"I'll be heading home, then," Reynard said after he had dropped his empty tray off in the kitchen sink. "Father must be home by now, if what the doctor said was true."

"Okay," Uncle Franke grumbled as he rolled up a new cigarette. "Come by later to tell me how he's doing, okay? And he'll be returning to work by when?"

Reynard took in a sharp breath. He did not want his father to leave them again. "In 2 days."

Uncle Franke nodded. "Make the most of what you have, okay? Good luck."

"Thanks, Uncle Franke."

With that, Reynard turned on his heels and walked through the door that led to the bar where some people were having their morning drinks.. He noticed his good friend Bradshaw from academy sitting in the corner slurping on a sherry, and he waved to him.

"Join me for a drink, eh?"

"Can't," Reynard responded as he pulled open the door, cold gusts of wind dancing on his cheek. "Need to head home. See you later."

Today it was not harshly cold, but a warm, comforting type of cold in which Reynard enjoyed walking through the street. Children ran past him in newly knitted scarves up to their noses, squealing and shrieking as they did so. Reynard smiled as he saw his own childhood in them. It had been a while since he had been truly happy and carefree.

With his hands in his pockets, he trotted through the streets. He first thought about going straight to Gartran Health Centre, but since he knew his father was eager to get home, he changed his route to his house. The sun rose further up as he got nearer to his destination, bringing with it the joys of warmth.

Before he had even opened the door to his house and stepped in, he felt there was something seriously wrong. It was dark inside because the lanterns were still unlit. Had Rosa still not returned home with their father?

Reynard was about to go back outside in search of them when he heard faint sobbing coming from the dining room.

"Rosa?" he called worriedly as he ran through the front entrance. "Are you back?" He followed the sounds of the sobs and soon found his sister sitting before the dining table, sobbing into her hands. "Rosa…?"

Upon hearing her name, she lifted her head from her arms and the state of her baffled Reynard to the bones. Her eyes were bloodshot with tears, and her face was similarly so, as if she had applied rouge to areas where it may even seem daft, like below her eyes, her neck and even her ears.

"Oh dear, what happened?" Reynard whispered as he came to sit beside his sister. "Has something happened to your stall? Don't tell me it's run out of business."

It took a minute for her to gather her senses to answer. "No," she croaked eventually, the break in her voice not going unnoticed by either of them.

"So?" he muttered soothingly as he rubbed her shoulder. "Why are you crying?"

She burst out in a new flow of tears and wept onto the table. The sound of her crying broke his heart and he patted her back, trying to get her to answer him.

"Come on now, Rosa," he whispered as he looked around the house. "Where's father?" At this, her trembling shoulders turned to stone for a brief moment. Reynard frowned as he turned back to her. "Rosa, where's father?"

She lifted her face off the table and looked at her brother. Her face was a mixture of worry, hopelessness and misery. Her lips parted as if she wanted to say something, but no words escaped her mouth. They trembled in place and her pupils searched her brother's face before she took a deep, shaky breath and uttered out the the most horrible, most dreaded words Reynard could have ever asked to hear:

"He's dead."

Reynard frowned in innocent confusion. "What? Who's dead?"

Rosa broke down in tears once more as her face crumpled up, and she wrapped her arms around Reynard's neck before pulling him in for a hug.

"I'm so sorry, love," she gasped. "The doctors said got alcohol poisoning."

Reynard pulled back, still confused. "What are you talking about?"

Rosa ducked her head and sobbed for a moment. She did not want to break it to him. Her brother was much more emotionally delicate than she was. He won't be able to handle the news.

With intense self control, Rosa stopped her tears and cupped her brother's face before saying, "Both our parents are dead, Reynard. It's just us." Then she hugged him again, crying into his shoulder.

This time, Reynard didn't pull away. It took him a few minutes to properly absorb the weight of her words, and he did not like what he came to realize. All of a sudden, the shine in his eyes disappeared and his shoulders slumped.

"Where is he?" he whispered.

"H-H-His body is still at the health center," Rosa cried. "They wouldn't let me take him! They wouldn't even let me see him after he declared his demise, Reynard, what do we do!?"

Reynard stared at the wall past her, all sorts of thoughts going through his mind. "What do we do?" he whispered almost to himself. "What do we do? Whatever could we do?"

Rosa detached herself from her brother, looking at him as he drove himself into hysterics.

"Why the f**ck does it always happen to us!?" he bellowed at nobody in particular as angry tears flowed down his face. "Does god have something against us, huh? Things were finally getting better. I was- They- It was going to be-" He struggled to turn his thoughts into words. "F**ck. F**CK! F**CK IT! F**CK EVERYBODY!"

The sharp slap echoed through the empty house.

Reynard clutched his cheek in utter shock, staring at the floor. This was the first time he had ever been slapped by family, and by his sister no less.

Rosa pursed her lips as she stared at him, now more angrier than miserable.

"Mind what you say," she whispered coldly. "We do not swear in this household, since that's the rule that Mother laid down. Respect it, and respect everybody. I know that you're distraught, and I know that you're pained. Much better than anybody, of course. But I'm not going to tolerate this black tongue of yours, Reynard. Please. Please."

With that, she hugged her brother's stiff body once again and sighed.

"I'm sorry," he whispered as he hugged her back, finally letting his tears flow out. "I'm so sorry."

They kept that way for a few moments before Rosa pulled back and wiped her brother's face with a handkerchief. "Alright, alright," she smiled. "You big baby. Have you had breakfast yet?"

He nodded. "And you?"

She shook her head. "No. But I don't have much of an appetite anymore. I'd much rather retrieve Father's body from Gartran. Shall we be on our way, then? He must be missing his children."

Reynard smiled a sad smile as he stood up. "He never liked health centers to begin with. Let's go."

✿

[Back at what once was Ogden Cove]

"My lord..." Mama Ruth gave the dress a good look, front and back. "What, did you roll around on the ballroom floor?"

Mama had demanded to take a look at the state of her wedding dress, and I had reluctantly fetched it from upstairs. Mama was not pleased.

"It has holes in it!" she exclaimed as she thrust the crumpled up green dress in my face. "How did that happen?"

I mumbled a reply.

"What?"

I winced. "I don't know."

She scoffed. "Good god."

She was in an especially bad mood today, and both Sven and I wondered if it was something connected to the assassins' visit last night. Something serious had happened, but neither of us knew not what it was.

"And what happened to the hem?" she asked as she inspected it. "Why is it so muddy? Did you not go there in a carriage?"

I fidgeted with my hands. "I did."

"Then??"

I put my hands hopelessly up in the air. "I'm sorry Mama, I didn't mean for this to happen. It just- Something bad happened last night."

She gave me a scrutinizing look. "What?"

I contemplated answering her, but in the end, I knew it was inevitable.

"Mama, can we do this another time?"

She folded her arms. "No."

I sighed, trying to keep myself from turning into an annoying, wailing child.

"But Mama-"

"No."

I threw my hands up in the air and circled around my position, trying to think about my situation. Would Mama believe me if we got attacked by assassins at the ball? It sounded much too far-fetched. Even Sven had taken a few moments to believe me. Would Mama be any different?

I tried to test it. If she didn't believe me, I'd brush it off as a joke.

"Alright, I'll believe you," I muttered as I faced her. "We got attacked by assassins last night."

A sharp eyebrow shot up. "Oh?"

"And the assassins were those very friends of yours. Sidmund and his pals, I mean." I know I sounded daft. I know. But it was the truth, and she had to hear it.

Mama looked at me for a few more moments before sighing and turning around.

"I didn't realize I was being too hard on you," she muttered as she opened the door to her room. "You didn't have to lie to get out of it. I was gonna throw it out anyways. Go get me a cup of tea."

"Oh-kay," I answered and held my breath as she went in. I didn't have the heart to tell her that I had, in fact, not been lying. I turned on my heel and went into the kitchen to arrange a cup of tea for her as well as myself.

She'll have to come to terms with it one day, I thought as I filled the pot with milk.

"Yeah," I murmured. "Better leave it be."