Short Break Before the Entrance Exam [End]

Chloe was planning to make Ciel a wreath of flowers, so she was taking her time to pick only the most beautiful flowers from the bunch. Her Big Brother, Ciel, was standing a few steps away from her. He had his eyes closed and was immersed in the fragrance of the flowers.

Ciel was someone who appreciated natural beauty. When he saw this valley for the first time, he instantly fell in love with it. This was also one of the reasons why he looked forward to their outings at the Kerr Residence.

Suddenly, he felt a pair of hands covering his eyes. Ciel could feel the softness of these hands and instinctively knew who they belonged to.

"Why did you run off here? Ciel asked. He didn't move to take her hands off his face and allowed Kate to do as she pleased.

"I came to eat you my dear," Stella's sweet and mischievous voice whispered in his ears. She switched with Kate and the latter agreed. Kate was curious about how Ciel would interact with her split personality. "But, if you are obedient and listen to my orders then I will reconsider and just keep you as my pet. How about it?"

"A pet is it? What kind of pet?"

"Good question, what kind of pet are you?"

Ciel felt something was off. The person talking to him was clearly Kate. However, the feeling he was getting from her was different. It was as if he was talking to another person. Since Stella's hands were covering his eyes, his sense of touch, hearing, and perception were heightened.

"Are you really Kate?" Ciel asked. "You're very different from the glutton I know."

"Pffft!" Stella barely managed to stop herself from laughing out loud. 'He called you a glutton.'

[Sometimes, Ciel says the darndest things,] Kate snorted from inside the mindscape. [How could I possibly be a glutton? I only ate six pancakes during breakfast.]

'And two slices of cake.'

[That doesn't count!]

Kate rambled on, but Stella ignored her. She knew that Ciel had a very strong perception. He was even able to tell the difference when she switched with Kate.

"Are you curious to know who I am?" Stella whispered softly. "Do you want to know, Darling?"

Ciel paused a bit before answering, "Now is not the time and place to talk about this. Let's talk again when we're back at the residence."

Stella narrowed her eyes and didn't say anything in reply. She asked Kate to switch back with her. Her Darling said that he wanted to talk to her later, so she would allow Kate to take center stage for now.

"Darling~" Kate whispered. "Do you want to know who I am?"

She wanted to test whether Ciel really managed to tell the difference between her and Stella. Kate felt a bit complicated. A part of her wanted to introduce Stella to Ciel, the other wanted to keep Stella's existence as a secret.

"Mmm, I know who you are," Ciel answered. "The glutton who steals cookies from the pantry."

"Tch!"

"How long are you planning to hold Big Brother like that, Big Sister Kate?"

Chloe finished picking the set of flowers she was going to use and walked up to them. Kate released Ciel from her hold and took a few steps back. When the blonde boy opened his eyes, he glanced back at Kate. His beautiful eyelashes were narrowed and he was giving her a look of appraisal.

Kate could only wink back at him to prevent him from asking anything. Ciel nodded his head in understanding. He offered his arm to his "Little SIster" and the three made their way back to their picnic blanket.

The moment they arrived, they found Ethan reading a book out loud, and Claire listening to him with her chin propped up on her palms. When Ethan noticed their arrival, he immediately stopped what he was doing and closed the book. He gingerly returned it to Claire who accepted it back with a snort.

"Did something happen?" Ciel asked in confusion.

"Nothing happened," Ethan and Claire said at the same time.

Kate averted her gaze in order to hide the smirk that was slowly appearing on her face. Chloe, on the other hand, only tilted her head to the side before sitting on the picnic blanket to work on her wreath of flowers.

Ciel sat beside her and Kate sat on his opposite side, facing him. Ethan moved a bit closer to Kate, while Claire ignored them and read her book in peace. Chloe was having a hard time connecting the flowers together with the strand of thread that she brought with her.

There were times when the flowers almost touched her eyes because of how close she needed to look at them. Still, nobody made a move to help her. They knew Chloe's personality and she didn't want others to pity her for her disability.

Even if she was tired and exhausted afterward, she would carry out her task until the end. Some people would think of her as stupid. If it was that hard to do then why not just give up and let others do it for you?

Indeed. All Chloe needed to do was ask for help and Ciel, Kate, Claire, and Ethan would be more than happy to do the work for her. However, she found it distasteful to over rely on other people. She was not being stupid. She was being practical. Chloe knew that no one would be able to watch over her 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

That was why she wanted to learn how to be independent at a young age. If she could do it alone, she would do it without asking for the help of others. After half an hour of painstaking work, she finally finished her wreath and gave it to Ciel who happily placed it over his head.

"How does it look?" Ciel asked.

"It looks good on you, Big Brother," Chloe cooed happily. "Like a prince!"

"Thank you, Chloe," Ciel smiled and patted her head. "Since you made this for me, allow me to make something for you as well. Can I use these remaining flowers?"

"Yes!"

"Good."

Ciel picked the prettiest wild orchid and daffodil from Chloe's flower collection and set it aside. He then took out a piece of silver aluminum wire from the pocket of his jacket. That was a surprise in itself. However, what he took out next made Kate, Chloe, and Ethan stare at him in shock. Ciel was holding a pair of small pliers in his hand.

The three of them were thinking the same thing, 'Ciel/Big Brother, came here prepared!'

"Chloe, please lend me your left hand," Ciel said with a smile.

Chloe did as she was told and placed her hand over her big brother's open palm.

"Good, now hold it steady for a short while ok?"

"Okay!"

Ciel released his hold to her hand and twisted the aluminum wire over her ring finger.

"Good, that's enough," Ciel nodded. "Thank you."

Chloe took her hand back and Ciel started to coil the aluminum wire three times in a circle. He was matching the initial circle that formed when he measured Chloe's finger.

"B-Big Brother, could it be?" Chloe didn't dare raise her hopes up, but she could tell what Ciel was planning. Kate and Ethan also understood and watched as Ciel's hand deftly coiled the wire in place.

When he was satisfied with his work, he took the plier from his side and nipped the excess wire on both ends. Then from his other pocket, he took out a bullion wire which made the three watching him look at him weirdly.

'Just how much did you prepare before coming here Ciel/Big Brother?' the three thought in unison.

Ciel started to wrap the bullion wire on his three fingers and made twenty revolutions. After doing so, he took it off of his fingers. The bullion wire formed an oval. He then pinched the oval together and bound the center point, making a few revolutions to create a bowtie.

The three people that formed the peanut gallery watched seriously as Ciel placed the bullion bowtie on the top of the coiled aluminum wire. He fixed it securely in place by wrapping the aluminum wire tightly around one side of the bowtie.

He repeated the process on the other side. Ciel tugged on the bowtie to test if it was tied securely in place. When he saw that there were no problems, he spread it out just like a flower. Just like he did earlier, he took out a small Swiss Knife from his pocket and cut the stems off the wild orchid and daffodil.

By this time, the three spectators were already numb, so when Ciel took out a small bottle of cold glue from his pocket, they didn't react anymore. Instead, they stared at Ciel's pocket.

'Is that some kind of magical pocket? How did all those things fit in there?' Kate thought.

[Hmm, this is indeed interesting,] Stella commented.

Ciel placed some glue on the bottom of the wild orchid before placing it on top of the bow tie. He waited for a minute before doing the same with the daffodil. He carefully placed the daffodil over the wild orchid.

The flower ring looked very pretty in Ciel's hand, Chloe's eyes sparkled in excitement as she felt her heart start to beat wildly.

'W-Will Big Brother really give me that ring?' Chloe thought.

As if waiting for that moment, Ciel looked at her with a smile. "Give me your left hand."

Chloe slowly moved her hand as if she was in a daze until it rested on the top of his palm. Ciel slowly placed the ring on her ring finger. He held her hand and carefully inspected the ring to ensure it fit her small finger perfectly.

"It's a good fit," Ciel said with a nod of his head.

"T-Thank you, Big Brother," Chloe stuttered. She looked at the ring in[on] her hand and felt her eyes moisten a bit. "It's very pretty."

"I'm glad you like it."

"I'll treasure this for life."

Ciel didn't reply and just smiled. He knew that Chloe would take good care of the ring he gave her. Although the flowers would eventually wilt, the base would still remain. It could be reused whenever an opportunity arose.

"Me too!" Kate wasn't able to wait anymore and shamelessly asked for Ciel to make her one as well.

"Go and pick a flower then."

"Alright! Just wait for me!"

Kate dashed to the flower field and looked for the best flower she could find. Ethan could only look from the side with envy and jealousy.

'Why didn't I think of this?!' Ethan sighed in his heart. He looked at his rival with a determined expression and vowed to be more prepared in the future.

Ciel tilted his head to the side. The side of his lips were raised up lightly. He could tell that Ethan was looking at him intently, but he pretended not to be aware of it.

The day ended with Chloe and Kate happily wearing their flower rings. The two girls had smiles on their faces while Ethan sulked.

Claire didn't seem to care about what transpired and led her horse to ride beside Ciel and Chloe's. They only had a few days before the exam started. They knew that their time in the countryside was coming to an end before they returned to the city.

Even so, Kate and Chloe would forever remember this day, and would keep this memory in their hearts for many years to come.