His Butler, Faithful

Secrets

“CIELLL!”

April suppressed a smile as Elizabeth, Ciel’s fiancée, came running at him full speed ahead. Her mother, the Marchioness of Midford, looked extremely displeased.

“Elizabeth!” she snapped, cueing the cute, blonde little girl to stop dead in her tracks, inches from the bottom step, where her target stood at the very top of the staircase, looking rather relieved. Sebastian, standing next to April, nudged her slightly in the waist, telling her it was time to retrieve the ladies’ luggage from their carriage.

She walked with Sebastian out of the doors and into the frigid air. Even though she was dressed in her gray frock, it wasn’t enough to guard her from winter’s icy bite. Her teeth clattered and she rubbed her arms for warmth. “Winter was never this bad in America,” she said, looking at Sebastian, who didn’t seem to mind the cold.

Sebastian smiled at her before bringing down Elizabeth’s trunk. “At least I have the fireplaces in all the rooms that will be used this evening going. Here you are.” He handed her the small suitcase and reached up for the Marchioness’s.

“Maybe I will hang around in the kitchen with Baldo, where the stove’ll be turned on,” she suggested. “He must cook dinner for this evening, no?”

“I must,” the butler corrected. “Baldo is incompetent in his cooking. All he’s good for is burning the meat with that wretched blow torch of his.”

“I say, Mister Sebastian, if you just gave him a little chance, our chef can prove to be worthier than you make him out to be,” April laughed.

“I’m sure with Soma and his butler Agni still overstaying their welcome, Agni will want to cook with Baldo.”

“Didn’t those two promise to stay out of the way while Ciel’s family was here?”

Sebastian scoffed, opening the door for her. “They have the mindsets of primates, I tell you. They haven’t acquiesced to any of young master’s requests thus far.”

They ascended the steps toward the guest rooms, and April studied the way Sebastian carried the Marchioness’s luggage effortlessly. “I have a question for you,” she said.

“Yes?” he replied.

“How come you asked for my assistance when you clearly are capable of this task yourself?”

Sebastian shrugged. “It gets lonely, doing everything on my own.”

April chuckled. “I never thought you would ever feel loneliness, Sebastian.”

“Well, my dear, even a devil such as I need company once in a while.”

April stopped abruptly in her gait and gave Sebastian an odd look. “Excuse me? What did you call yourself, Mister Sebastian?”

Sebastian turned and smiled at her, raising his eyebrow. “I said even a butler such as I need company once in a while.”

She hesitated, frowning at his genuine smile. “Right. My apologies. I thought I heard you say something completely absurd!”

“Just a little hearing mishap is all!”

April nodded, but still glared suspiciously at his back as he continued to walk. “Is… there something you’re not telling me?”

Sebastian turned his head slightly to look at her, but all she could see was his red eye gleaming at her from behind his raven locks. “Everyone has secrets, Miss Phillips. It is not in your jurisdiction to understand every part of me. There are many things I’m not telling you, because there is no reason for you to know.”

Though they weren’t directed at her in a cruel tone, for some reason his words stung her. But as they entered Elizabeth’s room, she told herself that there were many things she kept from Sebastian as well.

Later that evening, before dinner, April and Mey-Rin were setting the table (April made sure to allow May only to set out the napkins and spoons).

“So what do ya think of Lady Elizabeth?” Mey-Rin asked.

April scoffed. “It seems the Marchioness keeps her on a tight leash.”

“Indeed! Normally by now, she’d have dressed us up like rabbits!”

“Oh dear…”

“Miss April?”

“Hmm?”

Mey-Rin set down the last spoon carefully before facing her superior. “I’m really glad you’re here! Having another woman in the household makes me feel so much better!”

April smiled at her. “I’m glad we’re friends, May.”

“And not only that,” the other maid continued, “but you seem to have a positive effect on Mister Sebastian and young master.”

“I-I do?”

Mey-Rin nodded vigorously. “Oh yes! Young master thanked me the other day, which is rare. And although he’s already super amazing, Mister Sebastian has lightened up. He doesn’t groan at our mistakes anymore, now that he knows he has you to help out. He seems to like you a lot!” She grinned and clapped her hands. “I feel like you’re the final piece to our little family!”

“F-family?” April said, feeling something swell up inside her. “You think I’m part of a family with you lot?”

“Yes, of course! You were family since the day you stepped foot in the manor! Hehe!”

Before she could stop herself, April pulled Mey-Rin into a tight hug, her face going hot as tears spilled over her eyes. “I-I’m so sorry,” she sniffed. “It’s just- I dunno what came over me. I’m usually not like this!”

Mey-Rin laughed and hugged her back. “It’s alright, Miss April. It makes me happy to see you this way, actually. You’re normally so reserved like Mister Sebastian!”

April couldn’t contain herself any longer. She burst into a series of broken sobs and incoherent babble. Eventually, Finny came inside and helped Mey-Rin carry her into the kitchen, where Baldo nodded gravely and hugged her too. The three servants of the Phantomhive household all huddled around their head maid, patting her and consoling her.

“If it’s one thing we ‘ave in common,” said Baldo, “it’s that this estate is our safe ‘aven.”

April, after breaking away from them and wiping her eyes with her apron, murmured in agreement. “Now,” she said, collecting herself. “Everyone back to work!”

“Right!”