Are You Satisfied?

Chapter One - Numb

The rain had not stopped, even into the evening, but Elizabeth barely noticed the sounds of the rain tapping against the window and dancing across the roof. Lizzy hadn't even bothered to change out of the white dress she had been wearing for so very long. She didn't even notice that both her brother and her mother stood outside her room, watching her sulk; but even if she did notice she wouldn't have cared.

Her mind had been dulled, thrown into a void of despair along with the love she held for the Ciel she had known. She had never thought that he would do such a thing, lie to her, steal his brother's identity and play everyone for a fool. Her feelings were all contorted, she couldn't stand either of the twins, but she was betrothed to Ciel, and his twin had saved her life, did that really mean that she owed him her life?

Frances, her mother, must have been fed up with her behaviour because she stormed into Lizzy's room, much to Edwards dismay. 

"Elizabeth! Enough of this, you can't keep sulking forever," Frances stated. Lizzy said nothing in reply, knowing she was right, the time she needed to process everything was dwindling, so she would have to find more of it elsewhere.

"I'm going to Sieglinde's house..." Lizzy spoke quietly as if her voice would bring strong winds with it. 

"What? Absolutely not! We just got you back," Her mother pleaded, but Elizabeth's mind was made up.

She stood up, abandoning her spot by the window, and without another word, she left her room. 

"Lizzy-" Edward said, but Lizzy cut him off.

"Don't," she simply said. She kept her eyes fixated on the floor, unable to look at her surroundings. She wandered slowly to Paula's bedroom, knocking on her door so she could demand a carriage.

"Oh, Elizabeth-"

"I need a carriage," Elizabeth said. 

"Right now? But Eliza-"

"Now."

"A-alright..." Paula stuttered before walking towards the front entrance with Lizzy right behind her. 

"Where w-will you be headed?" Paula asked her while she got the carriage ready.

"Sieglinde's." 

"Alright," Paula said as Lizzy stepped inside the carriage. Before the carriage was out of sight of the Midford mansion, Frances walked outside, stepping after the carriage yelling for Lizzy to come back, but the carriage just kept going.

 For the entire ride, Lizzy sat in silence, staring directly ahead of her without movement. She had cried too much earlier that day that she didn't think she could ever cry again. Her experiences with the twins had numbed her, she seemed to be a shell of her former self.

The carriage came to an abrupt stop, and Lizzy wasted little time climbing out. Elizabeth walked towards the door of Sieglinde's home, and after knocking twice a tall man with grey hair and aggressive sideburns answered the door.

"Wolfram! We were told not to open the door to any-" Sieglinde paused when she noticed Lizzy at the door, her cheeks going pink with embarrassment, "Lizzy! What are you doing here so late at night?" Sully asked, wheeling her chair over to the door.

"I needed somewhere to go..." Lizzy replied, overcome with emotions that she hadn't felt in hours, Lizzy grasped Sully in an embrace and began to sob into her shoulder.

"Lizzy, what's wrong?" Sully frantically asked, seeming flustered.

"C-Ciel..." Was all Lizzy managed to get out.

"Lizzy, help me walk up the stairs and we'll uh... get this sorted out." Lizzy gave a slight nod, wrapping her arm around Sully as she shakily stood up on both of her feet. Sully briefly said something in German to Wolfram, prompting him to nod and walk away.

"Lizzy let Sully balance herself on her, fully knowing she needed to due to the foot binding she had been subjected to. She stumbled up each step, careful not to fall. Once they reached the top Sully directed her to one of the rooms and told her the set her in one of the chairs next to the window across from another identical chair, which Lizzy took as her own.

"So what seems to be troubling you Lizzy?" Sully asked.

"It's a long story but... 'Ciel' isn't who he said he was... he has a twin," a flash of lightning illuminated the room as Lizzy finished her sentence.

"What?" Sieglinde's eyes lit up with shock and curiosity.

"'Ciel' stole his brother's identity and pretended to be him for years without anyone knowing, we all thought his twin was dead but he's back now, everything... everything was a lie..." Sully went silent for a moment, processing this new information before speaking.

"His brother, the real Ciel, was presumed dead for years, so maybe... just maybe he felt guilty that he was the one alive and his brother was not, something like survivor's guilt. The fact that he lied seems justifiable if that's the case, but it doesn't make it right. He hurt you and everyone in this ordeal..."

"Survivor's guilt? How terrible..." Lizzy wept, Sully grabbed her hand.

"you know, things will eventually settle themselves and it won't be bad forever, so maybe you should try to take your mind off of this for now," Sully suggested.

"How?" Asked Lizzy.

"You could talk to me! Where've you been all this time? What's your favourite colour? Oh, I've got a good question! What's your favourite book?" 

"Oh uh... I've been with Ciel, my favourite colour is pink and my favourite book... is uh... Frankenstein by Mary Shelley..." Lizzy confessed.

"Ah, well I"ll answer the questions too! I've been here, my favourite colour is green, and my favourite book would be every book I own," Sully grinned wildly, and for the first time that day Lizzy smiled.