#ch82

Expectations and status

Victorian women were expected to marry, but since her parents were dead and she was the head of the Phantomhive estate, who could actually force her to do much of anything expected of her... besides perhaps the queen? But only to an extent, even then. And I don't think she was particularly into doing what was expected of her....

I don't believe she ever married Cedric, as she never took the Ros-- name, nor was his name ever given to their children. Which means her children would have been born out of wedlock, a naughty thing to do on its own, anyway.

So, I do not think she paraded around with Cedric, or if she did it was in pure defiance. The Victorian era was honestly full of women "behaving badly". A Victorian lady "should" marry young, bear numerous children, be graceful and the epitome of one's "fairer sex". However, many titled ladies took lovers, and some even offered their paid... services... to others within the peerage.

It was also increasingly common for the nobility/aristocracy to sport body piercings at this time. The more private the better, for it was a sign of good breeding and hygiene to keep such piercings clean and healthy. It's not at all impossible that Prince Albert actually sported a "Prince Albert"....

Pierced ears were not terribly common with women, particularly if they were intending to wear heavy earrings for the evening (also not as common as we like to think), so clip-on earrings were already a thing. But men did sometimes carry on the old fashion of a pierced ear, usually the left (the right ear being pierced would label the man as homosexual), typically just sporting a simple stud.

We already know the Phantomhive men have a tendency to wear a stud earring in one or both ears, and Cloudia/Claudia also seems to have worn earrings. Oh, the image in ch116 makes it canon she at least had her left ear pierced (I think that's a piercing and not just a clip-on), so chances are both ears were pierced.

Anyway, we could headcanon that Vincent, Rachel, and even Cloudia/Claudia had body piercings and it wouldn't be anachronistic or at all unacceptable! Hell, even Francis/Frances and Alexis! So, as unusual as Undertaker's more extreme ear piercings are, they aren't exactly outside the range of possibilities, especially when he usually keeps them hidden under his hair and hat.

But, notice he isn't even wearing those captured ball rings when he's under cover as the Headmaster of Weston. In fact, he has probably removed all the gauged cartilage jewelry, as well. Ch82, for example:

And when Cloudia/Claudia was alive, he could easily have left out his piercings to be in public with her. Let's also keep in mind that we don't know exactly when he started working as an undertaker, which is a lowly position in Victorian England. In ch151, he tells real Ciel he has no clue about managing an estate, but that doesn't mean he's never run around in aristocratic circles, even if it meant pretending to be in the peerage.

We also don't know when he started getting his ears pierced. In ch149, it's hard to tell, with his hair the way it was, but he might not have had those earrings at all back then, as an active reaper.

For all we know, he didn't get into piercing his ears until after he met Cloudia/Claudia... maybe not even until after her death. Writers could easily work into their fanfics that Undertaker's ear piercings are just as symbolic as the hair lockets. Maybe births, instead of deaths, and the industrial bar in his right ear could even denote a set of twins?!? 🤔 Who knows? 🤷🏻‍♀️

What I'm slowly getting at is the fact that Undertaker could be Cedric and just didn't present himself back in Cloudia/Claudia's time the same way he does now. More like when he's incognito at Weston. And that Cloudia/Claudia could have had children with pretty much anyone if she really wanted to, even with someone not in the peerage, because she was the defiant sort to begin with. Due to all the risks, she probably would have tried to keep as much a secret as possible. But much of what's happened/happening to the Phantomhives might be consequences of her and Cedric's actions back then. In other words, having children out of wedlock and with a reaper quite possibly led to her death and has continued to cause problems for her progeny.

One of my favourite pages of the entire show-- this heartbreaking picture. Erza has lost everything, after coming this far-- and what meets her is not the Sun that promises vibrant days ahead of freedom, but the Moon, a dark emptiness and nothing but silence. 

Her dress has been torn for weeks, and her back is exposed-- a small, scarred, and empty back. All I can think of, seeing that gap, is the fact that there was exactly where Grandpa Rob’s guild mark had been.