Federico had closed the door, having settled the both of them. They were tired from the trip, as he closed the door. Before he let out a deep breath. 

Then, he quickly went to meet them. 

There was Fausto, his brother by marriage smiled at him. 

“I have no idea how anyone does this,” he said. 

Federico felt nothing but abject terror throughout the trip in the carriage; he wasn’t sure how to handle children in his limited experience due to being the youngest in the family. 

Federico felt nothing but abject terror during the journey. He didn’t know the first thing about taking care of a child, or even know much about it. 

“You’re incredibly young to become a guardian, and you don’t have it. We’ll get our governess to help out. They’re both fine.” 

He let it out, knowing that he agreed to do it. 

“Cecelia is waiting inside the parlour.” Fausto turned, a man with long blonde hair, tied into a ponytail at the side. His clothes were impeccable 

Federico stood up, knowing that she was still waiting. Until she appeared. 

“I was wondering what happened to you.” 

Cecelia walked around carrying an oil lamp. Fausto was beside her, until they were in her parlour. She often had a guest over, but sometimes it was just her. 

“I have to thank you,” he told them. He had no idea how to navigate it. 

He took a seat down before he took a cup of wine. The night was just beginning. 

“That was why she chose you.” Cecelia leaned forward with a sip of her own. 

“I know.” He leaned back. “She told me that.” 

Her brother-in-law had only a sweet smile for him. "I do have some business in Belleni, that needs a lawyer’s eye.” 

He nodded, “I guess simple work.” 

“Notarize a few wills, ensure a few deeds are written adn handed over.” He looked at him. 

Federico needed the money, and also, needing to build his own credibility. 

“It’s up to you to decide whether you want.” Fausto was extending a hand, more like an elder brother. 

He gave a smile, even if personally, he would not have. "It'll be good. Besides, I've tired of Rovirna and Paserta." 

He had just lost his job working for a law firm, as the de Moreni name was now synonymous with treason. 

He was tired from politics, from betrayals, from everything. 

"I get it, you've almost been exiled." His sister touched his hand. 

He let out a breath, remembering the nights inside a jail cell. When he got out, he thought they had found him innocent. He found out later that someone else confessed, and he was just collateral damage.

“What would you have done, Rico?” She asked. 

“Go to Rancie and join them. If I’m going to be exiled for suspected sympathies, why not go all the way.” He knew it too. 

She gave a smile, this was where he did. “I guess that’s before you were going to become a guardian.” 

“Yes, now, they are my responsibility, and she entrusted them to me.” He let out a sigh. “But I don’t know whether I should have accepted.” 

“You’re a good person, perhaps that’s why she chose you.” Cecelia leaned in, touching his shoulders and his hair. 

He liked that, feeling comforted often. 

“I know why. We had one last conversation before it happened.” He looked at them. “She didn’t trust any of her family, or mine either.” 

“She thought her children were better with you than her. That says enough. If a mother gives her own children up, she did it out of necessity,” Cecelia said, her eyes looking into him. “You were their best choice, because she knew you’ll come to me.” 

“The alternatives are our cousin whom most of us have reservations about,” Federico said. He didn’t doubt the same for his sister-in-law. 

“He won’t let me intervene either. I’ll be able to take Restituta but not Alfonso. I worry for the boy if otherwise.”

There was a person. Their cousin, who would have demanded it. It could end horribly for Cecelia, and with no guarantees either, even if the Sozzini family was richer than their cousins.

"I still stand in the way of him getting the title of Marchese." Federico reminded him. "And perhaps my exile would pave the way forward for him to claim it as I could not contest it." 

Well, they could speculate endlessly now, but Federico was free, and able to make a trip back to Paserta if necessary. 

"She mentioned that her family would have wanted them. And of course, to ask her to marry again." Cecelia told him. “I came to meet her, and to help my brother fight his case.” 

This was the life of a daughter. 

But not what their father would imagine for Cecelia, whom had a doting father and loving brothers. 

"I didn't know that she found it reprehensible."

"Pompeia had her own feelings and thought it was the better choice. Do not forget what she had done for you." 

He gave a smile, always thanking his sister. "That's the only way forward."

He had to think about them now too; he wasn’t just able to make any rash decisions anymore. 

"Do you worry about Restituta?" Cecelia asked. 

"Yes, she's too quiet. Alfonso bawling his eyes out, that's understandable. I did that too, when my father died."

Federico was eleven when it happened, old enough to understand everything. Alfonso was even younger, barely speaking and learning to understand the world. 

"I'll talk to her." Cecelia offered. "I would assume that you want them to stay with me until you sort things out."

Then, Federico thought about himself. 

If he were to live in the city, he would need to quarters. But Belleni was not far, as Fausto went there often for business. 

“If you need to, stay for as long as you need.” Fausto didn’t mind him staying here.

gave him a pat on the back. 

After he had more than a couple of twists and turns, where he could not see more than just what lied ahead of him. Perhaps he could go back to thinking about the future again