The night of the party arrived more swiftly than they expected. With the addition of the servants, their party had grown considerably. It was decided that Bryony would stay at the manor and help Tanaka care for Ephraim, and since Snake had no interest in attending a fancy ball, he took on the task of looking after the ballerina. The others would all go as one: Ciel, Elizabeth, Prince Soma, Lau, Ran Mao, Sebastian, Paula, Agni, Bardroy, Mei Rin, Finny, Matilda, and to Matilda's great surprise and joy, Undertaker himself.
"You'll really attend?" she exclaimed happily when he ventured to the manor to tell her the news.
"Of course dearie," he chuckled. "I might not be one to frequent these parties myself, but as your husband and escort, I ought to go and keep watch, oughtn't I?
Matilda rushed to embrace the mortician gleefully, then looked up at him through his bangs. "What about Grell, is she coming?"
Undertaker stroked Matilda's hair, which she had taken to wearing tied back these days rather than letting her curls explode like she ordinarily did. "I think William stuck her with some paperwork. Besides," he added dolefully. "I don't think she enjoys these as much anymore, partly because she remembers Madam Red, and partly because she can't wear dresses the way she wants to."
"I've been working on something that may help her!" the maid grinned, cupping her husband's face. He smiled down at her, full of admiration. "Tell her to just hold on!"
~
Paula helped Lady Elizabeth into her favorite crimson dress, adding a white mask with tiny red roses around the eyes. "Oh, Paula, don't forget," the young lady reminded her maid, who smiled coyly at her before reaching for Lady Elizabeth's secret weapon to hide it in the back of her dress.
"I'm so happy to see you finally putting all that training to use," Paula gushed as she tied all of Lady Elizabeth's many fastenings. "It's been torturous to watch you pushed aside all this time, milady, simply torturous."
Elizabeth smiled at her faithful Paula, trying to shake away her nervousness.
Meanwhile in another room, Ciel glowered at his reflection as Sebastian dressed him. Viscount Druitt's party was not so much a costume ball as it was a masquerade ball, so instead of wearing a full costume the earl merely donned fine evening clothing with a black lace mask over the top half of his face.
"Frankly, it's a relief to have this off from time to time," he said as he undid the string of his eyepatch. "I may as well leave it off when I'm at home, now that everybody knows. At any rate, this mask covers my eyes well enough so nobody can tell."
Sebastian, having finished dressing the earl, bowed and headed downstairs to don his red mask and cloak. Before reaching his room, he spotted Mei Rin sitting on her bed and puzzling over her eyeglasses. Tentatively, he knocked on the door. "Is everything alright?"
Mei Rin glanced up momentarily at the knock, then returned to what she was doing. "I'm torn," she admitted. "These were a gift from the young master. They helped me hide my ability. But... they created lots of problems, didn't they?"
Sebastian, to his own surprise, smiled fondly as he remembered Mei Rin's numerous housekeeping blunders. "We did offer to get your prescription changed, more than once," he reminded her.
She gave a soft laugh, but not out of humor. Then, without warning, she broke the glass out of the lenses, sending shards scattering onto the floor. Sebastian's jaw fell open, unsure what to do until he saw the blood on the maid's fingers, which she seemed not to have noticed herself. Stepping into the room, he brought the water basin from the dresser to the bed and gently placed her hands in it, taking care to delicately search for any pieces of glass that may have stuck in her fingers.
"Mei Rin, honestly," he chided as he worked. "Why do you always break things?'
Rather than be insulted, Mei Rin laughed. "At least this time it was on purpose," she replied, getting a laugh from the butler. She wasn't quite sure what to make of this. Sebastian was never this careful with anyone but the young master, and yet here he was checking her fingers for glass and wiping away blood with his handkerchief. She hadn't even seen where he had produced the bandages from, but next thing she knew the cuts on her fingers were wrapped up and the butler was staring at her, exasperated but satisfied.
Just then Bardroy rounded the corner, snapping them back to life. "Oi, Mei Rin, are you-" Seeming to notice Sebastian for the first time, he turned red and backed away silently.
"There," Sebastian sighed, placing Mei Rin's hands back in her lap. "Those should hold nicely, and I doubt they will be visible through evening gloves. I'll leave you to get ready now." As he was leaving, glass crunching beneath his shoes, he turned and added, "You could always use the eyeglass frame for her mask, if you chose. Though, I think we have all become quite accustomed to seeing you with them, so it would't be much of a mask."
~
When the group arrived to the party, the moon was already high in the velvet sky, and lively music pervaded Viscount Druitt's home.
Lau guided Ran Mao through the sea of people, saying to her "I suspect this will be even more interesting than the last costume ball we attended. What do you think, Ran Mao?"
Instead of answering his question, Ran Mao muttered, "This is not a costume ball."
The Viscount was easily spotted among his guests, wearing a garish mask of all colors, with feathers and other adornments all over it. Elizabeth grasped Soma's hand and nodded her head in the direction of the Viscount, whispering a hasty summary of her plan to him.
"I'll strike up a conversation with him about something unassuming, such as clothing," she whispered as the two danced awkwardly. "With any luck, he will ask me to dance, and then I can get closer to him, allowing me to investigate further."
The prince nodded, spinning her with more grace than she expected as the music stopped. Viscount Druitt noticed them and was walking towards them from the far side of the ballroom. "What do I do?" Soma whispered back, pretending to kiss her cheek.
"Find someone else to dance with, or better yet, you and Agni create a diversion with traditional Bengali dancing!" Elizabeth whispered just as the Viscount reached them.
You both dance most intriguingly, young ones," he smiled down at them, placing his hands together. "Watching you was fascinating."
Elizabeth curtsied, nudging Prince Soma to bow. "Thank you very much, my lord," she said, making her voice as sickly-sweet as she could manage. "I'm so flattered that you noticed. And this party is, naturally, as wonderful as your other ones."
"Oh?" the Viscount tilted his head slightly to the side. "Have you been to my previous balls? I cannot discern your face through your mask, my dear."
"Certainly you don't expect me to remove this mask without a dance first, my lord?" Elizabeth ran a finger over the edge of her mask and smiled coyly.
The Viscount smirked. "Sir," he addressed Prince Soma. "Might I borrow this young lady for the next dance?"
"Be my guest, Viscount Druitt," the prince bowed again, smiling as he turned to leave. He glanced back at Elizabeth, who winked at him through her mask.
Ciel scoffed. "A silly ball with people I hate and where Lizzy is dancing with a creepy man who I want to kill. Somehow this seems familiar." he rolled his eyes at his own sarcasm. He was glaring at Elizabeth and the Viscount when he felt Sebastian's hand on his shoulder.
"Young Master," he whispered. "Your... er, well, demon shadow... it grows and billows when you become enraged," he explained. "I need to teach you how to control it." Sebastian sighed when Ciel just continued to stare at him. "Sir, do not worry. Lady Elizabeth is surrounded by friends, family, demons, reapers, and whatever Matilda is. She will be perfectly safe at all times."
The earl scoffed again and looked back at Elizabeth flirting with the Viscount. A moment later his eyes widened and he turned back to his butler. "Wait. You said whatever Matilda is. So you also get the feeling she is inhuman?"
"Yes, sir," the butler confirmed. "I cannot tell what she is... and I assume neither can you. But, she is here to help us, whatever she is. We will find out one day, young master. After all, you and I have all the time in the world now, even until the final curtain falls on this world."
Ciel stared at the throng of dancing people. "They'll all be dead one day," he said, watching as Agni and Prince Soma clapped their hands and commanded everybody's attention for their performance. "I've always known this, but it feels different knowing they will all die and you and I will live on. Well, and I suppose Undertaker and Matilda will live on, also." he turned to Sebastian. "What do you suppose happens to shinigami when the world ends?"
"My theory would be that nothing happens to them, my lord, and that they continue with their work as before." Seeing the earl's confused expression, Sebastian smiled and raised one eyebrow. "Young Master, surely you aren't so arrogant as to believe that there is only one world?"
The earl wanted to ask more, but he noticed Prince Soma's very pointed looks at him and the head tilt towards Elizabeth and the viscount. Lizzy had one hand behind her back and one hand holding her fan in front of her mouth, looking coquettishly at Viscount Druitt. When he bowed to her and offered her his hand, she took it, giggling, and let him lead her outside into the gardens. Before walking out the door, she shot a look to Ciel and Soma that clearly meant Now.
Ciel and Sebastian looked at each other. "This is an order; make sure everyone is in place in the gardens for the next phase of the plan. Within the next few minutes, Viscount Druitt should be right where we want him."
Sebastian smirked. Finally. He bowed with his hand over his heart. "Yes, my lord."
~
Elizabeth had her hands full trying to keep the viscount on the hook while avoiding his touch as much as she could. She flirtatiously waved her fan. "My lord, are you absolutely certain this is appropriate?" she giggled. "We mustn't forget ourselves."
"No danger in that, my little cardinal," Viscount Druitt smiled down at her, and something in his smirk made Elizabeth squirm. "My my, you remind me so much of a lovely little robin I once knew. But there is no need to dwell on past loves tonight. For this night, though my mansion is full of people, we are all alone in this paradise. We are in Eden together, my cardinal, free to explore as Adam and Eve."
They walked together during his pompous speech until they reached the fountain in the center of the garden. It was a strangely simple fountain for such a grand garden, with four herrings spraying water into a pool. As soon as they neared it, Elizabeth snickered to herself. "We're not as alone as you think," she said with a short laugh.
Suddenly she reached to her back and drew a sword which Paula had neatly hidden, pointing the tip directly under the viscount's chin. "It's time for your true reckoning, Aleistor Chamber!" Elizabeth declared, unmoved by the fear in Viscount Druitt's face. Seemingly out of nowhere, Agni, Sebastian, Ran Mao, Matilda, and Mei Rin emerged like spirits from the bushes, wrapping long ropes around the viscount's body and securing him tightly to the fountain. From all around, the rest of the party appeared from the hedges; Undertaker, Bard, Finny, Prince Soma, Lau, Paula, and Ciel. Elizabeth approached Viscount Druitt and traced the point of her sword over his jugular. Smirking, she removed her mask and tossed it into the fountain at his feet.