In This Hell ( V i o l e t ) [Kuroshitsuji 2] {Completed}

Chapter II : A Talented Artist

Before I pull this trigger, 

Your eyes vacant and stained...

"Grace? Grace, are you alright?"

"Loosen her corset, Lord Harcourt, and allow her some breathing room."

"I — I am afraid that I wouldn't know how to do such things."

There was a slight cough, cutting through the hazy fogginess of my stupor. I could hear the voice of my flustered father, accompanied by a quiet stranger.

"Please, forgive me a moment."

The cold air was on my back and my ribs free, all in one sudden movement. I gasped and opened my eyes, feeling light headed and awfully dizzy.

We appeared to be in a high-ceilinged bedroom. The walls were hung in crimson fabric and the bed in a similar manner; so one of the guest bedrooms for the Scarlet Fox house, I was presuming.

"If you could put a hand on your front to protect your modesty," someone whispered in my ear, startling me.

"Oh! Uhm — ah —" I faltered, not knowing what to do.

With a soft, marginally irritated sigh, a suit jacket was wrapped around my shoulders. "You can get up."

I gripped the front of the silk and noted where I was for the first time — bent over a chair.

Right.

I struggled to sit myself down, and when I did I found that I was with two people; my father, with a hand over his eyes, and the mysterious Violet.

"Are you feeling alright?" He asked me blankly, handing me a glass of water.

I nodded weakly, my eyelids fluttering shut. "Oh, Christ."

"Do you need anything? Are you unwell?" He was still speaking in a low voice, his hand on the back of my chair. I figured that it was him who had wrapped me in his jacket, because I could see his crisp shirt and soft waistcoat exposed, an Albert hanging down from the breast pocket.

"No, I — I think it was the heat." I wiped my face with the edge of the jacket sleeve; it was damp, from sweat. "I'm so sorry."

"Don't apologise," Violet said softly.

"If your mother was awake, she would be reprimanding you," my father grunted, and I blinked.

"What do you mean?"

"After seeing the state you worked yourself up in, she too felt a bit light headed. Deidra is attempting to revive her with the smelling salts."

What a chain of events. I gave myself a gentle fan and leaned back in the seat, being very careful not to expose myself, like I'd been instructed. Wouldn't do to have my father fainting either.

"Other than that, she's alright?"

"Yes."

"Who won the cricket?"

A small chuckle — Violet ran a hand through his hair. "Green House. Joanne wasn't very happy."

"I shouldn't think so, he's a very good cricket player." I took a dainty sip from the glass. "Father, perhaps you should go see to Mother."

"That's an idea, yes." He looked to Violet for a moment. "Call for assistance if my daughter has another fainting spell, please."

"I will directly, sir."

My father gave me one final once-over, before picking up what I recognized to be my mother's coat and exiting the room. Once he was gone, I sighed heavily.