"Today is the big day, Marina. It's going to be a big big big day."

While eagerly contemplating and attempting to get ready, she circled around in her room, making a loud thump whenever her heel stepped on the ground. "Oh my god. It's my special day. I can't do it; what if he discovers that I'm a gigantic freak! I'm going to pass out." Marina began fluttering her hands in the air to obtain some fresh air and maintain her composure. Her mother stood up from the chair next to the bed and gently seized her wrists. The woman encouraged her to take it easy in a voice that might soothe a winter storm. If you paid close attention, you might notice a faint German accent in her mother's voice when she spoke, due to the fact that she's from Austro-Hungarian Empire. "Don't worry, you'll be alright. On my wedding day with your father, I was exactly as scared as you were. And look at me, I have the most beautiful daughter any mother could want for."

Marina smiled softly as she looked down at what her mother had said. It gave her a glimmer of optimism for the future and the possibility that her wedding wouldn't be so horrible... Her smile faded as her gaze shifted to her brother's ring. The ring was primarily constructed of gold, with golden small flowers as shoulder embellishments. On the top was a royal blue colored gem with a golden flower engraved in the center and small zircons on the outlines. It was too large for her finger and it knew to slip away. She twisted it with her delicate thin fingers and toyed with it for a few seconds.

"I wish he was here..." says Marina. She groaned despondently and fought back tears that began to well up in her eyes.
She felt them falling on her reddish cheeks full of freckles. Grabbing a fold of her white silky wedding dress and squeezing it, the girl sniffed trying not to cry in front of her mother on her special day.

"I shouldn't have dragged him out that day. Now he'd be the one getting married, and our lives would be better." She attempted to talk without her voice cracking, but the remorse and memories racing through her thoughts made it impossible.

Her mother placed her palm on her daughter's cheek and wiped away the tears that streamed down her cheeks like a waterfall. "You need to stop crying, you're ruining the rice powder I applied on your face." The young lady looked down "im sorry, mother." She said with a quiet voice and softly rested her head on her hand, her muscles softening as she felt her mother's touch.

"And please don't say that. The past is no longer relevant. Of course, I miss Rocco every day and night, but we can't erase what happened in the past. My butterfly, you'll make a fantastic bride, and your brother would be proud of you."

Marina wiped the tears from her eyes with her hand and responded with a shaky forced grin to her mother.

"Alright, enough with the misery. It's the day of your wedding! You should be pleased with yourself! Come ahead, I've got something to show you."

Mrs. Rivalli spun around in her room, looking for a tiny box she had hidden somewhere. She strolled around the room looking for it. Eventually she sat down at the bed's edge, sighed, and said she couldn't remember where she put it. Marina's black long-haired cat Cesare, however, emerged from beneath the bed. Dusty, and began flinging around something small and making a ruckus. The girl named him Giulio Cesare because she found it silly to name a cat such way. Her parents were against it at first because it's a ridiculous name for a cat, but she managed to convince them to let her name him that way. Her mother reached down then and grabbed the box.

"Oh, my goodness! It's right here!"

Mrs Rivalli glared at Caesar, telling him that he was a nasty cat for stealing her belongings.
When Marina's mother discovered it, she snorted and said, "What's in it?" The woman removed a set of lovely golden earrings with sapphires in the center and zircons all around. Marina exclaimed when she saw them and commented on how lovely they are. She placed them in her hands and told her how well they would complement her ocean blue eyes. "They've been in our family for decades, and every woman in the Herz family, including myself, got married with them. If you wore them on your wedding day, it would mean a lot to me."

"Thank you, mother." Marina said softly. 

"I love them. Although I do have a question." Mrs. Rivalli nodded at her as a confirmation for her to ask. "Did you enjoy your wedding night? I'm quite nervous and excited about it. I've been waiting for months to experience it! I'm kind of curious on Matias' looks."
Her mother turned even paler than she already is and couldn't believe she's having this conversation with her eighteen years old daughter, Marina still felt to her as if she were a five year old little girl. "Oh my goodness, you can't just ask your mother things like that!"

"Yeah but, was it or wasn't it good?"

"It was fine, I really don't know what else to tell you." Annabella's entire face turned red and wished for this conversation to end already as it started to make her feel uncomfortable and awkward. She really didn't want to talk about her daughter's father in such sexual manners.
A sudden hasty knock on the bedroom doors was heard as her mother immediately got straight up so she could avoid that very unpleasant conversation.

"Anna, could you spare a moment?"

"Of course love, what is it?"

Her mother stood up and began heading towards the doors in a perplexing manner. Her husband stood next to them, waiting for her to exit so he could close the door.

"Mari, it'll only take a minute." Her father said as he shut the doors behind them. Marina walked around her room, looking at every single detail carved on her light blue walls. It was fascinating to her to see all of the different symbols and figures carved on them, and to speculate on what they could be. She moved closer to the window and rested against it and placed her elbows on the edge. She looked at the sea and the city from afar and listened to the crowd and all kinds of sounds coming from it, while letting the breeze blow over her thick dark brown curly hair; she took a long breath and exhaled, attempting to feel the freedom outside of her home that she had never experienced before. And that she would most likely never experience again now that she is getting married. The blue Rigneck parrot appeared out of nowhere and rested on her window next to her.

"It's a pity you're in a cage like me, Blu. Perhaps you prefer it, after all. You've been confined your entire life and have become accustomed to it. If only I had done the same."

She sobbed on her window and kept caressing and twisting her brother's golden ring on her finger, which calmed her down and distracted her for a minute.

Meanwhile, the girl's parents. Mrs. Annabella and Mr. Adriano Rivalli were debating the wedding, as well as the relationship between the bride and the groom as they were walking in the halls. Mr. Rivalli kept talking about it from the economical standpoint, whereas Mrs. Rivalli kept talking about it from a romantic standpoint. And whether or not her fiancé was the right person to be with her.

"What are you talking about, dearest? He's flawless! He's well-behaved, has been educated by the best teachers in Italy, and is fluent in seven languages, seven! And I barely managed to learn English. And he's fantastic at politics; he's truly one-of-a-kind."

"I'm not sure, darling. It's just the way he thinks about some things for life is so, peculiar. And Marina appears to be rather uneasy around him." she added as she crossed her arms and continued staring at the pictures of her family that were hanged on the wall, trying to imagine Marinas point of view. "It's a young romance; she'll fall in love with him as they get to know each other better. You were aswell shy the first time you met me; you barely said anything." He chuckled and jokingly tapped her on the shoulder with his elbow, while she rolled her eyes and snickered.

"Ah, I suppose you're right, and I'm just being dramatic."

"You always are." he added. Even though he was the one who tended to be more dramatic. "Not to mention that my restaurant isn't doing the best ever since Rocco died. And we could us financial help from Matias and his family, trough Marina." Mrs Rivalli looked uneasy "I feel odd using our daughter for money." Her husband looked at her weirdly "We aren't using her. And I refuse to work for some low paid job. I'd rather die poor than look poor."

Marina was still standing close to the window, gazing out at the city, when her father walked back in.

"I was hoping to speak with you."

He was holding the door handle and keeping the doors open for her. She stood up and inquired as to what was wrong, and if it was as a result of something she had done or said. She couldn't help but panic at this point about everything as the wedding, guests and marriage keep on making her paranoid . Her father stopped her, put his hand on her shoulder and chuckled saying "God, you're just like your mother." Out of concern, she bit her lower lip and asked "What is it then?" He had his hand behind her back, close to him as they began strolling into the hallway.

"Well, I figured we'd have that discussion."

Marina gave him a confused look.

"When I was your age, my father always wanted me to be something he wanted to be, instead of what I wanted. It didn't matter what I did, he was never satisfied, which put a lot of pressure on me and I never knew when was I enough. Until I met your mother, she made me feel as if insecurity didn't exist at all and finally filled that void of emptiness . And that's what marriage is all about: being able to trust and be confident around each other yet never feeling unequal. " he added "And I know you won't feel any pressure from me or your mother due to the fact that we never are unsatisfied with you." Which was a lie. They constantly judged her, but they were too blind to see that as they kept thinking of themselves as much better parents than their own.

Marina bit her bottom lip once again and told her father how she's afraid of messing things up, and how she feels as if she isn't ready anymore for such committed things and that her fiancé will start despising her. "Calm down Marina. No one will hate you. And do you want to know why?" He put his hands on her shoulders and stated "Because I know you, you're my daughter. You're sweet, kind and generous. The greatest of everything. He will adore you, everyday and every night, and I have faith in you." Mr. Rivalli then let out a chuckle "You're also a Rivalli. It's the greatest pride possible." He kept boosting up her confidence so she doesn't suddenly break the engagements with Matias. If she does, he's doomed financially.

She gave him a delicate kiss on the cheek and gently whispered how she loves him. "All right" he answered with a bright smile. "Now is the time to get ready; the ceremony is soon." Marina looked at him with a heartbroken look when he didn't tell her he loved her as well, but rather kept focusing on her getting married already.