Love Is Not a Choice

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Sixteen:The Beginning of the Ball (Part 2)
Finally, after what seemed like hours, Master Ciel stepped out of the room, followed closely by Mr. Michaelis. He looked rather...well, he looked quite cute. The outfit was certainly picked correctly, the navy blue contrasting well with his pale skin and fitted perfectly. Were it not for the cane giving him an air of authority, he would have looked like a true twelve-year-old.

You bowed in greeting to him and smiled at him. "You look lovely, my lord." You complimented gently, still not quite sure whether he was angry or not with you for snapping back at him earlier. He nodded, neither smiling nor frowning, which you took as a good sign that he wasn't angry with you. Maybe indifferent but that's better than angry, I suppose.

As Master Ciel walked down the hall, you walked alongside Mr. Michaelis as you followed him. Your mind occasionally wondered to random thoughts as the silence of you three walked. It was only when you felt the soft touch of a hand brush against yours, did you focus back onto reality. Looking down at your hand, you noticed Mr. Michaelis' hand occasionally brushed against yours. That was when you realised how close you two were standing next to one another.

A deep blush quickly covered your cheeks and you quickly looked away, not wanting either of them to see your face. Ah, back to being a tomato, you thought only half-sarcastically and resisted the urge to huff. Instead you focused on walking behind Master Ciel, walking just a bit faster so you were in between the butler and the master, rather than beside the lovely man known as Mr.- Stooop! you whined to yourself mentally, absently wondering why the butler had to be so handsome.

The three of you finally arrived at the top of the stairs, to which the scene of Lady Elizabeth once again trying to force Meyrin to 'look cute' by grabbing at her glasses was displayed. Mr. Sutcliff was once again trying to end his life while Finny and Bard watched all of the mayhem from the sidelines. As you neared the edge of the stairs, you could hear Lady Elizabeth talking, exclaiming some such malarkey about fashion or something, "-I got them today in London, they're great! He'll look dashing. Now, time to get you dressed up. I'll make you look so adorable!"

You couldn't help but chuckle as Meyrin stopped trying to shield her glasses from grubby hands and went to back away, as if that would deter the determined young girl from completing her fashion mission. Reaching the end of the stairs, Master Ciel sighed as he watched the scene and raised his voice just enough to be heard by Lady Elizabeth, "Leave her alone, Elizabeth."

Not expecting the young Master, both maid and Lady gasped, quickly swirling around to face the stairs. Meyrin bowed while Lady Elizabeth grinned a huge smile, you were kind of surprised it didn't tear her face. Her emerald-green eyes sparkled with happiness as she took in the chosen outfit on her beloved betrothed. She rushed over to him, grasping him tightly and hugging him.

Pulling back, she looked him over, smiling from ear to ear as she said, "Ciel, you look adorable! It is absolutely perfect!" She paused suddenly, and there was a sudden tension in the air. You couldn't help but shiver as Lady Elizabeth said calmly, "Ciel, why aren't you wearing the ring I brought you? It matches your clothing perfectly, now where did it go?"

Master Ciel sighed and pulled away, seemingly understanding the consequence of staying within reach of an angry Lady Elizabeth. "The ring I already have on will work." He answered firmly, almost absently stroking the blue-stoned ring of his family in a protective manner. Lady Elizabeth went into full tantrum mode, turning and stomping her feet and screaming how she 'went in to so much trouble to get the ring' and that it 'doesn't look cute at all'.

You watched from the sidelines, only a little surprised at the tantrum thrown by the thirteen-year-old girl. She was a Lady, her family was rich and you were sure her parents loved her dearly enough to spend quite a bit on her. She probably hadn't heard the word 'no' at all, and now that her own betrothed won't satisfy her need for matching cute things, she isn't happy.

Master Ciel was obviously feeling a bit guilty - or maybe annoyed...probably more annoyed, you could certainly understand - because he was stepping forward, as if to comfort the crying girl, saying "That's not it. Lizzy, this ring is-." Of course, however, he had played right into the surprisingly-manipulative Lady's hands. Quickly rushing forward, Lady Elizabeth grabbed the hand with the ring off it and tore it off. You wouldn't have been surprised if the finger came off with the force she used to get it. Laughing, she playfully taunted him, "Ha, ha! Fooled you! It's mine now!"

The events that happened next rather shocked you, though maybe it really shouldn't have. For one, the tension from earlier had come back twice as thick, almost everyone could feel it. Almost, except somehow Lady Elizabeth seemed completely oblivious to it, instead inpecting the ring with apparent disgust. Even the somewhat-calm growl that omitted from the young Phantomhive's mouth didn't seem to alert her of the possible danger, nor the utter of her own beloved nickname.

Instead, she went on to say how the ring was 'far too big' for Master Ciel and that the ring she had brought 'fitted perfectly'. She seemed determined to get him to wear it. Master Ciel seemed determined to get it back no matter what. You knew the second he stepped closer that it wouldn't end well.

Worried for both Master Ciel and Lady Elizabeth, you began to walk over, not realising how far the distance between you and the nobles had been before you went walking. "Give it back!" Master Ciel exclaimed, almost desperately, and you hurried your steps more, only just aware of the footsteps behind you. Everyone gasped but that didn't seem to stop the young boy from demanding the ring be given back, nor did it stop Elizabeth was stuttering in shock and then crying. "Wha- why are you so angry at me? I just- I just wanted-.... What's wrong? I just wanted to make everything look adorable, that's all. So why- why are you so angry?" She seemed to become more angry with each word, and soon with one shout of 'I hate this ring', her hand was raised and then thrown back down with strong anger.

Everything went quiet, and you almost stopped at how chocking the tension in the room seemed to be now. Master Ciel was glaring down at the broken pieces of the blue gem, the anger building inside of him obvious with each laboring breathe he took. Hurry up, hurry up, hurry up, you mentally told yourself, now afraid for Lady Elizabeth.

You had never seen the young Master so angry. Even when he was annoyed with you for talking back, he wasn't that angry. He didn't seem to want to slap you, for one. But then again, it didn't seem to matter because either way he was about to slap you. You see, you had reached the pair just in time to stand in front of Lady Elizabeth, just as Master Ciel raised his hand to strike.

Instinctively, you closed your eyes, hands raised a little to prevent further damage. You'd gladly take the pain for Lady Elizabeth, but it didn't mean you weren't going to try and defend yourself, if only by instinct.

"Master," Mr. Michaelis' deep voice seemed to snap Master Ciel out of his anger and make you snap your eyes back open, just in time to see the young Earl stare shocked up into his butler's eyes for a second before it was replaced with a blank expression. You quickly looked up at the butler, and for a moment you could have swore his eyes had flashed pink. But that's impossible... What is it with strange eyes that I seem to see everywhere I go? you thought, wondering maybe if you were going mad or....something. Mr. Michaelis continued, "You forgot the walking stick we went to so much trouble to collect." The cane that the young boy had gone out today to collect that seemed to apparate suddenly in the butler's hand, was swiftly passed to the young Earl before the butler stood in front of him, blocking the now-silently fuming Earl from view.

Mr. Michaelis glanced at you for a second with a blank look before turning his attention to the Lady behind you, and you moved out of the way as he bowed, allowing the Lady to see him properly as he explained, "Forgive my master Lady Elizabeth, but that ring was something very important to him. It's a precious heirloom passed down to the head of the Phantomhive family, and my lord has grown quite attached to it. It's truly one of a kind. Please try and understand why this upsets him."

You didn't bother turning to see the hurt on Lady Elizabeth's face, because it was as clear as day in her voice as she spoke, "I-it was that important? And I destroyed it." She trailed off, horrifed at her actions and you almost wanted to hug her. She turned to face Master Ciel, pleading "Ciel, please, I-." She was cut off when Master Ciel picked up the remains of the ring and throw it out the window.

Lady Elizabeth rushed over to the window, head out to search for the thrown ring as Master Ciel turned to face the people in the room. "Ciel! Wait, what are you doing?" Lady Elizabeth exclaimed, just as startled as everyone in the room.

If it meant so much to him, why did he throw it out? Surely you would want to keep such a precious family heirloom with you, no matter how broken or old it may be, especially when... when it was the last remaining thing of your family you had. "My lord?" You questioned, stepping closer a little as he serveyed the room with a narrowed, determined eye. When he spoke, he spoke with such a fierce determination you could have seriously questioned his age were it not fro you already knowing it, "It doesn't matter. It was nothing but an old ring, after all. Even without it, I'm still the head of the Phantomhives and that won't change."

It was then, in that single moment, you realised just how much this young boy, who should have acted more like his age, had grown. No boy should be this fierce, this...ready to get rid of something he may deem simple just to keep an image up, and that was all it was, you could see. You could see that he was reluctant, if only for a second, to throw it out. You could see that throwing that ring out hurt him more than he let on, and this made you want to hug him. It made your heart ache for him, not having realised that this maturity he seemed to show was just that - a show. At heart, he was still a young boy who wanted someone to hold him and comfort him, tell him everything was alright and that no bad guys can ever get him, never again.

I will protect him, you promised yourself mentally, I will protect him from all those nasty people out there. I will protect him, even when he refuses to let me. I will protect him and love him as if he were my own. I do not care if he does not want that. You quickly paused in your thoughts, realising how serious it was kind of getting, and focused back onto reality, just in time to see Master Ciel wipe Lady Elizabeth's tears away as gentle as that of a comforting mother. He gently took hold of her hand and pulled her to the middle of the foyer.

Just then, the beautiful sound of a violin began to play, and turning to face where the music was coming from, you found Mr. Michaelis himself at the top of the stairs, a violin rested delicately between his shoulder and his head. Faintly, you could hear the mummers of the other three servants - 'He's incredible', 'He plays the violin; is there anything he can't do?' - but that wasn't what you focused on, nor was Mr. Sutcliff's rather beautiful singing as he went up to stand beside Mr. Michaelis. It was the image of a sophiscated man, that of a noble rather than a butler, that caught your attention. How can one servant hold himself so highly, as if he were noblity itself?

Suddenly, Mr. Michaelis looked down and your eyes caught. He smiled, and this time it was different, somehow. Instead of the usual closed eyed, tight-lipped smile, there was a genuine, gentle smile. You felt your stomach tighten as butterflies fluttered around in it, and you couldn't help but smile back.

The butler paused in his music and passed the violin to the other butler, who continued as effortlessly as possible. Walking down the stairs, still with that sophisticated air about him, Mr. Michaelis finally stood in front of you. He bowed and held out a hand, asking "May I have the pleasure of having this dance with you?" Startled, and kind of excited, you nodded and took his hand, allowing him to pull you to the middle of the foyer as well.

You both placed your hands appropriately and let the music wash over you, gently dancing to music. It was rather enjoyable, and for the time being you could ignore the fact that you two, being servants, were not allowed to be together. You could forget this was forbidden and just enjoy it.

(Of course, you did not realise how this was just helping along the demonic butler's plan. How were you to know, foolish lovely human that you are?)