~•|•~
The squeaking of canaries perched on the branches of spring trees and the barking of dogs have become a symphony in the Buford Mansion every morning.
A lady wearing a bone-white dress twirled around like she was dancing at the ball from the moment she closed the door. Her mouth crushed a slice of bread taken from the dining room, and that girl immediately grabbed the newspaper placed on the table. She flopped down on the chair and started reading the main page of the famous newspaper at Beetheaven, which had a picture of a marine.
Captain Dante Arthur De Ignacio, leader of troops in the Luminus War, had managed to deliver victory once again to Schubert. What would the king give him for his services?
Inez Cal Buford, the lady with bread in her mouth, sighs when she notices the headline on the front page. "Him again," she muttered as she stared at the formal photo of the captain that seemed to have been taken when he was at the military academy. Don't know how many times Inez has seen that photo. "It seems the captain doesn't have any other photos," she added as she quickly flipped to the next page. Inez doesn't read the newspaper for war news. She is looking for her favorite piece of romance that will be published every day. Her pupils are wide as she finds the piece printed in the corner of the newspaper. "This is!" Inez cheers excitedly.
BRAK!
"Lady!"
Inez turns around to find her maid, Anne, running towards her while lifting the front of her dress. "Gosh, what made you run like that, Anne?" Inez pushes the newspaper away.
Anne stops three steps in front of Inez and regulates her breath. "Sorry for being rude, Lady."
"Never mind." Inez waves her hand. "What made you like that?" She's more curious about the reason.
"Lady...!" Anne looks at Inez with furrowed brows. "The merchant ship the count invested in has been wrecked!" She closes her eyes after saying that.
"W... What?!" Inez drops the bread in her hand onto the floor. "What are you saying?" she grumbled, immediately looking down at the newspaper she was holding. 'Why isn't that hot news?' She flips through the newspaper quickly and remembers that the headlines in this war era are always dominated by military movements. Finally, Inez found a page that featured news about the ship after two pages about Captain Dante Arthur De Ignacio. "Oh my," Inez said, covering her mouth with a trembling hand. It was written there that the ship sank due to a big wave. Inez turns to Anne with a pale face and asks, "Where's Anthony?"
Anne looks down. "Count in his office, My Lady."
Inez immediately gets up from the chair. She walks quickly out of the bedroom with the newspaper in her hand, and Anne also follows her.
~•|•~
Inez finds the door to the office wide open. So she rushes in and finds Anthony crying in the arms of his crying wife, Arabella. In the corner of the room, the butler looks frustrated, thinking about Buford's future.
Inez took a hesitant step, and she stopped in the center of the room. "Anthony," she called with a pale face and teary eyes.
The man hugging his wife turns his head slowly. "Inez," he whispered. "Inez!" he called again. "The ship," Anthony starts to mumble. His tears continued to fall.
Inez realizes this isn't a beautiful spring dream. Her shoulders are down.
"WaAaA... Anthony...!" Inez runs over to the man, kneeling in front of her brother and sister-in-law. She is crying and wailing, just like Anthony, because he lost 60% of the Buford property. The man had decided to crazy invest when he found out that the profit of merchant ships during the war was huge.
However, who would have thought that the big ship, steered by a professional captain, would be wrecked by the big waves?
No one can imagine it.
~•|•~
It had been over a week since the news of the shipwreck circulated in Schubert. The eyes of the social club at Beetheaven are immediately on Count Buford, who has invested the most. They knew that it wouldn't take a long time for Buford, which had lost honor and wealth, to move to the suburbs. Inez knows this rumor because she stepped out of the mansion once, and the attention of society would be on her. It made Inez embarrassed and uncomfortable, so she kept herself inside the mansion. She also rarely sees her brother in the office, dining room, or with Arabella and their children. Anne said Anthony left when the sun wasn't up and returned when everyone in the mansion was asleep. And Inez knew very well that their financial situation was also not good during the war.
"Is this the end of Buford?" Inez muttered in front of the vase. She sighs heavily. "In the end, Buford is just like any other noble family that lost their honor in this era."
Anne, who heard that, only let out a long sigh. She approaches Inez and puts a thin blanket on the girl's shoulder. "The wind is quite cold, Lady. You'll get sick if you keep sitting in front of the open window," she said.
"Thank you, Anne." Inez smiles slightly. She holds the blanket tightly. "Tell me, how many servants are left in here?"
Anne's breath caught for a moment, but she regained control quickly. "Not more than twenty," she replied, causing Inez to bang her head on the window frame. "My Lady!"
"I'm fine, Anne." Inez tries to calm down her maid. "There can't be twenty people, right?"
Anne doesn't answer, and Inez took that as consent.
"How much money do I have in the bank?"
"Two million sena, Miss."
Inez is looking seriously at Anne. "What do you think if I start a small lingerie business? Or buy a lottery ticket? Ah, forget it! Stupid!" Inez asked and also pouting to herself.
"The money will not be enough to start a small lingerie business, but to buy one lottery ticket, it's more than enough. Would you like to try your luck, My Lady?" Anne is concerned about her lady's continued moody state after returning from the main street at Beetheaven a week ago.
"How much is it?" Inez should straighten up and smooth the dress.
"Five hundred sena," Anne replied, making Inez laugh bitterly.
"Forget it, Anne. Let's pretend you never heard my plan, okay?" Inez said, getting up from the chair and stepping onto the bed.
"Yes, My Lady."
"Close the window!"
Anne immediately closed the window, and the wind no longer entered the room.
"It's dinner time, isn't it?" Inez looks at the clock. She turns to Anne, who nods. "Will Anthony be joining us?"
"It's quite impossible, My Lady." Anne shook her head with a glum expression. "But another family will join you."
"Hm, the last few days have been like that," Inez said, removing the thin blanket and placing it on a chair. "I will go to the dining room. You get some rest, too. Your work for today is done."
"Eh?" Anne's pupils were wide. "Alright, Lady. Thank you very much."
"See you tomorrow, Anne!" Inez goes out of the bedroom alone.
~•|•~
Inez usually meets servants in all corners of the mansion, but this evening, she only met three servants in different places who greeted her, and they looked exhausted.
The girl stops her steps when she passes a large window in the center of the corridor. She can see the main yard of the mansion and the street of Beetheaven from here. Inez feels lonely instantly. She hugs herself.
"Auntie!"
Inez turns around and sees her first nephew, Nicola Argen Cal Buford. She smiles widely as Nicola makes a small run toward her. "Don't run, Nicola! You'll fall!" she warned.
"It's okay, Auntie." Nicola slows his pace when he is almost in front of Inez. He hides his hands behind his body. "I'm a big boy."
"Hmm, you are only six years old, Nicola." Inez kneels for that boy. She rubbed his curly hair, and Nicola was chuckling.
"Auntie is going to the dining room, right?"
"Yes. Why are you alone? Where are your Mom and Christine?" Inez looks behind Nicola.
"Christine got sick this afternoon," Nicola replied with a faint smile. "And Mom is talking with Father in their room. So, she told me to go first."
"What? Christine's sick?" Inez surprised. "And father? Is Anthony home yet?"
"Yes, Christine has the spring flu," Nicola replied. "You heard right, Auntie. Father is home."
"Really?" Inez asked again, and Nicola nodded confidently. "Your nanny is with Christine?"
"Yes, in her room." Nicola holds Inez's hand. "Mom said the conversation will be long, so let's eat first!"
"She said that?" Inez muttered, then stunned. 'What are they talking about? Buford? Why don't invite me? I'm an adult too. And I can help them,' she thought.
"Auntie?"
"Yes? Yes?" Inez shakes her head slightly and looks at Nicola. She smiles faintly. "Nicola, I have something to talk about with my brother and sister-in-law. So, can you eat alone?"
"I can, but I don't want to," Nicola replied firmly. He grips Inez's hand even tighter. "It's not enough with Mom, Father, and Christine; you want to let me eat alone too? In the wide dining room?"
"Ugh..." Inez furrowed her brows. "Okay. Let's eat and get over it quickly!" She stands up and stays holding hands with Nicola.
"Agree!" Nicola said, looking happy.
They go to the dining room together, passing through the long and wide empty corridor.
~•|•~
After dinner was over, Inez escorted Nicola back to his bedroom, then goes to meet up with Anthony and Arabella.
"Evans was just born! We can't move to the suburbs! And I don't want to, ever!"
Inez hears Arabella arguing with her brother. She pauses at the door, not really intending to eavesdrop.
"Alright! I'll talk Inez into getting married soon!"
Inez gasped as her name was mentioned along with the word marriage. She swallows heavily, then knocks on the door.
Knock, knock, knock.
"Who is that?" Anthony shouted from inside, and the sound of footsteps can be heard towards the door.
"Inez."
Klek!
Anthony glares in surprise. He looks at her expressionless sister. "You're here," he said with a little glance at Arabella.
Inez glances down at the marble floor. "Is that the final decision? I'm getting married?"
"Inez," Arabella approaches with a worried expression, "the decision may make you feel pressure, but several marriage proposals have also come your way. And my friend asked, Don't you want to join the wedding season this year?"
Inez sighs heavily. She looks at Anthony, who allows his wife to explain. "I never knew that I had marriage proposals?"
"The proposal came recently," Arabella replied quickly.
Inez looks at her sister-in-law again. She was a bit disappointed. "Is it since our family almost went bankrupt?"
"It can't be helped," Arabella said. She looks at her husband, then nudges Anthony's arm.
The man clears his throat briefly. "So, Inez, can you come in first? This is going to be a long conversation."
"Yes." Inez steps inside as Anthony steps aside from the doorway.
Klek!
The sound of the door closing thudded in the room. Inez plays with her fingers in front of her body when she feels uncomfortable. The girl looks at Anthony. "I heard you applied for a loan at the bank."
"It failed." Anthony steps onto the empty chair near the bed. He looks at Inez. "I'm quite confident in my ability to return the Buford property. The problem is that I don't have enough capital. And borrowing money from the bank in large amounts is very difficult now because the war is still going on. Damn it!"
Inez is silent for a moment. "And your colleagues?"
"Some left me, and some just laughed at me," Anthony replied with a bitter laugh. "Inez, Baron Wesker sent you a marriage proposal."
"Haha..." Inez burst out laughing ridiculously. She looks at Anthony and Arabella in turn. "Do you intend to marry me off to Dad's friend? Are you serious? Oh God..." Inez holds her forehead. "This is absurd! Is this the 15th century or else?" she muttered.
"Inez," Arabella called softly, but the girl ignored her because she knew that the idea for the wedding came from Arabella. "Buford's honor is at stake in the capital's social circles."
"Then?" Inez shouted at her sister-in-law. "Is marrying me off to my dad's friend the right choice? It will only end in ridicule in society! I don't want to be sold into a business marriage!"
"Inez Cal Buford!"
"Shut up, Arabella!" retorted Inez, pointing at her sister-in-law. "I know, those marriage proposals you're referring to must be from all the old men at Beetheaven! Or jerks who are only interested in my body!"
"Enough!" Anthony stands up from the chair. He steps up and stands between the two. "Inez Cal Buford."
"I hate my name from now on," Inez replied, covering her ears.
"No, listen to me!" Anthony pleased. Even though Inez wouldn't listen to him, he kept talking. "You have to get married immediately. That's the final decision. You don't want to marry Baron Wesker? Fine, I'll find you a wealth man who's not too far apart in your age."
The room feels silent. Inez doesn't speak and keeps her ears closed, while Arabella and Anthony watch the girl silently.
"Inez?" Anthony called out again.
'I don't want a forced marriage. Not with an old man or with other men I don't love. I don't want to marry like I've been sold,' Inez thought. 'Is two million sena not enough to start a small business?' Inez thought hard, but the end of her thoughts was white.
Inez lowers her hands to her ears. She looks seriously at Anthony. "I received an invitation to the ball from Countess Turin." She clenches her fists on either side of her body. This was probably the best option for now. "You know the reputation of the ball held by Countess Turin. So, let me look for my future husband there."
"But--" Arabella interrupted, and Anthony raised his hand.
"All right," Anthony said, breaking off and nodding. "When?"
"Mid-spring," replied Inez, whose gaze was no longer focused.
"That's less than two weeks," Anthony said, sounding pleased. "Do you need Arabella to—"
"No," Inez replied, immediately turning away. "Thank you, but I'll go there myself. Besides, Arabella is still recovering from giving birth to Evans. Good night," she said, and she quickly left that room. Inez stares straight; she closes her eyes for a moment, and her tears fall slowly. 'Wedding season... I feel bad,' she thought.
———