As If I've Never Loved - Chapter 24

“Wear this. Don’t forget to put on the hat too. Your seat is here, and no chatting is allowed. When the bell rings, have your meal and return within the set time. The end of the work day is…”

‘Sigh.’

The morning of the first day at work, which began with the factory manager’s frantic explanation, was already heading towards afternoon.

Time passed steadily, in stark contrast to the tense morning when Mrs. Dunn, the only familiar face, was nowhere to be seen.

Old Bridge Bead Factory. The work of the female workers here was to thread beads with small holes onto strings.

The finished products would become accessories for ladies, they said.

As she had heard, it wasn’t a complicated job, but threading beads all day long made her eyes dim and her whole body stiff, which was quite arduous.

‘Isn’t there a job like feeding ducks all day? I think I’d prefer that, even if it means sweating a bit.’

Of course, if she wrote in her letter about working under the scorching sun, Her Majesty the Queen of the Bailey household would scream.

She wouldn’t be particularly pleased with factory work either, but at least the bead factory allowed for sitting while working, so it wasn’t the worst option.

There were about a hundred female workers sitting in the workspace, but it was as if glue had been applied to their mouths – no one spoke a word.

The only sounds were of beads being taken out, fallen beads rolling, or at most, the noise of chair legs scraping against the floor.

Eloise had never seen women more taciturn than her sister Sarah in her entire life.

If Mrs. Hurst had been here, she wouldn’t have lasted even a few minutes before saying:

“I don’t know what they expect us to do with these tiny beads, my dear!”

When the lunch bell finally rang, Eloise sprang up from her seat with a refreshed expression, as if she were an escaped prisoner.

‘If the rule is not to chat during work hours, then lunchtime must be the only opportunity to get to know my colleagues!’

Just then, the workers began to leave one by one. Feeling urgent, Eloise hastily rummaged through her handbag placed beside her.

Not knowing the surrounding area well, she had packed a lunch today.

Just some hard bread, an apple, and milk, but still.

“Um, if you’d like, would you care to go out together? There’s a park outside where we could have lunch…”

Eloise quietly addressed the woman sitting next to her.

It was a woman who seemed about Eloise’s age, still silently working at her seat despite the workspace being more than half empty.

“Excuse me, about lunch…”

As Eloise spoke again to the woman who didn’t respond, the worker turned abruptly.

The worker, with freckles covering her cheeks and nose bridge, wore an expression that was not just dry but almost irritated.

“There’s no time for lunch. Here, they pay daily wages based on the amount of work done.”

“What? But skipping meals is—”

“Would you please not disturb me?”

The woman who had coldly snapped turned her eyes back to her work immediately.

Eloise, standing there with a bewildered face, could only blink her eyes blankly.

Her nose stung with a sorrowful feeling. She was not at all immune to such cold tones and expressions.

Looking around belatedly, everyone except Eloise and the woman next to her had already left the workspace and scattered.

With no other choice, Eloise moved with lonely steps to spend a quiet lunch time alone. The afternoon that followed was not much different from the morning.

The impression of the first day at the factory was that the working hours felt longer than expected.

The cause of this was undoubtedly the bleak atmosphere of the factory.

Eloise, who had left home in the early morning when the dawn air still lingered to avoid being late, had to start working as soon as she arrived at the factory.

She was thrown into a battle with beads without even having the chance to properly greet people.

When lunchtime came, there was a slight respite, but that was brief, and after the short break, a longer afternoon shift awaited than the morning one.

The thought of this routine repeating every day made her feel overwhelmed.

It might be easier than other jobs, but this static work was actually more tiring because it made her bones ache.

Even if it was evidence of being unladylike, there was nothing she could do about it.

In the evening, as the sun was setting, Eloise’s mind was as tangled as a ball of yarn as she moved her tired steps towards the place she still felt awkward calling home.

‘I’m so tired I could faint, but I’m hungry too… Can I work here for long?’

It was quite bitter to realize her own complacency on the very first day of work.

But isn’t it an unchanging truth that there’s nothing easy in this world?

Above all, it was hard to deny the thought that the situation she was in might be a desperate environment for someone else.

‘Right. This is what I wanted. A job that’s moderately tiring, keeps me busy, and allows me to forget reality a bit. Plus, earning money through my own efforts, what could be more wonderful than that? I’ll have money I can spend as I please! Although payday is still far away.’

As soon as that thought crossed her mind, she smiled brightly as if she had never been serious.

If she saved money diligently, she might be able to return the emergency fund to her sister, and if there was anything left, she might even be able to buy a small wedding gift to bring back.

Ah, she shouldn’t forget gifts for her parents either.

‘Still, I… I wish I could make friends.’

Eloise’s eyes, which had been smiling brightly just a moment ago when thinking of her family, now held a somewhat lonely light.

Until now, the only beings she could call friends were her sister Sarah, Archibald, and Ansel Bl…

Anyway, making friends was one of the things she had dreamed of before coming to the capital.

‘It was greedy to expect to make friends on the first day. But from now on, I’ll gradually have more colleagues to eat with and chat with.’

Having reached that conclusion, her mind felt much more at ease.

Though her legs felt as heavy as rocks, Eloise ran through the evening streets of the capital with spirited steps.

Thinking that tonight’s dinner would taste delicious, and that she would be able to fall into a sweet, deep sleep tonight.

When Ansel returned from the capital and visited the Bailey household, his fiancée was out meeting the pastor with her father.

Ansel sat down with Mrs. Bailey without showing any signs of bewilderment.

While waiting for Sarah’s return, he calmly reported on recent events.

Starting with how he had moved all his belongings from the capital to this place, then about how the renovation of the earl’s mansion’s grand garden, which would be the wedding venue, was in its final stages, and finally, that beautiful rooms had been prepared in the mansion, including not only the couple’s bedroom but also individual private rooms.

Despite his fervent courtship, he was remarkably calm even though the wedding was just around the corner.

Mrs. Bailey, while feeling deeply pleased, suddenly wondered if this was due to his innate aristocratic grace or perhaps the blood of a military family with a long history.

“I haven’t received a reply from my grandfather yet, so I’m not sure when you and your family will be able to move in. But I won’t keep you waiting for long.”

“Oh, Ansel! Don’t push yourself too hard. My husband is so impatient…”

“No, it’s a pleasure for me as well.”

The man, like a sleek sculpture, smiled neatly.

It was truly a modest response, neither excessive nor lacking.

More beautiful and noble than the statues decorating every corner of the vast earl’s mansion, this man was to become the one and only companion of the daughter she had borne with such labor.

Mrs. Bailey’s heart swelled anew at this fact.

This marriage was indeed a monumental event in the lady’s life as well.

Unlike her husband, she wasn’t much of a talker, but she found herself more talkative than usual whenever Ansel visited, for this very reason.

“Sarah’s dress will be finished soon. As you know, our daughters have slender waists. When we tried it on her briefly for fitting, it suited her so beautifully that we were all left speechless. Just imagine how lovely she’ll look when she wears the completed dress!”

Just then, the housekeeper who had come to warm the teapot enthusiastically agreed and made quite a fuss.

As the laughter of the two ladies continued endlessly, Mrs. Bailey, belatedly embarrassed by her raised voice, laughed awkwardly.

“I’m sorry for talking about things only we understand. You must be eager to see it too, Ansel?”

Ansel answered by gently curling his soft-lined lips into a smile and continued to drink his tea.

“By the way, today…”

He spoke again when his teacup was almost empty.

“The house seems quieter than usual.”

“Well, that’s because my husband and Sarah… Oh.”

Mrs. Bailey, who had been tilting her head in confusion at his asking about such an obvious fact, clapped her hands lightly.

“Eloise isn’t home. That must be why it feels that way.”

“I suppose she went out alone somewhere.”

“Ah, she’s in the capital now.”

At that moment, a silent ripple passed through Ansel’s eyes, which had been calm all along.

It was such a subtle change that even the lady sitting right in front of him couldn’t notice.

Ansel put his cup down on the saucer and responded in a detached tone.

“What business does she have in the capital?”

“It’s not a pleasant story, but the child was unusually depressed. How could we refuse when she begged to go out into the wider world before it was too late, with such fervor in her eyes? We let her go. She won’t stay long anyway.”

“…I didn’t think you would allow it. Isn’t it dangerous?”

“Who could stop Eloise?”

The lady shrugged her delicate shoulders and rubbed her eyes.

“Her stubbornness is extraordinary. To convince her mother, she even said things like, ‘Aren’t there many men in the capital?’ and ‘Who knows, I might meet a fine match like my sister,’ can you believe it?”

“…”

“She never showed interest in marriage before, but perhaps her thoughts changed when she heard her sister was getting married.”

When Ansel didn’t respond, a brief silence fell. The lady continued with a soft sigh.

“Actually, we have a distant relative in the capital, so we sent Eloise to stay with them. But when we read the letter she sent, which arrived this morning, it said that person had moved away long ago. My heart sank.”

“…”

“Still, it seems she’s managed to settle in somehow. She’s such a plucky child. Sometimes I wonder if I raised sisters or a brother and sister, you know.”

At those words, Ansel’s lips moved as if to say something. But all that came out was an indifferent “Is that so.”

The lady picked up a small biscuit and naturally brought the topic back.

“By the way, the wedding is really just around the corner now, Ansel,”