It wasn't hard to notice a change in Adalina. As Ciel took his breakfast, he saw that she was standing a good distance away from Sebastian and refused to look at him. Though she tried to hide it, he could see her fidgeting with her hands nervously and her whole body tense up whenever Sebastian moved a bit closer to her.
He couldn't really say he blamed her. Sebastian turning into his true form was a rather terrifying experience, especially if one had previously believed him to be human. He could only imagine how the other servants would react if they found out the truth.
At first, he had wondered what Sebastian had seen in her that made him hire her as a Phantomhive servant. After all, she was far from the assassin Mey-Rin and Baldroy were, and she didn't have any supernatural abilities like Finnian. But as the weeks passed by, he understood. Though Adalina never spoke, she was very adept at her job and did everything she was asked without hesitation. He never once questioned her loyalty towards him and knew full well that if it came down to it, she would do whatever it took to protect him. It helped that she worked well with Sebastian and the butler actually welcomed her company which was a rare occurrence.
However, with her newfound knowledge of what Sebastian really was, she would not stand within two feet of him.
Her behavior continued over the course of the next few days and all of the servants noticed. They believed her behavior to simply be because of the trauma of being kidnapped, but they had no idea what the real reason for her terror was.
Sebastian watched her curiously as they worked. Even when he ordered her to work with him on dinner or help him clean around the manor, she kept her distance and went out of her way to make sure they never touched.
While he couldn't read minds, Sebastian could always sense how another person was feeling. He used that ability on Adalina on multiple occasions as it was the only way he could gain any kind of information on her. After all, with no words or even facial expressions coming from her, he had little to go on. By sensing her emotions, he could usually guess what she was thinking or what she desired.
When he sensed her now, all he could feel was how scared she was to be near him.
He had honestly never intended for her to find out his true identity, but desperate times did call for desperate measures. His master's safety came first and any repercussions would have to be dealt with later. He was usually pretty good at dealing with those. After all, if he couldn't handle a few mishaps whilst protecting his master, then what kind of butler would he be?
This was a big repercussion. If he and Adalina did not start working together like they had previously, things might quickly spiral out of control, and that was one thing he could not allow. He had to do something to make her realize that he had no ill intentions towards her. And he believed he knew just how to do it...
As Adalina exited one of the rooms in the manor and shut the door behind her, her heart began to speed up again like it always did once nighttime approached. In the dark, Sebastian could easily blend in with his surroundings and come after her if he wanted.
A part of her still believed that because she now knew that he was really a demon, he would kill her so she couldn't tell anyone. The other part of her believed him when he said he wouldn't harm her. However, she kept thinking about the other part of that sentence. He wouldn't harm her unless his master ordered it. What was to stop Ciel from ordering him to kill her? What if one day, he believed her to be too much trouble and just decided to be done with her? She didn't doubt he could come up with a brilliant story to explain her untimely death to the servants.
So many questions had been answered as to why Sebastian seemed like the perfect butler who did things that seemed impossible and how no one could ever truly explain where he had come from. Though now that she had learned the truth, she direly wished that she had just been kept in the dark about it all. Ignorance really was bliss.
If he truly was a demon, then that must mean he had made a contract with Ciel. Which meant that when all of this was over, Sebastian was going to eat his soul. The thought sent another shiver down her spine. Could Sebastian eat her soul even though she didn't have a contract with him? Could he just eat the soul of whoever he wanted? If that was the case, then surely he wouldn't make contracts with humans.
Then again, perhaps a contract was just a formality, and he didn't really need one. Maybe he was going to devour the souls of all those who resided at Phantomhive Manor once his contract with Ciel was complete. Perhaps that was why he had been so nice to her all this time. It was all just a ruse to get her to trust him before he devoured her soul.
"Adalina."
Adalina tensed up significantly when Sebastian appeared at the other end of the hall and began walking towards her.
"I notice you've been rather tense lately. I can imagine why. You went through quite an ordeal several days ago, and I'm sure that it's made you quite nervous for several reasons."
Adalina slowly took a few small steps backwards, trying to put some distance between her and Sebastian. However, it was useless. He was too quick for her.
Before she knew it, his hand was touching her face, his gloved thumb tracing her jawline. Her breathing quickened, unsure of what exactly he was doing to her. His hand moved to stroke her cheek and fondle her hair.
"You really are a beautiful woman, Adalina. Perhaps I might help...lessen the tension you are feeling. Just for a little while to calm you. A night of pleasure after all you have been through would be nice, would it not?"
As Sebastian came closer to her, Adalina took a step back. The more he came towards her, the more she stepped away from him. No matter what she did, his hand never left her face. His other hand came up to her neck and undid the first few buttons on the back of her dress. Then his hand moved to her shoulder and gently pushed the material away to uncover her creamy skin.
"Such perfect skin," Sebastian murmured as his lips pressed to her exposed flesh. "You are a gift to mortal men."
By now, Adalina realized that he had backed her into one of the spare bedrooms in the manor. Her heart was racing as she put together what his intentions were. And she was powerless to stop him.
Sebastian grabbed her right arm and flung her down onto the bed behind her. His other hand traveled to her neck and shoulders while his arm kept her pinned down as he firmly grasped her wrist. He continued to caress her skin and hair as he climbed on top of her.
Tears filled her eyes as she turned her head away. She didn't want this. She didn't want any part of it, demon or not. But she knew that a weak human like her didn't stand a chance against a powerful demon like him. If she did resist, he would probably just hurt her more. He could do whatever he wanted to her, and there wasn't a thing she could do about it. She couldn't even cry out for help, though she couldn't say for sure if Ciel would stop him or not even if she could. Was this her punishment for not defending him when they had been abducted?
Her eyes opened when she realized that all of Sebastian's movement had stopped. She looked up at him to find his eyes...surprised. He slowly released her arm and got off the bed.
"My apologies," he said as he put his hand to his chest.
He quickly strutted out of the room before Adalina could completely process what he had just said.
The young woman sat up and took heaving breaths as she tried to understand what had brought on the sudden display of affection.
Her dress had come clean off her shoulders but fortunately did not reveal anything extremely indecent, and her hair was in disarray from Sebastian running his fingers through it and then falling on the bed.
Pressing her dress above her chest in order to keep it from falling further, she quickly ran to her room as fast as she could before any of the other servants, or worse Ciel, saw her. The last thing she wanted at the moment was for them to see her in such an improper state, especially since she wouldn't be able to explain herself.
Once she finally made it to the quarters reserved for the head maid, she shut the door and tried to regain her breathing once more.
She still didn't know why on earth Sebastian had acted the way he did with her.
At first, she believed it to be a punishment for her, but if that was the case...then why did he stop?
"You did what?!" Ciel exclaimed the next morning.
"Human females usually seem to be rather attracted to me," Sebastian answered calmly. "I thought that such may be the same in Adalina's case."
"She's utterly terrified of you, and your idea of mending the situation is to attempt to seduce her?"
"Poor judgment on my part, my lord."
"That was more than poor judgment. That was utter stupidity." Ciel groaned as he put his hand to his temple. "Fix this, and fix it soon."
Sebastian gave a polite bow. "Certainly, my young lord."
"Adalina," Ciel said to his head maid in his study. "I would like you to take one of our carriages and go into town to fetch some books I have waiting for me at the shop. Just give them this note from me and they should let you pick them up without me."
Adalina curtseyed as Ciel quickly scrawled a messy note on a piece of paper. Then she left the room to do what her master had ordered her to do.
Ciel sighed as he watched the young woman leave the room. He thought it would be good for her to get some time away from Sebastian, even if only for an hour or two. She had clearly been even more on edge ever since Sebastian's little...plan went south.
That demon was too cocky for his own good. Even Ciel knew that Adalina wouldn't respond to any sorts of affection from the butler. Unlike nearly every other woman he had come in contact with, Adalina showed no signs of attraction towards Sebastian. They may have gotten along well, but not in the romantic sense. Perhaps that had something to do with whatever had happened to her to make her a mute.
Adalina breathed out a puff of air as she sat in one of the many Phantomhive carriages. It was nice to be away from Sebastian for a while. Ever since that night, he had barely even made eye contact with her. She still didn't understand why he had stopped his advances all of a sudden and apologized to her. It wasn't a very demon-like thing to do.
The carriage came to a stop a bit of a way from where the bookstore was. Adalina disembarked and made her way over to the shop. A small bell rang when she opened the door.
"What can I do for you today, ma'am?" an older gentleman said from behind the desk.
Adalina timidly presented him with the note Ciel had given her.
"You work for Earl Phantomhive, do you? Well, lucky for him, his package just arrived last week. I'll go fetch it for you, all right?"
The young woman nodded politely, and the man disappeared into the back of the store.
Adalina didn't notice the pairs of eyes watching her and the whispers exchanged from outside as she waited for the man to return.
"Here you are," the man said, presenting Adalina with a small package. "A package for Ciel Phantomhive. Have a nice day, and be careful out there, okay?"
Adalina nodded again as she took the contents out of the package and left the store with the three books in her hand.
The eyes that had been watching her saw her leave the store. The two men the eyes belonged to made their way over to her.
"Hello, miss," one of them said as he stepped in front of her. "I was wondering if you might direct me to the toy store. You see, I'm supposed to be finding something for my little sister, and something tells me you might know what I should get her."
Adalina looked down towards the ground and didn't reply.
"What's the matter? Can't you speak?"
She took a small step back, but she ended up running into someone.
"We won't bite," the other man said as he put his hands on her shoulders. "You can talk to us."
When Adalina tried to move forward, the first man blocked her path. "Look, hon, it won't take long, I promise." Adalina still didn't say anything as she looked away from him. The man in front of her looked at the one behind her. "I don't think she can speak at all."
"That might bring down her price a bit."
"Maybe, but she's got a pretty face. Better than some of the ones I've seen. She'll be worth a good bit."
The two men quickly ushered Adalina towards their carriage, and she was unable to cry out for help.