Adalina slowly opened her eyes. She looked around her and recalled she had passed out onto the floor in front of the fireplace in the parlor. She had blankets wrapped around her, and while she was still rather chilled, she was certainly more comfortable than she had been previously.
Her eyebrows creased together as she looked behind her. Hadn't Sebastian been there before? Perhaps she had just dreamed that. After all, she had been quite out of it at the time.
But if it really was a dream, why was she able to remember the feeling of his arms around her as she continued to shiver from being drenched in frigid water? Why could she remember that he made her feel warmer than she expected to feel? Why could she remember his gentle voice telling her to rest? Why did it make her nervous to think that it was possible he had been so close to her?
She slowly got up from the floor and dropped one of the blankets. She kept the other one tightly pulled around her shoulders before exiting the parlor. Then she made her way down to the kitchen.
Sebastian was inside, fervently preparing the next meal. He had his sleeves rolled up to his elbows and his coat was hanging on the hook. She had to admit to herself that he did look rather attractive like that. But attractive or not, he was a demon, and she was still attempting to get used to that. He was probably only this attractive because he was a demon.
"You've finally awoken," he said with a small smile when he noticed her presence. "How are you feeling?"
Adalina clung the blanket tighter around her in response.
"You must be hungry. Would you like something to eat?"
She gave him a small nod.
"Very well. The young master has allowed you to be excused from your chores for the time being to allow you to recover. Return to your room and I shall bring you a tray of food."
Adalina smiled a little before heading back out. As she made her way to her quarters, she suddenly felt very light-headed. The room began to spin before her, and she felt as if her feet were no longer tethered to the ground.
She began to fall towards the hard floor.
However, before she could hit the ground, Sebastian caught her in his arms having sensed that something was wrong with her as she left the kitchen. He pulled off one of his gloves and lightly pressed his hand to her forehead.
"As I suspected," he murmured. "You have contracted a fever. This won't do at all."
He gently lifted her up, letting the blanket drop to the floor, and carried her to the head maid's quarters before placing her down on the bed. Heat was radiating off her body, yet she was beginning to shiver again. He sighed as he pulled the thin blanket on the bed overtop of her.
Letting her rest for the time being, he returned up to his master's study where Ciel was angrily sifting through paperwork.
"How is she?" he asked when the butler came into the room.
"I'm afraid she's come down with a fever since her fall into the lake. She is resting now, and I will continue to care for her until she is well again."
"I want to find this Daniel man, and I want him dead."
"If I may, sir, Adalina fits the description of each of the women who were murdered. If she is up to the task once she is recovered, she may pose as one of the women in order to draw Daniel out. After all, he did not see her well enough in the dark, and even if he did, he would not recognize her if she was dressed as a member of the upper class."
Ciel folded his hands together and placed them under his chin. "Do you think she would be able to handle it?"
"I don't doubt it. She is a Phantomhive servant after all. And I believe she has had quite a change in attitude since our encounter with the latest murder."
"What do you mean?"
"I entered her room that night and found her hand bleeding after she had hit the wall. I believe she was angry with herself for the way she reacted to the murder in front of you."
"It's quite understandable knowing what she went through before she came here."
"If I'm correct, she was comparing her history to yours and felt that if you could handle it, she should've been able to as well."
"Quite an admirable view of things. Ask her about it once she's recovered. If she agrees, we'll attempt to let the killer know there is someone else out there who fits his criteria. Then be sure to contact Nina Hopkins as we shall be in need of her services."
"Yes, my lord."
Sebastian returned to Adalina's room with a bucket of water and a couple cloths. He rolled up his sleeves and dipped a cloth into the water. Then he gently rubbed it across her forehead and her cheeks to help the fever go down.
He had to give her credit. He wasn't sure the other servants would've been able to pull off what she had at the lake. They were gifted assassins, but that only meant they could shoot at things from a distance and Finnian could throw heavy stuff at attackers. They couldn't pull the young master away from anything, at least not the way she had.
She really didn't think much of herself, but he knew that his young master valued her more than he let on. Even more so now that she was aware of just what exactly he surrounded himself with. Just weeks ago, she hadn't known that demons and Grim Reapers existed and now they were a huge part of her world.
Such irony.
He folded up one of the cloths and placed it on her forehead. Then he left the room to retrieve some food and water for when she awoke again.
A few hours later, Adalina opened her eyes and saw she was in her room.
She sighed in embarrassment as she recalled fainting in the foyer of the manor. That would be perfect for bettering her master's image of her.
She felt chilled but very warm at the same time, and it felt as if someone was sitting on her chest making it rather difficult to breathe.
"Are you feeling better?"
She turned her head to see Sebastian setting a tray down on the small desk in her room.
"I've prepared some soup for you along with a glass of water and a bit of tea. When you have finished that, I'll prepare a warm bath. It should help you get rid of the fever."
Adalina got out from under the blanket and coughed a little as she went to sit at the desk to eat what Sebastian had made for her.
"My master and I have something we would like to ask you," Sebastian said as she sipped the soup. "You have quite similar characteristics to the women murdered. If you are up for it, the young master would like it if you pretended to be of the upper class in order to draw the killer out."
Adalina thought about the prospect. She wasn't sure Daniel would find her worth killing once he found out she was a mute. But this would be the best opportunity to show Ciel that she truly was a Phantomhive servant and she wasn't going to show weakness any longer. She had been training with Sebastian for a long time, and she knew that while she wasn't an expert, she was more than capable of defending herself against such a man. If the Undertaker spoke the truth, Daniel didn't know what he was doing when he murdered these women. He just wanted a quick kill, and she could definitely protect herself in that case.
She looked at Sebastian and nodded.
"Excellent. In that case, I have something for you."
He procured a brand-new whip quite similar to the one she had used to save Ciel from the ice.
"You managed to use one of these quite efficiently the other night. I think we should practice using this for a while, especially if you're going against Daniel. Imagine his surprise when the young woman he plans to murder knows how to fight back."
Adalina smiled a little as he echoed her earlier thoughts.
"When you are well, I shall help you learn how to use one of these to the best of your ability when defending yourself. Then you will be given clothing to pass off as a noble and present yourself at an upcoming social event. The master plans to use Mr. Lau and myself to spread a rumor throughout town that you are a young woman entering society for the first time. We'll be sure to touch on your physical appearance. That way, word will reach Daniel, and he will know there is another victim he must look out for."
Adalina downed the glass of water after finishing her tea. She was already beginning to feel much better and knew that her bath would only help the recovery process even more. Within two days, she knew she would be as good as new. And she was more than ready to begin learning how to fight with her new weapon.
There were several bathrooms in the manor. A master bathroom that only Ciel was allowed to use, one for the servants to use, and several throughout the manor for guests. However for this one night, Ciel let Adalina use one of the guest bathrooms which she was surprised to learn. Despite what she had suffered in order to protect him, she did not think he would allow her to use one of the nicer bathrooms.
"Everything you should need is in this cabinet," Sebastian told her as they entered the bathroom. "I've already drawn the water for you, and there is a nightgown resting on the chair for you to change into. Once you've finished, return to your room and rest for a while. The sooner you get better, the sooner you may begin training."
Sebastian left the bathroom to give her some privacy for her to bathe.
Adalina stripped off the dress she was wearing and stepped into the warm water in the porcelain tub. She sighed in happiness as she sank down until the water touched her chin, and she could feel the heat from the water gradually help her breathe easier. This bathroom was much nicer than the servants' bathroom. It wasn't that her usual bathroom was dirty or horrible, but in comparison, this one was a lot better to bathe in.
She hadn't had a moment like this in a very long time. A moment where she could just take some time to herself and not worry about anything else as she laid down in the bathwater. No servants wishing for her to hurry, no one calling for her to do something for them, just peace.
Adalina would be lying if she said she hadn't dozed off for a few minutes. She couldn't remember the last time she had felt so relaxed. It made nearly dying almost worth it.
Once the water had become lukewarm, she stepped out of the tub and dried herself off with the towels Sebastian had provided for her. She then changed into the nightgown and put a wrap around her shoulders. She didn't want Ciel to see her in just a nightgown should he happen to run into her. The wrap didn't help that much, but it was a lot better than nothing.
She quietly exited the bathroom and made her way back to her quarters. Once inside, she looked to her desk and saw that there were a couple books laying on it. She gave a small smile as she realized that Sebastian must have given her some books from the library for her to occupy herself with as she got better.
Sebastian seemed to go out of his way a lot for her. More than she expected him to anyway. She knew he had a duty to his master (which had taken on a whole new meaning for her in the past several weeks), but he didn't have any contract with her. So why did it feel like he was doing much more than necessary for her? Had Ciel ordered it? She highly doubted that was the case. Ciel may care about her as a servant, but not so much that he would order Sebastian to go above and beyond for someone like her.
Whatever the case, she was grateful for it, especially in times like these. He may be uncaring towards everyone, even his master since he only cared about him for the exclusive purpose of eating his soul, but it was nice to know that despite that, he was still willing to protect her.