Le Début

Part 1 - Saint-Clair

France, 2003, July 17th.

'"All is oblique; there's nothing level in our cursed natures but direct villainy." Said Shakespeare.'

'What a man! Ha! Couldn't be more accurate, really.'

'What a man indeed... C'est incroyable .'

' C'est incroyable, petit frère .'

And the two men laughed as they sipped away at their glasses halfway filled with rich wine, laughs filled with joy mixed with a relief, a casual tone for a casual air. They were sitting together on a balcony, a balcony belonging to a very extravagant home, and a very rich person.

'Purely French architecture, indeed! Such was rare nowadays, and this rich house simply added to that rarity. It was far away, hills away, from ordinary city folk. The house was packed, around 30 people or more, or is it packed at all? 4 stories in this home. The people had space, very much so! The people… people.. no, the rich. The rich had space. A special event was ongoing at such a time, and I was running it! Bonjour, mes amis , or rather, mes ennemis (my enemies)! In the mind of the fabulous Ciel Saint-Clair, you are! I can feel a smile pricking at my lips, ha! I have too much on my mind, I'm talking to myself again. Whatever!'

Our protagonist—a man, tall stature, dark blue eyes alongside naturally styled dark brown hair, pale, a body; confident, fit, though not muscular.—fell into deep thought again, pausing his eavesdropping of the balcony conversation. He was sat on a light beige chair, one with incredible fabric, running your finger through it makes such a noise for the ears! The door to the balcony was open, enough to hear the conversation. A most interesting conversation, in fact. Enough to pass time for the bored Saint-Clair. His eyes drifted through the main room of his abode; luxurious medieval paintings hung, a modern, empty feeling, marble floors and durable white walls, a handful of black doors were around, leading to certain areas of the floor; the third one, at that. Some other light beige chairs were scattered in some corners, either that or green, healthy plants that added so much as nothing… or that's what Ciel thought, at least. For an add on, a white, glistening, spectacularly made, chandelier was present, hanging down from the middle area of the bland ceiling.

He let out a sigh.

' Ennuyeux ,' he muttered to himself right before one of the doors opened; the door to the staircase.

Another man walked through the room. He was in decent shape, you could see some curves of muscle through his slightly rushed white elegant attire. The man was around 5'11, looked like a relatively young adult, dark brown eyes and styled black hair. Pale too (not too much, though), just like Ciel. His stature and aura gave off a sense of young naivety, a little silly too, though also a specific type of confidence and duty. He was noticed by Ciel, causing both men to light up.

Ciel grew a smile, 'Sylvain!' He exclaimed.

'Sorry for being late! I didn't give off a good impression to the guests by the looks I got, I'm assuming. Took me a bit to find you.'

'Hey, hey! No worries, man. Just… here, sit down,' Ciel said as he grabbed a chair and pulled it next to his as he sat back down. 'I was waiting for ya, glad you came. How's home treating you?'

'Home?' Sylvain let out a slight chuckle. 'Most people ask that question when it comes to life or work.'

'I couldn't care less nor do I wanna hear any more about either. I've been working all week, not to mention all the people here talk about work, that's it! Like we're mindless robots!' Ciel stops himself as he noticed that he was drifting off into a passionate ramble.

'Don't fuss yourself so early. Home's been treating me well. It's been comfortable, sleep is bad as always, though I try to stay on schedule with pills. Just been relaxing as of late, relaxing with the dog and stuff, not much else. No luck with dating, though I'm not sure if that's "home" related, whatever you believe that is.' Sylvain let out a lighthearted chuckle, Ciel reciprocated one.

'Seems like you've been good. I've been fine too, I guess. Mostly been setting up for this event, which I really hate holding events, but I can't do much about it. Ma mère is too strict about stuff like this and I don't even want to try engaging in arguments with her. Le Saint-Clair famille has always been overly precise.' Ciel scoffed.

'Well, then I believe you handled this extraordinarily well. Visitors seem to be loving it; they're all laughing, conversing or dancing, music is good, food looks good, house looks clean too. This place has really gone up in quality since your inheritance of it. Now even the " la danse des riches " (the dance of the rich) event is admired throughout the continent. I heard there's Russians, Germans, English, all types here!'

' Oui, oui, ' Ciel smiled shyly, compliments made him flush. 'Don't overdo it, though thank you. I put a little more effort this year. It seemed to have paid off.' Ciel gave a soft nod, Sylvain gave one back and then the men fell into a momentary, comfortable silence.

'... About the company, Ciel. I've been working on some ideas or designs for, y'know, some grand outfits for the day.'

'Day? What day? I apologize for my ignorance, I'm a very busy man, kind of (and I wish I was not).'

'Y'know, the collaboration between Saint-Clair and Beaumont. The day in which Centre Monument (Monument Centre, the name of the biggest mall in the city) will pick out a new designer store to hit the boards and their mall.'

'Ah, yes… why are we planning for that now?'

'And here I thought you were an organized man!'

'Anything but…' Ciel muttered with a scoff.

'The day is a few weeks from now.'

' Quoi ?! What kind of few are we talking?'

'A week or two, potentially a month.'

And to these words, Ciel's expression momentarily faltered, a stare of distraught, widened eyes rushing with millions of thoughts, before picking its natural attitude—casual confidence and professionalism—back up.

'T-that's enough time! I can get my people working by then.'

'I-it's no worries, at once, Ciel!' Sylvain exclaimed with waving hands, alarmed by Ciel's momentary reaction. 'I have it all organized and planned. It's fine, really!'

'How could it be that my own assistant knows more than me…'

'Don't dumb me down to just that!' Sylvain remarked with a laugh. 'Though… how could it be you didn't know?'

'I was preoccupied with other matters, you know this! I wasn't aware it wasn't the same date as last year! It's usually always near the end of the year…' Ciel let out a sigh, his head falling for just a moment before he gained a grin back. 'I made no mistake picking you as assistant, at least I know that now.' Ciel let out a soft chuckle. Sylvain simply let out his own naive, proud, and ever so happy, grin in return. A comfortable silence fell over the two men again.

Sylvain looked over Ciel's shoulder, his eyes looking out the balcony window. He noticed the two men from earlier.

'The Alekseyevich brothers?' Sylvain asked.

'The Alekseyevich brothers.' Ciel answered.

'I heard they were huge in Russia. Perfume production, is it?'

'Indeed. They're a top 4 industry in Russia, currently top 12 across Europe. We worked with them once, a while back, however, you weren't here at that time.' Ciel said as he looked over his shoulder to take a quick glance at the brothers before looking back at Sylvain. He grew a smile. 'But you are now.' Ciel said, his voice softer, giving Sylvain's knee a nudge. 'I got big plans with you, buddy.'

'You say that everyday basically.' Sylvain said with a shy smile. A chuckle came out of both men as the brothers from the balcony suddenly made their way out of it, holding their finished glasses of wine.

'Coming through.' One of the brothers said jokingly with a fluent French accent despite his Russian heritage, a tall, tanned (still white) man with dark eyes and dark hair, an intimidating aura emitted from him and his expression, mostly due to his sharp and masculine features, predominantly on his face. The other walked behind, a shorter height (average), also pale, slender, a lot more boyish with also dark hair and eyes. The boyish one gave a nod.

'You boys tipsy?' Ciel asked with familiarity.

'Most likely.' The intimidating brother responded before glancing at the other. 'Him, probably not, though. A wimp, at that.' He chuckled.

'Hey! Cut it!' The boyish brother said, his tone attempting assertion yet came off as awkward. He held back a blush as he walked through the door to the balcony, standing side to his brother at the sudden stop.

'You been good?' The intimidating brother—Ivan Alekseyevich—asked Ciel.

'Couldn't be better.' Ciel said with a voluntary smile. 'The business?'

Ivan imitated an explosion with his hands to insinuate a boom in sales.

'Hell yeah!' Ciel chuckled as he gave Ivan a fist bump. The boyish one—Dmitri Alekseyevich—stood in silence as did Sylvain, sitting in silence.

'He the assistant?'

'Yeah. Not an ordinary one, however. A talent this one's got.' Ciel praised Sylvain.

'N-not so much!' Sylvain attempted to butt in and stop the talk about him to keep from embarrassment. Ciel and Ivan chuckled.

'Pleasure to meet you, Monsieur Dubois.' Ivan gave a respectful nod.

'Please, just Sylvain is fine.' Sylvain held back his slight nervousness of Ivan's intimidating presence and gave a small nod back. Ivan gave a small smile as he began to walk off.

'See you at the dinner, Ciel!'

'See you at the dinner, indeed, Ivan!" Ciel responded, giving a small smile back too. Dmitri, however, did not follow Ivan immediately. He looked at Sylvain for a couple of seconds with his big curious eyes before turning his head to the side, noticing Ciel's gaze on him. Dmitri was silently startled and began to walk off too, trying to keep his calm. Sylvain kept his eyes on Dmitri for a few seconds as he walked off.

'A curious one, is he? Fascinating.' Ciel remarked.

'Yes, monsieur.' Sylvain replied, his head still turned towards the black door that led to the staircase, which the Alekseyevich brothers left through. He then looked back at Ciel. 'Dinner soon?'

'Yes, I believe. My sister should have set it up by now.'

'I haven't met your family yet.' Sylvain observed, giving a slight chuckle.

'You're right, you haven't. You'll meet them at dinner today. Though, let's not meander around them. I don't feel as if we need to do that.'

'Oh, why not!' Sylvain cried. 'It's an event; la danse des riches ! And I am also your assistant! I should be able to have a talk with the previous CEO and to learn details about history, get insight!'

'I don't know.' Ciel muttered, looking away from Sylvain as he spoke.

'Ciel, but..!'

'New topic.' Ciel interrupted. 'I don't find a need to drag this on. You're my assistant. I said no, so you will not ramble with my family.' His tone was sharper, though remained composed.

'Understood…' Sylvain said, his head slightly lowering.

'At once?'

'At once.'

Ciel smiled, though it didn't quite reach his eyes. 'Atta boy.' He complimented quietly as he patted Sylvain's shoulder before getting up from the light beige chair. Sylvain instinctively followed, also getting up.

'I've got something to show you, in my room. You were talking about outfit designs earlier, so…' Ciel said as he opened the door to the staircase, his train of thought was then interrupted by a woman. A woman, looking around 40 (despite being 50), blue eyes with short brown hair, pale, average stature, wearing a neat, fabulous short white dress from the Saint-Clair company.

'CIel!' The woman exclaimed in frustration.

'Alexandra!' Ciel cried.

'Don't call me that, espèce d'idiot ! Where have you been?! Your sister has been working with the food nearly all day and you're up here doing absolutely nothing! Disgusting!'

' Maman , would you please calm down?! Good impressions are necessary! Damn it!'

'Oh, to hell with your impressions!' Alexandra exclaimed before she noticed Sylvain. 'And who is this? A friend? Have you been chatting away this entire time? Lord! My son has been up to nothing but idiocy!'

'Maman, stop it! He's my assistant and he's very talented! More than you ever were with the company! Do not act with such insanity in front of him, I beg of you!'

'Do not boss me around, Ciel! I'll greet him when greetings are due, which is dinner! I'm not in the mood to deal with your trifles!' Alexandra seized Ciel by the wrist. 'You're coming down this instant!'

'Maman!" Ciel cried once again. Sylvain simply watched the scene, slightly hiding behind Ciel, showing obvious nervousness. He observed the aggressive behavior Ciel's mother portrayed. ' Is this what having a mother is like? ' Sylvain thought. ' Is this what bonding with your family is like? '

Sylvain watched his boss get dragged down the stairs by his mother as they went on back and forth with insults. Syvlain was curious yet simultaneously concerned, even a bit fearful. He debated on whether following down the stairs was a good idea. He didn't feel like getting yelled at, but maybe that's what bonding was about. After all, Sylvain, the orphan, had no clue. After a glance around the room, he enters through the black door and walks slowly down the staircase to the first floor, following his boss and his boss's mother, his maman, with caution, though still keeping both in his vision.

Alexandra eventually made it down the stairs, entering the huge, set up, fancy dining room—a red tablecloth neatly placed down the middle of the modestly sculpted, sturdy, dining table with a most pleasant carpet underneath—which had a pathway to an open, marble, white and grey coloured kitchen, where 3 maids worked alongside Léa. Some guests were already seated and chatting, some standing and chatting. Alexandra pulled Ciel into the kitchen.

'Léa! Can you believe this moron?!' Alexandra cried.

'Pardon, maman?' Léa, a young (teenager), fairly attractive girl with brown eyes and glorious, long curly brown hair, a tall stature for a woman, looked at her mom and her brother, a perplexed expression on her face. 'What in the world are you guys doing?! Don't bring your fights into my kitchen, please! Agh!'

'No, you cannot tell your most honorable mother to leave her own abode!'

'It's not even yours!'

'That's besides the point! Your brother was slacking, doing absolutely nothing! Why don't you call him down to help, huh? Why are you standing here, looking confused and frustrated, and pale too, like a ghost! Make him do something! I doubt he ever does anything, really!' Alexandra rambled on with insults.

'Maman, please, arrêt , arrêt !"

'Ack! You both are so useless!'

'But I literally set up-...'

'Enough!' Alexandra interrupted with fury. She let go of Ciel's wrist roughly, purposely pushing him slightly before she walked off. 'Lord…' She muttered to herself, leaving the kitchen. This left Ciel, Léa along with 3 maids in the kitchen. One of the maids, Asian, dark eyes and black long hair, in a ponytail, glanced over at the brother and sister with nervousness before returning to her work of washing the dishes. All workers that were paid were not supposed to intervene with the business of the main families.

'Damnit…' Léa muttered to herself in frustration, her usual cheerfulness fading from her face, which is usually what happened after family encounters.

'A-ah…' Ciel, who has not said anything this whole time, stuttered. 'I'll be going.'

'Wait.' Léa said abruptly, which caused Ciel to stop himself from turning around. 'Is your wrist okay? It's red.'

'It's fine.' Ciel said rather quickly, almost interrupting her. His tone was a little on the stern side, though attempted to stay casual.

'Alright.' Léa said as her head slightly fell. She thought to herself for a few seconds, enough time to make the irritated Ciel leave. Léa lifted her head as he left to look at him, biting her lip in stress. A few moments went by and then, out of impulse, Léa banged the kitchen counter with her fist, letting out a frustrated, yet, more so exhausted and unhappy, sound. She noticed her action after she had done it and began to apologize fervently and nervously. 'A-ack! I-I'm sorry, I don't know what got over me. I'm very, v-very sorry for startling you ladies. I'll be off, j-just keep doing great.' She then darted off to the staircase, most likely leaving for her room, where she usually went when stress overcame her. Stress wasn't common for Léa, at least, not common to be expressed, that is. She is usually an energetic and very sweet girl, however she has her own troubles. Whether you call them flaws or the result of a bad and stressful environment, that is up to you. One side is deemed much more likely than the other, and it, as anyone would guess, is the latter.

It now seems that the Saint-Clair's, on a very special day, have gotten themselves in a fuss. Léa darted for her room, locking herself in it; Alexandra is in the main room complaining to a friend of hers; Ciel wandered off around the house in thought, being watched by Sylvain, who was too nervous to approach him due to the bad mood the former seemed to be in.