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Description
The palazzo had a very small courtyard but large rooms. It could do well for parties. Lucrezia led me down the hallway where a mosaic of a forest captured my interest.
As she continued to speak, I analyzed how she took everything lightly like they a child would play with her dolls. Not a care in the world, a lighthearted spirit that needed to remain happy.
"By the way, for whom is the wine intended to?" she asks me.
"Oh, for my father's friend I think. Mi dispiace, he forgot to write down the name."
Lucrezia giggled boastfully. "It's alright. Fathers tend to forget things once they're a little bit older." I agreed.
Age does have its consequences on each stage of life. She and I climbed up the marble staircase and entered a jewel-box of a room with many paintings and dark velvet couches.
"Wait here while I go consult my brother. He is the one in charge of the house while our older brother is away for militia practice," she explained and walked out of the room. I took a seat on the red couch and realized something was a bit off. Where was Catherine? I put the Amarone on the table and searched for my cat.
"Gatta! La mia gattina! Where are you?"

I sighed when I was given no response whatsoever. Where could she be? Maybe one of the servants of the house found her and kicked her out into the streets. No! That'll even be more difficult on my part!
"Is this yours?" I turned sharply and saw the bishop from before but this time he changed his clothing into black robes. He had his hands on the shoulders of a little boy carrying Catherine in his arms.
"Catherine! I was so worried!"
"I'm sorry. I found her in the courtyard, I thought she was a stray," the boy said.
"No, no it's fine. I'm just glad she was in good hands." The bishop, whom I bear in mind is called Cesare, patted the boy's right cheek and told him to go outside and play with the cat.
The boy nodded and quickly left the room. Cesare closed the door and locked it. He turned to me with a glare that had me intimidated.
"Is that the wine?" he inquired. I nodded hesitantly and my hands started to feel sweaty.
Cesare hummed a reply and walked to the table. He picked up the bottle and pulled the cork with a loud pop. Taking a whiff of the wine, he nodded twice.

"Excellent choice, Amarone is it?" I nodded again. Footsteps thudded on the floor and a daunting shadow had covered my own. I stepped back a bit when I felt Cesare's robes coming in contact with my sleeve.
"Tell me, are you a noble or a servant girl?" he began.
"…What makes you think I am either of both?" I said.
Cesare circled around me like a vulture, waiting for the right moment when I'm vulnerable and easy to kill. His eyes never left my form and if it were true, I think he was undressing me with his eyes.
"You stand like a half-beaten mongrel yet the air of aristocracy is present and besides," he tugged on my maroon sash harshly that it almost came off.
"No servant girl wears the clothes of a noble and no noble should do the job of a servant girl." He released my sash and I hurriedly tied it around my waist again.

I looked at him straight in the eyes and said, "And who are you to say that? Must all things abide by the rules as does clergymen to the Lord?" I began.
Cesare smirked and paced about in the room while I stood there, waiting for the time to go home.
"What do they call you, oh noble servant girl?" he asked.
"I'm sorry, were you hoping for a confession?" I said drawly.

Cesare chuckles and picks up the bottle of Amarone. There were two things that he can do right about now.
One was to drink it all up and jump out the window to kill himself or he can smash the bottle against my head and throw me out of the window instead.
"For a signorina, you have quite the poisonous mouth." Cesare said whilst walking slowly towards me.
I chuckle softly and my eyes were still on the bottle he gripped.
"And I won't hesitate to bite you if I must," I replied.  Cesare twitched a brow and set the bottle to the nearest table.

"If I cannot have your first name, then your last maybe?"
"…Everyone during the reign of the last pope knows my family's name. I'm surprised you do not know Messer." I told him.
"And how am I supposed to know when you will not even tell me?" I smirked at the remark and crossed my arms at him.
"They call me Angioletta Renée. But only my maman and grandmaman can call me Renée, everyone else just calls me Angioletta." I said apathetically.

I dug through the pockets of my apron and placed the letters on the table beside me.  Once I glanced at Cesare, he was standing there as if he had seen a ghastly figure appearing in front of him. I snapped my fingers twice to get his attention. He looked at me again and I knew it was another batch of questions.
"I have to go now Signore Cesare, I still have things to do." I said and bowed before leaving. I told the young boy, whose name had been Joffre, that I will be heading back home. I picked up Catherine from his arms and thanked him for taking care of her. The boy nodded and asked me, "Will you return next time?"
"I'll try." I replied and went home.

Dinner had always been quiet. Sometimes I ate dinner alone, sometimes with my father and sometimes with my brothers.
Every corridor and room in the house had been illuminated by candles, you would be able to see things clearly. We had fritto misto, vegetable soup and rib steaks to celebrate the acceptance of my brothers in the Papal Army.
Now that Jovanni and Piero were in, I will be left behind in the house every single day. It will be one dull summer all along.

"I mean, those guards acted as if a noble couldn't enter such league! Plus there was a fighting ring and I want to try it out!" Jovanni exclaimed.
Papa cleared his throat loudly and dropped his fork onto the plate. The sound was deafening since I was the one nearest. I looked at my father worriedly. He had been coming down with the flu since I was thirteen.
His excuse was the candles near him, but I'm sure that was not the case.
"Papa, let's get you to bed. You're tired; you've been working all day." I said.
"Nonsense! You should be the one who is put to bed. Tomorrow you will meet your godmother Contessa Vannozza dei Cattanei, she will help find you some suitable men to marry and to help this family." Papa said.
"Help this family or just send me away like you did with Arianna?" I said in a shrill voice that everyone on the table kept quiet.

I stood forcefully from my chair and went to my room. I locked the doors shut and walked over to one couch. Catherine meowed quietly and jumped at me to get my attention but I was not in the mood to play.
My elder sister Arianna was forced into proxy marriage by father when she was only fourteen, I was three then and hardly had any memory to what had happened. When I was four, she came for a visit and told me to never marry at a young age.
She told me I must wait until I knew what it was like to be separated from the ones I love and that I did.

"Signorina?" Salome knocked on the door anxiously.
"Go away! I don't need anything right now!" I exclaimed.

The knocking ceased and footsteps bounced against the walls outside until I heard nothing more but the crickets outside the house. Catherine got on my bed and purred. I apologized to her for my ignorance and scratched the back of her ear.
I think I should follow what Arianna had said.

On that same evening, when every one of them was fast asleep, I crept out of my room carrying a candlestick. Catherine tailed after me up the staircase to the aviary. I placed the candle on the wooden table and I heard the doves and pigeons hooting.
I shushed them and took out a small parchment. I chose the dove with a red spot on its chest. It didn't flap its wings nor did it try to resist. I inserted the letter into the carrier attached to its leg and set him out into the night sky. Hopefully by tomorrow, I would receive a message from my friends. I hurried back to bed and put out the candle. Catherine snuggled against me to keep herself warm throughout the night. I stared up at my white ceiling and saw the gold stars twinkling in the moonlight. Maman was the one who suggested them, real topaz jewels etched onto the ceiling. I smiled and snuggled into the soft pillows. Then sleep had found me at last.

The dream I had felt so real. I was standing in the middle of a street wearing nothing but a beggar's rags and bare feet. People covered in bruises and wounds were wailing in pain. Suddenly something erected from the ground.
It was a giant flag and on that flag was a red bull. Its dark shadow began to drip down and cover everything within its path. I took a run for it and tried to escape. But soon I was caught and I was falling in a never ending cyclone, crying and pleading for help until my vision was covered by a red cloth.
I woke up the next day with my body refusing to move. My pillows were already on the floor and my sheets were in quite a mess as if I had been swimming in my bed. Catherine slept soundly on top of my vanity table next to the powder case and I heard someone calling out my name. I jolted out of bed and hurried to my balcony. I pushed aside the overgrown wisteria vines and stepped into daylight. The morning winds brushed against my hair and I looked down to see two females waving to me. Carlotta Peruch and Maria Fiorenza La Pilusa. I knew they would never let an invitation down. I quickly returned to my room and undressed my nightgown. I put on a new chemise and then a sleeveless green working gown. I rolled my chemise sleeves up to my elbows and brushed the tangles out of my hair.
I put on a white veil and wooden clogs. Afterwards, I rushed downstairs leaving Catherine behind.

Description
The palazzo had a very small courtyard but large rooms. It could do well for parties. Lucrezia led me down the hallway where a mosaic of a forest captured my interest.
As she continued to speak, I analyzed how she took everything lightly like they a child would play with her dolls. Not a care in the world, a lighthearted spirit that needed to remain happy.
"By the way, for whom is the wine intended to?" she asks me.
"Oh, for my father's friend I think. Mi dispiace, he forgot to write down the name."
Lucrezia giggled boastfully. "It's alright. Fathers tend to forget things once they're a little bit older." I agreed.
Age does have its consequences on each stage of life. She and I climbed up the marble staircase and entered a jewel-box of a room with many paintings and dark velvet couches.
"Wait here while I go consult my brother. He is the one in charge of the house while our older brother is away for militia practice," she explained and walked out of the room. I took a seat on the red couch and realized something was a bit off. Where was Catherine? I put the Amarone on the table and searched for my cat.
"Gatta! La mia gattina! Where are you?"

I sighed when I was given no response whatsoever. Where could she be? Maybe one of the servants of the house found her and kicked her out into the streets. No! That'll even be more difficult on my part!
"Is this yours?" I turned sharply and saw the bishop from before but this time he changed his clothing into black robes. He had his hands on the shoulders of a little boy carrying Catherine in his arms.
"Catherine! I was so worried!"
"I'm sorry. I found her in the courtyard, I thought she was a stray," the boy said.
"No, no it's fine. I'm just glad she was in good hands." The bishop, whom I bear in mind is called Cesare, patted the boy's right cheek and told him to go outside and play with the cat.
The boy nodded and quickly left the room. Cesare closed the door and locked it. He turned to me with a glare that had me intimidated.
"Is that the wine?" he inquired. I nodded hesitantly and my hands started to feel sweaty.
Cesare hummed a reply and walked to the table. He picked up the bottle and pulled the cork with a loud pop. Taking a whiff of the wine, he nodded twice.

"Excellent choice, Amarone is it?" I nodded again. Footsteps thudded on the floor and a daunting shadow had covered my own. I stepped back a bit when I felt Cesare's robes coming in contact with my sleeve.
"Tell me, are you a noble or a servant girl?" he began.
"…What makes you think I am either of both?" I said.
Cesare circled around me like a vulture, waiting for the right moment when I'm vulnerable and easy to kill. His eyes never left my form and if it were true, I think he was undressing me with his eyes.
"You stand like a half-beaten mongrel yet the air of aristocracy is present and besides," he tugged on my maroon sash harshly that it almost came off.
"No servant girl wears the clothes of a noble and no noble should do the job of a servant girl." He released my sash and I hurriedly tied it around my waist again.

I looked at him straight in the eyes and said, "And who are you to say that? Must all things abide by the rules as does clergymen to the Lord?" I began.
Cesare smirked and paced about in the room while I stood there, waiting for the time to go home.
"What do they call you, oh noble servant girl?" he asked.
"I'm sorry, were you hoping for a confession?" I said drawly.

Cesare chuckles and picks up the bottle of Amarone. There were two things that he can do right about now.
One was to drink it all up and jump out the window to kill himself or he can smash the bottle against my head and throw me out of the window instead.
"For a signorina, you have quite the poisonous mouth." Cesare said whilst walking slowly towards me.
I chuckle softly and my eyes were still on the bottle he gripped.
"And I won't hesitate to bite you if I must," I replied.  Cesare twitched a brow and set the bottle to the nearest table.

"If I cannot have your first name, then your last maybe?"
"…Everyone during the reign of the last pope knows my family's name. I'm surprised you do not know Messer." I told him.
"And how am I supposed to know when you will not even tell me?" I smirked at the remark and crossed my arms at him.
"They call me Angioletta Renée. But only my maman and grandmaman can call me Renée, everyone else just calls me Angioletta." I said apathetically.

I dug through the pockets of my apron and placed the letters on the table beside me.  Once I glanced at Cesare, he was standing there as if he had seen a ghastly figure appearing in front of him. I snapped my fingers twice to get his attention. He looked at me again and I knew it was another batch of questions.
"I have to go now Signore Cesare, I still have things to do." I said and bowed before leaving. I told the young boy, whose name had been Joffre, that I will be heading back home. I picked up Catherine from his arms and thanked him for taking care of her. The boy nodded and asked me, "Will you return next time?"
"I'll try." I replied and went home.

Dinner had always been quiet. Sometimes I ate dinner alone, sometimes with my father and sometimes with my brothers.
Every corridor and room in the house had been illuminated by candles, you would be able to see things clearly. We had fritto misto, vegetable soup and rib steaks to celebrate the acceptance of my brothers in the Papal Army.
Now that Jovanni and Piero were in, I will be left behind in the house every single day. It will be one dull summer all along.

"I mean, those guards acted as if a noble couldn't enter such league! Plus there was a fighting ring and I want to try it out!" Jovanni exclaimed.
Papa cleared his throat loudly and dropped his fork onto the plate. The sound was deafening since I was the one nearest. I looked at my father worriedly. He had been coming down with the flu since I was thirteen.
His excuse was the candles near him, but I'm sure that was not the case.
"Papa, let's get you to bed. You're tired; you've been working all day." I said.
"Nonsense! You should be the one who is put to bed. Tomorrow you will meet your godmother Contessa Vannozza dei Cattanei, she will help find you some suitable men to marry and to help this family." Papa said.
"Help this family or just send me away like you did with Arianna?" I said in a shrill voice that everyone on the table kept quiet.

I stood forcefully from my chair and went to my room. I locked the doors shut and walked over to one couch. Catherine meowed quietly and jumped at me to get my attention but I was not in the mood to play.
My elder sister Arianna was forced into proxy marriage by father when she was only fourteen, I was three then and hardly had any memory to what had happened. When I was four, she came for a visit and told me to never marry at a young age.
She told me I must wait until I knew what it was like to be separated from the ones I love and that I did.

"Signorina?" Salome knocked on the door anxiously.
"Go away! I don't need anything right now!" I exclaimed.

The knocking ceased and footsteps bounced against the walls outside until I heard nothing more but the crickets outside the house. Catherine got on my bed and purred. I apologized to her for my ignorance and scratched the back of her ear.
I think I should follow what Arianna had said.

On that same evening, when every one of them was fast asleep, I crept out of my room carrying a candlestick. Catherine tailed after me up the staircase to the aviary. I placed the candle on the wooden table and I heard the doves and pigeons hooting.
I shushed them and took out a small parchment. I chose the dove with a red spot on its chest. It didn't flap its wings nor did it try to resist. I inserted the letter into the carrier attached to its leg and set him out into the night sky. Hopefully by tomorrow, I would receive a message from my friends. I hurried back to bed and put out the candle. Catherine snuggled against me to keep herself warm throughout the night. I stared up at my white ceiling and saw the gold stars twinkling in the moonlight. Maman was the one who suggested them, real topaz jewels etched onto the ceiling. I smiled and snuggled into the soft pillows. Then sleep had found me at last.

The dream I had felt so real. I was standing in the middle of a street wearing nothing but a beggar's rags and bare feet. People covered in bruises and wounds were wailing in pain. Suddenly something erected from the ground.
It was a giant flag and on that flag was a red bull. Its dark shadow began to drip down and cover everything within its path. I took a run for it and tried to escape. But soon I was caught and I was falling in a never ending cyclone, crying and pleading for help until my vision was covered by a red cloth.
I woke up the next day with my body refusing to move. My pillows were already on the floor and my sheets were in quite a mess as if I had been swimming in my bed. Catherine slept soundly on top of my vanity table next to the powder case and I heard someone calling out my name. I jolted out of bed and hurried to my balcony. I pushed aside the overgrown wisteria vines and stepped into daylight. The morning winds brushed against my hair and I looked down to see two females waving to me. Carlotta Peruch and Maria Fiorenza La Pilusa. I knew they would never let an invitation down. I quickly returned to my room and undressed my nightgown. I put on a new chemise and then a sleeveless green working gown. I rolled my chemise sleeves up to my elbows and brushed the tangles out of my hair.
I put on a white veil and wooden clogs. Afterwards, I rushed downstairs leaving Catherine behind.