The letter read:
Dear Lady [F/N] and Earl P.,
This letter has been sent by the order of Her Majesty, The Queen. Lord Phantomhive, we must inform you that the Victoria Industries not only is a thriving business worldwide, it also involves a family that was once trusted to secretly work under the Queen as "Her Majesty's Cheshire Cat." They were also, like the Phantomhives, called the 'villainous nobles'.
However, at some point in history, the family became corrupt and no longer held the trust of the Queen. But soon enough, faith in the family was revived due to a certain young lady. Of course, that refers to Lady [F/N]. Although, her work is done much more secretly compared to the Phantomhives. Therefore, the underworld does not know of her. Those who do are most inevitably in their graves. How long exactly she has served under the Queen, possibly even 'queens,' is unknown. That has been eluded with no complaints or questions.
The other family patrolling the underworld is, of course, the Phantomhives, who are more openly - though not publicly - known as "The Queen's Guard Dog." Both families serve under Her Majesty to secure the balance between London's underworld and its surface. And both have always emerged victorious.
Neither have known of the other's involvement in such matters. Until now. Her Majesty believes that its about time that the masks come off and their true faces are revealed. It is time to meet your counterpart. The Queen also requests that the two groups ensure some kind of close tie with one another. After all, you will be working in future cases together.
Therefore, Her Majesty has arranged an engagement. She is well aware of the devotion of Earl Phantomhive's butler to his master as well as his involvement in cases such as the ones mentioned above. In addition, the Earl is already betrothed. And we cannot have Lady [F/N]'s butler be engaged to another man, now can we? Thus, the only reasonable solution to this is to wed the Lady to the butler.
This marriage will be kept secret, of course. Not that the public is aware of Lady [F/N] existence in the first place. But, it is best to prevent others from learning that a noble has been engaged to a servant, and on the Queen's order nonetheless. But either way, as the head butler, Mr. Michaelis holds the second highest position in the Phantomhive household. We hope you can bear with the current situation at hand and adapt to it easily.
Sincerely,
The Queen's Secretary
That's what's written on the cursed paper that so greatly took everyone by surprise.
"I VOLUNTEER!" Francis had shouted suddenly with his hand raised. Everyone turned to look at him with confused expressions. "I...," he gulped, "I volunteer to be that man's betrothed!"
"Francis!" [F/N] said rather loudly," "Don't be ridiculous! You're a man. Men cannot wed other men."
"But master-" Francis started, but [F/N] raised her hand to cut him off.
"This is my duty. It is a task given to me by the Queen. Even if it wasn't, I refuse to just hand it over to someone else just because I don't like it. I will take it upon myself to do this. And Francis," she gave him a small smile, "don't just throw yourself out there so recklessly for my sake." Her smile then turned into a smirk and she put a hand on his shoulder sympathetically as she said, "Just because you look and act like a woman, doesn't mean you would make a good housewife to a man."
Francis was hesitant to let go of the matter. But, seeing that silent look of certainty in his master's gaze, he had no choice. However, he still sent a menacing death glare over to Sebastian, who remained unfazed and just smiled.
