Hilda woke up before anyone else in the house, if not in town. Something about that day wouldn't let her rest, like her ever-burning hate flame had suddenly sparked.
She was suddenly reminded of having to visit Jared's family in her dream and she wasn't quite pleased with it and imagined how annoying they would be about her actions, and how she acts, and hopes that the thing would end soon.
Then she heard a voice calling her name, she didn't want to bother with it and continued sleeping, forcing her dream to be extended just so she would not wake up.
Then she felt a tight hug.
That alone is enough and so forced herself to wake up and be forced to go and visit his family.
Once she was awake, she wasn't quite pleased with what she saw.
She saw Jared on the short end of pulling out from a hug and is trying to hide it before he could greet her.
Hilda just gave a facepalm in response to what he did.
"What the hell were you doing?!"
Jared tensed up immediately and placed his hands in his pockets, trying to look innocent even though Hilda saw him moving his hands away from her.
"I-I-I was just about to wake you up to get prepared." Jared hastily and hurriedly excused his way out of his actions, making Hilda ever more suspicious of him.
"Well, at least I get to see who did the cheque today." Hilda sighed before walking out to the bathroom to take a bath for the upcoming confrontation.
Meanwhile at the estate, Mary and Stephen woke up to the sound of chirping birds outside their window, getting up to shoo them away in order to close it before walking downstairs to prepare breakfast for David and for the slaves.
After cooking up a few eggs and some imported Irish potatoes, they prepared the table and arranged the set for breakfast before calling on David to come down.
After a few shouts, they both sighed at themselves, thinking he overslept from the homework that he was seen doing with Frida and so after some deliberation on who will go up, Stephen finally went upstairs to wake him up.
"He's probably fucking with that slave." Stephen murmured his thoughts to himself.
As he walked up the stairs and ventured the hallway, these thoughts raced around his mind, thinking of what he would see when he opened the door.
He opened the door and his perceived fears became a reality, or so he thought.
He saw in the bedroom was David and Frida sleeping together in his bed, with Frida hugging David's stomach while David huddling his blanket.
"Daaaavviid!!" Stephen yelled at the top of his lungs, and it was heard from all the way to the shed nearby from the house and it really forced the two to wake up.
Both of them were now awake but they were more annoyed than wide eyed and so made them wake up like they were hung over.
"Son, what the fuck are you doing with that slave in your bed?!"
Both rubbed their eyes before looking at a furious Stephen with a tired look.
Stephen immediately fixated his focus on Frida, the one he thinks planned this all out, and planned to punish her dearly for the perceived making out with his son.
"You, come with me." Stephen shouted in a stern voice before gripping Frida's arm and forcing her out of the room before shutting the door in front of David.
He then tosses Frida towards the wall before pressing her arm to the wall in order to press Frida to the wall.
"Okay Feida."
"Frida…" She corrected, being winced at his intimidation.
"Frida, what are you doing with my son, huh?"
"Wait, wait, I can e-"
Stephen threw a hard punch at Frida before she could explain herself, falling to the hallway floor as a result.
"Sir, please! Let me e-"
Frida tried to explain herself again but Stephen didn't care and pulled her hair up so she could stand up and look him in the eye.
Stephen pulled her over to the wall before staring down at her. "Listen, if you try to get close to my son like that, I will throw you to that shed where your parents reside!"
Downstairs, Mary had heard her husband's screaming upstairs and she groaned in frustration before having to go upstairs to see what's going on.
As she walks upstairs, she saw Stephen tossing Frida around the hallway while screaming a bunch of questions and really racist profanities.
Mary walked up and held her husband's arm to prevent him from harming Frida furthermore. "Stephen, stop this!"
Stephen felt her hand gripping his arm hard and turned around to see Mary's angered face and went with a short staring contest to intimidate the other, buying time for Frida to flee to her room.
Meanwhile back at Hilda's home, Hilda and Jared were preparing for the trip to his estate, where they will soon confront his parents about the cheque.
While packing their items in the bags, they were continuing the talk of her father and they kept talking for a full half hour until Jared asked something to her.
"Hilda, why do we need to pack these up? My house is just across town."
"Well, I planned to stay there for a bit, mostly to get out of the house for a while and to escape that dank smell Mum always coughs out." Hilda explained before coughing at the end
Jared smirked for a little bit before returning to a blank face to help Hilda in packing her stuff up for her stay.
"So, how long will you stay?" Jared curiously asks.
"About a few days or more, I think."
Then the room became quiet again after Jared nodded along before helping Hilda with packing before calling the carriage.
Back at the Ferguson estate backyard, Mary accompanies Frida to the shed after arguing with Stephen on what to do with Frida and after managing to convince him that she would stay on the shed for a night, he reluctantly agrees and lets her sleep in the shed after giving Frida a stern warning.
While walking along with Frida, Mary decides to comfort the sobbing teenager by whispering to her.
Mary walks up to Frida and places her mouth near her ear. "Don't worry, you can explain yourself to him when you go back," Mary calmly whispers.
Frida felt a calm breath flowing out of her nose thanks to Mary's calm demeanor for her and appreciates her for doing so before stopping at the door.
Frida winced at the door for what would happen inside and what her parents were going to say and looked back to Mary, who was behind her, to give her advice on what to do.
"Just tell them what happened and they'll understand," Mary advised and gave her a comforting smile which Frida reciprocates.
Frida then opened a door and sees her parents eating together in the living room while talking about just about anything that comes to mind.
"Have you heard of what happened in Malta?" Henrie begins the new conversation
"No, why?"
"I heard in the London Times that their slaves got caught conspiring against the Hospitaller and were arrested." Stephen explained
"I hope nothing like that happens here, otherwise God knows what will happen to us."
After hearing their conversation, Frida walked towards them slowly and shakingly before being noticed by her mother, Amelie, before looking behind her to see Mary at the door and began to be worried about what happened inside the house.
"Yes, Frida?"
Henrie looked behind him to see Frida and there she was, making a weak wave at him, which made him worried as well.
"What happened at the house, I saw Mary right behind you."
Frida gritted her teeth and rubbed the side of her left arm, "Stephen accused me of sleeping with my friend, David."
Both parents were shocked at what Stephen accused of their daughter and their minds ran rampant on what happened between the two that led him to accuse her of such an act, which Frida perceives as shock from what she did.
"Wait wait, so did you?" Stephen interrogates, wanting to know if the accusation was true or false.
"What?! No, why would I do that!? We only slept together and we never made contact while we slept and also I only slept with him because my room is too cold and since David got the candles and the oil lamp, I went over!"
She felt herself losing her breath there, the rant made her tired and made her look like she's making it up and began to feel helpless as she feared what they were going to say about it.
"Mary...is it true she only went over to have a warm sleep?" Amelie asked, not at Frida, but at Mary to at least get another perspective from what happened.
Even though Mary didn't know much about what happened, she nodded at them for Frida.
Henrie sighed sharply about the series of events and drank a cup of tea before placing it back down to make a response.
"Mary…" Henrie began his response before inhaling a big gust of air to let it out. "Can you settle things with your husband while we and Frida talk about it?" He finished, requesting Mary to deal with Stephen while he and Amelie talk to Frida to understand more of what happened.
Mary nodded and gently closed the door on the way out before walking back inside of the house to deal with her husband, Stephen, for Frida.
As she walked back inside and went back upstairs, she overheard an argument going on between Stephen and David in his bedroom.
"What else did you both do?!"
"We didn't do anything last night! We just slept in this bed and that's it!"
"Oh yeah, you both slept after you both had a nice fucking while me and your mother slept in the night!"
"Dad! What the fuck!"
"You can't lie to me!"
"I am not!"
After groaning quietly in frustration, Mary interrupts the conversation by hugging Stephen who takes a deep breath.
"Stephen, please, I don't think he could have done this…."
"That's what all the boys say, and then the next thing you know he might be inviting a whole pack of slaves to fuck with."
"Dad, how dodoes me sleeping with Frida descends into a black orgy!?"
"Stephen, what in Lord's name has gotten you into this!?
"I don't want our son losing his virginity to a black!"
"DAD!"
"It's not wrong, right?!"
Mary quickly pulled herself out of her hug with Stephen but still pulled his hand towards her to make him stop. "Stephen, please!"
Stephen quickly pulled out his hand from hers and just placed it on his forehead, as he's beginning to stress out on what to do with David while still keeping himself from going into an angry fit and soon he just sat at the wall with a blank face.
"Stephen…" Mary approached, "Do you think Frida should be punished?" She asked, putting on a mask just so he could respond.
"Mom…" David objected but he was shushed by Mary as soon as signs of Stephen responding arose.
"Look, I just realized that I have a meeting with investors today, so just for today and for tonight, Frida should stay in that shed."
David quickly fell back to his bed in relief because he expected a harsher punishment but thankfully it never came to pass while Mary smiled at him joyfully for making the choice.
Suddenly, Stephen stood up and went to David with a stern warning.
"But if I see you both smooching again in this bed or in this house, I'm kicking you off to that shed over there so you both can enjoy fucking with each other, got it?!"
Mary just groaned quietly in frustration from that sudden outburst of anger while David winced at his warning and just nodded repeatedly in response.
"Good, now I'll be on my way." Stephen said as he walked to the doorway before turning back to Mary to tell her something.
"And Mary, please inform the slaves about what I said." Stephen finished before rushing downstairs
"They're not slaves!" Mary corrected but Stephen was already at the door when she said, therefore he can't hear it and soon, he's already on his way.
"So does that mean-" David asked Mary what Steohen said about her punishment before she quickly responded.
"Yes, she's gonna stay in the shed until tomorrow."
Meanwhile at the Foulkestone estate, Hilda and Jared are already waiting at the porch for the carriage that was about to send both of them and Hilda's luggage to the Haustad estate where Hilda would learn who paid the cheque.
As they wait, both of them began chatting to each other about just about anything that lands on their minds to pass the time while Kaisa takes care of Johanna upstairs so she wouldn't be left untreated in the house.
"So Jared, how did your surname come about?" Hilda asked, curious about his surname
"Why?" Jared asks back
"It sounds German," Hilda describes.
"Oh, well my family once lived in Hanover back then before moving here in England," Jared explains.
"Oh, then why do you speak English then?" Hilda jokes, giggling to herself as she says it.
Jared didn't take that to heart, he hates being teased about his German origins and so reacted with a quiet but pissed face at her, which stopped her giggling. It didn't work, unsurprisingly.
To change the subject real quick, he looks at anything that he could make a conversation out of and he looks at the clothes Hilda chose and Jared made his move
"You…..You really aren't going to do anything about the clothing?"
"No." She said as she buttoned the coat and extended the sleeves
With a dead end, Jared had to think of another topic to keep it going and after some thinking, found it.
"Hey, why do all your clothes smell like that wolf of yours, that's unhygienic."
"So is the town, germaphobe." Hilda joked as she made a pun out of his perceived concern for hygiene and his German origins, which made his mood a little angrier
"And I'm sorry that our maid couldn't wash them properly since she was doing other TASKS around the house." Then Hilda turned to a serious note about his concern.
As they spoke about her luggage, the carriage finally arrived and the two happily got aboard, including Dagger who was a somewhat uninvited guest.
As they went inside, they continued the conversation In the carriage which was chaotic.
"Hilda really? Can't you act on your status?"
"Chill chill, they are just some German dudes not the King. This joke would get way funnier if we were past WW1 and in Poland." Hilda responded back while making another 4th wall break with some mild implications.
"Y-You can stop doing that now,"
Jared requested.
Hilda followed as she became silent throughout the entire trip and it prompted Jared to be quiet as well while occasionally whistling a tune to pass the time and snapping his fingers randomly to make some sort of noise.
Meanwhile back at home, Kaisa brings everything Johanna needs in order to survive for any day now with a bottle of gin, a jar of opium, a bowl of all the herbal medicine her time could have and a pack of cigar pipes just for her.
After bringing them all in one tray and placing the items one by one in a nearby desk, Kaisa begins to open all windows in the room to expel all of the miasma in the air that both she and Johanna can smell before Kaisa begins to give her a spoon of gin.
"Okay madam, here is the usual treatment that I could find, please open up." Kaisa said to a bedridden Johanna before pouring the bottle of gin into a spoon before carrying it into her mouth.
As Johanna closed her mouth to swallow the gin, she never really felt better. The gin was bitter to all hell and because of gin's bitterness caused her to gag hher mouth that she bit the spoon inside of her mouth, making it stuck.
Kaisa noticed the gag and so felt concerned that the gin wasn't a good start. "Is it bitter, ma'am?"
Johanna nodded.
With her response, Kaisa begins to slowly drag the spoon off of her mouth and after a few minutes and with some help from Johanna, she managed to take it out and place it next to the bowl of herbs.
Knowing how the gin didn't help Johanna much, Kaisa decided that she would let her decide which medicine she would like to use for her sake.
Kaisa moved herself aside from the bed to move the desk horizontally aligned with the bed itself. "Would you like to choose?" Kaisa asked, worriedly.
Johanna moved her sight from the front of the room to the right and sees the aforementioned items in the desk and after some time, she pointed her finger to the herbal medicine which she favored the most and Kaisa did her thing.
At the carriage, the quiet ride still goes on and even as Jared attempts to make a conversation out of anything, it seems that she wants to stay quiet and silent.
Until the carriage came to a halt.
"Hey, what happened to the road?!" Jared scolded
"Sir, we came across an intersection and a trail of carriages and slaves are passing through it right now." The man said to Jared, informing him of why they stopped.
They both looked out of the carriage to see the intersection and there it is, a massive line of other carriages serving rich white people and right behind them are slaves, chained up to thèir wrists and locked to the carriage, being forced to march with them to their estates.
"Looks like Frida is throwing a party with her alikes….. Hehe…."
"Wait, who's Frida?"
"Oh, just an old friend of mine and also got bought by this other friend of mine, David."
"Good to know but also, Hilda, why don't you own a slave?"
"What"
"Most high class families have at least one."
"Eh, mum and I did most of the work, plus Kaisa is enough."
"Okay," Jared said nonchalantly
"And my mum is a supporter of that abolition movement, I don't know why she's in it but at least it's something my mum does all day rather than being a clerk to some trade center."
"Ahh, okay."
After that, the carriage inside went silent again as they waited for the intersection to clear up and after what seems like they've passed a day waiting, the intersection is finally open for the carriage to finally resume their path towards the Haustad estate.
When the carriage arrived at the estate, both of them got off of the ride before Jared gives the driver a cheque that has his salary before joining with Hilda to walk inside.
While walking towards the door, Jared tries to look formal in front of his parents by placing his arm around Hilda's but instead she didn't follow along and untangled it as soon as he began to try it again.
"Jared, what-" Hilda shouted as she pushed him away from her for a few meters- "What are you doing?"
Jared looks at Hilda confusedly. "Wait what, you don't know this?"
"Of course I do." Hilda responded with a disgruntled reaction.
"Then why are you against it?"
Hilda sighed before placing two fingers on her forehead to signify frustration. "Can we just walk normally to the door, please?"
"Okay but we gotta look formal in front of them." Jared insists
"Why?"
"Because it's necessary."
"You know what, I'm just gonna go inside anyway and I don't need a formal introduction." Hilda said as she ran towards the door without Jared
"Hilda, wait!" Jared catched up
Hilda then bursts the doors open and gave a big breath before screaming in the empty hallways.
"GOOD MORNING PEOPLE WHO NOW PAY MY BILLS!"
Then Dagger lest out a happy bark as he wagged his tail trying to match his owner's energy while also rushing inside and running around in the hallways.
"Hilda, what the hell!" Jared cried out as seeing how Hilda acts is not a good sign for him.
Then a faint but audible yell was heard from upstairs.
"Who in God's name is screaming in the hallway?!"
Both Jared and Hilda look to where the yell came from and Hilda knows what to do.
She ran immediately to the stairs and went up while Jared had to catch up with her but because she's a fast runner, he couldn't catch up to her long enough until they both reached for the top.
"Say, are you the ones who pay my bills now?" Hilda asks as she reached the top
Jared finally catched up and saw his horrified parents meeting Hilda with her actions and had to apologize to them for what she did.
"Mom, dad I am so sorry-"
"He doesn't speak for me." Hilda interrupted before looking back at his parents.
Jared just groaned in frustration because she's acting irrational in front of his parents and that isn't helping them out in any way.
"Miss, please explain to me why you did just that?" Jared's mother asked Hilda, with pure disgust felt in her voice
"Well, I just did what I had to do and we're not here just so Jared can show me off."
"Also, do you guys have any beef? Didn't have time to feed Dagger, my wolf pet, also you guys have something to eat?" Hilda said in a tangent as she took out her boots right in front of his parents, horrified of her acts but also of what she keeps.
Hilda then turned around to see Dagger nowhere to be seen around her upstairs and so she was about to go back down but as she did so, Jared grabbed her arm and pulled her back.
"Jared, what are you doing?"
Jared then pulled Hilda closer so he could whisper into her ear. "Do you not know why we're here?"
Hilda honestly forgot why over the hour and so just sincerely shook her head to say no.
"Okay, so we are here for the cheque, remember?"
Hilda then contemplated it before realizing that they did came over for the cheque and so nodded her head like a child being forced to tell the truth.
"Good, now follow what I had to say and then we will find out, okay?"
"Okay."
Afterwards, both of them turn to his parents and now that she has to follow what Jared had to say, she forces herself to have her arm being wrapped by Jared's just to look formal.
"Sorry for what she did, she wasn't well oriented with the standard procedures."
"Yeah….. hehe…. " she said as she faked a smile, her dead eye staring blankly, trying to look formal.
"I see, she also doesn't know a lot about fashion either," Jared's mother commented as she examined her coat.
'I saw scarecrows with more fashion sense than you and your I-need-everyone-to-know-i'm-married dress' Hilda thought to herself.
"Does she not have dresses?" Jared's dad added.
"We were in a rush and-" Jared excused, trying to defend Hilda to ease his own image.
"That's no excuse, go to your mother's closet and get her something appropriate for once." his dad requested.
"Come on, I'm fine with this, I just don't want dresses," Hilda complained, "can I just wear a vest instead of a corset?" Hilda suggested.
"Fine…'' Jared's parents, after thinking about her suggestion, brought themselves to acceptance, not wanting to delay the meeting any further.
They all went down to the living room, where a bright red carpet and Dagger couldn't resist but to chew the edges of said carpet.
"Jared, can you make him stop?" His mother urged
"He can try." Hilda said while opening a smile and finally getting away from Jared while stretching herself.
She knows this wasn't going to be a fun time.
Meanwhile with David and Frida, both of them were trying to do their own things to avoid conflict while being separated, that was, until Stephen came back from his meeting.
"So...how did it go?" Mary asked.
"Bloody hell! It was terrible" Stephen shouted in frustration as he slammed his fist on the desk and sat on the couch.
"W-What happened sir?" David nervously asked while he was still cleaning the floor.
"Terrible, agonizing business meetings, everyone just complains more and more about the lack of coal found in the city, no one does anything around here, if i really wanted, i could bring the revolution to trollberg!"
"Then… why don't you?"
"...yeah… why don't i?" Stephen realized as he got up from the couch and looked outside the window, contemplating the suggestion that David accidentally brought up" I can do it…"
David awkwardly looked at the same window Stephen was also looking at as he seemed to have been hit by a sudden realisation.
"What do you plan to do?"
"I'm gonna bring factories to this city for once."
Stephen then left from where he stood at the window and went upstairs to his workroom where he planned to bring investors in from all over the island to bring industrial factories to Trolberg.
Worried about how this would stand for Frida and her family, he finished cleaning the floor first and then went to the backyard to the shed to inform Frida about it.
After walking for a few meters from the seemingly gigantic backyard, he arrived at its door and knocked 5 times before stopping.
"Who is it?" Amelie asked from inside.
"It's David, madame." He responded, even calling her a madame while doing so.
The door swung open by the wind, showing an unamused Amelie at the door, waiting for him.
"Come in."
David walked inside of the shed and saw how decrepit it is. A roof of wooden planks for cover, walls hastily made of stones and slabs that they could afford, most of the materials and furniture was shoddily brought over from their house to the shed without care.
As he wandered around, he felt pity for Frida having to be stuck here for a night and began to appreciate the life he was given in his home for how lucky he is.
"So, what are you in for?" Henrie asked from the kitchen, cracking a few eggs
"...I'm here for-" David hesitated to express what he was doing in the shed but got himself up to tell it anyway before getting interrupted.
"-Frida, right?" Stephen interrupted but interjected what he was about to say.
"Uhhh yes, how did you know?"
"I know you're her friend and you always visit this place just for her."
"...you're correct."
After conversing with her father, David then went down the hallway to her room and knocked on her door 4 times before leaning against the wall to wait.
The door was quickly swung open by Frida, who was excited to see David and so gave him a cheerful wave at him, and he responded with a more gracious and polite wave back.
"So...how's home?"
"...so far so good, I guess."
"Any news about your father?"
"Oh, him. He actually left today, to do some business meeting or something."
"That's good to know."
After having a short conversation, Frida then lets him in and leaves the door wide open while letting him sit in on her chair that is as sturdy as a cracked brick.
David sat on it and the chair began to rock back and forth, up and down, which is bothering him and looks down at its legs. As he peered down, he saw that the chair's legs had been cut unevenly, which made it rock back and forth.
"Frida, has this chair been like this?" David asked, seemingly annoyed by the rocking motion
Frida turns around to look at David and she sees him struggling to stop the rocking motion unsuccessfully and quietly giggles at him for it. "Yeah, it's been that way since we lived at my old house."
"Wait-" David asks, making a conclusion- "So this chair has been like this since your parents?" He concluded shortly, "Are the other chairs also like this?"
"Well yes," She answered, "Remember, we're black." She remarked
"...Ooooohhhhhh" David gave a bout of thought for a few long minutes before getting what Frida said.
Before David could say something about it, Henrie shouted from the kitchen across the hallway that breakfast was ready.
"Oh nice! Come on, let's fix the bed first before we go down."
"Sure."
Then David finally got out of the rocking chair before he starts helping Frida out with the bed.
First they fix the bed itself, it's just a mattress placed on a wooden bed frame, and arrange it back to normal, then for the pillows where they shove in all stray hay or cotton back inside before placing them back in the bed.
"Frida! Are you coming down or not?!" Henrie shouted, still waiting.
"Wait up, we're just fixing the bed!" Frida exclaimed, explaining why.
Then they resume to the sheets, which weren't in a better position than the rest of the bed. The sheets all have rips in some parts of it and it was all crumpled up like a piece of paper, which prompted Frida to bring out a sewing kit to fix it.
"Wait, you know how to sew?" David asked, surprised
"Yes, that Home Economics class really paid off." Frida answered, "Would you like to help?"
"Sure…..how do I do it?" David accepted her request but then he realizes he doesn't know how to do it.
"I'll help." Frida responds, knowing that David doesn't know how to do it and that's okay for her.
"So, where do we start?"
On the other hallway, Henrie places the plates that have eggs, and pork on the table before placing a few glasses of milk right beside it before he decides to quell the fire in the stove and check on Frida's room to tell her there that breakfast is ready.
Inside of her room, Frida is just teaching David how to sew fabric in her desk and is teaching him how to sew on his own.
"Wait, is the hole that tiny?" David asked.
"Yes, so all you have to do is get the string in the hole and...there!" Frida answered before demonstrating to him how it goes.
"Interesting…" David said while nodding his head.
"Easy, right?" Frida asked, wanting to see if he understands all of this.
"Yes."
"Nice, now all you have to do next is to tie the string together so it doesn't fall off from the needle while you insert it in the fabric."
David nodded before swaying his hand forforward to signify her to continue.
"Okay, then you push it in this hard and then you pull it out like th-" Frida demonstrated further by puncturing the fabric near a tear and then pushing it out of the other way before the needle hits something in the way.
"Ow!" Frida exclaimed, quickly pulling her hands off from the fabric and into her thumb, where she discovered a hole that looks like a pore before slowly turning itself red.
At the kitchen stove, Henrie was trying to quell the fire in his kitchen stove and while doing his best to quell it in his 6th time, he heard Frida's scream from her room.
'What the hell happened over there?' His thought first came to mind, worrying about what happened to Frida in there
But as his mind turned around from the stove, the stove resurged its fire and got itself back up running again, forcing Henrie to turn his back back to the fire.
In the room, Frida was just trying to do anything to stop the bleeding. Covering it with a rag, sucking on the thumb, hiding it amongst her other fingers, it still hurts and so she's slowly freaking out on what to do.
During all of this, David quickly scrambled his pockets to help his friend out and after a quick scrambling, he found a cotton ball in his left pocket.
"Frida, look," David exclaimed to Frida before showing the cotton ball to her, "Maybe I could help this time."
Frida appreciated his attempt and smiled gently at him for his effort before she stuck out her thumb which was showing a puddle of blood near the wound.
"Oh God, it got out." David said, telling Frida of the situation in her thumb.
Frida then looked at her hand and at her thumb and looked at it with fear but she kept her calm and proceeded to let him do what he had to do.
David then places the cotton ball right on the wound and placed his finger on it to apply pressure, then he pulls out a string from the strings Frida pulled out from the kit to tie the cotton into her thumb.
After doing his thing, he lets go of his hands off of her hand and lets her marvel at what he did and smiles at her wonder for his medical knowledge.
"How did you do this? I never thought you actually knew how to bandage a wound."
"I read a lot of medical books in the house."
"Interesting."
"What happened?" Steohen asked after walking into her room after finally quelling the stove fire.
"Oh, nothing. Just sewing my sheets." Frida answered honestly.
"That's nice but maybe let your mother do that for you."
"Well, it's better to teach David how to see and he also knows how to bandage a wound." Frida responded on the side of David and also showed the cotton bandage to her father
"That's amazing but breakfast is even more." Henrie complimented David's attempt at a bandage and also reminded Frida of her breakfast.
"Oh yeah."
Then Henrie left the room to the kitchen and both were prompted to follow along and after going to the kitchen, they then sat down and begin chatting about school which seems like an endless topic.
Then Stephen arrives, knocking at the shed door to be let in.
"Yes?" Henrie asks before walking up to the door.
"Can I be let in, it's something important."
Henrie nodded to that response and opened the door to see an excited Stephen, waiting at the door like an orphan dog.
"Come in." Henrie monotonously said.
Steohen then rushed from the door to the living room to the kitchen without making a mess which is good for Henrie because he is not cleaning any mess he's creating when Amelie goes back home.
"David, Frida, we are going on a trip today!"
"R-Really!?" Frida asked nervously, afraid of where he will be sending them
"To where?" David asked cautiously
"To my future acquisition, a coal mine."
"S-Sir, why are you taking us to a coal mine?" Frida reluctantly questioned.
"Because it's about time David gets to be a businessman and an actual man for once, we might have to take him out of school and get exclusive economic classes."
"Wait what!?" David yelled in protest, "But what about our school? How are you gonna excuse us from the Dean?"
"I already paid that son-of-a-bitch of a Dean to give you a sick leave, so now we have no excuses" Stephen responded before grabbing Frida's and David's hands and rushing to the door only to be stopped by Henrie.
"Woah woah, where are you taking them?"
"I'm giving them a tour of my new acquisition, a coal mine!" Stephen responded overconfidently which got him a punch in the face by Henrie.
"The fuck, dude?!" Stephen yelled as he placed his hand at his sore cheek.
"You're going to give your kid and mine to a coal mine, what kind of parent are you that gives them a privilege to skip their education for a worthless mine?!" Henrie yelled at Stephen for his decision and scorned him for making such a decision
"We will see what is worthless when your daughter owns part of what will soon be the biggest economic powerhouse of the city!"
Stephen looked away from his scorn but then slowly realized that he was correct but he didn't want to be proven wrong by a Black and so pushed Henrie aside and dragged both David and Frida outside where he catched a nearby carriage and told the driver to go to the mine.
Meanwhile, with Hilda, she was having some issues with getting along with his family, always nagging at everything between her and Jared all the time.
She was currently playing with Dagger on the sofa in the guest room, ignoring the other family members that were talking to Jared in the living room, who wanted to hear about what they did in her house.
'So, Jared, might I ask what is her family's business?" asked Jared's mother, wanting to see if her mother had any businesses
"I don't know, I believe that her mother sustains herself with her dad's past business which he shared with an unknown dude who runs it, and because idiots keep helping her at bars."
"Wait, her mother drinks?" Jared's father asked in surprise, shocked to hear that a mother drinks
"A bit. She said she mostly drinks red wine."
"Still, a mother who drinks alcohol is no good mother at all." His father objected
"No wonder why we paid him." He quietly murmured to himself but it was audible enough for Jared to hear but not understand
"Wait, what did you say there?" Jared asked about his murmuring.
"Nothing." His father quickly said, to cover up what he murmured
In the Guest Room, Hilda was just chilling inside with Dagger while also reading her favorite novel, Tom Jones by Henry Fielding, on the Guest Room sofa.
"Oooh God, I wonder what happens next with Jack Shepard in this chapter but I gotta get something to eat, this novel's pretty good."
Hilda then stretched her arms out before walking to the door to ask if they had any food around.
"Also just for the record, do you guys have anything to eat?" Hilda asked, peeking through the door to see if there's any food outside the room
"Well, we have-" Jared's mother begins listing all of the available food they have but Hilda immediately turns her eyes around her to find food for herself and to ignore the mother too.
As she wandered her eyes around her, she sees a basket of Genoese salami, beef from the Midlands, and local bread in a nearby desk to the door to the Guest Room and so peered her eyes towards it.
"We also have turnips, potatoes, chicken, fish and chips and fish fingers." Jared's mother finally finished her listing, with Hilda's ears finally focusing on her.
"Also no fancy food, i will just stuff a lot of salami and beef between two loaves of bread." Hilda quickly said before grabbing the basket and immediately locking herself to the Guest Room.
After that, Jared's mother quickly looks at Jared seriously because she's concerned about her actions and manners and is worried about Jared not doing anything against it.
Jared knows how concerned his mother would be on how Hilda acts all the time and decides to respond neutrally to defuse her concerns.
"Hey, I tried. I tried."
Meanwhile, at the carriage which carries Stephen, David and Frida, it was quiet inside because nobody had anything to talk about but during it all, Stephen decides to liven up the eerily silent with something.
"Ever wonder why I brought you guys here?" Stephen begins.
"Because you want to show us a coal mine?" Frida responded
"Yes, but other than that," Stephen answered before adding his statement, "I want you two to be shown the light of progress in our dearest city that is right next to it." He added, bringing their attention
"And what was right next to it?" David asked, curious about it
"Until we get there, you'll see." Stephen assured him.
Stephen then leaned over to the window of the carriage while hearing their groans at his right, thinking about the acquisition and its future.
"Maybe he'll inherit it someday, someday." Stephen whispered to himself, hoping for the future.
Back at the Haustad estate, Hilda is getting bored at the dinner table, being bombarded with questions about her life at home while being forced to eat the half-cooked fish and chips on a china plate.
"So, what did your mother do for business?" Jared's father asked
Hilda then grabbed a chip and ate it before answering his question. "She works at a company, nothing much but I heard they didn't invest in South Sea back then."
"Wait, they didn't?" Both parents asked, surprised of what her company did
"Yeah, why?" Hilda asked, not knowing why it's such a big deal
"Good for them." His mother said to the father
And then after that, the conversation quickly changed from about Hilda's life at home to economics and she is getting really bored at their questions for her, aimed at her mother's businesses and estates.
Brought to the brink of sleeping, Hilda then excused herself to go to their restroom which Jared to accompany because she doesn't know where it is - she only just explored a bit of their mansion - and to escape from his parent's mind numbing, endless questions and to find something that's entertaining for her to do.
"Down the stairs, straight from the left hall, and towards the left and find the door with my painting on it." Jared describes, marking the path to the restroom.
Before going down, Hilda stops before looking back at him, surprised by his description of their restroom door. "Wait, what?"
"Yes, my parents placed it there when I was a boy so I wouldn't get lost."
Hilda couldn't help but laugh at what she imagines what the door will look like and stops before going to the restroom with quiet giggles as she follows the instructions.
She went down the long stairs before making a left towards the long, red carpeted hallway with her pet, Dagger, comfortably lying on it in peace, before petting him on the way to an intersection of hallways.
"Jared, which hallway leads to that door with your face on it?!" Hilda yelled from the middle, yet she didn't hear a response coming from upstairs.
She thinks that the wood blocked out any noise whatsoever and so decided to go left again to see if that's the way.
Then as she passed through the hallways and as she walked, she saw detailed maps of their mansion in elegant paintings on the hallway walls, which served Hilda pretty well as she did eventually find the door.
She thought that the door was just an ordinary door with his painting hanging on the handle but instead, the entire door itself is the painting with the handle being the only one not included in the painting.
Hilda then suddenly bursts into a loud laughter, seeing the ridiculousness of what his parents did for him, and lasts for a while before stopping herself to get inside.
Inside, there wasn't anything fancy that she expected from a family with a rich background.
It only included a fine toilet along with a sink to wash her hands in and a place for all the stuff for hygiene but that's about it that she saw into their restroom other than some paintings.
'Another boring situation to the next.' Hilda said to herself
Inside, she didn't do much inside, considering how boring the restroom looks, and left her leaving the faucet in the sink open and peeking outside at the window with a curtain, covering her from sight from the outside.
Meanwhile at the destination, Stephen then pays the driver of the carriage for his services before unloading David and Frida to a short path that leads to the coal mine.
"So...where is it?" David asked after skimming the area for a second.
Stephen pointed his finger at the path. "Along that way, son."
Both of them nodded before walking along with him to the short path before arriving at the coal mine with fellow investors waiting for him right next to the thing that Stephen mentioned in the carriage.
One of the investors opened the door. "Hey, there you are."
Then all of the investors he invited came out to greet him near the mine before chatting alongside with him on their tour inside.
"So, you have kids?" One of them asked, pointing at David and Frida
"Yeah, bu-"
"Wait, is that one Black?" One of them asked, pointing at Frida while asking
"Yes bu-"
"Have you fucked a slave?" one more added.
Frida immediately looks at the investor who said it with disdain and disgust because of what he said.
"No, for fuck's sake i just needed someone to carry around the eventual piles of paperwork we're gonna end up in." Stephen objected at the question and changed the subject to paperwork
"Paperwork?" One of them said
"We are buying the place, remember?"
"Stephen, please don't pull out a wild card on us, we all agreed on shutting the place down, plus, there is no way you can just-"
"Wait what?!" Stephen yelled in shock
"Yes, we agreed that the mine shouldn't be open. Otherwise, even if we did, the mayor is definitely gonna seize our warranty and kick us out."
"Can't we just-"
"Stephen, please. You can't move out of their decision."
Stephen just sighed at them and began thinking of a deal that they know would definitely accept, he thinks.
"Alright then, here's a deal." Stephen uttered to the investors, pulling out a cheque and a contract out of his pocket
"2.000 pound sterling and a piece of my property."
"How much is it for this piece?" One of them asked, curiously
Stephen then turns to David.
"Son, the map?" He asked politely.
David then turns to his pockets to find the map but he realized that the map was actually in Frida's hands and Frida gave the roll to David who then gave it to Stephen.
Stephen then knelt his knees to roll out the map on the ground because the map is 10x10 in size and the map shows the extent of their estate and its properties.
David went closer to Stephen, near his ear. "Please don't sell the shed." David whispered.
"Okay, so we will sell you this huge farm right next to this little shed here and-"
"What's the shed for?" One of the investors asked, interrupting Stephen in the process
"Dad! That's 60% of our land, are you insane!?" David shouted him, for making such a rash choice to sell most of their property to them for a coal mine
Stephen then had to turn over to David since he shouted at a conversation with his fellow investors and also had to quiet him down
"No son, I am the most sane I have ever been!" Stephen shouted back in response before making another one, "Aaaand I didn't sell out the shed, just like what you said, now quiet down."
Stephen sighed before his son before turning his attention back to the investors. "Anyways, where were we?"
"What's the shed for?" One of then asked, repeating the question
Stephen sighed sharply. "It's for the slaves, my son is friends with them an-" He explained but was suddenly interrupted by their giggles
"You still have slaves and still be an investor?" One of them jokes which brought them to laugh even louder and it made Stephen look like an old man with the joke
"Is this the reason why you need a coal mine in the first place?"
"Well not really but yes."
"Then why didn't you say so, for crying out loud. We'll accept the offer."
"Wait, really?" Stephen asked skeptically.
"Yes, just bring out the notes and the contract and we'll then enlighten you to the revolution." An investor says, proclaiming that if he gets the papers, he'll be amongst them in the Industrial Revolution
"Great, just let me bring the papers out again."
As he searched his pockets for the money and the contract, all of the investors then grouped together on one side of the mine to talk about if they're actually gonna accept the offer before they all agreed and then walked back to him handing the contract to them.
Then Stephen took out a few 1,000 Pound sterling banknotes of money from his pockets and gave it to them, and then allowed them to sign the signatures in the contract and the deed of sale before putting his own in it as well.
"And my first order is for everyone to get out." Stephen orders which everyone obeyed but took it at face value
After a bit of fuss, the investors and owners were gone, as David was with his jaw hanging and Frida was simply very, very tense about his offer.
"DAD, MOM IS GONNA KILL US!"
"No she won't son, she won't as long as this massive economic power gets up and running!" he said as he picked up a small piece of coal from the deactivated minecarts nearby, "The way to the future is paved in black, son!"
David just silences himself since he has nothing to talk back to but Frida feels offended at the proclamation Stephen yells but she chose to keep it to herself, because it only implies coal.
"But how are you going to get workers to work in the mine?" Frida asks, curiously
"Frida, if there is one thing politics taught me, it's that the time to do this is always near a crisis, there are hundreds of ex-slaves out there, all we need is to give them what they want!"
Frida doesn't feel like her question is answered and moreover felt like he complicated it further and so took the answer at face value.
Back at Jared's restroom, Hilda now felt that it's time to get out and so got out of the restroom anand went back to the path she went to, so she could find her way back.
After a few minutes of getting lost within the same looking hallways, she finally got to the hallway that leads to the stairs after walking up to a maid (properly dressed) forced to clean up Dagger's droppings in the carpet.
Hilda walked on by before reaching the stairs again and after a few tiring seconds of going up, reached the top only to see the dining area to be devoid of anyone.
Hilda wanders around to see where they'd go and after wandering through the entire upstairs, she realizes that none of them are upstairs.
"Where the hell did those guys go?" Hilda muttered to herself in the empty room
She decides to go back down and take the hallway to the right of the stairs before seeing that the hallways look basically the same as the other.
She goes in anyways and after walking halfway through it, she hears a faint conversation going on just to the left of the hallway and so looks forward for a hallway that turns left.
After encountering another hallway intersection, she decides to turn left and now the conversation is slowly getting louder as she goes nearer and nearer to the source.
Going ever nearer, she finally gets an audible conversation going on inside.
"Jared, why did you choose this woman?"
Hilda gave a smirk while listening, knowing he would surely mess up.
"Mom I was introduced to her and-"
"She has no mannerisms whatsoever! She is like an animal!"
Hilda chuckled and fakes a roar, putting her hands like claws up on the wall and scratching it lightly to make them scared.
'I may be an animal but at least i am not a housewife bitch' she thought to herself
"Dad, I know that but if we're abl-"
Hilda suddenly couldn't hear Jared's voice anymore through the walls, thinking he stayed quiet, she stopped the charade of acting like a wolf and walked a few more steps before arriving at a door where she can hear another voice.
"That's impossible, we'll never get her to say yes!"
Hilda heard through the door about them having her to say yes for something, being concerned about it, she opens the door without knocking.
"Say what?" Hilda said as she walks right through the door
Inside, she saw Jared and his parents all sitting comfortably in a state room with all the bells and whistles of a tea party going on.
Immediately, the parents were surprised that Hilda just walked right in without knocking and began to yell at her for not acting like a lady and such.
"Jared, I hope you know what you're doing with her." His father whispered to Jared
"Okay dad, just let me talk to her and it'll be alright."
Jared then got up from his comfy sofa and began to walk Hilda out of the room to a nearby wall next to the door to talk to her.
"Hilda, what are you doing?" Jared yelled, reprimanding her for her actions
"What? I just came down here because I can't find you guys upstairs." Hilda responded, giving her reason
Jared sighed. "Do you want to know who signed it or not?"
"But-"
"Do you want to know or not!?"
With the same reason being forced onto her everytime she does something, Hilda thinks if there is something else going on with what she heard from the door as something.
"No." Hilda responds
Jared sighs sharply over her response and just swayes his hand while he goes back inside, signifying her to go back upstairs and she does.
After making herself comfortable upstairs, she ponders around what they meant by "making her say yes" as she wants to know the context behind that statement.
Back downstairs, Jared went back to the room with a blank face.
"So, what did you both do?" His father asks
"I just told her to go back upstairs and she did."
"Good, now where were we?"
Back at the upstairs, Hilda got bored by how empty of people the area was and so she's just poking around anything to get her entertained, like wandering around their bedrooms and checking their wardrobes, dipping her fingers in their bath water in their bathrooms, grabbing a few coins on the floor here and there.
But while she does all this, she begins pondering about the context of the statement she heard before entering the room.
'Was it about marriage, economics, business, relationships?'
Her thoughts wandered around these contexts to see if they produce any meaning out of the statement hut as she wandered around the upstairs area one more time, marriage seems to be the strongest contender in the statement although she's not sure if that's what they're talking about.
Then she entered the kitchen.
She wandered around, not doing much inside, just looking at random cupboards and checking their utensils and while looking at the cupboard that covers utensils, she found a compartment full of golden knives.
"Wow." Hilda said in awe, looking at the glittering glow of light the knives reflect
She smirked and sneaked one out, playing with it like she was in a fight, until she came with a bright idea and started to steal the rest of the cutlery, putting it on her pockets and boots, as she got a larger knife and used it as a mirror as her eye was getting better.
"Maybe it's time to look at this story down to the bone.."