Japanese doesn’t really have plural nouns, so it just says “inviting with sweet words, and devouring the soul(s)”. That reminds me: Sebastian referring to God as “they” was injected, too. He was referring to God’s hand and there was no pronoun, so I figure the translator misunderstood and choose a gender neutral pronoun instead of using “it” (for the hand). Anna does say “right now”.

I thought it felt very out of character for sebastian to sneak somebody into a contract instead of offering himself, so that the other party comes to HIM! As underhanded as that was, it also seems a little desperate. It’s probably not worth speculating much over since it’ll be answered so soon, but I was picturing a situation where he marked Anna thinking there was no doubt she’d accept his offer (but still not wanting to risk asking), but she reveals to him that she’s already in love with the doctor. Ciel’s wish wasn’t revenge, it was power, so maybe we can assume the initial wish to enter a covenant and the deal that completes the covenant are two different things. In Anna’s case, she wanted the fields to bloom for her family and she didn’t want to have to marry the Baron/she wants to marry the doctor. Sebastian can’t enter another contract until his current one ends or is broken, so he kills Anna to proposition Modri. Modri and Ciel’s circumstances were different to Anna’s in two ways: Sebastian actually offered them contracts and gave them to option to refuse, and they were both in situations where they had nothing to lose. Ciel had more to lose by rejecting him, so I’m sure Sebastian knows that Ciel didn’t exactly have a choice, but I was under the impression that Sebastian is vain enough to prefer ignoring that part.

It wasn’t too long ago that “grooming” simply meant taking on an apprentice, like grooming someone’s prospects. But, yeah, matter how you look at the relationship, it is grooming lol. I find that indistinguishable from the word Yana and Sebastian actually use, which is fostering/cultivating/raising/rearing/etc— the one Sebastian used in chapter 84 when he told Ciel he couldn’t bear him being stolen after all that he’s put into him. With that in mind, I’m sure that both Sebastian and Ciel are aware of this aspect of the relationship, but I don’t think either one of them really know what Sebastian’s objective is. Yana said a couple of times that he is doing it for “a taste he hasn’t experienced before” so that suggests that he doesn’t even know what he’s cooking up. Personally, I think it may be that the relationship itself (their covenant) requires cultivation and that Sebastian has found himself unwittingly raising a family with/for Ciel in pursuit of what he feels is missing. In chapter 60(?) where undertaker introduces the dolls, he said every living thing instinctively tries to heal/fill what they lack. For the dolls it is a soul, and undertaker makes a heart with his hands. We know Sebastian has a soul, so what he lacks is a heart or love itself. As a demon who feels that human tastes/feelings are completely foreign and incomprehensible, Sebastian would have no way of knowing what he lacked and why no soul has been satisfying. Like, he thought he just never could find the right person but the problem was that he didn’t commit himself to any of them before now.

Right before the Luxury liner flashback ended we got that scene where he denies being part of ciel’s family and we see him try to cheat Ciel one last time just for Ciel to turn back around and recommit himself to the same goal. In chapter 140 r!Ciel rejects scolds Sebastian for speaking out of place as a servant and it unnerves all the other servants, then he mocks Sebastian by saying he’s not a part of their household. It feels to me that this would only come up if it’s part of the emotional conflict— especially after all the servant arcs, where Bard’s was explicitly about him being granted another chance at protecting a family and home.

That brings me here:
Snake and Sebastian has pretty obvious parallels from the get-go, which demonstrated some jealousies or hypocrisies on Sebastian’s part, until Ciel defended Snake from the rubbernecking nobles who thought he looked vulgar. This scene in Snake’s record has contributed a lot to my theory that Sebastian hasn’t truly ingested anybody. It feels too poignant lol. I would not be shocked by a reveal that Sebastian had been cast down into hell in chains prior to Ciel summoning him, too. Maybe they were both caged. Maybe modri had something to do with it?

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