Chapter 2.23

Isabelle took up the topic of arithmetic again because numbers turned out to be quite a challenge for them. Since they began learning about additions, the learning progress slowed down considerably. So, they had to pick additions up again that night.

However, somewhere Isabelle was not looking, Felix became very good at adding. She had taught them the numbers until one hundred; but with additions, she mostly taught them with single numbers that did not pass twenty – as the batch of numbers before twenty was easy to confuse. Felix, though, could already go beyond that. Had he been practicing when she was not looking?

"Alright, then. Felix, come do this one." Isabelle wanted to test him to see if he had really understood addition, and made him do a hard one: 83+67.

The others were already confused at the big numbers. After doing several small additions, they were becoming more familiar with numbers below 100 as the result. But what would happen if they went beyond 100? Actually, it was easy, though Isabelle was saying that because she already knew it. She only wanted to see if they could discover it by themselves.

Doing additions was easy if looked from the perspective of doing it small number by small number. 7+3 was 10; 8+6 was 14. But it also had some tricks to it.

"I got this, Belle." Felix said as soon as he did the math, and, as expected, he wrote 1410: the addition of the four small numbers. Isabelle had only taught them small additions like 10+6; 23+4; 89+0 and so on. Neither went beyond 100 and did not need the trick.

"Unfortunately, it is wrong." She told the happy Felix – who seemed proud at the result he got.

He deflated when he heard her words, even paling a bit. He had truly become too conceited of his successes. Creating setbacks was also good for him so he would not become too proud. Sometimes, having a too smooth path was not good to mold a person's character. In the same way, having only setbacks destroyed the person's will.

Isabelle was very careful in balancing both so she would not dwindle their will to learn.

"7+3 is 10, yes. But in here, you only have space for one number: the rightmost number. In this case, it should be the zero. The 1 will be added to the next column of numbers. So, it should be 1+8+6, which is 15. And, because we have no other numbers to add, we leave the quantity whole. The final number is 150. Did you get it?" Felix had a tangled expression, but he still nodded. "Then, go ahead and do this one. 44+150. Remember, add the numbers by columns." She hinted and left him to it.

"You're evil." Joseph commented as they saw Felix burn his brain to do the addition.

"You should learn from him. You can barely do the 1+1." Isabelle scolded the hooligan. While Joseph just smirked not even looking a bit chided, Ethan and Lucas were doing the addition by writing on their legs. Their furrowed brows told her they had no idea if they were doing it right.

"Like this?" Felix asked not as confident as before. 194 was his answer. Which was correct.

My Dad would be so proud of him!

Isabelle halted at that thought. Why would her father be proud? So far, she had only dreamed of her mother who seemed to be a very hateful woman, but still had no memory of her father. Isabelle was not even sure if she had a good relationship with him. After all, he allowed that woman to marry her off. Yet, the thought of her father being proud of some simple arithmetics made her hesitate.

What role did her father have in her life?

"Belle?" Felix waved in front of her face to take her out of her stupor.

Isabelle startled and smiled at him to cover up for her lapse, then, she grabbed his face and stamped a loud kiss on his lips. Felix's face quickly turned red, and he had no idea what to do or where to look. Despite getting closer to her, and knowing that she would one day become his wife, he was still shy of her advances. More so if she did it in front of his brothers.

"You did amazing. That was your reward." A little motivation was always needed when learning, so Isabelle did not hesitate to dole prizes out. Besides, she did not want to think about her parents for the time being.

"Fuck! Ye can even do that?!" Joseph loudly exclaimed.

"Of course, I can." Isabelle sniffed at him. "If you cannot learn something as simple as arithmetic, then you get nothing." She taunted. Not only Joseph, but Ethan and Lucas also burned with passion and probably the motivation to tackle additions.

But the reality was that they could not beat Felix in additions. So, the teen got all the kisses.

After the lesson was over, a content Felix, an irked Joseph, a reluctant Ethan and a subdued Lucas prepared to go to sleep.

The brothers went out to wash after they prepared a bucket of hot water and a small towel so Isabelle could clean up. While cleaning and looking at the pad, she once again confirmed that the flow had greatly decreased. No more bulky pads and trying to keep as still as possible so no heavy load of blood would come out!

Once done with cleaning, she changed into her sleeping garments - the trusty shirt - and sighed, again, at the need of pants for those days. Although nights were a bit chilly, she felt extremely cold in those days. Maybe she should look for fabric at town to sew a pair.

As she thought of the style of pants she could sew for her bleeding days, Isabelle got into bed and wrapped herself tightly with the sheets. She hummed contented when the cold dissipated and warmth seeped into her body. She closed her eyes and did not wait for the brothers to return to bid them a good night.

That truly showed how tired she was after days of non-stop embroidering!

No so long later, footsteps sounded outside the house. The door creaked open to let the eldest brother in. He paused at the threshold, seeing Isabelle already tucked in, but still approached the bed.

"Isabelle." He called out.

"Hm?" She sleepily replied. That made him sighed relieved. He could still do what he had planned to do.

"Turn around." He asked, rummaging through the bag he used to go to town.

"What? Why?" She inquired, but still did as he told her and laid on the bed face down.

The new position was a bit uncomfortable, but patiently waited for Ethan. She heard the bed creaked behind her, and then she felt him straddling her legs. Before her mind could catch up to his actions, the cozy sheet disappeared from her body and she got goosebumps due to the chilly air.

"What are you trying to do?" She whined, trying to fish for the sheet.

Isabelle trusted that he behaved and not do anything too inappropriate, but if he was trying to just mess around, then she would definitely get angry.

"Shh, calm down." He shushed and stopped her from moving by putting his hand on her back.

Although suspicious, Isabelle was also curious about what he was going to do, so she relaxed. She even remained silent when he lifted the shirt – though she also felt a bit shy. She heard some popping sound, and a refreshing smell suddenly pervaded the air.

Her exhausted and sleepy mind guessed what that was, but when she was about to scold him for yet another unnecessary purchase, his oily hands smoothly slid up her back.

"Mm." Isabelle inevitably moaned at the nice pressure he put to massage her sore back. She had not noticed she was that tense. And, as his hands did their magic, she could not help let out sounds of appreciation.

"You like it?" He asked as he pressed against a knot on her shoulders. He had seen her pound her back and shoulders the past three days, so he thought that he could do something for her sore body.

"Mhm..." She was loving it! Isabelle admitted the purchase was not so unnecessary after all. And, as his hands kept pressing on her back, her mind slowly drifted to sleep.

Ethan finished his massage not long after she fell asleep. He had been a bit hesitant to try it out, even when he knew it would help her. After all, he had learned how to massage from one of the many women that ran away from him. Though, seeing Isabelle appreciate the gesture despite his lack of experience, he considered the plan a good way to turn a bitter experience into a fond one.

Soon, the other three brothers returned to the house and readily got into bed seeing as both Ethan and Isabelle were already asleep.

That night, Isabelle dreamed about a stout and tall man taking her around a bustling city, teaching her everything he knew about business. It was a very peaceful and happy dream.