Through the small window, a slanted beam of sunlight, as white as the sand on the beach, poured in.

It was a morning where she woke up strangely early.

As she lay there blinking in a dazed state, she heard the sound of Ansel leaving the mansion, having finished his preparations.

Eloise suddenly thought of seeing him off as he left, but quickly dismissed the idea.

It was because of what happened last night.

Marriage, he said. How could he utter that word so easily?

‘…And to forget about the family? How could you say such a thing?’

No matter how she thought about it, it was an uncharacteristically flippant attitude.

She couldn’t understand Ansel’s recklessness in bringing it up while he had fallen to being the family’s prodigal son after causing a broken engagement scandal.

‘But what was his face like when he said that? His eyes and his voice?’

Yes. None of it was lighthearted. In that moment when their eyes met, even if briefly, it was difficult to even breathe.

She was only pathetic for habitually finding relief in that fact.

Ridiculously, she found herself waking up in his house again this morning, but Eloise had come to the capital solely to forget Ansel Blaine.

When she thoughtlessly resented her beloved family because of her longing for that man, she felt an incomparably terrible feeling.

She couldn’t be with her family with such a broken heart. She desperately needed the assurance that she would never think of her precious people in that way again.

Truly, something like that should never happen again…

‘That was the reason I left Maybury as if running away.’

Eloise kept forgetting the purpose of leaving home and it frightened her.

She felt disgusted with herself as she nonchalantly wrote letters pretending to still be living at Mrs. Mullitch’s house.

That man, Ansel Blaine, was poison to her. A terribly sweet and fragrant poison.

She hated herself for having no choice but to back down in front of him because she had given her heart to him for far too long.

So the safety he protected as an officer in the Wellington Royal Army was certainly not hers.

Because he only tormented her. From the beginning until now, without a single moment’s respite.

Then are we each other’s enemies? Am I fighting an endless war against him? If it’s a war that can only end when one side is victorious, is surrender ultimately the only way for me to end this war?

‘There was no chance of winning from the start. How could I possibly beat him?’

A futile sigh scattered.

However, in the face of what had already happened, stopping in despair could never be a good choice.

Eloise wanted to move forward.

She wanted to leave that beautiful and fleeting man this time for sure.

She no longer wanted to suffer or hate herself, and wanted to return safely to the simple and happy world she originally had.

So Eloise decided to focus on the hopeful thoughts she could come up with in the current situation. For example…

‘It’s true that I’m inwardly reluctant to go to the meat factory. But I have to leave this house as soon as possible, and it’s not too late to turn back.’

So she had to get up quickly. That was the conclusion reached by the plucky second daughter of the Bailey family.

In the morning autumn sunlight that had imperceptibly deepened, Eloise stretched grandly and lifted her body.

The chemise dress, as white as snow, was even more beautiful in the dazzling rays of light.

As her slender body gently tilted towards the edge of the low-ceilinged attic, her soft brown hair cascaded down.

Brushing it with her hand, Eloise carefully descended the stairs.

Based on the central square, the meat factory was located in the completely opposite direction from the bead factory.

The note in her hand, which she had tightly grasped from the tension and repeatedly unfolded and folded several times whenever she asked for directions, was already crumpled.

Eloise, who had habitually scanned the address that she had already memorized more than enough, finally put it in her bag.

It was because she had found a small sign.

Thus, when she turned the last alley, Eloise realized that the factory was very close even though she had not yet arrived.

“…Ugh.”

It was a stench strong enough to make her involuntarily pinch her nose.

On very hot summer days, when she followed Mrs. Hurst to the market, she would occasionally smell this stench.

The nauseating smell of blood, rotten meat, and livestock manure mixed together.

‘No matter what, this is the capital of the kingdom…’

Eloise hesitated with her brows deeply furrowed, but had no choice but to step forward again. It was a job that Mr. Woodley had specially introduced.

Running away before even trying was not only against her own beliefs, but also a breach of etiquette.

‘Ugh, I can’t breathe…’

Eloise, who held her breath as if she had entered the water, barely entered the factory district.

The first thing that caught her eye was the sight of two men inside the fence, struggling to chase chickens.

A truly dramatic chase was unfolding.

Eloise, who found it a little easier to breathe than before, perhaps because the stream outside the factory was the source of the stench or because she had somehow gotten a little used to it, lowered the hand covering her mouth.

After all, it was someone’s sacred workplace, so this attitude was rude.

“Hello there.”

Eloise cautiously greeted the man who had just succeeded in catching a chicken.

“I’m looking for Mr. Osborne. Where should I go…?”

“Mr. Osborne?”

A thick drop of sweat flowed down from above one of the man’s eyebrows as he asked back.

His strong hands were tightly gripping the ankle of the chicken, which was covered in mud, and the sound of the chicken flapping upside down under it was extremely loud.

Eloise fixed her gaze on the young man’s face so as not to make eye contact with the pitiful chicken.

“Yes. We were supposed to meet today…”

“There’s no way Osborne’s daughter could be such a beauty?”

At that moment, the other man who had approached with a dumbfounded expression, as if he had let go of the chicken, scolded him.

“You’re so stupid. That child is only thirteen years old.”

“Oh, then Mr. Osborne’s…”

The moment the man holding the chicken looked Eloise up and down with newly surprised eyes, the chicken in his hands thrashed its body once more with all its might.

Eloise, who had tightly closed her eyes, hurriedly cut off his words.

“I’m here to work.”

“Uh, here?”

“…The chicken! You’re going to lose it!”

The moment Eloise let out a scream-like sound, the man hastily caught the chicken that had just pulled out one leg.

“What’s all the fuss? Get to work, get to work!”

Just then, a man with a thick beard walked out of the inner building with a leisurely gait.

He was a man who looked well over forty with an impressive build.

Eloise instinctively realized that he was none other than Mr. Osborne.

“Are you Miss Bailey?”

“Yes!”

She answered with unintentional force. Then the man pointed his chin towards the inside of the building and strode ahead.

Eloise was concerned about the mud on her shoes, but she had no choice but to hasten her steps for fear of losing him.

Passing by a cage where plump hens were gathered, a space that looked like an office appeared.

Compared to the space where Mrs. Dunn and Mr. Woodley worked, it was a place that would be better called a shack.

“We start work in the morning.”

With that as his opening line, Mr. Osborne’s first question after briefly introducing the factory was ‘where do you live?’

According to him, people come from here and there looking for a job, but the farther they live, the rarer it is for them to arrive on time.

“Near Royal Arch.”

“…What?”

Mr. Osborne suddenly frowned.

It was a threatening expression that instantly made Eloise, who was sitting in front of him with her hands neatly clasped, cower.

“It, it’s not as far as I thought. I walked here today too. It seems to be roughly the same distance as the factory I used to work at before, and I was never late when I went there.”

“I’m not talking about the distance, young lady.”

The man let out a chuckle through one side of his teeth at her rather desperate attitude. His thick golden beard fluttered.

“Who do you live with?”

“…Ah.”

Only then did Eloise understand the meaning of the man’s words.

Those who live there are elegant fellows who ask why they should do something like work.

It would be strange for a young woman who came from a neighborhood where people don’t know the sacredness of labor to seek work at a meat factory.

“I live alone. Ah, I mean… I’m renting a place. It’s where an elderly couple lives, and I take care of the household chores.”

Eloise, who answered like that, grinned. To avoid being caught off guard by her own lying skills, she lifted the corners of her mouth tightly.

“Alright. The job Miss Bailey will be in charge of is…”

“…”

“Plucking chicken feathers. The plumes, I mean.”

“Plucking…?”

Eloise’s face instantly turned pale.

It was because she thought of the chickens that had been flapping with tremendous force just before, immobilizing the two men.

“Um, will I be able to do that job? Doesn’t it require a lot of strength…?”

“It’s fine because you pluck them after snapping the neck.”

“…Snapping…?”

Then Mr. Osborne laughed heartily.

“Yes! Snapping it off. Ah, of course, we don’t cut the neck before plucking the feathers. It might be a bit cumbersome hanging there, but it’s well attached so there’s nothing to be afraid of.”

“Hanging…”

Somehow it was getting more and more ridiculous.

Not knowing or caring that Eloise was getting dizzy, the man continued his explanation in a carefree tone.

“Anyway, if you use too much force, you might ruin the meat while plucking the feathers. The flesh can tear if you’re not careful.”

“I, I see.”

“Yes. Speed is important, but the key is delicate skill. That’s why it’s perfect for women to be in charge of it.”

Eloise gulped.

Her mind was already scheming to back out of the office.

Right at that moment, Mr. Osborne suddenly leaned forward.

“So. Do you think you can do it?”