Her father immediately cleared his throat, his eyes still glaring, "I hate to burst your bubble, my daughter, but I'm still mad at you. Once we get home, you're banned from going out, writing letters, reading, snacks during tea time, the only thing you'll be allowed to do is your studies." Her father's tone was serious and her body shrank more and more each time he listed a new punishment. She wanted to plead with him, but he might restrict her from something else--if he completely banned tea time or taking walks in the garden, she feared she might go crazy.  

            Duke Theodore wasn't sure whether to laugh or be upset--they were almost able to spend time together and the opportunity was gone in an instant, "Will correspondence be completely banned? If I write her a letter will she be able to receive it and respond back?"

            Her father looked at him suspiciously and she looked hopeful--at least if she could write letters she could occupy herself by chatting with Margaret, "Hm, I'll have to think about that, if you do well on all of your studies--including piano, I'll uplift your bans."

            Her shoulders immediately drooped, as much as she loved listening to piano music, she herself, did not like playing it. Whenever she tried playing something upbeat and fun, it always ended up sounding like a requiem, she believes she's cursed when it comes to piano playing and has since tried worming her way out of lessons. Her father had been lenient with it, until now. By the time the carriage had arrived at the estate, she pitifully walked out, looking back at Duke Theodore with sad, puppy eyes.

            Knowing he can do nothing to help her, he waved, even though it was under circumstances he'd have preferred to avoid, at least he got to see her today. He knew he'd be busy again tomorrow, by that point, the bank should be finished splitting up the assets for the families grievance pay.    

            As he kept his gaze on her before the carriage began moving, she continued to move listlessly inside, her father watching her every move. Beatrice was near the entrance when Suzette came back.

            "Milady, how was visiting Lady Clandence?" She asked her, only to stop in her tracks when she noticed the lord's glower.

            "Oh, so that was your excuse, huh?" He began drumming his fingers against his arm, along with his foot as it began tapping against the floor. It almost sounded like music in discord, she tried her best not to make eye contact, "Piano, now! Beatrice--keep a watch on her, she's not allowed to go out. I'll make a formal announcement later."

            Beatrice couldn't control her expression, What did milady do? She cleared her throat, "Of course, my lord."

            As Beatrice escorted her to the piano, she looked at milady who seemed to be quite troubled about something, but kept her silence as they reached the piano room. As Suzette sat at the piano's cushioned bench she sighed again, she could feel her father's glare behind her--she turned and he was standing the doorway.

            Suzette did her best to ignore it and flipped through the piano sheets, as she began, it already started sounding like a requiem, she then thought to herself, I'm playing my own requiem...As Beatrice listened to her lady's playing, it was somber and melancholic, the notes began to eerily build up, with lighter sounds that resembled that of a heartbreak.

            Suzette was immediately reminded of her life--her past one the most, this impromptu requiem reminded her of her last few months before she was sent back--mostly of Theodore's death. After awhile of watching his daughter from the doorway he walked away to go about other business. Beatrice wondered if he could not listen to the somber sound, even she herself was struggling to keep a straight face.

            Suzette had reached the end of the sheet and lifted her fingers up from the keys, she frowned to herself, "I'll never get piano playing right, will I...?"

            "Don't be like that, milady! You will!" Beatrice tried her best to encourage her, but it seemed to go one ear out the other.

            "I'm just...done trying...why do you all think I stopped when I was fifteen?" She sighed again, picking herself up from the piano's bench, "It's been almost three full years and I'm still in the same predicament..."

            Not long after her practice, it was dinner time, her mother looked at her joyously, "You've decided to pick back up piano? How wonderful!"

            Wonderful, how? She thought, "Well, I've picked it up again for...reasons..."

            That was when she heard her father clear his throat, as if that was a cue, she sat down, the appetizers were brought out, and then the entrees, once dessert came about however as soon as Suzette's plate reached in front of her, Harold immediately told them to take it away. She sighed, expecting this. Out of all days, they had to be serving a peach cobbler a la mode--one of her favorites.

            Lucinda turned to her husband, "Harold, I think you have something to tell me? Why are you restricting our daughter from eating?"

            "I'll give you the specifics after dinner, don't feel bad for her--she deserves it for disobeying me today." Harold kept eating his dessert, as the vanilla ice cream began to melt. Lucinda had furrowed her eyebrows and stared at her daughter who looked absolutely pitiful in the eye of the desserts being eaten.

            She watched as her brother Oscar's face became riddled with cobbler crust and melted ice cream, of course he was only five so he hadn't perfected his manners yet. That was when she felt a tug against her sleeve, she turned towards Cynthia.

            "Want some of mine?" Cynthia asked her, she still had a big scoop of the cobbler and ice cream left on her plate.

            "I'm okay, that's yours." Suzette smiled, even if she wanted the dessert--she wasn't about to take it out of her little sister's hands, as she had only just begun to eat decently again. Cynthia looked at her with pondering eyes before finishing her plate of dessert.

            After dinner, she was in her father's office with both her parents, and Harold had explained what had transpired to Lucinda. She was not only shocked but also angry, Suzette wasn't surprised by it. So she just stayed quiet until her sentencing was over. Them scolding her could be heard throughout most of that floor.

            Afterwards, she felt so mentally exhausted that she left her body to gravity as she landed on her bed. Her dark room was provided some light from the moon, she glanced at her bookshelf, which had been emptied earlier by the maids. She frowned, perhaps her punishment wouldn't've been so bad if she hadn't snuck away from her knights, too. Her eyes peered at her desk, which was now bare, she had wondered how long her punishment would last as she closed her eyes.

When Duke Theodore woke up, he was already raring to go, even though he didn't sleep that well, it was time to visit the bank, he had kept one of his staff there to inform him when the assets were split, it seems that everything was finally done.

            He fixed the collar of his coat after putting it on, even though it was late spring, the early mornings were still a bit too cold. He buttoned his shirt as the ornaments sewn on his jacket dangled, making a noise akin to a chime.

            He walked out to his carriage, skipping breakfast much to his butler's dismay. As soon as he entered the bank, the workers behind the counter had ten bags of gold coins that were split evenly--including the sale of the dead baronet's estate. They also handed over the deeds to any land that the baronet had owned. Theodore nodded towards his knights beside him to carry the items. As he traveled his ways to the commoner's residences, he felt guilty for interrupting their times of bereavement. They looked over at him, their eyes darkened and hallow.

            As if they were possessed they said in a low tone, "Thank you, your grace, even if they're no longer amongst the living, thank you for returning our daughters to us."

            He was unsettled by the praise, "Please, raise your heads, I have things to share with you." At a nod from his head, he looked over at his knights who came forward plopping down bags of gold in front of the families, "I know it isn't much, but after splitting up the assets, there's money for all of you. There should still be plenty of money left over after the funerals, what you use for the rest is up to your discretion. Lastly, I have the rights to the land he had possessed, you may split them evenly amongst yourselves for farm land and such, or you may sell the rights to the land, it is again, up to your discretion."

            The parents were gobsmacked and at the near gold mine in front of them, they bowed to Theodore once more before he once again apologized for their losses and left.