The next day crept by slowly. I spent my time looking out the window and watching the various people coming and going; the castle surprisingly had a lot of visitors throughout the day. Once I got bored with that I perused the various books that Sebastian had lining the walls of his room, until finally I found one that seemed interesting enough. Dante's Inferno by the early Italian poet Dante. I had heard of the epic before, and it sounded interesting enough, but coming from a poor family I had never had the opportunity to get my hands on one that had been translated into English.

"In the middle of the journey of our life I found myself within a dark woods where the straight way was lost."

I spun around to see Sebastian standing just a few feet away. In his hands he held a silver tray and on it sat a delicious looking slice of pie.

"The first line of Inferno by Dante Alighieri. I must say, you have good choice in literature Victoria, Inferno is a favourite of mine."

"Oh." I blushed. "I haven't started it yet."

Sebastian smiled warmly.

"I am sure you will enjoy it, but not on an empty stomach. How does Deep-Dish Apple Raisin Pie sound for lunch today?"

"It sounds wonderful, and smells it too!"

"Perfect. I have some errands to run, but I will be back in time to bring you dinner."

I pouted.

"Will you have time to have dinner with me?"

"I don't eat dinner, my dear Victoria, I just make it. However, if the young master does not have any further plans for me, I will be more than glad to sit with you while you eat."

I simply nodded in response, smiling. Sebastian walked over to the small window seat and its accompanying coffee table, where he then set down the pie.

"Come my lady, your lunch is waiting."

He winked at me. I walked over to the table and took my seat at it.

"Why thank you sir."

I grinned up at him. He returned the grin and gave me a noble bow before he left the room. I signed as I took a bite of the pie. Not even the exquisite and sweet taste of the pie could mask the melancholy I felt. It was my first full day at the Phantomhive Manor and I was spending it alone in Sebastian's bed chamber.

The sun touched the mountains, setting the sky ablaze with an orange glow. It was getting late, Ciel and Sebastian had already returned, and I was getting hungry. Yet for some reason Sebastian hadn't come to see me with my dinner. I began to worry that something had gone wrong and that was the reason for Sebastian's delay; it was beginning to seem like he was always magically on time for everything, excluding this.

I jumped up at the sound of the door opening, expecting it to be Sebastian. But instead, a young girl - probably 13 or 14 - stood in the doorway. She startled me with a high pitched squeal and ran towards me.

"Oh my! What are you doing in here? There is going to be a ball, you can't be left out!"

"What? Excuse me for asking, but who are you?"

"Oh, silly me! I am Elizabeth, but you can call me Lizzy! I am Ciel's fiancee! Come with me!"

Elizabeth grabbed my arm and began to drag me towards the door. I pulled back, shaking my head furiously.

"Milady, I am sorry I can't! I, uh... I am sick!"

"No you're not! You don't look a bit sick at all. If you were sick you would be in bed!"

She continued to tug on my arm, inching me ever so slowly towards the door. I wasn't ready to test the boundaries that Sebastian had given me yesterday.

"Really, I shouldn't!"

"I can make you look so pretty, please just come to my ball! No one in this mansion can miss it!"

I shook my head yet again, still pulling against her grip. I nearly fell over when she suddenly let go of my arm and brought both of her hands to her chest.

"Please..." her voice wavered. "It would really hurt my feelings if you didn't go."

Her eyes twinkled as tears began to form at the corners. I panicked, suddenly afraid that she would tell Ciel, who in turn, would be cross with me for making his fiancee cry. Sebastian would understand; I think he would rather me leave the room than anger Ciel.

"Alright, I suppose I can go."

"Yay!" She squealed before she reclaimed her strong grip on my arm and dragged me out into the corridor.

I let her lead me through the corridors, which were now decorated to be pink and girly with bows and ribbons everywhere, until we came up to two giant doors. She opened those doors and I wasn't shocked to see that the bedchamber we were in was also decorated to match her sickeningly sweet, girly style. She released me as she closed the doors, then spun around and looked me up and down. A few awkward seconds passed by, as I stood and let her perform her inspection of me.

"I think I have the perfect dress for you in my trunk!" Lizzy bounced over to an ornate chest sitting just at the foot of the bed. "The dark red will look so good against your pretty pale skin and with your dark brown hair!"

I bit my lip and smiled demurely; I had always been shy about compliments.

"Thank you, err… Lizzy."

"Of course!"

I watched as she pulled out a dress that was indeed a gorgeous deep red and turned to me. The dress was so tall that she had to hold it above her head, but it looked as though it would be, if anything, a little too short on me.

"This is it! Here you go!"

She held the dress out towards me. With great care, I took the heavy bundle of fabric off of her hands. I had never handled such expensive and delicate fabric before in my life, so I was afraid that I would tear it or ruin it in some manner. Then she dipped into the chest again, this time bringing out heeled boots made out of dark red leather and laid them on top of the dress.

"You go change into all of this, then I can do your hair and maybe add a little makeup to brighten your features."

"Okay mil-"

"Call me Lizzy, you don't have to be so formal to me!"

"Oh, uh okay."

I laughed anxiously, before I took the dress with me into the walk in closet that she had indicated. Hidden behind the wall, I quickly slipped out of my day dress and slid myself into the exquisite dress. The material was slippery against my skin, like silk, or some other high grade, and very expensive, textile. I slid my arms into the long sleeves, and adjusted my breasts so that they sat exactly the way I wanted them. I then bent over and slipped each boot on, tying the laces so that the top of the boots fit snugly around my ankles. Now just to lace the -

"Oh silly! You can't lace that properly on your own! That kind of dress takes two people to put on."

Lizzy flitted into the closet before I could protest; I could hardly keep up with this little girl. She slapped my hands away from the laces on the back of the dress.

"Ow, sorry! I didn't know..."

"It's fine. Now brace yourself, I have to pull these laces pretty hard!"

I wasn't sure what she meant exactly, but as soon as I widened my stance a little, she yanked on the laces. I jolted back, coughing.

"I have to do that again, when you let me pull you back it loosened the strings a little."

"Isn't it tight enough? Any tighter and I won't be able to breath!"

"That's a good thing! The smaller the waist the better. Try sucking in a bit this time!"

I groaned as I sucked in and prepared myself for another yank on the laces. This time when she pulled, the corset of the dress tightened, and I didn't let her drag me back. I felt a slight tugging down towards my hips, then she let go of the laces. I could hardly breath.

"Perfect!" She flitted around to my front. "You know, your hair looks lovely as is. How do you get it to fall in such big curls?"

She took one of the mentioned curls and pulled it down, then released it so it would bounce back up.

"Oh, it just dries like this naturally."

"How lovely, I wish my hair would do that. Anywho, after a bit of rouge on your lips, and some colour for your eyes, we will be set!"

"Okay, wonderful!"

I tried to sound as enthusiastic as possible, but that was kind of hard to do when my anxiety was beginning to mount again and added to my already laboured breathing. Shortly, I would be facing Sebastian and whatever his reaction was. Hopefully he will be understanding, and my punishment, whatever it is, will be dropped.

"Perfect! You look perfect! Oh how I wish my auntie would let me wear makeup like this."

Lizzy stood back, admiring her handy work on my face.

"Well, thank you!"

I beamed cheerfully into the mirror. She did do a good job; I had never seen my face looking like it did. My lips were a deep red, and there was an exact line of contrast between my pale skin and my lips. Unlike my lips, the dark black on my eyes slowly faded out around the edges; my blue eyes looked dramatic against the dark around my eyes.

"No problem, dear! Now, it is time to go down and show you off to everyone!"

I nodded nervously, and stood from the chair. Lizzy grabbed my hand and dragged me out of the room. Down the hall I could hear people talking, and their voices didn't sound too happy. I couldn't tell if any of them were Sebastian's, though I'd know soon enough. She ran me through the hall, nearly making me fall multiple times in my dress shoes.

At the top of the stairs, she left me and took off down the stairs shrieking, "Ciel!"

She flew into the arms of a very shocked looking Ciel, who shouted her name back at her in shock. I slowly came down the stairs, having not yet caught Sebastian's attention. As if reading my mind, he pulled his eyes away from Ciel and Lizzy, and looked right at me. His mouth flattened into a straight line. I froze, halfway down the steps, scared to go any further. In a split second, he was looking back at Lizzy as she placed a pink bonnet - seemingly pulled out of nowhere - atop his head.

His eyes widened. Nearly everyone in the room, myself included, was trying to stifle back giggles. Sebastian shot a glare at the group of servants snickering behind him that silenced everyone's giggles. Distractions silenced, he then smiled at Lizzy and bowed down to her level. I could just barely hear what was being said.

i "I am deeply honored that you went to so much trouble for a humble servant. Your generosity overwhelms me."/i He was a true gentleman, always knowing how to respond to the situation with as much grace as possible.

"Happy to help." She responded, grinning ear to ear.

"Now, I think it may be best if I get Grell down. He detracts from the lovely decor you have added to this room."

Somehow, it took until then for me to notice the man hanging from the ceiling by his neck. He hung there, swinging back and forth, decorated in large yellow bows like the rest of the room. I gasped, backing up, nearly falling back on the stairs. How could they be so casual when a man hung himself and was hanging there right in front of them?

"But I think he looks so nice!" Lizzy pouted, as Sebastian began to reach up to retrieve this man named Grell. I watched, slightly horrified, as he untied him and brought the body down. But, upon setting him down, the man stood and appeared to be completely fine. He stood normally, as though he had not been deprived of any oxygen, and from where I was I couldn't see any mark on his neck from the rope.

I felt a bit faint from it all; it was just too weird. First I see Sebastian's eyes flash red, and now I see a man come out completely fine after hanging himself? Something was definitely up.

Suddenly, Sebastian was coming up the steps toward me while Ciel yelled angrily about something to Lizzy. Despite being in a pink bonnet, he was still intimidating. He stopped on the step just under me, yet he was still taller than me.

"Victoria, might I ask what you are doing out here in such a dress?" His voice was calm.

"Lady Elizabeth found me in your bed chamber when she was going through and decorating the entire castle. She iinsisted/i I get dressed up like everyone else. I didn't want to hurt her feelings by saying no." Then I whispered out a meek, "Sorry."

"I see you had no choice then, very well. It seems Lady Elizabeth is throwing a ball here at the castle, despite young master's aversion to it. Are you going?"

"I don't know, am I going?" I asked tentatively.

"Well, you are already dressed up and the other servants have seen you now, so I don't see why not." He smiled. Ciel called for him from another room. Sebastian looked past me, then back down at me. "I better go see what young master needs. Why don't you go back up to my bed chamber, and I'll retrieve you for the ball?"

"Oh, okay."

Sebastian stroked my cheek and leaned in for what I was expecting to be a kiss, but instead he kissed me on the forehead. He left me there, and I watched him descend the steps. I was a bit disappointed to be dismissed so quickly. I knew he wasn't pleased to see me down here without his permission, but since I was already out, couldn't I have just quietly hung around with him while he took care of Ciel or whatever it was he had to do?

Sighing, I turned around and went back up the stairs before Lizzy could notice that I was leaving. Down the hall and back into my prison I went, and sat down in one of the arm chairs to wait for Sebastian. I was beginning to wonder if coming here was a bad idea all along.