To call Bard competitive and excitable was an understatement. The chef was ready to make it his life's purpose to show up Agni and his cooking skills. "Aaall right! I can't let that Indian show me up! Today, I'll do my best to-"
"No, thank you." Sebastian brushed past Brad without a second thought, snatching the frying pan out of the cook's hand. "I will cook, so please do not do anything." Y/N almost fell over laughing; she was under Sebastian's supervision for the time being. She was supposed to be 'earning her keep' and helping Sebastian around the manor or house periodically. Today Sebastian had decided he would rather deal with Y/N in the kitchen rather than Bard.
"Hey! C'mon. Today, I was gonna cook my special! Hey, you listen!" Bard shouted at Sebastian who kept grumbling about being behind schedule. "Sebastian, ya hear me?!" Y/N giggled more and more as Sebastian sighed and placed a hand on his hip.
"Oh, I say. Please do be quiet for a spel-"
"Mister Sebastian," Agni peaked in through the kitchen door, "May I come in? I was wondering if I could help you."
"Mister Agni. Please just relax." Sebastian wasn't used to having someone actually offer to help him. Y/N would offer every once and a while but she wasn't exactly another Sebastian; she was more like a little less clumsy Mey-Rin.
"We can get things done faster with the three of us! I shall do whatever you ask of me." Agni was beaming and Y/N swore she could see white little puff balls floating around him.
"Then, may I ask you to prepare the Gooseberry sauce for today's main dish and the Cottage pie? Miss Y/N can assist you."
"Of course!" Y/N waved over to Agni as she laughed at Bard's offended protests.
"Here are the recipes." The demon pulled some papers out of a nearby drawer and flipped through them. "They are my own. Let us use minced chicken for the Cottage pie. Depending on the region, you may not eat pork or beef because you are Indian."
"Some Hindi cultures don't even eat meat at all, so if that's ever the case, please let us know!" Y/N piped up, she remembered a few facts about Hindi culture from history class.
"I appreciate your thoughtfulness."
"Now! Baldo, stop being an obstruction and please step aside. You are in the way." Sebastian brushed past the chef once again, who shouted protests.
"Hey! Why'd they get to work while you're tellin' me I'm in the way!?" Baldo angrily threw himself backward and sat on a barrel of supplies.
"You go on ahead Sebastian, Agni and I'll get started in here!" Y/N assured the butler as she grabbed onto Agni's arm.
"So much to do, so much to do," Sebastian whispered as he walked off to go find another chore that needed to be taken care of.
"What do we start on first?" Agni clapped his hands together and smiled down to Y/N.
"Well, I've not done much cooking and you've probably never made an English dish before. Maybe getting some help wouldn't be too bad." Y/N nodded over the Bard who was still pouting.
"Oh," Y/N saw the lightbulb go off in Agni's head, "Chef. Mister Chef!"
"Nn hnh?" Bard was leaning back on the wall when his eyes snapped open and he jumped up. "Ch-Chef!? You talkin' to me?"
"Yes! Chef! As Miss Y/N said, I am not accustomed to cooking British food. Will you please help us?" Bard was close to tears, he was practically sparking with joy.
"Yeah! Lemme handle it! 'Cos I'm the chef after all." Baldo pumped a fist to the air and Y/N had never seen him look so happy.
"Yay! Thank you so much, Bard!" Y/N patted him on the shoulder as Agni gathered something for Bard to do.
"Splendid! Then will you chop the onions?" Agni had a basket full of already peeled onions ready for the chef.
"Piece of cake! Leave it to me! 'Cos I'm the chef!" Bard continued to boast, hands on his hips and everything.
"You are most dependable!" Agni was very pleased with his choice of help and Y/N was glad to see Bard in a better mood.
"Just don't let him near fire," Y/N whispered in Agni's ear, "He gets a bit eccentric when open flames are around." Bard had pulled on his goggles on and began rapidly chopping the onions with ferocity.
"Something smells soooo yummyyyyy!" Y/N heard the kitchen door creak open and Finny's blonde head poke in.
"Oh, hey Finny!" The little gardener waved over to her with a bright smile.
"Hi, Miss Y/N! What's for dinner tonight, hmmm?"
"My boy! You have come at a good time." Y/N walked over to Finny with a pot overflowing with steam.
"Can you help us prepare dinner? We could use some extra help!"
"Eh, me?" Finny began to sparkle like Bard had. "Uh, but... Mister Sebastian's told me not to touch anything in the kitchen 'cos of my super-strength." It was true, Finny's abnormal strength had caused quite a few issues in the past. From breaking fragile vases to uprooting whole trees, Finny had managed to do it all with his little 5'4 (163 cm) body.
"You are strong?" Agni asked as Y/N strained out the pot and placed the boiled potatoes in a bowl. "Excellent! We must mash these potatoes with a spoon, then puree them... but it requires much effort and strength. May we ask you to do it?"
"You're easily strong enough and we could really use some help!" Y/N ruffled Finny's strawberry blonde hair as she passed Agni the potatoes.
"Requires a lot of strength, and you need my help? I think I can do that!" Finny's teal eyes lit up as he got more and more excited about helping. "I wanna do it! Please let me help!"
"We are counting on you!"
"You got this, Finny!"
"'Kaaay!" He took the potatoes and spoon from Agni and began mashing them up. The four of them worked a little more before the door creaked open again.
"O-oh?" Mey-Rin's pink pigtails poked in through the doorway. "Where is Mister Sebastian?"
"Mister Sebastian is cooking in the rear kitchen," Agni explained to the maid.
"Th-then I shall prepare the tableware!" Mey-Rin blushed at the thought of Sebastian complementing her for her work. Y/n giggled as she wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
"That would be amazing, May-Rin! Thank you so much!" The maid blushed as Y/N complemented her.
Y/N watched Mey-Rin set up a rickety chair as a step stool. As the maid stood on the chair, it began to shake. "Um, the platters and the salad plates, and- Ah wah wah-" Mey-Rin flailed around trying to regain her balance. It didn't work and she began to tip backwards.
"Watch out!" Both Agni and Y/N shouted and dove for the maid at the same time. Agni caught the maid while Y/N caught the tableware in her hands.
"Are you unharmed, Miss Maid?" Agni asked as he set her down.
"Y-yes, I am."
"Thank goodness," Y/N sighed, "I thought only angels fell from Heaven. Is there something you're not telling me, Mey-Rin?" Y/N giggled as Mey-Rin's cheeks heated up.
"Platters must be heavy for a lady. When you must retrieve them from a high shelf, it is safer if you get them down one at a time." Y/N could tell that compared to Sebastian and his constant nagging, Agni was like a breath of fresh air for the poor girl. "You would not want to drop them and hurt yourself."
"Exactly. If you ever need any help, you can always ask me for assistance," Y/N assured her, "I'm not just here to help the young Earl and Sebastian."
"Y-yes... I understand..."
"How are things going, Mister Agni and Miss Y/N?" Sebastian peaked into the kitchen to see how far along they had come. "Are they coming along well?"
"Yes! We are doing fine!" Agni was rolling out dough, Baldo was prepping the garnish, Mey-Rin was polishing the dishes, Finny had just finished the potatoes and Y/N was bustling around picking up spare dishes and getting tools and ingredients for everyone.
"Ah! Mister Sebastiaaan! Look, I mashed the potatoes for the pie!" Finny held up the bowl of mashed potatoes for Sebastian to see. Y/N giggled as she ruffled his hair and beamed up to him.
"He did a really good job!"
"I chopped the onions, and now I'm doin' the garnish!" Bard chuckled as he lifted his goggles off his face. "'Cos I'm the chef!"
"I polished the silver. The table has already been set too, it has!" Mey-Rin blushed shyly as she placed her rag down.
"Thanks to everyone, the food should turn out delicious! Miss Y/N has also been a great help. She knows this kitchen like the back of her hand!" Agni complimented them all, his smile positively glowing. To say Sebastian looked shocked was an understatement. It looked like he couldn't believe his eyes. "Mister Sebastian?"
"Are you alright, Sebastian?" Y/N snickered a little bit; she knew Sebastian never had been able to get the other three to be so useful.
"No, I am just amazed that you were able to get them to help you," the demon whispered after the other three servants became distracted with their next tasks.
"They work hard. They are good people!"
"Well, they are not evil per se..." Sebastian grumbled.
"They just tend to be a bit clumsy is all," Y/N explained to Agni.
"Everyone is born with a gift. Each of us has a path and a God-given duty. We children of God must simply follow the path we are set upon, and do what we have been set here to do without haste."
"How do I put this... Mister Agni is truly a man of fine character. I cannot believe a human being like you actually exists." Sebastian was in disbelief and Y/N just smiled over to Agni.
"You're like the human personification of a ray of sunshine," she told him.
"Oh, no, not at all!" Agni sputtered and waved his hands. "I was a hopeless Paagal until I met my prince. The debt I owe him is one I will never, ever be able to repay. My clan was Brahmin, part of the highest caste, members of which were allowed to serve God. However, my father was a Brahmin only in name. And I, who had grown up watching him enveloped in lust, and greed, lost my faith in God." Agni looked downcast as he thought about his past. "Taking advantage of my social status, I sinned day in and day out. I hurt people. I blasphemed against God. I kept sinning and the day finally arrived upon which my sins were to be judged. Then before me, the godless sinner, the fool with no lingering attachment to this world. The man who had thrown everything away." Agni choked up a bit, thinking about how he had almost been executed. "Then God appeared," Agni's eye glittered as he thought of when Soma saved him, "And he made me realize that the divine resided inside of this man! That day, I saw the face of God radiating holy light from within my prince! As though he were Ramakrishna himself!"
"That sounds amazing, Mister Agni!" Y/N remembered the panels and flashback from the anime: Agni really did think of Soma as godlike.
"Mister Agni, the pot is boiling over." Sebastian pulled the pot off the stove before it overflowed.
"I have been in my prince's service ever since. He is both my Raja and my God." Agni wrapped up his story, a sweet smile on his face.
"God, you say..."
"Thus, even if I must risk my life to do so, I want to protect my prince who gave me this new life, and... Insofar as I am able, try to grant all of his wishes."
"Your dedication to your Prince is something fierce. It's quite admirable," Y/N said as she got Sebastian a ladle.
"Well, a lot of actual Gods are good-for-nothings," Sebastian muttered with a shiver. Y/N had to stifle a laugh as she realized he was talking about Grelle Sutcliff.
"Eh? Did you say something?" Agni hadn't heard him.
"No, no, nothing."
"So, Agni, what's it like in India?"
"-And so? Who is this woman you are looking for?" Ciel asked Soma as they ate dinner.
"She had waited on me since I was born. She's like my nanny. We've been together ever since I can remember," Soma explained. "Which is why you're going to be so hurt when you find out she left you on purpose." Y/N just sighed into her food. "Father had no interest in me, and mother is so desperate for his attention, she has no time for me." Agni looked over to his Prince; he obviously felt bad for him. "I was always alone in the palace... But Mina was always by my side. She was cheerful, beautiful, and taught me many things, just as an older sister might. I was never lonely if Mina was with me. I loved Mina and Mina loved me." Y/N just continued to chew her food, not saying anything. She knew Mina never loved Soma the way he loved her, but she couldn't say anything about it without spoiling the plot. "But he..." Soma slammed a fist on the table. "A British noble came..." He raised his voice, anger filling his eyes. "And took Mina away to Great Britain!"
"What do you mean?" Lau asked.
"Queen Victoria, Empress of India, recognizes the Domestic Admins Trative Rights of Bengal, but, in truth, the political advisor sent from Great Britain controls most of the politics. So the reality is we're not much different from a colony." Soma lazily flipped his fork between his fingers before stabbing his dinner. "And three months ago, he came as a guest of that political advisor! That fellow set his eyes on Mina at my palace," Soma shook a bit before he began to yell, "And took Mina away to Great Britain by force... While I was out inspecting the town!"
"So you came to Great Britain to retrieve your woman." Ciel sighed as Sebastian poured him more tea.
"Yes! I'll get her back, and we'll go home together."
"Still, you are going a bit overboard just for one servant girl-"
"There is no such thing as 'overboard' in this case!" Soma slammed his hands down on the table and stood up, absolutely furious. "The palace without Mina is like an empty box! Can you understand the despair I felt when I was forcibly separated from Mina!?" The prince leapt up and clutched the young Earl's shoulder. "Can you understand just how sad I-"
"Can't say I do." Though he didn't yell it, Ciel's words cut through the air like a knife. Soma let him go and took a step back. "The despair caused by such trivial occurrence doesn't amount to much. I don't understand it, nor do I want to. There are things that cannot be recovered, no matter how much one may struggle. There is also despair from which one cannot escape." The cold glare Ciel sent to the Bengal Prince was chilling to Y/N, even though it hadn't been directed towards her. "You might not quite be able to grasp that, though." The Earl turned away and walked away from the table, hardly having touched his dinner. Before Ciel could leave, Soma clenched his fists and began to mutter.
"But... But still, I... Don't want... to be alone in that palace anymore..." He was close to tears as Ciel closed the door behind himself and his butler.
"You've been quiet," The Prince muttered.
"Prince Soma," Y/N sighed, "There are some things you might need to be prepared for, like Stockholm syndrome."
"What syndrome?"
"Stockholm syndrome. It's when a victim of abuse or even kidnapping forms an emotional bond to their abuser or kidnapper." Y/N knew it wasn't exactly the situation Mina had with the noble who took her but it could possibly soften the blow. "You said Mina's been gone for three months. Depending on her mental state she could be long gone. She might actually love this man now and-"
"She would never love that man!" Soma turned to her, rage flooding his eyes. "She would never love the monster who separated us!"
"She could be dead, Soma!" Y/N shouted back. "She could've killed herself then, if she was so sad you were separated!" Y/N put her fork down and took a deep breath, "I'm sorry, Soma, but you have to be ready to face the possibility that Mina might not come home."
"You're wrong! She will come home with me!"
"And I for one hope she does. I really do, Prince." Y/N placed her napkin on the table as she stood up. She knew Mina would never go home with him. She was going to stay with the Nobleman who took her. "Please just be ready in case she can't come home, even if she wants to."
"And why, Y/N, wouldn't my Mina be able to come home?" Soma's hands and voice shook as he tried to keep tears from falling down his face.
"Some people will do anything for the people they love, even if it isn't easy for them. Even if it hurts the people they love, if someone thinks it's the right thing to do, they're going to do it regardless of the consequences." Y/N was talking about Agni rather than Mina. Agni was the one committing crimes after all. "Anything for his Prince."
"And you think Mina left because she loved me?"
"With the right threat, she would comply. For example, if the kidnapper used 'leave with me or I have someone kill Prince Soma' against her, Mina might have left to protect you. I know I would if someone threatened someone I love like that."
"So you're saying that if Mina went willingly to protect me, I should not hold it against her for leaving me."
"In a sense, yes. I'm also saying that if I do something to upset someone I love, like leave them or hurt them, I'm doing it because it seems like the best thing for me to do." Y/N walked over to the Prince and patted his shoulder lightly. "And even though the young Earl seems cold, he's trying his best. Just keep in mind that he grew up in the middle of a 'difficult' situation. He doesn't know right from wrong as well as we do." And with that, Y/N excused herself to go get ready for bed.
Y/N followed Ciel down the hallway, "So what exactly are we doing again?"
"If there's two of us, that brat can't focus on solely tormenting me." The young lord had sent Sebastian to retrieve her before telling her she was to join him in the lounge.
"Ah, so I'm your sacrifice." Y/N chuckled as she took note of the pack of cards in Ciel's hand. He just smirked as he opened the lounge door and Y/N followed him inside. Ciel tossed the card pack onto a table that sat in front of Prince Soma.
"You wouldn't know the rules of chess." The Earl sighed as he sat down at the table and Y/N pulled up a chair to join them. "But you should know how to play Old Maid, right?" Y/N just smiled as she sat down with the two boys, knowing what was about to happen.
"Eh..."
"And I'm bored and could use something to distract me, so here I am." It was taking everything she had not to laugh.
"We're done for the day. We'll play with you until bedtime." Ciel began to shuffle the deck and pass out the cards.
"Ciel... Y/N..." Soma looked at them with thankful eyes.
"I'm not doing this for you. It's only because I've got nothing better to do at the moment, that's all."
"Ah. Sorry, but I have plans for the evening." Soma deadpanned the two, holding up a hand to silence them. "I'm busy, unlike you!" That was when Y/N lost it. She fell into a giggling fit, holding her sides. Her grin rivaled that of the Undertaker. Ciel just sat there, completely stunned, still holding onto the cards. "Agni! We're leaving!" Soma stood up and his butler rushed over to him, throwing an expensive looking shawl over his Prince's shoulders.
"Yes, sir!" Ciel just sat there stunned as Y/N continued to laugh.
"Ha! Ha! Ha! Seee yaaa! You've got to go to bed early, or else you'll never grow any taller, little runt Ciel!" Soma waved goodbye to them and Agni followed behind his master.
Ciel sat fuming in silence, occasionally asking Y/N if she was done with her laughing fit. She nodded her head each time, managing to breathe out "I'm almost done," once or twice before seeing the glare on Ciel's face and losing it all over again. He was about to lob the deck of cards at her head before Lau popped into the room. "Ah. Here you are, Earl and Lady! Say-" Lau noticed Y/N's giggles and Ciel's enraged demeanor. "Nn?"
"Hnn?" Ciel turned to face Lau, a death glare on his face that befit someone much older than Ciel. The young lord crushed a five of hearts card in his fist.
"Ohhhh? Whatever is the matter, my lord?" Lau looked over to Y/N who was still laughing. "Feeling a bit blue, are we, hmmm?"
"Shut up! Neither of you follow me!!"
"Don't worry! I don't think I'll be able to stop laughing for another five minutes!"