Ciel couldn’t sleep.
Not because of the dreams, or the growing list of enemies, or even the cursed nobleman in the palace hospital wing.
But because Eloise Windsor had looked afraid. Not calculating. Not cunning. Genuinely afraid.
And that meant something terrible was on the horizon.
He stood in the library at 3:14 a.m., shirt sleeves rolled to his elbows, staring into the fire while Sebastian quietly refilled his teacup.
...
“Why does it bother me?” Ciel muttered.
Sebastian raised a brow. “That your fiancée is seeing visions of your death?”
“No.” Ciel exhaled. “That I care.”
^^^~Meanwhile – Eloise’s Chambers~^^^
Eloise was writing a letter she had no intention of sending. The paper was wrinkled. Ink smudged from where her hand had trembled.
...
"Dear Ciel,
...I dreamed again. You were on your knees, coughing blood, whispering a name—one I’ve never heard before. The Queen was watching. She didn’t help. She smiled."...
She paused, then struck a line through the entire page.
Instead, she lit the fireplace and burned it.
She couldn’t afford to love someone who had an expiration date.
Especially not someone so damn stubborn.
^^^~That Morning – Phantomhive Estate~^^^
The Queen’s carriage arrived unannounced.
“Speak of devils,” Sebastian whispered as the door opened and Queen Victoria descended, surrounded by guards in white and gold.
...
"Your Majesty." He greeted with a bow
Ciel met her in the front hall with exactly the amount of respect required by law and not a scrap more.
“Your Majesty. To what do I owe the displeasure?”
“Don’t be dramatic, Ciel. I’m here for tea. And truth.”
Sebastian bowed and vanished. Eloise, already dressed for riding, appeared at the top of the stairs, halting when she saw her mother.
...
“Lovely,” she muttered. “All we need now is Alois juggling knives in the drawing room.”
“I would pay to see that,” Ciel replied under his breath.
^^^~Drawing Room – Half an Hour Later~^^^
The Queen stirred her tea with the calm of someone used to holding power like a knife.
“There’s a name I want you to investigate,” she said to Ciel, sliding a slip of paper across the table.
He read it—and froze.
...
"The Order of the Silver Thorn."
Sebastian, standing behind him, stiffened. “They were eradicated.”
“No,” Eloise said quietly. “They just changed masks.”
Ciel looked up. “Why now?”
The Queen set down her cup. “Because they’re watching you both. And because one of them is inside Parliament.”
“Do you know who?” Ciel asked.
Her smile was as dangerous as a gun with the safety off. “I have suspicions. That’s why I need you.”
Eloise folded her arms. “So this engagement wasn’t just to protect me—it was bait.”
“You’re clever,” the Queen said, standing. “Must run in the bloodline.”
And then she left, leaving a silence heavy enough to smother the fire.
^^^~That Night – The Rose Maze~^^^
Eloise found Ciel in the manor’s rose maze, sitting on the bench that used to belong to his mother.
...
He didn’t look up when she sat beside him.
“Sebastian said you’d be here,” she said. “Didn’t say you’d be brooding.”
“I’m always brooding.”
>“Fair.”
They sat in silence for a moment. Crickets chirped. The roses swayed.
“You scare me sometimes,” she said finally.
Ciel turned slightly. “Good.”
“No, not like that.” She hesitated. “You scare me because I see myself in you.”
He looked at her now, and for once, his eyes weren’t sharp. They were tired.
“I don’t know how to be normal,” he said softly. “I don’t know how to want things without also calculating how to destroy them.”
She nodded. “Same.”
And then—without thinking—he took her hand.
...
Not because he needed to.
But because, maybe for the first time… he wanted to.
She didn't pull away.
^^^~Ending Note~^^^
Somewhere, deep in the city, a man in a silver mask placed a thorned ring on a table.
"The Queen’s dog is off the leash again," he said, voice low.
Alois Trancy sipped wine beside him.
“And this time, he’s in love. Let’s see how far he’ll fall.”
...
...To Be Continued......
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