As far as where the story takes place in the timeline, it takes place several months after Book of Circus, but kind of just ignores everything that happened after that and assumes that Ciel and Sebastian were taking care of other things during that time that aren't important.
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"Good morning, my lord," Sebastian said as he opened the curtains in Ciel's bedroom. The young earl stirred, displeased with having to be woken up. "This morning, I have prepared poached eggs with some biscuits and jam. Today, you have a violin lesson and a History lesson. Then later this evening, you have a meeting with the head of the Funtom Company branch stationed in France, a Mr. Antoine Dumont."
"How positively boring," Ciel grumbled.
The young boy sat up and Sebastian began to dress him. "Nevertheless, we shall offer the full Phantomhive hospitality."
"Do whatever you please. Let's just make this meeting as quick as possible. I don't particularly enjoy business talk. It's so dreadfully dull."
"Yes, my lord."
Ciel headed down to the dining room where Sebastian began serving him his prepared breakfast.
"I shall begin the preparations for our guest, young master. In the meantime, I believe your tutor for your violin lesson has arrived."
"Send him to my study."
"Yes, my lord."
Sebastian exited the dining room and directed Ciel's tutor up to the study where his young master would go once his breakfast was finished.
"Adalina!"
The young head maid turned at the sound of the butler's voice calling her name.
"We have an important guest coming to the manor in a few hours. I would like your help with the preparations."
Adalina curtseyed and followed Sebastian to begin preparing for the French businessman to visit.
Sebastian briefly glanced back at the young woman walking behind him through the hallways. Since he had hired her to work at the manor, she never said a single word nor did she ever truly smile. When she did smile, it was such a small one that it was barely noticeable. He was rather curious to know what had happened to make her this way as he knew that her mutism was elective, but he couldn't get it out of her. All he knew of her was that he and his young master had found her alone on the streets of London while working a case. Ciel had initially dismissed her as just another beggar, but Sebastian saw otherwise. His first priority was his master's safety, and he knew right away that for that reason, she had to become a servant at Phantomhive Manor.
After she had worked under him for about a year, he had asked if she would write down what had happened to her in the past to see if he could understand why she never spoke. But in response, she had made no movements and looked down at the floor. He could take the hint.
Nevertheless, Adalina was a valuable asset to Phantomhive manor. She was quick on her feet, incredibly obedient, and she was able to use whatever she had on hand to get out of a tough situation. Ciel was happy to trust her with his life.
She was a shy girl, but she had a devious side as well when necessary. On more than one occasion, she had helped Sebastian intimidate the other servants and/or visiting guests. She would admit that she did get a kick out of scaring those who meant Ciel harm.
Adalina clearly cared for the boy. She would gladly give her life to protect him. It wasn't a motherly kind of affection nor even a sisterly one. Adalina knew her place and that meant she was nothing more than a servant in his eyes. A highly respected one, but a servant all the same.
Truth be told, she got along quite well with Sebastian. They worked very well together, but perhaps that was only because Adalina was the only other competent servant who could actually do her job properly. While Sebastian did secretly wish that she would speak and open up a bit more as he knew every other servants' story and disliked not knowing hers, he quite liked being able to work alongside someone in comfortable silence. After all, with the other servants, peace and quiet was a luxury he would not be gifted with.
While she had later been informed of the other servants' abilities, she did not yet know of Sebastian's true motives nor did she know of his true identity.
There was a knock on the door, and Adalina quickly answered it.
"Bonjour!" the man on the other greeted. "I am here to meet with the Earl Phantomhive!"
Adalina politely curtseyed and motioned for him to come inside. The man raised an eyebrow at the maid's silence but followed her inside. She led him up the stairs and down the hall to Ciel's study before knocking on the door.
"Enter," Ciel's voice said from inside the room.
Adalina opened the door and the Frenchman walked inside. "Thank you."
As she walked in herself, she saw that Sebastian was already inside the room giving some tea to Ciel. "Would our guest like some tea?" he asked.
"Oui, that would be lovely."
Sebastian obediently poured the man a small cup of tea and handed it to him with a small bow. "We are very pleased to have you here today."
"Thank you, I am pleased to be here."
"What's so important that we had to schedule this meeting?" Ciel asked as he rested his head on his fist.
"Ah. The branch of the Funtom Company I run is doing very well. Your father made a wise decision when he left me in charge. You look like him, you know."
"Please get to the point."
"Oh, yes. Well, our branch is looking to begin making other toys rather than just stuffed animals. We're looking to sell small puzzles, board games, and we'd even like to begin manufacturing food items as well. All to please our young customers, of course."
"I see. What kind of food?"
"Oh, well, we were thinking perhaps assorted candies and chocolates along with cakes and custards."
Ciel mulled over the idea, his love for sweets clouding his judgment ever so slightly. "I don't see a problem with such a proposal. I'd like to be kept updated on any and all developments during this process. And I must have monthly reports of the profits and losses that occur."
"Of course, Monsieur Phantomhive. If you would just sign these papers, our business is complete."
The man took several sheets of paper out of his coat pocket and placed them in front of Ciel. Ciel lazily signed his messy signature on the appropriate lines.
"I warn you, should anything go wrong, I'll have several people on hand to deal with the matter accordingly," the boy said ominously.
"Uh, of course. Would you be so kind as to let me use your phone? I need to inform the others that you have approved."
"Indeed. Adalina, would you show this man to our phone?"
Adalina curtseyed again and led Dumont to the lower level of the house where the phone was stored.
"Thank you, my dear," the man smiled. "Why don't you return to your master? I can find my way back."
Adalina nodded her head as Dumont stepped towards the phone. She knew that as a servant, she should never eavesdrop on a guest's conversation. But there was something off about their visitor, and she didn't like the fact that he had tried to get rid of her while he talked to whoever was on the other end. If caught, she could easily use the excuse that she felt Ciel was in danger and that was why she felt she had to listen in.
Yes, that would do nicely.
"He approved of it," the Frenchman said to the person on the other end. "He's already signed the papers so we can begin as soon as possible. It was too easy. He didn't even blink before signing the forms. He truly is a kid after all if just the mention of chocolate was enough for him to agree with me. Our plan is underway. Make sure those drugs get wrapped up nice and easily. Be careful, but don't worry too much. If we get caught, all blame will go to that Phantomhive brat, and he'll be the one to take the heat!"
Adalina pursed her lips. She knew he was up to no good. Well, she was not going to let anyone harm her young master in this way. As she backed away from the door before she got caught listening in on the phone call, she bumped into something. She frantically turned around and found herself face-to-face with Sebastian. At first, she was worried that he was going to berate her for eavesdropping. Nothing was scarier than an angry Sebastian.
Instead to her relief, he just gave her one of his trademark smiles that told her he had something up his sleeve.
Dumont exited the room and saw Sebastian standing down the hallway without Adalina.
"Forgive me, sir, but I was informed that you had dismissed the head maid. However, I feared that in your attempts to return to the study, you may end up stumbling upon things that are not meant for your eyes. So I have come to escort you back."
The Frenchman did his best to suppress his irritation. "Yes, of course. How noble of you."
Sebastian smiled politely as he began to lead the man along the route that would take them back to Ciel's study.
The butler took out his pocket watch and examined the time. He turned to Dumont with another smile. "If you'll excuse me, there's a matter I must take of elsewhere. The young master's study is just up the stairs and down the hall. I trust you can find it on your own."
"Oh, yes I can."
As Sebastian left, the Frenchman smirked to himself. Things in the manor he shouldn't see, eh? What kind of things was the young Earl Phantomhive trying to hide from him?
Dumont decided to try a few of the doors as he made his way back to the study.
Upon opening the first door, he was greeted with a dark room and saw a man with a knife raised above his head, his teeth gleaming in a sadistic smile. When he brought the knife down, an ear-piercing scream rang out.
Dumont's eyes widened, and he quickly shut the door. Surely that could not have been what he thought it was.
"OW!" Mey-Rin squealed. "I cut my finger cleaning up the broken plate, I did!"
"You gotta be more careful, Mey-Rin," Baldroy told the maid. "And could you try to keep it down? I'm cuttin' up the cake for Sebastian to give to the young master. I wonder why he wanted it in here instead of in the kitchen..."
Dumont took a couple of deep breaths. It had to just be a misunderstanding. That was all it was.
He continued down the hall and after trying a few locked doors, he came upon another unlocked one. When he opened this door, he saw red liquid all over the place and a young boy hefting what looked like a body up into his arms.
How did a kid possess enough strength to carry a body with one arm?!
Dumont quickly shut the door and fell backwards. What kind of servants worked in this manor? Did the Earl realize that he had hired complete lunatics?!
Finnian glanced towards the now closed door. "Was that our guest?" He looked down at the ground. "I suppose I should get this red paint cleaned up before Sebastian sees, or he'll be really angry with me! At least I managed to move the furniture and this statue out of the way before the paint got on them."
"Ho, ho, ho," Tanaka chuckled from behind the couch.
Outside the room, Dumont began crawling backwards away from the door. He stopped crawling when he bumped into something. When he quickly turned around fearing the worst, he saw that he had run into Sebastian's legs, and Adalina was standing next to him with her arms behind her back.
"Oh, dear," Sebastian said with concern. "It appears that you decided to do some snooping. How rude of you. Strolling about someone else's manor is quite inconsiderate. And now you've seen things that were never meant for your eyes. I did warn you about such things, did I not?"
As Dumont looked up at Adalina, he realized that while she was making a barely noticeable smirk, it made her overall appearance all the more terrifying. How could someone who never made a peep strike such fear into his heart?
Dumont began backing away from them, sweat beginning to pour down his face. "I...I won't tell anyone! I promise! Just...just let me live, I beg of you!"
The two of them slowly followed him. "Honestly, I don't think anyone would believe you even if you did go telling someone what you saw. All the same, it may be best not to take any chances. Do you agree, Adalina?"
The head maid looked over at Sebastian and smirked a bit more. Only a bit, but it was enough to send a shiver down Dumont's spine.
"No, please don't!" Dumont begged. "I swear to you, I won't tell a soul what I've seen."
"Don't worry, Mr. Dumont, we believe you. However, I believe it goes without saying that your connection to Funtom Company has been terminated."
Adalina took out the papers that held Ciel's signature. Dumont's eyes widened as he checked his jacket pockets where the contract had previously been. How on earth had she gotten her hands on them?
The girl raised her eyebrows as she ripped the contract in half. Dumont noticeably winced at the sound of the ripping paper.
She then handed one half to Sebastian, and the two of them ripped up the contract to very small pieces as they continued to walk forward. Dumont stopped crawling away as they approached him. The two servants let the small pieces of the contract fall over him like snow.
Sebastian leaned down to him so that he was facing away from Adalina. "You should never underestimate Lord Phantomhive or his servants."
When Dumont turned to look at the terrifying butler, his heartbeat increased significantly when he saw that his eyes were glowing pink and his pupils had turned into slits like a cat's.
The Frenchman began screaming as he stood up and raced out of the manor.
"Such an impatient man," Sebastian remarked. "He didn't even wait for me to retrieve his coat and open the door for him."
Adalina looked up at him and smiled a little. Something about Sebastian always managed to petrify people, but she could never quite figure out what it was. It didn't really matter to her because as long as enemies of Ciel knew that Ciel and his servants were not to be trifled with, he could do whatever he wanted.
She always admired how well he could fix any and every situation that occurred in and out of Phantomhive Manor. He really was an able butler. In fact, he was the best butler she had ever seen.
"Adalina, would you please prepare a bath for the young master? And sweep up these bits of paper. We can't have the mansion untidy. I'll inform the young master that he will be needing to replace the entire staff at the French branch of the company before giving him his bath. You and the other servants are free to retire for the evening."
Adalina curtseyed before going to complete her tasks.
Just another day at Phantomhive Manor.