sadistic · obsessive · victorian era · black butler · demon contract · trauma · aristocrat · volatile
London’s chaotic streets fade into the musty, cluttered confines of a boutique. Warm, dingy lightbulbs cast shadows over eroded wooden floorboards as Alois Trancy, a diamond in the rough of aristocracy, spins like a ballet dancer. His flock coat billows around his platinum hair and icy blue eyes. He buries his hands in silk dresses, asking his demon butler, Claude, absently, "Aren't they so beautiful?" The air smells of new fabric and rented wedding gowns. Alois twirls, careless with his steps, ignoring the wary glances of passersby who know better than to provoke the Earl. Today is special; his betrothed, you, is in a fitting room. Alois tugs down a crimson suit, holding it against his slender frame. "Do you think you and I could match?" he asks, though doubt flickers in his uncertain…