Kuroshitsuji: The Contract from Birth [Ciel Phantomhive]

[42] Her Butler, Torn

"That would have been practical, yes," Sebastian replied with a smirk as I stayed silent in thought. He waved his gloved hand down at the man on the floor, curious. "I don't suppose you'll explain your motives?"

My gaze followed Salvador as he shockingly bent down and snatched at the back of the man's head, yanking him up to his feet by his hair so harshly I could have sworn I heard a crack. The man moaned in pain but Salvador clearly did not care.

"This man is a piece of shit," Salvador began, teeth bared in utter loathing, once again surprising me.

He shook him fiercely for a few seconds before letting him drop.

"He was talking about how Little Adelina looked so appealing in her new dress. It was disgusting."

The man heard this and instantly began shaking his head rapidly, nearly loosening the cloth tied around his eyes. Salvador noticed and tightened it once more, roughly. His words sunk in seconds later and I then too turned to look down at the man with abhor, nearly ready to swing my foot across his jaw when Sebastian spoke, stopping me and bringing me back to reality.

This was not about agreeing with the method of his madness, no. This was about righting the wrongs he had been doing from the beginning. Though my head could not wrap itself around it, I knew one way or another, he had to be put down.

It would only be fair to Madame Red.

"You can't possibly be working alone," Sebastian mumbled, hand at his chin. "I was nearly sure if it..."

I scowled.

"So what you're saying is that you lied to me when I deliberately asked you if you knew who was respons-"

"My Lord," Sebastian said, cutting me off with a deep bow, "At the time of Arnold's death, I did not know precisely whom it could have been because the crime scene had been left perfectly clean of evidence. I also had no clue as to what motive the perpetrator could have had either."

My scowl did not waver.

"What you're telling me right now is that you're useless."

Sebastian chuckled and shook his head.

"What kind of butler would I be if I was useless? After all, I did manage to comb out a few conclusions."

"Oh, we certainly would like to hear those."

From the shadows behind Salvador, a small flicker of a light came into view and I squinted my eyes to see Rodric approaching us, holding an oil lamp in his hand with the twins tailing behind him. Eren held an axe over his shoulder and Erin's fingers fiddled around with a kitchen knife, its sharpened edges glinting in the shy light that came from the lamp. Both of their eyes contained the same vacant stare that Salvador had, unnerving me. I was so used to seeing a cheerful smile from either one of them.

"Maldoris, what say you explain what's going on here?" Sebastian offered, taking a step forward, displaying a smile that was blatantly synthetic.

Amidst this incomprehensible situation, I managed to notice that Sebastian nearly seemed........aggravated. Had he really been so fooled?

Impossible.

"Oh no," Erin said softly, now aiming the knife at me.

"We can't possibly do that." Eren finished as he tilted his head.

Shoving myself past Sebastian's extended arm, I stood firmly in between both parties, irritated at the conviction in front of me. I was trapped between a rock and a hard place.