My Butler, His Master

7. Coléoptère

-7-

Coléoptère

Ciel's eye batted open, as he slowly pulled himself up out of bed. He looked at the window, seeing a thin line of moonlight slide along his bed sheets. He yawned, attempting to coax the sleep from his head, and prepare for his journey into town. Sebastian had ordered that he start extra early to retrieve fresh ingredients; and since he had to journey an hour and a half's ride into London to retrieve some of the more exotic items, he'd have to start at around three. He knew what time it was; his alarm had been a small prickling all over his torso as he slept, which grew more and more vicious the longer he ignored it. He rubbed his aching chest as he reached over to grasp at the silver watch lying open on the table. Leaning forward to position it under the moonlight, Ciel confirmed that it was approximately 3:14 a.m, and he pulled the covers open, letting all the frigid night air envelope his body. He shivered violently and he let out a small gasp as his foot touched the icy cold floorboards, and he crossed over to the cabinet.

He chose the white uniform this time; and dressed himself without a hitch, besides the shoe laces, which he repeated the last procedure on the opposite pair (he had abandoned the other pair due to the fact he could not undo his own impossibly tight knots.) He used his fingers to comb his hair, once again attempting to cover his eye and failing. Nowhere near satisfied, but already tardy, Ciel left the mirror and made his way towards the stables and carriage house.

Along the way, he began to feel an overwhelming concern about the task ahead of him: he had never prepared the horses for riding before, let alone for drawing a carriage. He required the space of the carriage for the items he was going to retrieve, so he had no choice but to use one, and that would require at least two horses. A dysfunctional reign could result in disaster, he knew, so one would be wise to know exactly what they were doing before trying to hitch such a massive animal to the cart. Unfortunately, the schedule and intense prickling feeling in his nerve endings pushed the need to research the procedure to the corner of his mind.

A small table by the East wing's exit door held a purse of money, a house key, and a note that read: "This is an order: do not tell anyone who you are." He tore the note into small pieces of confetti and threw them into the air, before grabbing the purse and key.

Ciel pushed the door open, and immediately shut it, shivering intensely. It was lightly snowing outside.

He tried to recall if he saw a proper riding cloak or a winter coat in the cabinet in his room, but a sudden flare up in his arm made him abandon the thought to go grab one. Instead, he wrenched open a closet near him and grabbed a folded blanket from within it. He wrapped it around his shoulders, nearly swimming in the fabric, before he set out again, black shoes crunching on the ice as he closed and locked the door behind him.

He nearly slipped a few times while rounding the side of the house, and he held his arms close to his body as he rubbed them warm with his hands. The snow was already soaking through his pant legs, and he could feel the soles of his shoes already slick and squishy with water.

To his surprise and relief, a horse had already been hitched to a small cart, and was waiting for him patiently as he made his way towards it. Ciel reached out one hand to stroke the animal's nose softly, in a way reassuring himself that the horse wasn't about to rear up and crush him. The horse just stared at him with large black eyes, and remained docile. Patting it gently, he rounded the side of it and grabbed ahold of the side of the cart. Putting his strength into a leg he used for bracing himself, he was able to pull himself into the high driver's seat. He sat in the middle, taking the black reigns into his hands. The cart posed one deficiency; there was no head cover from the falling snow. He drew the blanket around his body a little more so that it covered his head and most of his body besides his hands, and flicked the reigns.