108. The Butler, Underwater

The Butler, Underwater is Chapter 108 of the Kuroshitsuji manga.

Summary

At the gate of Buckingham Palace, Charles Grey and Charles Phipps greet an extremely nervous Sieglinde Sullivan. The Double Charles walk Ciel Phantomhive, Sieglinde, and Wolfram Gelzer inside. Grey notices that Sebastian Michaelis is not coming with them and asks him why. Sebastian replies that Ciel has given him a task to fulfill. Grey is slightly suspicious but does not press the issue.

Sieglinde and Wolfram are amazed with the grand interior of the palace. The Double Charles lead the group up the stairs and open the doors for them at the end of a hallway. Queen Victoria and John Brown are waiting for them in the room. Wolfram puts Sieglinde down, and she curtsies before Victoria, who is delighted to meet her. Wolfram and Ciel are relieved that Sieglinde has managed to curtsy despite her feet.

Victoria, Sieglinde, and Ciel sit down to have tea. Sieglinde marvels at the wide selection of cakes Phipps made. Victoria asks Ciel to tell her about his trip. He explains that the so-called curse of the Werewolves' Forest was in fact toxic mustard gas, which they halted the development of in England because of its dangerous nature. The German army had advanced it to the point that they were ready to use it in actual combat, thanks to Sieglinde. Ciel ends the explanation with a statement that he believes Sieglinde will be beneficial to England.

Victoria asks if Sieglinde can create more powerful things than mustard gas. Sieglinde says no and recalls how last night, Ciel told Sieglinde to give Victoria the process to make mustard gas because she will be treated cordially by England if she does so. Wolfram was worried that she will be used to make the gas again. Sebastian pointed out that it is really Sieglinde's decision whether she is used or she uses others. Ciel said she can always disappear to somewhere obscure with Wolfram, but added that, knowing Sieglinde, she will never stop studying because she loves new knowledge. He stated that to gain new knowledge, she must have money — even Wolfsschlucht operated on national-level amounts of money — and Wolfram will never be able to raise that kind of money on his own. Ciel warned her that while giving away the synthesis of mustard gas is fine, she is to never breathe a word about the SuLIN gas, which is much more lethal than mustard gas, and if used in England, can cause many deaths. Sieglinde promised to carry the secret of SuLIN to her grave. Ciel advised her to think of everyone as an adversary, including him, and that she must try to use people in order to obtain the future she desires.

Victoria comments that it is a relief. Ciel says that he is always surprised at Victoria's intuition and that it was a shock to discover that toxic gas was the real cause of the curse. Victoria says that she cannot handle dreadful things. Meanwhile, Sebastian jumps in the ocean with a suitcase of SuLIN samples and releases it to a chasm so that it can be lost forever.

Ciel tells Victoria that if Sieglinde worked for the sake of her subjects, wonderful results are guaranteed. Sieglinde thanks Victoria and assures her that she will prove herself useful. Victoria is joyous and praises Ciel for his work, saying that his parents must be happy along with Prince Albert. At the mention of Albert, she bursts into tears. Ciel tells the shocked Sieglinde and Wolfram that this happens often so they should just ignore it. John cheers her up with his Albert puppet and comments that Ciel has grown up to be like his father. Ciel becomes pensive at the idea.

Later, outside the palace, Sebastian greets the three of them and assures Ciel that he has done as ordered. Ciel says he is tired and wants to hurry home to sleep. He suddenly stares at Sebastian, much to Sebastian's confusion, but when asked, claims that it is nothing.

In the middle of the night, Undertaker visits Ciel in his bedroom. He has Ciel swallow a certain liquid from a vial. Ciel is half-awake when he asks if it is morning yet. Undertaker covers his eyes and urges him to sleep a little longer, stating that it is still too early for him to wake up.

With a jolt, Ciel fully wakes up and ends up grabbing Sebastian's arm. Sebastian says that Ciel seemed quite agitated so he was going to wake him. He pours Ciel tea while asking if it was another nightmare. Ciel stares at his reflection on the tea and says that it is nothing.

Characters in Order of Appearance

• Charles Phipps
• Charles Grey
• Sieglinde Sullivan
• Sebastian Michaelis
• Ciel Phantomhive
• Wolfram Gelzer
• John Brown
• Queen Victoria
• Undertaker

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