((The pictures are of the dress and coat she wears in the chapter, just so all of you can have a better visual.))

Rosalyn had been correct to assume that the young girl wasn't going to get a good nights sleep, though, she seemed quite peaceful and content for the first half hour of her slumber, yet, after that, she just started twitching and whining softly in her rest. At first, the demon tried to soothe the sleeping child by lightly rubbing her arm, yet this just caused Hope to flinch away and coil up tighter.

The snake demon never would have guessed that a traumatized human could make her feel so helpless, literally all she wanted to do was hug the girl tightly and never let go. The poor girl had been through a lot, Rosalyn hoped she would be able to provide some sort of comfort to her, if not now than in the near future.

Rosalyn decided it would be best to leave Hope be and cleaning up around the abandoned manor. All seemed to be calm until the maid heard a bloody murder scream coming from her master's bedroom. She quickly bolted up, hurrying to the young girl's resting chamber.

"My Lady?" Rosalyn called. "Are you alright?" she quickly opened the door.

Dimly lighted by the light from the hallway, Rosalyn could see the young girl was scrunched up in a corner, holding her knees tight to her chest and hyperventilating. When the demon took a step closer, Hope just coiled up tighter.

"N-No!" Hope sobbed out. "Leave me alone!"

The snake froze, unknowing of what to do.

"P-Please..." the young Everheart wept.

"Please what?" her maid asked gently.

"N-No more games!" Hope wailed. "I don't like your games Druitt!" she sobbed.

Rosalyn froze dead in her tracks,

"M'Lady," she spoke very gently, very softly, very... motherly. "I am not that horrible man. I'm who saved you from him. I'd never hurt you..." Yes, that last part may have been a lie, the contract was still there. But, Rosalyn needed to calm Hope down. "Now come here..." she held her arms out to the tiny child.

Hope fell onto Rosalyn, weeping quietly. The demon simply held the girl close, rubbing her hair. The small countess eventually cried herself to sleep, curled up against the demon.

The rest of the night, Hope kept waking up every hour or so, only to fall asleep a few minuets later. Not exactly a good night's sleep, but it was a start. When she woke up in the morning and stayed awake, she was greeted by a breakfast tray sat in her lap by her new maid.

"Good morning, My Lady, sleep well?"

Of course, Rosalyn knew the answer, but it was only proper to ask.

"Mmm... not really..." Hope mumbled, started to eat as Rosalyn started to work on brushing the girls hair.

Rosalyn frowned at how tangled the hair was, seems Druitt didn't take that good care of his toys.

"My lady, how about a haircut?" Rosalyn suggested gently. "New style to represent your new start?"

Hope shrugged her shoulders. "That's okay with me."

And so they sunk into another silence, until Hope broke it.

"So, it's like raising a lamb for slaughter, huh?"

"Pardon?"

"The relationship between a demon and their human. It's like raising a lamb for slaughter. The human being the lamb, of course. Meaning... you own me, not the other way around, correct? You're simply sworn to protect me and tend to me simply so you can be the one to kill me later, right?"

Rosalyn blinked at the bold statement before letting out a chuckle.

The noble tilted her head at the maid. "Rosalyn...? Something funny?"

"My lady, you are quite wise. Even I never thought of it that way. But maybe that is because in my old age I forget what it's like to live in fear. Nothing scares me anymore. Not even death for it cannot touch me anymore. Yet raising a lamb for slaughter is not what I would call my relationships with humans, at least the kind ones like you. For a lamb is kind and ignorant. It does not know it will be killed one day. Sadly all the humans I make contracts know they will be killed at the end of the contracts. I try and make the death quick and painless but... death is still what you will face. But the feeling is... saddening."

Hope frowned at that, but dropped the conversation.

After young Lady Hope finished her breakfast, Rosalyn changed her into the dress and jacket she had went out and bought the girl after she had fallen into her light sleep.

"Purple and black," Hope noted. "Nice."

Rosalyn smiled at her master. "I thought such beautiful colors would suit you well, my lady." She smiled. "Seems I was right."

The girl smiled at that.

Than, the two headed into London so the young lady could get a haircut. Upon arriving at the barber shop, the hair dresser was visibly frightened.

"A-Ah, sure have been getting a lot of nobility lately... just got done with the late Earl Trancy's son... and yesterday Ciel Phantomhive..."

Hope nodded, sitting in the barber chair, if he did cuts for a lot of nobility, she could use this to catch up what she had missed over the past few years.

"Earl Trancy is dead?" She asked quietly. Good, she thought. From what she had heard from the viscount... he was just as bad as him, they were even cousins, Hope wouldn't doubt it if Druitt was the one who sold the little boys to Trancy. She glanced at the blond haired, blue eyed boy who had stood up when she entered, watching a devilish looking butler put on his jacket back on him. Guess I'm not the only one purple suits well... she couldn't help but think. He must be the new Earl of Trancy.

"Yeah," said the blond boy. "Some say murder, others say suicide. Personally though? I don't care."

"Someone doesn't have a good relationship with his father..." the barber mumbled under his breath, going wide eyed when he realized he said that out loud.

Blondie couldn't help but roll his eyes. "You're correct, I didn't. So don't worry about it." he looked at Hope with his charming, icy cold eyes. "I'm Alois Trancy, and you?"

"H-Hope Everheart..." speaking to someone of the same class as her was intimidating, not to mention he was the cousin of her abuser, even so... he still made her melt. "Pleasure to meet you."

"The pleasure is all mine," his wide grin made her head spin. "I'm throwing a ball later this week, maybe you could be bothered enough to attend?" he mused.

"I just might be." She hummed in response.

"Great," The new earl grinned. "Claude! Give her one of the invitations!"

The dark butler, Claude, handed her maid the invitation.

The boy grinned at her. "Hope to see you there, Hope!" He laughed at his own joke, grabbing his butler's arm. "Thanks for the trim Basil!" He said before dragging the butler out.

Basil, so that is the name of the hair dresser. She realized.

The barber got to work, deciding it'd be safest not to comment on how rag-like her hair was.

"So, Ciel Phantomhive is alive?" She pondered.

"Yeah, they found him, you know him?"

"Mhm. Our fathers were casual friends, so we spent a bit of time together in our childhoods."

"Ah... that's going to be hard, being friends with both a Trancy and a Phantomhive... those families have been rivals for as long as I can imagine."

"Phantomhives are the queens guard dogs, and the Trancys have a lot of dirt on them. It's only nature, I suppose..." Hope shrugged.

"Wait... you said your name was Hope Everheart...? And you're a noble?"

"Y-Yes..." Hope tensed, growing nervous.

"Daughter of Cadoc and Lyvia...?"

"Th-That's me..."

"You've been assumed dead for two years!" His shock lead to him cutting her hair far shorter than he intended. He slowly backed away, as if he was seeing a ghost... which to him, he was.

"She's very much alive," Rosalyn spoke up, noticing Hope was growing increasingly frightened by the tension in the room. "Though much like Lord Ciel, she's staying quiet about her whereabouts in her absence." she informed Basil and carefully took the scissors from him, walking behind Hope.

"My lady," she spoke softly, rubbing Hope's shoulder. "Your hair got cut a bit shorter than it was needed... is that alright?" she whispered to the girl.

Ms. Everheart gave a tiny nod. "I-I was actually considering a bob cut anyway..." she gave a small smile.

Rosalyn smiled as the girl calmed against her, finishing the haircut for her. "Your wish is my command."

"So, the whereabouts of her parents?" Rosalyn asked Basil.

"They died a while ago," Basil spoke. Rosalyn noticed Hope's head droop at that so she squeezed the girl's shoulder. "Her uncle was given care of her."

"Where's he? Seems he moved, we couldn't find him anywhere in the old manor."

"Indeed he did move." Basil scribbled down the directions to the new estate on a piece of paper, handing it to Rosalyn. "Here."

Rosalyn smiled. "Let us get going now, my lady."

Hope nodded and stood, taking the maid's hand.

Now that they knew where her uncle was, all that was left to do was visit him.