Still trying to maintaining a sense of balance, Frisk hoisted herself up into the stagecoach, the interior she found was predominantly of a rather strange mix of red and silver as if to match the attire of Branburn. Each and every seat, sown with repeating patterns were all very cushiony. Upon taking the seat opposite to the Duke, she had found it still more comfortable than the sofa she had slept on in the skeleton brother's house. She had previously thought nothing would have beaten it aside from a proper bed, all it lacked now was a big comfortable pillow and a blanket, though putting her feet up onto the seat was most probably not very courteous.
She placed her bag onto the empty seat next to her, but then realised that Asriel wouldn't anywhere to sit as the Duke had dumped a small pile of his stuff such as paperwork and trinkets onto the seat next to him. She decided the next best thing was to place the bag on her lap. The Duke raised an eyebrow, slightly perplexed by her actions.
"Just so you are aware, there's only the two of us, nothing's stopping you placing your bag next to you if you wish so."
"I understand... just the both of us." Frisk replied quietly as Asriel phased through the door and took the empty seat next to her, giving her a small smile and a thanks. She still wasn't too sure why she acted the way she did, but just decided to go along with it.
But now she was feeling a constant dull pain, but couldn't quite put it down to what, who or where. Not that it mattered to her too much, she would able to sleep it she thought in her current state.
"That looks painful. Don't you feel anything?"
Unsure to what he was referring, she readjusted herself, and saw her long tail fall by her side. Still drunk, she was in fact unknowingly sitting on it and thus had fixed the issue of the dull pain, but still looked away from her tail in contempt and disgust. She then tried to rest her head on the side of the stagecoach, but the hard wood was a significant downgrade from the sofa cushion she had slept on. In addition, her new ears were proving to be nuisance; as she tried resting resting her head, she would press on one of her ears, making it extremely uncomfortable to get proper sleep. She would just have to either rest her head on her hand or just sit up straight.
Meanwhile, the Duke was busy relaying orders before shutting the door closed, his eyes now landed on Frisk.
"I'm honestly surprised you outlasted Undyne," he said with a small smirk on his face, "but the ride will be bumpy so don't expect to sleep too much on the journey."
Frisk was expected to be scolded at least, but found Branburn very relaxed, or at the very least complicit with the situation. She let out a sigh now knowing she wasn't going to get any rest. The Duke gave a couple of thuds against the roof of the coach, resulting it in suddenly starting to move, shaking a tad along the way. She could hear the column of Royal Guards marching behind, crunching the snow beneath their boots, their amour and equipment making a racket of a noise. With these circumstances, she was most definitely was not going to get any rest.
She decided to rest her head and take a look outside through the window whilst the Duke fiddled around with paperwork, the coach vividly shaking making both of them almost jump in their seats. After a bit of time went by, hey were starting to go downhill slightly. Progressively, more of the countryside was revealed, showing that in fact they were much higher up than she thought. Snowdin as it seemed was merely an isolated small town that was built high up on the side of the mountain. On the horizon, she could just about see stretches of greenery, forests, a few settlements dotted there and there and quite a few of what she assumed were empty fields. Perhaps they didn't get the seasons mixed after all she thought, at least the people that sent her did something right for once.
"I wasn't expecting anyone tonight but rest assured, my servants will be more than able to provide for an extra guest. Now, let's see... what was your previous occupation?" Branburn said whilst pulling a clear parchment and a quill, alongside a tiny ink bottle with a stopper as to not spill any ink during the voyage. He awaited patiently as Frisk tried to conjure an answer. She had figured that the Duke was expecting some kind of return from his act of kindness, to which she perfectly understood, but wasn't quite sure what to say. White lies would have to suffice.
"The workers, the labourers... I oversaw and helped them in anyway, if you see what I mean..." she said slightly slurring her words.
The Duke gave her an uncertain look, but nonetheless took note, though slowly as not to make a mess from the constant shaking of the coach. She wasn't perfectly telling the truth, but for her defence it was close enough, at least she thought. A small smile formed on Branburn's face, seemingly content with her answer.
"I might just have a spot for you..." he said as he signed it off, "I'm sure you'll fit right in."
Just as he finished speaking, the coach came to an abrupt stop, along with the marching Royal Guards. Readjusting his silver crown, the Duke waited a few moments before giving a few more thuds against the roof of the coach. They didn't move an inch and the Duke's smile quickly waned, replaced by a look of pure infuriation. He gave a few more thuds before resolving to see what was the commotion outside. He slammed shut the coach door as he left Frisk on her own, which consequently reminded her that she was at the mercy of his extremely short tempered host.
She didn't fully understand why she was receiving special treatment, aside from being his guest, but still had a couple of ideas or two. The thought of her losing her status as his said guest did not fill her with great confidence.
"I... I think we should investigate..."
Was that a 'royal we', Frisk thought humorously. She saw more an opportunity to catch forty winks, but then incessant shouting started to sound from outside. In fact, it was almost as bad as the rattling of the coach and the marching guards. So she decided to ever so slightly open the door up, just so she could have a quick glimpse of what was happening outside. She could just about make the scene, the duke towering and imposing in comparison to the fairly sized small group of monsters.
But at this point her head started to feel like an anvil weighing her down, her eyes trying to shut themselves, a general sudden feeling of drowsiness washing over her. She was much more interested in getting a good rest than listen to some rabble. Despite Asriel's protest, she sat back in her seat and went to sleep. It was the comfiest bed yet.
She didn't particularly enjoy her tasks, but it was honest work. When she wasn't busy trying to squeeze a few more pennies with some jobs on the side, she had to delve deeper. It was dangerous and dirty as accidents were not uncommon. She would always come back up almost unrecognisable, the soot and coal dust covering her from head to toe, her eyes bloodshot and sore, in which rubbing them was futile and actually made the soreness worse. Most often it would be followed by series of wheezing coughing several hours after the shift ended. And even then she still did some work on the side for some extra change.
From time to time, she envied her little siblings who had the privilege of working in the greenhouses, or 'hothouses' as they were also know. 10 hours a day, 6 days a week, working in a 'somewhat' environmentally controlled area. But when they came back from their shifts, she often reconsidered what she was thinking. They weren't spreading soot and coughing their guts out, but would instead often times suffer from severe symptoms of heatstroke and from the exposure from who knows what they fill the hothouses with.
She weighed her options, but it was useless. It was almost like being forced to choose the plague or cholera.
In the end, everyone lost.
"Wake up! We've arrived at my estate!" a loud voice echoed as Frisk felt a hand shaking her awake. She shuffled and groaned, slowly opening her eyes. She only felt a midget better than before, but now the Duke was outside waiting for her to step out of the coach, any tiny resemblance of friendliness and gentility permanently gone from his face, replaced with a disapproved frown. Frisk immediately knew to get a move on, grabbing her bag and taking the steps down, still maintaining her sense of balance.
"Ho-how have I been sleeping?"
Instead of answering her question, Branburn shoved what looked like a couple rolls of papyri into her hands, all blank. She was a bit confused as to why and the Duke figured as such, explained the ordeal.
"Your work starts tomorrow, but I have more native nonsense and blather to deal with for today. We will meet again later, I can assure you of that. Now get a move on! My servants will prepare a lodging for you tonight!" he said as he pointed towards the wide yellow gravel path, that at the end, where she could just about make what looked like an enormous house, perhaps probably even a manor now she properly thought about it.
She never had the chance to enter anything even resembling a middling class home, never mind a ride in a fancy coach of the sorts. Speaking of with, during this time, the Duke quickly got back into his coach, setting off in a rush, leaving Frisk on her own with the passing guards.
The Royal Guards, now led by an awake, albeit only semi-functional slumping Undyne, continued onwards. They instead went in the complete opposite direction to the manor, to what she safely assumed were probably were barracks or even a military base of kind. No matter, she could come back tomorrow if she needed anything or just fancied seeing either Papyrus or Undyne.
She turned back to manor and started slowly walking the gravel path, taking in the surrounding greenery and environment; on either side of the path, large patches of green lawn decorated with trimmed trees and bushes. She thought it was quite wasteful, as she believed Branburn would have had more than enough room for a dozen or so apartment or even food crops as a matter of fact. Though she had to admit a whole load of green shrubs would help to add colour, including flowers of all kind. She had seen flowers before, but they were reserved to a couple of places underground and were for the most part lustreless.
Approaching the manor, she noticed alongside the path a couple of fountains as well as rows of white and red flowers were dotted around the place, a couple or so of gardeners tending to the plants. They quickly looked up to see her and just as quickly went back to their work. First time someone viewed her and reacted to her presence as any other monster, which was partly a relief for her now that monsters stopped giving her quick looks of suspicion.
She turned back and spent a handful or so minutes just admiring the grandeur and the grandeur of her environment. She was simultaneously in awe... and disgusted. The idea that while she and her people had to live in squalor whilst others lived lavishly on the surface made her feel more contempt towards the Duke. Even her own King made sacrifices as a show of solidarity.
"Miss...? Miss! Please, allow me..."
She turned around again, and saw a monster resembling an almost human sized rabbit dressed in black and white robes with a cap, just ever so slightly shorter than her. Frisk quickly understood that the dressed monster was tugging at her bag to carry it for her. In her proper state she would have strongly opposed to any help and having her bag being carried. But she quickly relinquished it when her mind was more set on a nap and a comfy bed.
"O-Oh... I'm terribly sorry, where are my manners! Welcome to Monn's Manor, follow me I'll take you to the spare bedroom."
The servant, as Frisk presumed, entered the 3 floor tall manor, panes regularly covering the walls, each with the shutters wide open, architecture that was surprisingly interesting to observe as she was only use to dull grey smooth concrete. She had ever only seen this king of building in the King's palace and even then it was vastly simplified, to shave off costs and materials probably. She was even sure she saw a statue or two before stepping foot in the manor.
But there would more than enough time to explore and admire the true beauty of the surface, Frisk convinced herself. The greenery, the vast openness, the sunshine, the constant gentle breeze she felt on her face, it was all so heavenly compared to the grey drabness and dullness of the Underground.