The Assassin (Black Butler/Sebastian Love Story)

Chapter 18

The prince had proved not to be too much of a nuisance. At least, not to me. Ciel, on the other hand, was getting quite irritated with him. The only reason he wasn't bothering me so much was because Soma kept asking Ciel to take him to London and Sebastian was always with Ciel. I didn't have to watch them at all. That also meant I didn't have to spend that much time with Sebastian.

I was walking down the hall, not really having anything to do, when Lau walked out of a room and blocked my way. I bowed, "Good afternoon, Lau."

"Oh, Willow, you're just the person I was going to look for," Lau smiled, his eyes only half-open.

"What may I help you with?" I wondered.

"I was wondering if you had read this before," he told me and removed his hands from behind his back. He held a newspaper.

I took it in my hands and observed it. The date was a couple of months before, so I was surprised he had held onto it for so long. I noticed it was from the London Times Dispatch. I finally read the front page headline, "The Widow Strikes Again!" There was a picture of Earl Alfred Palmer, the last man I had assassinated before going to Phantomhive Manor. I swallowed hard. "No, I haven't read it," I answered finally.

Lau investigated, "But you must have heard of the Widow before, right?"

I lied, "No, I haven't."

"I'm surprised, Willow. The Widow is an infamous assassin who kills only noblemen. No one knows where this person came from, what they look like, who hires them, how to contact them, or anything. The Widow has been around for years, though. Their mark is carving a 'W' into the victim's cheek after slicing his throat. This is the most feared assassin in the world of nobility," he told me.

"What a horrible person! I don't see how anyone could live such a lifestyle!" I exclaimed, trying my best to act as someone in my position would. I didn't really know how.

"I recognized you the moment I saw you. I couldn't put a name to your face, but I had seen you before," he revealed.

I asked calmly, "Really?"

Lau said, "At first, I knew I couldn't be thinking of you. You're just a maid working for the young lord, after all. Then, you told me your name and something clicked. I remembered seeing your face at Martin Farr's mansion a few times, since he is someone I do business with. He wouldn't agree to my terms no matter how hard I tried, so I got him drunk. It was pretty easy." I remembered that. Martin was such a pain in the ass the next day. "I got him to agree and he let something slip out. The Widow had been working for him the whole time! I pestered him that night to tell me the details about her, but all he would give was her name."

I asked, trying my luck, "What does this have to do with me?"

He opened his eyes all the way and I knew that meant something bad. "Her name is Willow Porter," he smirked.

"Huh. So he does know my name. All he ever calls me is Widow, so I assumed he forgot," I half-joked. I had somewhat believed that.