I Remember Nothing, But I Have Four Husbands

Ethan walked Isabelle back to the embroidery shop, kissed her goodbye and left running towards the carpentry. As she looked at his running back, she was reminded of the owner's brother and how much of a problem he would be for Ethan. Isabelle was seriously considering asking him to quit the job, but temporary jobs were hard to find. More so for the illiterate him.

Besides, they were at a time where they needed every penny they could earn. His job was as necessary as hers.

However, Isabelle did not want Ethan to work in such a noxious environment with people threatening him with his pay. Who knew if he would then be threatened with body harm? Or with his life? What to do? Thinking about the problem, she let out a big sigh.

"Are you done daydreaming about him?" A giggling voice asked behind her.

Turning around, Isabelle found a young lady standing with a hand covering her mouth, obviously trying to stop herself from laughing. "I was not daydreaming." Isabelle rejoined a bit annoyed.

"Sighing in the middle of the street while looking in the direction he left. You sure weren't daydreaming." The young lady slyly said. Well, put that way, it did look as if Isabelle was daydreaming so she let her annoyance go. "Are you the new employee?" The newcomer suddenly asked.

"Oh? Do you work here, too?" Isabelle asked back in surprise pointing at the embroidery shop.

She nodded. "I'm Jean Dodds." She presented herself with a dip of her head.

"Isabelle Edris," Isabelle returned the greeting with a small courtesy. She froze for a second, thinking of how her body moved on its own in a practiced way. But she quickly let the matter slide and gestured at Jean to enter the shop. "Your name sounds familiar." She commented to continue the conversation and because the other's name did sound as if she had heard or read it somewhere.

"Should be because of Dodds and Doddette." Jean followed up with a smug smile as they made their way up to the upper floor. "That's my Husband's restaurant."

Oh, so she is married.

Looking at the young woman, Isabelle understood that marrying early was the common thing to do, something out of common sense. Even if she lost her memory, some things were somewhat ingrained in her. But marriage was something she had mixed feelings about. She accepted that marrying as young as fifteen was fine, yet for her to marry nilly-willy was a rotund no.

She would not marry at the first chance, or with the first man who proposed. She had done it befo-

Huh? Was it like that?

Thought for later. She had to focus on the conversation! "I passed by there earlier, and it was bustling. I thought you would be helping your Husband with it." Isabelle quickly said, trying to mend the awkward short silence that formed while she was lost in thought.

Jean giggled at her words, not minding the pause. "He is only managing it, others man it. He would never allow me to approach the business. After all, he said he married me to be pretty beside him, and give him lots of children." Her words made Isabelle a bit uncomfortable.

It truly was a shame that Isabelle had lost her memory. Otherwise, she might have shared a few stories of the men she had been with – she knew they were not a few. She could not remember how many, but the notion was there! To Isabelle, men were nice when they wanted to be; and were mean most of the time. Either knowingly or otherwise. Then, there were those she labeled as scumbags.

Jean's Husband was toeing that line. A Wife was not a house decoration, nor was she a brood mare. If that was all he wanted, he should have gotten himself some whores. Not a Wife! However, Isabelle could not express her thoughts before the other woman's smitten expression. They had just met anyway; she could not meddle in the other's life.

"When I told him I felt bored inside the house, he let me take up this embroidery job and take the salary as pocket money. I use it to buy him presents and be lovey-dovey together." Jean confided.

Well, Isabelle might have judged Mr. Dodds too early, but she would still reserve her opinion for the time being. She only hoped that his actions and words never harmed Jean. On another note, Isabelle suddenly felt curious about the presents Jean bought for her Husband. Maybe she should ask later.

I want to be lovey-dovey with the brothers, too~

Once upstairs, Jean asked Isabelle to wait. Jean entered another room, most likely the one she had been working at previously, and then came out carrying her embroidery set and the quilt she was working on. It looked like a really complicated pattern; showing that the bubbly woman sure had her own abilities.

The two then headed to the room Isabelle had been using, with no sights of Mrs. Priddy in it, and got themselves comfortable on a table each to set themselves to work. Once they settled a pace and a pattern, they resumed their conversation as if they were long-lost friends.

"So, why're you here?" Jean asked.

"The situation in my family is a bit tight, and we will have to mainly depend on this job for the time being." Isabelle shared, a bit apprehensive yet thinking Jean did not seem like a devious person.

"Is your family numerous?" Jean curiously inquired without looking up, being very focused on her stitches.

"We are five in the house and our economy is not that good. We are barely getting by." Isabelle sighed, changing the color of the thread. "Luckily, we live in a village and can support ourselves with the crops we plant." Or at least, that was the plan. She was but a newcomer in the house, so everything she knew was from what the brothers shared with her.

"It sounds tough," Jean sympathetically said. "So, you looked for a town-boy to marry in and upgrade your lifestyle?" She teased, alluding to the scene she saw between Ethan and Isabelle.

Isabelle chuckled and shook her head. "Ethan is my Husband." She said with a blushing face.

Claiming he is my Husband is a bit embarrassing, but he had started with the Mrs. Edris, so I could only continue with it. Even after it becomes real, of course~

"Eeeh~ So it's you two and three kids? You look really good despite having three kids." Jean stole a glance at Isabelle's body before gazing down. "Also... you two do look very in love, what with the marks on your neck." She breezily commented with a mischievous hint in her voice.

Isabelle's hand paused and instantly moved to her neck, to that very specific place she remembered Ethan having bitten. No wonder people in the market stared at her strangely! And Ethan said nothing about it! She was going to kill him! It was one thing to pleasure each other in broad daylight and in public because she acquiesced to it, but to leave visible marks and not telling…!

"I'm still trying to have kids with my Husband." Jean's voice took Isabelle out of her angry stupor. "I want to have lots. Five is a good number!" She exclaimed, alluding to her guess of Isabelle's family situation.

Isabelle blinked, realizing Jean seemed to have misunderstood the dynamic in her… family. Should she clear up the misunderstanding? She hesitated for a moment, recalling that dream with that woman who disapproved of Isabelle's actions…Screw it, Isabelle wanted to see a real reaction to the truth, not some hazy memory she was not even sure was real.

"It's Ethan, Lucas, Joseph, Felix, and me; four Husbands and a Wife." She finally revealed and waited.

"For real?!" Jean shrieked, stopping on her embroidering and looking at Isabelle with wide eyes. Her jaw also dropped really low. Isabelle was unsure if Jean's reaction was good or bad. She could only discern surprise in the other's eyes; and thankfully there was no disdain or disgust. Isabelle thought Jean even looked a bit worried. Why? "Then… then… Are your Husbands wastrels?"

Ah, so that is what she is worried about.

Isabelle realized and then proceeded to laugh.

"No, it is just that their situation before I married in was not good. They are orphans from very young, so they have limited abilities. The one you saw, Ethan, is temporarily working in a carpentry now. Then, there is Lucas; thanks to his hunting, we can eat meat. Joseph is in charge of farming a small patch of land. And the youngest, Felix, helps Joseph when needed and does the chores in the house." She elaborated on the house's situation.

"So that's why..." Jean sighed, looking very understanding. She was a very centered person, not ready to judge and open to others. More than once, her Husband praised her about it, and stated that was the reason why he married her. She was also very playful. "But… you truly have a variety of Husbands." Jean teased with a wink and a salacious smile before going back to her embroidering.

Isabelle giggled and also went back to work before remarking. "The oldest is twenty-six while the youngest is sixteen. All brothers. All very different. But I allow them to have just one thing in common: me." She said with a smug tone.

"Oh, oh, oh~ A bit jealous, aren't we?~" Jean giggled. "But you are right. Even my average Husband attracts flies here and there. Whenever that happens, I have to put an extra effort into making sure he only looks at me."

Oh my, a truly decisive woman!

"I think I might only have that problem with Ethan. As he daily comes to Town, there must surely be all sort of women trying to get his attention." Isabelle shared her concern with a pout.

"Hm, he did look the type that attracts unwanted flies. Good luck with that. Some women don't even know when to give up." Since Jean had the same problem with her average Husband, then Isabelle's problem would be bigger with Ethan as he was quite good-looking.

Ah, dating an attractive man is both a blessing and a curse.

In that manner, Jean and Isabelle spent the rest of the afternoon embroidering and chatting. Jean told Isabelle she also came from a big family with six siblings. Her father had remarried after his first Wife died, leaving two very young sons with him. The rest came from the second Wife; Jean's mother.

Despite living in Basin Town, her family also faced hardships with Jean's father's business ventures never taking off. They mostly depended on the two eldest boys who started working from a young age, even forgoing school to support their younger siblings' studies.

One might think that would create resentment and dissatisfaction in the older sons; however, the family managed to remain very harmonious. A loving couple, a caring mother, an encouraging father and siblings never fighting despite having different mothers.

Thanks to their efforts and sacrifices, the family came out from their dire situation. And when the oldest brothers were close to their twenties, they managed to form their own families and gotten their own means to earn money. One had a stall in the market while the other worked as a foreman for a wealthy family that owned acres of farming land in another town.

Jean, as the firstborn from the second Wife, married a successful man and had side job, regularly sending money to her parents, and even helped her younger siblings whenever she could. The second daughter was soon going to get married to a store attendant, her coworker. The third son started a job as a teacher's assistant as soon as he graduated. The youngest was still in school.

It truly was an exemplary family.

The door suddenly opened, stopping the women's conversation. "Jean, your Husband has come looking for you. It's time for you to go." Mrs. Priddy came in and announced.

"Oh, my darling came! So happy! Well, then, I'll be going. See you tomorrow, Mrs. Priddy. Bye, Isabelle!" Like a whirlwind, Jean put the quilt on a desk so she could work on it the following day. The needles and threads were placed in a small box, then she quickly ran out of the room with a love-struck expression on her face.

Mrs. Priddy shook her head in exasperation. "That child..." She sighed. "You can go, too, Mrs. Edris. I'll lend you a box so you can take your job home. I overheard your conversation with Jean, so I know you come from afar. It'll be more efficient to work at home instead of making the long trip from your place and then going back. Just make sure you turn up the finished product on time."

The middle-aged lady looked very severe in that matter. She had experienced something similar before; with some new workers disappearing with materials and the welcoming incentive. To give Isabelle the opportunity despite that, Mrs. Priddy was actually risking it, but she was also giving the young woman a great deal of trust.

It was on Isabelle if she paid goodness with evil.

Isabelle, on the other hand, was definitely touched by the gesture.

"Thank you, Mrs. Priddy." The young woman expressed her gratitude with a big and sincere smile. Mrs. Priddy nodded and helped Isabelle fill a somewhat big compartmentalized box with the fabrics, the needles, and the necessary threads.

It was not heavy at first, but after carrying it for a prolonged time, Isabelle knew she would surely start feeling its weight. She was going to take it as the weight of responsibility and her new family's future, so she gladly took it from the older woman's hands.

"I will see you in a week, Mrs. Priddy." Bidding farewell, Isabelle walked out of the shop.