Chapter Text
~ London, England ~
It has been one month since the Earl of Phantomhive was taken via a black carriage, along with Prince Soma. Although witnesses report that his carriage was white.
Agni sits there reading over the report. As he’s done many times before. He recounts the day his Prince was kidnapped. They were on an outing with Earl Phantomhive and his butler, Sebastian Michaelis.
They had just left the tailor’s shop, as his prince wanted to do some shopping. All of a sudden, the Earl of Phantomhive had stopped, and in the distance, rapid hooves hitting the ground could be heard. The carriages had stopped in front of them, and in a dazed state, the Earl had approached.
Agni had looked to his prince and seen him in a dazed state, too. He stood there, frozen, confused at the scene. He’d later come to regret his inaction.
He had watched as Earl Phantomhive and his Prince had vanished into smoke. Their carriages took off straight after.
Sebastian had chased them, but came back with bad news. He had said that the carriages plunged into the River Thames. He had jumped in to rescue them, but the carriages vanished completely.
They then returned to the townhouse, silently. The servants were confused about where their young master and Prince Soma were.
Agni had walked away, and it was up to Sebastian to explain what had happened. Their expressions were ones of shock and worry.
A day later, they filed a missing persons report to Queen Victoria. She had frowned upon learning that a prince from another country had gone missing in her country. Worried it could increase rising tensions between England and India.
Queen Victoria had dutifully sent out people to search for them, but they came back empty every time. It took some time, but the River Thames was fully swept, and nothing was found.
Agni has been able to keep his prince’s missing status secret from his parents. But surely one day they’ll notice they haven’t received correspondence from him.
Sebastian had gone back to the manor, while Agni stayed at the townhouse. He would come by occasionally.
Agni isn’t sure what Sebastian has been doing in terms of searching for them.
They have no leads so far, but Agni had looked through missing persons dating back over 50 years to see if something like this had happened before.
It took hours of searching through numerous papers, and Agni would pause when he’d see children labelled as missing. He knows that the chances of them ever being found are low.
Eventually, he finds two children:
Albert Cross, 16. He was a homeless kid who would steal from people. No one really paid attention to him, but they were well guarded around him due to his thieving tendencies.
Albert had crossed the street to get to a stall selling food when a black carriage with a menacing cab driver charged at him.
Many people witnessed the incident. Once the carriage had stopped, they went to check on Albert but noticed he had disappeared. The carriage then took off, and he was never seen again. No one had chased after the carriage either.
The next boy is Louise Stone, 16. He was a boy from an upper-class family and was walking with his father and their dog. His father reported that he was smiling, mindful of his surroundings. When all of a sudden, he stopped and became dazed.
His father tried to snap him out of it, but was unable to. Louise stepped off the pavement and in front of an oncoming black carriage. He had watched in horror as his son was about to be hit, then blinked, and Louise had disappeared.
The carriage raced off, and his father gave chase, but when he turned into an alleyway, the carriage was gone. He hasn’t been seen since.
Agni sits back in the chair and sighs, his head throbbing.
He hasn’t been able to get much sleep as of late, his head running through numerous scenarios where his prince is hurt, or worse, dead.
Agni begrudgingly decides that he needs to take a break from searching. He has spent countless days and sleepless nights searching for him. Agni realises that searching for his prince like this will be of no good to anyone.
But then Agni decides not to do that and orders himself a carriage to the Phantomhive Manor.
~ 3 hours later ~
Agni steps down from the carriage and looks at the Phantomhive Manor as it stands proud.
He steps on the stairs and tries not to think of his prince, excitedly running to the carriage on the day he went missing.
Agni hopes that Sebastian and the others won’t mind him showing up late at night.
He knocks on the door and waits patiently for a response.
The door opens, and it’s Tanaka.
“Good evening, Mr. Tanaka,” Agni bids and Tanaka lets him in.
Agni has become better acquainted with the servants of the Phantomhive Manor. Each one of them has been helping with the search. Only when they have spare time, though. Mey-Rin and Finnian’s duties still stand and are expected to keep the uptake of the manor.
Sebastian has been helping with the uptake of the manor, too, as he has more time on his hands. Baldroy has also been helping in his own way, cooking meals by himself or with Sebastian.
Tanaka leads him to the kitchen and sees Baldroy cutting vegetables. No flamethrower in sight.
Baldroy looks up, his cigarette hanging out of his mouth slightly. “How’ve you been doing, Agni?”
Agni pauses for a moment, but eventually responds. “I’ve been better.”
Baldroy simply nods and goes back to his task.
“Where are Mey-Rin and Finnian?”
“Mey-Rin is tidying up the rooms, and Finnian is in the greenhouse.”
Agni nods, “What about Sebastian?”
Baldroy stops what he’s doing for a moment, but then continues.
“The young master’s bedroom.”
Agni once again nods and goes there.
He walks up the stairs and sees not a speck of dust anywhere.
Agni walks down the hall, and the silence unnerves him. He stops in front of Ciel’s room and knocks.
“Sebastian, are you in there?” Agni asks, and there’s no response.
He knocks again, and a crashing sound is heard.“Sebastian, are you okay?”
The door opens, and Sebastian stands there. He looks normal, but Agni can tell something is off.
“I was looking through those files of missing people and found that there were two kids who had been kidnapped the same way as Lord Phantomhive and my Prince.”
Sebastian’s eyes widen slightly at the info, “Let’s gather the others and share this info with them.”
Agni agrees and then has everyone gather in the dining room. He places the files down, and everyone looks through.
Baldroy speaks up, “So two kids were kidnapped the same way as the young master and Prince Soma?”
Agni nods, “A little over 50 years ago,”
“And they were never found?” Finnian questions, his tone worried.
Everyone in the room goes quiet upon hearing that, and Finnian apologises.
“Has the Queen found any new information while I’ve been gone?” Agni asks.
Sebastian sighs, “None of any note. They found the coachman’s hat nearby, but nothing came of it.”
Agni hmms, his mood plummeting, the room being engulfed in silence.
“Have Prince Soma’s parents questioned his lack of response?”
“No. Truth be told, I don’t think they will notice for a while,” Agni states, and it seems he’s hinting at something.
They all nod in understanding, except Finnian.
“Why won’t they notice?” Finnian asks, with a confused expression.
Baldroy sighs and grabs Finnian, whispering something to him.
“Ah! I get it now!” Finnian exclaims, and Baldroy nods with a smirk.
“What did you say to him?” Mey-Rin asks, suspicious of Baldroy.
Baldroy doesn’t answer her, and she looks to Finnian, who averts his gaze.
Sebastian sighs and wanders off.
~ The next day ~
Sebastian wakes up at 6 AM and begins his duties as the Phantomhive’s butler.
There won’t be any unexpected guests arriving at the manor today. Lady Elizabeth had come over a few days ago, along with Lady Francis. They stayed for some tea and desserts, but Elizabeth wasn’t very talkative, and her eyes were red-rimmed.
Francis had done most of the talking while her daughter quietly drank her tea. She offered her assistance in helping with the search and hasn’t been back since.
The last guest that arrived at the manor was John Brown. He was not unexpected as he had penned a letter to announce he was visiting. The info he had shared was next to nothing. Just about the coachmen’s hat being found and their plans to sweep the River Thames. John had left shortly afterwards.
Sebastian gets to work and heads over to his young master’s room and opens the curtains, the light flooding in.
Sebastian goes over to the bed and begins changing the bedding.
He closes the door and takes the bedding to the washing room.
He proceeds to wash it and begins preparing morning tea and light snacks. Sebastian carts it over to the dining room and sees the room in shambles.
Mey-Rin, Finnian and Baldroy have fallen asleep in their chairs. Agni is also in the room, and he’s staring down at the files of Albert Cross and Louise Stone.
Sebastian sighs and claps his hands. The servants wake up at the sudden noise.
“Sleeping at the table, honestly. Have something to drink, then begin your daily chores,” Sebastian instructs, and they stand, doing as he says.
They leave the room after the tea is drank and Sebastian goes over to Agni.
“How many sleepless nights have you had, Agni?”
He looks up at Sebastian, but doesn’t answer.
Sebastian once again sighs and pours Agni some tea. He places the cup in front of him and watches as steam wafts off.
Agni takes a sip and places it back down gently.
“Do you think we’ll ever find them?” Agni speaks up, and his voice sounds empty.
Sebastian pauses. I remain doubtful we will find them. The contract with my young master has grown thin, and I can’t sense if he’s alive or injured. It feels like a spider’s thread that will snap at any moment. He doesn’t voice this, as it will make Agni feel worse.
“I will be honest here, Agni. I don’t think they’re in this country.” Sebastian states, and Agni looks down.
“Do not fret, I will ask the Queen if she can get in touch with her allies. They might know something.” Sebastian tries to reassure.
Agni remains silent, his eyes downcast.
“Go get some sleep, Agni,” Sebastian recommends, and does as he says, leaving the table.
Once he’s left, Sebastian shifts his gaze to the stack of papers. Mainly, the ones of Albert Cross and Louise Stone.
He picks them up and stacks them together, putting them on the tray.
Once Sebastian has done that, he takes off his glove that hides the contract mark.
He stares at the mark that has begun to turn lighter. His expression holds one of anger at the prospect of his prey being taken from him.
Sebastian puts his glove back on and takes the tray out of the dining room. Cleaning the table before he leaves.
His shoes clack as he goes to resume his duties. A few crow feathers fall off him as he does.
~ At Buckingham Palace ~
Queen Victoria stands by her window overlooking London.
A knock sounds at the door, and she looks away. “You may come in.”
The door opens, and John closes it.
“A handful of missing person files has been stolen. I checked inventory, and the files concerning Albert Cross and Louise Stone were also taken.”
She turns to face him, “I see. I knew that they would come across them eventually and find out that this isn’t the first time it’s happened. I remember when the story was published, and everyone’s attention was focused solely on Louise Stone.”
John nods, “Should I retrieve them, my queen?”
She shakes her head, “Let them keep them. The people on those files will never be found, anyway.”
John nods his head, “What should we do about Phantomhive’s duty of keeping the underworld in check?”
Victoria purses her lips, “I will assign someone to take over temporarily.”
He nods his head and leaves the room, but not before bidding her well.
She sighs and goes back to gazing out the window.
Her expression is filled with worry that her guard dog will forever remain missing.