Breakfast with aftertaste

As I woke up after such stressful day, I could finally start my second new life with a clear mind. Sigh. If only my supposed- clear mind wouldn't always travel to yesterday's discussions with the king and the archduke Evergarden. Truth to be told, I had some regrets regarding that one particular argument. The other one I didn't care since I didn't have a choice in the first place. But the dispute after that made me rethink my actions before. Cedric was just friendly as it was his duty. That what I should know, however I became so angry especially because of this. Always duty, duty and duty. What else did or could he do than that ?

At the moment I still lay on my bed, again looking at the already third new ceiling by now which was rather simple yet classic in contrast to the others this time. White colours with some creative reliefs on the frames and edges, while in the middle hang a big glass chandelier. Nothing special to describe, nonetheless it was still beautiful in itself.

" Now I have to get up", I finally thought, "… but I'm too lazy… "

"Besides…" My gaze then turned to the small child lying next to me who continued sleeping peacefully. His innocent face in combination with his fox ears and silver hair illuminated a halo consisted of many light sparkles and the edges of his hair seemed to become one with the morning light that shone through the high windows. His slow breathing, chest going up and down and eyelashes softly fluttering made him look slightly surreal.

" How beautiful… "

For a moment I actually believed he was a living puppet or my imagination from a book.

Instead of standing up, I now watched the sleeping beauty. Soon my line of sight came to our connected hands under the blanket. Just remembering what happened yesterday after our discussion warmed my heart.

This event was certainly a surprise when I heard Kitsune's exclamation about him staying with me under disguise. He could have lived with the rest of my family in luxury but he preferred to be with me. This totally gave me butterflies. No discussion after that,…but what next came was indeed unexpected.

He also wished to always sleep with me.

Naturally, it led a huge conflict regarding this matter because despite him being a child he was still a male.

However in my opinion I couldn't understand their mind process because I was already married before, so I already lost my "innocence" and therefore there wasn't a need for such assurance. This thing should have been pointed out, yet I didn't join in this argument as I wanted to watch Kitsune struggling. It wasn't because I was sadistic or anything.

Just your own effort showed the results. That was one of the principles of our family. So to sum it up, we wanted to see his determination.

Besides it also helped my little one to become more used to my family.

But at some point I regretted not having intertwined back then as it went on for three hours. Luckily, my friend knew how to use his appearance and then showed his puppy face. It was only the matter of time when they would give up, thus I who was the subject of this argument just watched it in amusement.

As expected it became their defeat and Kitsune and me already went to our room for sleep. On the way he suddenly asked me annoyed, " Why didn't you help me ? " To this, I just shrugged and said with a smile,

" I wasn't particularly against the idea of sleeping with you since I would wake up seeing a beauty next to me. But I wanted to see how much you like me to do so. That's why I didn't want to go between you both."

Afterwards he blushed while shouting, " You pervert !", then hugged his body with a disgusted face and finally ran to the bathroom which was connected to my temporarily bedroom.

As for the situation now, it was the next morning, so early that only the servants were the only ones who would have gotten up as they had to prepare the breakfast. I could continue to sleep, but once I woke up, it was harder to become sleepy again despite yesterday being extremely stressful, so the result was as clear as day.

I should just get up.

But this small rascal restricted me from doing so. Sigh. In the end I stayed in bed.

I then closed my eyes and hoped for me falling asleep again.

…

…

…

" Hello ?"

"…"

" Rosie"

" hmm…"

" Hey Rosie, wake up !"

" I …don't… want to. "

" Now wake up, Rosie. We have to go."

" um…Just let me sleep, mom ! I don't want to go to school", I angrily exclaimed.

"…"

"…"

" I'M NOT YOUR MOM ! NOW WAKE UP, YOU PERVERT ! "

At the shrill voice I immediately opened my eyes and sat up. My eyes were still sloppy, even half closed ,so I couldn't make out of my surrounding anymore. They were pretty much blurred to me but after a few seconds, my vision became clearer and I found myself looking at a cute angry-looking boy sitting on my lap. He said with a pout, " Since you are awake, we have to go now !"

" Okay, okay" , I hold my hand high in defence and then let them fall. "Ah, I forgot, um…good morning, Kitsune." I said with a smile.

" Shove your ' good morning' somewhere else. Could you now release my hand, please ?", the boy angrily exclaimed. " Why can't he be cute with me like in the presence of my parents or someone else ?, I thought sadly.

As on command I released his hand and looked at my small friend getting up from the bed walking towards the bathroom. Before he completely vanished from there, I shouted,

" Do you want to walk around the city centre ? I want to find an author and when we are at it, we can buy clothes for you too. I also wish to look for some books."

I waited for an answer for a while, when I heard a muffled voice, " Okay, but buy me some sweets. "

After we finished dressing up we both walked down the corridor while greeting the passing servants. More like I did the most morning greetings, as for Kitsune he just nodded.

When we finally entered the dinner hall, I saw my awaiting brother and parents. My father was reading his newspaper while my mother and brother seemed to be engaged in a conversation, but for me it was rather a nagging talk than an actual small talk. Once they heard us arriving, they immediately looked at our direction and smiled warmly.

" Good morning, Rosie and Kitsune."

" Good morning, sweetheart and cute Kitsune"

" Morning, Ros and little boy. "

" Good morning, everyone.", I finally gave my final greeting and now waited for the other part to do so.

"…" No movement happened behind me who still hid from my family. When I finally nudged him he soon uttered quietly, " G-good morning…"

Through his voice was small, you could hear him in this silent hall. My family just smiled.

" Now come, my little ones. You must be hungry by now", my mom called out to us by signalling the seat before them with her hand.

So we all took our seats and began to dine. A french breakfast consisted of many baguettes, jam, eggs, butter and more.

Suddenly a butler arrived in our room interrupting our eating. Not bothered by it, I continued like Kitsune since I believed it must be a message for my father or mother. As soon as this thought came it immediately disappeared as well when the butler stood before me with the letter on the plate. He presented it in a bow. As I finally gave a reaction to this surprising event, I now took it while seeing the leaving butler. Looking at the back, I found the address and the seal. The seal already told me everything, therefore I just let my hand slide down my face and sighed.

" I don't feel like eating anymore.", I spoke.

" What is it, Rosie ?", asked my father worriedly.

" Just… this letter…", I gave a weak reply.

" Who sent it to you ?", my brother Leon who sat next to me jumped in. After he looked for it himself by bending his body to my side, his face became twisted and said,

" Why the royal family ? Do they have to continue bother us even now ?"

" Leon !", my father shouted.

" So what ? Didn't you also feel unfair for them treating my sister like this ?"

" Naturally, but if anyone had heard what you just uttered, it could be called blasphemy."

" Would you think they would put me in prison? ", he said sarcastically, " After they made this drama back there, they really disappointed me."

Gloomy silence filled the room and depressed expression built up on my brother's and parents' faces

" Now, now. I know that what they did wasn't good, but we can't speak against them. They must a reason for it until then we should wait. Besides after finding the culprit Rosie would be released from this marriage anyway. ", my mom spoke out, then looked in my direction with empathetic eyes.

" Yeah, I know but I'm still so angry about the outcome of this supposed discussion about adopting Kitsune. They didn't even tell us beforehand that the archduke would join us. ", Leon admitted rubbing his neck.

" I was also surprised. Not like I wouldn't expect anything different from this cunning king.", my father said with gritted teeth.

" Yeah, yeah. Now we have to live in the present. Just enjoy the time we have with Rosie and our cute addition to our family. ", my mom said while clapping her hands to take everyone's attention.

" At least we got one good output after this disaster. " , my brother commented with a smile to Kitsune. My little friend still concentrated on his plate, but when looking closer you noticed his ears turning red a bit. Furthermore I could see his ears even flinched a bit and his two tails moving right to left steadily. If one saw these too, it was so obvious how he felt about this comment.

" Anyway, now forget about them. Rosie open the letter. What is written ?" , my father asked curiously. At once I opened the letter carefully, took out the paper from it and then read it slowly.

" What is it ? Are they bad news ?", my brother asked worriedly, already reading my obvious displeasure from my face.

" Not exactly bad, but from my perspective perhaps yeah. ", I responded not looking away form the paper. I concentrated so much on reading as if I had an exam before me because I had only one night to learn for it.

"um… they invited me to the ball in celebration for the peace next week."

" OOOHHHH… that is wonderful.", my mother joyfully exclaimed while holding her hands together. I jumped up at her loud happy voice. Then I looked at my mother with confusion but over time even I finally understood her real intention.

" No way, please ! ", I pleaded my mom.

" Come on, sweetheart. We had to buy a dress for you ", my mom happily said, " Besides you wanted to go downtown anyway. For searching for an author, right ? "

" Yeah, sure. But if I lose time because of this, I won't make it to find the author then. Besides I also planned on buying …clothes for Kitsune too…" ,I reasoned desperately.

" That is even better ! I would be happy to dress up this little boy too. With such beauty this will be fun." , my mother replied with sparkles in her eyes directed at Kitsune. For me it more looked like your predator looking at his prey. Even Kitsune flinched at her stare. My small companion seemed to be reluctant like me yet we both couldn't go against my enthusiastic mother. It was indeed hard to discourage my mom when seeing her like this. Later on, my focus came back to mother and I said with waving hands,

" I already have enough clothes, so I don't need more."

" No, no, darling. You need them especially now. I'm a bit angry why he just sent this invitation just now when everyone need time to prepare one dress at least one month beforehand. But …this challenge became even more fun. "

I just laughed weakly and asked curiously, " What do you mean by 'You need them especially now' ?"

" Naturally, to make the archduke jealous when every men look at you in daze. If we had to accept the decision of the king, we should at least make the ladies envy for your beauty while you held your head high amidst of the rumours, Rosie. "

" But you do remember, I'm still married to the archduke, right ? Even if the men look at me I won't commit infidelity ", I spoke with raised brow.

" Yeah, naturally, sweetheart. While you are married to him, we could still search for a new spouse. It's not like the archduke is against this anyway."

" Mom !", I cried out in embarrassment.

" Rosie, your mother is right. ", my father finally joined in this ridiculous conversation, " Until we find the culprit, you should take your time to find a different husband. "

" I don't think this will work out because of the rumours. Besides… "

" That is the more reason. This way we will find out who are the right people. The ones who only want to flatter to us while trying stab on our back, the ones who directly stab you or the ones who don't easily believe such words or the ones who had good judgement. ", my father interrupted me.

" Yeah, but…"

" Also when you had to accept these rumours, you should hold your head high by wearing a beautiful and sophisticated dress", my mother added fuel to the fire.

" Ok, we could do this. But …"

" I totally agree. I would be satisfied knowing the duke would be ashamed and later regretted his decision in the ball. After this, the dude is dead. Seeing the duke being embarrassed with the situation would be good", my brother commented with a nod.

" You all also would come to the ball ?", I asked when I heard my brother saying about seeing the archduke's misery in the ball.

" Naturally, we are the Marques family. It would be an insult to the royal family, if we didn't come."

I just nodded. At this moment I really wanted to slap myself for forgetting it. Not long I became occupied with a different thought which I want to speak up for a while now and immediately exclaimed loudly,

" I don't want to remarry."

" Yeah, we know that you don't want to marry the archduke again. Not like you had to marry again as you… are still in marriage.", my father said.

As if the ballon was already full and would soon explode, I now roared,

" NO ! That's not what I mean. "

At once they flinched and looked at me like obedient children after getting scolded. I was fed up with their interruption now, so I shouted,

" I don't want to find a new husband and want to live on my own for now. "

" Only for now, right ?" , my mum asked cautiously. To this, I immediately glared at my too enthusiastic mother.

" Do I have to get a man to live ?", I soon reasoned with anger.

" Not at all, Rosie. But in this society, as a divorced woman you will be very discriminated.", my father said worriedly, " I don't want you to get through terrible experiences again. "

" Yeah, I understand, but I don't have the energy to go for a next marriage. I already lived a loveless marriage, for second time I don't know if I could have enough patience and energy at all. I can't go on like this anymore. " , I showed my determination and continued , " … In these past years I always lived for someone, didn't even remember what my wishes once were. But this time I want to live for myself now. "

" I totally agree with my sister, after this sc*mbag she need time for herself. Besides it will many men be chasing after her after they know what person she is anyway. ", my brother supported me with these words and added, " Also she had more time with us for now, right ?"

My parents silently nodded, but I saw some reluctance flickered in their eyes.

" Should you ever encounter difficulties. Please tell us immediately, darling." , my mother soon spoke.

" That's right, my daughter. We will support you in anything you do. I owed this anyway, after you had to suffer under this b*astard. I should have noticed it, whenever we visited him before your marriage.", my father said regrettably. His hands forming into fists on the table. My mother lay her hand over his left fist tenderly and told me sadly, " We were at fault for not noticing any abnormalities. Even if we weren't allowed to interfere, we should have at least said that we would support and love you in any way. "

My brother nodded with downcast eyes. It took me for a while to process, but then I did, I saw my parents, brother and even Kitsune suddenly panicking before me. My brother soon brought a hopefully unused tissue to me and said with a troubled face,

" Please don't cry…um … I don't know what to do, Rosie. " He wiped my face clumsy yet this was so cute, that I couldn't help but laugh.

Everyone just looked at me dumbfounded. Laughing after my crying session would look really crazy. But for me, I didn't matter anymore. Before they could further asked, I told them,

" No, I'm alright. I just feel happy. That's why I cried. I'm sorry, my brother." At first he looked at me suspiciously. Then later he let it slide and instead ask tenderly

" Okay. Do you want to drink some water then ?"

" Yeah, thank you." As soon as I took the water, I thought, " I am so grateful to have such a family."

My heart once ached every time I saw them. Not only was I conflicted with the fact that they abandoned me but at the same I still felt their warmness around thanks to them. I knew that they wanted to save me, however feelings couldn't cope with my brain. There was a reason why the brain and heart were divided.

After their apology and sincerely words, my vision became clearer. My conflicts and problems were similar to a ball of wool with many threads. Now one string finally became untangled, a straight line revealed itself and I pulled it out. Because of this action, few more loose threads sticking out from the ball as the result. It lightened my heavy feelings.

" Since it's finished, we should continue to eat. ", my father told us. I nodded with the rest and all began to eat. When I took one croissant into my mouth, the sweetness already melt inside. Each bite became softer, each bite became sweeter and each bite made my heart -string loosing. Tears slowly forming on the edges of my eyes, a smile creeped to my mouth and I thought, " I'm happy to have them… really."

My thought passed when suddenly another message arrived, but this time instead of a delivered letter a messenger arrived and announced,

" Archduke Evergarden would arrive 12 o'clock " Then it became silent in the dinning room.

" Speaking of the devil." I heard my brother scowling. My father and mother also had demon- like face expression on and the eyes gushed for bloodlust. The messenger already shivered because of the dark aura surrounding him. The butler who showed him the way was also no different to my family in this perspective.

" Couldn't the archduke give us notice in advance ?", I thought so myself, " Then you wouldn't face them like this ? They became even more furious than necessary. "