Chapter 3.4

Earlier that same day, on Lucas' end, he purposefully walked towards the food market in town. His big frame, looking even bigger with all the things he carried quickly meandered through the stalls until he reached the one where Monthe was barely preparing the ingredients for that day.

"Lucas! I thought you'd forgotten 'bout little me!" Monthe piped up as soon as he noticed the bearded man. As they stood together, one could easily see Lucas was smaller in frame and height compared to Monthe.

Although it was not that noticeable among his brother as he was the biggest one, Lucas did also suffer from bad nutrition while growing up. If he had not skipped meals as often as he did, then he would have grown to be as big as, or bigger than Monthe.

"I saw your brother with a woman. He finally settling down?" Monthe asked once he stored everything Lucas gave him.

Lucas nodded. "Don't know when, but soon." Monthe was a bit gossipy, yet he was also asking the least talkative of the brothers. He was never going to get the whole information out of Lucas.

Monthe sighed as he took out some coins to pay Lucas. "To think we'd have the same preferences in women."

He hailed from another village called Green Hill Village. His family consisted of only his mother; his father having died of disease when he was young. Despite having started working from very young, he was a jolly kid, everybody in the village liked him. And, as he grew up to be very big and diligent, many ladies wanted him as a son-in-law.

However, he was not interested in any of the spoiled and thin girls those ladies had as daughters. No. He had his eyes set on Vieve, a young woman who was always mocked for being chubby. When he started pursuing her, all those old ladies became even more vicious in their comments against the innocent Vieve.

Monthe sincerely had no idea how or why Vieve accepted his courting and subsequent marriage as she had always been doubtful of his words, his advances and promises. Her parents, though, thanked him endlessly for not giving up on her; as their only daughter, they worried about her future, knowing men in villages liked wisp-like girls instead of her thicker body.

As they courted, he discovered she could have very well defended herself against the venomous comments from the middle-aged ladies due to her tough character.

'All they do is talk.' She replied when he asked her why she never talked back whenever she was mocked. 'In the end, who got the most sought-after man?' She victoriously grinned at him.

Monthe learned she was very confident of herself unlike what others believed. Contrary those other women who cared too much about what others would say, Vieve just lived her life however she liked. She did confess she did not believe him when he told her he wanted to court her. After all, it would not have been the first time a guy told her that as a joke.

Being told that, he promised himself to give her a life to be proud of and brag about. He would not be the reason others looked down on his dear wife! After three years of marriage, they were steadily moving towards the bright future he envisioned: they had a stall in the town's food market, farmland and a baby boy.

Monthe never thought someone else would see the beauty in buxom women; especially someone like Ethan who always courted typical slim women. Luckily, the guy redeemed himself and walked the correct path. He glanced at Lucas and wondered what kind of woman the big man would get interested in.

"Right. Here. This is for the game, and a little something to congratulate your brother for his future marriage." Monthe clapped Lucas' hand and gave it a tight handshake. A sign to accept the money and say nothing about it. Lucas only nodded and put the coins in his pocket without looking at the amount.

He was about to leave when he remembered something he wanted to ask. Something he and his brothers decided on while cleaning themselves the previous night. "You know someone who sells carts and horses?" He asked Monthe.

Monthe instantly thought Lucas was asking on Ethan's behalf for his future wife. It was a hard question, though. "No one around bothers with horses, preferring donkeys or oxen. Carts… well, depending on the design and all that stuff, that's how expensive it'll be. The cheapest one should be around 7 coins if new."

"Hm." Lucas turned pensive. Having noticed she tired easily when walking, the brothers wanted to buy a horse-pulled cart to take Isabelle around. Yet, with their meager income, he doubted they could make that true. They could not afford anything at the moment.

"I'll ask around if someone in this town or back in my village can sell a horse at a low price." Monthe promised Lucas, who nodded in thanks and left with no other words.

Once alone, he pulled out the money he was paid and counted 15 coins. Lucas blinked. From experience, he knew the game he gave Monthe, it would net him at most 8 or 9 coins. That meant the rest was his gift to Ethan.

Considering Lucas sold game to Monthe weekly and earned himself 8 coins. In a month, he easily could earn around 32 coins. It was not a small number for the family; in fact, it was more profitable than Ethan's random jobs. It would not be a lie to say Lucas was the wealthiest brother. Why, then, had he not saved enough money to buy land or get better things for the house, or even expand the house?

They even struggled to buy sheets for Isabelle!

The reason was rather simple.

Having the most money, he was the one shouldering the cost for any repairs the house needed (which was always overcharged by the villagers who did those repairs), plus buying Felix's medicine whenever Ethan spent his own money on gifts for the woman he was courting. Additionally, he sometimes gave some money to Joseph for the patch whenever the latter wanted to try out growing new seeds or saplings.

He was the wealthiest, but also the most generous with his brother, bordering on naïve.

No more.

Fisting the coins, Lucas immediately decided to give all his money to Isabelle. She was very keen in knowing how to spend money efficiently unlike them. With no other things to do in town, he made his way to the town's exit.

On the way to the gates, he saw the woman Joseph was going to marry last year. She was accompanying a man around town; her head was lowered, but she readily replied whenever the man talked to her. It was not a strange sight in villages and in town, so Lucas thought nothing of it and continued on his way.

He arrived home right on time to eat a very hearty meal. He ate in a good mood and happily listened to the chatter around the table. Then, he witnessed what it meant to have extra lessons with Isabelle as Ethan was put to write nonstop. His own hand hurt on Ethan's behalf. However, he also itched to try.

He tended to break the chalk whenever he used it, so he had to spend extra time learning how to properly grab it. Because of that, he was not given the chance to practice his writing as often as he would have liked. In the middle of his musings, Joseph's question of when they would get married seemed to have stirred an anthill.

Lucas was not talkative, but was observative. Isabelle was… angry at Joseph. That much was obvious to him. However, the reason eluded him. He knew openly asking would make no good, so he remained silent. It was not that he did not want to help his brother; but he had learned – from that argument between Felix and Isabelle – that some problems needed to be fixed between the people involved.

What he admired from Isabelle, though, was that she could still calmly talk to Joseph despite her feelings. She even teased them with their biggest desire. Getting a 'Yes' from a marriage proposal. He and his brothers immediately started planning while being put to solve arithmetic questions.

452-176-84-20

Why was it so long?! His head hurt just from seeing the big numbers.

"Lend it! You have to lend the number!" Joseph exclaimed, having remembered that lesson on subtractions. "What do you think about a flower trail?" He whispered, having heard once a woman in the market talking with other women that her dreamed proposal included flowers.

"Lend which one?" Ethan asked frowning. "Where'd we get the flowers?" He asked.

"Number beside?" Lucas suggested, still reeling from the big numbers but actively remembering the lessons, and adding his own ideas to the proposal. "Know a place in the mountains. Can get them."

"So, after lending… 2 becomes 3?" Ethan asked confused. "3 minus 6... It's not like that!" He grumbled while erasing the 3. "Do that. Maybe also cook something for her." He, then, put forward. It was not fancy but it was the best they could do.

"Ten! Motherfuckin' ten! Lends ten and adding two becomes twelve!" Joseph triumphantly yelled. He could not believe he recalled that. The other two went 'ooh', finally seeing the path. "A meal and a big gift." He grinned secretively, earning his brothers' attention.

The three huddled together to continue talking about the proposal in hushed words.

At the side, Isabelle tried very hard not to laugh as she kept embroidering. It was cute to hear them celebrate their small victories, and then convene to talk about what to do next – at least, that was what she thought they were doing, not really able hear what they were whispering about. Besides, she had to give them credit where it was due. They were putting so much effort into learning, which made her very proud of them.

Due to Joseph's yelling, Felix woke up from his nap and groggily walked out to see his brothers glare at the board and mutter amongst themselves. With just a glance at the board, Felix noticed what put them in such a mood.

"After lending, 5 becomes 4. 4-7, the number is small, so lend from 4. 14-7-8… it's not enough. Lend another one; 24-7-8-2 is 7. Finally, after lending twice, 4 became 2; and, 2-1 is 1. The result is 172." He quickly calculated.

The youngest sleepily blinked at his gaping brothers. Ethan reacted and wrote down all the process Felix spouted. When the answer was written in his clean and straight numbers, he, Joseph and Lucas looked at the board in wonder.

Isabelle's twinkling laugh took them out of their stupor and they turned to her. She was smiling proudly at Felix and beckoned at him to get closer. Felix did so and was rewarded with a smoldering kiss that left him panting and flushing.

"Well done." She praised the youngest, who stupidly nodded and woodenly made his way to the kitchen, not even bothering to hide the boner in his pants.

"Well, that's not fair." Ethan suddenly commented, trying to get something in return for their effort.

His shameless, implied request bore fruits as Isabelle also beckoned at them. Each got a peck on their lips. Even if it was not enough, Ethan thought it was the equivalent for at least solving the beginning of the subtraction.

Seeing her peck Joseph, Ethan recalled the issue between the two and wondered if she felt uncomfortable with his brother. He thought it was time to have a talk with Joseph before her bath. He had to let his brother know that he could not play his little games with Isabelle.

As Isabelle went into the house to get her things for her bath, he approached Joseph in the kitchen.

"I saw Milly at the market yesterday." Ethan began, leaning on the kitchen's door frame. It was a lie that he saw her, yet Joseph did not know that.

The third brother tensed and stiffly turned to look at his eldest brother. "You told Isabelle?" He defensively asked.

"There's something I need to tell her?" Ethan narrowed his eyes.

Joseph closed his mouth with a click, rubbed his face with his hand and loudly exhaled. "Knew she was bad news the moment I saw 'er days ago."

Ethan rose an eyebrow at the easy confession, yet he would not loosen on his interrogation. "You saw her, too?"

Joseph clicked his tongue and stared at the water that was being boiled. "I thought nothin' when she approached. She's already married after all. Then, she goes and tells me she's havin' problems with her husband. That the man's cheatin' with a cousin of his. That she didn't like him..." He frowned and tightened his hands into fists.

"She wants an affair then?" Ethan scowled. After all, who in the village did not know Joseph had gotten involved with several married women? He was the perfect man for such sordid matters. Joseph nodded. "Is she mad?" Ethan hissed in disbelief; at the audacity of the woman. "You told her about Isabelle?" He hoped his brother immediately put a stop to her advances from the get-go.

"I didn't." Joseph shook his head and quickly rose his hand to stop whatever Ethan was about to say or growl, noticing his expression. "She's pregnant. It's not her husband's."

"And what? She wanna leave 'im 'nd make ye raise the kid?" Ethan spat, his words slurring in anger. Joseph's silence was all the answer Ethan needed. "Fuck, she's for real?" They all had a nice opinion on Milly, yet it turned out she was crazier than a goat. Ethan inhaled and exhaled, calming down. "What's your plan? You telling Isabelle at least? You should explain what's happening with this crazy woman before others come telling her."

"I was plannin' to do it yesterday, but she had things to say to you. And, you were just booted, so I let it slide. Let 'er comfort you a bit." Joseph shrugged. Ethan gaped in disbelief. Isabelle and Joseph both let the matter simmer until that point. Well, at least it was an easy matter to solve in his opinion.

Ethan sighed while rubbing his brow. "Tell 'er. Today!" After his command, he left his brother to continue preparing Isabelle's bath and headed to the river to join his brothers in their washing, and to discuss the last details of their proposal while telling Felix about their plan.

Joseph rolled his eyes at Ethan's leaving back. He knew he had taken too long to air the matter with Isabelle. He was afraid of her reaction after knowing the mess he was involved in. Actually, he would also run away if a woman came to him with such a mess.

To make the matter worse, Milly had even daringly asked him to meet her at town for as long as she stayed with her husband visiting the aforementioned cousin. She did not even want to dissimulate the affair! To let everyone and their dog know they were seeing each other…

Annoyed, he poured the water in the tub with more strength than needed and spilled it all around the kitchen. He gustily sighed and went to grab a broom to sweep the water out. Once done, he went to call Isabelle out but received no reply.

"Isabelle?" He called out again. Nothing. Frowning, he walked to the house and entered. "You here, Isabelle?" There was no reply. As he was about to look for her at the river, thinking she had gone there, a soft noise stopped him.

Walking past the partition, he found the culprit of the noise sound asleep. She was laying on the bed, with her legs dangling. The uncomfortable position made her snore a bit. Joseph had no words to describe what he was feeling at that moment.

Just when he got the courage to confess about the mess to her…

He sighed and walked out of the house. Then, he went to the kitchen to fill a bucket with the bath water and picked up a cloth, deciding to clean her. After all, he had earned experience doing that while she was on her bleeding days. So, he nimbly undressed her and started the cleaning process. She sleepily complained, but still did not wake up.

His peevishness turned into pity.

She must have been really exhausted to fall asleep so deeply.

His pity, though, did not stop him from leaving a few marks in her. "Look at ya. So pink and delicious after a good rub." He kissed and nipped her thigh as he lowered to clean her feet. "I could really take advantage of ya like this." He hoarsely whispered as his hand caressed from her calf up to her hips.

Isabelle hummed and rolled to her side. Joseph felt his cock rising as his eyes devoured the round and perky ass presented to him. He could not hold back and grabbed her ass cheeks, spreading them to see what was hidden in between them.

"Shit..." He growled. He groped and rubbed; his thumbs dangerously close to her lower lips. Just when he thought of spreading them, he heard her whine. Only then, he woke up from his lust-addled mind and sighed. "Another time, then… I'll eat that until you're crying from pleasure." He darkly promised before finishing his task.

By the time his brothers returned, Isabelle was dressed and tucked in bed while he took care of his hard-on submerged in the warm water of the tub. His hand steadily went up and down, doing an almost imperceptible twist as it reached the head, making him sigh.

The feeling of her ass lingered in his hands and he used it as fuel to seek his peak. His grip tightened a bit and his pace increased, making the water ripple as his arm frantically moved. "Fuck…" He gasped when his mind conjured the image of his face buried in between her legs.

He could imagine her high-pitched moans; her desperate voice calling out his name, asking him to go faster, or praising him for sucking her good; her body quivering from the building orgasm until she…

He threw his head back, his mouth opening in a silent scream as his body twitched with each spurt of white that came out of his red cock. He pumped it raw, until he let out a pitiful whine and his lungs demanded for air. Laying in the dirty water, he breathlessly chuckled. That was the best hand he had given himself in quite a while.

Once down from his high, he cleaned everything and went to sleep.

He almost cursed when he found Ethan hugging Isabelle, but stopped himself as he did remember that they had only exchanged bath times.

Grumbling a bit, he looked for a spot on the bed and quickly fell asleep.