The Lady Shadowhive and her demon butler Lucius Dracovich

Masquerade

Ciel's POV
The main hall was decorated so splendidly it seemed like you would have walked in on the tales and myths of halloween brought to life. The ceiling was clad with streaming ribbons of dark colors and small bats and witches flying through the air. The windows were curtained with a blood red and small stitches of black to give the appeal of someone clawing away the drapes. But aside from the horrific features of the decor it had the appeal of luxury with the rich gold colors clashing against the more subtle colors of the room. Everything was perfect and some of the guests had already arrived, and it was known that a contest to see if anyone could identify the others was going on so there were no declarations of who had arrived. I stood off to the side dressed in my suit of dark gray and deep green, my mask mimicked the colors and i was certain no one would be able to identify me since i was wearing rather unusual colors. Although i hadn't the faintest idea about whom this mysterious woman over near the corner was, she was beautiful but i could not even begin to figure out who she was. I had identified the rest of my guests, and it wasn't hard to figure out who the one's arriving where either, yet when this woman entered the hall i could not remove my eyes from her. I was only thankful that Jade was not here, or at least she couldn't see me staring at her. There was something about this woman that made me intrigued similar to how jade made me feel when i first met her... could it be that she wa-

"Lord Phantomhive it appears you have dressed unusually may i ask why you choose to wear such odd colors?"

I turned my head away from the mysterious woman and saw a man with bright blonde hair wearing a dark red suit with a black mask. From the question i was given i had no doubt that this mysterious stranger was Alois.

"Hello Alois, are you enjoying the ball?"

"Why yes I absolutely love the decor you have done for this ball, but i'm wondering who your trying to impress could it be that you and miss shadowhive have made things interesting?"

He was smiling at me with a smug look on his face while he asked me about jade.

"My business with Lady Shadowhive is not of your concern. But since you've brought her up have you been able to identify Lady Shadowhive this evening?"

I figured perhaps this fool had found her sooner than i had, so if my assumption was correct than i could use this to my advantage in order to find out who she is and win our contest. After all it is a contest to see whom can de-mask the other first, and there was nothing wrong with getting a little help from the guests at the ball.

"No i have not, although that mysterious woman over there keeps glancing at you. Perhaps you should ask her to dance since your not betrothed to Lady Shadowhive."

I frowned at him as i gave Sebastian my champagne glass, i wasn't going to sit there and listen to this moron talk. I didn't exactly look where i was going and soon i found myself standing near the mysterious woman. She had her back facing me as she was talking to one of my guests, they were discussing dresses made by Jade's company, Divine Dresses.

"Yes i especially love the intricate detail of their dresses"

"My lady i think that your dress is divine, oh lord phantomhive this is a wonderful party"

Damn, the woman acknowledged me.. Soon the mystery woman turned and i was face to face with a woman who looked a lot like Jade.. could it be that this was jade?

"So your the host of this grand ball, the guest of honor must be very flattered to have such a lavish ball thrown in their honor."

Hm, maybe this was Lady Shadowhive. If it is then she is trying her hardest to mislead me, but her dress is not the same as the one we bought... I held my hand out to this mystery woman.