You followed him inside and to the room both Ciel and the guest were playing a board game in. Sebastian ushered you to the side of the door, keeping you out of the way for the others to exit you suspected.
When Sebastian opened the door you heard him excuse himself, "Pardon the interruption, but dinner is served," he informed.
"Oh! Dining out in that exquisite-" You noticed the fleck of his Italian accent in that word particularly, "stone garden." He turned to speak to Ciel, "Shall we go, my lord?" he asked, his chair shuffling slightly.
"Very well, we'll finish the game later." There was an air of finality in the earl's voice, you assumed his patience was wearing a bit thin with his guest. It was to be expected though.
"Oh..." You hear the creak of the guest's chair, "is there any real need to finish it? It's obvious I'm going to lose."
Ciel planted his feet on the ground, standing up, "I'm not in the habit of abandoning games half way through." Not even waiting for a response, the young lord made his way to the door.
The guest sneered at the boy, under his breath you heard him mutter "How childish." There was spite laced into his words, as clear as day.
You glanced at Sebastian whose eyes were glued onto his master. The boy in question turned a fraction to glower down at his still seated guest, who's hands flew up to gesture innocently as he lied through his teeth, "Uh, I-" he cut himself off, closing his eyes and smiling nervously, a bead of sweat dripping down his cheek. "I mean-a sometimes it's takes a child's eyes to see what's really important." he lowered his arms like he'd gotten away with it, "it's a true gift, maybe that's what's made the Phantomhives the nation's foremost toy makers." he stood up and turned his body to face the exit, "It certainly impresses me." the man finished.
The annoyance on the butler's face was clear and as the young lord and his guest stepped out of the room he looked to you and pointed to his side, silently ordering you to walk beside him. You did so, doing what you assume is customary and bowing a little towards the earl and the Italian man as they made to follow you and the butler to dinner.
"My, Earl, I didn't see this maid of yours earlier. What reason is there for her to be following your head butler around?" you heard the guest pipe up from behind you.
"She is a new hire and she is not a maid. My head butler thought it wise to add a fortune teller to my staff, keeping me safe is his priority after all and if this is how he sees fit to do it then so be it." There was a slight groan in his voice. You almost felt the urge to talk for yourself but you got the feeling it would do more harm than good. "Pay her no mind, she-" he was cut off mid sentence as the Italian man at his side clasped his hand together with a loud smack.
"A-ha! A fortune teller you say?" there was no time to answer the question before he continued on, "might I ask what you see in my future?"
You hesitated, waiting for someone to allow you to respond and hearing a sigh from behind you, "Well, go on." Ciel said, picking up his pace to walk in front of both you and Sebastian. You looked at the butler and he motioned for you to walk beside the guest.
As you slowed down to match the man's speed you looked at him and nothing really stood out to you about his appearance. He was very plain and almost boring looking but you supposed that was to be expected from such a minor character. He looked at you expectantly and you made sure to be careful with the information you relayed to him, "I see that you will be confused yet amazed by the dish prepared for you tonight." you began.
The man chuckled, "but of course, that's to be expected of the Phantomhives hospitality," he boasted, his loud and proud demeanor was somewhat irritating. "That can hardly be all. Is there fortune in my future?" he asked, his smile turning sinister and you remembered the whole reason he was seeing the lord in the first place.
You continued, trying to avoid answering that specific question, "You will play a very... Intriguing game with the young lord." you tried, but the man's face fell, his innocent mask cracking and his true intentions shining through.
"I didn't ask-a about games, fortune teller. I want to know about my future wealth." he said, curt and chipped, you understood that he was really asking if he would get away with his scheme.
"Fortune favors the bold." Sebastian interjected, and the two of you jerked your eyes to the back of the butler's head. "Miss [Y/N], would you go and retrieve the maid from the kitchen for the dinner service?" he asked over his shoulder, a polite smile on his face.
You fumbled a little with your words, glancing between the two men before nodding your head and turning down a hallway to get to the kitchen.
Once you reached the kitchen you spotted the maid, her dress cleaned of any dust or dirt and hair pulled tight into her signature hairstyle, frilly bonnet neatly on top. You called out to her, "Hey, Mey-rin, Sebastian needs you for the dinner service." You point over your shoulder to nothing, "Are you ready?"
She ran her hands down the front of her dress, sweat beading on her brow above her still cracked glasses. "Oh I'm so nervous, I am. Do I look awright?" you smiled at her and nodded, moving further into the kitchen to grip the bar of the food cart, already prepared with the meals and wine.
"You look great," you reassured her, watching as she slowly calmed down with a hand on her chest.
"Oh thank goodness! Don't wanna embarrass m'self in front of Sebas-" she coughed, "er, th'guest and th'earl is all."
You weren't sure how to respond so you just hit her with the Caucasian smile and began wheeling the cart out to the garden.
As you reached the doors you prompted her to take the cart, you assumed it was her duty to do so, and she readily accepted but you noticed her nerves were back in place. "You'll do fine..." you lied, hoping to sound convincing. Though you knew how her service turned out, you decided it was best not to add to those nerves.
The cart was wheeled down a small ramp to the table and once you both arrived you could see that Sebastian was only just seating Ciel. When you looked at the boy you inwardly laughed, his feet barely touched the ground, with only the toe of his shoes resting on the concrete.
"Made it just in time!" bellowed the guest, his fake smile back in place.
The butler wasted no time in taking the covered plates from the cart and placing them in front of the two seated.
"On tonight's menu is a dish of finely sliced raw beef donburi, courtesy of our chef, Baldroy," relayed Sebastian.
"D-" the guest stuttered, the surprise you had predicted earlier clear on his face. He stared wide eyed into his bowl, mouth slightly agape. "A pile of raw beef..." he said it like both a question and a statement, "and this is dinner?"
Sebastian answered from his side, "Yes." he said airy and non-committedly, "But surely you have heard of it." his tone was almost mocking as he looked down at the Italian man. There was a faint smile on his lips but his eyes relayed no such emotion.
The man gasped, unable to pull a response from his throat, instead he watched as Sebastian went on to explain the dish, "This, good sir, is a traditional Japanese delicacy," the butler's tone shifted to one of importance, passion clear in his voice and one hand curled up into a fist, "a dish offered as a sign of gratitude to someone who has accomplished important work." He lingered on the last vowel, finishing with a hard and audible 'k.' "That is the wonder of Don Bouri."
You watched as the guest slipped further back into his chair, bewilderment overtaking him. Sebastian on the other hand straightened, pressing flat the white cloth draped over his right arm. "This is a token from our young master, to show his thanks for all of your hard work on the company's behalf. He wanted you to know it is much appreciated," he added. All eyes turned to him, and you heard some murmuring come from somewhere in the rock garden, no doubt the other 3 servants hiding in the tall grass.
"Excellent, what an inspired idea!" the guest proclaimed, arms wide and smile toothy, "The legendary Phantomhive hospitality in action." With all of your attention on the man talking you didn't even notice that Sebastian had made his way behind you until he placed a firm hand on your waist. You jumped a little and the demon applied pressure to his touch as he guided you out of the way and by his side so that he was standing next to Mey-rin and the cart.
You looked to him at your side but he was not focused on you, his face was forward with his left hand behind his back. With his right gesturing to the wine on the cart he said, "The vintage we are pouring tonight was specially selected to compliment the flavor of soy-sauce." His head turned to the maid at the cart whose hands were folded nearly in front of her, awaiting instruction, "Mey-rin."
The woman hummed but made no move to do her duty. At this Sebastian sighed, "Now Mey-rin."
She perked up, blurting out, "Yes sir!" Causing Sebastian to lean over, placing a hand to his mouth to whisper in her ear.
You couldn't see the maid's face but from what you remembered of the episode, it was beet red. You thought you could feel a twinge of jealousy prickle in your chest at the sight.
"Of course! Yes sir!" she shouted, grabbing the decanter already filled with wine and wobbling her way over to the table. You tapped Sebastian's arm, keeping your eyes on the maid.
"She's going to spill it now." you stated, pointing at her discreetly to emphasize. The butler looked to you and then made his way to where Ciel was seated at the opposite end of the table, a pitcher of water in his hand.
You turned your attention to Mey-rin. Her hand was shaking violently as she made to pour the alcohol into the guests glass, murmuring to herself. She let out a deep breath from her nose and clumsily tipped the bottle, completely missing the glass. You winced a little feeling the secondhand embarrassment settling into your cheeks. There was a collective gasp from the rock garden and you looked to the Earl to see his shocked expression.
Despite all that was going on, the guest failed to notice any of it, too busy shoving the food into his mouth, almost slurping it directly from the bowl. Mey-rin continued to pour until the decanter was only able to produce the last few dribbles of liquid, the drink completely gone to waste.
It happened sudden and quick, you blinked, turning your head to be able to see the demon in action but all you saw was the table cloth already neatly draped over his arm. There was rustling from your right as Finny and Baldroy rushed over to move Mey-rin away from the table.
As the guest placed his dish down he looked bewildered at the mahogany of the table now bare without the cloth. A gasp made it around the chopsticks he pulled from his mouth, "where did the tablecloth-a go?" he looked up to the Earl and his butler sitting across from him, both showing no acknowledgement for the strange situation.
"A speck of dirt, most unsightly." Ciel brushed off easily, "I had the cloth removed so it wouldn't distract us. Think nothing of it." he said, continuing to eat his food.
Sebastian bowed at his waist. "Please accept my apologies, sir. Continue, enjoy the meal at your leisure." he straightened and cast you a knowing smirk before closing his eyes and facing his head down slightly.
"Oh..." he paused, looking from the butler to the Earl, "Oh my," a chuckle interrupted him, "Lord Phantomhive, once again you have truly impressed me. What an able butler you've acquired."
"Pay him no mind, he merely acted as befits one of my servants." Ciel, too, took on an expression similar to that of Sebastian.
The aforementioned butler opened his eyes to look at his master, "My master is quite correct about that. Naturally." he switched his glance to the man across the table and delivered one of his signature lines, "You see I am simply one hell of a butler." That earned a scoff from the boy.