Back at Hilda's house, Kaisa was just cooking another batch of food for the sickly Johanna upstairs.
In the bedroom, Johanna was just running her thoughts all over her head for entertainment as she knows she can't do anything outside of her bed so long as this sickness stays in her body.
As she looks around the open-windowed room, she's slowly starting to doze into a sleep until she turns her head to the desk to see a piece of paper and a pencil.
Her mind was suddenly filled with energy as her mind was starting to debate itself on picking the paper and pencil up and on what to write on it.
Then Kaisa arrived with the first batch of her afternoon snack in a tray, as she smiled appreciatively for Kaisa's efforts to keep her alive and then, after she placed the tray on the desk, Johanna then uttered a question.
"Kaisa...could you pass me the….pencil and paper?" Johanna requested while coughing loudly in between her statements
"Sure, madam."
Before Kaisa does the usual medicinal techniques, she passes over the pencil and paper to Johanna and gives her a little tray for her to write on.
Kaisa looks at the pencil and paper. "What are you gonna write in there?"
Johanna didn't respond, she dragged herself closer and started writing in shaky letters as her mouth dripped blood, she was holding the cough to not ruin the paper.
She's wondering what she'll write in it, unsure of what she is going to leave behind for her daughter, Hilda, but after some time, she decides to write it down.
"To my loving daughter….." she wrote in silence, "I leave you with everything, for I know you can handle them very well, despite your attitude." Johanna memoired as she let out a cough on Kaisa, luckily it didn't hit her face, "I have also sensed your violent tendencies, please use them for good for I have seen worst that you must avoid," Johanna wrote, acknowledging Hilda's perceived violent tendencies for good, "also, slaughter that son of a bitch with the blood of the one he mocked" Johanna proclaimed, advocating Hilda to kill Jared for what he did.
She folded the paper and laid back on her bed, letting out a couple laughs as she coughed her lungs out and felt her breathing go short and laboured within a matter of minutes.
She does try to fight on, she does not want to be submitted to death immediately but she does accept the inevitability of it.
Kaisa seemed to have shed a tear as she saw Johanna clearly let most of her energy go away, her skin becoming pale and her body slowly turning white.
"Do...you want me to get the opium?" Kaisa worriedly yet hesitantly asked
"No. I don't wanna die lying to myself that it doesn't hurt….. Let it hurt. Let it burn. So I can feel I am alive….. Because they will feel this. Not now. But they will. Eventually."
Johanna still tries to fight on, wanting to still stay alive for Hilda, but when she sees the look on Kaisa's face, she knows how much she has fallen.
"...call the doctor, I consent to a checkup," Johanna requested loudly and clearly, even with the laboured breathing and hard coughing she's being subjected to by TB.
Seeing how she can still make a clear request and still be devastatingly bedridden, she accepts and went to the same doctor a few days earlier to seek out help.
Meanwhile, back in the estate, Hilda was having her own tussles with Jared, as she was trying to get a good look at the terrible ethics of their vision after thinking about what she heard downstairs and when she heard footsteps that they were coming up, she decided to quickly hide the knife on her boot and cover it up with her leggings.
As they walked up the stairs, she quickly dashed right up and acted like she waited for them right at the end of the stairs.
"Hello there, madam," Jared's mother greeted emptily, "how's the upstairs?" She asked.
Hilda now had to lie her way through in order to confront Jared about what she heard downstairs and so, she strung up a string of lies hastily made for them.
"Oh, the place is...decent enough and you guys have some of the coolest utensils I've seen."
"You mean you found the golden utensils we had in the kitchen?"
Hilda simply nodded.
Then she glances over to Jared and sees him bowing his head down in shame over his parent's choices for stuff around the house, which made Hilda make a smirk to prod him into telling her more, or so she thought.
After some chatting in the upstairs living room, one of his parents decides to crack open one more thing between the two.
"It's the afternoon, right?"
"Yes, why?"
Hilda suddenly glances over to his parents talking about the time, paying attention.
"I think we should give those two some alone time" One of them mentions, which brought Jared's attention too
"Wait what?" Hilda quipped, surprised that they had that in mind.
"Wait, that's not part of the plan," Jared said, unaware of what he spilled out of his mouth.
"Wait, what plan?" Hilda asked, turning her attention from his parents to Jared directly, worried about what plans they made about her.
"And yeah, isn't it afternoon tea time as well?" His father added.
"Oh yes, it is," His mother answered.
Then she turned her head to look at Hilda.
"Hilda, could you please go buy some tea bricks for us?" The mother asked, like a parent who wanted to buy something from the market.
Hilda doesn't want to do their work for them, even though she likes tea, but seeing as the only option to get closer to Jared for interrogation, she nodded in response.
"Now what do I do?" Hilda asks to the parents, wanting to get it done immediately
"Oh, just let Jared bring the money and you can go outside to buy the tea for us, simple."
Hilda nodded, "So Jared, where is the money?"
Jared stands up from his seat. "Follow me," Jared said.
Jared walks down the stairs first and then Hilda follows, she is now attempting to pull out the golden knife without attracting attention and after they both turned to the left hallway, she finally pulled it out of her boot.
She then managed to elbow Jared over to the hallway wall where they were alone and could talk freely while also pressing the golden knife unto his throat.
"Jared, look I know this will sound absurd but I think that, well… I don't think we are meant to marry."
"W….What?" Jared stammers
"Jared, I think it is better if I stay single, for now. I need to take care of mom and I don't wanna marry so early, and to such a loser like you." Hilda said, thinking that he might either spill the beans or continue hiding it
"But we sacrificed so much and also what the fuck made you think of that?" Jared objected with a plea and a question
"Dude no offense but, your family just makes me pissed, the way they wanna just make me into a housewife, and i know that's the standard norm, but, i hate it." Hilda explained
"Hilda, I know you meant well with what you said but what the fuck were you thinking and how the fuck did you think it was about marriage?" Jared asks her about what she said about the marriage
"I heard your father talking about how 'it's impossible for me to say yes' when I was down here earlier."
Jared remembers that but he knows the context behind what he said and gave out an explanation to excuse her into shutting up and putting the knife down.
"He was just talking about...a contract with...someone else, not you!" Jared quickly excused with a nervous chuckle followed
Hilda closed her gaze at him with contempt but backed away the knife from his neck and placed it back on her pocket before allowing him to walk up the hallway to get the money.
'Mission failed, we'll get him next time,' her thoughts rang a comforting reassurance in her head about what she got out of it earlier.
As they both walk in the still long hallway, Hilda notices that Jared glances at her all the time while walking, which is not suspicious but it's something to be worried about.
Then they finally arrive at the door, which Hilda notices was the same door she encountered when she heard it and hoped that she might find something inside, now that she had a second chance and had the time to look around the room.
Jared first went to the nearby cabinets near the door while Hilda went for the little cabinets that are on the tables near the seats.
As Hilda peeked inside each and every one of them, she kept finding coins, crumbles of paper, random banknotes, and strings.
After feeling disappointed by what she found in those cabinets, she decides to turn over to Jared to see if he found any interesting cabinets.
"So, how much is the tea anyway?"
"I heard it stayed around...50 Pounds, I think," Jared responded though he isn't sure of what he said.
"Well, where is the money in here anyway?"
Hilda walks around the room for more cabinets to look at while Jared is still shuffling around the same few cabinets right near the fireplace, seemingly focused that the money is in there.
As Hilda checks a cabinet near the windows, she glances over to Jared who is still shuffling a bunch of stuff around the same cabinets over and over.
"Do you need help?" Hilda calmly asks, feeling perplexed that he's stuck at the same cabinets like a bug contained in a jar.
Then she observes Jared acting hurriedly, looking like he's hiding something back into those same cabinets after being asked.
"Oh, no need. I was just...checking if the cabinets are all in place," Jared responded, acting like he just ran a few miles and is chuckling real loud in his nervousness, making Hilda very suspicious of what he's hiding.
Hilda then was prompted to walk over to Jared's to see what was bothering him with those cabinets.
As she approached him, she saw that he was trying to separate a pile of papers and tried to read them from a distance, as Jared finally piled them all away, he went to another cabinet and got the money.
"Here, now go buy tea, '' Jared said impatiently and hurriedly, trying to make her go away.
Hilda looked at him with distrust as she grabbed the money off from his hand, all crumpled thanks to his last-minute giveaway, and started to walk out of the room and into the hallway before walking outside and going to the store, the cutlery in her pockets and boots making noise but Jared presumed he just had a clinky jacket or a couple coins.
Back at Frida and David's, things were a bit more energetic, as Stephen was trying to get them up to date in their plans and how he wanted to make David be more independent and acting like a gentleman, and also to get Frida on a more formal submission.
"Alright, let's get down to business." he said as he laid a couple papers down on his desk.
"Dad… Look I know it's a big deal but, can't we keep Frida out of this?" David requests, concerned about how much of his plans include Frida inside.
Stephen sat up straight in front of him. "Nonsense, my boy, if not a slave every businessman needs a secretary… Bonus points if she is cute and white, but, this will do."
Stephen then made a small chuckle out of himself but he then sees his son unsatisfied by his actions, which made him worried.
Meanwhile, at a nearby seat right next to David, Frida didn't like his comment about her and sent a look of disappointment and disdain against Stephen, even if she knew that he had his reasons to want her below David in a matter of power.
Trolberg was very far from any major urban centers, meaning it was still very conservative and barely abided by multiple laws regarding ethics.
But Stephen dreamed of bringing the town towards the Industrial Revolution with the help of his fellow investors and ensuring the progress of time for his townsfolk.
"Look, Sir I know that I am technically your slave, but you could really stop bringing up my racial difference every chance you can, please, and stop trying and keep me away from David, we didn't do anything, my mum would kill me for it." Frida said, trying to come to a mutual agreement and is getting irritated at his prodding at her for that one night.
"Frida, I know that, but there is a very strict social order in the world right now, and the rich guys are not someone you want to contradict. Personally, you don't bother me outside of your rebellious behavior, but I can't allow David, to any capacity, to make out with you by any chance."
David groaned loud in frustration. "Dad, we are not making out, that's what she is trying to say!" David yelled, defending Frida from Stephen's misconception.
"Son, we can't take risks, what would your mother say if I started making out with Frida's mother?!"
"Dad," David says but can't due to his frustration at his refusal to look at a different perspective, gripping his hair as a result, "you are married and I am not, and i'm not even making out wit- We're just friends!" He screamed, taking out his anger by defending Frida to his word.
"Precautions son, friendzones are really fragile, you know." Stephen warned, acknowledging his frustration but still refuses to believe that's what happened
"Sir, I can respect a lot of stuff, but not this. You basically imply that me and David are waiting for a chance," Frida understands but still felt revolted at his implications, "Dammit he even slept with his hands over the covers, why do you doubt us so much?" Frida asked, feeling infuriated at Stephen's overlook of their explanation.
"Father, please be REASONABLE!" David joined along on Frida's statement.
"Son, trust your father. For Christ's sake."
Meanwhile with Johanna, she was feeling worse than ever, as the doctor was giving the checkup reports to Kaisa in the other room, she could feel herself slipping away.
She began to cough and gasp for air in what may be her final waking moments as the blood spit out her mouth, her eyes locked in the ceiling and her throat getting ever drier than ever.
"Madam, I think it's best to send miss Foulkestone to London, as per my suggestion," The doctor suggests.
Kaisa thinks about it though. "Sir, I think it's unfeasible to bring madam to London, considering the remoteness of Trolberg," She objects at the suggestion, detailing the problems.
While Kaisa details the problems, Johanna also shook her head to object at his suggestion as well.
The doctor sighed. "Well then, I will try my best in here, maybe I'll get a few apprentices to be over at the hospital so I can help you."
Kaisa nodded in agreement while Johanna just simply gave a thumbs up in agreement as well. Suddenly, she started to violently cough, bits of blood and snot coughed out of her mouth, and then she began to choke, struggling to even inhale and exhale.
As Kaisa quickly went to her and adjusted her posture upright, as she got up, she gushed the blood out of her mouth, though not in severe condition, yet.
She then layed Johanna back down, as she seemed less vivid than ever… her eyes seemed to be static and her breathing was extremely scarce, and decreasing as she quickly succumbed to tuberculosis.
The maid started to shake her in despair, letting tears out as life kept draining away from her eyes.
The blood finally stopped dripping, and the eyes locked themselves looking at the window in a paralysis state.
Concerned if it all stopped, the doctor walked closer and then placed two fingers right up on her left chest to feel any pulse.
"There is no pulse…." The doctor says, having felt no pulse on either side of the chest at all. "Johanna Foulkestone is dead."
Kaisa quickly placed her hand right on her mouth with shock as the doctor had just announced her death, which occurred so quickly, she didn't realize it was too late, a sad reality that society at the time had to deal with.
The doctor also felt a modicum of sadness within himself, he has seen so many deaths in his career that he's too used to it but this case is pretty different, he knows her well when her daughter approached him when her deerfox was about to die and now seeing the state of their family now that he has been approached and asked to do so, he felt like Hilda is going to be alone in this world and feels melancholic about it.
But he keeps himself calm and glances over to Kaisa, who was sobbing quietly and using her cape as a napkin to wipe away the tears.
"Does she...leave any will...for her daughter?" The doctor hesitantly asked, feeling like he shouldn't ask the question but still feel the need because of her daughter.
Kaisa slowly stopped sobbing in order to answer the question. "Yes...she did." She answers, snorting a little snot inside of her nose while answering.
She walked to the desk and picked up the piece of paper where she wrote her will and gave it to the doctor, who examined and read the entire thing out to Kaisa.
While the doctor was slowly reading the will, Kaisa then turned over to the deceased Johanna and proceeded to take the covers and respectfully cover her face out of respect and honor.
The doctor placed her will back on the desk before he stressed himself to rub his forehead to think of what to do.
The doctor turned to Kaisa. "Where's Hilda?"
"At...Jared's," Kaisa answered.
The doctor sighed sharply. "Give her this," the doctor requested, taking Johanna's will and showing it to Kaisa.
Kaisa nodded in acceptance and took her will before rushing downstairs to rush to Hilda quickly.
She also had no idea how… well…… Hilda would take it.
Meanwhile, Hilda is back on her own matters back at Jared's place after buying the tea his parents requested. She's still trying to sneak in her pockets as much silver and gold cutlery as she could for herself. Her pockets were slowly getting full and she couldn't put the knives on her boots so she resorted to holding the tea spoons on her closed fists.
She knew it was wrong but she was way too conflicted right now, her relationship between her and Jared grew tense, but not any closer and she couldn't express her worries for her mum enough and she's getting ever suspicious of what Jared has been hiding.
The girl started to walk upstairs slowly as every single move of her made the utensils jingle and clang, making noise with every step.
As she arrived at the room, she took out her coat and boots as the pointy knives and forks were killing her feet, and she started to hide them away between her spare clothes.
"So, did you get the tea?" Jared asks first.
Hilda then showed 3, 5x5 pieces each, bars of tea like showing off chocolate bars. "Yes."
"Well then, let's finally drink." His mother celebrates, picking off a piece from the bars before placing them in the hot teacup.
Hilda forces a smile and puts her boots and coats back as she closes the bagage.
After they all enjoyed their afternoon tea time, Jared's parents suddenly walked out of the room and went downstairs without anyone's notice, leaving Hilda and Jared all alone upstairs.
Jared looks at Hilda. "So...what do you wanna do?"
Hilda glances around before looking back at Jared. "I don't know, do you wanna find the cheque?"
Jared glances back at Hilda. "Sure...I guess," Jared responds.
Then both of them stood up from their seats before Hilda followed with Jared downstairs to find the cheque.
She kept a mischievous smile on, not only that but she began feeling tense, something seemed wrong in the air.
"Jared, i think it's best if i go home" she said, voicing her concerns, and also so she could get away with as much stolen stuff as possible as retribution.
"Hilda, what the fuck, why can't you be nice and stay here?" Jared is frustrated.
"Because I got my mom? And the house? And Dagger doesn't like it here?" Hilda answers back, answering to his frustration.
"...Those are really petty excuses," Jared belittled.
"Jared, my mother is getting sick and the only reason I'm here is because of that cheque and you're telling me it's petty?" Hilda rants, ranting about how Jared belittled her concern for her mother, "So shut… Up…."
Jared then turns away before bowing his head down in shame before they continue to search around the Haustad documents.
Meanwhile at David's, Frida was trying to get on Stephen's good side, helping David around carrying stuff and helping him wear a vest and a belt, with multiple pockets, and as Frida looked at Stephen with spite, Stephen gave back a slight smile of approval.
"She will make an excellent servant." Stephen said to his wife, Mary
Mary didn't reciprocate Stephen's thoughts as she pitied Frida for having to do all the work that she knows David can do himself.
Stephen notices Mary's silence. "What's wrong, Mary?" He asks.
"Oh nothing, just thinking about when are we gonna release Frida?"
"Yeah, after all, it's all agreed by both the slave and the white," Stephen pondered. "But maybe Frida could get long term benefits…"
"Elaborate." Mary said with a hint of doubt as to why Stephen was worried about benefits for Frida.
"Even when we do free them, they would sell the house to shorten a few years of service, meaning they would have to buy one, but, if they work for me, they can take a percentage of the coal mine gains as long as they work here…." Stephen elaborated, planning that he'd use the profits from the mine to support Frida and her family long enough that the quota is set.
"So, you're giving them a salary?!" Mary exclaimed with enthusiasm, happy to know that her husband can still take pity for Frida and her family.
"I never said a SALARY, I need the respect of my investors, more of an allowance per se but at least it's something."
"Wait really!?" Frida said with a smile as she turned around, almost shedding tears hearing the news.
"Maybe if you help me and David strike up a deal with the investors, maybe it would be reality." Stephen promised
"Well...thank you, it's nice to hear you still have a heart."
Then Frida went back to David, who was reading a book about history and he also heard the news as well. As he lowered his book to see Frida's smile, he knew what it meant.
"David, have you heard what your father said?" Frida asked, excited about Stephen's promise.
David placed the book on his lap. "Yes, I've been listening."
"Maybe this would help us and many others like me," Frida exclaimed in her joy before gasping at the realization, "Maybe we can even recruit more to our side!"
David gasped as well. "Frida, I would love to if not for," David said before turning to his book and flipping it to a page about Malta's Conspiracy of The Slaves that occurred recently.
Frida gave it a quick read, skimming over the paragraphs and scanning for information and context before realizing what it meant for her.
Frida looked up to David. "What if we ask your father then?"
David scoffs at the idea. "Frida, I don't think he'd buy more slaves. Sure, he doesn't take the pity to heart but I've never seen him actually buying more of you."
"Well…"
Meanwhile back at home, Kaisa and the funerary agents were trying to prepare Johanna's body for the burial and ceremony, as Kaisa and the Doctor used their own money out of pocket to pay for some of the decor and some expensive stuff along with her coffin.
They were all gathered around the bed as they were getting Johanna in a dress and using rudimentary makeup to make her seem less pale.
Kaisa was still cleaning the blood from the bed as she saw from the corner of her eye as they were draining the blood out her throat, so it won't gush out as the decomposure compresses gas on the lungs.
Kaisa kept glancing at Johanna with remorse while cleaning up any and all blood that stained her bedsheets, feeling as if she is just as vulnerable as her while keeping herself together from shedding from shedding a tear.
The Doctor notices her constant glances and places his hand on Kaisa's shoulders. "It'll be all fine, just inform Hilda on the Haustad house and let her know." The Doctor said, trying to comfort her from the sadness he sensed.
Kaisa nodded at his attempt for reassurance and looked to the funerary agents for advice.
"So, did she leave any will behind?" One of the agents asked formally.
"Yes." Kaisa answered before handing them the piece of paper that has Johanna's signature in it.
The agent calmly took it and passed it around to another agent to confirm that it's hers and after some time, the agent nodded back at the other agents that it's Johanna's will.
"Does she have any remaining family members yet?"
"Yes."
An agent pulls out a notepad. "Name?"
"Hilda." The Doctor responds.
"Are you two related to the Foulkestone Family?"
"No, but she is." The Doctor lied, but knowing where her family tree resides, it's best to let her know.
Kaisa is surprised that he told them that she was any related to them but seeing as Hilda is the only remaining family member left, she just accepted the lie.
The agents then turned away from the two and walked amoñg themselves to negotiate on what to do while Kaisa looks at the Doctor with nervousness, hoping he knows what to do.
The doctor notices. "Look, all you have to do is go to his house and then give Hilda the will." He advises, making Kaisa a little confident.
Kaisa smiled with confidence before nodding at his advice and then walking right up to one of the funerary agents.
She taps one of them in the shoulder. "May I have the will, please?"
The agent turns around and so does the others. "What for?"
"I have to inform Hilda about it, she is the only other family member of the Foulkestones."
"Don't worry, madam, we planned to send one of us to inform her instead." The agent insisted
"I know her more so I can handle the emotions and also I do know where she is at the moment." Kaisa insisted, playing on the lie that the Doctor made just for Hilda.
The agent looks at the others for confirmation and after receiving nods from his peers, the agent then gives a thumbs up in approval for her insistence and gives the will back to her.
Then the agent turned his sight on the Doctor. "Do you also know Miss Hilda as well, sir?"
The Doctor shook his head twice. "Oh no, I'm afraid not, I'm just their doctor."
"Their?" One of the agents asked with confusion and curiosity mixed in their voice.
"I've been their doctor before, even on Miss Hilda," The Doctor responded, answering their question first, "Hilda just went over to my hospital just to get a checkup."
The agents nodded their heads before writing something down in their notepads.
Then Kaisa walked out of the room before waving goodbye at the Doctor before getting outside of the house and wanting to go find Hilda and tell her what happened.
The only problem is, she doesn't know where his house is.
Back at David's, he and Frida are currently listening to a bunch of investors arguing with Stephen over the position of the planned coal mine and the possibility of a textile factory along with it.
"All I'm saying is, that we can't have your coal mine be within Trolberg's jurisdiction because the mayor can just not give you the funds you need."
"Yes, I know that, but all we have to do is establish the mine outside of this city's jurisdiction, and then once we clear the area, we can then begin hiring coal workers to mine it for us."
"Okay, now we have some sort of solution here but what about the factory, where are you gonna put that?"
"In my estate, the backyard that you can see in this window."
While listening to their business arguments, Frida is currently drawing them arguing in a piece of paper she found nearby with a pencil David lends.
While Frida is sketching the 4 investors, David peers from her shoulder to see her drawing and he's impressed at her attention to detail on their outfits and faces.
"Wow, that drawing's pretty good." David complimented, pointing out the parts of her drawing with his index finger around the paper
"Thanks, it's pretty neat right?"
David nods and then gives a smile of approval back at her, making Frida smile back at him with a little blush added to her cheeks as thanks.
Then they heard David's name being called on by his father, Stephen.
"David! Come over, let me show you this son of mine and how he will be a good advisor for the future." Stephen said to his investors in the guest room, calling David over as well
Then David stood up and walked his way to the guest room before waving a short goodbye to Frida.
Then he turned to the hallway and walked down to the guest room, meeting his father and the investors he invited over.
"Wait, so are you going to leave the coal mine to a kid? Alone?" One of them says, concerned about leaving a kid like David to be responsible for the mine.
"Not really alone. FRIDA!" Stephen answers before calling Frida over as well
Frida heard his voice and placed the paper and pencil aside before rushing down the hall to enter the guest room and bowed down to Stephen out of respect, before giving a smile and standing beside David.
"Still got a slave?" One of them quips.
"Actually, this is my son's secretary."
"Wouldn't it be better to find a wife and give her the job?" One of them jokes, making the men except Stephen laugh in the room
"You wouldn't believe how hard he is when it comes to marriages."
"Oh please," Stephen scoffed, "I'm sure Frida here would help my son out, if both of them would behave themselves."
"Please, Stephen. I'd rather just hire a secretary rather than keep one."
"But isn't it cheaper to just use what I have?"
"Come on, we can lend you a loan and then you can go hire a secretary and ditch the slavery thing." One of them offers, willing to help Stephen out if he decides to forgo slavery and pursue capitalism
Stephen pondered at the thought up to see any possibility of just getting the loan without releasing Frida and her family and then, he got it.
"Sure, maybe that could work and also, we can just have the factory be set up around my backyard, and if the redcoats ask, we can just give them a pile of pences for their service."
"Wait wait wait," David interrupts, "you're planning to bribe the redcoats?"
"Not really, it's not bribing, it's paying for their service."
Frida sits down with David. "Sir, isn't this illegal?"
Stephen sighs before turning his attention towards the two. "Look, this is business, alright? As long as you don't interfere directly, it'll all be fine," He explains his actions, "I mean, the parliament down south is a hodgepodge of corruption and nobody bats an eye there."
A minute passed in silence, then David and Frida understood his actions at face value and so became silent for a while.
After noticing the silence, Stephen politely tells them to go back to their rooms so that he and his guests wouldn't be interrupted all day.
While walking back to the room, they meet Mary in the hallway, listening to their conversation on the other side of the wall.
"So, what are they talking about?" Mary asks, focusing her attention to the two.
"They're talking about the coal mine and they are planning to put a factory right there in the backyard."
Mary sighs deeply. "Your father...he's back at it again," she mutters, placing a hand right on her face as she breathes in and out slowly.
Frida got curious over her body language and asked. "What do you mean he's back at it again?"
Mary looks up at Frida to explain. "Ever since that...time, Stephen became really desperate to try and get a penny out of anything."
"Around the time when both of you entered high school, Stephen tried to scam an investor to lend him a pier for ship repairs. He got caught but he got acquitted...how he got away, heaven knows."
Then Mary turns her eyes to David and receives a nod of agreement, agreeing with what Mary said, confirming her recollection of events to Frida.
Then her gaze returns to Frida. "Then he tried to make some sort of mechanical calculator just so he could impress the investors and the public but he failed and ended us with a debt, luckily he did what he did best...bribing."
Frida noticed that and nodded in agreement, remembering Stephen's plans of bribing the Guards in his plan of the factory setup.
"Around a few months ago," Mary said, looking at David if he knew this and nodded to her that he knew, "where do I even begin?" Mary complains, knowing the event she's about to tell, "Stephen once did his technique of scamming out investors and even though he succeeded," Mary pauses, groaning in deep frustration before resuming, "he didn't know this, but he just scammed a highwayman that is part of the marras."
"The marras?" Frida asks in curiosity.
Mary was a little surprised that she'd ask about it and so went to their bookcase to look up what they are.
"According to The Safety Guard, the marras are a group of self-diagnosed religious people that conduct witchcraft. It was declared a cult by the city and -- even though there are a few members across Britain -- most of their members are in Trolberg."
Mary then hands the book to Frida, letting her read the book by herself while Mary continues on about her husband's desperate attempts for profit.
Meanwhile back at the Haustad estate, Hilda is actually outside for the moment, letting Dagger play around in their huge front yards and continuing her read on Tom Jones.
Then as she turned the page, she observed at the front that of three silhouettes leaving the house.
Thinking it was his family, she ignored about it for a moment and continued reading the novel for a few minutes, until she finally finished the book.
Hilda looks out from her spot in their front yard. "They're still not here."
Hilda dubiously looked out of the front to see if they arrived back yet but after looking at the entire front, including their garden, Hilda then found the house completely empty, save for a few maids inside.
"Sweet."
After opening the door, Hilda then called Dagger over before they both explored the entire --almost empty-- house.
They first went upstairs, where Hilda leaves Dagger alone before looking around their rooms upstairs, walking up to their bedrooms and bathrooms and also looking around in their cabinets.
Having seen most of the upstairs by now, Hilda then walks downstairs and walks to the hallway on the left, to see more of their house.
After walking for a while, she then walks right up to an open door at it's left, and after looking inside, recognizes it as the room where Hilda got the money for the tea.
She walks right in and sits right down at one of their sofas to relax for a bit.
The newest cotton they got from India and Egypt, she felt like sleeping on clouds, sitting down on this sofa. It's much better than the sofas that Hilda has back home, mostly because her mother cannot buy new cotton for it.
As she glanced around the room in relief, she then sees the three cabinets at the corner, the same three cabinets that Jared has been hiding from her.
Seeing an opportunity, she forced herself to get up from the comfy sofas and walked right up to the cabinets slowly, to not attract the attention of their wandering maids.
"Alright Jared, let's see what you're hiding." Hilda uttered to herself, reaching out her hand.
She first opened the first cabinet and looked inside. Nothing much, just a few books and coins.
Hilda disappointingly closed the cabinet and then opened the second cabinet and its contents are just the same as the first, except for a little ripped piece of paper inside, which Hilda thought was unimportant and so Hilda closed it.
After more inspections she ran out of possibilities and stole the coins, while in the process tumbling over one of the papers… and… she started to read as her eyes passed from frustration to a form of twisted joy.
She knew it.
She read it carefully and all of her suspicions were true.
Here's what's inside:
United Kingdom of Great Britain
Office of The Civil Registrar General
September 11, 1749
TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:
We certify that Jared Victor Haustad who is alleged to have been born on March 9, 1737 in Hanover, Great Britain, to George Haustad and Sofia Grunberg, does not appear in our National Indices of Marriages.
This certification is based on the records of 1735-1749 marriages enrolled in the database as of August 24, 1749.
Issued upon the request of Jared Victor Haustad for Marriage.
And then at the part where the Registrar General, his parents and Jared himself would sign, it was ripped off from the paper.
Hilda remembers a piece of paper that was ripped off from a piece and so returned back to the second cabinet and grabbed the ripped piece after opening it.
In the ripped paper, it has the Registrar General's signature, his parent's signature and Jared's.
Her lips curled into a shit-eating smile, knowing that her suspicions were true all along.
Then she placed the two pieces together and they both fit, confirming it even further.
And then as she looked further down the cabinet, she found another piece of paper, the cheque, the same cheque she was shown with by the doctor days back.
She grabbed it out of the cabinet and read the cheque aloud, knowing that the house is devoid of their presence.
"To whom it may concern:
The amount of payment is around 550,000 Pound Sterling for your services.
Note:
We have been informed by our son Jared and his friend and close acquaintance, George that Hilda and her family are really worth a fortune.
We've seen your records and we have known she has visited you before and have known about her mother's sickness thanks to our son.
If you keep her alive for a bit before the wedding, we will offer you 550,000. If you fail, we will give back the payment and sue you for failing your duties as a doctor!"
"Wow, these Haustads are hypocriticals!" Hilda exclaimed in the room.
She carefully put the papers in her pocket and smiled, knowing how much in trouble Jared is.
While at it she also looked on other rooms with a smile, stealing stuff from gold-laminated pens, to coins, savings and of course, cutlery.
She couldn't get enough, she wanted all items that would pay off in the same amount as the one they paid the Doctor.
"Prepare for your time, Jared."