Silence

Chapter 9

Adalina recalled the time Ciel had posed as a young girl and had had to wear a corset of his own. She wasn't sure if she was supposed to know about that whole incident, but a head maid knew everything. (Well...clearly not everything). She remembered being very amused when she heard Ciel's pained cries from down the hall as Sebastian tightened the corset.

It was no wonder. This piece of clothing was one of the most painful things she had ever had to wear.

By the time they finished with her, Adalina almost felt bad for Daniel. She was in an absolutely terrible mood and had no doubt that she was going to bring her extreme frustration into her fight with him.

Ciel and Sebastian waited down in the foyer for Adalina to come down so they could all head down to the party. The servants couldn't help but wait with them so they could see what Adalina looked like.

Nina stood at the top of the first landing of the staircase underneath one of the large portraits.

"I present to you all, Lady Madeline Parnell."

Adalina took a deep breath (though that ended up being a struggle because of the tight corset), held her back erect lest Sebastian yell at her again, and walked out to the landing to join Nina.

Sebastian's eyes widened for a moment as she came into view.

Nina had designed a royal blue dress with off-the-shoulder straps made of black lace ribbon that went all the way around the neckline which stopped in the middle of her chest. A large black bow sat on her chest with a thin black lace choker around her neck. Black fabric came out of the bottom of the skirt where the blue stopped. She was also wearing long black gloves that went all the way up past her elbows.

"Lizzy and I added blonde highlights to her hair to make it appear lighter," Nina added. "And we made sure to give her that perfume you told me to use."

Sebastian saw that some of her hair was indeed a lighter color. All of her hair had been curled into loose ringlets. Half of it was pinned up with her hair parted to the left. Two small pieces of curled hair accented her cheeks.

"Whoa..." Baldroy said quietly, the cigarette nearly falling out of his mouth.

Mey-Rin clasped her hands together in front of her. "Adalina looks so beautiful, she does!"

"She looks like a princess!" Finnian gasped, red slighting tingeing his cheeks and sparkles lighting up his eyes.

Adalina gave them a very small smile as she carefully descended the steps.

That strange feeling Sebastian had been having lately came back stronger than it ever had before.

He held out his hand for her as she reached the bottom stair, and she slowly took it. He then gently kissed her knuckles before putting her hand in the crook of his arm.

"I shall be your escort this evening seeing as I am your 'tutor' and therefore am the one presenting you at the party."

Adalina nodded a little. While she was very eager to get this night over with, she couldn't deny that she did feel...really pretty. She hadn't thought herself beautiful in a very, very long time.

"Well done, Nina, as always," Ciel remarked. "I can barely recognize her. Thank you as well, Lizzy."

"Of course!" Lizzy squealed. "I think she looks gorgeous! Have fun tonight!"

Adalina smiled at the girl's naivety. She had no idea what was really going to happen to her tonight or why she was even getting dressed up to begin with. It was best for her to not know.

The three of them went outside to the awaiting carriage.

"My lady," Sebastian said as he helped her into it.

Adalina smiled a little more at him being so formal with her. He was certainly playing his part well.

Ciel and Sebastian got into the carriage behind her and headed into London for the party.

"Adalina, I don't know if Sebastian or I will be able to see when Lord Daniel tries to lead you away from the party," Ciel said. "If that's the case, I trust you can handle yourself. We'll try to keep tabs on you so that doesn't happen, but in the event that it does, please be careful."

Adalina nodded. She had never fought in a corset before, but she didn't think that it would be too much of a hindrance. She was on such a short fuse at the moment, a hungry pack of wolves wouldn't stop her from fighting.

Once the carriage pulled up to the house of Lord and Lady Kennedy, Sebastian got out and helped Adalina and Ciel out of the carriage as well.

"You shall have to go in yourself, young master," Sebastian said. "I have to escort Ada-Madeline inside."

"Yes, go ahead," Ciel said dismissively.

Adalina glanced at Ciel for a moment. His face looked a bit...pale, but his cheeks had the faintest trace of red. He looked kind of ill.

However, there was no time to focus on that at the moment. She had another mission to worry about for right now, and she was determined to prove herself to her master.

Adalina took Sebastian's arm, and the two of them entered the party. It wasn't the first party Adalina had ever been to, but it was the first party she had ever gotten dressed up for. She had to admit that she was a bit nervous that she would blow her cover simply because she didn't end up following the proper etiquette.

"First, we shall meet with the Lord and Lady Kennedy," Sebastian said quietly to her, sensing her nervousness.

They weaved their way through the crowd until they finally saw the host and hostess of the engagement.

"May I present Lady Madeline Parnell," Sebastian said with a bow.

Adalina politely curtseyed for the two nobles.

Lord Kennedy came forward and politely kissed her gloved hand.

"It is lovely to have you here," Lady Kennedy smiled. "We are honored that our party is your first outing. And you look absolutely wonderful. Please enjoy yourselves."

"Thank you," Sebastian answered for them. As they walked away, he told Adalina, "Now, it is expected that you must share a dance. In any case, wherever Lord Daniel is, perhaps this will draw his attention to you." He led her out to the dancing couples. "I know that we never worked on your dancing skills, but that is simply because we ran out of time. However, as long as you follow my lead, you should do fine."

Adalina felt goosebumps rise on her skin as she felt his hand press onto the small of her back. He then took her other hand and began to waltz around the room with her.

"I must say, you look simply marvelous. That dress suits you well. In the end, I have to admit that Miss Hopkins truly does know how to make one look utterly stunning."

Adalina blushed a little against her will.

Sebastian dipped her, holding her weight effortlessly. She met eyes with him and could've sworn that they glowed pink for a second. But it happened so fast, she couldn't tell if she imagined it or not.

"It's good to see that you can follow a man's lead in a dance. You are much better than the young master. Granted, it is not hard to be much better than him. My toes and shins are certainly thankful for that."

When the dance ended, Sebastian escorted her over to a chair.

"I shall fetch you a drink. That dance must've worn you out, I'm sure. I won't be long."

Adalina smiled a little and nodded. She let out a small breath trying to calm her racing heart. She wasn't sure if it was harder to breathe because of the extremely uncomfortable corset that she was sure was leaving more bruises on her ribcage, or if it was...something else.

A hand suddenly rested on her shoulder.

"Miss Madeline, correct?"

Adalina watched as a man came around to her front and took her hand. Her heart skipped a beat when she realized that the man was in fact Lord Daniel.