Jack seemed to have stayed out all night.
The next morning, he knocked on Sen Getsusa's door, his blonde hair like a mess of weeds, and slumped onto the girl's sofa.
The man looked very weak.
Sen Getsusa gave a groggy yawn.
Arrietty and Kina had settled their clan in the ship's kitchen. They came back every day looking as stuffed as pregnant women, and she couldn't be bothered to care.
"Did you smoke cigars again?"
Given Jack's appearance, one couldn't blame Sen Getsusa for thinking so.
He scratched his hair bashfully, looking down in embarrassment, then looking up, looking down, then looking up again, hesitating to speak.
Finally, he just brushed Sen Getsusa off, saying, "You're too young. You don't need to ask about these things."
As soon as he spoke, Sen Getsusa understood.
The girl brewed a cup of black tea for herself, none for the man.
In the morning, drinking something warm and eating a slice of buttered bread with a piece of bacon was the height of comfort.
"Oh, so what happened between you two?"
She spoke while chewing: "Something happened that I'm not supposed to know. And then, you come running to me with a 'please ask me, please ask me' look. I ask, and then you tell me I can't know."
"Are you sick in the head?"
After snapping at Jack a bit, Sen Getsusa felt much better.
"Isn't it just that you 'faced each other truly'?"
Jack looked up sharply, staring at Sen Getsusa, who looked like a little hamster, in amazement. He shouted, "Hey! Where did you learn about that? You're too young!"
If you were also surrounded daily by two handfuls like Izumi Sagiri and Eriri Sawamura, you might learn even faster than me.
Sen Getsusa gave a mischievous grin: "Yesterday, Cal Hockley and Mrs. Hockley came to see me."
Jack quickly sat upright: "When? Why? Why did they look for you? I'm the one who did everything!"
Sen Getsusa waved her hand: "I know, nobody's saying you didn't. They just told me in their 'aristocratic' way to keep my 'brother' in check."
"Can you keep yourself in check?"
Jack slumped back into the chair with a bitter smile, rubbing his face with both hands.
"I can't... it's too late."
Sen Getsusa set down her teacup and tossed the remains of her breakfast onto the tray, waiting for a waiter to come and clear it away.
She stood up and stretched. Outside the window, the sunlight was intense.
"Anyway, I'm warning you, don't always drag me along when you and your Miss Rose are flaunting your love." The girl bared her little white teeth in a threat: "It's annoying, you know? Stay away from me. I'm not interested in your PDA—I refuse!"
"Hmm?" Jack arched an eyebrow. "Not drag you along? Hey, we went dancing in third class last night. Want me to tell you about it?"
Sen Getsusa: "Get lost..." "You had quite an eventful night, didn't you?" Cal and Rose were drinking coffee face-to-face, while the maid, Tracy, was busy serving. She had just been about to help her mistress dress when the man burst in angrily, interrupting her work.
Rose lowered her head without a word.
Cal waved his hand and irritably dismissed the maid before asking her, "Third Class is quite interesting, isn't it?"
"I know you sent Lovejoy to follow me." Rose, stubborn by nature, suddenly looked up. "What? The servant has become a detective?"
Cal ignored Rose's anger; he was angry enough himself.
"From now on, you are not allowed to meet that man again." He issued a final ultimatum. "I don't care if he's rich or an aristocrat."
"Which man?"
Cal was fed up with Rose playing dumb: "You know exactly who."
"You are my fiancée! You must be loyal to me! You must! Don't play these games with me!" He gripped Rose's shoulders tightly, his muscles bulging as he shook her violently.
The woman swayed in his hands like a broken toy.
"I am a member of the Hockley family. I will not allow you to be insolent with me! Not now, and certainly not after we're married! Do you understand?!"
Rose was frightened.
She wasn't afraid of Cal, but of the many consequences she couldn't afford, and she thought of her mother.
Suppressing her pride, the young woman turned herself into an object and nodded slightly: "I understand."
A word as heavy as a thousand pounds.
She had been forced into this cage by her mother; nothing was according to her own will.
Perhaps the future would be happy, or perhaps she would be abused and insulted, or perhaps her name would never appear in the Hockley family tree, leaving only the label of 'harlot' in gossip—she could only answer, 'I understand.'
Yes, she understood.
The family of a steel tycoon only needed a noble title and an 'I understand.'
Cal nodded with satisfaction, released Rose, and calmed himself slightly: "You'd better remember that. Excuse me."
After saying his piece, Cal hurried out of the room.
Not far away, the maid Tracy watched this scene. She wanted to come forward and say something, but Mrs. Hockley, with a cold face, rudely pushed her shoulder aside.
"You, out."
"Yes, Madam." Tracy obediently closed the cabin door.
Mrs. Hockley swayed over to her daughter's back, reaching out to finish the work the maid hadn't.
She tightened Rose's corset with all her might. Such a slender figure was obtained through daily pain like this. Rose straightened her upper body, almost unable to breathe.
Enduring, enduring, waiting for her mother to speak.
"Don't see that man again, do you understand? I won't allow you to see him again!" Mrs. Hockley said crossly. She knew Jack had infuriated Cal, so if this continued, the consequences would be unthinkable.
Rose was still enduring. This was her mother, the person she had depended on for many years.
"Don't be like this... Mama. I'm not a Child anymore. Don't be angry."
Instead of calming down, Mrs. Hockley grew even more furious. She spun Rose around to face her.
"Don't change the subject! This is no joking matter! You know our situation, don't you?"
"When your father died, he left us with nothing but our noble status. We have to rely on this status to survive... You should understand that marrying into the Hockley family is our only way out."
Rose could no longer hold it in. She blurted out, "Why must I bear this responsibility? Even if I have to work as a seamstress, I can support you! Mama!"
"I don't need that wealth—"
"Shut up!" Mrs. Hockley began to cry sorrowfully, tears carving paths through her thick layer of powder. "You actually want to be a seamstress?! Do you have the heart to watch me auction off our belongings to survive? A good life! I want to live a good life!"
Her mother's desire for a 'good life' made Rose even more despairing.
"Why? Is it only by marrying him that we can survive? Otherwise, we just die instantly?"
Her mother looked at her, eyes full of disappointment: "How can you be so selfish?"
"I'm selfish?" Rose didn't understand. She almost wanted to laugh. "This isn't fair."
"It is unfair! But we are women! Women cannot decide things for themselves. I used to listen to my mother. Now, you must listen to me!"
"Marry Cal and let me live a good life, do you understand!"
"And that 'Forest Girl' or whatever—you're not allowed to see her either. God, she actually said she'd pull my intestines out of my body..."
Muttering to herself, the mother left her daughter and turned to find her box of expensive face powder, which was worth its weight in gold.
Rose murmured in despair, "I'd rather she did."
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