The bells chimed as another satisfied customer left, this time a handsome young lord. He had been coming into the weapons shop, J’s Fine Weaponry, quite a lot recently. Kat reflected on this quietly while she hummed a little tune, straightening out the receipts from the first part of the day.
It had been nearly a month since her life at the Phantomhive manor had come to an end, but it seemed like years. She sincerely missed the other servants and Pluto and the Earl and…and …
Kat sighed, Sebastian hadn’t spoken to her at all since she had left, the others at the very least had made an attempt to come and see her on their free days and when they came to the market. They didn’t understand why she had left, and she had a feeling that they themselves were upset over it but she couldn’t let them be in danger because of her.
They took the care to keep me safe by keeping their silence about the Contract; I believe it is only fair that I do the same for them…Its just…so hard to stick to this when all I want to do is go back…
“Something wrong Miss?” Jacobsen came in, an old Duck’s Foot Pistol clutched in his hand. A customer had brought it in a few days ago to have it restored.
Kat forced the melancholy back and smiled, “I was just thinking on things Sir, that’s all.”
Jacobsen arched a bushy eyebrow, “Is that so? It appeared to me you were doing some mighty hard thinking.” He placed the gun on the counter before retreating to the rocking chair she knew waited for him in the upstairs parlor, his favorite spot for taking a break during work. He stopped in the doorway before continuing up the stairs, “Kat I know it’s none of my business…but if you miss your home so much then you should go back. They probably miss you just as much.”
“Thank you sir, I’ll keep that in mind.”
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Drat! The water boiled over the edge of the cooking pot to splash into hissing drops on the stovetop. Sebastian forgetting the pot was hot grabbed at the handles to pull it from the heat. The searing heat burned his hands causing him to drop the pot and spill the boiling water over the freshly mopped floor.
Baldroy blinked at him innocently from the other side of the kitchen.
“Meyrin!” Sebastian bellowed, “Bring me a towel!” He seethed inwardly, ever since Kat had left the other servants had become intolerable. Where the chef had scorched the food before he now seemed intent on burning down the house, the maid shattering ever glass object in the manor, and the gardener killing every green thing that the grounds possessed, and The Earl…
Just the thought of the Earl right now made Sebastian want to rip his hair out with anger. The boy was just as hard to please as when they had first met, nothing was right, everything was wrong….
The sad thing was he knew why everyone was acting this way…they wanted him to go get Kat back. After he had told the Earl about her desire to leave the Earl had replied with, “And you just let her walk out the door? Are you daft?”
Even worse, he had a suspicion that these little accidents would continue until he went and got her. But that would involve apologizing for being silly enough to let her go. And he hated to admit it but he was still smarting over the way she had left enough that the apology would be forced and she would be able to tell, making the situation all the worse.
The bell rang to his right, signaling the Earl’s need for his presence, speak of the brat…
Leaving the puddle of water, knowing when he came back it would no doubt be a flood, he doggedly trudged up the stairs to the Young Master’s study.
The Earl glared at him over his cup of tea, “You’re slow. I need all these papers sorted by the end of the hour also I need…”
Sebastian lost track of what the boy was saying, he was so tired…It may be a luxury for a demon to sleep but still he couldn’t help the exhaustion that tugged at his eyelids, which made his reactions slow.
A tea cup slammed into the wall behind Sebastian, bringing the butler out of his reverie. The Earl glared at him, “You didn’t listen to a word I just said. Clean that up and then go do something useful.”
Yes, Young Master…
He shut the door behind him as he trudged back down the hallway, his footsteps dragging on the carpet. Much as he hated to admit it, now it didn’t seem like such a bad thing to call Kat back…
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“Young Master what are we going to do?” Vinny demanded, “Kat and Sebastian are both miserable but they won’t admit it!”
“We could kidnap her and bring her back.” Remarked the chef thoughtfully.
“Will you all shut up? I’ve been thinking over this for a few days, when Kat began her work here I believe her provisions were on the basis that as long as it did not endanger my life she could stay. I believe this is why she left and knowing Kat she would not tell the reasons behind her leaving.”
“And Sebastian thought she was leaving ‘im ‘cause she wanted to, right?” said the maid from where she stood by the window.
The Earl nodded, “Yes, I believe this is correct. The idiot may not want to admit it but that girl is important to him and as such she is a liability to my plans, I simply can’t have that. We need to get her back here and be done with this whole ordeal. I have a plan…so listen carefully…” The others leaned in, eager to help in any way they could. “Do you all recall the woman Sebastian danced with at all those balls Elizabeth held? The one that he moped about for weeks because she was better than him?” They all nodded. “That was Kat. Now here’s what we will do, Vinny I need you to run to Elizabeth’s tonight and ask her to hold a ball at the end of the week, a big one, and that she needs to invite Kat. Meyrin, I need you to get Kat and convince her to come, tell her Lizzie wants to see her or something. And Baldroy…I need you to cause as much havoc here as possible. We need to keep Sebastian busy and you are the best at causing destruction. Start tonight, blow up another pot like you did yesterday, overflow the sinks…whatever…just keep him busy until he wants to drop with exhaustion. Once the others are through they will join you. I myself will attribute to the destructive cause…” He reached for his morning tea, and calmly poured it on the carpet beside the desk, “Let the games begin.”
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Mwah Ha Ha Ha...Sebasatian was so mean to Kat, I had to make him suffer a little bit. The servants have had enough as well as everyone else. Thanks to everyone who has been reading. Im not sure what time next week, if at all, I will be able to post the next chapter. I can give an overview though, Ive decided to save the Rhose Special until the end. It'll be worth it I promise. But...Chapter 32 Overview: The Earl's plan is set in motion and Kat and Sebastian have no idea!
-Thanks again for reading!
-Shadowquill