts on the fidgeting maid's hands.

"Finny, where is your mind? You know how to pluck the weeds without ruining the gardenias." Sebastian to the teary eyed gardener, while surveying the grand scale disaster, something becoming a little more rare after some successful soccer matches.

"Bard, even you know the meat has to be boiled first, to make the soup, and then roasted... in the oven, not with the flamethrower." Selina to the blackened chef, while dousing him and the kitchen with cold water as fast as she could.

"Snake, you were the only one actually capable of doing some work and that is gone now... and do not leave your snakes behind in places they should not be." Sebastian, quite disappointed, while removing Goethe from a barrel of beer; the reptile was giggling in its way, quite intoxicated.

"No, Nina! This might be a meeting with the Queen, but I am still the master and they the servants, so you have to prepare something fitting of their position." Young master, his eyebrow twitching quite annoyed, as he dismissed two short, sleeveless, heavy with sequins dresses the enthusiastic tailor had prepared for Mey-Rin and Selina. He barely avoided exploding in anger when she informed him that the older he got the more he behaved like Mr. Stiff.

However, it seemed that for Prince Soma, born and raised in royalty, meeting a queen was not a big deal, therefore he was the only one remaining level-headed.

Finally, the day of the meeting came and everyone were dressed in their finest without overshadowing their master, who wore his official suit for the occasion along with the Watchdog's title ribbon, exactly as the day it was granted to him. The only one who surpassed the Earl in appearance was Soma, dressed in his princely attire.

"Hey, folks. You look pretty excited, huh?" Earl Charles Grey said, meeting the group at the palace's entrance. "While you three... well... you look like something the cat dragged in!" He finished looking at the fourteen year old Earl and his two head servants.

Despite being dressed in the finest fabrics and most graceful designs a butler and a tutor could dream of, the two supernaturals looked quite exhausted, just like their master. Running the manor these last days with four agitated, imbecile servants and an over enthusiastic prince for guest was quite an ordeal even for one hell of a butler.

They did not respond, just glared at Earl Grey, who seemed to enjoy the situation, and with his usual sneaky smirk, led them through the palace to where the meeting would be held.