He Opened A Matchmaking Agency In 18Th Century London [EN]: Chapter 216

216. A Happy Reunion (2)

Tae-oh revealed his identity with a smile.

“I’m Theo Sanderson. I own this farm. I don’t believe we’ve met before, so you must be new to the farm?”

“Oh, Your Grace!”

Startled by the name ‘Theo Sanderson,’ she dropped her basket.

Princess Maria picked up the basket for her and said,

“Are you alright? You seemed surprised.”

“I… I’m sorry. Just a moment!”

The young Black woman, after taking the basket, quickly ran into the kitchen and shouted,

“Auntie! Auntie! Come out quickly! He’s here! Master Sanderson is here!”

At her shout, two middle-aged Black women rushed out of the dining hall.

“Oh! Isn’t that the master!”

“Oh my— Master! Sob—”

Tae-oh immediately recognized them as Becky and Jenny, who were bursting into tears.

“Ah— yes! Becky! Jenny! How have you been? Hahaha—”

They kept wiping away tears, overjoyed and unsure of what to do. When they saw Princess Maria, they suddenly knelt down and bowed deeply.

“Oh, you must be the mistress! We are so late with our greetings. Forgive us. Sob—”

“Greetings, mistress!”

Surprised, Maria helped them up and said,

“No, no. We are the ones who arrived late. I’m so glad to meet you all.”

After a long period of sobbing and rejoicing, Becky grabbed the young Black woman next to her and brought her in front of Tae-oh.

“Master! Do you not recognize this child?”

Tae-oh tilted his head and said,

“Well… I don’t think I do. Is she a new member of the farm?”

At Tae-oh’s words, Jenny and Becky laughed loudly and said,

“Hahaha— Master, you know Juba, right? This is Juba’s daughter, Ava, all grown up. Hoho—”

“…What?”

Tae-oh, with surprised eyes, examined the young Black woman named Ava.

Now that he looked closely, she resembled her mother, Juba, a lot.

“Oh— now that you mention it, she really does! She looks just like Juba! My goodness… that baby has grown up so beautifully!”

Ava smiled shyly at Tae-oh’s words.

Tae-oh could still remember Juba holding Ava in her arms on the slave ship, shedding tears.

While they were chatting amiably with Ava, Becky and Jenny went around informing their colleagues that the master and mistress had arrived.

Soon, many farm members came down, and familiar faces began to appear one by one.

“Duke Sanderson!”

“Ah! Isn’t that Noah!”

Farm manager Noah had become a respectable head of a household with four children. Other Black people had also married and had children in the meantime.

Mr. Spencer, due to his age, mainly lived in the lower village now and only came up occasionally.

The farm’s children, who had only heard about Tae-oh from the adults, curiously wandered around with great interest.

Just then, Samson and Juba were seen rushing over from afar.

Juba, who was carrying a large basket, threw it down as soon as she saw Tae-oh and ran over.

“Ah— Master! You really came! Sob—”

He asked Juba, who had run over in tears, how she had been. Unlike in the past, she spoke English very well.

Samson, limping as he approached, also teared up, and upon seeing Princess Maria, he was once again moved to tears.

With a flushed face, manager Noah loudly announced to the farm members,

“Alright, alright! Everyone, stop standing around here. Let’s escort the Duke inside to our dining hall and talk there! To the dining hall!”

***

The farm members gathered in the communal dining hall and took time to introduce their families and greet Tae-oh and Princess Maria.

In particular, the unexpected welcome songs and dances by the children born on the farm made Tae-oh and Maria very happy.

According to Noah, the children had been preparing for a month since they heard the news that Tae-oh was coming.

After the simple welcoming ceremony, Samson approached Tae-oh.

“There’s a place we really want to show you both. It’s something I promised the master, hehe—”

Samson led Tae-oh, Maria, and the farm members towards the communal residence.

The communal residence, located on the opposite side of the farm, was beautifully decorated with flowers from the entrance.

“Oh my, the flower garden is so beautiful!”

Maria exclaimed even before seeing the residence.

‘When I went back to the 21st century, it was just a path overgrown with trees… This path has been decorated so beautifully.’

Tae-oh and Maria held the children’s hands and happily followed the path.

And finally, the communal residence revealed itself.

“Wow—”

Tae-oh couldn’t help but exclaim.

Neat wooden houses, recently built, stood in a row like a village from a fairy tale.

He had certainly seen it in the 21st century, but it was very different from the old appearance it had after more than 200 years.

“Oh my goodness~ How can it be so pretty!”

Princess Maria looked around the residence with a dreamy expression.

She had never imagined that such adorable and pretty houses would be clustered together in the mountains.

“Master, mistress. Now you must see the real gift that we have all prepared. Hehe—”

The Black people standing behind Samson were all beaming, eagerly anticipating Tae-oh and Maria’s reaction.

Since hearing the news of the wedding, they had been building a house whenever they had the chance for Tae-oh and Princess Maria, who would be coming here.

The farm members were eager to show off the house they had painstakingly made for Tae-oh.

Step by step—

Turning around the end of the communal residence, a wide open space appeared.

And going a little further inside, a wonderful wooden house came into view.

“Ah— wow—”

“Ha—”

Maria and Tae-oh exclaimed simultaneously.

It was so wonderful and beautiful that it could be said to be a completely different house from the one they had seen in the 21st century.

From the stairs and handrails to the doors and windows, and the pretty house structure… it was a picturesque house that could only be seen in dreams.

Tae-oh, filled with emotion, looked at the farm members and asked,

“Did everyone do this together? For us?”

“Yes! Samson and Peter took the lead, and we helped a lot too! Haha—”

At that moment, a little Black child, who was holding Princess Maria’s hand tightly, shouted in a very disgruntled voice,

“They always told us to clear the stones around here, and they never let the children inside the house! They said we could go in when the master came. Master? Can we go in today?”

“Hahaha— yes, yes.”

With a pleased heart, Tae-oh took the children’s hands and opened the front door.

Passing through the long hallway, the living room came into view.

Tae-oh and Maria were speechless.

The beautiful living room scene left them at a loss for words.

It was several times more moving than what they had seen and been surprised by in the 21st century.

Seeing Tae-oh and Maria unable to speak with surprised faces, the farm members, including Samson, who had been dedicated to the construction for a long time, looked at each other with pride.

Samson pushed Tae-oh’s back and said,

“Master! It’s too early to be surprised. We put extra care into the master’s bedroom. Shall we go together? Hehe.”

Tae-oh nodded and followed Samson, leaving Princess Maria, who was still in a daze, in the living room.

Clunk—

The moment Samson opened the bedroom door, Tae-oh doubted his eyes.

The bedroom he had certainly seen in the 21st century.

But back then, he had only admired the wonderful wooden bed.

However, the atmosphere of the room in the 18th century was so different from what he had seen in the returned 21st century.

Special elegance filled the room, with a bed and furniture that were hard to believe were handmade.

The walls were painted with a subtle and mysterious light blue color, creating an even more fantastic feeling.

In the 21st century, it had been more than 200 years, so the natural blue pigment had faded and changed color, so he probably hadn’t recognized it properly.

At that moment, Noah, who had come to his side, stroked the wall with his hand and said,

“One day, Samson said that he needed blue pigment to paint the walls of the bedroom. It was so expensive, but he said he would pay for it with his salary, so please get it for him.

So I asked him why he was painting the room blue, which would make it look distracting, and he said he wanted to express a room color that would go well with the blue mist of the Blue Mountains seen from outside the window.

His sincerity was admirable, so Mr. Spencer and I just bought it with our own money. But when we painted it, the subtle blue color really matched the blue mist landscape of the mountains so well. Haha—”

The blue pigment used at this time was lapis lazuli, which was a very expensive material because there was no paint like in modern times.

Clunk—

At that moment, Samson proudly opened the window wide, and a wonderful view of the Blue Mountains, wrapped in blue mist, unfolded, harmonizing with the blue light of the room, making it feel like floating in the mist.

“How is it, master? Not bad, right?”

“Ah, yes! It’s so wonderful… really… Samson… thank you. I really like it.”

Tae-oh unknowingly teared up.

He was so grateful that they had put so much effort into it for him and Maria.

At that moment, Princess Maria entered the room.

“Oh my!”

Maria was so surprised by the spectacle unfolding outside the wide-open window that she covered her mouth with her hand and couldn’t say anything.

“How is it? The Blue Mountains scenery that I always told you about?”

She just nodded with her eyes wide open.

After finishing the tour of the house, Tae-oh and Maria sat down in the living room with the farm members and shared many stories.

The story of the early days of settling on the farm, the wedding story of Samson and Juba, the various incidents that occurred while expanding the farm, the weddings of the farm members, and the birth of precious children, etc.

The stories that Tae-oh didn’t know flowed out without him realizing how time was passing.

“Following the Juba Collection, we should have the Ava Collection. Really, Ava picks coffee beans that taste better than her mother, Juba!”

At Noah’s words, Princess Maria smiled brightly and said,

“That’s amazing! The Duke was always worried that it would be difficult to find someone as talented as Juba, but she’s even more talented than Juba. I definitely want to try Ava’s coffee tomorrow.”

Juba looked at Ava, who was shy, and replied,

“I didn’t think so at first… but this child has a natural talent for aroma and taste like me. After teaching her a few times, she picked better than me, which really surprised me. Thanks to her, the yield has also increased significantly.”

Tae-oh smiled at Juba and said,

“Really, like Noah said, we should prepare the Ava Collection right away, shouldn’t we? A showdown with her daughter. Juba must be a little nervous, right? Haha.”

“Master! Even if she’s my daughter, I can’t lose that easily! Hoho”

“Anyway, I don’t know how great it is to be able to talk to Juba so freely in English like this. Hehe.”

Juba shyly revealed her inner thoughts.

“Master. I will never forget the grace you showed me on that slave auction ship until the day I die. Our ‘Ava’ wouldn’t even be alive right now if you weren’t there….

But at that time, I couldn’t understand or speak English at all, so I couldn’t properly thank you. I just thought about working hard to repay you.

But that always bothered me, and now I’m so happy that I can express my gratitude to you with my own mouth.”

Juba’s eyes were full of tears.

“I am so grateful to Juba. Without Juba’s outstanding talent, the ‘Blue Mountain T&S Juba Collection’ luxury coffee wouldn’t have been possible.”

“That’s all thanks to the master for valuing my insignificant abilities.”

***

Late at night.

Tae-oh and Maria, who had finished a pleasant dinner with the farm members, entered their home.

A fire had been lit in the fireplace, filling the house with warmth.

With the window wide open, Maria leaned her head on Tae-oh’s lap and lay down in a comfortable position. The room had a wonderful atmosphere that was different from what they had seen during the day.

It was winter according to the calendar, but thanks to the warmth filling the room, the chilly Jamaican night air felt refreshing.

The two of them looked at the stars in the Jamaican night sky and talked late into the night about the emotions they had received from the farm members today.

◈ Two weeks later. Kingston Harbor, Jamaica.

Two weeks of dreamlike rest in Jamaica came to an end, and it was the day to return to London.

Tae-oh bought many gifts from the merchant ships and stores around the harbor and gave them to the farm members one by one, expressing his gratitude.

Also, he secretly entrusted a large sum of money to the farm manager, Noah, telling him to use it for the farm members.

And after promising to visit again within a few years, the two said a reluctant farewell to the farm members.

Samson, Peter, Juba, and Ava, along with a few other farm members, came down to the harbor to see them off, despite their protests.

And they stood there waving enthusiastically until the ship had sailed out of sight.

Holding the railing of the deck, Maria, who was waving her hand, said,

“I had only heard about them, but after meeting the farm members in person, I realized how wonderful they all are. Samson and Peter are so skilled, and manager Noah is such a good person, and especially Juba is so kind and beautiful. Ava is so pretty and kind too. Becky and Jenny as well… It felt like my heart was enriched just by talking with them.”

Tae-oh nodded silently and smiled.