"By this rate, I'm sure Germany will be quite the competition for Britain." Georg von Siemens said to Charles during our chat, as him, me, and Charles were making our way to the Phantomhive Manor in a carriage. Charles was sitting next to me with his head propped on his hand; he was bored out of his mind by the blabbering of the man in front of him, on the opposite side of the carriage. Georg von Siemens sat with his back straight, seemingly prime and proper.

He had meant for his statement as an exclamation not to be taken too seriously, but me and Charles exchanged a subtle glance as this arrogance is exactly what is leading to his doom.

"Of course, Lord Siemens." I faked a giggle. "I'm sure your country will prove quite the fierce competitor." I said in echo to his words after seeing that Charles was in no mood to do so.

Siemens had been ignoring me for most of the ride, but this time, he finally casted his eyes on me, "I don't think ladies such as yourself should be intruding in a diplomatic conversation of men."

That statement immediately had me fuming. I took in a deep breath to suppress my boiling anger, and faked another demure smile. I managed to say through my gritted teeth, "I'm terribly sorry, Lord Siemens, for my rude interruption. I will now leave you men to your... diplomatic conversation."

I had to put up with his rudeness and sexism even though I had a higher title than him in this country, only because he was the guest of honour, and that I wanted our plan to unfold smoothly.

Charles held in laughter as he shot me amused glances.

Siemens seemed satisfied enough and removed his gaze from me, returning his attention to their stupid 'diplomatic conversation'. Charles barely had the patience to deal with one more word of the 'diplomatic conversation' when the carriage pulled to a halt.

We exited the carriage and ascended the stairs before the grand doors of the manor. The door were opened by Tanaka, who greeted us with a bow.

We entered the hall, and were greeted by the little Earl Phantomhive. Out of the corner of my eye I could see a young Arthur Conan Doyle shying away at the side.

"Please to make your acquaintance. I am Georg von Siemens. I appreciate the invitation." The guest of honour said.

"Hello! Got everything ready for the party?" Charles asked.

I merely dipped into a small curtsey.

Ciel went straight to the guest of honour, and extended his hand, "You have come so far, I am delighted to meet you. I am Ciel Phantomhive."

They shook hands and Siemens was led to the banquet hall by Ciel. Charles now stayed behind with the rest of the guest since he was the company of a lady.

"Well then," Sebastian produced a card from his pocket, "I will call you each by name. When I do, please enter the dining room." He read from it, "Earl Charles Grey. Baroness Clarette."

Our names were called out first since we were of the highest social status here. Charles offered me his arm, I took it, and we walked into the banquet together. Inside, the numerous candles on the chandelier casted a yellowish light onto the room. And in the middle, a large variety of delicious dishes rest on the clothed tables.

The guests came in one by one, with Arthur being the last. I saw that he looked around like a lost little lamb unsure of how to compose oneself. After a while he decided to go sit down at the side by himself.

Charles, as usual, was chowing down all the delicacies on the tables.

"Hey, Charles, stop eating so fast. We need to go socialize." I tugged on his sleeve.

"Mmm..." He swallowed his food, "Right, right. One more plate."

I sighed. Seeing as there was no way he would stop before finishing his current plate, I went off and conversed with the people of the banquet for a while. At last, I made my way to the lone Arthur, and sat down beside him.

"How do you do. Mr Doyle." I said.

"Oh! Um... I'm good, thank you. And you?" He replied looking down.

I chuckled at his incompetency in etiquette, but let it slide. "I am good too, thank you, Mr Doyle. I trust that you know who I am?"

"Yes, Lady Clarette. And just Arthur is fine." He said with a timid smile.

We had a smalltalk after that. When I saw that Ciel was walking this way, I stood up and said, "It was nice chatting with you, Arthur. But now if you will excuse me."

I went to Charles, who actually heeded my advice and was now talking with Irene Diaz and Grimsby Keane. When he saw me he included me in their conversation about theater and plays.

I noticed that as per the anime, Ciel sat down and started chatting with the startled Arthur. I continued with the conversation, in which I acquainted well with the slightly drunk theatrical producer and the beautiful opera singer.

Suddenly Grimsby's ear pricked; he had heard something about theaters. He turned his attention to Ciel and Arthur's conversation and he hastily excused himself from this one and joined theirs.

"Hel-loo, ladies and gentlemen!" A completely drunk Georg von Siemens approached us, with a panicky Patrick Phelps behind him.

"Lord Siemens?" Irene questioned.

His unfocused eyes shifted onto the exposed skin of Irene, and a wicked smile grew on his face. He put down his champagne glass onto the table next to us, and started advancing on Irene with his perverted hands.

"Stop! What do you think you are doing, Lord Siemens!?" Irene backed off slightly.

But of course that did not stop the pervert on his epic quest to squeeze some buns.

"I said stop! Touching me with those indecent hands! I can't stand it any more!" Irene shouted.

"Oh...I'm sorry. When you're dressed like that, I just..." He once again laid his hands on her.

"Ah... Someone stop Lord Siemens!" The wimpy Phelps said behind him.

Suddenly, a clear and loud slap echoed across the room. "Insolent lecher! You should be ashamed!" Irene insulted with rage.

Siemens touched where he was slapped, and balled his fists, "This is the last straw!"

He grabbed his champagne glass from the table and motioned it towards Irene. But the splash of champagne did not land on her as a person intervened - Ciel Phantomhive.

The whole room gasped, with the exception of Charles. He was once again holding in laughter seeing the Phantomhive in a state like that.

"This is a banquet." Ciel stated into the silent room, "I'd ask you both to leave your argument here and-"

Grimsby, who recovered from the shock, started running towards them, "You conniving old man!"

He plucked a champagne bottle out of its ice, and threw it at Siemens' head.

Once again, it was intercepted; this time by Sebastian. He caught the champagne bottle in midair, then swiftly jumped onto a stool and popped the bottle. The champagne flowed freely down a magnificent tower of glass.

That sure calmed everyone down, and they seemed to have put aside the ordeal. Everyone tried glasses of champagne from it while Ciel went to be dried off by Sebastian.

After a while, I spotted Siemens alone, gulping down wine on a sofa. I nudged Charles and nodded in the direction of him. He understood at once and we went to where he was.

"Lord Siemens! Are you feeling better now?" Charles asked we sat down on the sofa to the side.

He emptied his glass, "Tch, that damn inobedient woman! She should've just taken it quietly!" He said with disgusting spit coming out of his mouth. I could smell the alcohol in his breathe all the way from here.

"Do you want to....get back at her?" Charles asked carefully.

"Of course! But how?" Siemens had jumped the the opportunity offered.

"I have something." Charles made sure no one was looking, and discreetly handed two glass ampules to him. "Here are some fake blood. And the other ampules contains a harmless drink that would make people think that you are dead!"

He looked into Charles eyes, "Would that scared them?"

"Yes. You will give everyone a good scare, and then you will wake up and laugh at there faces! But be sure to dispose of these right after you've used them in the hearth." Charles continued tempting.

Siemens quickly grabbed the ampules and shoved it into his coat pocket. "Haha, good idea, good idea! Leave it up to you to come up with these!"

Charles smiled in an unreadable way, "Well, Lord Siemens, why don't we celebrate this grand idea with more drinks!" He pour more wine into his empty glass, "But make sure not to tell anyone! Otherwise this won't work!"

"Yes, yes, I won't! Do you take me as a fool?" He laughed and started gulping down his drink once again.

Soon, the strength of the alcohol got the better of him, and he fell asleep.

"Huh? Lord Siemens fell asleep?" Charles faked surprise.

"It would seem so." I said.

It was heard by Ciel, so he ordered, "Sebastian, escort the Lord to his room. I will take my leave as well."

Sebastian picked Siemens' slumping body up from the seat, and positioned him on his back.

"Everyone, please relax and enjoy your evening." Ciel declared, and exited the room.

"Now we wait." Charles said cheerfully as he took another sip from his glass.

---------------------------------

Lesson of the chapter: "When you are drunk, you do things that you would not even dared to imagine if you were sober. So don't get drunk, kids, like ever. (jks)"

An inspiring quote: "People generally see what they look for, and hear what they listen for." -- Harper Lee (through Judge Taylor), To Kill a Mockingbird.