The countess of Cornwell
Chapter 2
Life continued in the Phantomhive mansion after Mey Rin has left. The servants first were mourning over the loss of their precious co-worker , but daily routine came back quite fast.

It has been 3 years since she has left and now it was spring...

The young heir of the successful Phantomhive toy company sat in his office like every day and he waited for his dessert and newspapers to come through the door, delivered by Sebastian. And slow but steady the young master Ciel grew impatient. "Sebastian!" his voice thundered across the room and could even be heard from outside. A few seconds later the butler entered the room with a smirk upon his face. "Impatient as ever, young master." The butler sliding a buffet car in front of him. Placed upon it was a tea set, a pot full of freshly brewed Earl Grey tea, the dessert and the newspaper from today.
Sebastian placed everything in front of the young master and finished the preparations by handing over the newspaper. "Today we have a Clementine and lemon Posset, a deliciously tangy pudding. Originally a Posset was a drink made from hot milk and honey, spiced and laced with ale or wine. It was popular in the Middle Ages as a remedy for colds and also appeared in Shakespeare's MacBeth. It was years later that it became a thickened cream dessert, flavoured usually with honey and lemon. This Posset is made from the juice of Clementines and lemon to create a tangy, moreish yet light dessert." While the butler registered one fact after the other about today's dessert, the young master was skipping through the newspaper, not caring even one bit about those said facts.
Ciel abruptly stopped skipping as he caught the sight of a familiar, very familiar face on a photo. It was in black and white, but even in that state, the young master could exactly tell who this person on the picture was that seems so familiar to him. Aghast he stared at the photo with eyes wide open. The surprise of the young master Ciel wasn't hidden from Sebastian,of course. "Young master is something the matter?" the butler asked.
Ciel handed the paper over to Sebastian. "Read this out loud." he ordered. "Count of Cornwell is finally engaged!" the butler read the headline. "Great Britain/Cornwell- After a long journey of searching for the right woman to marry, Lord Connell Lawford the count of Cornwall finally found his true love to marry. The name of the lucky woman is Lady Maylene McFarland. The proposal the count has made to his lady of choice was well planned and very romantic as well as their story how they fell in love with. Lady Maylene was first introduced to Lord Lawford by her brother Hampton McFarland, good friend of Lord Lawford since their childhood and advisor of the count. After this first meeting, regular visitations followed. They laughed, they went for walks and get to know each other better and better until they fell in love. Yesterday Lord Lawford proposed to Lady Maylene with a pretentious ceremony. 200 royal guests were invited to share this special moment with the couple. Following this, the guests and the couple were celebrating the engagement with a huge engagement festivity. The wedding is planned for August this year as Autumn wedding." Sebastian put the newspaper away and eyed the young master very intensely not to miss even one of his reactions and to read what the young master was thinking. Apparently Maylene was Lady Maylene now and engaged to a count. That's quite some development after all those years. Sebastian had to admit that he was quite impressed how the ex maid of Phantomhive blossomed out.
"That is odd..." Ciel said after a long while. "What is odd,young master?" Sebastian immediately asked, but he already new what the young master was wondering about. "Maylene never told that she had a brother. On contrary. She said she has no family at all and now she suddenly has a brother named Hampton McFarland? I have the strange feeling that something is rotten here." Sebastian began to slightly smirk, because he also knew what the young master would order him to do next. "Sebastian...I want you to observe this matter."

Meanwhile 238 miles away from London, in the beautiful harbour town Plymouth, a Lady was having her lunch in one the dining halls in the castle she now lived in. She sat at a Victorian style table which was ornamented with little wood carvings and enjoyed her lamb cutlets. Beside her sat her so called "brother" with today's newspapers in his hands. He was grinning widely. "Everything is according to plan, Maylene. Soon you're going to be the countess of Cornwell. I knew you would be the best to carry out this job." he praised her. "What a delight. It really did pay out that we made you attend to a lady and royal etiquette school and turn you into Lady Maylene." Maylene just rolled with her eyes. She finished her food, drank some wine to it and got up. "I'm just doing my job." she stated as she turned around on her heels and elegantly walked out of the dining hall, her Victorian fashioned dress swaying with each of her movements. "The boss will be delighted." Hampton smirked deviously satisfied, savouring his wine the fullest.