He Opened A Matchmaking Agency In 18Th Century London [EN]: Chapter 93

< Sampson's True Feelings - 93 >

Juba, looking terrified, hesitantly raised her hand.

“It’s… my basket. I… picked these berries.”

“Juba? Juba picked them? Where… where did you gather these? What kind of tree were they from?”

Mr. Spencer’s voice trembled slightly.

Juba replied in a very subdued voice.

“I… just… followed orders to pick only… well-ripened and good berries.”

Perhaps because of Mr. Spencer’s urging, Juba spoke in more halting and clumsy English than usual.

Seeing her frightened expression, Mr. Spencer shook his head.

“No, that’s not it, Juba! I’m not trying to scold you. The berries are so good that I’m asking. Where on earth did you pick such good berries?”

At the unexpected praise, Theo carefully examined the inside of Juba’s basket.

However, in terms of appearance, they didn’t seem much different from the other slaves’ berries.

Just then, Sampson, who was next to Juba, quickly stepped forward.

“Juba went around the same trees as us. But strangely, she hesitated to pick them. So, I asked her why, and she said the aroma wasn’t good.

Then she pointed to the berries high up that she couldn’t reach and asked me to pick them for her. Juba…”

Mr. Spencer raised his hand to interrupt Sampson and asked Juba again.

“Wait! The aroma wasn’t good? Juba, was the aroma of these coffee berries very different from the others? You could sense that?”

Juba, still wide-eyed with fear, nodded her head slightly.

Mr. Spencer put one of the berries Juba had picked into his mouth and savored the taste.

After making an inscrutable expression, Mr. Spencer handed another berry to Theo and said.

“Lord Sanderson, please have a taste as well.”

To Theo, they didn’t look much different from the other slaves’ berries, but Mr. Spencer’s emotions were strangely heightened.

Theo put the berry he received into his mouth and gently bit down to burst the pulp.

At that moment,

“Ah-”

An exclamation flowed out involuntarily.

“What is this?”

The taste was on a completely different level from any coffee berry he had ever eaten. The moment he bit down, a rich and full aroma swirled around his mouth and nose.

Mr. Spencer asked Juba in a gentle voice.

“Juba, as Sampson said earlier, when you were picking the berries, did you choose only the ones with a good aroma because the aroma was different?”

Juba hesitated, then nodded and answered in a voice barely louder than a mosquito’s buzz.

“Yes… I’m sorry. I couldn’t pick many.”

At her words, Mr. Spencer waved his hand.

“No, that’s not it, Juba! You did very well. I’m not trying to scold you. I’m praising you greatly for doing well. I’m telling you to keep doing this in the future. Do you understand what I mean?”

Juba, who understood Mr. Spencer’s praise, as well as the slaves around her, all looked surprised.

It was rare to see Mr. Spencer praising someone like this in front of others.

Only then did Juba smile brightly, and her colleagues around her all patted her on the shoulder, congratulating her.

Theo was also proud because she, who had a sad expression as if she had lost everything on the slave trade ship, now seemed to be doing well on the farm with her daughter.

‘I’m glad. She’s adapting well.’

But there was someone next to Juba who was smiling more happily than anyone else.

It was Sampson.

His expression and gestures as he looked down at Juba strongly expressed emotions different from those of the people around him.

‘Huh? Sampson likes Juba…?’

Theo wouldn’t miss such a sight.

*

Thud, thud, thud-

The slaves poured the berries they had picked into several large water tanks filled with water.

“Noah! Throw away the coffee berries that float on the water, and only collect the ones that sink into the baskets prepared next to them.

And put the berries that Juba picked into a separate container and collect them.”

“Yes, I understand.”

Theo asked Mr. Spencer, whose face was beaming with a smile.

“Are you planning to put Juba’s berries through a separate processing process? Are they that great? But they’re berries picked from the same or similar trees, so I’m curious if they can be that different.”

Mr. Spencer checked the coffee berries submerged in the water tank and replied.

“Generally, coffee trees have a very good aroma from the initial flowers, but when they bear fruit, they don’t have such a strong aroma. So, after the fruit has grown, we can only judge whether it is well-ripened by its outward color and touch.
The problem is that even the berries from the same coffee tree ripen to different degrees.

But Juba seems to have an unusually developed sense of smell, and she seems to be able to distinguish the best-ripened berries among those from the same tree by their smell. It’s hard to believe, but it means she’s distinguishing the subtle differences in the aroma emanating from the pulp.”

Mr. Spencer straightened his back, wiped the sweat flowing from his forehead, and continued.

“In fact, it’s difficult to judge which berries are really well-ripened and good among these many berries unless you eat them directly. Judging by sight and touch is the best we can do.

But when I look at what Juba picked, I feel like there’s something different even though they look like similar berries. It’s a very subtle difference that only someone who has handled coffee berries for a long time can know, and I think Juba distinguished it using her sense of smell without even eating it.

I used to think that there were many people with strange abilities in the world while traveling on trade ships, but I unexpectedly met someone with the necessary skills at the coffee farm, haha.”

Theo nodded.

“So that’s why you had Juba’s berries collected separately. To process a very special coffee?”

“That’s right. All the coffee berries harvested from our coffee farm are special, but the specialness of the berries Juba picked is on a completely different level.

But as you can see, the quantity is bound to be small, so I’m thinking of carefully making a really special and expensive coffee bean separately. You can probably look forward to it, haha.”

Theo had met countless people and encountered countless coffee beans when he was in the modern era.

He had tasted and smelled more coffee beans than Mr. Spencer, perhaps because he drank coffee at so many cafes that couldn’t be compared to what was available now.

However, most of the modern coffee beans that Theo remembered had a good aroma, but the taste didn’t completely appeal to Theo.

There were a few coffee beans that he remembered, but the rest were generally not good.

‘Can I be attracted to something in the 18th century that I wasn’t satisfied with in the 21st century…?’

Moreover, the Turkish coffee he tasted in the 18th century was actually far inferior to the aroma and taste of the coffee beans Theo knew.

‘It would be a hit if I could only produce the taste of the coffee beans I used to drink in front of my company in Seoul.’

Theo was worried, but on the other hand, he was also looking forward to it.

“No, no, I’m telling you to throw away everything that floats on the water!”

Mr. Spencer shouted as he walked towards the water tank.

As Theo shook his head at the start of another nagging session, he saw Sampson and Juba.

Sampson, who was limping and carrying things, was smiling brightly and saying something to Juba.

But Juba’s expression towards him was almost expressionless.

Perhaps because of her low emotional signals, Sampson’s excessive expressions and gestures stood out even more.

‘Sampson… is he in unrequited love?’

Come to think of it, the furniture and baby safety bed in Juba’s room looked more special than those of the other slaves.

Perhaps Sampson had put more effort into making them out of his affection for Juba.

Although he hadn’t analyzed their tendencies through specific counseling, based on what he had observed so far, Juba and Sampson seemed to be a pretty good match in terms of personality.

However, Theo was concerned about Juba’s lack of facial expressions despite Sampson’s efforts.

‘Hmm, I should find out Sampson’s honest feelings tonight first.’

* *

Late evening.

Theo’s coffee farm did not work in the evenings and had free time, so this time of day was the most peaceful and relaxing.

After work, the slaves naturally gathered to chat or do household chores while laughing, and they also planted and managed crops in a small garden next to the residential area.

“Come to think of it, you made this table too. Sampson is really talented with his hands, haha.”

Theo was sitting at an outdoor table in front of the communal living quarters, talking to Sampson.

“You’re too kind.”

Sampson was much more subdued than usual, even with Theo’s praise.

He was usually so positive and outgoing that he would always joke around and talk loudly when he received such praise, but these days, he could hardly be seen doing that.

‘He’s been quiet for a month or two. He only smiles brightly in front of Juba. Is he really in unrequited love? But even so, is there any reason for him to be so down and out? Did he confess to Juba and get rejected?’

Feeling frustrated, Theo asked directly.

“Sampson, don’t you have feelings for Juba? Do you have any thoughts about marriage?”

Sampson was startled by the sudden question and became serious.

“Mar… marriage? No, no, Master. It’s absolutely not like that!”

It was an unexpected reaction for Sampson, who always expressed his feelings honestly.

However, as soon as he mentioned Juba’s name, the emotions of liking her were strongly emitted from his subtle expressions and gestures.

‘Why is he trying to hide his feelings so much, unlike his usual straightforward personality?’

Theo asked again, wondering.

“That’s strange. The way you’ve been acting towards Juba lately, it’s obvious that you like her. But why can’t you honestly say you like her? Did you tell Juba how you felt, and she said she didn’t like you?”

“No. I didn’t dare to ask her that.”

“Dare? What do you mean you didn’t dare to ask her?”

Sampson said to Theo as if pleading.

“Master! Please don’t misunderstand. I really like living here. I just hope to work with a good master and manager like you for a long time.

I’m just getting along with Juba, and I have no intention of getting married and starting a family. I’ve never said anything like that to Juba, and Juba doesn’t have any feelings for me either.”

“……”

Only then could Theo understand why Sampson was saying this.

At that time, if a black slave got married on a farm, their family was often scattered.

It was a kind of precautionary measure to prevent accidents.

Black slaves from Africa, who had a particularly strong bond between family members, could endure being abused themselves, but they could not bear to see their spouse or children suffering.

As a result, it became quite inconvenient to make slaves who were married and had children work, and in particular, accidents often occurred when a manager abused a child and was attacked by the enraged slave parents.

In order to prevent such accidents in advance, it was the management method of most farms to sell some of the slave family to other farms to separate them.

Sampson, who had seen and experienced this firsthand since he was a child, was already worried that if he married Juba, he would have to go through such a thing again.

Theo, who read his emotions, said in disbelief.

“Sampson. You’re really frustrating. Don’t you still know me after living together for almost half a year? I know what you’re worried about. But rest assured that the things you’re afraid of will never happen.

If you like Juba and Juba also likes you, I will marry you two and I have no intention of sending you to another place unless you want to.

The same goes for Abba [Juba’s daughter], of course, and even if other children are born between you two. No one will say anything if you live together for the rest of your lives working on this coffee farm.

And, if the coffee farm is very successful, I’m thinking of raising your salaries and releasing you as freed slaves. But why are you worrying about your family being separated?”

“Freed… slaves?”

“Then, did you intend to live as a slave forever?”

“…Master.”

Sampson suddenly lowered his head and his shoulders shook.

He was crying.

“No, what is it? Are you crying now just because of these words?”

Theo was quite embarrassed because he was always so cheerful.

Sampson had been captured as a slave with his parents a long time ago and had suffered all kinds of hardships.

He lived with his parents, doing hard labor in the sugarcane fields, and was forcibly sold because he was a family member, and he couldn’t even watch over their death.

He was barely allowed to go see his parents, but he had to turn around, swallowing hot tears, after hearing that they had already died two years ago.

Since then, he had been sold here and there, working as a carpenter’s assistant on a ship and also working in sugarcane fields, dreaming of becoming a freed slave and starting a family to live happily ever after.

But the reality was cruel, and eventually one of his legs was cut off.

He was positive, but the shadows in his heart kept growing.

Then he met a new owner, Theo, who caressed his abandoned and wounded heart.

On top of that, he was drawing a happy family and a life of freed slaves, which made his emotions surge.

Sampson, whose painful memories of the past and the happiness of the present were combined, cried sadly, and Theo patted him on the back and comforted him.

Sampson, who had calmed down, conveyed his honest feelings.

“As you saw, Master, it’s true that I like Juba and want to marry her. However, shamefully, my feelings for Juba are just my one-sided feelings. Juba doesn’t seem to be interested in me at all.

On top of that, I was so worried about the future that I didn’t even dare to tell Juba how I felt. And I’ve been groaning for the past few days because my reality is so miserable.”

“Like a fool. Why didn’t you tell me sooner? But, do you like Juba that much?”

“When I first saw Juba, I just thought she was pretty, but as time went by, my heart kept leaning towards her and I couldn’t concentrate on my work. Recently, my feelings of liking her suddenly became too big.

But Juba also has eyes, so would she want to marry an old man like me who can’t even walk properly? I saw the other day that Kuzo seemed to have feelings for Juba, and Juba didn’t seem to dislike him either.”

Kuzo was a young black male slave of a similar age to Juba and was said to be quite popular with the female slaves on other farms.

“Why? You’re not inferior to anyone in terms of physique and face. Anyway, now that the worry about being separated from your family after marriage, which was your biggest concern, is gone, can’t you be brave and tell Juba now?”

Sampson scratched his head and hesitated.

“Yes? No… that’s a bit… I’m worried that if I unilaterally convey my feelings for no reason, Juba will feel uncomfortable living on the farm because of me. I think it would be okay if Juba became happy with a better man here, just that.”

“Yes, that’s right, Master.”

“Okay, then I’ll quietly find out Juba’s feelings. So, if Juba also has feelings for Sampson, you can think about it again, right?”

“If you do that for me…”

“Okay! As you know, I’m a famous matchmaker in London. So don’t worry and leave it to me.”

Sampson bowed deeply, expressing his sincere gratitude.

“Master. I don’t know how to thank you for caring so much about a worthless guy like me. I will work hard to make our farm successful, even if my body breaks!”

“Yes, yes. That’s you, haha.”