19 V. I Chapter 17: Chairwoman and Director

"...Last night, Rosenblade Estate was blow apart by an unknown criminal, killing Mistress Rosenblade. Later that night, Master Rosenblade's body was found on the streets, his throat slashed. So soon after losing their son, could this mean something?"

"The police are still investigating. We're the number one suspects, but there's no evidence suggesting we were the ones who killed them," Ciel said, standing next to the flatscreen in the conference room.

"Is there anything we need to worry about, Mr. Ciel?" Jaeyline asked from her seat at the head of the table.

"No. As we speak, Mr. Cordelia is currently working out the takeover of Rosenblade Group."

"Mr. Morray Cordelia?" asked a COO.

"No, Mr. Orion Cordelia," replied Ciel. "Mr. Morray Cordelia is currently out of the country and will be for a few more days. In the meantime, all cyber units we have will assist Mr. Orion as best they can. I want this operation done as smooth as possible."

"Yes, Sir!"

"Is that all, Mr. Ciel?"

"Yes, President Jaeyline."

"Very well. Dismissed."

Ciel sat down, looking through his files. The easiest and fastest way to finish the takeover would to just buy out all of Rosenblade's current stocks, as well as taking over the financial part, too. This would make the employees dependent on LEO for their pay and even running the company. As long as LEO owned more than fifty-percent of Rosenblade, they would ultimately have completed the takeover of the company.

"Still hard at work, hmm?" asked Jaeyline sitting next to him.

"Hardly. I'm not doing anything except calculating our best chance of victory," replied Ciel, flipping through the documents once more.

"That's his way of saying 'Yes, I just didn't want you to know how hard I'm working.'" said Laksa, sitting on Ciel's other side.

Jaeyline sighed. "I do wish you'd share some of your work with me."

"You have enough to do. The paperwork on your desk still needs to be completed, Miss Jaeyline, and adding more to that mountain would just be a human rights violation." Ciel's face was extremely indifferent as he said that, and it took the other two a few seconds to realize he'd made a joke.

Laksa just lightly punched Ciel on the shoulder, laughing.

Jaeyline laughed, too, but she sighed. "You're right, though. There's too much to be done." She stood and headed to the door. "Ciel, I put the takeover in your hands."

Ciel nodded. "Of course." He heard Jaeyline leave, but kept his eyes focused on the papers. Even if Orion messed up once, Ciel was positive he could recover and personally steal the Corporation under the Rosenblades' noses.

"You got all this?" asked Laksa.

"Yes. Leave it to me. What you should do is plan the party we have after knocking Rosenblade on its ass," replied Ciel, smiling as he flipped through his documents.

Laksa laughed and excused himself from the room.

Ciel stayed in the room until the team in charge of monitoring the situation came in. "What is it?" he asked, looking up and placing the documents back in the folder, closing it.

"We're ready. Mr. Orion failed."

Ciel nodded. "I expected that. He was too hasty. What we need is to take it under their noses while they're fighting for the inheritance, since they'll all be too distracted an inexperienced to do anything in return."

"Sir, what do you want us to do?"

Ciel just shook his head. "Bring me my laptop and the USB on my desk, please. And send for President Jaeyline and Assistant Laksa." It was only about two minutes before the two entered again, the team leader carrying Ciel's computer and USB.

"Thanks," said Ciel, taking the computer from them. He opened it, going to a secret website for uploading information. Only, this website automatically uploaded it everywhere on the internet. He fingered the USB before sticking it in his computer, watching the loading bar on his computer.

"What is this?" Jaeyline asked.

"You'll see." Ciel was smiling as the loading bar blinked away, the upload complete. "That right there was information I managed to find on Rosenblade. Scandals enough to where even shareholders of Rosenblade may end up going to prison. This will mean everyone owning shares will try to get rid of them as fast as possible, and others who would ordinarily steal that chance to take them not want to. What we're going to do is take in stride. We'll buy all of Rosenblade's shares, which will give us almost total control of the company, Whatever those Rosenblade morons realize what's happened, they'll barely control one forth of the Corporation they're fighting over."

They all looked at him.

"You have a talent for thinking up stuff like this," one of them said.

"The smile on your face while you were speaking was terrifying, CEO Michaelis..."

"That is quite clever, though I do agree with Miss Savana that the look on your face was slightly frightening," Jaeyline said, coughing lightly into her fist. "That should be more than enough to get us control over LEO. But be quick; I'm sure we're not the only ones trying to take Rosenblade over."

Ciel just made tsk sound. "I'll be faster than quick, darling. You'll never know what happened." Ciel uploaded the files. Then his fingers flew across the keyboard. Tabs on the screen opened and closed too fast for the others to see what they were showing, and lines of text would suddenly appear and vanish. After only ten seconds, Ciel's hands stilled, fingers twitching slightly from the rapid movements. "Done," he said, looking up. "Everything is finished. We will be announced as the owners of Rosenblade during the party we're holding tonight." Ciel looked up at everyone and gave them a dashing smile. "Everything's on me. As a thank you for working so hard."

The females in the room suddenly felt as if the temperature had risen by twenty degrees, their eyes suddenly seeing sparkles and flowers around the smile that belonged on the face of an angel.

"Thank you very much, CEO Michaelis," they said before exiting.

Ciel glanced at his computer once again, hand brushing over the keys once more, to delete all possible traces he left. He sighed. "My work here is done. Laksa, have you finished preparations?" he asked.

"Of course," Laksa replied, handing Ciel the paperwork. "Everything's been reserved and planned out."

"Thank you. Now... I think it's time to get some more work done." Ciel stood, organizing his files before heading out, not even glancing at Jaeyline or Laksa.

Laksa looked after his brother, one eyebrow raised. "Is it just me, or is he acting a bit strange?" he asked.

Jaeyline nodded. "He's definitely acting stranger than usual. He seems... less guarded than he normally does. Do you know why?"

Laksa shrugged. "Nothing new around the house. Same as always." Laksa thought for a bit. "Oh, well. We'll just have to monitor him for a while. We'll find out then."

Jaeyline agreed and the two headed back into the office. They both stared in shock as they found Ciel passed out, arms folded over the desk, his head resting on his arms. His eyes were closed, his long lashes fluttering slightly every once in a while. His jacket was slung over his chair, and his computer was open as if he had been about to start working.

Jaeyline just sighed lightly. "Poor thing. Have I been pushing you a little too hard?" she asked, moving to one of the drawers in the wall. She withdrew a blanket and walked over to Ciel, draping it across his shoulders. "I can't have my CEO catching a cold, can I?" she asked quietly. Her fingers lingered at his shoulder, though, making their way up to his hair, rubbing his head, almost like a mother would her son. Jaeyline smiled slightly as the soft, silken strands caressed her fingers, withdrawing in a few more seconds. "Let him sleep for awhile. He's been working too hard lately."

Laksa nodded. "I'll take care of the rest of his work. It shouldn't be too hard, since I finished mine a bit ago."

"You two really are brothers. You both work very hard and extremely well," said Jaeyline. She turned to walk into her office, but paused. "Oh, and Laksa? Put the charge of the party on my bank account, please. My treat to the two of you."

Laksa smiled as Jaeyline walked into her office. He sat down and buried himself in Ciel's work.

.

"Thank you, everyone, for attending," said Jaeyline into the microphone. She was dressed in a brilliant black gown with silver vines and roses with teardrops of red symbolizing the morning dew. It was beautiful on her, and it happened to be one of the designs she'd made herself for LEO. "This party is in celebration of the complete takeover of Rosenblade Corporation!"

Ciel smiled as the thousand-some employees from LEO's main building and branch buildings all cheered. It was good to see everyone so happy.

"To thank for this feat, we have my brother, Orion Cordelia, Vice President of LEO Corp's West Branch," said Jaeyline, Orion joining her on the stage, smiling. "And CEO of LEO, Ciel Michaelis."

Ciel dropped his glass of champagne, swiftly catching it and its contents before it splashed and shattered on the floor of the huge venue.

All eyes were on him as he nervously took a sip before setting the glass down. Ciel took a deep breath before schooling his features into a professional seriousness, walking up and onto the stage. He glanced at Jaeyline as he stood at her right, her brother at her left.

"These two worked very hard to ensure the smooth and safe takeover of Rosenblade. While the possible inheriters of Rosenblade were fighting over who would take over, we managed to steal the Corporation right under their noses." Jaeyline looked at Ciel with a glint in her eyes. "Would you like to explain our next steps, Mr. Michaelis?" she asked.

Ciel tried not to fall into despair. She wanted him to tell everyone what to do next? He took the mic handed to him, though, and stepped to the front of the stage. "Thank you, President Jaeyline," he said. "Now that we nave nearly full control of Rosenblade Corp., all that's left is taking the rest. Because of the shares we managed to buy, we control approximately eighty-six percent of Rosenblade Corp. Now, all that's left is to get the rest of the shares from the Rosenblades themselves."

"So, what? Do you expect them to just hand them over? Do you really have the qualifications to be the CEO of the main branch?"

One of the employees who worked under Ciel grabbed the man by the collar. "How dare you say that about Mr. Ciel!" It was Elaine, the girl who'd gone to Ciel about her designs once.

"Enough," Ciel said into the microphone. "Thank you, Miss Elaine, but I haven't finished quite yet. How I propose we do this is by using our shares to put them in a tight spot, as well as maybe even hiring some people to toy with them." An unconscious sneer appeared on Ciel's face. "They'll find out exactly what the repercussions of trying to harm LEO Corporation are..." Ciel snapped out of his sudden outburst, also managing to stifle the cruel laugh that almost slipped. "Anyway, it will be done with the utmost care. If you have any other questions..." an evil glint appeared in Ciel's eyes. "I'd love to talk after the party."

"That was quite interesting," said Orion. "Though your job explaining could have been better."

Ciel just smiled to himself. "Just like your ability to plan a takeover, right, Mr. Cordelia?" he asked, eyes ahead. His lips curled up in a slight smile as he saw Orion flinch out of the corner of his eye.

"Watch it, Michaelis. I still outrank you," muttered Orion, though his tone wasn't hostile.

"...And as a result--"

"Look at the news!" someone in the crowd shouted.

People pulled out their phones, checking the newlines.

"Oh my God... we really did it."

"Is this real?"

Jaeyline sent a glance at Ciel.

Ciel just smiled at her. "Sorry about doing something without your knowledge," he said. "My gift for the party."

Jaeyline just held the mic to her mouth again. "This party is no longer the celebration of beginning the takeover of Rosenblade, but the celebration of adding a new branch to LEO Corporation!"

Everyone in the venue cheered, sending waves of noise that could probably be heard miles out.

"Also, I have one more announcement." Jaeyline waited for silence before opening her mouth again. "Now that Rosenblade has such a large branch being added, I've decided to pick a Vice President to handle it, as I will stay in the main office building of LEO. The person I've chosen is Mr. Ciel Michaelis."

Ciel stared at her, not believing what he was hearing. "W-what?" he asked, eyes wide. "That was a joke, right?" He was even slightly panicked as all eyes turned to him. He saw the look in her eyes and sighed. He couldn't get out of it. "Thank you, President Jaeyline," he said. In front of such a large crowd, he could either accept and give her face, or he could refuse, and undermine her authority. Ciel smiled wryly. He didn't have much of a choice.

The announcement dissolved into the party, where employees of LEO chatted and mingled, laughing and smiling.

Ciel was thinking about his new job. He had to either convince all of the Rosenblade staff to stay, or he'd have to hire all new staff. He preferred to keep the staff, because there could always be someone who wanted to harm Jaeyline if he hired new staff. He had an idea of getting the employees to stay, but that wasn't all. Rosenblade was a technology company, meaning either LEO was expanding into the tech industry, or they were turning Rosenblade into a fashion company. Ciel could work in either environment, but depending on Jaeyline's choice in the matter would determine whether or not to bring in some employees from the main branch.

"What are you thinking about so seriously?"

Ciel shook of his thoughts and looked up, finding the Cordelia family approaching. He sipped from his glass, organizing himself. "Good evening, Mr. Cordelia," Ciel said, addressing Morray first. "Chairwoman," he said to Ina Cordelia. "President," to Jaeyline. "Vice President," to Orion.

"Good evening," Morray replied. "How are you, Mr. Michaelis?"

"Very well, Sir. It was a bit of a surprise, but I'm sure everything will work out smoothly."

"No need to be so formal with us, boy," Morray said, breaking into a smile. "Relax yourself."

"Yes. We owe you, after all, for protecting Jaeyline so well," Ina agreed. "So, Mr. Michaelis, I have an offer. I know you really didn't want to be the Vice President, so I have a different idea. I'm going to hand the Chairwomanship to my sister, and instead, you will become the President of LEO. Or you can stick with the roles you currently have. It's your choice, but I think I'm going to retire anyway. I need to have some free time if I'm going to raise a family, after all."

Ciel was shocked once again. "P-President of LEO?" he asked, eyes wide. "Why would you appoint me as President?"

"So you could always support Jaeyline," Orion replied. "I will also be President, but I will be working overseas for the majority of my time. Besides, your skills greatly outshine my own."

"But really? Is there no one else in LEO Corp. with the qualification?" Ciel asked.

Ina's eyes narrowed. "I've noticed this before, but you seem against gaining power. Is there a reason for that?"

Ciel bit his lip before shaking his head. "Of course not. I just like my work under Miss Jaeyline. I thank you for the position." Ciel turned and walked away, vanishing into the crowd.

"So, is he lying?" Orion asked.

"I can't help but think he's not," said Ina. "But that doesn't mean that he's not hiding something."