As If I've Never Loved - Chapter 22

The bustling capital at midday was in an uproar with well-groomed gentlemen wearing silk hats, lavishly adorned ladies, and carriages rushing about busily.

In the midst of it all, a flock of pigeons took flight with a fluttering sound.

It was right after that when Eloise, who was already quite tense, let out a piercing scream and jumped.

“Kyaak!”

Had her mother been there, she would have scolded her severely for such behavior, but it couldn’t be helped.

Her startled heart continued to pound furiously even as she repeatedly stroked her chest.

‘…W-where did all these pigeons come from?’

It was hard to believe even though she was seeing it with her own eyes.

The sight of pigeons, as many as or even more than the people, crowding the entrance to the square was incredible. So many birds gathered in one place!

The pigeons flew away from Eloise, who was screaming and stomping her feet, putting some distance between them. But soon they returned nonchalantly and began pecking at the ground of the square.

Their small, pointed beaks seemed likely to peck her feet at any moment as they explored the ground.

‘At least ducks are cute. These ones are somehow scary…’

But she couldn’t buy the advertisement flyer without entering the square. To find a job, she had to overcome this enormous barrier.

If there was any consolation, it was that no one was openly mocking her for trembling in fear of the flock of birds.

Of course, it wasn’t because the capital’s people were considerate.

They simply weren’t friendly or leisurely enough to pay attention to everything happening around them.

‘What should I do? Should I just run in? Or…’

At that moment, someone appeared in front of Eloise, who was hesitating to take a step, and skillfully shooed away the pigeons with a rolled-up newspaper. It was an elderly gentleman who had been resting on a wooden bench until just moments ago.

“Shoo, shoo! Now, hurry along, young lady.”

The air became hazy with the dust stirred up by the frantically flying pigeons. The sound of their vigorous wing flapping echoed all around.

“Th-thank you!”

Eloise ran frantically through the dust with her eyes tightly shut. She could hear the remaining pigeons cooing as they retreated.

When she caught her breath and opened her eyes, she had already passed the entrance to the square.

Looking back, she saw the elderly gentleman had returned to his bench and was reading his newspaper, while the pigeons had come back to the ground as if nothing had happened, busily pecking at the earth.

There are kind people in the capital after all. But how will I get back…

“Haa. I’m already exhausted and this is just the beginning.”

Eloise rubbed her strained eyes as she walked towards the center of the square. The interior of the square was crowded with many people.

The only consolation was that she immediately spotted the stand selling advertisement flyers.

At least she wouldn’t have to wander around anymore.

In any case, the royal capital of Brightnum was truly full of surprising things.

Eloise’s lips slowly parted as she admired the flowers displayed by old women and young girls on one side of the square, smiling as she did so. She rubbed her eyes and looked again, but she wasn’t mistaken.

‘No way. Roses at this price…?’

Right now, Mayberry would be overflowing with summer roses everywhere.

It was so common to pick as many as you wanted to decorate the dining table and bedroom…

Eloise, who had been thinking of buying a bouquet to put in her room, quietly shook her head.

It was suddenly saddening to think that buying roses felt like such a luxury, but in any case, finding a job was the priority now.

“Can I have one job advertisement flyer, please?”

As she carefully approached the newspaper stand and asked, the owner with a unique mustache, holding a pipe emitting plumes of smoke between his teeth, picked up a flyer from the pile of papers and handed it to her.

“Thank you…!”

However, frustratingly, someone’s hand snatched it away right in front of her eyes.

Turning around, she saw a slovenly dressed man standing crookedly, his shirt unbuttoned, revealing yellow sweat stains.

“…Excuse me, that’s mine.”

“Why? You haven’t paid for it yet.”

“Ha.”

Her thin, wheat-colored eyebrows furrowed at his brazen attitude. Surprisingly, the stand owner didn’t seem inclined to intervene. If anything, the acrid tobacco smoke he was puffing only intensified her irritation.

Meanwhile, the man looked Eloise up and down, and not wanting to back down from his ill-mannered behavior, Eloise glared back at him. She had to keep her head held high to avoid lowering her gaze to his unkempt, dirty chest hair.

“But I asked for it first.”

“What’s the problem? You can just ask for another one.”

“And why are you speaking to me so rudely?”

“Huh? Are you some great lady from a noble family? You certainly don’t look like one.”

Eloise’s face flushed at his blatant stare and curling lips.

‘Not only lacking common sense but also incredibly rude!’

How many more people like this would she have to deal with? She had only been in Brightnum for two days, and already she was sick of it.

At that moment, Eloise remembered that day, when Ansel had visited her home when she was alone, and how unusually cold he had been.

‘Back then, I was trembling from the shock, but now that I’m in the capital, that level of rudeness doesn’t seem so severe.’

Well, he was from the capital too. Perhaps what she saw that day was his true nature.

No, wait. Why am I thinking about him again?

“By the way, miss, you’re an outsider, aren’t you?”

“…What did you say?”

“You haven’t been in the capital long, have you? Am I right?”

The man, who had handed a coin to the owner, scratched the bridge of his nose and grinned. His yellowed teeth were fully visible.

Eloise felt her cheeks burning more than she felt disgust.

It wasn’t as if “country girl” was written on her face. She had even worn her cleanest and best clothes, thinking she might find a job right away today. So why?

“H-how do you know that?”

Despite blushing furiously, she confronted him with a somewhat dignified manner. The man laughed heartily, seemingly amused.

Eloise’s ears turned red with embarrassment.

“Women in the capital don’t wear such dull colors. Maybe older ladies, but not young ones. The design is out of fashion too. If you want to look like a capital lady, you’ll need to put in some effort.”

For some reason, Eloise’s heart sank at those words. It was then that she noticed the attire of the women passing by. She had thought they were all dressed up nicely because of the good weather, but looking closely, the colors and designs were all uniquely special.

But buying new clothes just to follow fashion, leaving perfectly good clothes behind, wasn’t Eloise’s style.

Of course, she couldn’t afford to do so either.

“…I don’t think I need to hear that from you.”

The man was dressed in an extremely shabby manner, and his body reeked of sour sweat and beer.

He couldn’t compare to Ansel Blaine, who possessed not just a splendid but perfect figure and even smelled good. He fell far short of even Archibald, a servant at the earl’s mansion.

“Looks like you’re angry? You’re a rare girl with some spirit.”

“Don’t talk to me.”

She didn’t want to waste any more time exchanging words with him.

If he bought the advertisement flyer by cutting in line, he should just go away somewhere quickly.

“Let me buy you a meal as an apology. What do you say?”

“Ha.”

Eloise rolled her eyes skyward, ignoring the man’s words, and turned back to the stand owner.

“One job advertisement flyer, please.”

“Oh, come on! Just a moment.”

“Ah! What are you doing?”

At that moment, the man roughly pulled her wrist, and Eloise was instantly dragged away from the stand.

“At least give me an answer. It’s because you’re too cute. You may not have a refined taste, but this kind of thing is also…”

Eloise was furious to the tips of her hair. She was only desperate because she knew she couldn’t physically stand up to him.

“No! Is that enough? If you’re done, please go on your way. If you keep bothering me here, I’ll scream.”

“There’s a limit to playing hard to get.”

When he lightly touched her reddened cheek with his fingertip, Eloise stepped back, brushing his hand away as if disgusted.

The man burst into laughter at her fierce demeanor, as if she might bite off his arm if he touched her again.

“Were you really angry? That’s a shame. You’re really cute…”

The man rubbed under his large nose and exclaimed “Ah!” as he unfolded the advertisement flyer.

Then he hastily tore off several pages from the back, crumpled them, and stuffed them into his back pocket.

The front part of the flyer was soon thrust towards Eloise.

“Here, I’ll give you this as an apology. I’m a gentleman of the capital, after all. Consider the money for the flyer saved, so cheer up.”

“…”

As Eloise glared at the man with furrowed brows, he fluttered the paper as if urging her to take it.

“The part I tore off was for coal mine advertisements. Surely you weren’t thinking of going to a coal mine, were you?”

“…I’m going to a factory.”

“A factory… Wait.”

The man’s bushy eyebrows twitched.

After pulling out the torn pages and examining them, he soon grinned, showing his yellowed front teeth.

“One page got stuck here, but it’s for a meat factory, so it doesn’t matter, right?”

“A meat factory?”

“Yes. They say the smell there is awful and the work is harsh. It’s too much for a cute young lady like you, too much.”

Your smell seems more serious, though. And what’s with that subtly dismissive tone?

Eloise, her blue eyes wide open, retorted fiercely.

“Don’t look down on me. I didn’t come here with such half-hearted…”

“What? Miss, can you scald a pig? You’ll be covered in blood in an instant. It takes quite a bit of strength to clean the bones and innards properly, you know.”

“What? That’s…”

As Eloise turned pale as a sheet and hesitated in surprise, the man grinned and forcibly pressed the crumpled advertisement flyer into her hand.

“Here. Then I wish you luck, miss.”

“Wait, I’ll pay you for it…!”

While Eloise was flustered, the man strode off into the afternoon sunlight.

His yellow-stained shirt was already far away. The capital was truly a strange place.

Spotting a wooden bench in the corner of the square, Eloise moved with tired steps and muttered blankly.

“…Let’s not go to the meat factory.”