Chapter 6

What was going on?

What was with this situation?

I had not noticed it before due to my grogginess, but now that I was more awake… why did it feel as if there was a serious air during dinner? None of the brothers were speaking, each eating their soup with tremendous zeal.

The soup was good, there were a few pieces of vegetables floating here and there, and the broth from lunch gave it a delicious touch. It was a good soup. Though, I do not think it was a marvel that would render the four men speechless. Did something happen while I was asleep? Have they fought? I wanted to ask, but I guessed it was not appropriate to meddle in their matters.

Hm, well, they were already grown-up men. They were perfectly capable of resolving their conflicts on their own. Alright, enough with that, there was another matter that I wanted to make clear.

"Excuse me..."

Huh? This… As soon as I spoke, the four lifted their heads in unison and turned to look at me. My, my, I am being watched by four handsome men. So happy! Ok, focus, focus. The matter at hand.

"I am not sure if Felix has mentioned it, but I was thinking, if it is no bother to you, to stay here. I can work, or help you with things in the house! I can do anything to not be a burden… Is that acceptable?" Uuh, my courage vanished at the end under their intense gaze. It is bad for the heart to have the devoted attention of such excellent specimens of men.

The three younger brothers turned to look at the eldest in unison, leaving the final say to him. I, too, stared at him waiting for his reply.

Ethan cleared his throat, probably not ready for such a focused attention either. "It's no problem for us. I guess the most important matter's if you're fine with stayin' with us. You've seen the situation we're in. We're lucky if we can eat three meals a day. We usually only eat two; two poor meals at that. Our house is small, we don't even have space to eat inside. The big bed barely fits inside… ah, but we can make place for 'nother smaller bed for you. It has that little space available. Still, the decision's yours. Us brothers can easily, uh, let you stay."

Oh my, such a sweet Ethan! "Yes, I am willing to stay." Oh? The air around suddenly turned light and bright after confirming my stay. "You are the only people I know. I cannot go around without an aim, right?" That was the most important reason I had for staying. Who cared if they were poor with only one meal a day! I had to start this new life somewhere.

"You need a name, too, pretty Sis!" Felix suddenly exclaimed, taking me by surprise. He was right. I could not go nameless for the unforeseeable future. More so, because I was not sure if I would ever have my memory back.

"I cannot think of one now…" What name was good? Maybe something pretty. Or perhaps one that sounded lucky, I did have the good luck to avoid a great tragedy. "Do you have any suggestions?" I asked the brothers who have already finished eating. So fast… Anyway, it was them who found and helped me. In a way, this new life of mine was given by and began with them.

"Belle. Isabelle." Lucas spoke up. Oh!

"It suits you," Ethan smiled at me. "Isabelle, Belle for short." I loved it!

And that was how my life as Isabelle started. In a quaint house in the outskirts of a village I had never heard of with four handsome men that saved me. I must certainly repay them, must I not?

First things first, I needed to sleep to start an early day tomorrow. Everybody had a task to do.

Ethan had to go to town to search for random jobs and earn a few coins. Lucas had to go hunting again due to the extra mouth, me, they had to feed. Joseph had to go water the crops and see how they were doing. Felix had to wake up early to make food for his brothers. I stayed at home, too, to see in what I could help Felix with.

I also needed to sew a few pieces of clothes for myself.

As promised, my bed was put in a corner of the living room inside the house. The bed turned out to be the wooden plank from before, but this time the sheets did not smell weird. It seemed the bundle of sheets Felix washed in the afternoon were those sheets. I had been temporarily sleeping in the kitchen, so I had upgraded to sleeping in the living room.

That was nice! Better than sleeping on the cold floor, too!

I also did not want to have another hideous rat as my companion at night. Four snoring men were much better, in my humble opinion. And with the harsh lullaby of their snoring, I fell asleep.

When I woke up, morning light was heavily spilling inside the living room. I abruptly sat up, and my head throbbed, resenting the sudden movement. Looking around, I noticed nobody was inside. Why did they not wake me up? Do I not look like a lazy bum by sleeping in? I put on the underwear I readied yesterday with Lucas' big shirt used as a short dress.

Once outside, I stretched and smiled contented at the sight of the dirt front yard with the tall tree and the gentle breeze that caressed my skin. I was becoming happier and happier with my decision.

"Good mornin', Belle!" The cheerful voice of Felix greeted me as he came with a broom in hand.

"Good morning." I replied with a smile. "Are the others already gone?"

"Yeah," he easily replied. "We didn't wake you up 'cause you're still injured, and you need more rest." He explained after he saw me sulking. "There're pancakes for breakfast. They're only made with flour and a few herbs, but they're edible." He sheepishly said. He looked as if the food he made was horrible, but it was actually nice.

Of course it was a bit lacking due to many ingredients being missing; but, as he said, the pancakes were edible.

Done with the morning ablutions and with breakfast, I was ready to begin my own work: sewing. I took out the voluminous dress and cut up all the layers with the help of a knife. Looking at the dress and the quality of the fabric, I could conclude I was someone from a prominent family, or at least a family that had money.

But that was in the past.

The sudden dismissal of my forgotten life made me wonder if I was too callous to easily throw that life aside and not make an effort to look for my family. My thoughts stirred as I sewed a pair of skirts, next I made long-sleeved and short-sleeved tops; and finally, two sets of underwear. Contrary to my expectations of messing things up, I seemed to be good at sewing.

I didn't have much problems with making the pieces of clothing, working quite fast.

"Yer stitches are really good. Way better than mine." Felix, who had nothing to do after he was done with his chores and had been staring at me sewing, quickly praised.

"Do you think so?" I asked, checking out if the newly sewn sleeping garment was well made. It was put together from the torn pieces. It was short, though not as short as Lucas' shirt. To sleep, it was enough.

"Yeah! Especially this cute figure of flowers here. It's really well done!" He pointed at the simple embroidery I made to cover up some tears in the fabric.

They would have looked strange if I had only sewn them together. I wanted to make other patterns for the skirts and tops as decoration, but there was not enough thread. So, only this sleeping garment and a top were embroidered.

"Maybe you could sell these in town. I heard from Ethan they're really popular."

My eyes sparkled at this sudden opportunity to make money. I had ask Ethan for more details, or even ask him to take me to town to ask around myself!

With new-found motivation, I sew all my clothes in one sitting. It was a shame there was no more embroidering thread to make other designs. The one I used had remained unused for who knew how long. Perhaps since the brothers' Mom passed away. Felix had said it was fine to use it when I noticed it was there.

There weren't many colors, and it was the cheapest thread out there. How did I know that? Call it a hunch, hehe.

I had been so focused on what I was doing that I did not even notice Joseph had returned and was having lunch together with Felix. I occupied almost all the table for my creations and left the two to huddle in a corner. I felt a bit embarrassed for it.

"Uh, sorry. You should have told me I was taking up space." I said while moving the clothes to a stool.

"You were so into it, we didn't wanna bother ya." Felix explained with a smile.

"You really have talent for this." Joseph smirked while holding the lower piece of my underwear in his hand. I felt my face heating up in embarrassment and stiffly stretched my hand, asking for it. He lowly chuckled as he gave it back. Really, so embarrassing! "Felix said you plan to sell embroidery."

"Ah, yes!" Forgetting all about what just happened, I cheered up with the new topic. "Though, I do not know if it is really profitable. After all, I would need to buy thread and fabric. I am not sure if we will make a gain after the expenses." With the brothers' situation, I would feel bad if I wasted their money only for my venture to not kick off.

"I ain't sure 'bout the prices of thread and fabric. You have to ask Ethan." I nodded at Joseph's suggestion.

"Anyway, that's for later. You have to eat." Felix said, putting a small dish of sauteed vegetables and a bowl of some sort of soup in front of me.

I had given up guessing what I ate as long as it was edible.