Chapter 3.1

The first shop the two went to had very beautiful fabrics: colorful linen fabrics, quite a few bolts of cotton and wool fabrics, too. The prices though… They rattled Isabelle's heart and the few coins she carried. She almost ran away from that shop. Seeing those numbers, she was beginning to understand how the brothers felt with most of the prices in Basin Town.

The second shop was a bit better in prices, but they only had linen and wool fabrics. Not as varied as the first shop, and with very dull colors. The fabrics were good to make clothes for the brothers, but there was no color that she liked for herself.

The third shop… she did not even dare to enter.

The fourth shop was the same as the first shop. With the varied fabrics and the high prices. It seemed to be the direct competition of the other shop because the lady that attended them badmouthed the lady of the first shop while presenting them the fabrics. Isabelle vowed to stay as far away as possible from those two shops.

"Let's go eat." Ethan eventually said, pulling Isabelle from going to yet another shop. As she stopped, her rumbling stomach made itself known, reminding her that they really had not eaten their lunch yet. She nodded and let herself be led down alleys towards a place that burst with noise the moment they stepped in.

Going around the food market, Isabelle was assaulted by all kinds of delicious smells as she looked around at all the different foods being sold. The scenery made her even hungrier. Ethan continued weaving through all the stalls, not once stopping to see what other vendors offered and took Isabelle to a rather humble one. A noodle soup stall.

"Edris! Been a while!"

A stalwart man boomed after seeing Ethan. He was very tall and bulky. Taller and bulkier than Lucas. He was dressed in typical villager clothes but cleaner, tidier and less washed out. Very different from Ethan with his fading clothes. He was rather comely, yet Isabelle thought her lovers looked better.

The man eyed Isabelle with his round eyes and laughed. "I see, I see. No wonder you haven't showed up! Eating good meat now, Edris?" He waggled his eyebrows at Ethan who only smiled.

Isabelle had no idea how to feel at his words. The man certainly alluded that the two were being intimate – which was not completely true, at least not in the way he might have meant – but there was also something appreciative in his tone that she did not know how to interpret.

So, she remained silent and took the seat Ethan gestured her to sit at. "Two chicken bowls with extra greens." Then, he ordered.

"Coming right up!" The man replied, putting himself to work. Despite his straightforwardness, the man seemed very hard-working. The stall was not full, but the customers all left happy and satiated. It gave her a good first impression.

"That's Monthe. He's had this stall for years. The food is simple, but he gives big portions for a rather cheap price. Whenever I felt like treating myself for something good, I came here. Lunch's on me." Ethan grinned, presenting his… friend to Isabelle. Calling Monthe a friend was stretching it a bit, but after everything they had gone through, if the man was not a friend, then Ethan did not know who was.

Isabelle did her best to not giddily smile and just good-naturedly rolled her eyes at him for his last words. It was obvious that he was treating the outing as a courting outing when they were actually on a business trip. Trust Ethan to take advantage of every single situation and turn things in his favor. Knowing that, she could not help but tease him.

"I hope it is worth it. Our future marriage will depend on this bowl of soup." The two shared a secretive smile and their fingers slowly reached for the other's. Just when the tips playfully brushed, a loud voice interrupted their moment.

"Now, now! I assure you that even if you won't marry Edris, you'll want to marry me due to the taste of my soup!" The man, Monthe, tutted. Isabelle giggled, seeing Ethan glare at Monthe for his words. "My bad, Edris. You know it was a joke. I can only love my dear Vieve." He half-heartedly apologized. Ethan huffed and let it go. "Enjoy, you lovey-dovey couple!" He slyly smiled.

Leaving the bowls of soup on the table, Monthe left to attend a new costumer. Isabelle still did not know what to make of the man, but she quite liked his personality and made her wonder how Ethan came to know such a man; what kind of situation brought them together. Besides, the soup was delicious. It really was worth it.

"Hey." Isabelle called out to Ethan, touching his leg with her foot. "I will surely marry you." She whispered and winked at him. He laughed, catching her meaning. He, then, grabbed her free hand. She entwined their fingers to seal the deal.

With that promise, they silently ate their food.

"Come again soon, Edris!" Monthe loudly said to Ethan after he paid for the meals. "And tell your brother not to laze around and bring me some good meat." Isabelle was aware that Lucas sold part of the game he hunted in town. She finally met Lucas' customer!

Truthfully, she had been pondering about leaving all the meat for the family, but after meeting Monthe, she thought it was not bad for Lucas to keep selling to him.

"Will do." Ethan nodded. Isabelle waved goodbye to the huge man and extended her hand for Ethan to take.

Their hunt for a nice fabric shop continued!

Two shops later, they tiredly made their way through a quiet street and found what they thought was going to be their last stop. If they did not find anything good in it, then it was best to leave their endeavour for another day.

The moment Isabelle and Ethan entered the shop, what greeted them was the snoring of a person. It was soft, but still noticeable in the silent shop.

They shared a look and walked deeper into the shop packed with all sorts of fabrics.

The layout was not as organized and spacious like those high-end shops they had gone to. It was rather small actually. However, the number of bolts available could compete with those shops. As Isabelle looked around, she saw quite a few fabrics she liked. Though, they first needed a person to attend them.

The shop's counter was at the very back. A woman was sprawled all over it, sleeping. The snores were obviously coming from her. Isabelle cleared her throat to wake her up, yet the woman remained unresponsive. She tried knocking on the counter; nothing. The woman seemed dead to the world.

"Excuse me." Isabelle tried again. The woman stopped snoring, but still did not wake up. "Excuse me!" Isabelle yelled and slapped on the counter, startling not only the sleeping woman but Ethan too as he never thought she would be so loud in the otherwise silent place.

"What! What's going on?!" The woman, who was rather young, looked around alarmed. Then, she took in the two people in front of her. "You!" She exclaimed once her gaze stopped at Ethan, who wanted to hide after recognizing who the woman was. Isabelle looked between the two, not expecting for such a scene to unfold in front of her. "Gosh, I thought I would never see you again." And it was getting worse.

"Uh… well, things happened..." Ethan did not want to be there, in that situation. He did not even dare to look at Isabelle.

"Sure did!" Totally ignoring the other person in the shop, the woman kept talking. "My Ma keeps scolding my sister for leaving ya. 'Such a hardworking man'… 'Ain't we all poor, what's the matter with him being poor?' She keeps saying. I'm tired o' hearing her complain." She grumbled and eyed Ethan from top to bottom with narrowed eyes. "Is there any chance you'd like to start over with her?"

"I… that's impossible." Ethan tried to inadvertently tell the woman to stop talking because they were not alone. He was not alone!

His efforts were overlooked. "Why?! My sister sure was spoiled while growin' up, gettin' all the good stuff; that's why she was scared of your conditions, but Mom's been teachin' her how to be humbler! Give her another chance!" She pleaded. Anything to stop listening to her mother complain and her sister sigh whimsically, clearly still thinking of Ethan despite courting another man.

"I'm marrying soon, Ginna. That's why I can't see your sister anymore." Ethan finally revealed. Not to mention that his thing with Ginna's sister was two years ago. He was well over the woman. She had been a good shag, but that was all in the past.

At his words, the woman, Ginna, finally noticed the other person in the shop. A very curvaceous woman stood at the side, inspecting a few bolts of wool fabric.

"Is it her?" Ginna whispered and pointed at Isabelle. Ethan nodded. She pursed her lips and gave Isabelle a once-over. She had more assets than her sister, that was for sure. Probably because she's fat, she thought, irritated and a bit jealous. Neither her nor her sister could ever hope to develop such body.

However, she did not want to give up on her plan!

"You said you loved her." She accusingly looked at Ethan.

"How much is the yard of Poplin?" Isabelle interjected in their conversation, having had enough.

"Pop-what?" Ginna blinked.

"This fabric." Isabelle said, patting the bolt she had been eyeing. "How much is the yard?" She looked at Ginna with unperturbed eyes, as if she was a mere customer and not the partner of the man she had been asking to return with her sister.

"Oh, the cotton fabric! That's 6 dimes the yard. Cotton is not new despite the rage the sheets recently had." Ginna explained, thinking Isabelle was dumb for not knowing it was cotton and not whatever she had called it.

"Cotton is not new, yet the way it is weaved is. So, in fact, the fabric those sheets are made with is new. Poplin, on the other hand, is a very common fabric to make clothes. It is very light and comes in different colors. 6 dimes is a good price." At least compared to the 1 coin or higher the other shops were selling it at. And the quality of the fabric she was touching was good. 

Ginna and Ethan were completely lost. To Ethan, fabrics was not something he was knowledgeable about, so he had no idea about cotton, poplin or what-not. Ginna was a bit worse because she was supposed to know about the type of fabrics she was selling. However, she was only a recently-hired employee.

"Give me three yards of this color, three of this one… Two of this and another two of this… six yards of this one and two of this, please." Isabelle pointed at six different bolts. She hoped they were enough for what she was planning.

Ginna remained stumped for a few seconds before reacting. "Oh, yes!" She put herself to work while Isabelle kept looking around the shop for any other fabric that got her attention. Ethan did not know what to do: if explain at that moment or when they were out. For one, he did not want Isabelle to misunderstand any longer, yet he also thought it was not the time to speak.

Isabelle took away his chance to speak. "How much for the Gauze?"

Ginna balked. "Uh.. That's..." She looked around, not sure if she should keep cutting the fabric or take a look at the new one. She even had the quick thought that the woman was doing it on purpose.

"It is cotton." Isabelle replied placidly, not even looking at Ginna.

"I know that!" Ginna hissed. Though that was a lie, she had no idea what gauze was made of. Luckily, she had a good memory and remembered the prices of the bolts according to the place they were at. "That one is 4 dimes the yard."

Isabelle hummed. "Two yards of this color and another two of this."

"Is that all?" Ginna asked, a bit annoyed.

Isabelle finally turned to look at the employee and smiled. "Yes. That would be all." Ginna nodded and resumed her work. Just when she was done with half of the Poplin fabric order, Isabelle spoke up again. "On second thought..." Ginna gritted her teeth. "Do you have thick and resistant fabrics?"

"That way." Ginna pointed to a corner of the shop, not giving a specific direction. She just wanted Isabelle away. Isabelle did not mind Ginna's curt reply and headed to the corner. Ethan thought it was as good as an opportunity to talk with Isabelle.

He softly approached her busy figure – she was really looking at the fabrics – and placed his hands on her shoulders. He felt her tense up at the contact, betraying her anger. He had to thread the conversation carefully. Although there was a promise of marriage recently made, he would understand if she backed off at any moment after the conversation with Ginna.

"I said it out of desperation." He began in a soft voice.

"What?" Although tense, she did nothing to brush away his hands. That gave him hope.

"That I loved 'er. It happened last year. We only saw each other a few times." Mostly for sex, went unsaid as he knew that would have made Isabelle angrier. "She kept askin' me for gifts, and I gave them to her. Once, she said: 'If ya tell me you love me, I'll marry you'. I did. I said it 'cuz I was in desperate need of a wife. I took 'er home to make the matter more formal… and she left." He summarized yet another of his failed relationships.

"Am I another desperate move?" She turned to piercingly look at him. Ethan looked back to make sure Ginna was not looking or eavesdropping on their conversation. That only made Isabelle grab his jaw and turn his head back to her. "She does not matter. Answer me."

He grabbed the hand that held his jaw and kissed it. "You're not. I'll be damned if you're a desperate move. You're more than I ever hoped for." He slowly leaned down, timidly asking for a kiss. He was giving her the chance to back off in the case she was still uncomfortable, or to accept it if she wanted to forgive him. His stomach dropped when she put a finger on his lips, stopping his advances.

"I know I am not your first lover. There is nothing I can do to change your past with them. However, I would like for none of them to come back and ruin our present. Am I clear?" She narrowed her eyes at him.

"Very clear." Ethan nodded, firmly. He would make sure of it. His sincerity earned him a peck on the lips. He wanted to deepen the kiss, yet the approaching steps of Ginna made the two separate.

Sure enough, the woman appeared the next second. "Your fabric's cut." She seemed to have calmed down and acted more professionally.

"Thanks. How much that would be?" Isabelle asked naturally. As if the two had not been silently arguing moments ago.

"12 coins and 4 dimes." Ginna slowly and painfully replied, having made the calculation beforehand.

She knew her sister used to ask gifts out of Ethan that were a bit expensive. She even constantly bragged about them at home. She did not even stop after Ethan had hinted that the finances in his home were tight. 2 coins were a lot to him, according to what her sister told her, or more like whined; she always complained that Ethan talked about money and how he could not afford buying her more things.

Ginna always thought her sister was an ingrate. Not only was she shagging a good man, she even received gifts despite his circumstances. What else did she want?

12 coins though…

Had Ethan landed himself in a tough situation? Was he being threatened? Had he become so destitute that he had sold himself? Or was that money all his lifetime savings?

Unaware of Ginna's thoughts, Isabelle took out her purse and counted 3 coins to add to the bill she was given by Mrs. Priddy. The 10 coins for the tassels work. "How much is the yard of this Broadcloth?" She asked, pointing at a tawny bolt

"7 dimes." Ginna gritted out. Was she still going to ask for more?!

"Add three yards of this one then." Isabelle took out all the remaining coins she had in her purse and gave them to Ginna. Ginna felt as if the money burned her hand. In the end, this woman was worse than her sister. And he was willing to marry her...

For a moment, Ginna considered not accepting the money, not accepting the sale. But she was working, the fabric was already cut, and more than 12 coins was money her boss would not let go. Ginna eyed Ethan to gauge his reaction to the woman's purchase, yet he remained impassive by the side.

He is too good, Ginna bitterly thought. She held no romantic feelings for him, yet she was aware that a good man as Ethan could not be found often. And her idiotic sister let him go. But well, no point crying over spilt milk.

"Right away." Ginna dully replied. She cut the three yards, put it together with the rest, and grabbed 5 dimes as the change. She gloomily saw Ethan silently pack the fabric in the basket he carried. He was not only paying for the fabric; he was even acting as a mule for her!

"Here." Isabelle gave the 5 dimes of change to Ethan, who looked at her puzzled. "Let us buy some candies to Felix." She smiled.

How dare she decide what to do with his money?! Ginna inwardly fumed.

"Are ye sure? You can save it. It's yer money." Ethan said, making Ginna's wild thoughts completly halt.

What?

"Because it is my money, I can decide how to use it. I saw some candies that Felix might like. I also want to try them" Isabelle replied, gesturing at Ethan to lead the way. "Thank you. I will make sure to patronage this shop in the future." She waved at Ginna, who stood stunned behind the counter.

All her rage-induced thoughts were properly and coldly doused by their conversation.

What?

It was her...

She did not even react when the two left.

So, he did sell himself!