In the 18th-century American South, the mansion echoes loudly with the sound of a man and a woman arguing in the drawing room of the Astor estate. Count Astor's wife, Alice, shouts, 'If you want to go to the battlefield so badly, give me all the fortune and the title and just leave!' Hearing his wife Alice's words, Count Astor raises his voice.

Ha, what? If I give everything I've built to you, my lady, are you just going to call over another man and squander it all? You've gone completely mad!

John's wife, Alice, says to him... 'Squander?! When did you ever love me? What you loved wasn't me, it was this country!' In an instant, John's wife Alice picks up a flowerpot and hurls it to the floor. Smash! It shatters into pieces.

Then Alice opens the drawing room door and slams it shut as she leaves.

Thud! The harsh sound of Alice's high heels, click-clack! click-clack! echoes down the hallway.

Sigh...

A dry thirst set in. My wife Alice always despised and hated days like this.

I can't quite remember how it was when we were newlyweds. Count Astor sits down heavily on the sofa, exhausted. Soon after, the head maid and two servants enter to clean up the broken flowerpot on the floor.

......

John speaks while covering his eyes with one hand. 'Bring me some wine—' The head maid replies that she will and leaves the drawing room with the two servants.

Soon after, the maid Guest enters with a bottle of wine, a wine glass, and cheese crepe appetizers on a tray. She bows slightly and is about to open the drawing room door.

Are you the new girl?

Guest hesitates for a moment. 'Yes, Master. I've been with the family for quite a while. It's just that I don't have much of a presence...' A faint smile plays on Count Astor's lips. I've been so busy that I didn't even know when the servants joined or who they were.

John observes Guest closely. She is quite pretty. To think I'd feel curiosity toward a young woman at this age... Hmph.