Why are you standing there, smiling like a fool for?

Jackson went to the nearby woods to get some wood as soon as they got home. He had to solve the problem to the hen’s cage since they had already bought the hen.

Mira started to prepare supper. It was nothing special. Just some roasted vegetables and porridge. That was all they had.

Mira sat thinking about how she could make money while the porridge cooked. She remembered how she had learned to sew in her past life after she divorced Jackson and had gotten married to Jason. At that time, it was more a passing fancy for her to kill time as Jason was never home; he was always meeting up with people in the big city and at the king’s court.

Heh! She was too naïve… he must have been holed up with Alina. Mira shook her head to free herself of the thoughts of the vicious couple. Thinking back to the sewing lessons she learnt, she didn’t know if she had really learnt anything worthwhile. She had to try to see if it was any good.

She was very good at embroidery… Ursula had taught her well since she was a little girl. She thought of a plan to make money. She would start with what she was good at and slowly experiment. She decided to go with Jackson to the city when he left the next day and ask around at the popular dressmakers to see if she could get a job.

“Chop…chuck…chop….”

The sound of Jackson’s axe woke Mira from her thought. She hurried outside with a glass of water.

“Why didn’t you come in?” Mira asked in concern as she extended the glass “Drink some first.”

“It’s okay. Let me finish this.” Jackson took the water and drank even though he refused to go inside and rest. The water that his wife gave tasted really sweet. Perhaps it was because it was mixed with her concern for him…

“No… come inside and sit for a bit.” Mira tugged his hand acting like a spoilt child.

“It won’t be fair on old Joe if we take up his space.” Jackson shook his head. He was not willing to inconvenience anyone else for his sake if he could help it.

“Alright. I will help you.” Mira nodded “What should I do?”

“You…” Jackson frowned; This was a man’s job. Not something a delicate person like his wife could do.

“You go inside. I will finish quickly.”

“No. I will finish the porridge and come. We will do it together.” Mira refused to listen as she ran back to the kitchen.

Jackson quickened his pace as he didn’t want his wife to do the hard work. By the time Mira returned, Jackson has finished chopping down and was sanding the pieces. Mira refused to go back in; Jackson could only give up and show her how to do it safely.

Mira put on her kitchen mittens as she sat to work. She didn’t want wood splinters in her hands. They worked in harmony and swiftly for the next 4 hours and a considerable sized coop was built. It could comfortably house at least 20 hens.

Jackson was able to acquire this manor with a considerably large size of land for a fraction of its original price due to luck and assistance of Mira’s father. The original owners of the manor ran into trouble and wanted to get rid of the property before fleeing the land. Mira’s father’s position in the chamber of trade made him aware of this situation and connected the two together. Thus, Jackson was able to buy a land of 6 hectare that was worth more than 1000 gold pieces for just 100 gold pieces.

The land was barren and laid to waste; other than space and the buildings, there was nothing worthwhile in it; there was a house, a large barn covering an acre, 3 servant cottages, a separate room for the cesspit, a large outer storage room with a side room and a free-standing structure that looked like a single room.

Although the house, the servant’s cottage and the barn that stood on the land were well-maintained, no one was willing to buy as it was away from the posh areas and stood neighboring the peasant living area. It didn’t offer the wealthy nobles any advantage. The other reason was most of them were afraid they would run into trouble with the crown for buying the land; no one was sure of the trouble the original owner ran into.

Jackson only wanted a space to live with his wife. He wasn’t politically ambitious and was not worried about losing favor. Both were desperate and didn’t have many options. Jackson was happy to buy even a small block just enough to build a house, but he didn’t have much to spend. This was a bargain for him as the land came with a house and the owner promised to leave most of the items except for large luxury furniture. They left behind many things stacked in the outer shed along with the beds with linen bedding in rooms and the dining table and chairs around it.

The previous owner’s situation was not much better as they had to flee the country urgently. They had to lose the property and leave if they weren’t able to sell and this would go back to the king’s treasury. Something was better than nothing, so they decided to take the bargain. Jack made up this amount by borrowing 20 gold pieces from his employer at Slegh estate in addition to the 10 gold pieces from Mira’s father given to him at the time of marriage and the 70 gold pieces which was left to him by his parents. His aunt had never touched it even through their toughest times. Jack’s wages for a month at this time were 2 gold pieces and he had made an agreement to pay back a gold coin every month.

“Good” Mira clapped her hands happily as she circled round the coop. Jackson’s lips curled up. He wasn’t feeling tired at all.

“What are we going to do with the rest?” Mira asked as she looked at the remaining stacks of wood that were neatly stacked. It would be a shame to have to use the nicely sanded wood for firewood.

“What do you have in mind?” Jackson asked as he saw the sparkle in her eyes. This Mira gave him a different feeling…. Full of life and mystery…

“Why don’t I use them to make chairs for the front room or fence our land into different blocks so that I can experiment with different vegetables on this land?” Mira asked with a mischievous smile.

“Okay. But wait for me to come back from work tomorrow.” Jackson agreed without an after thought.

“Can I come with you to city tomorrow?” Mira asked hesitantly as they sat down for supper. She had fried an egg for Jackson. Jackson halved his egg and placed it in Mira’s plate without feeling awkward.

“Won’t you be bored?” Jackson raised his head to look at Mira “I will be really busy. I have been away for 3 days.”

“That’s ok. I want to walk around and explore.” Mira explained her plan in detail to Jackson before adding “I will wait where you drop me off once I finish.”

“Okay.” Jackson nodded; He felt a heartache when he thought of how she wanted to help him “But if you finish early, take a carriage into the Slegh estate and wait for me in ladies waiting area.” It was a common practice for men to bring their ladies in to the city with them if there was anything they needed to get from the city and then wait for the men to finish. The Sleghs were generous in that aspect to their employees. They had a dedicated rest area for their staff’s family waiting for them to finish work, whether they were farm hands or workers from the estate office.

“Alright.” Mira nodded although she didn’t think that she would be early.

Mira was very nervous once they finished supper and went to the bedroom. Although they had been married for three months, she had never let Jackson stay in the same room as her. She hurried jumped on the bed and laid to one side covering herself from head to toe with the sheet.

“Nervous?” Jackson chuckled as he saw her ostrich like actions. He was about to get the pillow and head out to the front room as norm when he saw that she had left space on the bed for him.

“Um” Mira’s voice was a bare whisper.

“Should I go back to the front or stay?” Jackson teased in anticipation.

“Stay.” Mira hurriedly got up and pulled his hand. She realized he was teasing her as she heard him chuckling and turned pink.

“Mira, I will stay in the front till you have made up your mind but if we take this step today, I won’t let you go in future. You can only be my wife for the rest of your life.” Jackson warned seriously. It was not that he didn’t want to …. He knew that he couldn’t take a step back once they took this step even if the cost would be hurting each other.

“Um.” Mira nodded as she lowered her head shyly and whispered “I have thought it clearly. I only want to be your wife.”

Jackson hugged her, overwhelmed with emotions as he heard her shy confession. He couldn’t stop himself from kissing her as he soaked in her sweet fragrance. What followed was the symphony of nature.

Jackson stopped his moments even though he was uncontrollably entangled in the web of desire as he felt the pressure at the entrance and groaned in a low voice “You…. you…. this… is your first time?” Normally one wouldn’t ask such a stupid question when making love to your wife for the first time…. But she had previously told him that she had already given herself to Jason, her first love.

“Yes.” Mira whispered as she bit her lips. She had heard stories how this was meant to be a blissful and thoroughly pleasurable, but her experience was different. It was really painful. She didn’t want Jackson to misunderstand so she endured gritting her teeth.

“But… you…” Jackson held himself back in shock.

“I lied.” Mira pouted as she whispered.

“Sorry…I will be gentle…” Jackson’s face lit up as he slowed his movements. They cruised the peak and crashed into the oblivion of bliss together. Although it was painful at first, slowly it became pleasurable, and Mira enjoyed his care and unspoken affection.

His new wife suited his taste thoroughly. Jackson lost count of how many times he asked for her through the night. He only let her go after she collapsed from exhaustion.

Jackson woke up the next day with a spring in his step. He was not worn out by the night’s activity. It would be more truthful to say that he was more energetic if anything.

“Is it morning already?” Mira mumbled from under the blanket.

“Um” Jack nodded as he dressed.

“Oh… no …. You are already ready?” Mira tried to sit up. Her body felt like it was falling apart… it ached so badly like she had been crushed by a huge boulder.

“You sleep.” Jackson chuckled as he heard Mira cursing him “Beast!”

“No… no… I have to come… what about your breakfast?” Mira frowned.

Jackson shrugged. He was used to not having breakfast ever since they moved here as Mira never cared and he had never done anything in the kitchen.

“Wait… wait…” Mira rushed to wash her face. She put two eggs to boil as she went about her morning rituals. Luckily, she had bought a loaf of bread from the shop yesterday.

“Don’t rush.” Jackson shook his head helplessly as he saw her rushing about. He was going to take a ride in the carriage if she was coming along, so he wouldn’t be late. He was definitely not going to make her walk after what he did last night. His lips curled up as he thought back to last night. Even the last bit of reservation he had towards her change was washed away after last night.

“Here…. Why are you standing there smiling like a fool for?” Mira grumbled as she saw his silly smile. She served him breakfast as she ran to change her clothes.

“You too…. Eat first.” Jackson pulled her to sit next to him “We have plenty of time.”