Chapter 15

"Valentina, you need to be bolder! Your timidity is what lost you the interest of the prince at last night's ball." Madia slammed her fan on a table.

Valentina fiddled with her perfectly manicured nails and stared out the window. Her mother would always shout at her like this when things did not go her way. She was the one who was possibly going to marry the prince, not her mother, so why couldn't Madia let her do it her own way?

"Are you listening to me, you silly girl?" Madia flapped open her fan and began to swiftly cool her reddened face.

"I will do better, mother." Valentina turned to smile sweetly at her frowning mother.

"Don't be coy with me child. You missed a good opportunity to impress the prince last night. You were busy talking to your silly friends, instead of solidifying the future of our family. Don't you understand the opportunity we have here? Don't you see the gravity of your poor actions?" Madia asked her distracted daughter.

"Yes mother; A chance to be royalty." Valentina muttered blankly.

Her mother gritted her teeth and grabbed Valentina's chin, turning Valentina to look directly at her.

"No, child. This is more than that; if you marry the prince, you will also be a queen! You will be the second most powerful person in this country! Are you willing to miss such a chance due to foolish carelessness?" Madia spat angrily at Valentina and let go of her reddening chin.

Valentina rubbed her sore chin. She wanted to scream out of frustration, but she calmed herself.

"I wasn't foolish, the prince disappeared from the ball! What was I supposed to do?" Valentina squeezed her skirts.

She wanted to tell her mother what Josephine had told her, so her mother could finally praise her for a change. But she knew Josephine would be punished and that would ruin her chances of getting a dance with the prince at the next ball.

"I told you to watch him. He's known to not be as social as his parents. God rest their souls," Madia flapped open her fan again and continued to cool herself. "I already told you this, yet you still went on and disappointed me. Children these days! The concept of simple obedience is dying right before my eyes," Madia groaned as she continued to fan herself.

"Well I'm sure he was impressed with me," Josephine let it slip and then covered her lips with her manicured fingers.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Madia looked inquisitively at her daughter.

"I mean-" Valentina began but was cut off by Georgia arguing in the kitchen.

"I just want another one!"

They could hear Georgia in the kitchen arguing over something. Madia turned her attention towards the commotion and got off her seat. She dropped her fan on the table and walked into the kitchen.

"This conversation is not over, Valentina!" Her mother said then disappeared into the kitchen.

There was silence, then Valentina heard her mother shout at Georgia, "Enough of your gluttony child! You are to act like a lady and watch your outrageous weight!"

Valentina watched her mother pull Georgia out of the kitchen. She felt bad for her little sister, because she knew what would come next. Georgia frowned as her mother sat her down in an armchair.

"Mother, I already took it yesterday, before the ball! I don't want to take it anymore because it makes me sick," She whined but her mother ignored her pleas and reached into a cupboard for a small glass bottle containing little pills.

"That's how you know it's working. You won't have to take weight medication if you just stop eating so much." Her mother opened the cap of the bottle and placed two tablets into Georgia's hand.

Georgia placed it in her mouth and washed it down with water. "There you go. If you overeat, you take the medicine- you know what the doctor said."

"But I've barely eaten today," Georgia grumbled.

"Good. You look slimmer already!" Madia patted her rosy cheeks. "At this rate, you should be able to fit into Valentina's corset by next year."

Georgia got off her seat and stomped up the staircase to her room.

Madia then turned her gaze back to Valentina. And with all the attention back on her, she wanted to sink into the ground.

----

"I told you I didn't need your help." Josephine turned to look at Marco, who was walking right behind her. "Now you are following me?"

Marco walked to her front and stared at her. "Well you were speaking to me, wouldn't it be rude if I just stopped walking?" He grinned at her and she remembered why she broke his stupid nose. "Besides, you're welcome." He smiled then turned to look at her things on the ground.

"I never thanked you," Josephine grunted then shoved him out of the way. She bent over and started picking up the littered books.

"You didn't have to. I could see the relief in your eyes," He smiled at her and bent to pick up the books with her.

"Do you get paid to bother women?" She glared at him.

Josephine then swiftly snatched the books out of his hand and quickly picked up the rest of the books. She got off the floor and walked towards the wagon, then she dumped them into it.

"Only beautiful women." Marco smiled at her.

"Tell me when you see some; most of the women I've come across have been vicious animals." Josephine grunted at his statement.

She believed he must be blind; all the women she had bumped into, from Madia to her step sisters, had only made her blood boil.

Marco stared at Josephine in shock. "I meant you."

Josephine turned to look at him in confusion, like she didn't get his statement.

"I meant you are beautiful." Having to explain it again, made him blush a bit.

Josephine only shrugged at his compliment. However, he found her complete disregard for his advances aggravating yet enticing.

"If you think this face is beautiful, you must be losing your sight." Josephine chuckled at his compliment. "Men in this time period must have shitty standards. But it's not like you men are any better. Look at you, you're hideous,"

Of course, she was biased, as Marco was one of the most handsome men in the kingdom.

Marco walked up to Josephine, where she was busy piling up the book she picked off the ground and he grabbed her chin and turned it towards him. "You mustn't look down on yourself. I think most men with eyes would think that you are gorgeous," He smiled quietly at her.

Josephine stared into his large light brown eyes. Taking a proper look at his face beautifully lit in the sunlight made his soft handsome features come to life.

Josephine shoved him off her. "Yeah, whatever you say casanova." She mocked as she bent over to pick up some photos on the ground.

"I suppose I am, aren't I?" Marco smirked.

Josephine just waved him off and told him to forget it.

Marco looked at what Josephine was holding and asked her, "What are you doing with all this stuff anyways?" He had just noticed how much luggage had fallen off her wagon. "Are you running away?"

"No you idiot. My stupid step mother wants me sell all this stuff. It belonged to my dead father, I think." Josephine got up after picking up some photos.

She quickly dumped them into the wagon and turned back to ground to grab some furniture that had fallen. Marco turned to the photos and picked one up.

"You "think"?" He wondered how she didn't know her own father's belongings. "Are you ok with selling these?"

He picked up another photo of a woman holding a small baby. Josephine turned to look at him holding the photos and she rose up. Josephine took the photos from his hands and looked at the woman's features. She had the same nose as Josephine...the woman's face looked similar. The picture was in black and white and very grainy, but it was clear enough to identify the woman as her mother.