The Butler, Laid to Rest (その執事、埋葬, Sono Shitsuji, Dosō) is Chapter 50 of the Kuroshitsuji manga.
Summary[]
Ciel Phantomhive asks about Patrick Phelps' murder, since Sebastian Michaelis did not explain who murdered him while explaining everything to Arthur Conan Doyle. Sebastian explains that there actually had been a "13th person" and pulls a heavily chained box out from underneath the table Ciel was sitting at, then opens the box to reveal a heavily bound and gagged Snake and his many snakes.
Sebastian reveals that, while he was preparing the three-days-worth of food, he heard the slithering of a snake and followed it to where Patrick was. Finding Patrick already bitten and dying, Sebastian followed the snake by sound, ignoring the crying Patrick who was pleading for help.
Sebastian ran to the greenhouse, where he had been attacked by Snake's snakes, but managed to subdue Snake.
Back in the present, Snake explains that he believes Ciel had something to do with the disappearance of the first-tier members, as the day after he caught Ciel sneaking into their rooms, they all disappeared. Snake explains that he used his snakes to follow "Smile's" scent and tracked it down to Ciel's townhouse in London, where he met Soma Asman Kadar and Agni. After Snake asked for "a little boy and black-clad man", Soma instantly assumed he is a guest of Ciel, and sent him to the main house. Snake arrived at the manor as guests do, and decided to wait in the garden until night.
Having received the explanation as to how Snake found him, Ciel asks why he thought they had something to do with the first-tier members' disappearances. Snake replies that, after they arrived, the first-tier members started acting weird and he got the idea that Joker and everyone else was hiding something from him. Despite that, Snake reveals that the first-tier members rescued him from a different circus and, despite his appearance, they treated him like family. Snake then declared that he won't forgive Ciel for taking that away from him, reminding Ciel of Doll.
Ciel then tells Snake that he had been sent undercover as a circus member to discover evidence that connected the first-tier members to a series of kidnapped children which had all disappeared when the circus was in town. Snake refuses to believe this at first, but Ciel lies by telling him that, before he could find evidence, he had been discovered, and the first-tier members disappeared. Ciel then tells Snake that he had wanted to save the children that were suffering because of the first-tier members, and that he wanted to save Snake as well. Ciel then tells Snake to come to his mansion, because he was still looking for Joker and the others to clear up the incident, and that it would be the quickest way for him to see them again. Ciel goes on to say that he knows the first-tier members were kind and that they should atone for their crimes and he wanted all of them, including Snake, to achieve true happiness, which surprises Snake. Snake is then seen accepting Ciel's offer to work for him.
Later, as Ciel walks around the garden, Sebastian remarks that if Ciel stuck to his lie, it would eventually become the truth. Ciel replied that Sebastian just needed to keep his mouth shut and everything would be fine. Sebastian agrees, while Ciel asks what he plans to tell the servants, as they do not know Sebastian had survived.
At Sebastian's funeral, Baldroy and Agni carry the coffin that held Sebastian's "corpse". After Sebastian is buried by the Undertaker, Ciel is embraced by a crying Elizabeth Midford, who says Sebastian was a liar because he left Ciel even though he promised never to leave him by himself. Ciel is then embraced by a crying Soma who promises that they would be with him forever, which is echoed by Elizabeth. Ciel says that they cared for him so much that they made him happy, and is about to leave for the manor when Finnian notices the safety bell on Sebastian's tombstone ringing.
Undertaker gleefully informs the servants that if the bell was ringing, it meant Sebastian was still alive. Shocked, the servants quickly dig up Sebastian's coffin. Upon opening the coffin, Sebastian sits up and remarks he "finally got out of there", shocked when Mey-Rin, Finnian, Baldroy, and Elizabeth enthusiastically jump onto him, all of them expressing their relief at his survival. Tanaka is smiling while Soma smiles and wipes his tears, and Agni is crying, saying that it was a miracle, expressing his gratitude to god.
After everyone calms down, Undertaker waves goodbye, telling them to "come back anytime", while Sebastian complains of being covered in tears and snot from the crying servants and guests who had jumped onto him. Tanaka approaches Sebastian and gives him back the head butler's badge, saying it is proof of being "the Earl Phantomhive's butler" and that "[his] chest is the only place it should be now". Tanaka then remarks that the Phantomhive family butler is not allowed to breathe his last breath before his master.
Ciel remarks that, from this day on, this makes Sebastian his butler again, and Sebastian reaffirms his devotion to Ciel, "Until the day that lies become truth." Sebastian and Ciel then smirk at each other until Sebastian focuses on Elizabeth and tells her that he wants to correct something she said. Elizabeth is confused, but Sebastian tells her that he doesn't tell lies, referring to earlier when Elizabeth had said he had lied about always being at Ciel's side.
Characters in Order of Appearance[]
- Ciel Phantomhive
- Sebastian Michaelis
- Snake
- Patrick Phelps (flashback only)
- Soma Asman Kadar
- Agni
- Joker (flashback only)
- Doll (flashback only)
- Beast (flashback only)
- Dagger (flashback only)
- Wendy (flashback only)
- Peter (flashback only)
- Jumbo (flashback only)
- Baldroy
- Tanaka
- Undertaker
- Elizabeth Midford
- Mey-Rin
- Finnian