"I wish I was there," Louisa said with a hint of longing, slowly turning the pages of the book that rested on her lap. She and Maria were sitting on one of the sofas in the living room, the girl leaning lightly on her governess. It was already dark outside, but the windows were open, letting a light summer breeze into the room, which from time to time touched the curtains, swaying them.

Not so long ago, exactly a week ago, Maria brought several books from the captain's personal library to class.

"Extracurricular reading, Fräulein?" he asked as a grin began to spread across his face.

"Don't get me wrong, Captain, curriculum that was made for them is just wonderful..." she bit her lip, trying to figure out how to properly express her thought to him, "I just thought, well, we could consider something less... classical. More modern, you know, " she looked at him warily.

He leaned back in his chair, raising his eyes upward, as if pondering her words, although in truth, Georg already knew that he could not refuse her. How could he. Not when she looked at him like that.

"In that case, Fräulein, you can take whatever you need," he watched with admiration as she broke into a smile and lightly clapped her hands (a sweet gesture that, according to his observations, she did quite often).

"I'm sure the children will really like it."

And so, the next day she found herself in the library. The most interesting area in the entire villa (except for the ballroom, of course). When the children showed it to her for the first time, she could not believe her eyes. Never before had she seen so much literature collected in one place. Huge bookcases from floor to ceiling, made of dark wood, with interesting patterns on the sides, armchairs and sofas with dark green upholstery and a tall fireplace, above which hung an incredibly beautiful painting of a ship in a stormy sea. Maria spent at least an hour examining every detail, every stroke of paint.

It was both exciting and scary. The struggle and the end.

Just like the first time, she ran her fingers along the spines of the books almost reverently. It seemed to her that she was touching something so precious and important. Carefully sorting through the high shelves, she selected novels and collections of poetry. Already leaving the room, she came across it - a book that she would soon consider the pearl of His collection. Catalog of Italian architecture. Richly illustrated with clear and vivid descriptions of attractions. She had never seen anything like this in her life.

But not everyone shared her interest: the younger ones usually paid attention only on fairy tales, Friedrich and Kurt were more interested in stories about battles, they were not drawn to ancient buildings or cathedrals, Brigittа, well, she was Brigittа. It's difficult to surprise a person who has read everything possible in this house from cover to cover, and Liesl was too consumed by some romance novel to be distracted by such nonsense. And only Louise saw something mysterious and beautiful in this book. During breaks between lessons, she often sat next to the governess so that together they could look at the treasured places. Looking through the pages each of them liked to imagine that they were there. Walking on the steps of the Milan Cathedral, or at the Trevi Fountain, admiring the local architecture.

"Well, I think you'll definitely go there someday," Maria answered good-naturedly, lightly patting Louisa on the head.

Now everything was wonderful, but Maria still had to admit it was extremely difficult to find a common language with this girl, she was the most closed. No, not closed, rather selective. As if she first needed to study the person she was going to trust. So similar to her father.

Last Thursday, she allowed Maria to braid her hair, this is a huge step for her, Fräulein, Brigittа told her in confidence, considering that the last time she only allowed mother to do this.

"I...", Louisa's voice was serious, but quiet, as if she didn't want any of her brothers and sisters who were sitting in the living room to hear her say: "I would like us to go together, you know, eight of us. Oh, maybe we'll invite father along, maybe not, I'll think about it," she said this with that mischievous smile that was unique to her

Maria's face lit up with a smile, "I would like that to."

Exchanging warm glances, they lazily continued to look at the book. Quiet evenings, no rush. Maria couldn't even imagine that she would like something like this. At such moments, it seemed that time slowed down or stopped altogether. Everyone was in the same room, busy with their own business, and yet it felt like they were doing something together.

Is this how real family evenings always feel?

Not that she knew the answer to her question

"What will we do tomorrow, Fräulein Maria?" Marta asked from across the room. She, like everyone else here, was also active all evening, diligently drawing princesses in her sketchbook. Gretl lay next to her, sometimes looking at the album and giving valuable instructions, for example, what color should her sister paint a dress, or how long should the hair of a drawn girl be. Maria was not ashamed to admit that she often took the girls drawings to her room and carefully placed them in the top drawer of her desk. She wondered if she would be able to take them with her when she left the villa at the end of the summer. Of course, personal belongings were forbidden in the abbey, but still in these scribbles there was something inexplicably valuable for her, she could not just leave them.

Maria looked around the room for a second Friedrich and Kurt were playing chess, the boys were simply obsessed with this game all summer. Of course, Friedrich won every time, causing Kurt to shout offendedly that he had given in to his brother so as not to offend him. Brigittа was sitting by the window reading some novel, this is The Secret Garden, Fräulein Maria, you will definitely like it, as soon as I finish you should definitely read it. Beside her, Liesl was busy with embroidery. It was a small tapestry with cornflowers, the work was so neat and delicate. Everything could be described in one word - idyll.

That's what she'll miss most when she leaves them. No nice clothes or good food can replace an evening like that.

And strudel, maybe she'll miss the strudel. The desserts here were simply magnificent.

Maria tilted her head back slightly, "Well, I think we could go to our mountain. After lessons, of course," having said this, she moved her gaze to the captain.

All evening he was passionately interested in some kind of card game with the Baroness and Uncle Max; the rules of the game seemed very complicated to her. They wrote down scores on sheets of paper, exchanged barbs and lazily shuffled cards. Too pompous, Maria thought, although she had to admit that she was slightly intrigued, and glanced in their direction from time to time. He never once turned his head away from the table, and to some extent it was his concentration that gave her the confidence to look at him. Captain looked as casual and relaxed as possible. In his element.

But now he looked back at her. He looked very carefully and thoughtfully, it is unlikely that their eyes locked on for a couple of seconds, for Maria it seemed like an eternity. This strange look that she caught in his eyes more and more often in recent weeks, something that she could not explain to herself.

A semblance of a smile appeared on his face for a second, but it disappeared as quickly as it appeared, he lowered his eyes again, and it seemed as if nothing had happened.

"Yes, I think I would like that," Marta said with great enthusiasm.

"Me too," exclaimed Gretl.

Maria just nodded and stared at the book again, but now it seemed to her that the words on the pages were mixed up. Nothing made sense, she persistently re-read one line over and over again, but still did not understand its meaning. All the clear lines on the pages took on some kind of abstract images. No matter how hard she tried, it was all in vain, and after a couple of minutes she raised her eyes again, staring at the captain. After that night when he sang, sang for the children, she reminded herself, she tried to sneak glances at him only when she was sure that no one would notice. Something had changed, she knew it had, but what exactly? She felt like she was going crazy. Maybe because he continued to behave as usual, sometimes bantering her, grinning if she managed to find a witty answer to his barbs. Their verbal clashes happened during breakfast, or late in the evening, while discussing children's achievements on study (however more and more often they were simply talking about life, favorite books, or discussing plans for the next day). And at such moments it seemed to her that something bright and pleasant was opening inside her, like a sunrise. It was as if they were only speaking in a language that they both understood.

This sounds terribly stupid, Maria, she reproached herself, but it was the simplest explanation she could think of for herself.

Her internal thoughts could have continued forever if the clock in the hallway had not struck 9 o'clock. Slowly rising to her feet Maria smoothing out the folds in her skirt. Louisa understood what words would follow the actions of her governess and also rose from her seat, clutching the book to her chest. The rest of Maria's charges remained in their places, deliberately ignoring the sound of the clock. No matter how obedient they were, getting them to bed on time was perhaps the most difficult challenge.

"Children, I think it's time to wish everyone good night and go to bed," these words were received with prolonged groans, even though soon everyone began to rise from their seats. Kids slowly began to approach the table at which the captain and his guests were sitting. Marta and Gretl, trying not to miss the opportunity, joyfully showed their drawings to their father, interrupting each other and telling the stories they had come up with for each of them. The captain turned completely away from the table, listened attentively and even asked some questions. The girls giggled and were clearly proud that they were able to interest him so much. Maria adore this little scenes. To see how close this man became with his children.

It was in moments like these that she felt like she had done something right. God sent her here precisely for this, to reunite her father and his children. Prepare them for a new mother.

"I love seeing him like this," Louisa said quietly, with a quick glance at her governess, the girl hurried to join the others.

A couple more minutes of pleasantries and the kids, one after another, began to leave the room, going upstairs to get ready for bed. Maria, on the other hand, had linger a little in the room to put away the pencils that the girls had left.

Right at the door, she heard the captain's quiet words: "When all the children are put to bed, Fräulein, I'm waiting for you in my office," he said this without taking his eyes off the game, seeming to ignore her, define the fact that he was addressing her directly.

"Alright, captain," with these words she left the room.

I think it's gonna be a short story but for now, I don't really know in what direction I'm going.

This story was inspired by a verse, namely Volodymyr Sosiura's verse "To Maria". I tried to translate the first few lines as correctly as possible.

If you can multiply the love of all the men,

The love that was, the love that is, and love that will be,

It would be night. My love is like day,

And no man ever has to felt it.

Anyway I hope you guys like it. Looking forward to your reviews. I own nothing.