The Knight

—;;✬ She knew he wasn’t wrong, there were even times where her visits had to be cut short due to Ciel having an already planned business meeting, but still! He was her fiance, shouldn’t he always have time for her? Elizabeth found herself pouting before she realized it, then shook it off so her gloom wouldn’t ruin the joy of having her brother home. “Really brother, you worry too much! He did get me a present after all! But he’s not here, you are, so it’s us time!”

—;;✬ With another squeeze, she tugged his hand from the entrance to the drawing room, all but skipping down the hall. “Indeed! But after you tell me about the friends you made over some tea, okay?” She smiled over her shoulder, giving a little nod.

❝ Really? What was it?  ❞ Had Ciel actually prepared something and left it in there on his manor just in the case his sister appeared? Or could have it been something more informal? He was genuinely curious about it.

Edward’s humor was as stable as a house of cards, quickly regaining his cool as she shifted the subject from Ciel to him, allowing her to pull him around the room with no resistance at all. 

❝ Oh, I’d much rather to hear about you, I doubt anything I have to say would be such fun compared to your little adventures. Aside from fencing and visiting Ciel, what have you done? ❞ 

ღ  ;; }

  She turned away from him, pout remaining on her face as she crossed her arms across each other in a fit of mock-anger. She even let out a loud sigh, a sound that she knew he would be able to hear loud and clear since they were the only things in the room making noise. 

      “What kind of big brother doesn’t support his little sister getting married to the boy of her dreams in the future..?”

  If he wouldn’t look at her, she’d make him look at her. 

  She knew of course, that he actually only had the best intentions for her, but still- It’d be better for him to slowly start adapting to the idea of letting her go. With her age and Ciel’s, in fact, it.. Actually wouldn’t be too far off before she would be gone and married to him. And that was an idea that Edward would find he’d be having to adjust to probably much quicker than he wanted to. 

   And maybe some part of her didn’t want to adjust to the idea either, though of course, she loved Ciel and the thought of being married to him- She was scared of living behind the life she’d always lived with her big brother there to help her.

❝ Things don’t work like they do in a fairy tale book, sister, this is why I worry about you. ❞

A lot of women just like his sister would get ill, depressed, because their marriages weren’t just like they expected. Women from that time had a tendency to read a lot of books and make a lot of plans on their imagination on how things were going to be, and then, ending up like the woman from that French trending book       what was it called? ‘Madame Bovary’, he recalled. Of course he didn’t wish that for Elizabeth.

His little sister was basically a princess, so he needed to make sure she was going to get treated as such. He closed his eyes, crossing his arms. The blond most definitely wasn’t going to look! She wasn’t going to get him this time. 

—;;✬ “It’s been dreadful without you! Even a few more days, I don’t know how I would have survived!” It was a safe feeling being near her brother, she could finally breathe easy knowing that he was home again. “Most of my time was spent with Ciel at his manor, you should see how the garden looks in this weather!” 

—;;✬ “Though when he was too busy, mother ensured that I trained just as hard when you were gone. Absence is no reason to slack, she said!”

He let out a soft smile, clearly flattered as soon as she said it had been bad when he wasn’t around. In all truth it meant a lot — Edward needed her way more than she needed him, though they both probably knew that by now. 

His features hardened a bit when she mentions her visits, though he couldn’t possibly get mad.  ❝ Lizzie, you shouldn’t really go there unless he invites you. Ciel is very busy, you know. ❞ Sometimes he felt as if his sister made herself too ‘available’ for him. Sure, they were engaged, but it was still not very appropriate for her to burst out there whenever she was bored. In all truth, he felt a bit jealous. 

ღ  ;; }

  She withdrew from him slightly, pout on her face only growing. If she was a nun, how would she be able to marry her beloved Ciel?

      “But.. But I don’t want to be a different kind of nun either- I want to get married someday.. That’s every girl’s dream, Edward-” 

   Honestly, she loved her brother to death, but sometimes his ideas were really bizarre.. Eyes glanced up at his, pleading silently for him to agree to what she wanted. She knew at some point she’d win him over, no matter how much he wanted to protect her, he’d have to let her grow up eventually.

Honestly it took nearly no effort from her part to make his heart melt completely. But then, his stubborn mind reminded him that he needed to protect her from this. The blond couldn’t look her in the face or eyes though, or he’d weaken to this even faster.

It wasn’t like he didn’t like their cousin, he did, it was just that he didn’t feel like Ciel was quite ready to handle his sister. He needed to be sure his cousin would be able to protect, care and give her attention like she needed and deserved       Ciel, not his butler, or some other servant. 

He would never approve it until he knew both were ready for this, and of course, he had really high standards, since he didn’t want to let her go. He didn’t want her to grow up. 

ღ  ;; }

     “A nun..? A nun..? But their clothes are so drab and boring and I wouldn’t get to have a pretty wedding and-? And if I’m praying all day wouldn’t I be too busy even to visit you-?”

Yes, she had a very reasonable point there. Although the clothes didn’t strike much of a point to him, the fact that she would be too busy to be with him was enough to make him rethink his idea.

❝ Mhm, what about a different sort of nun? It’s like the regular nun, but instead of living on a convent you’d get to live here         you could wear your dresses and be with your family, just no marriage and hanging around. ❞ 

ღ  ;; }

     A pout crossed her lips, bumping her forehead gently against his. 

          “But if I never get to leave home, I’ll never get to do anything..”

ღ  ;; }

  Quickly jumps to hug silly older brother!

                                        Lifts her up because he can. He had been so worried.

@midforded

     Odd, Grell was certain that he was supposed to be familiar to her. This was a young man that she had met on more than one occasion, but somehow his importance seemed to escape her. Then again there was always the possibility that he didn’t remember her and it was likely a good thing for her. 

     “You there – what are you doing here?”

       Edward didn’t really remember her. He was very clueless with faces and if Elizabeth was around, he paid attention to absolutely nobody aside from her, not to mention any moments she could possibly be distressed he sort of felt it too. He did feel like that person was slightly familiar, but he didn’t even recall her face or anything. 

     As the servant observed the change of expression on young Midford’s face, his own turned rather serious too. There was no doubt that something wasn’t right, but then again, was it really Finnian’s business at all? Of course, he will help with all his might if the young master wants him to, but right now what was best, was just to listen, answer the questions and await orders from the head of the Phantomhive family. The gardener frowned at the other’s question, trying to think if there was any possibility, that Edward’s sister could’ve sneaked past him. After all, if it turned out she really was inside, making the other worried for no reason would be troublesome.

     Unfortunately, he spent nearly whole day outside, and with a good view on the manor’s entrance, and it’s highly unlikely that she could use any way the servant wouldn’t be familliar with.

     “I’m sorry, but I don’t think lady Elizabeth could be here. I haven’t seen anyone around the manor today.”

          What? How could she not? Was this a joke? He doesn’t feel as a servant would dare to play with his emotions like this, and knowing his cousin, Ciel would not too. In fact, he felt as most of the time Ciel wanted to get rid of Elizabeth rather than to be in the honor of her presence. It made no sense.  

           Then, he comes to realize, the other was probably telling the truth. He knew he had a bad feeling about it all, he just wanted to ignore it and think positively. But alas, he couldn’t. His heartbeats kept accelerating at each moment he thinks something bad has happened to her, and he might black out from panic if he allows this to go on for any longer without doing anything about it. 

          There were already tears streaming down his eyes at the moment, though he knew he didn’t have time for this. There’s no saying on where Elizabeth is, or what has taken, or how long did she have. Edward knew well that Lizzie was a lot stronger than him in many ways, but he still couldn’t bear it       after all, she was his cute little sister.

     Now that Finnian thought it through, the weirdest thing in this situation wasn’t that the other showed up unannounced, but rather, that he was alone. The servant was sure that Elizabeth wasn’t in the mansion, otherwise it would most certainly be less quiet around. Besides even if he wasn’t that great of a gardener, he liked to believe that he’s good enough of a guard not to overlook someone entering the manor. However, it was probably better not to ask, being nosy about things regarding nobility could get him in trouble.

        But where were his manners as a servant? Finnain was so surprised by the other’s presence here, that he completely forgot about his duties. Although Sebastian taught him about etiquette, the gardener still needed time to adapt. After all, none of these things really mattered for the most part of his life in the laboratory. 

       “Welcome to the Phantomhive mansion, lord Midford. Young master should be in his office right now. Such a quiet day today.”

“Quiet?” There’s a raise of his eyebrows, and he wonders what is going on. His sister was most definitely not quiet, especially if she was anywhere near Ciel, that was. For all that he knew, she’d make quite the fuss whenever she went to the Phantomhive Manor. He had an extremely bad feeling about this       Elizabeth did have a bad habit from acting impulsively, but he couldn’t see on why she would go away from home without telling anyone nor having any specific reasons. 

Calm down, Edward. You’re overthinking this. There’s no bloody way that she’s in danger, she’d probably just talking with Ciel. It was better to ask soon, either way, because those negative thoughts wouldn’t leave his mind just yet. 

@midforded

      That was one unusual sight. Wasn’t that lady Elizabeth’s older brother? Finnian didn’t remember anything about possible guests appearing in the manor today. Sure, lady Elizabeth did tend to show up without sending any message beforehand, but this was never the case with Edward. Then again, there weren’t many times when the other visited the mansion.

     “Lord Midford?”

        Of course, it wasn’t likely for him to show up uninvited and unannounced       he didn’t think it was appropriate for anyone to do so, and kept telling his little sister not to as well, but very unfortunately so, Elizabeth was stubborn as much as she was adorable. And this had been exactly what brought him there at the given day          Elizabeth was gone, and she hadn’t told him, Paula, nor anyone else about it. Edward could only assume she’d head for her fiancee’s manor, since he seemed to be the one she enjoyed to be the most with.