Warning: Mentions of Human Trafficking.
Y/N sucked in a breath, "Do it," she commanded Alice. Alice faltered before she pulled on the chinces of Y/N's new corset. It didn't hurt nearly as bad as Ciel had made it seem, though maybe it was just because of how carefully Alice was tightening it. Y/N was planning on making an appearance at the Viscount of Druitt's party later that night. While it was true Y/N knew the Viscount had nothing to do with the murders, she wanted another chance to run into Ciel and Sebastian. The party also gave Y/N a reason to spy on Madam Red and Grelle, who she knew to be the real killers behind the name Jack the Ripper.
"Alright, it's all tied up," Alice told Y/N. Y/N walked in front of the mirror to inspect herself. She noticed her form was a little bit more pronounced and her chest looked larger than she remembered, but she blamed these effects on the corset. All in all, it wasn't a bad look for her, but it would look much better once she had a dress on over it. Y/N and Alice pooled their extra money together and managed to get their hands on a very lovely (favorite color) dress. Of course, Y/N had promised Alice she would pay her back for everything once she got paid, and Alice assured her it was no problem at all. "Now for the dress," said Alice as she brought it over to Y/N., "Gonna be honest, I've never really put on somethin' this fancy before. I'll do my best to tie it up."
"That's no problem at all," Y/N assured her friend, "Neither have I, actually." It was true: Y/N had never worn a Victorian Era dress before, and even if it wasn't high quality, it certainly looked it. Alice helped Y/N slip the dress and its layers over her head and fastened it around her body. The sleeves and neckline of the dress were lined with a beautiful lace and the skirt of the dress fanned out gracefully, giving Y/N the appearance that she was floating rather than walking. The back of the dress was decorated with ribbons and bows that gave Alice a little bit of trouble, but she got it eventually and it looked stunning. There were accents across the front to complement Y/N's waist and chest. She looked almost like a princess worthy of a Disney movie. Y/N did a small twirl and giggled to herself, "I feel like some kind of royalty," she admitted to Alice.
"Well you should. You look like you just hopped out of a fairytale!" Alice went over to the small closet in Y/N's room and picked up a choker embedded with a fake jewel and a necklace that was just as fake. Neither Y/N nor Alice had saved enough money to buy real jewels, but they had just enough for some high quality fakes.
"Hmm, I'll take the (choker/necklace)," Y/N decided. The accessory had gems that perfectly complemented her dress. Alice carefully placed the jewelry around Y/N's neck and clasped it shut.
"Beautiful," Alice whispered as she adjusted it so it laid perfectly around Y/N's neck. Y/N smiled as she looked at herself in the small mirror she had. She was starting to look like a proper Noble Woman. "Now, what are we gonna do about your hair and makeup. I haven't got anything for either of those," Alice muttered.
"Actually, I have a friend coming over to help with that. He should be here soon," no sooner had the words left her lips did someone knock on the door to the room, "Ah, there he is." Y/N stood up and walked over to the door. She opened it and was greeted by the Undertaker who had a satchel with his supplies and his signature smile.
"Hope I'm not interrupting, but I'm here to make Miss Y/N look just as lovely as one of me guests," he chuckled as he walked into the room and began to lay his supplies across Y/N's bed. Alice gave Y/N an 'are you shitting me' look.
"Look," Y/N shrugged, "He knows what he's doing, and we don't. It's him or nothing." Alice didn't bother to argue: she knew Y/N was right. The Undertaker could do better than either of them could with the limited time they had, and their general lack of knowledge of nineteenth century makeup and hair styles would be a problem. "I owe you for this, Undertaker," murmured Y/N as she sat down on the bed so he could get to work.
"Think nothin' of it, dearie. After all, this morning's laughs earned you more than some help with gettin' made up," the Undertaker was right up in her face as he spoke, Y/N wondered how well he could actually see due to his naturally awful vision and white bangs. "Well, he can see well enough to dodge two death scythes and Sebastian at the same time so he should be able to do some makeup," Y/N reasoned with herself.
Only about an hour later did the Undertaker announce that his work was done and Y/N was free to look in a mirror. When Y/N held up the glass to her face she was shocked to say the least. She had been expecting to look into the mirror and see a complete stranger, but instead she saw a (somehow) more gorgeous version of herself. The eye shadow matched the color of her dress perfectly, there wasn't too much mascara or eyeliner, her blush made her cheeks look rosey but not blotchy, the lipstick was the perfect shade to match her skin tone, and her eyebrows had been plucked and filled as needed. Y/N had faith but not this much. She looked like a professional had done it, and she hadn't even seen her hair yet. She noticed that not a single hair was out of place. The Undertaker somehow knew that Y/N looked best with her hair (braided/pulled up/left down) and had fixed it accordingly. The barrette he had placed in it hadn't gone unnoticed either: it was a flower that matched her dress's color to a tee and had gems glued on to mimic dew. Y/N gasped as she looked in the mirror, trying to see herself from all angles. The Undertaker just smiled and reveled in his victory. Y/N was beautiful before she had any makeup on, and he hadn't wanted to take away from her natural beauty. He had added the perfect amount of flair to accentuate her features just a tad bit, and he hadn't needed to make her look like she was still living like he usually had to do for a guest. Y/N set down the mirror before she leapt onto the Undertaker, wrapping her arms around him in a tight hug, but making sure her face didn't rub anything onto his black robes. "Thank you so much," she whispered into his ear as she squeezed him. She felt his arms wrap around her waist to return the hug, one hand's black nails traced her spinal cord.
"Of course, dearie. We can't have you looking out of place among them nobles, now can we?" Anyone else might have missed it but Y/N could swear she might have heard his voice crack. Y/N knew the Undertaker had a sad past, hell, anyone who was a reaper had a sad past, but the Undertaker... Well Y/N knew he was still torn up about Vincent Phantomhive's passing. "Guess he never really had many friends," Y/N made sure to squeeze him one last time before letting him go.
"Thank you, Undertaker, I wouldn't be able to do any of this without you," Y/N gave him a thankful but sad smile.
"I'm sure you would've gotten here just fine on your own, milady," he assured her as he patted her on the head, "I want you to borrow these," he ushered Y/N over to where he left his satchel. He slowly pulled out a beautiful, sleek, black box and lifted it's lid off. Wrapped in silk laid two beautiful gloves. The length of the gloves reached up to Y/N's elbows and the lace that lined them went up a little further. The color matched the lace of her dress.
"These are gorgeous, Undertaker," Y/N gasped as she slipped them onto her arms, "How'd you know they'd match my dress?"
The Undertaker just chuckled in response, giving Y/N his cheshire cat smile. Y/N just smiled and rolled her eyes at his antics. Whatever the reason behind the gloves were, it was sweet and more than appreciated.
The Undertaker led Y/N down the pub's stairs like she was a queen descending from the heavens. Alice and Christopher were the only ones around, it was a weekday and no one had arrived for dinner at the pub just yet. Both of them gasped as Y/N came into their view. They had never seen someone look so angelic. Alice ran over to Y/N and looked over every inch of her face and hair to see if the Undertaker was as good up close as he was from a distance. "I won't lie," breathed out Alice, "I was half expecting her to come down looking like a corpse." Alice looked her over once more before turning to the Undertaker. "This is... this is just beyond words. Thank You, Mr. Undertaker."
"You look like, look like a queen!" Declared Christopher as he too made it over to Y/N to get a better look. He ran his small hands over the dress's fabric and 'wow'ed at how soft it was.
"I feel like a queen," Y/N blushed. The Undertaker was going to have to give her this makeup routine.
"Well we can't keep you waiting," sighed Alice, "There's a carriage waiting for you outside. It's a ways to the Viscount's so you best be going." Y/N nodded before thanking everyone and hugging them all one last time before she left the pub. The cool night air wafted over her like an invisible fog.
"Let's do this," Y/N muttered to herself as she stepped into the carriage, bound for the Viscount of Druitt's party.
When she arrived Y/N found herself worried about needing an invitation but there was no one at the gate or on the steps of the manor, "I guess if you're hosting secret after parties where you auction off women as a form of human trafficking you don't want a written account of who was there. If word got, out the police could get their suspect list straight off the guest list. Invitations would just be a liability," Y/N thought as she stepped out of the carriage. "Hey," Y/N called up to the driver, "You don't mind waiting a few hours, do you?" The driver took one look at her and decided it was no trouble at all. Either he didn't want a woman of class to be angry with him or he thought Y/N was definitely worth waiting on. Y/n thanked him before starting up the stairs leading to the manor's doors. She noticed that almost every lady had a date, and she was the only single one thus far. "Mental note: bring a partner next time, preferably the Undertaker or someone of the sort." Being by herself could definitely make her stand out to the Viscount, which wouldn't be a problem if that was who she was investigating. Alas that was not the case and she didn't want to appear in front of that nasty man alone. That was when a group of five people right ahead of her caught her eye. Y/N recognized Ciel's dress instantly and sped up her pace so she was walking right next to Lau. While she didn't speak to them or walk directly next to them, she looked like she was a part of their small group and was with Lau as his partner. Once they reached the door Y/N let Ciel's group slip inside before she entered right after them.
Y/N had noticed Grelle disappear almost instantly after Ciel's group began to mingle. "There goes Suspect #1," thought Y/N as Sebastian and Ciel tried to sneak away from Lizzie, "The second they had their backs turned, Grelle slipped out the doors. I hate that she's going to kill someone but there isn't anything I can do. I can't run after her and she's a reaper with a chainsaw. I know when I'm beat." Y/N sighed as she made her way over to a table with food. It was a nice place with a view of the whole ballroom where she was able to keep track of Ciel and Madam Red. Y/N helped herself to some of the horderves as she listened in on the party-goers' conversations. Not long after she began to snack did the Viscount enter the room and Y/N could feel every fiber of her being becoming hyper aware and full of disgust. Unlike Y/N however, the other women had no idea about what the Viscount did in his free time and they began to gush all about him. It was sick how much they loved him. "If only you knew," Y/N really wished they did. Human trafficking was awful and she was glad his little side hustle would be shut down.
The music picked up and couples began to make their ways over to the floor. Y/N saw Sebastian and Ciel argue before they began to dance together. Y/N managed to hold back a laugh that threatened to spill from her lips as Ciel held to Sebastian for his life. She tracked them across the dance floor as they slowly made their way to the Viscount and away from Lady Elizabeth. Not long after the song ended did Sebastian leave Ciel's side and make his way over to where Y/N and Madam Red were. Y/N turned her back to him so as to not give him a clear view of her face. With as close as he had been to killing her that morning, she knew he would remember with ease. Y/N felt a little relieved when he began to chat with Madam Red and Lau but her limbs went rigid when his footsteps sounded closer and closer. "Excuse me, milady," he practically whispered it in her ear. Y/N prayed that her makeup, hair, attire, accent and manners would make him think he had the wrong woman.
Y/N turned to face him, "Yes?"
"I don't believe we got your name this morning, when we met at the parlor," he said with one of his close eyed smiles. Y/N felt her blood turn to ice.
"I haven't the slightest idea of what you're talking about, sir," Y/N knew the game was over but that didn't mean she wasn't going to keep playing, "I would definitely remember spending my morning in a parlor."
"Oh? Well I distinctly remember seeing someone who looked exactly like you this morning. She was sleeping in a coffin and found immeasurable joy in scaring my master and his associates," He peered at her through his fake glasses, his eyes the color of blood.
"Are you accusing me of childish antics such as finding joy in the fear of others, and of doing something as obscene as sleeping in a coffin?" Y/N scoffed before brushing past him. Sebastian quickly held out an arm to catch her by the wrist.
"Your makeup was applied about two hours ago by the Undertaker, your dress is an expensive knock off made of cheap fabric and isn't properly tailored to fit you. Every jewel on your body is fake along with the cheap metal that holds it in place. You made sure to find a dress that would touch the ground so no one would see that you have cheap leather shoes on rather than heels and your gloves have a give off the slight stench of embalming fluid," He seemed quite pleased with himself because he boldly asked, "Did I miss anything?"
"Don't you have a magic show to put on?" Y/N snapped back.
"I trust you'll be awaiting my return?"
"I haven't got much of a place to hide," Y/N yanked her wrist from Sebastian's grip before assimilating once more into the crowd.