Kuroshitsuji: The Contract from Birth [Ciel Phantomhive]

[35] Her Butler, Stretching The Truth

After a few seconds of exchanging unbreakable eye-contact, Adelina spoke and her grip on my arm oddly tightened, which was unlike her character.

"Dianesse." She said flatly, lips forced upwards into one of the fakest smiles I had ever seen Adelina express.

The woman in front of us batted her eyes and smirked, glancing to her sides swiftly before speaking.

"Adelina, how nice of you to come by... It must be a wonder how you're doing without your dear Mummy and Daddy, hm?"

The lights in the grand chandeliers above us began to flicker but no one payed it any mind. Sebastian stepped forward to my left and Rodric did the same to Adelina's right, each now sending unwavering glares down at Dianesse, who maintained herself occupied by crawling on Adelina's nerves that were clearly wearing thin.

Even I was beginning to curl my lips in disgust at her disrespectful and insolent comment; had we not been in a room full of guests, I might have done something rash.

After all, I had seen first hand what a flashback could do to Adelina and did not want to experience that again since her own panic attack nearly triggered my own pathetic episode.

Much to my surprise and pleasure, Adelina stood firm and let her own piercing words slide easily off her tongue.

"Considering the embarrassment you are to your own, I suppose I'm doing extremely well."

I smirked at the flash of mortification that came and went on Dianesse's face. Flustered, she hastily pulled out her fan and began waving it around for a few moments before hissing lowly.

"It's truly a grace that I've only half of your blood as a cousin," she sneered with a deep scowl, "if anyone here is to be ashamed, it should b-- AHH!"

Adelina and I jumped as a metallic platter clattered to the ground --along with a few small cherries that slipped from the heavily frosted cake, which had been accidentally smushed against the back of the witch's dress. Slowly, the two-layer dessert slid down until it plopped onto the ground with a nice splat. Her arms and shoulders were raised high as she stood in absolute shock, anger now contorting itself into her features as the twins began apologizing behind her.

I frowned at the waste of a delicious-seeming pastry but brushed my disappointment away since, it had, after all, silenced Dianesse.

"How clumsy of you two, now what will our young Masters eat?" Sebastian scolded lightly with a click of his tongue. The sarcasm on his comment was light and thin enough to be regarded as genuine, but even Eren and Erin knew he did not care.

"We apologize!" They both shouted as they dipped their heads down before scurrying away into the hall.

Adelina flashed a deviously white smile and stepped around the pile of abandoned cake, head held high as we left her butter-creamed half-cousin alone in the middle of the large room. She was slowly swarmed by the smaller children of the reunion who immediately began taking handfuls of the dessert without abandon.

"Don't talk to her without me," Adelina muttered once we reached our designated spots. By instinct, I pulled her seat out for her and was rewarded with a warm smile. I rolled my eyes and sat down beside her, nodding for her to continue on with her sentence.

Sighing, she complied.

"She's a twisted one, Ciel. And extremely greedy. Enough to almost drown her own family in debt." She explained in a low voice as the seat to her left was taken.

There was a soft coo and the plates and silverware all began to clatter to the floor along with the small bowls that contained bread rolls and slices of butter. The tablecloth wrinkled and slid out of place as a small baby continued on his way across the table, unaffected by Rodric who easily caught the crystal glasses and Sebastian who returned the unharmed table placements before they could touch the ground.