“As a citizen so will the other trust you more, and you will be able to charge higher for your services.”

Alice had asked Lilly about the benefits of becoming a citizen.

She and her beloved sister had talked a couple of evenings about how they would do to earn money so they could buy themselves a home, instead of living with Chris and “that woman”.

Alice had got the idea that it maybe could be better to become a citizen, but had decided to ask Lilly about it first.

“So if I and Ellen become citizens, so will we gain more trust and can set higher prices?”

“Of course, but that also includes that you will need to pay some taxes to. So you win some and loses some.”

Alice still found it very tempting. Even if the had to pay taxes so was it still really good that they gained some trust. Only by gaining trust by the others so was there a chance that they could get some more customers.

“It will also be possible for your sister to take a patent on the things she´s building. Not to mention that it will be easier for you to buy a cheap house, if you still want to move out of Mr behorn’s house.”

Lilly described that it would be possible for them to buy a house that the city had taken.

Giving those hunted for smaller crimes a chance to be free once again. Without Lilly telling her, so was Alice knowing that there would be a risk that they could set Jack free if they would buy back their old house.

Which wasn’t good at all. If Jack would get free from his charges, so could it mean that he might come back. And knowing her sister so would there be a risk that Ellen could try to get him into the family.

That would be really bad since there wasn’t the slightest chance that he would stop with his crimes. And if the city would start to hunt him again, so was there a big risk that they would lose everything again.

Lilly helped Alice with the patients that came for treatment since Taija all of sudden had decided to leave, for unknown reasons. It could have been one thing if Taija had given her a small reason why she had to leave, instead she had only been throwing it in her face like a bolt from a clear sky.

But thankfully so had Lilly stepped in, which meant that Alice now had to learn how to act from her.

It wasn’t the same thing as trying to imitate how Taija showed her emotions, Lilly had a more professional and almost annoying way of showing emotions. But in the end so was it sadly the only way for her, since she still couldn’t feel any emotions.

When the patient left so couldn’t Alice help to think about what had happened to Lapin.

She had just like this patient got the treatment and left, but then she hadn’t come back again.

There were great chances that she had relapsed and too ashamed to come back, or she could have simply dropped dead somewhere by too much treatment. Which she had come to get every single day.

Alice really hoped that it only was that the girl had relapsed. Not only because it could be bad for both herself and Lilly if it came out that one they gave treatment to just dropped dead. But it would be even worse for her beloved sister to find out that the “Angel” had killed someone.

“Are you still thinking about if you shall become a citizen?”

“Yes I am.”

It wasn’t a good idea of telling Lilly about what she really was thinking about.

That woman had been partly against the treatment from the beginning and could probably stop helping Alice any given moment if something like that occurred. Therefore she wouldn’t tell her. The word about the treatment had already spread, so it was going well for them right now.

Alice was probably earning enough money to be able to rent or buy a house in a couple of months, but it seemed it could go even faster if she could convince Ellen to be a citizen with her. So that they could move out of the house and away from “that bad woman.”

It didn’t happen much more at the clinic for the rest of the day, so Alice got more time to ask Lilly more about the benefits of being a citizen.

She let out a heavy sigh. They had closed the clinic for the day and went different ways.

The latter part of the talk had led nowhere. It still sounded like a good idea, but she would like to know more that could motivate her sister to agree to it.

The possibility could be a good motivation for her, but would it be enough? She meant, Ellen sure deserved to become famous because of she built the “Angel”. But would she accept it herself, or did Alice need to force it down her throat?

Back at Chris’s house so had Ellen cooked the dinner.

It had been a long time since Alice had been eating something made by her sister. But overall so had it been quite some time since Ellen cooked anything at all, which was easy to notice.

The food didn’t taste bad, but at the same time so wasn’t it as tasty as when that “crooked woman” cooked it. Which of course Alice couldn’t say out loud.

Both Jill and Ellen took some wine to the dinner. It seemed to be a bad habit that her beloved sister had picked up from “that woman”, at least it wasn’t anything she ever had done before. Only another sign that “that woman” wasn’t good for Ellen. Not good at all.

Alice discreetly tried to lead the usual small talk during the dinner toward the idea of the sisters becoming citizens. Which failed horribly when Jill noticed what Alice try to do, and decides to tell it straight out. “That woman”, just “that woman”.

“You think we should become citizens Alice?”

Ellen looked curious at her when she started to tell the benefits that Lilly had told her.

She did seem to be interested in the whole idea. Yet she did follow Chris and Jill when they treated it like a joke. Alice tries to go with the benefit of Ellen being able to take patents on things she creates, which also get shot down as a bad joke.

No matter what Alice said, it was treated as a joke.

Didn’t Ellen want to become a citizen, being able to buy or rent a house and be registered as a real family? Even after she did seem interested when Alice started to talk about it?

Somehow Alice was glad that she no longer felt emotions. Otherwise there was a risk that she would get upset and tell “those idiots” a thing or two.

Everything was going downhill from there, Ellen continued to drink with “that woman” after the dinner. Joining Alice in the bed later on, intoxicated.

Almost desperately, Alice took another chance to talk with her sister about the benefits of registering themselves as citizens. But once again it was simply treated as a joke.

Ellen didn’t seem to take anything she said seriously, almost every time following up with a stupid comment.

“Ain`t you a serious one?”

It was the last comment that Alice could take from her sister before giving up.

Of course she was a serious one. She wanted them to be able to live their own lives without living in someone else’s house. She wanted them to be able to stand at their own two legs.

Not to mention that she wanted her beloved sister to gain all the fame and respect she really did deserve. Everything that Alice had received during the time Ellen had been taken care of her as a child, everything that she right of had stolen from her beloved sister.

Ellen woke up alone in the bed.

Alice seemed to have left without waking her up. Maybe because of anger since she had been joking with Alice the day before. It could also be that the jokes maybe had gone a little too far, but in that case so could Alice have said something about it.

It seemed like it would be nice weather, which meant that she really should take her time this day to go and visit a couple of people.

Alice wasn’t the only one that had been thinking about becoming citizens. Ellen had thought about it earlier and even asked both Jill and Chris about it. Which maybe could be the reason that the “little princess” became last night’s laughing stock.

Ellen got dressed and walked out in the kitchen, there Jill already was sitting.

“Are you up already?”

Jill usually wasn’t up around this time in the morning. Sure both Chris and Alice had left for their respective job, but Jill still usually didn’t go up from around dinner time.

“No, I just came back from a scroll in the city and haven’t go to bed yet.”

Ellen wasn’t even surprised and took some of the coffee Chris had left behind.

If it was something that Ellen had learned during the time she had lived in Chris household, so was it that she didn’t have a bad lifestyle like she earlier had been thinking. Just by looking at Jill she could say that she herself only had a half bad lifestyle.

Sure Jill was a travelling cog technician, which could explain a little of it. But it didn’t explain why she lived like that while she had a house to live in.

“Are you thinking about what your little sister tried to tell you yesterday.”

Ellen took a sip of the, now lukewarm, coffee when Jill asked the question with a smile.

“I am, but I still want to hear more about it from other parties.”

Which was exactly what she had been thinking to do this day. If it hadn’t been that Alice hadn’t brought it up so could it had waited a few more days, that way so could Ellen had thought it all through herself some more.

The plan for the day was that she would ask Taija, Sain, Thom and Sour about the benefits of becoming a citizen. As well the cons that came with it.

Out of all of them, so did she think that Taija probably had the most information about it, or at least the best information. So there was where she was about to start.

The mansion stilled look boring, as it always had. And even if she and Alice had spent quite some time there, so was it still no place that she wanted to return to.

It was Sain that opened the door when she knocked at it.

“Ohh… Ellen, why are you here?”

She was clearly surprised to see her. Which of course wasn’t so surprising, especially since they had got on bad terms with the fat bowling ball before they moved out.

“I would like to have a short talk with Taija, if it´s possible.”

Taija was out and the fox didn’t know when she would be back.

It meant that there was one person less to ask about it, one of the more important people. But since there was nothing to do about it so was Ellen asking Sain about it instead.

Sain gave more or less the same information that Alice had pulled up the day earlier. And there seemed to be much that Sain didn’t know about it. There were many of the more complicated questions that were left unanswered. Please let Taija come back soon.

“Well, is it not Ellen that comes for a visit?”

Ellen hated to hear that voice, she really didn’t want to hear it now.

“Good day Mister Halluv.” She curtsied to the fat, old man that walked down the stairs.

Even if she acted polite to him, so wouldn’t she have minded if he been fallen down the stairs instead of walking. Especially since he decided to throw them out after Alice had succeeded to find a way to help others with her machine. And he most probably had something to do with that Taija had left the clinic.

“You are just the girl that I want to see now.”

That was surprising, he wanted to see her? Did that mean that he had some plan to use her?

It was exactly what he had planned. He wanted her to install gears in a newly bought house. Just like the cheapskate fat man he was so was he trying to press down the price as much he could.

Ellen didn’t accept it, until after it turned out that it was Taija that would live in the house. First then Ellen could consider doing the job for that price.

Taija had after all saved both her and Alice when they lost the house, even going so far to offer them a job. So she could really do it for Taija’s sake.

“So you have already got home the cog and gears to the house, so there will technically be nothing more I need?”

Ellen had made sure that she had got it right, otherwise it could be a pain since he wanted the job to be done in just a couple of days.

“All the cogs that you need should be in the house already. So it’s just to start early tomorrow morning.” She hated that he still tried to order around like she still was living in the mansion.

Taija didn’t come back during the time she did spend there talking. So there was nothing else to do than walking to Sour and Thom to ask them what she needed to ask them. She also needed to ask Sour and later on Chris about some advice about how to install gears smoothly in a house. She needed to set her pride at the line when installing those gears in Taija’s future house.

The installation went smoothly after the advice she had got from both Chris and Sour. Especially Sour had been very eager to give her good advice. But the advice from Chris about how to hide the cogs had been the best of them. It was almost impossible to see where they had been hidden. At least Ellen thought so herself, but at the same time so hadn’t she cared about it or done it ever before. So a real professional would probably say otherwise.

The fat bowling ball visited a couple of times during the time Ellen was working with the task, and so was Taija. Both of them seemed overall to be satisfied with her work. The bowling ball pointed out a few flaws, but it was only small things that were easy to fix.

Taija really seemed pleased with the work, but from time to time she looked really displeased with it all. Especially when her father had a young man as his company.

Ellen did try to ask Taija if there was something that bothered her, but the question was shut down every time. So she gave up at asking, but still couldn’t help but wonder.

“It all looks great. You did a good job here.”

It was rare that the bowling ball praised her, but maybe it now was because she no longer lived in his mansion.

“Taija will move in here today, so we will hold a small celebration for her.”

Ellen got invited since she had “been a great help”.

She didn’t believe a word he said. Sure there might be a celebration for Taija and she got invited, but it was hard to believe that it was because of the other reason. There was a greater chance that he only tried to show off that he was a “great employer”, or trying to make her feel that she was in debt to him. Which wouldn’t work since she already seen through it. But she still wouldn’t decline the invitation, only in respect to Taija.

“You really are beautiful.”

Ellen had been slightly happy the first time she heard it, but would have been happier if it would have been Jack that told her that. “It all depends on… And in your eyes, I rather not be beautiful.”

The fat bowling ball had forgotten to mention one thing about the celebration. And that was the fact they didn’t serve much food and that there would be a lot of alcohol, together with many idiotic young men.

They drank themselves stupid and tried to flirt with Ellen, which did her best to shot them down as fast she could.

“I heard that you have a beautiful sister, do you have any advice for me to how I can get between her legs?”

“You can start with to get beheaded and roll your head on the floor toward her, to even have the slightest chance that is.”

And if he wouldn’t behead himself so Ellen would love to do it for him. She would rather do that for him and leave him at the spot, than to let him even getting close to Alice.

The men had really become drooling idiots after they had started to drink.

When invited so had Ellen hoped that there would be some good people to talk with, but it all seemed like they were all driven by their pervert desires. Which also included the man that had been held The bowling ball company while Ellen worked at the house. The person that turned out to be Taija’s fiancé, which seemed to be an even bigger idiot than the rest of the men.

He was her fiancé, yet he succeeded to get his way with a few maids in the house. Even brag about it for the others.

Ellen didn’t really care that Taija had a fiancé, it was her own decision. But couldn’t she at least had been trying to find someone that didn’t think with his behind?

“Why do a little miss like you sitting here and sipping wine all alone?”

The fiancé came up to her and started to talk. May something has mercy at him if he even dared try to have his way with her. “I can’t directly see anyone that would be worth talking with here.”

It wasn’t a direct lie since most of them already had proven themselves being idiots, but she could still have tried to talk with Taija. Which might have bothered Taija.

“Well then, do you like travelling?”

Ellen had a hard time expressing herself about travelling since the closest she came to it was the work at the ships with Chris. But she would like to see more of the world, just like Jill. Travelling around in the world and see what knowledge it had to offer.

It was the first time during the evening she felt she could enjoy. Talking about travels, and advice for travelling. Finally, someone to talk with.

She didn’t regret a thing when she looked at Taija’s fiancé, lying unconscious at the floor.

The conversation had been really great, until he decided he had enough and suddenly stole a kiss from her. Even trying to stick his disgusting tongue into her mouth.

Everyone in the room looked at her. A young and “weak girl” that all of sudden had risen and knocked the young man out cold, without any signs of hesitation.

Ellen walked at her way back to Chris’s house.

She had got thrown out without getting paid for the work she did in the house. The stupid, fat bowling ball called it a compromise so she wouldn’t get accused of beating “a nobleman”. If she had known it would end like that, she wouldn’t have hesitated to beat that “noble” idiot some more.

He had after all stolen the kiss that was meant for Jack. Her first kiss that was meant for Jack, her first kiss. But it couldn’t count, right. He stole it. He did it against her will, so it couldn’t count. Right?

It was impossible for it to be like that, she still had had her first kiss for Jack. It couldn’t be any other way, right?

“Already back Ellen? How did the celebration go?”

Chris greeted her when she walked into the living room where he and the two others were sitting.

“It went pretty good. Until I punched an idiot out cold.”

Ellen was forced to tell them everything that had happened, and had to explain that she wouldn’t get paid for her work in exchange for not being accused of “beating a noble idiot”.

“You have to be careful Ellen, it would have been really bad if you had been accused of that.” Of course Alice had got worried about that, but let out a relieved sigh upon talking after hearing that they would overlook it.

“Was he still breathing when you were finished with him?”

At least Jill seemed to understand the hatred that Eller holds about the incident. In differences from Chris that seemed more amused by Ellen’s violent response.

“He was still breathing, I only hit him once. And Chris, don’t you dare to laugh.” Ellen was really not amused by Chris’s behaviour. That idiot had stolen a kiss from her, it really was a big deal.

“How about we hold a celebration for Ellen strong personality.” Jill rose and walked to get some more wine and booze to drink.

Chris had joined their small “celebration” until he decided to get to bed so he could get up and to the shop the next day.

Alice wouldn’t work at the clinic the next day, so she joined Jill and Ellen until she passed out.

“Jill, you don’t know Alice so well, but don’t you think she acts strange?”

“I agree. She’s acting strange, she’s acting just like Alice.” It hadn’t been what Ellen meant. She felt like Alice had been acting strange since she started to search for a way to use that machine. It almost was like she had done a bad decision to try the machine at herself, or something like that.

“Then I would suggest that you ask her about it. I personally find her behaviour very cute.”

“You might have a point, I might need to ask her directly about it.”

“I can’t deny either that she’s a very cute sister, even if she acts like a little princess from time to time.”

Jill burst out in a giggle.

“I think we are looking at the word cute in different ways. I mean, if I wouldn’t have a girlfriend already. Then I would probably be aiming for your sister, just like lady Lillium.”

“Aiming for Alice like, lady Lillium? Do you mean “that” doctor?”

A few seconds after Jill had agreed, Ellen understood what she had been meaning.

“You mean that both you and “that” doctor, both like girls?”

“That took quite a while for someone so smart as you to figure that one out.”

Ellen found it hard to believe that Jill and “that doctor” were lesbians, of course she didn’t know anyone of them very well. But at least what she had seen of Jill, she didn’t act like a lesbian. She hadn’t been hitting at either Alice or Ellen. She hadn’t been peaking at them while they were taking a bath, or at least not that they had noticed. Neither she had been trying to abuse them those few times that they had been taking baths together.

It could maybe be time for Ellen to protect Alice from both “that” woman and Jill. Which would be best done by that they moved out so soon they could.

“You are thinking some quite bad thoughts, ain’t you?”

Jill seemed very displeased and moved closer to Ellen.

“If you are worried about me taking your sister, how about you allow me to play with you instead?” Her eyes were shining of mischief and the faint smile she had was giving off a bad feeling.

“It can’t be done here, right?” Ellen tried to make a distance between them both, all in vain.

“Not here, but it is easy to solve.”

Jill acted like a devil, with the giggling of a young girl.

The living room was empty when Alice woke up on the floor.

No sign of either Ellen or Jill, or even what had happened after she had passed out.

She was thirst, she felt sick. She didn’t want to live right now, especially when Ellen wasn’t in the room.

Alice began to walk toward the kitchen, the throat was dry. She had to get something to drink. The head was killing her. What were they talking about the last night? Was it something important?

Change of route, almost running. She needed to throw up, she had to reach the toilet quick. It was coming up, halfway up her throat already. Alice reached the toilet just in time, throwing up what her body couldn’t handle.

She must have been an idiot to believe that she could keep it up with Ellen and Jill. And if her sister would have seen her now, she should have been laughing at her.

They talked about Taija yesterday, Taija and her fiancé. Could the idiot that stole a kiss from Ellen be the reason that Taija stopped at the clinic? And why didn’t Taija stepped in when her fiancé did what he did? Didn’t she noticed it until it was too late, or didn’t she even bothered with it?

There was a chance that she needed to ask Ellen about it, but to start with so did she need to get to the kitchen. Alice didn’t felt like drinking water anymore, she really had to get rid off that disgusting taste in her mouth. Water wouldn’t do it, tea. She seriously needed to drink some tea.

Alice searched the house for her sister while the water was boiling, but without result.

Could it be that Ellen had left together with Chris in the morning? She really hoped it was Chris she had left with, and not that “bad woman”. If her sister had left with her, so was there no guarantee that Ellen would be fine when she came back. Jill had some really bad influence at Ellen, it had been proven so many times already. Please let it be Chris she has left with.

Alice took it easy the whole day and thought about how she would do to earn more money. They really needed to get out of Chris’s house and away from “that woman”. She was really bad for poor Ellen. She had already been picking up the bad habit of drinking wine more or less every day.

It would somehow be better if Jack had been there, but at the same time so would it have been worse. There was no way that she could entrust Ellen’s health to him, not after the way he acted when he left them.

“Are you awake?”

Chris was already coming back, but alone.

“Yes, I’m awake. Have you seen my sister today?”

Just as Alice had feared so had Ellen and Jill left the house together. At least Chris thought so since they already were gone when he woke up in the morning.

“Can we trust that Jill keeps an eye at Ellen?” Alice had decided to help Chris making the dinner. She was feeling a lot better than she did in when she woke up, so the least she could do was to help in the household.

“Both yes and no.”

Both yes and no? How could he say that as if it was normal? And what did he mean?

“You can trust her since she never would turn her back toward those she sees as friends. And no since she can get some stupid ideas while drunk. Which she wouldn’t hesitate to drag others into.”

Alice understood it a little better after Chris explained what he meant. And it did feel a little better to hear that she didn’t turn her back to those that she saw as friends. All through Alice still didn’t trust her, but it was a little better.

They had got the time to cook the dinner, eat and even start a small conversation before the two “lost” girls finally came home. Both of them was wasted and Jill was supporting Ellen, that really didn’t seem to feel well.

“Have you been drinking the whole day?” Chris was the first one to break the silence that came with their arrival, asking them the question as if it was a normal event.

“Not drinking the whole day, but most of it.” Ellen’s voice was weak. She must have reached her limit.

“Ellen, it might be best if you go to bed. So can we talk about what you have done tomorrow.”

“We were simply selling your sister’s soul to Lucifer himself.” Alice was just about to rise and help Ellen to bed when “that woman” just had to open her mouth. Rambling nonsense that didn’t make Alice feel any better about that they had been out. There was no chance that Alice could be amused by a comment like that, especially not now.

“Jill helped me, do a thing. So please don’t look at her like that, Alice Morfine.” Ellen noticed Alice’s spiteful glares aimed for Jill.

“Morphine, the painkiller?” Chris looked really surprised when Alice questioned her sister.

“Morphine shall also be calming, and it’s spelt with “F” instead of “PH”. So it’s different.”

“What are you talking about Ellen?” Alice understood that Ellen was playing with the word, but couldn’t understand what she meant.

“Simply said, we are now citizens, and we are so calming that our family name is Morfine. With “F”.”

After the short explanation so was she finally following what Ellen meant. She had been out to register them as citizens and a family. She had been doing a really wonderful thing and then been celebrating it.

Alice hadn’t been wrong to think highly of her beloved sister. She could never ever have gotten a better sister.

“Then I think we all should do some more celebration.” Jill let go of Ellen, shouted and went to pick up some wine.

Ellen smiled, collapsed and passed out.

Alice tried to help Ellen. She hadn’t been wrong before, there was no chance she could trust “that woman”. Ever.

They had to move out so soon they could, so Alice really could protect her beloved sister. Protect her sister, protect Ellen. Far, far away from “that woman”.