Chapter 2

Her beloved sister Eleanor received the news from Harriet. Eleanor was already aware of Harriet's news, the men being the talk of the neighborhood. Eleanor, her sister, listened to her while expressing only a passing interest. Eleanor was intrigued by the men's arrival and also assumed that there must be a reason why they are here.

"Let's make more dough to make more bread, because we can earn money by working hard rather than talking about some men," Eleanor said after a deep sigh. Harriet notices that she is working hard because she has made a lot of dough! As a result, Harriet has decided to assist Eleanor.

"But they're suspicious," Harriet inquired.

"Indeed," Eleanor says, giving up on stopping her sister from talking any further. So Harriet kept talking while Eleanor listened but let her sister's words pass from one ear to the other.

The men began unpacking and decided to explore the small village. Women stare in awe at them simply by walking past them. Conrad is pleased with what he is seeing. He felt like a very attractive man as he walked around with his peasants. Richard noticed him with a smug expression on his face.

"What's up with your face?" he wondered as he came to a halt. The other men stopped walking as well, with Conrad being the last to do so. When he turned around to face them, he had a puzzled expression on his face.

"What?" He tried to sound confused, but instead came across as proud. Richard stared at him for a long time, his upper lip pursed and his eyes narrowed.

"Stop daydreaming, idiot!" Richard exclaimed, and the men and Conrad both laughed.

"OK, I won't!" said Conrad. The men teased him as they walked around the village. They came across a busy street and decided to buy items from the side of it. There is a bakery, a clothing store, and a store for fruits, vegetables, fresh meat, and seafood. They all split up because they were going to buy different things, but Henry reminded them that they were on a budget and could only buy what they needed.

"Bro, look around you... there are only three stores in here, and everything they sell is for our basic needs," Richard observed. Henry rolled his eyes and murmured 'whatever,' which Richard could hear, but Richard only laughed at him and left him to go to the clothing store, where he saw Conrad already there.

Conrad and Richard go shopping for clothes, Bartholomew goes grocery shopping, and Antonio goes to the bakery.

Henry became bored while watching his friends spend their money, so he decided to assist Bartholomew in purchasing food to pass the time.

"And I remember how Benjamin hasn't eaten anything since he had consumed a lot of the bread you try making," Harriet recalls a time when they were young and Eleanor developed a passion for baking breads. They both remembered that exact moment and laughed as they made more dough.

"But, you see, I've improved a lot," Eleanor defends herself. Harriet snorted as she placed the dough in the oven.

"Of course! You do! The people in this village will not buy our breads if they aren't tasty enough to make them spend their own money on it." Antonio overheard their conversation and decided to add his comment.

"Is it really?" he asked himself, sounding as if he was asking Harriet and Eleanor. The siblings looked at him with a dismayed expression on their faces. They both despised being interrupted during their girl talk!

Antonio decided to ignore their stares and scanned the breads they were selling, he couldn't decide what to buy, so he turned his gaze to Eleanor as Harriet had just left to check the bread in the oven.

Eleanor kept making dough, completely oblivious to Antonio's gaze.

"Which can you recommend me?" he asked, and Eleanor raised her head to look at him and think for a moment.

"I'd recommend something that people frequently buy," she says, wiping sweat from her brow and adjusting herself. She finished the dough and asked Harriet to go get the rest of them and put them in the oven. Antonio arched his brow and nodded, forcing Eleanor to finish what she was about to say. She dusted herself off and went to see Antonio.

"A loaf," she said as she went to get a paper bag to put the loaf in. She then handed him the paper bag, which he grabbed and looked into her eyes.

"How much?" he inquired. Eleanor simply smiled.

"For free. Welcome to Santa Rosa!" she exclaimed cheerfully. Despite his hesitation, Antonio smiled back and thanked her in the most genuine way he could. After that, Antonio left, and Eleanor attended to other buyers who arrived after Antonio.

"Who was that?" Harriet inquired. Eleanor took a moment to respond because she was busy entertaining her customers.

"One of the men who just moved here," Eleanor replied between breaths.

Harriet furrowed her brows. "One of the men? You didn't ask him his name?" exclaimed Harriet. Of course, seeing Harriet so enraged and irritated caused Eleanor to stop arranging breads and stare at her sister. Eleanor undoubtedly felt something, which caused her to cry for a brief moment.

"Is it time?" Eleanor inquired, and Harriet became perplexed, asking her what she was on about.

"The time when you—-my sister—-finally felt the strong urge to love someone?" Eleanor asked dramatically, making Harriet cringe. Harriet dislikes the word "love," especially when it refers to someone she has just met.

"Absurd! I was just curious, and I haven't even had the opportunity to speak with them," Harriet defended. They spent the rest of the day arguing, and Eleanor teased her sister even more.

The men return home and decide to gather around the dining table to decide where they will sleep.

"There's no doubt that I should take the master's bedroom!" Conrad took advantage of the opportunity to get the room that the majority of them preferred. Of course, the other men do not find it acceptable to simply leave him alone. As a result, everyone decided to play rock-paper-scissors.

It's Henry vs. Conrad for the master's bedroom. Bartholomew vs. Richard, fighting for a single room. And because Antonio skipped, he automatically gets the smallest room. He wanted to get the master's bedroom, but when he saw his friends fighting and making a big deal about it, he decided to back down and take whatever was available because he desperately needed to rest, leaving his friends still fighting and playing the game.

Henry loses because Conrad shoots paper and Henry shoots rock.

Richard loses when Bartholomew shoots scissors and Richard shoots paper.

"AHHHH! I WON!" Conrad exclaimed as he ran around the kitchen with both arms raised in triumph. With a smug expression on his face, Bartholomew patted himself on the back. Richard and Henry, the losers, stared at each other for at least ten seconds before walking to each other and punching the air together.

"I can't believe we've lost to the real losers," Richard sobbed. They ended up sharing a room despite having separate beds. They all got the rest they needed, with the only difference being that Conrad and Bartholomew are sleeping with victory written on their faces, so happy that they've dreamed of winning every game they play.

The Collins family is currently eating dinner at their large dining table in their mansion. The table is so large that they are too far apart to talk... when you speak, you must be loud and clear; otherwise, you will go unheard. Mr. and Mrs. Collins are conversing loudly about the men who have just arrived in their village.

"Why are they here?" inquires Mrs. Collins. The question appears to be the most popular in the village. No one speaks after Mrs Collins, and all you can hear is the clash of their spoons and forks on their plates. Bethy, on the other hand, is listening intently to her parents' conversation.

"They wanted to see what it's like to live in our village," Mr. Collins said coldly, sounding disinterested and unbothered.

"Absolutely ridiculous! They must be up to something—"

"Then figure it out for yourself," Mr. Collins interrupted. She appears to be offended, but her lips are pursed and her gaze is fixed on her food. Bethy witnessed her mother's reaction, but she is incapable of altering it. She decided to finish her food quickly in order to escape her parents' cold atmosphere.

"I'll be having a party tomorrow evening; both of you better get ready," Mr. Collins said, breaking the stunned silence. Bethy put down her fork and sipped from her juice cup. Mrs. Collins exclaimed and stood up, clasping her hands together and staring at her husband with mad eyes.

"What now?" She expresses her displeasure with her husband's sudden decision.

Mr. Collins, on the other hand, remained unconcerned. He wants to get to know the guys better, so he'll throw a party for them, a welcome party.

"Stop misbehaving, woman," he said as he walked away from the table.

With anger still visible on her face, she stomped down to her chair and finished her meal. She cursed heaven and hell, she dislikes being treated this way, but she loves her husband and their daughter, and there will be no other happiness if she follows her heart and leaves them both alone. Norman, their Irish wolfhound, approached her and placed his paw on her legs. He looks up to her with sad but sparkling eyes, which calmed her down and caused her fast breathing to slow down.

Bethy excused herself and returned to her room. She wanted to cuddle with Norman, but he seems to know who needs him the most right now. She lay down on her bed and closed her eyes, imagining what she would do if she was brave enough to express herself in front of her parents.

"I will definitely slay suggesting a much better option than having a welcome party for those strangers!" She twitched her upper lip as she said those words.

"Grace! Go tell our new people that we're throwing a welcome party for them!" Mr. Collins yelled to Grace, their maid. Bethy heard her father's order; his voice appeared to be outside their house, and his father appeared to be in their garden. She rose from her bed and peered through her window, where she saw their maid panicking in response to her father's order.

"Yes, sir!" Grace rushes over to the newcomers' cabins.

Antonio was awakened by a loud knock on their front door. He is the only one sleeping in the first-floor room; the other rooms are all on the second floor. The knock persisted despite his decision to ignore it. With his eyes still closed, he got out of bed and hit his head against the room's ceiling, which completely roused him.

He rubbed the area where his head had been bumped, muttering, "Darn it" He opened the door with his ruffled hair and pissed face, and there stood an unknown woman. Grace apologized for disturbing his sleep and bowed slightly.

"Mr. Collins wanted me to let you know that he will be throwing a dinner party for all of you tomorrow."

To check his watch, Antonio raised his wrist. His brow furrows. "Really? At nine o'clock?" he asked. Grace apologized once more. When Antonio realized that the woman in front of him was only being ordered to, he stopped staring at her and decided to stop being so agitated.

He asked, "Have you no phones in here? You can just call us and leave a message." Grace gave a slow headshake.

She defended, saying, "We wanted to rely on ourselves rather than relying on technology. Here in Santa Rosa, we do not accept much technology." Although Antonio gave her statement some thought, his face still shows confusion.

"Right, I'll tell the others what you told me, thank you," Antonio said, referring to the aforementioned party and completely ignoring the statement that people in Santa Rosa do not use much technology.

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***