-*| The Cursed World |*-

Chapter Seven: An Old-Fashioned Family

Dad sets down his newspaper, and begins to eat too. He sits farther away from Mom, and Clover and I sit together. No one sits at the other end of the table, as I have no brother.

"When I was out on my trip," Dad starts, and we all turn to him, "I found a man to marry off Clover and ...Hebe to."

Mom furrows her eyebrows. I suppose this is the first time she hears of this, too. "Who?" She asks.

Dad shrugs. "It is an old-fashioned family, but he is the only one who will take her in." He points to me, and I stare down at my plate.

"Old-fashioned?" Clover asks. Her eyes are wide. "What does that mean?"

I am wondering the same thing. What does an "old fashioned family" mean?

"It means that your husband has multiple wives, Clover. So he can produce more heirs to his land," Mom says, and then adds in to cheer her up, "You two are lucky ducks! He must be wealthy,"

Dad shrugs again. "He has a lot of land and dirty-coats. All that matters is that we will have them out of here. I want no more half white-coats in this house, do you understand, Fauna?"

Again, he uses my mother's real name. Like me, she is named after some goddess. Yet, I don't know what a "half white-coat" is. I should not ask, because I don't want to offend them.

She nods, and lowers her head, like a dip to show her respect towards him. "Yes, Genesis."

Genesis is my Dad's name. Usually, white-coats get fancier names. Clover's name is just Clover, though. That I don't get, but that's alright. Clover is a pretty name, and it fits her because she is pretty.

He grins, and claps. "Only 8 more years of dealing with you!"

"8 years seems pretty long," I mumble from what I know of numbers and time.

He scowls. Everyone is scowling today. "Shut it, what do you know of years?"

Before things escalate, Mom tells us to help clean up.