Francis suddenly loomed in front of Ciel. Her sharp face leaned down, her features pinched.
"Ciel, dear." she said smoothly. "Shall we take a leisurely stroll through the garden? Just you and me?" She seized Ciel's elbow and propelled him away from Alois, who only smiled and waved as the boy was dragged off. They walked round, until they entered a maze of rose gardens. Pink, red and white roses, bloomed all around them, filling the air with their sweet scent. Lady Francis, kept them moving at a fast pace as she spoke.
"Do you know what I've always dreaded? Ugly grandchildren." She said, answering her own question. "But you and Elizabeth are lovely. You're bound to produce little... IMBECILES!" She was distracted from her speech as she looked at an innocent-looking bush of white roses.
"The gardeners planted white roses when I specifically asked for red!"
Ugh. What a subject. Grandchildren? Honestly. What a thought to have at such an age. What were they expecting? For him just to suddenly whisk Elizabeth off her feet and be wed, only to start sprouting angels? Good grief, the image in itself was horrid. Children were the last thing he wanted to think about.
He glanced over the patch of white roses, their scent filling his nose as the wind gently ruffled their leaves.
“…You could always paint them red?” he suggested quietly.
It would be far easier than replanting them. Plus it would be time consuming. So it would probably keep a lot of people quiet for a while.
Something caught his attention from the corner of his eye, the ruffle of rose bushes reaching his ears. White petals fell from the flowers, landing silently upon the soft green grass beneath them.
“…Did you see that?” he asked, giving the line of bushes a peculiar look.
“It was a rabbit I think...” he responded when Francisquestioned him.
"Nasty things." Francis sniffed. "I do enjoy setting the dogs on them. Don't dawdle."
Again, it caught Ciel’s eye, his attention once again being pulled away from the woman’s babbling.
“Did you see it that time?”
“See what?”
“The rabbit!”
“Don’t shout! Pay attention….” Francis gave him an irritated look. “Elizabeth said you were easily distracted. Now what was I saying…”
Ciel’s eyes remained on where the rabbit had disappeared to, muttering something along the lines of “Elizabeth has a blockage”
One again, the rabbit appeared, it’s nose twitching as it disappeared behind the entrance to hedge maze. Ciel glanced to Francis, a slightly apologetic look on his face as he said “I couldn’t be more interested…but you have to excuse me.”
And with that, he abandoned the lady, wandering off towards the hedges where the oddly dressed rabbit had been spotted.
How peculiar. A rabbit wearing a waistcoat. He must have been seeing things. His eyes were surely playing tricks on him.
A hand landed on Ciel's shoulder, making Ciel jump. But it was only Victoria, her bright pink cheeks disturbingly close to Ciel's face. As Ciel explained about the rabbit, Victoria scoffed slightly and fanned herself.
"I can't be bothered with your fancy rabbit now." She said, patting her ridiculous curls. "I'm waiting for my fiance~" This was strange enough to distract Ciel from the rabbit for a moment.
"You have a fiance?"
A sudden flash of white, darted past him and he whirled around. As Ciel tried to explain to Victoria, she ignored him.
"He's a prince...But alas, he cannot marry me. Unless he renounces his throne. Its tragic isn't it..." She said, obviously in her own little world.
“….Very…” he mumbled, backing away from the woman as he returned his attention to the rustling of flower bushes among the crowd of cheerful party attendees.
He stopped fro a moment, hearing familiar murmurs from under the cover of an overhanging tree’s branches. He took a moment to peer through it’s leaves to the familiar sounding voice, only to be met with a picture that he really could have gone without seeing.
The distinguished Claude, the same who had been mentioned in his previous discussion with Alois, was currently locking lips with a woman with flowing white hair that trailed down her back, blending in against her white dress.. Ugh. How revolting.
“Claude?” Ciel called his name, catching the two read handed as he gave them an unamused stare.
Claude jerked away from the girl, his flustered gaze moving to the boy.
“Ciel….” He hesitated with his explanation, his face falling into its usual emotionless state, while the boy continued to look unconvinced, “We were just…uh…Hannah’s an old friend”
Ciel’s eyes shifted to the girl, who was now wandering off to avoid the awkward confrontation.
“I can see you’re very close…” he muttered, returning his attention to the man in front of him.
“Look…you won’t mention this to your brother, will you?” Claude pleaded to him.
“I don’t know…” he replied, classing the man as vile for going around behind Alois’ back. “I need time to think…”
“Well…” Clause attempted to fix the situation once more, and failed greatly “Think about Alois. He would never trust me again. You don’t want to ruin his marriage, do you?”
Ciel frowned at him, glaring slightly at the blackmail. He scoffed a little before returning the insult.
“Me? But I’m not the one sneaking around behind his back..."
"There you are!" Elizabeth's voice interrupted them, as Claude sneaked away. She popped out of the trees and seized Ciel's hand, dragging him away.
BINABASA MO ANG
