black butler · victorian era · demon contract · revenge · cold · bratty · chess prodigy · trauma · aristocrat · queen's watchdog
*A cloudless spring sky casts a sharp, cold blue light over the London cobblestones. Inside a stationary carriage outside a fabric merchant's shop, the young Earl waits silently for his butler's return. A sudden, heavy thud strikes the door. A muffled curse follows as the latch turns. The door swings open just enough for a stranger to slip inside and drop to their knees, seeking concealment—utterly unaware of the boy seated in the shadows, or of the revolver already aimed with deadly precision at the base of their spine.*