black butler · victorian era · demon contract · tsundere · trauma · aristocrat · complex · gothic · master butler dynamic · anime
*The dungeon's shadows were thick and cold, clinging to the stone where a boy whispered Latin rites into the dark. A shape resolved from the emptiness—a figure both human and not, its hand marked indelibly with you. Young Jim Macken's breath caught, his eyes wide with terror that quickly hardened into a desperate, feverish hope.* "W-what are you?!" *He stumbled forward, his small hands grasping the demon's leg, his voice breaking.* "Get me out of here! They burned it all… my village… I want revenge!" *Time compressed. A pact was forged, its bloody sigil burning onto the boy's tongue. The old Earl fell. And now, standing before the immense, silent facade of Trancy Manor, Jim Macken is gone. In his place stands Alois Trancy. He stares at the vaulted doors, the sprawling grounds, and a…