“So.”
At that very moment, Ansel threw out the biggest challenge with a face that seemed to have lost all emotion.
“What is that great thing that leads your life?”
“……”
“What is this new thing that you were introduced to?”
It was a heavy urging. Eloise’s bright blue eyes were filled with an undisguisable bewilderment.
‘Should I tell the truth? But if I say it straight, he might despise me……’
Even though she sarcastically remarked that if he, a noble, could work, what couldn’t she, a commoner, do – in reality, the work she would be doing was completely different in weight from the military officer’s job dedicated to the kingdom’s safety.
As Eloise averted her gaze as if hesitating, Ansel asked again.
“Why can’t you say it? Don’t tell me, it’s something you can’t be proud of?”
“That’s……”
The woman couldn’t continue her words with an embarrassed face.
Ansel’s brows furrowed deeply, and he growled in a chilly low voice.
“……Do you have to go that far to leave here?”
“I meant it from the beginning when I said I would leave.”
“Instead of letting you go, I’ll tie you up here. Have you forgotten where you are now?”
The transparent eyes that met were filled with an extremely overbearing light.
That gaze was like a noose around the neck. Eyes so fierce as if they would pounce right in front of her at any moment.
“You don’t think I let you be because I can’t do that.”
“……”
“Ha, even if it means ruining you, you’re going to leave me……”
Only then did Eloise realize that Ansel had gravely misunderstood something.
The caretaker of Old Bridge said.
Even in Brightnum, the history of women starting to work is not long. So numerous disadvantages are being committed as if it’s natural, and as an alternative, some women……
‘The night work, I mean!’
‘Many women have drifted into that sort of thing. Especially young ladies like Miss Bailey…… It’s a quagmire. Once you go in, you can’t get your feet out.’
If this was the misunderstanding, she could understand his displeased reaction.
Because Ansel Blaine, the grandson of the Earl of Huntington, was as different from the vulgar men on the streets as light and darkness.
Ansel was the noblest and most beautiful man she had ever seen.
What could she do if her new job seemed so trivial in his eyes? Their worlds were different from the very starting point.
Just because they were sitting face to face in the same space like this, she shouldn’t forget that fact.
Eloise could clearly feel that Ansel’s breath had become rough.
Because of that, her spine stiffened, but anyhow, it was not desirable to be ashamed of the grateful opportunity the caretaker had given her.
The new job would broaden her world once again. So Eloise intended to do her very best at it.
It was true that she was scared, but she couldn’t run away for that reason alone.
“Young Lord Ansel, I think there’s a bit of a misunderstanding.”
“What misunderstanding.”
At that moment, two maids entered the dining room and began to lay out napkins, cutlery, empty plates, and glasses on the table.
Eloise, who had slightly pulled her body back, continued in a low voice.
“…… It’s not the kind of work you’re thinking of right now.”
“Do you know what I’m thinking?”
Ansel, who asked back like that, drained the glass of water as soon as it was filled.
His prominent Adam’s apple moved clearly above the stiff collar of his uniform.
Eloise unconsciously curled her toes at his impatient attitude, which was unlike his usual self.
“That…… something you would despise……”
But if she said it wasn’t a job selling her youth, but a job slaughtering animals, would he really nod his head without despising her? The moment such a doubt came, the words stopped on their own.
‘It’s true that it feels terrible to me too.’
However, she couldn’t just watch Ansel’s calm eyes slowly deepening and the blue veins on the back of his hand holding the glass becoming prominent.
As if she had made up her mind, Eloise parted her lips again.
“It’s a meat factory.”
“……What?”
“Young Lord, the glass will break.”
At those words, Ansel finally loosened his grip on the glass.
The emotion in his eyes was still sharp, but it didn’t seem like contempt for something lowly.
‘I don’t know if I should consider this fortunate……’
But one thing was certain: he still didn’t hide his displeasure.
“What factory did you say?”
Even though he couldn’t have misheard, he asked back on purpose.
An extremely low voice. One of his thick eyebrows was slightly twisted. It was a clear aversion.
“A meat factory, Young Lord Ansel.”
At that time, a delicious-smelling veal roast was placed in front of the two.
It was the meat of a young animal that would crumble as soon as the knife touched it, so tender that the tongue would melt.
Eloise had enjoyed meat dishes with an innocent face all her life without being picky.
Even for her, who ate well without discrimination, meat was something she loved so much that she would smear shiny oil on her lips and chew with both cheeks full.
But perhaps because of her upcoming employment at the meat factory, the caramel-colored, nicely roasted meat dish didn’t seem quite appetizing.
Coincidentally, something other than hunger came to mind first.
For example, the eyes of the animal that must have been lovely and cute before becoming meat……
‘Miss, can you slit a pig’s throat? You’ll be covered in blood in an instant.’
Or something like what a strange man she met in the square once said.
‘You need quite a bit of strength to cleanly scrape off the bones and guts.’
Can I really do such a thing? What if I faint while working? Such worries kept invading her mind.
This moment, with the meat dish in front of her, felt like some kind of test.
Eloise, who had spoken in a rather resolute tone but couldn’t even pick up the tableware until all the dishes were laid out on the table, certainly looked dejected.
Ansel, who had been gazing at her for a while, picked up the cutlery and muttered in a low voice.
“Why do you have to do such a thing?”
“…… Meat can’t be left out of people’s daily lives. So it’s a very important and necessary job. It’s not something to be ashamed of either.”
Eloise seemed to be persuading herself.
Because each of her words sounded so laborious.
“So I don’t think you should speak that way.”
“……”
Ansel knew that Eloise Bailey was not one to easily give in.
He also liked that about her to an unbearable degree.
But it was very irksome that she was going to painstakingly endure a job she herself couldn’t even fathom, just to leave this house.
That night, she rejected him with such pitiful eyes.
She looked back with a face that seemed on the verge of tears. If this was how it was going to be, why did she come back……
‘Ha, as if doing some charity.’
From the moment she brought up the ridiculous attic story, and even when she said she would find a job and a new place to live, Ansel thought this rose-like lovely woman was saying things she didn’t mean to hide her embarrassment.
But to think it was such a desperate struggle.
After letting her into his house, Ansel’s daily life had completely changed.
He could now vividly picture Eloise Bailey in his house, wearing the clothes he had gifted her, sitting in front of his dining table.
When evening came, he could actually meet her like that.
A self-mocking laugh escaped through his teeth at his complacent, no, utterly foolish self.
At the same time, a vicious love-hate rose for the woman who trampled on his heart so carelessly with such an innocent face, as if it were nothing.
Ansel began to slice the meat in front of him with a very leisurely and elegant touch.
Yet his gaze was thoroughly fixed on Eloise. It was like a silent warning.
Feeling a wave-like shiver spreading from her nape, Eloise hurriedly lowered her gaze, but what caught her eye was only the sight of the tender meat being mercilessly sliced by the knife he held.
Swallowing her dry saliva, she barely moved her stiff lips.
“Did my words anger you, Young Lord?”
Even as her lips trembled, Ansel suddenly felt a surge of anger at her still pure face.
A twisted thought of having to forcibly seize her coiled deep within him.
But he continued to mechanically chop the large chunks into pieces and answered quite composedly.
“Of course not.”
“…… You said you loved me from the beginning. Not a single day missed.”
But when she asked a bold question he never expected, Ansel, who was about to mince the veal, stopped his movement.
“That’s right.”
A moment of silence passed. Eloise asked again in an even smaller voice.
“Do you still love me now?”
“……”
What is she trying to say this time? With that thought, Ansel silently gazed at Eloise’s jewel-like eyes.
However, Eloise had no intention of taking his answer seriously, whatever it might be.
Even if he said he loved her, they had no permitted future.
For him, a noble man with both background and honor, this feeling might remain as a momentary amusement or perhaps a tale of his youth, but it was different for Eloise.
For her, everything with him would remain as a sin, a stigma.
In fact, just the guilt of staying at his house without her family’s knowledge was enough to make her feel like collapsing at times.
Eloise parted her lips without waiting for Ansel’s answer any longer.
Anyway, since he had let her into his place, his reaction would be obvious. He would try to coax and appease her earnestly.
“I still don’t understand what kind of love you spoke of to me.”
“……”
“But if it’s the same nature as the love I think of, I wish you would respect me.”
But Ansel was extremely cold.
“Don’t you think you’re the one not respecting me?”
Was it just disrespect?
She brought a storm to his quiet life, made him leave his family on his own feet, and let him feel joy as she flew into the new cage prepared for her, but now she was giving him a hellish agony.
With an extremely lovely and innocent face.
“What? I don’t understand what you’re saying.”
So this was the point.
“You’re driving me crazy, right now.”
__________
Men In The Royal Harem All Yearn For Her (Female-dominant)
One-line summary: The men (young empress, young empress dowager, crown prince) in the harem all yearn to become her consort.
Synopsis:
The female protagonist is a wildly popular heartthrob with a natural halo.
The male protagonist is a crazily obsessed and self-abasing loyal dog.
Qiu Shu, the top scholar’s daughter, is pure, elegant and incomparably enchanting, captivating countless admirers.
Being favored by the eldest prince, the most handsome man in the capital, and becoming his wife in a single move is truly the pride of a poor student.
However, what they don’t know is that the seemingly bright and splendid female protagonist lives in a battlefield of jealousy every day.
The cute and adorable young empress is unusually attached to her.
The gentlemanly and upright young empress dowager has an ambiguous relationship with her.
Even her aloof and proud eldest prince is actually a gloomy and petty jealous husband.
Trigger warning: All men in this novel are yandere style.