The Butler, On Loan (その執事、退去, Sono Shitsuji, Taikyo) is Chapter 90 of the Kuroshitsuji manga.
Summary
The cursed Ciel Phantomhive vomits. Sebastian Michaelis quickly carries him to Sieglinde Sullivan for aid. Wolfram Gelzer helps Sieglinde prepare the Purification Ceremony. Sebastian and Ciel are required to take off their clothes and get into a large pot. While they are keeping their heads underwater, Sieglinde recites the purification spell. Next, they are obliged to swallow the prepared medicine and spit it out. Sebastian assists Ciel, but the choking sensation elicits from Ciel a vivid and macabre memory from when he was tortured in a cult. He remembers the cultists forcing them to eat, and his friend getting stabbed.
Ciel soon wakes up in his bed, with the Phantomhive servants surrounding him. Ciel rejects Sebastian's touch and clings to Finnian. Tanaka then points out that the eye of Ciel, at the moment, is blind.
Later, the Phantomhive servants, save Finnian, gather outside Ciel's room. Mey-Rin cries, and Baldroy scolds her as he believes crying connotes to bad luck. Snake comments that they are unable to take care of Ciel while he is distraught. Tanaka inquires about what they should do. Sebastian says that if Ciel orders him not to touch him, then he must obey him; he suggests that they wait until Sieglinde gets up to talk to her, and tells them to rest while he attends to some things.
Sebastian, then, reenters the Werewolves' Forest. He notices that the strange miasma is gone, but there is still no sign of life. He is flummoxed as to why he, a demon, was affected by an evil spirit's miasma. He tears off a branch, sniffs it, and then tucks it away, before returning to the Emerald Castle. There, he prepares a luxurious breakfast for a thoroughly impressed Sieglinde, as an apology for inconveniencing her.
While eating, Sieglinde explains that Ciel has gotten miasma in his eye. She states that the Werewolves' Forest weakens the heart and increases the fear. Sebastian, subsequently, concludes that the reason why Ciel only lets Finnian near him is because he is rejecting "adults" (since they were what terrified him in the cult). Sieglinde, then, clarifies that the miasma is the "evil magic" that the werewolf emits. She declares that the only thing that can purify the curse is a secret medicine made by the Emerald Witch, i.e. her.
Wolfram, suddenly, yells at Sebastian for going into the Werewolves' Forest. He belligerently grabs Sebastian, proclaiming that werewolves do not randomly want to hurt people. Sieglinde, then, orders him to cease his aggression. Sebastian calmly explains that he was simply curious as to what "kind of person" a werewolf might be, since he had already seen so many demons and Grim Reapers. When they are confused, Sebastian casually brushes aside the topic and pleads Sieglinde to cure Ciel, promising to do anything she wishes. Sieglinde, then, proposes that until Ciel's treatment is finished, Sebastian shall be her butler.
Characters in Order of Appearance
- Ciel Phantomhive
- Sebastian Michaelis
- Sieglinde Sullivan
- Wolfram Gelzer
- Finnian
- Snake
- Baldroy
- Mey-Rin
- Tanaka
- "Ciel Phantomhive"
