"My lord, do you wish to attend the Exposition for the new tower held here in Paris?" asked Jasper as he poured Ezzelin's fresh cup of Columbian bean coffee. The aroma had immediately awoken the boy from his sleep as soon as his butler had entered the room with the metal tray of his breakfast, consisting of a pain suisse---a large, rectangular pastry containing a rich creme and small chocolate nuggets---and two boiled--unshelled--eggs.
Ezzelin stretched out his arms and legs, releasing a quick yawn as he had done so. "La colazione di un francese? Come di cattivo gusto. (A Frenchman's breakfast? How distasteful.)" he said in precise Italian.
Jasper smiled and rolled the tray over to Ezzelin's bedside. "You are in France after all, my lord---I found it only befitting of you to indulge yourself in some French cuisine."
Ezzelin smirked. "The French have no taste of uniqueness when it comes to their cuisine."
Jasper laughed lowly. "I can not reprimand you there, young master. However, I can assure you will find this to your liking."
Ezzelin shot an angered glare at the long silver-haired butler. "Do not tell me what I will enjoy and what I will not."
Jasper closed his eyes and sighed. "Very well, young master."
Ezzelin picked up the polished knife and fork from either side of the plate and cut his first bite of the pain suisse and placed it into his mouth, savoring its rich flavor as he chewed it. "I judged you too harshly---I do enjoy this." said Ezzelin, sipping a drink of his coffee. "Forgive my brash attitude, Jasper."
His butler placed his right hand over his left breast and bowed. "You are forgiven, my lord."
"What is on my agenda for today, Jasper?"
"You are free of all duties today. I would suggest we get underway with our journey to England; however, the choice is entirely up to you."
"What was it you were saying of an Exposition moments ago?"
Jasper walked over to the tray and moved it out of Ezzelin's way---he'd eaten all of his food and drank all of his coffee. "The Exposition is a twenty-four hour event held for the Eiffel Tower, freshly finished. It would provide you an excellent distraction were you to attend."
Ezzelin closed his eyes and smiled to himself. "Then let us depart to this event swiftly."
"Yes, my lord."
The butler and his master arrived at the Exposition and had seated themselves outside of a small café, less that thirty feet from the new cast iron tower. Ezzelin had clad himself in a white, silk, ruffled-collar, button-up shirt and brown leather ankle-length pants that tightened around the ankle and black leather knee-length that buttoned up to the outer sides.
"The sun is too bright for my liking, Jasper."
His butler smiled and crossed his left leg elegantly over his right. "There is nothing within my power that I can do about its light, young master."
Ezzelin frowned and propped his elbow on the table and placed his chin within his hand. "If only, if only." He sighed.
"Shall we take a stroll beneath the tower, my lord?"
Ezzelin stared quizzically at Jasper through his brown eyes. "Is there nothing more interesting to do at this event than just marveling over a meaningless hunk of metal?"
Jasper placed his hand over his mouth and gasped in disbelief. "Young master!"
Ezzelin's eyes widened and he sat back in his chair. "Why pretend to be so offended?" he asked. "Tis true, it's just a scrap pile stacked intricately to form a tower." He shrugged and glanced over at a girl with long grey curled hair, dressed in a black Victorian gown with a dark veil shrouding her features, like a bride would after her husband's passing. Standing next to her was a pale, tall man clad in a white suit with a purple vest and sheathed on his left side was a sword that resembled that of a fencing blade. Two features of the man struck young Ezzelin as odd and unusual---his hair and eyes. The man's hair was as white as snow and the color of his eyes were like that of a shining amethyst---a vibrant, cool violet.
Jasper cleared his throat and pointed his index finger over at the tower and spoke in a fast, yet understandable manner:
"My lord, the Eiffel Tower was built for the sole purpose of attracting tourist (we could be considered such, considering the circumstances); however, it is an icon of Paris, therefore it is considered important! There was a protest about such a magnificent work of art being built by some of the greatest writers and poets back in 1887, but Édouard Lockroy put a stop to such brash motives! It is a beauty and a simply delicate work designed by none other than Gustave Eiffel himself! He aspired it to be an icon for all of France---its main attraction. Just look at how many civilians' attention it has drawn with its marvelous unveiling? Would you not agree, young ma-"
Ezzelin blanched at his butler and abruptly pushed back his chair, then brushed off his silk chiffon shirt as he stood. "Jasper!" he said, in a sort of announcement-like tone. "I did not come here for a history lesson on a scrap metal tower."
Jasper clasped his hands over his leg, closed his eyes and smirked. "Do you wish to leave the Exposition, my lord?" The tone in his butler's voice held a hidden knowingness that Ezzelin found rather curious and a bit too dangerous for his liking.
"I merely wish to leave this bland city and arrive in London now."
Jasper opened his red eyes and cocked his head to the side. "Young master, the best is yet to come."
As the words left Jasper's beautiful lips, a small explosion resounded from near the bottom of the Eiffel Tower. There were terrified screams from goers of the Exposition as large broken wedges of metal, from the tower's top, came crashing down to the ground below. Ezzelin glanced up at the tower, in hopes that the wretched thing was just toppling to the ground and was possibly crushing a few bystanders on the way, but what he saw was much more different than he'd expected. He noticed two combating figures, both male; one clad in a black tailcoat and the other in a white one. "Jasper!" Ezzelin shouted.
Everyone had already exited the café to investigate just what had caused all the commotion; however, they hadn't even taken notice of the two men fighting atop the tower on its second floor.
The long silver-haired butler gracefully removed himself from his chair and twirled over to his master; a sadistic grin plastered on his narrow face. "Yes?" he asked.
Ezzelin whipped his attention over to his butler and scoffed. "What did you mean from that statement?" Another pillar of metal crashed to the ground.
Jasper peered up to the second floor of the tower. "My lord, it would seem I'm not the only demonic force in this region at this very moment." Jasper had said, then did something Ezzelin had never seen---he clenched his white-gloved fists and set his jaw. "Two birds with one stone, isn't that how it went?" Jasper monotonously asked, raising an eyebrow as he continued to stare at the colossal creation as if it were a person he'd so wanted dead.
A devious smile curled at the edges of Ezzelin's lips as he said, "Old friend, I take it."
The butler ceased in his actions and looked over to the light brown haired boy. "A very old friend, indeed, young master."
Ezzelin walked out onto the grassy lawn with Jasper loyally in tow or the lad, who'd continued to stare up at the tower; they couold no longer could see the combating duo. "What would you have me do, young master?"
"I shaln't order you to investigate---that's not our job. Instead, we shall leave this Exposition at once and have no further business with it."
Jasper placed his right hand elegantly over his left breast and bowed, allowing his long silver hair to cascade downward to the ground as if it were a waterfall. "Very well, my lord. Shall I retreive the horses from the stables and latch them to the carriage?"
Ezzelin looked over to his butler and gave him a single, subtle nod in confirmation, then turned his attention back to the tower above. "I will stay here and await your return. Be sure to not forget the luggage as well. Shall I require your assistance, I will call upon you." The lad removed his left hand's tan glove, revealing the demonic symbol on the back of it to Jasper. "You shall always know my location so long as this mark remains, leaving me the responsibility of offering up my soul. Once all commands are completed, that is when you shall receive it," he paused and placed his marked hand on his butler's abdomen, commending him to obey his words. "Until such a time comes: I order you to protect me with your very being and never betray me."
Jasper peered up at Ezzelin with his blood colored eyes. "Your wish is my command, young master. I shaln't ever betray you, nor allow you to fall prey to another, for you are mine and mine alone."
Ezzelin removed his hand and gloved it once more, then smirked to himself as he bowed his head. "Be sure to keep your words true, demon."
Jasper stood up and nodded. "Loyalty is a trait I will possess for all eternity, fret not, young master. I am indebted to you until the time comes for me to devour your soul."
The young Mondadori waved dismissively to his butler. "Be gone for now. We depart from Paris tonight." His butler smiled and turned away from him, then left toward the hotel to complete his orders. Once out of his sight, Ezzelin glanced back up to the tower, just as he'd done so, a large set of white wings and a man, carrying a young girl clad in a black dress flew away in the direction he'd soon be embarking on.
"Just who are they?" he asked himself as he stare on at the bird-man flying toward the north.
"Ezzelin Mondadori," a British accented voice said from behind said lad, startling him.
He turned around and was greeted with the sight of a familiar elderly man propping himself up with his metalic cane and standing next to him, was a girl around the age of eighteen dressed in a violet Victorian gown with a dark violet bow atop her sleek, shoulder-length, raven-colored hair that parted down the middle and half-hid her dazzling golden eyes. "It's been a while, hasn't it, young earl?" asked the man with a wrinkled, cheeky grin.
"That is has, lord Edmondo."
Though Ezzelin's phrase might have seemed as though he had no qualm with this man, he'd truly wished for nothing more than for Edmondo to fall prey to an untimely death.
"Lord Mondadori, were I you, I would remove myself from that lawn; you'll ruin your fashionable boots with stain."
Ezzelin crossed his arms in annoyance. "Lord Edm-"
"Father, let Lord Mondadori alone. If he wishes to stand on the lawn, then allow him to do such; he's not you." said the beautiful girl that Ezzelin had come to know as Serafina; he'd met her only a time or two in his childhood, each time she'd defended him needlessly. The girl glanced over to him and smiled with her eyes closed and head tilted. "You will have to forgive my father; he is . . . odd at times."
Ezzelin scoffed and waved his hand. "That is to be expected of a man who feels like an authoritarian with his vast expansion of wealth, Lady Serafina."
Serafina giggled and placed her black gloved hand on her father's shoulder. "Agreed."
Edmondo looked at his daughter with an appalled expression etched on his face. "Il mio amore! Do not slander me!"
His daughter merely chuckled and sighed. "Father, do not deny such true words. Lord Ezzelin speaks honestly; your company and its profit has transformed you into a prideful, greed-filled man."
Edmondo was the head of a large gold manufacturing company known all throughout Europe and Asia as "De Luca Società D'Oro". The company specialized in molding gold, imported from the Americas, into pounds that would then be distributed to all parts of England. Their specialty was not limited to only pounds, they also could form it into any currency (coin-wise) were their services required to do so.
Ezzelin frowned and peered over his shoulder at a duo, a tall black-haired man clad in butler attire and a young boy with dark hair and an eye patch over his right eye, as they strode quickly to their carriage. He recognized the pair as Ciel Phantomhive, owner of the Funtom toy company and his overly-attached butler, Sebastian Michaelis. He couldn't help but glare at the pair because they had suspected him of committing the murders against the Countess of France and her chauffeur (which he had done, indirectly). "If you'll excuse me." he said.
"Wait!" Serafina shouted, removing herself from her father's side, she raced over to Ezzelin and clasped her hand around his arm. "It's been four years since last we spoke, my lord. At least converse momentarily with me." The girl cocked her head to the side and batted her long eyelashes at the boy, causing him to blush and shake his arm violently until her hand released it.
"Lady Serafina, my butler will be arriving any moment with the carria-"
The beautiful dark-haired girl smiled, cutting off his words. "Then we shall converse until he arrives." she said with a quick grin, dragging the poor boy away from the lawn and back to the café he'd originally been at the beginning of his arrival at the Exposition.
Edmondo watched as his daughter had practically hefted the young earl into a chair and placed herself in the one adjacent to him. "Your reign shall be short lived, young earl." he whispered to himself with a devilish smile spread across his aged lips, then limped his way over to the two teens.
"Yes, I had heard all of the commotion and immediately rushed outside!" said Serafina as she sipped from the small glass of weak French coffee. "What of you? Did you witness what had caused it?"
Ezzelin sighed and shook his head. "No, Lady Serafina---I did not." he lied.
Serafina brushed back the stray lock of black silk from her eye and frowned. "I see . . . well it was rather strange how the freshly finished tower could just fall apart like that." she paused and glanced over to Edmondo. "Wouldn't you agree, father?"
Edmondo nodded.
Serafina raised a curious eyebrow at her father. "You're acting quite unusual today as well, padre (father)."
The old man straightened out his collar and laughed, awkwardly. "You know of no such thing, il mio amore."
Ezzelin, who had a clear view of the outside through the large window, pushed his chair back and removed himself from it, because he'd seen the two lead black and white paint Gypsy Vanners pull up outside. He placed his right hand over his left breast and bowed. "It was nice speaking with you, Lady Serafina," he paused and glanced over to her father. "Lord De Luca." He stood back upright. "Forgive me, for I must take my le-"
"Young master," said Jasper, from beside of Ezzelin---startling the lad, causing him to bump his leg on the table and spill his half-filled cup of tea all over it.
He swiftly swiveled his attention from the De Lucas and glared at his butler. "Jasper!" he exclaimed, angrily.
His butler waved his hands back and forth in defense and laughed nervously. "My apologizes, young master; I was merely wishing to inform you that I had arrived with your carriage."
Ezzelin huffed out a breath in an attempt to release his anger. "Very well."
Serafina quickly stood from her seat and gawked at Jasper. "Dear me!" she said, clasping her hands over her heart. "Who is this ravishing man before me?" she inquired with star-filled golden eyes.
Ezzelin blanched at her ways and glanced over to Jasper. "This is my butler, Jasper Airaghi."
Jasper bowed. "At your service." he said, with a wink.
The girl swooned and placed the back of her hand over her forehead. "Such an enticing man! Why have you kept him hidden for so long, Lord Mondadori?" she asked.
Ezzelin stared blankly at her. "Restrain yourself, Lady Serafi-"
Serafina practically leapt over to Jasper's side and began tracing her index finger over his chest. "I find taller men to be quite . . . appealing to my taste, Jasper."
Edmondo would not have his daughter fondling over the butler any longer, he quickly rushed over to her and placed both of his hands on her shoulders. "Come, il mio amore; we must get back to our hotel before sun down." he said.
The girl peered over her shoulder with a sad expression. "Father, you never allow me to have the fun I so yearn for with a man." She pouted her bottom lip and turned around to Edmondo. "I suppose I must exhibit some composure when it comes to men." She sighed and said no more words to anyone, then left the café.
Edmondo looked over to Ezzelin and squinted his amber eyes at him. "Keep that butler away from her, young earl."
Taking the man's words as a form of threat, Ezzelin raised his eyebrow and propped himself against Jasper. "And say I were not to do such? What would the consequences be?"
Edmondo's eyes gleamed with a hint of murderous intent at Ezzelin. "An eye for an eye, Lord Mondadori." he said before exiting the café in search of his daughter, Ezzelin's eyes following after him with each lame step the elderly man had taken.
"My lord?" inquired Jasper.
Ezzelin peered up at him. "Be on your guard." he said as he'd stood back up and straightened his sleeves out. "I have no trust in Lord Edmondo. Keep your blade at the ready for any sign of suspicion as we travel tonight; he may very well be one step ahead of us."
Jasper's eyes flashed a brilliant fuchsia and his pupils changed from dark circles to serpent-like slit ones. "As if a mortal could ever best me, young master. Your life and soul are mine to take once your vengeance is reaped, that is our contract."
Ezzelin nodded. "I will remain true to our contract, so long as my demand is met the soul is yours." The boy then walked out of the café, Jasper in tow, and mad his way to the carriage. His butler kindly opened the door and guided him into it with his hand.
"You may rest, young master." Jasper paused and smiled. "It shall be a long time until we board a ship and arrive in England."
Ezzelin waved dismissively as he took his seat. "I have faith that you will get me there safely . . . do not disappoint me."
The long silver-haired man bowed and spread both of his arms outward. "I would never disappoint you, young master." With those spoken words, the butler closed the door to the carriage's interior and loaded himself onto the box seat of the driver's then grabbed hold of the reins, lashed them against the horses' backs and drove them onward.
****
This chapter probably had a lot of mistakes and not as many detailing, but I'll probably edit it sometime in the near future once I've finished the entire story! Just point the errors out and I'll fix them. I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I know you'll all enjoy the next one! Don't forget to vote and comment! I've set the goal at ten votes for me to update on the next chapter! If it's not met, I'll still update, just . . . not as quickly. I need motivation guys!