"How do you intend to get the carruaje, Guelio. It's with Jazmin, and she has a job today."

"Why don't we pay a visit to her workplace then? Visiting a friend isn't hard, and we're just going to borrow the carriage anyway."

"Do you seriously want to go to the hacienda she works in then? And cause a fuss?"

Guelio nodded, almost with a smirk. Renee sighed, knowing Guelio won't take no for an answer, especially since it was probably related to his revolutionary work, which was the main reason he went back. However, it was preposterous for her to close down the cantina. Her customers demand food, and she must provide it. In these types of cases, Renee needs back-up from her fellow citizens in Punto Donostia. She calls on these friends to help, as they are best young bakers and cooks in the town.

For this situation, she called a baker named Yessica Ramos-Roche. She is a close friend who came from Santamesa and had to move with her husband, Juan. He was working as a musician in the Banda San Francisco de Malabón in Cavite. So she needed to work as both a gardener as well as another job. Luckily, Renee's cantina opened up, which gave her an opportunity to moonlight, and with her skill in baking, she made a good associate.

She came as fast as she could, and immediately took over, with authority. She commanded the commerce and cooking with ease. Enough ease in fact, for Renee to confidently leave without fear of things going down. 

They left together under the heat of the sun, with parasols to evade sunburn. The estate lay around a mile outside Punto Sebastian, so they traveled there by foot, going along the river, as always, and the fields of talahib and rice. Following the road, they took a less-used road opposite to the road used to travel to Manila and the port towns.  

The hacienda was owned by the rich Celdran family. They were nouveau riche, due to the opening of the Suez Canal which allowed their wares from Spain to sell faster in Asia and the Americas. Their family has lived in the country since the encomienda system was in place, settling in the colony early. But only now did they become blessed enough to own land in the presence of the Zobels and Ayalas. 

The estate was huge, clocking it at nearly three hundred hectares, which was a lot for a newly landed family. With their new-found prosperity, they bought land off the Tuason family and the descendants of the rulers of the antique polity of Namayan.  Obviously, they needed people to work the farmland, as well as housekeepers, cooks, ranchers and caretakers for their children. Maybe even a governess. Since Jazmin's family became close the the Celdrans, and since Jazmin loved music, arts and literature so much, they hired Jazmin to teach their children. 

The line between public land and the land of the Celdrans wasn't marked, but everybody knew that as long as there were rice fields and herding grounds, it was territory of the family. On the outskirts, were the settlement of the workers on the property. The aformentioned cooks, farmers and caretakers lived here. 

In nipa huts and jury-rigged kawayan shelters, they lived their lives under the tutelage and compensation of the family. Most of the workers were on the field or in the stables at this moment, so it was largely empty. Only the very young or the very old were left in the settlement, and they looked at the group of five newcomers striding into the property, as if they were to face their doom.

Renee never visited Jazmin at work, simply because she wasn't an intrusive person. Still, she knew how to navigate the hacienda because of Jazmin's detailed stories about life as a governess, which brought her face-to-face with crocodiles and angry grandparents, which you don't expect from a job in education, but the Celdran kids weren't what you would expect anyway. Renee went to the stables first, where they saw the steed and the carriage, disconnected from each other. Adrienne and Sanchez were dispatched to reconnect the two while Guelio, Renee and Rodrigo went into the house to ask approval from Jazmin.

For a house built by a rich family, the house was relatively small. A stone wall separated the house from the rest of the land. On the main gate was a monogram of a stylized letter C. It was open, allowing anyone to pass. Though it would soon be clear, that not everyone who walked in were welcome.

The front lawn was divided by a stone pathway, and on both sides, there were grass and plants along the edge of the wall. Renee noticed the house was tacky, but that was considering it was built near the end of the century and it didn't fit any set architectural style. There was a table and bench near the stone staircase to the ground floor of the house, and seated on the bench were two kids and a woman wearing a pink pastel dress. The kids were quarreling with each other over something, while the woman tried to ease the tension and continue reading out the book in her hands. At this point, it was obviously Jazmin, so Guelio called out to her, gaining her attention.

"Boys! Settle down, or I will call the attention of your parents."

"And then what? You can't do anything to us", answered back one of the kids.

"We'll have classes inside, with your sister. And no swimming, either."

"Nos detendremos ahora, Señora Vargas. [We will stop now, Miss Vargas]" 

"I thought so, now read the book, while I take care of business. I'm sure you can handle it, but if not, we'll come back to that."

She stood and approached her friends, greeting them with a smile and a wave of her hand. Jazmin immediately guessed it had something to do with something she had owned or had access to and since the only thing she had so far was the carriage, she said that it was outside and that they could take it anytime, so long as they gave it back in one piece. Renee assured her best friend, saying that she'll do everything to make sure no mishaps happen to the horse, the carriage or the people using them.

A pleasant conversation would've been in order, if it wasn't for the fact a man stepped out onto the veranda, calling out Jazmin by name. It was Martin Celdran y Magno, the father of the children on the lawn and the head of the family-owned Compania San Martin de Celdran. He stood tall, at around six feet, had regal appearance, and was handsome. In his youth, people would call him the young Adonis, and girls would do anything to be with him. But he knew he was knew he wasn't destined to be a heart-throb. No, he had greater ambitions.

He was an Insulares, yet he had a firm grasp on Spanish politics and issues concerning the colony. He believed in the greatness of the Spanish nation, and believes it is destined to rule the islands for centuries to come. As such, he may be intelligent, but he is also abrasive and oppressive. Those who work for him fear for their life, and those who work with him fear for their reputation. One wrong move, and Celdran will consider you an enemy. And nobody would like to be Celdran's enemy. Their lives would be ruined. Unfortunately, as he gained more power and money, Celdran's enemies multiplied, making him even more paranoid. He had a reputation for Machiavellianism, which gave him an epithet he would soon adopt for himself: "El Implacable" or "The Relentless"

Jazmin immediately replied to Señor Celdran, who was asking about how the children were doing, when he noticed strangers on his lawn. He didn't find too much offense in that, considering a lot of people worked here or visited the farm. Jazmin immediately replied to Señor Celdran, who was asking about how the children were doing, when he noticed strangers on his lawn. It didn't offend him too much, but he made sure to tell Jazmin to wrap it up. "Let's get your visitors out, we need to finish the lesson before lunch, alright?"

Jazmin nodded and told them that they needed to get back to work. That, however, was interrupted by a horse-drawn carriage barreling straight into the lawn of the house, nearly running over Guelio and Rodrigo before nearly smashing into the stone facade of the house. It was Adrienne and Sanchez driving the vehicle. The horse was out of control and they were desperately trying to gain it back. When they did, the two took a hearty laugh as they alighted carriage, thankfully unscathed. Renee had a disapproving sigh of disappointment, Guelio and Rodrigo regained their senses and Jazmin just looked on in horror.

As expected, Martin Celdran was furious. It was okay for people to visit one of his workers, it happened all the time. But if they had the temerity to cause (or at least attempt to cause) harm to him, his family and his property, he would not stand for it. 

"Salid mi casa ahora, o enfrentad las consecuancias de tus acciones! [Leave my house now, or face the consequences of your actions.]"

"What consequences? I just 'accidentally' barged into your house. I didn't mean to destroy the grass and pebbles here, tacky as it may be. You call this aesthetic?"

Everyone present was shocked to some degree. Adrienne answered back monotonously to what she considered to be an unneeded confrontational measure, with a jab at the man's taste. Of course, this enraged Celdran, who, not backing down, continued to barrage her with reasons why she shouldn't run a carriage into his house, and snide remarks, in an unbroken spiel of angry Spanish.

Adrienne stood there taking it all in, enjoying the anger directed at her. She then shrugged it off with a

"Wow, so educated. I wish they taught you common sense in school, though. It would've really helped. Because obviously? It wasn't the fault of a person, if the horse suddenly charged, aye?"

Adrienne would not be deterred, and neither would Señor Celdran. The latter was about to approach the former and ask for a confrontation, if it weren't for the fact that Renee, Guelio and Jazmin were trying to dissuade the two.

In the end, the carriage was leaving the Celdran estate, with the ire of its owner. Jazmin was left behind, continuing her job, which was now in a precarious situation. As they left, Martin warned that he would call the Guardia Civil because of such "impertinent attitude to a high-standing member of society."

To which Guelio replied, exasperated with all the fuss: "I hope you don't fall off your high-standing pedestal, Señor."

They rode off, as the sun shone high and the winds blew from the North. A beautiful midsummer day, of destiny and adventure.

"I told you, you were going to make fuss?", quipped Renee.

Guelio nodded with a smirk, and Renee sighed.