The colour of devil eyes (Black Butler love story)

Chapter 4 - Pain

"May I ask for a dance, Lady Sinister?".

Briefly, Serena looked at him, slightly dazed, for the fact that she would have such an easy and quick opportunity to talk to the Earl undisturbed, she had actually not expected. She grabbed his hand quickly and smiled back.

"It would be a pleasure.", she answered and with these words the Earl led her to the dance floor. It felt strange and at the same time pleasant for Serena as she carefully laid her left hand on the earl's shoulder and put herself in a dance position. Shortly he gave her a faint smile before they started to dance.

The orchestra was playing a slow waltz that Serena would have been able to dance in her sleep. Accordingly, she did not have to focus much on her feet and looked the Earl self-confidently in the eyes.

"You are a good dancer.", she said and the Earl smiled at her.

"Allow me to return this compliment, Lady Sinister.", he replied immediately and Serena grinned slightly.

"That may come a bit suddenly, but say, Earl Phantomhive, you are the Queen's watchdog, aren't you?", Serena said freely and studied her dance partner carefully. If the Earl was surprised by this sudden change of subject, he did not show it. Only slightly, he pulled up one of his eyebrows, but continued to look at her with a polite smile.

"You seem to be well informed.", he replied as he led her into a left turn.

"Not as good as I would like it to be.", Serena answered somewhat evasively and looked away from his face for a moment. A few more couples were dancing around her, but she was actually looking for her butler. As she had suspected, he was still standing where she had left him and was still engaged in conversation by Ciel Phantomhive. As soon as she looked at him, his attentive eyes flickered to her, almost as if he had felt her gaze. An almost imperceptible smile formed on his face, as he had probably already noticed with his excellent ear that Serena was now asking the Earl a little bit.

"I thought you were here for a reason, Lady Sinister.", the Earl pulled her out of her thoughts and immediately she looked at her dance partner again. With an almost amused smile, he looked down at her and Serena felt slightly caught. The Earl was more attentive and cleverer than she had ever imagined.

"All your guests are here for a reason, aren't they?", she commented, as she somehow felt the need to justify herself to him. A short, melodic laugh sprang from his mouth and he nodded curtly.

"If you look at it that way, you're right, of course.", he replied and then looked her straight back in the eye, "But what exactly is your reason?". Now that he asked her so directly, Serena decided to speak openly and honestly.

"I'm looking for a particular man.", she started and the Earl listened to her attentively as he led her into another left turn, "I was hoping he might be known to you.".

Earl Phantomhive looked at her seriously and tilted his head slightly. "Who are you looking for?", he asked in a slightly lowered voice. He seemed to sense immediately that this conversation was not necessarily for everyone's ears.

"He should be a not quite legal acting businessman. Unfortunately, when I tried to reach him through one of his employees, Henry Melton, it proved a failure.", Serena also said in a low voice, "The name of the man I am looking for is John Fiaid.".

It took some overcoming to pronounce this name, because she felt too much disgust for him. But this information was important so that the Earl knew exactly who she meant. Excited, Serena held her breath as she looked into the thoughtful face of Earl Phantomhive. For a few moments, they just danced silently and looked at each other until the Earl cleared his throat slightly and turned his gaze away from her.