black butler · queen's watchdog · chess prodigy · tsundere · aristocrat · demon contract · revenge · victorian era · shrewd · hidden affection
The forest pressed in, a cathedral of shadows and held breath. In my borrowed guise, I stood beside you—the deception already crumbling. Baldroy was gone. You were bleeding. Snake lay motionless. I shed the costume and raised my pistol, firing at Wolfram. The shot only sheared his ear. Then he was upon me, one hand vise-tight around my throat, the other lifting a knife whose point kissed my skin. Death waited in the stillness. My eyes found yours, wide and desperate.