Fall 3
I groaned at the sound of the birds' chirping loudly outside of my window. Today wouldn't be so bad if I didn't feel obligated to have to show Oswald around town. He was here three years ago and not much has changed...minus Jack now living in the rundown farm house, that's now in a better state since he moved here.
In fact, the whole town was in a better state since he moved here, including myself. I temporarily forgot about my date with Oswald and began to imagine my life with Jack and our little cutie. I bet he or she would have their daddy's fiery red hair! They would be so cute!
A knock on my door followed by "Miss Rosalind? Are you awake?" as I lifted myself from my bed, opening my bedroom door.
"Good morning, Cecilia!" I exclaimed as Ceci smiled.
"Good morning, Miss! What would you like for breakfast?" She asked.
"Ah, anything is fine, Ceci!" I exclaimed, though I really wanted French toast! Or maybe it was the baby? However, I didn't want to trouble her. She nodded.
"We'll be skipping our cleaning lessons this morning, since I'm not sure what time Oswald will be arriving." She said as I groaned.
"Don't remind me." I grumbled as she giggled nervously.
"Ah, sorry, Miss." Cecilia turned to leave, but stopped midway, turning back towards me.
"Also, and I hate to ask, Miss...but on your outing with Oswald, would you pick up an onion from the general store for me?" I rose my brow in confusion at the way Cecilia enunciated 'general store'.
"Of course, Ceci." I said as she gave a curtsy.
"I'll leave you to dress."
I made my way into the dining hall as my father looked up from his plate.
"Gooooood morning, Rosalind!" Father exclaimed as I smiled.
"Morning, father! Max." I greeted.
"You're just in time, Rosalind!" Max exclaimed as I silently prayed that Oswald wasn't waiting to where I had to rush my breakfast.
"I-in time for what?" I asked as Max's face beamed.
"Why, your French toast, of course! Cecilia just took them off of the stove! So, they're still warm." Max said with such enthusiasm as I looked down at my plate to two piping hot slices of French toast. I felt elated, did Ceci know that we wanted French toast? I began to tear up.
"Rosalind? Are you alright? Did you not want the French toast?" Father asked in worry.
"Oh, no. I do want the French toast. I'm not sure why I'm...crying." I said.
"Ah, she must be nervous about her outing with Oswald." Max said.
"Nervous? Eh, Why would she be nervous, Max? Oswald has been here before." Father asked in confusion and worry.
"He has, yes. However, he hasn't met Jack, at least not yet. I believe Rosalind is nervous because she cares about the people of this town, whether or not they're from here. She might be worried that Oswald and Jack won't get along and he is a part of Alvarna." Max explained as father placed his hand on his chin.
"When you put it like that…it makes sense." Father looked over towards me with a smile.
"Worry not, my darling! I'm sure Oswald and Jack will get along juuuuust fine!" He exclaimed confidently as I nodded. Cutting into my French toast, feeling the warmth of the delicious honey dance on my taste buds.
"Miss?" Cecilia asked, "Are you finished with your breakfast?" I wiped my mouth with my napkin.
"Yes, thank you very much, Cecilia!" She smiled as she gathered everyone's plates.
"Also, Oswald is waiting for you in the entrance, Miss." Ceci said.
"O-oh? He is? Already?" I asked in disappointment.
"Ah! Wonderful! He must be eager!" Father exclaimed, "Hurry along, Rosalind! You don't want to keep your future husband waiting."
I sighed and lifted myself from my seat.
"Oh, also, Miss...don't forget…"
"I know, to pick up an onion." I interrupted her with a sigh.
"From the general store. Right!" Again, she said general store with such vocalization. Was she trying to tell me something? Maybe going to the general store with Oswald was a hint that I'll find out why he has such an ominous undertone.
I slowly walked out of the dining hall into the entrance of the manor. Oswald was seated, flipping through a magazine. He rose his head to acknowledge me.
"Good morning, Rosalind! You look beautiful this morning!" I smiled awkwardly.
"Thank you, Oswald. Your…hair looks very nice today." I said, trying to say something nice. I had to keep this fiasco going until I could find a way to to say no to Oswald's proposal…if I just say no for the sake of me not being in love with him, it wouldn't go well with the Beauregards…and if I tell them about Jack and me, along with our child, that would put shame on the whole De Sainte-Coquille family.
"Thank you! Shall we?" He said, offering me his hand as I took it. I looked behind me at Cecilia giving me a nod and a wink.
"So, how much has changed?" Oswald asked as we stepped out of the manor. "I'm assuming not much since the inn is still being run by that elf and his uncivil, halfie offspring." I didn't really appreciate how he said those things about Egan and Jake.
"Some things have changed." I said, "For example, we achieved a new member of this town a few seasons ago."
"Oh? Really? I didn't see anyone new at the inn."
"That's because he doesn't live at the inn, he lives at the farmhouse." I said matter-of-factly as Oswald began to laugh like I had told some funny joke.
"Th-the farmhouse?! That rundown piece of junk?! He must have been desperate!"
"Actually, the farmhouse is in a much better shape since Jack moved here!" I exclaimed.
"Jack? Oh, Rosalind. We don't have to remember the names of anyone below us!" Oswald was really starting to anger me.
"Have you ever tried getting to know a commoner?" I asked as Oswald made a scoffing noise from his mouth.
"I have no reason to, and neither do you. We're better than them." Oswald said in such an arrogant way that I felt my blood boil.
"Well, let's start the tour." I said, crossing my arms, leading him towards the right, towards Cherry Blossom Square.
"Is the pond still here?" Oswald asked as I looked over at him.
"Yes, it's still here. Why?"
"No reason. Though, I'm surprised it wasn't shut off with how dirty that area is." I furrowed my brows in confusion.
"It's a nature type area…it's supposed to have dirt and mud." I said as Oswald gave a weird sounding chuckle.
"Not like that." He said in a way that made my skin crawl.
"Ah, I do want to stop by the general store." I said, stopping in front of the door of the shop, "After that, you can meet Jack."
"Very well." Oswald said in a less than enthusiastic way as we entered the store.
"Welco-…" Mana began, but stopped once she turned around. Her whole expression changed. She looked distant yet scared. She stared at Oswald in a way that I couldn't understand.
"Welcome, Rosalind!" Douglas exclaimed, "Oh, and Oswald, too!" Mana began to shake.
"What can we get for you?" Douglas asked, as I opened my mouth to speak.
"A-actually, dad? I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm not feeling-very-well-right-now…" Mana said with difficulty and the last part of her sentence ran together.
"Oh? Alright, sweetie. Go lay down." Mana began her way upstairs to her room. Douglas crossed his arms in worry.
"Odd, she was fine earlier…"
"That is bizarre." Oswald said with fake concern, "Now, Rosalind, tell this nice man what you need so we can go and meet the new farm boy."
"Oh, you two are going to see Jack?" Douglas asked as I nodded; he handed me a pouch of seeds.
"Sorry to ask, Rosalind, but do you mind delivering these to Jack? Since it's on the way."
"Oh, of course not, Douglas! Also, could I trouble you for an onion?" I asked as Douglas nodded.
"Sure thing!" Douglas exclaimed as he turned his back to grab an onion from one of the shelves.
"An onion?" Oswald hissed in a whisper, "We had to come here, to this low class general store, for an onion? And why are you delivering? You're not some commoner, Rosa-." Oswald immediately stopped when Douglas came back towards us, holding the onion.
"Here you go, Rosalind!" He exclaimed as I thanked him, paying for the onion.
"Wow...that rundown place actually does look better!" Oswald exclaimed in surprise as I gave him a smug smile. I looked over at Jack tilling the fields.
"Jack!" I called, waving my hand as he looked up from his work. He began coming towards us.
"Hi, Rosalind!" Jack greeted as he looked over at Oswald, "And you must be Oswald, right?" Jack extended his hand as Oswald gave a look of terror.
"It's just dirt." Jack said in a taunting way as Oswald grabbed Jack's hand with his thumb and index finger, making a look of disgust.
"Well, I'm going to retire to the bathhouse now…" Oswald said, "I'll see you at dinner tonight, Rosalind." And with that, Oswald dashed as fast as he could towards the south.
"Well…he was…something?" Jack said as I nodded. He wrapped his arms around me.
"I hope you don't mind the dirt." He whispered jokingly as I giggled.
"I actually quite like the dirt." I replied as he gave me a kiss on the cheek.
"By the way, Douglas asked me to give you this." I held up the sack of seeds.
"Oh! My yams! Thanks, Rosalind." He took the seeds from my hands.
"Also…" I stopped for a moment, "Actually, nevermind…I…" I paused for a moment, trying to think of a way out of what I was going to tell him.
"Right, you're probably going to be busy tonight…" Jack sighed as I gave him a flirtatious smirk.
"I can maybe find time to come by after everyone is asleep?" I asked as Jack chuckled.
"Don't let your brother catch you." I giggled, embracing Jack.
As much as I wanted to tell Jack about Mana acting strange, I couldn't. Not until I knew for sure; was she acting strange because she was the one to start the rumor (even though the rumor was true)? Or was it something else? Cecilia's voice echoed in my head about how I was a 'clever woman' gave me determination me to solve this mystery.