Bad Romance (Black Maid One-Shot)

Sucking in a breath, you glanced over at the person beside you. "Well? What do you think?"

He rubbed his chin as he looked it over. "Interesting. I'm amazed you could mend this on your own. Do you really think the toy business would work out for us?"

You straightened up from the table and narrowed your eyes in thought. "At this point, anything is better than a fishing and trading company. I think the odds are in our favor."

He smiled in satisfaction as he turned to you. "Things have been going better since you came to us. Lord Phantomhive has never been more happier. You are certainly changing him for the better. He is more confident, more sly, more fearless than ever. Funtom has become number one over the past several months. And this is all thanks to you."

You smiled and folded your hands over your heart. "Well, if I couldn't do this much at least, then what kind of maid would I be?"

Amusement crossed his face as he unfolded your hands. "You look far too uncomfortable in that position. Whenever you smile, place your single hand over what you think matters most. Us butlers are trained to have it over our hearts, but you aren't a normal maid. I'd say you can choose whatever you want."

You laughed to yourself. "Thank you for your guidance, Tanaka. You've quite literally taught me everything I know."

He smiled again, but this time it didn't reach his eyes. You noticed this and it made yours slightly fall.

He sighed as he placed his hands behind his back and began to lead you out of the room. "Now, Y/N, aside from his title, money, and business...there is something we must discuss."

As you both walked down the hall, you could tell he was hesitant to speak. "I've noticed you have both gotten quite close. You must remember your role here. You are his maid, he is your master. And this leads me to the certain matter."

He suddenly stopped, and you stopped along with him as he looked up at you. "His legacy. Lord Phantomhive must have an heir that will eventually take over what you have created here. He won't be young forever, soon enough he'll be as old as me."

He chuckled, but his eyes were filled with seriousness. "He needs to be wedded, Y/N. He never had a proper betrothed. And now, he must be married to a lovely lady. And soon."

You rose an eyebrow. "And does he know of this?"

"I doubt it. It's possible to have crossed his mind, but...if he is anything like his father, he would've left it alone to forget about."

Your eyes narrowed at him. "And why are you telling me this exactly?"

He offered a sweet smile that made his wrinkles appear around his eyes. "Because it isn't me who will be telling him."

. . .

Muttering under your breath, you knocked on his bedroom door. "Of course, leave it to Y/N...it's not like she cooks or cleans or creates a damn business, nope...just leave it all to Y/N..."

"Come In."

You smiled as you entered the room, but your feet stopped once you saw the shirtless master of yours that was surprisingly doing pull-ups on the bar attached to his bed frame.

"Um...master?"

After a few more, he dropped down and turned to look at you. And once he saw it was you, a smile came on his face. "Y/N, good morning."

Your words caught in your throat as your gaze went to his unbuttoned slacks. "Yes...good morning...master..."

He didn't bother buttoning his pants, though, as he pushed his arms through a white dress shirt and walked over to stand directly in front of you.

"Is there something you need from me?"

Your eyes slowly moved back up to his, and you cleared your throat. "There is an important matter I must discuss with you, my Lord."

He looked down to button up his pants and buckle them as well. "Go on, then. What's wrong? Has Lau caused more trouble again?"

You breathed out as you shut the door. "No. This actually has to do with your legacy."

He picked up the damp towel on his small table and wiped his face with it. "My legacy? I'm not sure what you mean."

"You need to make sure the Phantomhive family will live on. Leave your mark permanently on England."

"With how well everything is with Funtom and hardly any trouble in the Underworld, I would say I will be quite remembered, Y/N. Let's not discuss it further."

"You need an heir, an offspring to carry on your work for your family to be remembered. In order for that to happen..."

He let out a dry laugh as he dropped the towel over the chair. "I said to drop it, Y/N."

"You need to find a suitable wife. And soon."

He froze up. Your jaw clenched when he turned around and glared at you. "And why exactly do I need to be wedded? Having a child isn't enough - now I need to be tied down with a woman who will only be after my money."

You frowned. "That won't happen."

He scoffed. "You may be one hell of a woman, but that you don't even know."

You glared at the back of his head as you walked forward and held out a paper in front of him. He looked at you curiously as he took it. He looked down a tit, seeing two pictures of two different women.

"That is Rachel and Angelina Dalles. They are the daughters of Lord Dalles. He contacted me and I have personally discussed the details of his offer and I believe one of them will suit very nicely as your wife."

His eyes looked the girls over, then he threw down the paper on the small table. "Dalles is a great contributor and business partner. I see no reason to consider this offer." He turned around to sit in his chair and pick up his newspaper.

You sucked your teeth in annoyance. "Are they not to your liking, sir?"

He raised his eyebrows and shrugged. "They are very beautiful young ladies. Any man would be lucky to have them on their arm."

Your look was one of absolute frustration and irritation. "Maser, you fail to see how important this is to you."

He hummed as he picked up his tea cup and sipped it behind the newspaper.

Your foot tapped the floor as you began to lose your patience. You stepped closer to his chair and bent over to where your face was in front of the newspaper.

"One way or another, you will be married. Now you can pick the bride yourself or leave it for me to decide."

The paper was slapped down onto his table. He locked his eyes with yours and leaned closer, mere inches away from your face. "And what if I don't want a bride to marry at all?"

He rose his eyebrow playfully. "What if I am not interested in the girls you and Tanaka throw at me?"

A smile pulled at your lips. "Then we would have a problem. And by we, of course I mean you."

You exhaled through your nose as you picked up the paper with the girls' pictures. You held it up by your face.

"My Lord, please understand. Think about what would be best for your family. For your company. Now, that is all that matters."

For a long moment, his eyes pierced through yours, searching them as if to find a way out of the situation he was being forced into.

After a moment of intense silence, he let out a defeated sigh and snatched the paper from your hand.

You leaned back from him as he stood up. "Fine."

He put the paper back on the table and looked down at it as he buttoned up his shirt.

"Prepare a carriage. And clear my schedule for the rest of the day."

He lightly shook his head. "We're leaving to visit these brides of yours. Let Tanaka know. We leave in fifteen minutes. No later."

You stood back up and bowed your head. "As you wish, master."

You moved to close the door behind you as he was tying his silk tie around his neck.

"And Y/N."

You stopped to look back at him.

He didn't look at you as he spoke. "You're blushing."

His comment made you laugh to yourself as you shut the door.

He smirked and looked at the door once you left.

. . .

"Master, I am curious."

He looked away from the window to you, but returned his gaze to it.

"Curious about what?"

You turned your head and slid closer to him.

"Exactly why are you so against being married?"

He twisted himself to look at you with a sigh. "It's not the marrying I have a problem with, Y/N. There was a time when my family was slowly fading away from the eyes of England. And now, I actually have something to lose."

He rose his hand and showed off the ring upon his finger. "Since the day I received this, everything that we have worked for, it is now at risk. If I marry, I will not tolerate a finance vacuum for a wife."

A smile appeared out of amusement from your face.

"Master, I promise you, the ladies I present to you only wish for one thing."

You turned to him with a raised eyebrow. "You. And every bit of affection you have to give."

He huffed. "I'm not a very affectionate person. You know that."

You shrugged. "Your presence of charm alone will be enough. A kiss on the hand or cheek, a compliment here and there, a dazzling, warm smile, and they will be satisfied."

"You make me sound like the very embodiment of romance."

A laugh escaped you. "Well, you are a gentleman. One of my creation, I might add."

He hummed, and you didn't notice the smile on his lips.

You exhaled. "Charm them both. Stay confident. And tonight when I see you to bed, simply say whose company you enjoyed best. That simple."

He nodded his head as he continued to gaze out the window.

"Simple."

. . .

When the door creaked and swung open, you were both greeted with a large smile from Lord Dalles.

"Ah, Lord Phantomhive!"

Vincent gave a smile as well and opened his arms to him.

"Richard!'

They shared a brief hug that involved a few pats on the back. Once they seperated, Vincent clasped his shoulder.

"How have you been, old man?"

He let out a hearty laugh. "Better, now that you're here, Vincent."

That was when his eyes noticed you, standing a respectful distance behind him.

"And Y/N, very lovely to see you again, my dear."

You smiled and bowed your head. "A pleasure seeing you again, my Lord."

He chuckled and gestured to the right where a set of double doors were.

"Well don't just stand there, come in! Make yourself comfortable."

You closed the door behind you and followed Vincent as Lord Dalles led him to the doors.
Once they were opened up, Vincent walked in.

Lord Dalles continued speaking, but Vincent was already getting comfortable. He sat himself down on the couch and crossed his legs.

"My, you certainly haven't lost your sense of appearance. My girls certainly do love a man who cares about how he presents himself."

He only received a him in response.

"Say, Vincent, I thank you for contacting me. If you haven't I would be stressing even more about finding good men to marry my girls."

"Richard, do you mind giving us a little privacy?"

Lord Dalles chocked over his words as he realized Vincent was already in the room.

"Oh! Of course, take all the time you need."

Vincent smiled. "Good man."

He nervously laughed as he began to close the door.

"I'll just, uh, I'll go check on my girls and see if they're almost ready, then."

Vincent only smiled again, but once the doors did close, it faded away into a frown.
He looked at you as you hummed in the corner of the room.

"Y/N. Come here. Now."

Your eyebrows rose up at his voice that was firm and his eyes that bored right through you.

You still obeyed and came to where he sat. "Yeees?"

He leaned forward. "Did you or did you not say that it was Dalles that called and it was he that offered us his daughters?"

You shrugged. "Well, usually I would say I prefer not to take sides in an argument, but in this situation, I would lean more towards yes."

He puckered his lips and leaned back. "And Dalles just revealed that I was the one to call him?"

You stayed silent. "You called him in my place, then lied to me about it. It won't happen again. You will never lie to me again. Do you understand?"

You smiled and bowed your head. "Yes. As you wish, my Lord."

He stared at you for a few more seconds, until you lifted your head up.

"Master, your tie has come undone. May I?"

His eyes never left yours as he gave a slight nod. You sat on your knees and reached up to wrap your fingers around the silk material of his tie. The entire time, he was watching you with a certain emotion in his eyes. You tried your best to ignore it, and after a few seconds, you had a perfectly made tie that you gently placed under his shirt.

You moved your hands away to stand up, but he unexpectedly grabbed your wrist.

You stopped moving. And you slowly looked up at him.

There was a hesitant look in his eyes, as if he was battling himself on whether he should proceed or not.

"Y/N, I need to-"

The door then swung open. You quickly moved away from him and stood behind the couch with your arms behind your back.

Lord Dalles entered with a butler and maid behind him. He let out a laugh as he gestured to Vincent.

"Rachel, Angelina, come say hello to our guest, Lord Phantomhive and his maid, Y/N."

Two girls poked their heads in and walked inside the room with their hands folded in their
lap.

At the same time, they curtsied. The girl with the long strawberry blonde hair and deep blue eyes smiled kindly and spoke.

"We are very honored to meet you, my Lord. I am Rachel Dalles."

She looked over at the girl with crimson red hair who looked anywhere but at Vincent.

"I apologize. This is my little sister, Angelina Dalles. She is quite shy around new
people."

Vincent smiled at them and stood from his seat to be directly in front of Rachel.

"No, please, there is no need for apology."

He took her hand and gently kissed it. "It's not every day I meet two ladies as lovely as you. My name is Vincent, Lord of Phantomhive."

Rachel smiled as he then turned to Angelina And did the same. "And I am very pleased to meet you both."

You noticed Angelina turn red and look away. Vincent also noticed this and smirked to himself.

"And this is your maid?"

Vincent looked back to Rachel and smiled again. "Yes. Y/N, do introduce yourself."

You nodded. "Yes, sir." You walked closer to them and bowed your head to the girls. "Good day, I am Y/N L/N, head maid to the Phantomhive Estate."

Rachel looked to Vincent in confusion. "A head maid? I have never heard of such a thing. Head butler, of course."

Vincent chuckled. "Miss Dalles-"

"Rachel, please." She smiled.

He smiled in return. "Rachel. Y/N is the only maid under my household. She has as much power as my head butler." 

She rose her eyebrows and looked at you in complete surprise. "Only one maid? Well pardon my bluntness, but how can a manor possibly run with only one maid?"

He turned to look at you with a proud smirk.

Your lips formed a smirk of your own as you looked into her eyes. "See, my lady, I am simply one hell of a maid."

. . .

Lord Dalles chuckled to himself as he smoked his cigar. "I think it's going well. I see a lot of interaction between him and Rachel. Do you guarantee he will treat her well?"

The smile that was usually on your lips wasn't there as you nodded. "You have my word, my Lord."

He nodded with a sad smile as he glanced at the portrait of his daughters that hung on the wall.

You turned away to look out the window. Vincent was standing outside on the balcony with Angelina beside them as they looked out into the garden.

You expected yourself to smile, but you found yourself continuing to frown. Perhaps because he didn't even look embarrassed as he picked a few flowers and handed one to her, before walking out of sight.

Or maybe it was because when he reappeared, he was on the opposite side, now with Rachel as he handed her the remaining flowers. She blushed as he kissed her cheek and offered her his arm. And not once did he even look embarrassed or doubtful.

But then why should he? There's nothing between you, after all.

You moved the curtain back in place and looked away from it, your jaw clenching as Lord Dalles stood from his seat. "I think it's time for lunch. Y/N, would you please bring them to the dining hall?"

You bowed your head. "Certainly, my Lord."

. . .

Your presence went unnoticed by them as they were whispering to each other on the ground by the patch of flowers. And once you heard his laughter, you decided to speak.

"Master."

He glanced behind him and once he saw you, his laughter stopped. "What is it?"

You forced a smile. "Please excuse the intrusion. Lord Dalles asked me to fetch you for lunch, my Lord."

He nodded. "Yes, of course." He opened his hands to her and she took them as he pulled her up from the ground. He walked over to stand beside you as she picked a few more flowers to bring with her.

"She has a real eye for those flowers, doesn't she." Vincent gave her a tender smile, that only when Rachel returned one back made you suddenly very. . . protective.

"Yes. A shame it wasn't her who broke her back to plant them." You winced when he looked at you with a hard glare. "Apologies, master. That was inappropriate."

"Yes, it was." He nodded for you to go and you did as he wanted.

And as they followed you, you were cursing yourself for what you had said.

. . .

The day passed faster than you thought it would. The lunch went smoothly, with Vincent and Rachel stealing glances and smiling at each other the entire time.

You rolled your eyes every time Rachel would ask Vincent to hand her something and every time, they brushed hands.

Honestly, you found the entire day to be irritating. And you had no idea why.

But you were also confused, because once Vincent stepped foot on the manor, the smile and happiness that was clear on his face completely disappeared.

His entire attitude was back to it's playful, distant self. And once he handed you his coat and hat, he walked off to his room without another room.

Even Tanaka noticed it. And when he asked you what was wrong, for once you didn't have an answer.

But you were determined to find out.

And that brought you here, outside his door. Where you stood and sighed, before reaching up to knock on his door.

*Knock* *Knock*

"Master? May I come in?"

There was a long moment of silence.

"Come in."

His voice didn't sound like himself. It sounded...conflicted.

The door opened and the very first thing you noticed was how dark the room was. The second was him, sitting in his chair that was placed in the far corner of the room. He was gazing out the window with his fist tightly clenched in his lap.

"Dear, it's incredibly dark in here. It isn't that time of the month is it?"

A faint chuckle was heard. "Shut the door."

His voice had now turned form and commanding.

You did as was told.

"Lock it."

You hesitated, silently wondering why as you still did as was told.

"Come here."

Again, you did as was told, for some reason the sound of his voice making you more curious.

"Master, is everything-"

You felt a hand shoot out and grab you by the wrist, yanking you backwards.

Your demonic senses kicked in and assuming a threat, you backflipped into the bed and pinned down the person's arms.

That was, until you realized you were looking right at dark chocolate brown eyes.

"Master..."

You let go of his arms and slid off the bed. He also sat up and rested his arm over his bent knee.

"Over so soon? You're no fun tonight."

You kept your arms at your sides as you shook your head.

His smile began to drop. He leaned forward and stood up off the bed. You looked up as he opened his hand to you.

You were confused at first, until he grew tired of waiting and grabbed your hand. Your entire body tensed up when he removed your glove, revealing the contract mark on the back of your hand.

He stared at it for a moment, then reached into his pants pocket. You couldn't really see what he pulled out, but you knew it was small.

That's when you felt something slide onto your finger.

You moved your hand towards the window and the moonlight shined down on the object, revealing it to be a ring with a large, red ruby in the center. 

You were beyond confused now. And when you looked back at him, he was leaning against one of the posts that made up the bed and he was smirking at your reaction. You unconsciously stepped back when he stepped closer to you.

"I understand how curious cats can be. Do you want to know why I rejected leaving to go there?"

You tried your best to keep your face clear of emotion, but you couldn't deny the fact that you were curious.

You stepped back again as he went closer, and you felt your back hit against the wall. He grew closer and looked into your eyes. At the same time, you could feel his fingers entwine with yours. He rose your joined hands up for you to see.

"I don't want a lady, Y/N. What I want is the exact opposite."

You glanced over at the ring on your finger, then the hand that forced its way in yours. And you remembered something.

Flashback...

As you both walked down the hall, you could tell he was hesitant to speak. "I've noticed you have both gotten quite close. You must remember your role here. You are his maid, he is your master. And this leads me to the certain matter."  

You breathed out. He's right. But it goes beyond that...

Your hand unclasped his and slid away from it. You rose your head and chuckled darkly. 

"How foolish of you, master."

You stepped closer, esxpecting him to step back, but he didn't and only stared at you.

"I think you've completely forgotten my role here."

You grinned as your eyes went demonic. "There's only one thing I want from you. The only thing I continue to stay here for."

You grabbed his shirt and pulled him closer to breathe on his lips. "The scent of what lies beyond this flesh and blood."

After a few seconds, he grabbed the hand that held his shirt and pulled it from his clothing. When you looked up at him, he had a blank face. But he eventually gave a tight-lipped smile.

"I understand completely. Our contract. That is the only bond we will ever have."

He let go of your wrist and ran a hand through his hair as he sat himself on the bed and moved to lay down.

"I liked Rachel. Very sweet, kind, and had a beautiful smile. She will make a perfect bride to me." He turned his head to you one last time. "Make it happen."

You managed a smile. And when you moved to place your hand over your heart, you stopped.

Flashback...

Amusement crossed his face as he unfolded your hands. "You look far too uncomfortable in that position. Whenever you smile, place your single hand over what you think matters most. Us butlers are trained to have it over our hearts, but you aren't a normal maid. I'd say you can choose whatever you want."  

Over what matters most...

You instead moved it down to place on your stomach and you bowed your head. "Yes, my Lord."

. . .

The next morning, you were standing respectively behind the couch in the manor that belonged to Lord Dalles.

You kept your eyes at the doors while Vincent and Rachel were laughing and smiling. And when you heard Rachel whisper into Vincent's hear, followed by the sounds of his laughter you could feel yourself returning further into the dark shadows in the corner of the room.

The doors opened soon after and Angelina walked in, chipper as ever with a smile on her face. 

"Rachel, there's something I need to tell..."

Once she saw Vincent, she trailed off in surprise, but once she saw their hands that were holding each other and how happy they were, her eyes began to grow more wet with salty tears.

Rachel looked over at her and smiled largely. "An, I have wonderful news!" 

By the happiness in her voice, you forced yourself to smile. Even if it was fake. And you weren't the only one.

Rachel shot up from the couch and ran over to her sister. She raised up her hand that showed the ring upon her finger. And once Angelina saw it, you could see her heart shattering piece by piece.

"Vincent and I are engaged! He proposed this morning, can you believe it!"

She gave a wary smile as she stared at her sister, the tears starting to well up now. "Oh...I-I'm so very happy for you...I'm crying with joy..."

You glanced down at the ring that was on your finger as Vincent stood up and wrapped an arm around Rachel's waist.

And it was when he pulled her in for a kiss that for the very first time, you and a human shared the same emotions for the same person.