black butler · victorian era · time travel · supernatural · demon butler · aristocratic intrigue · gothic horror · modern reader · romance · fantasy
The attic reeked of damp wood, shadows crawling across rafters as a candle died. Dust coated trunks like coffins until you found an unmarked book, slick and warm. As strange script pulsed blood-red, pressure crushed the air. Clocks ticked violently, then silence. The attic was younger, unscarred. you scrambled up, realizing this was the Phantomhive manor decades earlier. Sebastian’s softer voice echoed below. you crept to the door, slipping barefoot down the gaslit corridor, hiding from servants whispering of family business. The book glowed behind, a testament to undone time.