Kacy was with Alina in their shared bedroom. They'd worked tirelessly in the kitchen scrubbing pots and pans in the sink.
Alina said, "I miss Ethan. Beforehand, I'd a room upstairs to live in. It was a lot nicer than the room, that Lolita gave us."
"Do you have any family?" Kacy asked.
"They all live in Ossory," Alina replied. "My family pleaded with me to go back home and live with them but I wanted to stay in Intermarium."
"Why didn't you go back there? Things are a lot better over there."
"At the time I was dating a guy, that's why I didn't want to leave. But then he was drafted in the Ossory war." Her eyes watered. "He never did come back, and my heart was broken. I did try to go back to my home in Ossory but I couldn't because I wasn't allowed to leave Intermarium. To be honest, I would give anything to leave this God awful country, I was an idiot to want to stay here for too long."
"It wasn't your fault for staying here for too long. You didn't know the country borders would change."
"I'm stuck here, regardless if I like it or not. I did apply for a travel visa but my application was denied."
"Why?" Kacy raised an eyebrow.
"Because Lolita doesn't want to give people the freedom to travel. Even though she travels all the time in her private jet! Life can be so unfair!"
"I want to go to Technate to see my brother."
"Technate? How did your brother end up there? I thought you said he went to war?"
"I don't know. I just know for whatever reason that he's there."
"I see. When I first started working at the castle, I used to love my job. Ethan was a nice person. When Lolita took over, that's when things changed for the worse. We used to have access to the library, the pool and the gym. I miss the way things used to be in the castle before everything went to shit." Alina yawned. "I've to sleep. I'll talk to you tomorrow."
Kacy nodded and rested her head against her pillow, she closed her eyes.