049. The Butler, Eccentric

The Butler, Eccentric (その執事、異様, Sono Shitsuji, Iyō) is Chapter 49 of the Kuroshitsuji manga.
==Summary==
Sebastian Michaelis is murdered at the hands of Charles Grey, who then comments that it was boring, as he had meant to torment that "shitty little brat" for awhile, but that he had been found out so soon because of "these stupid servants getting in the way". Charles then grabs the glass shards that Sebastian had collected and throws them outside. Charles then says "[it's] ruined now!" and leaves to visit Georg von Siemens in the cellar. After Charles leaves, Sebastian gets up from his position on the floor and follows Charles down to the cellar, where Georg was placed, without healing his injuries. Georg is clearly alive and asleep, although he had apparently gotten up and taken a bottle of wine that was laying around the cellar.
Sebastian hears Charles approaching and hides by climbing up to the ceiling. Georg wakes up, seeing Charles, and says that everything seemed to have gone to plan, asking if everyone was surprised. Charles then stabs Georg with his sword, telling Georg that he was an eyesore while taunting him by saying "[he and the other] blockhead Germans will overtake England [they say]? Come back in another ten years." Charles then leaves the cellar. At present, Arthur Conan Doyle expresses his shock and confusion over why, even though they knew who the killer was, they threw away Sebastian's life just because Ciel Phantomhive ordered him to. Sebastian then declares that was exactly why he did so, commenting that "[for the] ruthless way in which [his] master exploits people... butlers deserve a Royal Warrant".
During the night Sebastian was killed, Sebastian explains that he made preparations for three days of food, giving instructions to Baldroy and Finnian, and handing Mey-Rin the owl to send in the morning. Sebastian then explains he wrote a report regarding what he found in the hearth and placed it into the pillow that he delivered to Ciel while he was chained to Arthur. Ciel is shown checking whether the report is in the pillow before ordering Sebastian to go to his own room. It is revealed the pillow Sebastian had kept close to his chest prevented Arthur and Ciel from seeing the wound Charles inflicted upon him. Sebastian then stages his murder scene, though he changes the position of the fire poker to the front rather than the back, for a little revenge against Charles.
Sebastian then says that Ciel "put on quite a realistic show", although, he remarks that he did not expect Ciel to hit him with his ring hand, especially since he was in a position where he couldn't move, calling his cunningness "admirable". Ciel then leaned close to Sebastian's face, whispering to place the bottle in the hearth at a suitable moment. Sebastian then went outside commenting that, as a 'corpse', he was able to obtain an alibi and freedom. He then chased down the owl he had given to Mey-Rin, but was unable to do anything further as he heard Ciel and the guests deciding to check whether Sebastian's corpse had the key to Ciel's room. However, on the way back to the mansion, Sebastian ran into the large number of cats Ciel had discovered earlier in Sebastian's closet. Unable to leave them in the rain, Sebastian quickly grabbed them and took them to his room, hastily placing them in his closet, barely making it back into the cellar before Ciel and the others could arrive. It is revealed that Sebastian's quick trip outside is the reason his "corpse" was wet, not because of a leak in the ceiling.
After Ciel and the others left the cellar, Sebastian went back outside and crouched behind a bush guarding him from being seen by Baldroy, Finnian, and Mey-Rin, who had come outside to search for the key, while Sebastian was collecting the glass shards that Charles threw outside. Sebastian then threw the shards into Karl Woodley's hearth before leaving to disguise himself as Father Jeremy Rathbone. Back in the present, Arthur questions whether the ticket Jeremy showed them was genuine or fake, but Sebastian states that it was the real thing, though he was only able to see the performance for two minutes before he had to leave. Arthur then asks what was written in the letter, and Ciel reveals that there was actually nothing written on the letter, with Ciel saying that Sebastian was "just trying to be funny", though Sebastian claims it was just some "brain training" for Ciel, since his lessons were on hold until the incident was over.
Arthur then realizes that he and Jeremy had investigated Sebastian's corpse. Jeremy had requested to see each of the bodies in a separate room. He requested for Ciel to allow him to change and, in another room, Ciel complained that Sebastian did not tell him that he would appear like that, while Sebastian says that he had no time and that he would explain the details later. Sebastian then removed his disguise and quickly rushed back to the cellar, so the servants wouldn't notice him missing. After being placed in a separate room, Sebastian rushed back to the room where Ciel was, and replaced his disguise.
After Jeremy finished examining Patrick Phelps' corpse, he sneaked back into the room holding Patrick's body and going out through the window, sneaking Patrick into the room where Sebastian's corpse was supposed to be in, and dressing Patrick up as Sebastian, which is why it appeared like Jeremy had not followed Ciel and the others to the room where Patrick was killed, and why he was sweating from the "effort" of walking up all the stairs.
Back in the present, Arthur is shocked at the revelation that the body was Patrick's, and Sebastian remarks that it was thanks to Ciel's "bad acting" and Arthur's personality that he was able to pass off Patrick's body as his own. It is then revealed, while Charles was secretly making his way back to the room where Sebastian's body was supposed to be, Jeremy was quickly hiding his disguise in the room's closet, and Patrick's body under the bed, being just able to get under the sheet that was covering Patrick before Charles entered the room and removed the cover. Seeing Sebastian's body under the cover, Charles said "As if..." before kicking Sebastian's face for good measure, then saying "There's no way that could be..." before leaving the room.
Back in the present, Sebastian states that Arthur knows the rest of what happened, but Arthur remains confused because if everything were real, then they knew Charles was the culprit, yet Sebastian, Ciel, and Charles allowed Karl to be framed as the culprit, and Ciel reveals that everything that happened was on Queen Victoria's orders, much to Arthur's shock. Ciel reveals that Georg was a key figure in Germany's Heavy Industry Investments. Since England's position is being threatened by Germany, Queen Victoria planned on crushing Georg and obstructing Germany's military power. Arthur is shocked that Georg's death would be able to do such a thing, but Ciel replies that Georg was just a simple banker. Ciel then details The Butterfly Effect, saying that, since Queen Victoria had built the Great British Empire in just 50 years, perhaps she was able to see which butterflies are able to change the world by flapping their wings.
Arthur then asks why Charles wanted to put the blame for the murders on Ciel, Ciel responds that a "little prank" of his was found out, secretly referring to him killing the children kidnapped by Noah's Ark Circus, instead of returning them to their homes as he was ordered, and that that he had expected some form of punishment if it had been found out, but he didn't think Queen Victoria would try to pin a murder on him, saying that the Queen had a sense of humor. However, Ciel says that he was always very good at playing games, and that he used Karl as his pawn. When Arthur asks why, Ciel reminds Arthur that he had told him that Karl belonged in the Yard's carriage. Ciel elaborates by explaining that, upfront, Karl ran a diamond polishing business, but the truth was he was a weapons dealer who sold illegal weapons that he got with the diamonds in conflict areas. Furthermore, there was an incident about 2 weeks prior to the case in which the President of the Rose Company that excavates diamonds was killed and, through his own routes, Ciel was able to confirm that Karl was the criminal. Ciel explains that for people of the Underworld to endanger people of the normal world was a grave violation of the rules, and because Ciel was going to get rid of him anyway, Ciel decided to use him as a scapegoat for the murders.
Arthur is shocked at this, remembering what Karl was saying before he was arrested. Arthur asks exactly what Ciel is, and Ciel explained his job as the Queen's Watchdog, and that what happened during Arthur's stay at the mansion was merely a game by which Queen Victoria determined whether or not he had the talent to remain her Watchdog. Arthur is now shaking, saying that if everything Ciel and Sebastian are telling him is true, then Sebastian is not..., and Ciel quotes "There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact", and that the truth has been in front of him all along. Sebastian speaks and, appearing behind Arthur, he says: "Indeed. The truth. That I am not human."
Sebastian reveals his true form to Arthur, who has fallen out of his chair in shock, and continues saying that, now that he knew, Arthur was going to do his best to forget it. Arthur tries to run away, but Sebastian grabs him and asks what one would think would happen if Arthur were to reveal this, asking if Arthur understands. Arthur runs away screaming that he does and that he won't tell, and Sebastian says "Those words. I will make sure that you never, ever forget them." Arthur runs with a black mass chasing after him, and Sebastian says that "[They] are always watching."
Arthur suddenly wakes up and finds himself back in the carriage, which has just arrived at his house. Back at the Phantomhive mansion, Ciel asks why Sebastian revealed his true form to Arthur, to which Sebastian replies that Arthur is a writer and that, if he went through an eccentric experience, he would absolutely want to write about it, as writers are "those kinds of creatures". Sebastian then remarks that he has seen Ciel read Arthur's works several times, and was disappointed that it was discontinued. Ciel replies that his work was "ok to pass time with", while Sebastian smirks, saying that Arthur's next work will be something to look forward to. Arthur is then seen writing furiously at his desk, with several pages of paper already written on.
Arthur then comments that "After that, [his] pen kept flowing like [he] was possessed by something. Writing 'that one work' [he] thought [he'd] never write." Despite having written several books, he comments that he was still unable to escape from "that one work" and that "that one main character" would always come back to him, as if they wanted him to remember his vow. Several years later, Arthur is approached by a child that is presumably his daughter or granddaughter, and Arthur, who has finished writing down the complete events of his stay at Phantomhive Manor, vows to hide the truth "in the far back of the hearth" until his death, "Just like the secret of that stormy night."
==Characters in Order of Appearance==
*Charles Grey
*Sebastian Michaelis
*Georg von Siemens
*Arthur Conan Doyle
*Ciel Phantomhive
*Mey-Rin
*Finnian
*Baldroy
*Jeremy Rathbone
*Patrick Phelps
*Queen Victoria
*Undertaker
==Navigation==
es:Capítulo 49
pl:049. Ten kamerdyner jest ekscentryczny!
it:Capitolo 49
Category:Chapters
Category:Phantomhive Manor Murders Arc