Kuroshitsuji: The Contract from Birth [Ciel Phantomhive]

[9] Her Butler, Hunting

Elizabeth stayed in her place and smiled brightly, clapping her hands. "This ought to be fun!"

-

Soon after, we were all mounted on horses and riding out into the backwoods. Ciel led the six of us with a silent demeanor; he was riding his own stead--with a bit of a big head--and Elizabeth was happily perched along with him. The Marchioness rode a white one, her eyes watchful and piercing as Sebastian leisurely walked with them in front of Rodric. He was holding my horse's rein for me as I tagged along at the back, slightly bored.

"Would you like a sweet, Countess?"

I glared down at Rodric, thinking that he was teasing me for my near-death-experience with the Funtum candy I had nearly choked on. Instead of meeting his usual smirk, I saw a small plate lifted up to my reach that has several French desserts.

"Lord Phantomhive ordered his butler to have a number of snacks prepared for you as an apology for his aunt's imprudent and ignorant remarks."

I smiled. "His words or yours?"

"His," Rodric admitted, his devilish smirk widening. "Mine were much more colorful and had imbecile laced in between here and there."

Before I could happily respond, our horses suddenly halted and I looked forward, raising an eyebrow.

"We shall start from the vicinity of this area. The rules are: the area where you are able to shoot is bounded by a perimeter of 25km, and also, it is forbidden to shoot birds that are situated lower than the height mentioned. Is that alright?" Sebastian announced, to which I glanced to Rodric. A hunting game seemed to be the best fit to cure my boredom. In that sense, Rodric pulled my horse up to the front of the group so I could see everything better.

"It's fine!" Marchioness Midford said, her smirk wide.

"We shall begin now. The time limit is 3 hours."

Rodric and Sebastian both looked at the clock and nodded.

"I shall see you later, Ciel!" his aunt called as soon as the time was announced, riding off into the woods nearby. I rolled my eyes and glanced at Ciel, who was trying to figure out how he was going to hunt with his fiancée attached to him like glue. When he caught my eye, I gave him a questioning glare, to which he heavily sighed in reply to before turning back to Elizabeth.

"I'm unable to hunt like this, Elizabeth. You should off the horse," he said slowly.

"Ehh?" she cried out gently, confused. "But I am seldom able to be with you like this..."

Ciel was about to respond when a sudden gunshot made us all flinch, besides the demon butlers at our feet, and we turned to see a flock of birds fly away from where the shot had been fired among the trees. I raised an eyebrow, stunned.

"One to zero," Rodric announced unimpressed.

"The Marchioness certainly lives up to her name," Sebastian said, chuckling lightly. "She managed to shoot down a bird as soon as the game started."

Finally, something of entertainment.

"It seems that she's a bit out of your league here, Phantomhive," I said with a wide smirk, amused. Not a second later, another sudden gunshot made me again jump and Elizabeth scream. Swiftly, I glanced back to see where the Marchioness had shot this time, only to be met with the same still forest as it had been a few moments ago. Not a flock of birds or even a scurry of forest animals. Confused, I turned back and my eyes immediately widened in shock.

"Even though I feel a little bad towards Aunt Frances... I'm not losing anything that has competition written all over it." Ciel said with a smug smile, determination etched in his voice as he held his freshly-shot rifle against his leg.