i wanted to bring this up earlier, but now there’s an additional occasion to do so. people tend to point out that ciel was clever and didn’t fall for sebastian’s words, but what is often overlooked in that narrative is the fact that sebastian himself contributed to it. but starting from the beginning:
sebastian appears at a moment when ciel is at his most vulnerable. he is his last resort. his brother has just died, he is next, and when it seems that no help will come, the demon announces his arrival.
sebastian’s first method of manipulation is transforming into various animals, which demonstrates his power. “look at me, i am powerful, omnipotent, i can become whatever you desire.” but on the other hand, it is also an expression of pride, where he is trying to impress ciel. sell himself to him.
then he emotionally blackmails him, saying that he has sacrificed his brother, so if he does not accept the demon’s services, his brother’s soul will, implicitly, be wasted. he took something from him that is an inseparable part of human life. he did it to his own brother.
and when ciel decides to enter the contract, he reinforces ciel’s belief: either me or no one. i am the only one who can help you. and not only that, i will do whatever you want, you will become more powerful than anyone else and you will never have to bow your head again.
this is very different from the demon we see in modri’s story. yes, he also uses deception, but in a completely different way. there he is still a “savior,” but in a very opposed sense of the word. he is not a knight in shining armor who arrives to kill the dragon that has devoured half the village. he simply ensures that everything will be fine, that everything will work out, that their dreams will still come true. he tricks them to form a contact involuntarily, while with ciel he wants it to be his decision. he wants to hear it. he wants him to say it. he wants ciel to choose him.
what he says to ciel later contradicts what he said during the destruction of the laboratory in germany: being brutal does not bring him joy, but he pushes ciel to want to kill those who hurt him. there is an interesting relationship between sebastian’s level of brutality and what the person has done to ciel (i wrote about this here, and here are panels from the manga). “let me hear your roar, unleash your desires.” he wants to kill people who hurt ciel.
sebastian from the very beginning is very excited. when ciel recoils at the sight of him, he asks whether this form does not suit him, immediately offering other ones. moreover, ciel himself fuels this excitement. “the mark will reside in your eye, reflecting a world without hope and your great greed.” the same when he lies about his name. the demon cannot hide his emotions, he cannot wait to see what ciel will demand from him, even pushing him to sit down and establish the terms of the contract (just look at his stupid smile).
in modri’s flashbacks, sebastian uses deception to establish the contract terms. he himself states something, needing only the other party’s confirmation to turn it into a condition. moreover, he does it in a manipulative way, leaving room for interpretation. “the family was supposed to be present at the wedding, no one said they had to be alive.” he could have done the same with ciel. extract three orders from him and execute them right there in that room. “kill everyone” could have been the first of them, but it is not. sebastian carried out his order, which technically did not count as part of the contract terms. on the contrary, anna’s wish “i wish the wheat would ripen” was the first thing that sealed their contract.
sebastian leaning over ciel does not symbolize a predator to me, but rather a demon trying to hide his excitement so as not to scare him (a bit like a dog trying to look serious while its tail is giving it away). he places huge hopes in ciel and cannot wait to see what he will ask of him. he explicitly states that he will fulfill three wishes. and precisely because he feels so happy at the mere thought of what ciel will ask, he is so disappointed when ciel asks whether he can bring his brother back to life.
suddenly the whole mood around him shifts, because he cannot hide his disappointment. the smile disappears as he thinks, “right. you are just a child. it is my own fault for having expectations of you”. for a moment he is silent, and only then does the smile return to his face, and he, already resigned, says that he promises him happy moments with his brother.
“if that is how it is going to be, let’s end this quickly. i shouldn’t have gotten my hopes up.” but then ciel says that he is lying, which makes sebastian drop his act. “or maybe i was not wrong after all?”
when ciel justifies his words, sebastian only then feels the excitement rising again, and his stupid smile returns.
it is not as strong as before, but the difference in behavior is still clear. and it is precisely this pause, this shift in mood, that leads ciel to conclude that sebastian is deceiving him. as we later see, ciel becomes very observant and tries to find hidden meanings in everything sebastian says, but it is possible that without that initial involuntary reaction, which for the demon was instinctive before he managed to conceal it, ciel would not have seen through him, still being under the influence of strong emotions from what had happened in the previous minutes. going back to modri again — there he uses ambiguity to fulfill the contract the same night. in ciel’s case, he makes sure the terms are clear. they have an end date, concrete conditions, and he himself shows ciel that there are loopholes in his words.
when ciel says he would like to rest, sebastian pretends not to know whether it is an order.
perhaps once the contract is established it cannot be modified, so this is the second time his behavior directly affects ciel’s conditions. only then does he clarify that he must say clearly and explicitly that it is an order. for sebastian, this is like locking cuffs on his hands and giving ciel the key instead of keeping it himself — using the argument “i did not know it was an order” sounds exactly like something the demon from modri’s memories would use against his master.
i genuinely believe that sebastian’s behavior did not stem primarily from a desire to manipulate ciel, but from his own expectations of him and his excitement at having him as a contractor. i don’t know where exactly it comes from, but sebastian did not behave the way he did because that is his aesthetic, but because it was ciel.
and he knows he made the right choice.
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