His Butler, Plotting (その執事、策謀, Sono Shitsuji, Sakubō) is the forty-ninth episode of the Kuroshitsuji anime, and the third episode of Kuroshitsuji: Public School Arc.
Summary[]
McMillan and Ciel talk about the incident with Maurice.
At night, McMillan asks Ciel whether he can come over to his bed to talk. He apologizes for not standing up to their schoolmates for him, and Ciel tells him that he has no hard feelings; after all, they will have to stay in this school for years. McMillan then inquires why he did not go to the meeting with the P4. When Ciel explains that Maurice gave him the wrong time, McMillan is aghast and offers to testify for him as well as find more witnesses, as he and many others clearly heard Maurice say that the appointment was for four o'clock, not two. Ciel thanks his friend for his help.
The next day, Ciel and Sebastian watch Soma arrive at Weston College with a grand procession. They are stunned by Soma's wealth and cannot quite fathom that Soma is riding on an elephant to school. Soma then spots Ciel and waves to him, saying that he would have come with him from the start if he had said he would be lonely at school. Annoyed that Soma is not following the instructions Ciel gave him in his letter (they should pretend to be perfect strangers), Ciel tries to ignore him—in vain, as Soma promptly commands his elephant to bring Ciel to him. Meanwhile, Sebastian's attempt at ignoring the ruckus goes smoothly, and he greets students on his way to the school building.
Soma swears to help Ciel.
Atop the elephant, Soma tells Ciel that coming to Weston College was hard because students are prohibited from bringing their own servants to school, and he, thus, had to leave Agni at the Phantomhive townhouse. Agni was tremendously heartbroken over that fact and cried saying goodbye to Soma.
Afterward, Ciel admits to Soma that he had a reason to ask for his presence: He had a fight with Maurice. Because Ciel does not know how to make up with him, and Maurice is so mad he does not want to talk to Ciel, he needs Soma to shadow Maurice inside the Scarlet Fox dormitory and find out more about him. Soma happily accepts to help, wanting to assist his "gloomy" friend.
Maurice cannot bear Soma anymore.
Instead of listening to Ciel, Soma directly confronts Maurice and asks him to be friendly to Ciel. Only Maurice is not interested in being friendly to someone who "disgraced" the P4. Soma will not let go though, and relentlessly follows Maurice everywhere—through the school building, to the dining hall, his bedroom, and even to the toilet—to reconsider. Maurice eventually breaks down screaming, asking Soma what his problem is and telling him to leave him alone. He later hides himself in his room, and Soma waits in front of it.
Edgar punishes Soma for destroying part of the dorm.
In the evening, Soma decides he is done for the day and heads to the stables; he wants to ride on his elephant to Blue House to visit Ciel. However, when Soma mounts the elephant, something spooks the animal. It sets off to the dormitory building and smashes into Maurice's room. For that, Edgar punishes Soma with 5 Ys and bans elephants from the school premises. Because they have no spare rooms, Edgar invites Maurice to stay in his. Before Maurice can accept, Soma chimes in and says that Maurice can have his bed; after all, it is his fault that Maurice's room was destroyed. Edgar thinks this is a good idea, and Maurice, much to his chagrin, has to take up Soma's offer.
Soma explains his findings.
At night, Soma notices Maurice getting up and sneaking into the post room. He follows him there and catches him sending out flower-shaped cards to various students. In the morning, Soma reports his findings to Ciel and is surprised to see Sebastian with him; as Soma is still terrified of Sebastian, he swears not to tell anyone that Sebastian is Ciel's butler. Soma also informs Ciel and Sebastian of another secret of Maurice's that he uncovered. Having gathered everything needed for the counterattack, Ciel thanks Soma and sets out to formulate a plan with Sebastian.
Ciel and Maurice meet in the art room.
The following day, Ciel meets up with Maurice in the third art room. He says that he knows Maurice purposefully lied to him about the appointment time; his friend corroborated what he heard, as did many other students. When Maurice denies the accusation, Ciel asks about Joanne Harcourt. He and three other students were invited to Swan Gazebo too, but because Maurice was meant to deliver the invitations, they never showed up for their appointments as they, i.a., were also given the wrong time.
Furthermore, Ciel has found out that Maurice is making other students and even the Red House cook do all his fag work for him. He knows about the cards he sends out; "he" even retrieved their pieces from the garbage and put them back together (in reality, it was Sebastian) and is, therefore, able to present him with plenty of evidence that is dated and in Maurice's handwriting. Ciel then muses what Edgar must think if he knew about Maurice's doings and adds that while he can overlook Maurice's deception, Maurice should come clean to Edgar at least.
Maurice taunts Ciel.
Maurice, however, has no desire to do so. Instead, he calls his henchmen inside who promptly restrain Ciel. Maurice burns the glued-together flower cards and taunts Ciel, saying that Ciel got "carried away" because the P4 "fancy" him and that he, a "winner" with an earldom, will "never understand the feelings of a younger son who will never inherit the title." Becoming a prefect at Weston College will change one's life "drastically" due to the school's prestige; and as a younger son, Maurice had to do everything to ensure becoming a prefect, even if it meant using and manipulating others.
Herman rescues Ciel.
Thereafter, Maurice rips open Ciel's clothes and tells him that he and his henchmen will now take photographs of him that will make him want to "die of shamefulness." As the art room is secluded, Maurice is sure none will come and save Ciel. Still, when Maurice's henchmen are about to strip Ciel, Herman and Edward come to Ciel's rescue, and Herman beats up Maurice's lackeys with his cricket bat. Immediately, Maurice begs Herman not to tell Edgar. Lawrence and Gregory arrive too, and Maurice is surprised that they have all come here.
Ciel explains that sound is not transmitted by loudness but by vibration. Prior to their meeting, he attached strings to the backs of the paintings in the art room; the other ends of the strings are connected to gramophones placed at Swan Gazebo. The P4 and their fags could listen to their conversation from there like that. Edgar who is still at Swan Gazebo then confirms that he heard everything and subsequently severs his "brotherly bond" with Maurice who he cannot believe betrayed him too.
Maurice's real face.
To put the cherry on Maurice's resulting breakdown, Ciel reveals that he got a photograph of Maurice without makeup which is now being distributed all over the school so that Maurice can finally start being honest with everyone. Praising Maurice's makeup skills, Ciel triumphantly leaves the room.
Sebastian watches Ciel's performance.
Outside it, Edward apologizes to Ciel for blaming him unjustly, though Ciel assures him that he does not hold it against him. Herman, Lawrence, and Gregory then join them, and Herman in particular praises Ciel for being such a "proactive," honest, and "pure" person. While Ciel sells himself as an "ally of justice," Sebastian wordlessly watches the act through a window.
Sometime later, Clayton asks Ciel to become his fag which Ciel gladly accepts.
Characters in Order of Appearance[]
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