Chapter 112

In the end, Isabelle was advised by her Husbands to rest and then deliver the order the following day. Either way, she wasn't going to the store for a couple of days to rest. She accepted and lazed around, waiting to be fed. 

Then, she actually went to sleep early. She had had quite a few hectic days, so she wanted to rest as much as she could before starting again. Though, for the Commissioner's daughter's dress, she was going to take it easy. 

More so because she had time to make it. 

She ate, took her bath, and laid down together with Lucas and Felix. The two of them had also been very busy with the construction of the room. 

The bases had already been dug and set. Quite a few very tall and sturdy logs had to be used for it. The ones from the trees they had cut down in the plot came in handy. They still had a few, but those were going to be used as beams for the roof.

What they needed to do was buy the wood planks for the walls and some bricks, then get the clay to cover the planks to give them more sturdiness and prevent fires. Lucas was going to town to buy the wood and bricks, while Felix gathered some clay from the river sides.

They still had a lot to do, so they also went to sleep early.

When Ethan arrived, he found the house was completely dark. He was baffled at the sight. Before, there would always be someone still up, but there was complete silence that night. He even had to use the gate trick to open it because nobody did it for him no matter how much he knocked.

For a moment, he even became concerned that something happened to Isabelle and his brothers, yet hearing the loud snoring from Lucas coming from the house greatly appeased him. They were all asleep.

He headed to the kitchen and stoked the fire in the burner to lit it. That gave him light to wash himself. After he filled the tub with some warm water to scrub, he heard the house's door opening. Although the door was not loud, the silence of the night allowed him to clearly hear it.

Soon, Felix's groggy face showed behind the kitchen door. 

"Here… Towel and clothes." He yawned as he passed over the things to his already naked brother.

"Thanks. You all good?" Ethan still asked. 

"Yeah… We were all tired… so, we went to sleep early." Felix replied, rubbing his eyes. 

"I see. Go back to sleep, then." Ethan shooed his brother off. Felix was about to fall asleep standing; it was best for the teen to lay down.

Once he cleaned himself and changed to sleeping clothes, put off the fire and headed to the house. He had not eaten, but he had no appetite to eat alone. 

In the darkness of the room, Lucas' snoring had subsided, and he just puffed, Felix heavy breathing could also be heard, both sounds covering the almost inaudible breathing from Isabelle. 

Ethan could also barely see that Lucas had taken the opposite side from Isabelle. Felix must have been sleeping with her but had moved to the middle of the bed. It was Joseph's turn that night, but since he was not there, Ethan took the chance to lay beside Isabelle. 

He dove under her covers and immediately embraced her warm, soft and fragrant body. She moved around to get herself more comfortable and then stilled. Ethan fell asleep as he breathed the smell of roses that wafted from her skin.

Next day, they all woke up early; the sun barely peeking in the horizon. After cooking and having an early breakfast, the brothers all went to water the patch while Isabelle watered the flower bed and the herbs.

Once watering was done, both Lucas and Ethan got ready to go to town. 

"Are you not taking the cart?" Isabelle asked as the two didn't head for the stable.

"The cart wasn't built to carry such things. We're going to rent an oxen cart at town, don't worry." Ethan said.

"Do you have enough money? I can give you some." She offered. The construction was bigger than the actual house, so she worried they would spend a lot of money in materials.

"We've got that covered." Ethan appeased her. At least for that project, they didn't want to depend on her money. "Weren't you going to deliver the clothes?" 

Isabelle jumped, suddenly reminded of it. "Yes! Wait for me!" She zoomed off to the house to fetch her basket and quickly returned to their side. "Let us go." She smiled. Then turned to Felix who was also getting ready to raid the river. "I will return shortly!" She told him.

"Heard ya!" He replied.

The three went on their way. Obviously, Ethan and Lucas had to match Isabelle's pace; otherwise, she would be left behind. They didn't talk, just enjoying the morning's breeze, the blue sky, the green fields and the distant laughing from the kids.

Soon, they reached the Chief's house. Isabelle bid them goodbye with a short peck on their lips, exhorting them to be careful and to return home soon. She saw them walk off, and when she couldn't see them anymore, she called out to the house.

"Is the Ryon daughter-in-law here?" She didn't know the woman's name, so she could also call like that.

"Yes!" The woman yelled back. From around the corner of the house, she came out. "Good morning, Mrs. Edris." She greeted, a tad nervously at that.

"Good morning, Mrs. Ryon. I came to deliver the clothes you asked for." Isabelle said.

That made the woman wince. Isabelle thought of many possibilities due to that gesture; that Mrs. Ryon didn't want the clothes anymore, that she had no money to pay, that it was a bad moment for her to arrive…

Either way, Isabelle was let it and led to the back of the house, where an ample deck was. 

There, Isabelle saw a group of three women sat around a table. Isabelle didn't want to judge from the get-go and didn't want to paranoically think they had been talking about her, yet the expressions on the women's face was not welcoming. At all.

In fact, there was some mocking and schadenfreude showing on their faces. Isabelle knew none of these women, so she had no idea why they were like that. Though, she had realized women in Yellow Leaf Village didn't need a reason to dislike her or her Husbands.

"So, this is the famous Mrs. Edris." One of the women commented, looking at Isabelle from head to toe in a very disregarding way.

Yes, it was better to ignore them. If they were not going to be nice, she had no reason to be nice to them.

"You can look at the clothes first. If there is something you do not like, I can make the changes." Isabelle addressed Mrs. Ryon who did nothing to shush the other women. Isabelle was going to give her a discount for being the Chief's daughter-in-law, but she was reconsidering that decision.

"Oh, we're going to be graced by the exclusive and amazing clothes Mrs. Edris makes!" Another woman piped up. 

"Just some overpraising from those ignorant men, Kallie." The third woman rolled her eyes.

Mrs. Ryon just looked down ashamed and took off the lid from the basket. Peering in, she froze. The three women had been waiting for her to take out the clothes, yet all they got was her immobile figure. 

"What're you waiting for, Isolde? Take them out so we can see!" The second woman who spoke up, a thin woman with short hair, hurried Mrs. Ryon.

By then, Isabelle could guess the women were very close to Mrs. Ryon, perhaps older family members as she never opposed or chided them for their comments.

"So useless!" The first woman, a lanky one with heavy bags under her eyes, stood up and shoved Mrs. Ryon away. But she too froze when she looked inside.

Isabelle had no time to play their game, so she walked up to the table, pulled the basket towards her and took out the shirts with the neckwear. The three were displayed on the table.

"Your Husband can use any neckwear with any shirt. There is a button here so he can easily put them on and take them off. It's not necessary to wash them each time he uses them. Perhaps once a week or when you see they are dirty. The shirts, of course, have to be washed after wearing them."

Isabelle calmly explained.

"What! What! What are those things?!" The woman with the short hair exclaimed and extended her long claws towards the neckwear.

Mrs. Ryon finally reacted and quickly pulled them towards her. "Sorry, Kallie. This was a special order made by my Husband." She said to the annoyed woman. Kallie had a penchant for always asking for things she liked. 

There was no way she would allow her to see and touch the clothes she had asked for. Not when they were that gorgeous!

"Don't lie, Isolde. You told us you ordered them." The third woman, one with a very wide forehead, huffed. 

"Yes, I did, but on my Husband's behalf. He asked for new clothes." Mrs. Ryon did her best to stand her ground. Even if they were her older sisters, she was not going to give in. She couldn't wait to move out and get away from them.

Since she had married her Husband, they would 'visit' her almost daily. It was just an excuse to take away things she had bought for herself or were given by her Husband. She was the youngest one, so she always listened to them, always acquiesced to them.

That was going to be the exception. All their Husbands were farmers, they had no need for nice clothes like her scholar Husband. 

"You can look for me throughout the day to settle the payment, Mrs. Ryon. I have things to do, so I will be going." Isabelle didn't want to get involved in whatever argument they were about to have, so she put the lid back on the basket and made to leave.

"You don't want us to hear the amount? Are you going to rip off Isolde?" The lanky woman sneered. "Mrs. Peppin told us all about how you charge a high price before doing things and then charge some more. Whatever you've already paid Isolde, that was enough."

"Who is Mrs. Peppin?" Isabelle had no guilty conscience in the way she did business. Besides, the woman's words put Mrs. Ryon in a hard place as she had actually not paid Isabelle for her job.

"Now she even pretends she doesn't know people!" The woman with short her scolded.

The face of the woman who asked for the wedding clothes came to Isabelle's mind. "The woman who cannot even afford wedding clothes?" She asked for confirmation.

Mrs. Ryon snorted and looked away. Mrs. Peppin was her eldest sister's neighbor and liked to tell others to do things for her without any modicum of politeness. She was a hateful woman whose Husband spent the whole day out to not talk to her. 

Her younger sister was going to get married, so she had been looking for someone to make the clothes. Of course, they all rejected her. It seemed Isabelle did too.

"That's because you charge as if you were a town seamstress. You're just a bought woman! You should know your place!" The woman called Kallie screeched, rudely pointing at Isabelle who stood impassive even when she was inwardly furious.

"I just know that she could not pay. Whatever lies she goes spouting around are only believed by dunce people who have nothing to do but freely flap their mouths. Good day." She turned, throwing her hair at them and hastily made her way out.

She wouldn't win if the three got physical, so a tactical retreat was necessary.

She still needed to tell Felix to not open the door to anyone but Mrs. Ryon.