Fall 6

"Rosalind?" My brother's voice called from behind my bedroom door as he rapped his knuckles on the door a few times. I grabbed hold of a small gift bag, placing it behind my back before opening the door.

"Morning, Max!" I exclaimed taking the gift from behind my back, presenting it to him. "And happy birthday!" His eyes danced in delight.

"Wow! Thank you, Rosalind!" He exclaimed, "I'll open it later, but for now…a certain someone is here…someone with vibrant red hair." Max gave me a cheeky grin as I blushed.

"And he also came with Douglas too, for some odd reason." Max said, shrugging his shoulders as my eyes widened.

"Ah! Yes, I almost forgot." I said, rushing out of my room, "Max...would you come with us?" I gave my brother a pleading look.

"Uh, why?" He asked, in confusion.

"It's a plan." I began before lowering my voice, "On how I'm going to say no to Oswald's proposal, but we need your assistance as well. We'll explain more at Byron's." Max smiled and nodded.

"And then, you can tell father about you and Jack." Max whispered in such enthusiasm as I smiled.

"I just really hope this will work." I said with a sigh as we made our way downstairs.

"Good morning, Rosalind." Jack greeted before noticing my brother behind me, he started to get a little nervous.

"Ah, a-and good morning to you too, Max." Jack said skittishly as Max walked towards Jack.

"What kind of greeting was that for your future brother-in-law? Get in here, you!" Max exclaimed, giving Jack a huge hug as his face held a look of confusion. I gave Jack a smirk.

"I told you he wasn't mad." I said.

"Why would I be? I've never seen Rosalind so happy! At least, not until your arrival, Jack!" Max exclaimed as my brother turned his attention towards me.

"Now, shall we head to Byron's?" He asked as I nodded.

"But first, Douglas, do you have…?"

"The photographs?" Douglas finished for me, holding up the manila envelope. "Got 'em right here."

"Eh? Photographs?" Max asked as I nodded.

"Everything will come together soon enough when we get to Byron's." I explained as the four (and a half) of us made our way quickly to Byron's house.

Max knocked on the door of the mayor's house as Byron peeked out.

"Hello! Can I help the four of you?" Byron asked as we all nodded.

"Byron, could we come in?" I asked as Byron furrowed his brows.

"It's super important…" Douglas said.

"That you needed four people?" Byron asked.

"And if Barrett's here, he could be the fifth." Jack said in a slightly joking manner as Byron sighed, opening the door all the way.

"No, thankfully he's not here, because I'm starting to get nervous about this meeting now." Byron said, leading us to his desk. There wasn't a moment of time for Byron to ask us what we needed.

"Byron, what kind of ties do you have with the capital's prison system?" I asked as Byron gave me a nervous look.

"Uh, w-why on earth do you want to know that?"

"Because, we found some information last night about the or-Oswald." Douglas said, holding up the manila envelope.

"You remember my grandson?" Douglas asked as Byron gave Douglas a look of condolence.

"How could I forget? That was the saddest funeral I've ever attended."

"Take a look at these photos, and tell me what you notice." Douglas gave Byron the envelope as Byron took the photos of Matthew out. He looked at them for a moment as my brother had made his way behind Byron's shoulder. The look of horror on my brother's face told me that Byron would understand very soon.

"Oh my god!" Max exclaimed in shock causing Byron to jump, noticing Max was behind him looking at the photos too.

"Max, please refrain yourself from going behind my de…" but before Byron could continue.

"Matthew and Oswald have the same hair!" My brother exclaimed in horror, paying no mind to Byron's scolding as Byron looked at the photos again, his eyes widened.

"Oh my goodness! You're right, Max! And he actually looks very similar to Oswald!" Byron looked back up towards us.

"You don't think he…"

"There is no thinkin' we know!" Douglas said as Byron placed his hand in a thinking manner.

"There is a situation, though. The Beauregards have a high title in the capital…the only people higher than the Beauregards are the...royal families and…"

"The De Sainte-Coquilles." I said, confidently, "This is where Max will come in!"

"I'm coming in where?" Max asked, looking up from the photos. He obviously was not paying attention to the whole conversation as I sighed.

"Max, please pay attention. I need you to grab some De Sainte-Coquille stationary and write a letter to the prison system. I'll help you with what to write. We'll then have Byron urgently expedite deliver the letter. We'll also include at least one of the photographs of Matthew as proof. If everything goes to plan, which I don't see why it wouldn't, then the guards from the prison system will arrive here tomorrow evening, around the time Oswald is supposed to propose." I looked over at Douglas with a smile.

"And if there's anything a wealthy family hates…it's having shame put into their name."

"Very well." Byron said with a nod, "If you bring the letter here by noon, then I'll be able to have it delivered to the prison system in a timely manner. No one in this town, nor anywhere for that matter, should have to live in fear."

Max, Jack, and I were in Max's room; Max hovering over his desk, writing the letter as I paced while telling him what to write. It had to sound urgent, yet professional.

"Alright, Max. Read the letter out loud." I commanded.

"Dear Captain, I wish to inform you…" Max began, as I looked over at Jack who had an overly dispirited look on his face. It was concerning for me to see him this upset. Why was he so distressed?

"You immediate attention is required." Max finished as he looked up at me. I looked over and nodded.

"Sincerely, and then sign your name." I said, looking back at Jack as Max's quill began to scribble again.

"Alright, the letter is ready to be deliv…" Max paused as he noticed my concerned facial expression looking at Jack.

"Jack, what's wrong?" Max asked as Jack looked up from the floor with wide eyes.

"Ah, w-what do you mean? I'm fine!" Jack exclaimed as Max crossed his arms.

"Jack…if there's one thing I'm really good at…it's knowing when people are lying. You are not fine. Something is troubling you." Max scolded as Jack sighed, looking down.

"I was just…thinking about what Rosalind said earlier." Jack looked up to see our confused expressions, "Ah, about wealthy families hating shame put into their names."

Max and I nodded, still not understanding.

"So, why is that bothering you?" Max asked.

"Why wouldn't it? I don't want our little cutie to feel that bringing shame to the family is their fault." Jack explained as my eyes widened. I had never thought about it like that.

"Jack…" Max began, "Your situation can easily be fixed. You and my sister love each other. You didn't take advantage of Rosalind; not like Oswald did to Mana. Taking advantage of someone in that way is more shameful than what you two are going through."

"So, how do we fix it to where shame won't fall onto our little cutie?" Jack asked as Max gave a small chortle.

"That's easy! You two will have to get married before the baby is born!" Max exclaimed as Jack nodded.

"Alright." Jack said, turning his attention towards me as I blushed; was Jack going to propose to me? Right now?

"Ah, but don't propose yet, Jack!" Max exclaimed as Jack looked away from me and towards my brother with slightly flushed cheeks.

"Ah, right…I forgot about Oswald." Jack admitted as Max crossed his arms.

"That and I want to talk to you about something very important before you do propose to my sister." Max said with such sternness as I felt my heart pound in nervousness. Was Max secretly angry at Jack?

"Come talk to me in my room tonight? And I'll make sure Cecilia keeps an eye on Rosalind so she won't overhear our conversation." Jack nodded confidently as I tried to keep a calm face.

"Anyway, I'm going to go deliver this letter to Byron, before it gets too late!" Max said, holding up the large, unsealed envelope. "I'll also have him put the photo in here as well. It should fit into this envelope."

"Ah, do you want us to come with you?" I asked as Max shook his head, going towards his bedroom door.

"No, no, I've got it from here! You two can spend quality time together." He stopped at his door frame, turning is attention towards us.

"Ah, but no hanky-panky in here! This is my room, after all!" He said, as Jack and I laughed.

"I'm serious." He said sternly. "You can do that in Rosalind's room…or the farmhouse would probably be a better option since it's more private." He gave us a wink as he left his bedroom.

"So, did you bring Max with us because you needed him to know what was going on to write that letter?" Jack asked as I nodded.

"That and I know that my brother has a very keen eye, not to mention a very thin filter. There are some things he's willing to keep secret, such as our relationship and child. However if he notices something very shocking, he'll blurt it out." Jack's eyes widened in realization.

"Such as Matthew and Oswald having the same hair!" Jack exclaimed.

"Bingo! Bringing Max with us also allowed Byron to notice the similarities quicker." I said as Jack placed his hand on his chin.

"So…our secret relationship didn't surprise your brother?" He asked as I shook my head.

"As I said, my brother has a keen eye. He noticed us very quickly." It was silent for a moment.

"So, what do we do now?" Jack asked.

"We wait for the prison guards to make their arrival tomorrow evening. Hopefully, everything will fall into place." I began to tear up in worry that it wouldn't fall into place as Jack embraced me.

"It'll all go according to plan. You won't have to marry that monster, and our little cutie won't have to be raised by him either." I embraced him back, I felt safe with Jack, and I felt that I could trust his words.