Ciel's POV
After a long, quiet moment I rose and bent over Serena, who had finally drifted back to sleep. I pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead. "Rest well, my love," I whispered, then stepped out of the room.
The halls were dim and still as I made my way to the study. The door swung open to chaos — papers scattered across the floor, books askew, the place rifled through as if a storm had passed. I moved toward the shelf, fingers searching between bindings until my hand closed on a small black orb.
I tapped its surface. The orb flared to life, showing my study from a few hours earlier. There he was — a bruised, battered man with long red hair and a scar across one eye, rifling through my things. My jaw tightened. So that was the intruder.
The image changed, showing the moment he pushed past Clara. Anger flared hot and raw in my chest. I wove my magic over the orb, sealing the images inside with a pulse of shadow.
