The Final Curtain (Kuroshitsuji)

Chapter Five: "You Are Still My Only Living Family..."

Ciel rubbed his forehead and groaned.  Running a company, it seemed, would be no easier as a demon than it was as a human.  So much to think about: foreign factories, new products, business deals... far too much.  He almost longed for another Underworld case just to keep his mind off of the dreary work of running Funtom, even with everything that an Underworld case usually entailed.  Even with everything that had happened in the more recent ones, and the tolls those had taken on him. 

He turned another page in his paperwork with as little enthusiasm as possible when he was distracted by the door to his study opening.  He glanced up to see Elizabeth peeking gently around the door. 

"I welcome any diversion at the moment, considering how particularly tedious this bit of paperwork is.  However, if you've come to complain, I have no use for you," the earl informed her, returning his eyes to the paper before him.  He could hear Elizabeth moving through the room, unsettlingly speechless.  At last he raised his head again to see her staring out the window behind his desk, perfectly still.  "Come now," Ciel snapped.  "I'm sure you came in here in the first place with something you wished to say.  You might as well say it, since I know the more you avoid it the more likely you are to burst in a public setting.  Out with it, even if it is a complaint." 

Elizabeth remained motionless a moment longer before lowering her eyes and speaking.  "Paula has a baby to look after now," she announced, her voice unusually muted. 

"Well that's a surprise," Ciel remarked, resuming his work once more.  "Have I really been so preoccupied with work in the recent past that I have no recollection of her being pregnant in the first place?"

"No, the child is her godson," the yellow-haired girl corrected.  "Fred Abberline was her brother, this is his son." 

At this, Ciel raised his head rather abruptly.  "I thought I sent Abberline's fiancée a rather large collection of Funtom products for the child?  Did something happen to her as well?  And since when was Paula an Abberline?"

Elizabeth shook her head.  "Only grief.  She is so broken with it that she cannot care for her child any longer."  She turned to face Ciel.  "Have you really not known all this time that Paula was Fred Abberline's sister?"

"Why would I know that?  She is your servant, not mine.  Her family is none of my business," the earl stated matter-of-factly.  Elizabeth merely nodded an returned her attention to the view outside the window. 

"Do Prince Soma and Agni stay in your townhouse in London?  Or do they travel back to Bengal when they aren't with you?" Elizabeth inquired at length. 

"They stay in my townhouse," the earl assured.  "They feed people curry bread on the street corners during the day - Sebastian must have given Agni the recipe, although I would not be surprised if Agni has changed it to suit his style of cooking." 

"I expect I should know these circumstances, given my new engagement," mused Elizabeth, more bitterly than she had intended.  "Whether I should go to live in Bengal with him in future, and other adjustments."

"There it is, I knew it," Ciel muttered, abandoning his work to come and stand beside his cousin.  They watched as a breeze shook the plants in the garden, standing as silent and still as statues.  After some time he turned to Elizabeth and place his hands on her shoulders.  "Lizzy, you are still my only living family - you, and your father, mother, and brother.  Regardless of what you may believe at this moment, I do care for you.  I would not break this engagement and betroth you to another if I did not believe this was the best course of action for you, and if I did not trust that the person to whom I promised you was a person worthy of you.  Prince Soma is undoubtedly the greatest nuisance I have ever encountered, but he and Agni both have integrity that I lack.  I promise you will be safe and, eventually, happy with this arrangement." 

"I do not doubt that," Elizabeth replied curtly.  "I trust Prince Soma greatly.  However, I worry for you.  You may keep pushing away everyone who loves you until you succeed in isolating them."  She lowered her head briefly, and Ciel feared she would begin shedding tears.  When she raised her head again, rather than sadness in her face, the earl read determination and resignation.  "I will not cry over this like a little girl.  You have yet to truly see my strength, and I believe now is as good a time as any to begin acting like the woman I will have to be in just a few short years.  I will accept this and make the best of it, but what I said in the parlor remains the truth, I do still love you no matter what you have done.  Do you think I was unaware of your doing horrible things as the Queen's Watchdog?  Do you think I have any place to judge you for the actions you have taken and lengths to which you have gone in order to keep society safe and to preserve the Phantomhive name?  But no matter.  As I said, I have resigned myself to your will, and as you have said, you know things I do not know." 

A sad expression rested itself briefly on Ciel's face before he place both hands on Elizabeth's cheeks and planted a soft kiss on her forehead.  "I'm sorry, Lizzy," his voice sounded more broken than Elizabeth had ever heard it before.  "I cannot let you marry a demon."