The Devil's Bride *Sebastian Love*

Her Butler, Answering

The storm had cleared up by morning. Alette yawned loudly as the guests loaded into their carriages. She was never quite the morning person. The grass was soggy with leftover rainwater and morning dew, but the sky had finally lightened to a light blue with puffy clouds to compliment it. Arthur was pondering the case, which was supposedly closed, when a knock reverberated through his carriage. He lowers his window to the smiling man.
"Mr. Jeremy..."
"Why the long face? We just solved the case."
"You were extremely helpful, Mr. Jeremy. Thank you very much. I can't help but feel bad for the Earl though. And Countess' butler. They lost someone very close to them."
"Likewise. I doubt we'll meet again, but I wish you well, Professeur." Arthur hesitates, recognizing the foreign language. Suddenly, the woman is beside him, red lips stretched into a smile. She was grieving not hours ago, why would she be smiling now.
"Ne vous inquiétez pas, professeur. Mon amour et je serai bientôt ensemble, une fois de plus ."[1] As he comprehended, his carriage began moving.
"Merci de veiller sur le jeune maître."[2] As the carriage left, the clever man began to ponder. Pondering turned to thinking, thinking turned to questions, and questions turned to conclusions. Soon, he was bursting through the doors to the Phantomhive estate once more. Selima and Jeremy quickly broke apart, hands untwisting from one another.
"Why are you so flustered?" asked Jeremy, alluding to the man at the bottom of the steps, panting fiercely. "Did you forget something?"
"I returned to confirm the truth, Reverend Jeremy." Alette's heart plunged into her stomach; if this man screwed up all their hard acting and work, so help her..." No! The butler, Sebastian."
"God damn it..." Whispered Alette.
"Excellent!" he praised, mouth quirking up into a small smile. "It seems we've rather underestimated you."
"Mistress, it appears he knows. Would you like me to eradicate him?" asks Selima
"Not quite yet." Replies Ciel, interrupting before Alette can answer.
"You're really far too clever." Sebastian acknowledges, ripping off the mask. Selima smiles at the handsome man she was dating; she had known for some time. "Professor."
"I-I can't believe it! There's no way anything that implausible could be true."
"Oh?"
"Did you not come back because you suspected what was going on? And now you can't believe it?" sighed Selima, irritated that their plan had gone to waste.
"If you had just been on your way, you could have returned to that tranquil reality, so why come back?" inquires Sebastian. "Why, when you're shaking so badly?"
"Because if the misgivings I felt weren't just misgivings, I'd have to chase the Yard's carriage immediately!" He almost salutes through his passion; Alette can sympathize with his sense of morality.
"You certainly have a strong sense of justice, Professor." Comments Ciel. "But then you do claim to be a fan of medieval knights in your writing. Once you know the truth, you may not be able to leave. Didn't you consider that?"
"Huh?"
"He's only joking. He can be a twat like that sometimes." Clarifies Alette.
"Woodley wasn't behind the murders." Reveals Ciel. "At least, not in this case."
"But he deserves what he got. We did not act without reason."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Long story. Let's discuss it over tea and sweets." Alette follows Ciel up the stairs and Sebastian wraps an arm around Selima's waist.
"Today I'll be serving Fortnum and Mason's Darjeeling second flush." Announces Sebastian.
"Along with petite fours." Adds Selima, placing a few plates sin the center of the table. There is an awkward silence, which annoys Alette.
"Well someone say something!"
"What made you think he was alive, Professor?" questions Ciel.
"I didn't have any real conviction. Just a persistent sense of vague incongruity. He was just well...too perfect. And the way those two kept flirting. The butler Sebastian and the butler Selima that is. Sebastian and Reverend Jeremy. There were so many inconsistencies and, yet there was absolutely no room for doubt. They were flawless. They were so perfect, it was unnatural!"
"And by that you mean...?" probed Sebastian
"To prepare for death, no, your own murder, with such accuracy is impossible. That goes way beyond the level of premonition." He pauses, considers himself and continues. "Then along comes Reverend Jeremy, and even though he was unquestionably suspicious, he had an airtight alibi. And then their parting words, the instant I heard those words, I found the root if my unease. And realized that a single irrational possibility would overturn all our reasoning. The possibility that the butler, Sebastian, was not dead. Once that occurred to be, I couldn't keep still."
"To think that one simple phrase would convince you to return...I blame you, Selima."
"Me? You're the one who called him the young master."
"Yes, but--." She cuts him off with a soft, loving kiss; their first reunited kiss.
"Darling, you're not going to win this, so you might as well stop now." She tittered.
"Oh my gosh, you both screwed it up!" exhaled an exasperated Alette.
"So what did I do to arouse such suspicion?"
"First of all, when Siemens was killed...you can practically do anything, but you just stood there. Both of you did. When the Earl and Countess were suspected, neither of you defended them."
"We must let them fight their own battles sometimes. What's more, is who would take the word of their butlers? Its expected we'd defend them, no matter what the cost."
"You knew there'd be another murder and they would be cleared."
"Yes, I knew."
"I knew there would be, I just didn't expect..."
"You certainly did mourn for me so."
"All acting."
"Sure it was." He smirks
"Shut up." She growls.
"I thought so."
"We knew ahead of time that one of our guests wanted to bedevil the children." Confesses Selima.
"You knew there would be a murder?"
"Yes, and that Mr. Siemens would be the likely victim. And that I would be killed." Sebastian explains, and soon Arthur is standing up, outraged.
"Hang on! Why didn't you say that right away?"
"The young master seemed to be monitoring the situation, so we followed their lead."
"A murder under those circumstances..."
"After talking it through, we first concluded it was a swindle."
"Life and death aside, I assumed Lord Siemens had poisoned himself. The rest is as my butler said."
"I see. So that's why you sent him to replenish the coal. That bothered me as well. There's no need o rake ashes in an empty room. Yet he was killed because of that."
"Yes, the truth of that order was to inspect the hearth. But, my master really is quite cruel. "He looks down at the boy, sipping his tea and nibbling on the dessert. "He knew I'd be killed if I inspected the hearth yet he did so regardless."
"Well, no one expected things would go this well."
"This well?"
"Yes, the night I was murdered, it was not god or fate."
"We don't believe in such things." Chimed in Selima.
"I died according to my master's scenario, at the time of his choosing. By the hand of the intended culprit."
"I swear; I will be the death of him. Mercy is not a virtue I possess." Swore Selima, clenching her gloved hand. Sebastian wraps an arm around her, pulling her close and giving her shoulder a reassuring squeeze; it felt good to be cared about.
"In good time."
"You're lying!" cried Arthur, incredulous. "You mean you knew the killer's identity?!" shouts Arthur, knocking over his tea. Selima quickly replaces the table cloth and pours the man another cup. "And yet you willing cast aside your life? Because your master ordered it?"
"Yes, I do not lie. You see, the strain our masters place upon us deserves a Royal Warrant." He goes on to explain the rest of the nights ongoings as Arthur and Selima listen carefully. Everything falls into place.
"The look on that little shits face really was amusing." Giggled Selima, as he explains the part about stabbing himself through the front.
"Both of you put on quite a performance." He continues, explaining how he snatched the owl, and returned to the wine cellar, leading to how Selima undressed him. "You were quite touchy, or someone who was searching for a key. I had no idea you were into necrophilia." He teases, earning him a glare form Selima. "After that, I gather the pieces..." He resumes his story about gathering the ampule, planting the evidence and returning as Reverend Jeremy.
"Then, that ticket was a fake?!"
"No, it's a genuine ticket I purchased in London. I only got to see two minutes of the show, but....I slipped out during the banquet and purchased that ticket."
"No fair, I wanted to see the show with you!" pouts Selima playfully.
"I promise I'll take you there, dear."
"But that's impossible..."
"If you doubt me, you're welcome to verify the ticket stub at the box office."
"The owl and the ticket were both ploys to make Jeremy convincing." Explains Ciel.
"That's right, what was in that letter Ciel?" asks Alette, curious.
"It was just one of his ridiculous pranks."
"Well your studies were put on hold during the case, so it was a bit of a mental exercise." Chuckles Sebastian.
"And from that moment on my double role began--."
"Hang on! I examined your corpse with Mr. Jeremy!" Sebastian smirks, then describes the rest of his journey, switching out the corpses and more rushing around the mansion.
"Thanks to the young masters stilted acting and your character we dodged that bullet. But..." He depicts the fiasco where Charles came back to examine him. He rubs his cheek at the remanence of the blow dealt. Selima presses her plump lips to his cheek and
"Anyone who crosses us..."
"Will have hell to pay." He finishes, a small smile playing on his lips. "You know the rest. As Reverend Jeremy, I supported my young master and comforted my girlfriend. Mr. Woodley was arrested, and both our masters avoided incrimination.
"I don't understand. Even after hearing your explanation, this whole ordeal makes even less sense. Because doesn't that mean, if what you say is true, the whole affair was contrived by Earl Grey, Queen Victoria's butler! He had Earl Phantomhive and Countess Vamphina arrange everything and then tried to frame them for the murder. Despite that, you both made elaborate preparations with your butlers and cleared only yourselves form suspicion. Even then, you covered for Earl Grey and pinned everything on Mr. Woodley, who had done nothing wrong."
"Yourself should always be your priority, putting others before yourself recklessly can be foolish. Little MR. Woodley isn't so innocent either." Snarled Alette, who had been quiet for some time.
"It was all her Majesty intended anyways. Siemens, the guest from Germany, to say that banker was a central figure in German heavy industrial development would be no exaggeration."
"He and Germany posed a threat to England, thus Her Majesty set out to terminate him and stagnate Germany's growing military power." Informed Alette.
"It's the Butterfly effect." Shrugs Ciel.
"The phenomenon whereby a minute localized change in a complex system can have large effects elsewhere."
"But why would Earl Grey try to pin the blame on you?" Ciel and Alette exchange glances, Alette stares at her feet afterwards.
"It's a bit of a long story..." she sighs.
"It appears she may have discovered a small misconduct of ours."
"Sure we expected some punishment, but being framed for murder? Who would have thought?"
"Why use Mr. Woodley when he was innocent?" Alette grinds her teeth.
"He was not innocent. He was using the profit he made off of diamonds to buy and sell illegal weapons to troubled regions. We were also able to deduce that Woodley was behind the murder of the Roze company's head."
"Who are you two?" solicits Arthur, shuddering.
"We are the Queens servants."
"We find those who are wicked and snuff them out."
"There was some doubt as to where our loyalties lie."
"But now she has ascertained our devotion."
"If everything you've said is true, that butler can't be." Selima is there in moments, sleeves rolled up, forearm to the man's throat as she presses him against the wall.
"The truth is; we are not human." Confesses Sebastian, eyes aglow. Arthur can barely breathe, his heart is racing, something that only feeds Selima's drive. Her eyes glow a blood red, mark illuminated as well.
"I could crush your windpipe right now." She smirks. Sebastian darkens the room, eyes also glowing, darkness radiating off of him like fog.
"I trust you understand what would happen if you reveal our little secret?"
"I'll never tell! Not a word!" he promises Selima, willing himself to look into her eyes.
"Remember. We are always watching."

[1] Don't worry, Professor. My love and I will be together once more.[2] Thank you for watching over the young master,