[ And to the credit of Ciel's insight and careful maneuvering: this gesture actually works. Howl blinks in the wake of her apology, never expecting her to do such a thing. It's just so rare for anyone to ever apologize to him — yes, mostly because the situation is usually one in which Howl should be apologizing, but also because the people who have wronged him in the past, as both an adult and a child, were not sorry about it. He's used to being treated in exactly the way Ciel is claiming to have treated him, to have his feelings and abilities ignored, to be ordered around and belittled; it's this treatment that has taught him to unashamedly walk away when he begins to sense the same treatment happening again. Real or imagined.
And yet, he had never really felt that Ciel was treating him poorly. When he looks back with a cool head, even after his reeducation, most of her words and actions have been quite reasonable. Annoying, but reasonable. Howl has enough insight into his own idiosyncrasies to know he's a difficult and unreliable person, who can't handle the expectations hefted onto him so often. To be receiving an apology in such a mild situation as this... it's surprising, to say the least.
He frowns and stares at her bowed posture. While he doesn't entirely appreciate the significance of the gesture, he gets the idea, and it immediately makes him feel guilty. ]
...You did nothing wrong. Come now, stop that, before a servant sees you.
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And yet, he had never really felt that Ciel was treating him poorly. When he looks back with a cool head, even after his reeducation, most of her words and actions have been quite reasonable. Annoying, but reasonable. Howl has enough insight into his own idiosyncrasies to know he's a difficult and unreliable person, who can't handle the expectations hefted onto him so often. To be receiving an apology in such a mild situation as this... it's surprising, to say the least.
He frowns and stares at her bowed posture. While he doesn't entirely appreciate the significance of the gesture, he gets the idea, and it immediately makes him feel guilty. ]
...You did nothing wrong. Come now, stop that, before a servant sees you.