In comparison to Rose's thoughts where her aunt would be hostile to her mother, she acted as though what happened in the past never occurred. She didn't know if this was good or not. Had her aunt forgive her mother? She wondered. When the dinner finished, Rose took the plate and walked out of the dining room alongside her older sister. Josie was the one who said, "Doesn't she seems to friendly? She keeps laughing at all time even when we did nothing but breathe." "True," whispered Rose. She thought about how her aunt should still hold some anger against her mother, considering how she keeps avoiding the letters they sent. But here she is, laughing in a way to make sure the air in the room was far from tense. After washing the dishes, Rose walked to the corridor which was not far from the entrance and the living room, looking toward the only clock they have in the house and read how there was only two hours until the promised time she made wi

Rose's breaths was cut off as shocked paralyzed her hands, causing her to let her hands hanging on the air. She blinked while looking at who it was. "You," Rose said. At first startled, now she pulled her eyebrows together into a frown. "Yes me, if you don't remember, I do have a name, you know," Dominic chuckled while looking at her green eyes before his eyes narrowed, "How strange, you look frightened, like a cat who drowned on a river, what's wrong?" Rose looked at him with an accusing look. "You're asking me why I'm scared? How about not following me around like that! I was scared." Dominic tilted his head and his frown begin to form as he hold her wrist which he noticed was trembling. "Following you? Who? Me? I came from your front not your back. We were walking at the opposite direction, Rose." Rose opened her pink lips only to close it again. She looked back and forward be

The time they spent was short but Rose got to know that Dominic was more of a down-to-earth person than his look and behavior suggested. Unlike her cousin, Gabriella whom she know to live in the high class society, who always complain about the road they took in the market and how terrible the situation was where she couldn't stand it, Dominic was extremely comfortable on his own pace. He didn't even hesitate to buy the food from the vendors that Gabriella once mentioned as "dirty" that ended up with Gabriella and Josie fighting. Perhaps, she had judged him too early, thought Rose. "It's not festive but it isn't too terrible or gloomy considering the incident that occurred in this village," said Dominic and Rose nodded to agree. "Do you have any question for me?" "Me?" Rose pointed one hand to herself. "I don't think so," at least not the ones which is not intrusive. "You said th

Rose went back to the house while trying to have her smile on her face the entire time. She looked at Josie who looked less paler than before and thought it was alright. Although she would have to marry a person whom she doesn't like, Rose tried to think on the better side. She still cling to the hope that her mother won't agree to her aunt's proposal but at the same time she wondered. If her mother had rejected Aunt Marie's request, wouldn't it burdened her mother even more? That wasn't all. Seeing how Aunt Marie had tried to guilt trip her mother. If her mother rejected Aunt Marie's request, she would come again with another impossible request. Something that could even kill them. Rose shuddered at the thought. On the bright side, Rose knew she wasn't interested to anyone and she was still single unlike Josie who was in love with Mr. Harding. She was worried about the man she was about to marry bei

 The room went silent as the physician took his leave. Rose cannot comprehended what had occurred, feeling as if she was on clouds where this was a dream to her— a nightmare. But being a realistic person, it was quick for her to pull herself from her daydreams, understanding that the grim condition was real. "We don't have that much money," Josie was the one to start the conversation. She didn't raise the opinion of asking funds from her aunt, as all of them knew the pettiness that the woman had. "I will think of a way," Mrs. Maury said, "If I take a work, we should have enough fund—" "Mama, it's forty gold!" Josie raised her voice, shaking her head, "We will never have that much money not even if we save up for a year. The physician mentioned we only have one month to gather forty gold. From where can we find that much money in such a short amount of time?" "Calm down, Josie