Father kept looking down for a few minutes without making any noise so me and Brother started to talk about the plan that we had before. The day that we came up with the plan to grab Father’s attention we also came up with a few rules. First one, Father will gradually change his work time at the castle. Changing it directly would not be good for Father and the other people working there because they would be having a hard time adapting to such a big change we felt. But as the time goes on we wanted Father to work the appropriate time just like everyone else. Oh and he would need a holiday at least once a week.

The second one, we would send someone to monitor his progress. Butler recommended someone who had been working for a long time for our family and could be trusted. However for an added measure, and for his training, Brother would go and help Father if he didn’t have anything important in his school. Apparently this is a normal thing to do for an heir of a noble house so the academy readily gave their permission.

The third one, Father would have breakfast and dinner with us everyday except if some emergency happened. This was my personal request. I really wanted to be able to see Father when I wanted to instead of making an appointment like I was trying to do some kind of business with him. Not only will the occasions ensure that we will be able to see each other, the meal would also be a place for us to talk to each other. Brother really liked this idea because unlike me who was still not old enough to go to the academy, Brother had a lot of stories about his time there and his friends. It seemed that he did feel lonely in this house.

“Father, sorry if we’re forcing these rules on you...”

“It’s okay, Charlotte. I know that I made many mistakes when I was at work recently too and many people already told me to take a rest or some vacation. Hahaha, I don’t even know if they told me that because they really care about my wellbeing or they think that I’m annoying.”

“Father...”

“Well, Father is annoying.”

“Brother don’t say that!”

“But he is though, I need to say it because there is no way that other people will say that to him. Father is the duke, someone with a really high position, not many people can point out his mistakes just like I do.”

“That’s right but..”

“No, it’s okay Charlotte, you brother is right. Even when I made mistakes in the past people won’t scold me, they would all just silently fix my mistakes for me. Those kinds of things are not very good for someone because they can’t see and fix their weakness.”

“Okay...”

And just like that Father agreed to us. It seemed that another reason why he always worked alone wasn’t only because he is a workaholic but also because he didn’t bother to talk to other people much. That was certainly the character that other people, even me and Brother, see when we saw Father, a silent man that never stopped working. After this talk though, I could see that Father just has a problem talking to other people, that if they didn’t start the conversation first then Father won’t talk however once you talk to him you could see that he is just a normal person like everybody else.

“Charlotte, Stefano, I’m also sorry for neglecting the both of you all this time. I thought that if I work hard then the both of you can just live your life happily, yet I forgot that the important part of being a family is not just to live together.”

Hearing about Father talking about that I remember something else at the back of my mind. This was something that I haven’t talked about with Brother yet. Because, while our family is currently trying to get closer to each other this family is not complete yet,  we are still missing one member.

“Father.”

“Yes, Charlotte? Do you need anything else? Just say it.”

“That’s… you may not like this. I’m afraid that you will be angry.”

“It’s okay, I promise that I won’t be angry.”

“Can you have this kind of talk with Mother too?”

“...”

I never saw Mother and Father talk to each other before. Even though they were married for years now they were acting like strangers, no even less than that. I knew that they married because of Mother's insistence but I don’t know anything else beside that.

“I will try.”

“Do you hate each other?”

“Well, that’s hard to say really.”

I and Brother looked at each other again. This was going to be the hardest part it seemed.

We ended the talk on that subject. Butler entered the room when we were trying to come up with a reason for Mother and Father to talk to each other, he said that Father was called for some kind of meeting in the castle. After that Brother said he had something else to do and went somewhere, while I just returned to my own room.

I was sitting at my desk thinking of ways to at least make Mother come out of her room. There is no way that they can hold a conversation if they can’t even look at each other. The problem is I didn’t know Mother’s view of Father, maybe she hates him after everything or maybe she still loves him. The door to my room then opened and Mom came in with tea and snacks. Usually it was the maids that brought the snacks to my room but after I started calling Martha Mom, she was always the one who brought me snacks.

“Lotte, are you thinking about something hard again?”

It seemed that it would be impossible for me to hide anything from her. I told her about the talk that I had with Father and about the plan to do the same with my Mother.

“Wait, you fell! Are you alright?”

“Yes, Mom. Randy already gave me some medicine.”

“Let me check anyway.”

She then checked my forehead and ankle for a few minutes. After seeing that the bandages were still tight around my ankle and there was nothing else she could do she finally let me go.

“I’m really okay, I’m not that fragile you know.”

“I still worry though.”

“Um anyway, do you have any idea for me to help Mother?”

“Hmmm.... sadly I don’t. I worked here after the madam came and I never actually see her in person so I don’t know if my advice will actually help you.”

“Is that so...”

“But I do know somebody who can help you.”

“Who? Who?”

“The Madam’s personal maid.”