McMillan:

Some days have passed since the information I got about Ciel, but I had to concentrate back on my studies. I thought to myself that if I succeed, Ciel would be proud of me! He always was the top of our class, he's incredible! Is there at least one field in wich he doesn't thrive?

I've thought a lot about it since, but I'm filled with the same feeling: fear. The fear of no intrest him anymore.

I was his best friend in the college, but am I still his friend outside of it? Am I worthy of his attention? I have nothing special compared to him, he will end up finding someone more intresting than me. It's like if everyday that pass push him futher from me. What if he forgets about me? What if didn't answer my letter?

I need to talk to him! I need to know.

He finally answered my letter close to the vacation to give me the date of our meeting and his address. I'm so excited! I missed him so much!

The day finally comes and I arrive at the Phantomhive Manor. It's huge! And the garden is beautiful! And you tell me that everything burned down some years ago??

I get down of the carriage and walk toward the door. I was going to knock on it when it opened. It's a maid with raspberry hair who opened to me.

- Greetings, mister McMillan! My master is waiting of you.

- Thank you!

I take off my hat and enter. It's gorgeous inside! Align to the maid, there's a blond man in a cooking outfit, a boy almost the same age as me with a straw hat who greet me respectfully and... A man with snakes? He's a bit scary, Ciel must like exoticism..

- Mister is waiting for you in his office, please follow me

Strange, normally, it's the butler who greets people first, he must be occupied. She guides me accross the manor, I use this opportunity to observe the decorations, the paintings.. There's a portrait of Ciel with his parents! They look so nice.. And it survived the fire! But they told me that everything had burned to the ground this night!.. Probably an exageration.

I was expecting to see an army of domestics in this house, but it's so silent.. They must be busy somewhere else.

She guides me to his office and opens the door. I smile when I see him.

- Ciel!

I jump into his arms like the old days.

- I've missed you so much! How are you doing? I say letting him go

- I'm fine and you?

- Great now that I'm seeing you!

He smiles.

- Take a sit please, the maid will bring us some tea.

So I sit down, I'm so happy! And when I'm too excited, I start talking non-stop and I tell him everything that happened to the Weston since he's been gone, I want to give him the impression that he didn't miss anything! He listens to me smiling, sometimes asking questions, it's like we never got separated. It feels so good.

- And you Ciel, what did you do during all this time?

- Nothing very special, some basic buisness stuff.

- I see

That must be adult life.. That must be complicated.

- Your house is beautiful! It's hard to believe that it didn't have any mark after what happened to it.

He looks surprised, it's true that he never talk openly about it..

- You're aware about it as I see... Everyone knows more or less about it. It was important for me to not let any marks of what happened.

- I see.. I'm sorry about what happened to your family.

Shoot, I've ruined the mood.

- Don't worry, it belongs to the past now.

He stays so strong despite everything.. How does he do that? If the same were to happen to me, I would never have recovered from it..

- You must have a huge number of domestic to take care of such big house.

- No, I don't need that much. I've hired very few person since the fire.

- Really? How many?

- 7.

- 7?!

Only 7??? How is it possible??

- I have a very skilled butler, I don't need more.

- I see, it's rather unusual.. Your butler must be amazing. I still didn't have the chance to meet him yet!

- Excuse him, he's very busy, I've charged the maid to greet you instead.

- It's fine.

A huge house like this only ibhabited by 8 people? That's why I had this impression of emptiness when I walked through it.

- Don't you feel alone?...

He looks quite surprised by my frank question.

- No. As we said, it's better to be alone rather that in bad company.

He has a point.. Why doesn't he take more domestics? I think they make the house lively! He has the means.. He must have a good reason. Let's see, the causes of the fire are yet unknown and potentially criminal, maybe he's wary of the domestics and only takes the strict minimum..

I would be too scared to live in this huge house alone.. What if there are ghosts here?!... No, I couldn't..

I refocus and use the brief silence to stree the conversation by asking him:

- Can I ask you something, Ciel?

- Of course.

- It will maybe sound weird, but.. What am I, for you?

He looks very surprised, my question was too weird! I'm so embarassed..

- Well, a friend, I would say.. He said looking away. Why asking this question? He said looking at me again.

- Hum, well... I said laughing nervously. You might find that stupid but I was afraid that after you left the Weston you forgot about me..

He looks surprised, once again.

- You wouldn't be there if I had forgotten about you, he said smiling

- It's true, but why? With your status as an earl, you must know a lot of very intresting people.. And be very busy!

He stays stunned by my question for a bit, as he didn't know what to answer. Great, I made him uncomfortable..

- Because I appreciate your company, that's all

- But maybe it won't last, after all, that's how life goes, we meet people and then we move on..

He must think I'm paranoid.

- You're right. Maybe in some months I will be so occupied that I will forget about you and will move on, finding other people I appreciate.

-...

He speaks the truth but it still hurts..

- Why is it so important for you? You too will make great friends. It's normal, it's part of life.

He's right, once again.. But I don't know why, I can't accept it.

- But I don't want to.. I said looking down. Because you are my best friend!

I react like a 5-years-old boy while he's so mature..

- You might find it weird, but.. You're a special to me, I said a bit hesitating.

He looks very surprised before answering:

- You are a special friend to me too.

I raise my head up, surprised.

- Really?

- You know, I live in an adult world since the fire. I had very few friends of my age to talk about things of boys of my age, so it's important for me to have a friend like you.

You can't realize how his words were a relief to me, they swept away all my doubts. I felt like an euphoria growing in me. I then catch his hands;

- I won't dissapoint you! I said smiling.

He looks a bit embarrased and smile back to me.

After that I'm, once again, very excited, and start taling non-stop about things I've forgotten to talk about until now. He continues to listen to me smiling, I try to gently push him telling me more about himself but he only tells me the strict minimum.. I won't force him then.

The maid enters the room.

- Sorry master, we need you for a short momeny please.

He sighed and got up.

- I'll come back quickly.

He gets out while the maid remains inside. It's weird, she looks uncomfortable. I decide to talk to her while we wait for him.

- What is your name?

She looks surprised and stressed.

- Mey-Rin mister!

A Chinese? I haven't noticed with her big glasses, it looks like I was right, Ciel likes exotisim.

- For how long have you been serving Ciel?

- 4 years mister!

She looks tense.

My parents taught me two very important things: network and how to recognize a good nobleman. Networking is vital for little nobles like us, having a lot of contact is priceless. That's why my mother allowed me to come here instead of working, because bonding with someone so important is a very good thing according to her. Of course, I don't have this vision of things like her, but it always stays in a corner of my mind. They also taught me to recognize if a nobleman is a good person: chatting with their domestics. They will recieve a lot of good and sincere praises from them if they are, but empty compliments if they are bad. It's time for me to use it.

- What kind of master is Ciel Phantomhive?

She smiles.

- He's a great master! We are very proud to serve him.

She looks very sincere.

- You are very few here, don't you have too much work?

- Not at all, it's thanks to our amazing butler! He's phenomenal, we can count on him.

- I see! Isn't it weird to work in a big and empty manor?

- We got used to it.

- And Ciel, does he have a lot of guests?

- Quite a lot yes, mostly for business, but also his fiancée

"Oh he's engaged? It's not surprising, at this level ofsociety, noblemen are often engaged very young"

- Does he have a lot of friends?

- He has some yes, master Ciel is quite the loner one but he always attract all kind of people around him. I have to admit it is rare that he invites someone just to take a cup of tea without an objective behind other than having a good time. Most of the friends he has are linked with his missions.

- I see...

So Ciel didn't lied to me, I thought he was surrounded by many friends and was never alone.. It's true that when I think about it, he didn't went a lot towards the other at the Weston, it always was the others that go toward him. When he had the best gardes of our class, he never went to show it to the others, but the others came to see it and tell it to everyone. He always looked very humble from my point of view, that's quite rare for someone of his status, that's also maybe what I like with him. It's natural for me, when I have a good grades, I have to make sure all the class knows about it because I'm so proud of it! It's also maybe because it's so easy and normal to have good grades for him..

Suddenly, the maid grabs my hands.

- We are very happy to welcome you here, Mister McMillan, it's so rare that Mister invites someone of his age! We wish to see you again soon, she says with a warm smile.

It's so rare that a domestic talks with an open heart like that and is so concerned about her master, she seems to appreciate him a lot. I must have made her comfortable with my questions, I don't think she would have told me that otherwise.

I smile to her back and answer:

- It would be a pleasure!

She let go my hand and says:

- I'm going to bring some cakes to make you wait.

At the moment where she goes out, Ciel appears.

- Did I make you wait?

- Not at all!

We continued our chatting, but after a certain time, Ciel looks at his clock.

- I did see the time going by, you should leave now if you don't want to arrive too late at your home

- You're right! I said getting up. I had a great time with you Ciel, I hope to see you again soon!

- Me too, he said smiling.

We shake our hands and go towards the entrance, we greet each other one last time before the carriage starts and brings me home.

Sebastian:

- Well, today, our Master is receiving a special guest, I tell to the domestics. I want the manor to be perfect.

- Yes sir! Who is it?

- It is a friend of his from the Weston College

- A... Friend?.. They said with their eyes shining.

- You mean a boy of his age?

- Exactly.

They are super excited.

- Mey-Rin, I have a special mission for you.

- Yes sir!

- I was disguised as a professor at the College, thus, I cannot show myself to the young McMillan without arousing suspicion. That's why you are in charge of greeting and serving him instead of me.

She looks at both excited and nervous to have such responsibility.

- I won't disappoint you

- Let's go to work, everyone!

They rush in different directions and start working. I too have a lot of work to prepare because our future guest must not see me when he arrives.

Time goes on and here he comes. I have finished everything I had to do, the rest is in their hands. I have two options: I can get even more ahead of my work, or I can spy on their conversation. My curiosity was stronger so I've decided to observe them.

They talked a lot, especially McMillan, a real chatterbox. However, the young master doesn't seem bothered at all, he looks at peace. I've never seen anyone have such an effect on him. I would have thought he would find boys of his age immature and annoying. Maybe this is a way for him to experience the childhood he was deprived of.

He took the hand of the young master, he had an interesting reaction.

There is something truly fascinating in their relationship. His soul will be even more delightful...