Chapter 57 – Feather

Through the small window, sunlight as white as the sand on the coast poured in obliquely.

It was a morning when she awoke unusually early.

While lying in a daze, blinking her eyes, she heard the sound of Ansel leaving the house, having finished his preparations.

Eloise suddenly thought about seeing him off but soon dismissed the idea.

It was because of what happened last night.

Marriage, he said. 

How could he mention that so easily?

‘……Moreover, forgetting about the family? How could he say such a thing?’

No matter how she thought about it, it was an uncharacteristically frivolous attitude for him.

She couldn’t understand Ansel’s recklessness, uttering such words amid the scandal of their broken engagement, which had turned him into the family’s black sheep.

‘But how did his face look when he said that? What about his eyes and voice?’

Yes. None of it was light. In that moment when their eyes met, even breathing felt burdensome, though it was brief.

She felt pathetic for habitually finding comfort in just that fact.

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

When she inadvertently resented her beloved family because of her longing for that man, she felt an unparalleled sense of horror.

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

Truly, never again……

‘That was why I fled Maybury.’

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

Even while pretending to still live at Mrs. Mullich’s house, writing letters as if nothing was wrong, she felt disgusted with herself.

That man, Ansel Blaine, was poison to her. A poison sweet and fragrant to a deadly degree.

She disliked how she inevitably softened before him, having given her heart to him for too long.

So, as an officer of the Wellington Kingdom’s army, what he protected was certainly not her safety.

He only made her suffer, from the beginning to the present, without missing a moment.

Then, are we enemies to each other? Am I waging an endless war against him? If it’s something that ends only when one side wins, then perhaps the only way for me to end this war is to surrender.

‘There was never a chance of winning. How could I ever defeat him?’

A futile sigh scattered into pieces.

However, despairing and stopping before what had already happened was never a good choice.

Eloise wanted to move forward.

This time, she wanted to leave that beautiful yet fleeting man behind.

She no longer wanted to hurt or hate herself and wished to return safely to her modest and happy world.

So, Eloise decided to focus on hopeful thoughts she could muster in the current situation. For example……

‘I’m reluctant to go to the meat factory, but I need to leave this house as soon as possible, and it’s not too late yet.’

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

In the now subtly deepened autumn morning sunlight, Eloise stretched and rose.

The snow-white chemise dress looked even more beautiful in the dazzling light.

As her slender body leaned slightly toward the edge of the low-ceilinged attic, her soft, honey-colored hair cascaded down.

Combing it down with her hand, Eloise carefully descended the stairs.

* * *

From the central square, the meat factory was located in the exact opposite direction of the bead factory.

The note she clutched in her hand out of tension, unfolding and folding it repeatedly whenever she asked for directions, had long since become crumpled.

Having memorized the address well enough, Eloise habitually glanced over it one last time before finally putting it into her bag.

It was because she discovered a small sign.

<Hungerford Meat Factory>

Thus, when she turned the last corner, Eloise realized that the factory was very close, even though she hadn’t yet arrived.

“……Ugh.”

The stench was enough to make her pinch her nose.

On very hot summer days, when she went to the market with Mrs. Hearst, she occasionally encountered such a foul smell.

A nauseating odor of blood, rotten meat, and animal dung mixed together.

‘Even though it’s the capital of the kingdom…….’

Eloise frowned deeply but had no choice but to resume her steps. It was a job Mr. Woodley had specially introduced.

Running away before even trying would be against her principles and impolite.

‘Ugh, it’s suffocating…….’

Holding her breath as if she had entered the water, Eloise barely stepped into the factory area.

The first thing she noticed was two men inside the fence struggling to chase chickens.

A truly dramatic chase was unfolding.

Whether the stream outside the factory was the source of the stench or she had somehow gotten used to it, Eloise found it easier to breathe and lowered the hand covering her mouth.

Since it was undeniably someone’s sacred workplace, such an attitude would be rude.

“Um, hello.”

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

“I’m here to see Mr. Osborne. Where should I…….”

“Mr. Osborne?”

A thick bead of sweat trickled down from one of the man’s eyebrows as he asked back.

His sturdy hand was gripping the ankle of a chicken covered in mud tightly, and the sound of the chicken twisting its body and flapping was very loud.

To avoid meeting the pitiful chicken’s eyes, Eloise fixed her gaze on the young man’s face.

“Yes. We were supposed to meet today…….”

“Mr. Osborne’s daughter couldn’t possibly be this pretty?”

At that moment, another man, who seemed to have lost the chicken, approached with a bewildered expression and chided.

“You idiot. That kid is only thirteen.”

“Oh, then Mr. Osborne’s…….”

The man holding the chicken looked Eloise up and down in surprise, and the chicken in his hand squirmed once more.

Eloise, closing her eyes tightly, hastily interrupted him.

“I’m here to work.”

“Uh, here?”

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

The moment Eloise screamed almost like a shriek, the man hurriedly grabbed the chicken, which had just pulled out one leg.

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

At that moment, a man with a bushy beard leisurely walked out from the inner building.

He was a man with a hefty build, looking well over forty.

Eloise instinctively realized that he was Mr. Osborne.

“Miss Bailey?”

“Yes!”

She unconsciously put strength into her answer. Then, the man gestured inside the building and strode ahead.

Though Eloise was concerned about the mud on her shoes, she had no choice but to hurry, fearing she might lose him.

Passing by a coop full of plump hens, they entered a space resembling an office.

Compared to where Mrs. Dunn and Mr. Woodley worked, it was more like a hut.

“We start work in the morning.”

With that first statement, Mr. Osborne lightly introduced the factory, and his first question was, ‘Where do you live?’

People come looking for jobs, but the farther they live, the less likely they are to arrive on time, he claimed.

“Near Royal Arch.”

“……What?”

Mr. Osborne immediately frowned.

His threatening expression instantly made Eloise, who had been sitting with her hands neatly folded in front of him, shrink back.

“It’s not as far as you think. I walked here today. It seems about the same distance as the factory I used to attend, and I’ve never been late there.”

“I’m not talking about distance, Miss.”

With a somewhat desperate attitude, the man let out a chuckle through one side of his mouth. His thick golden beard quivered.

“Who do you live with?”

“……Ah.”

Only then did Eloise understand the man’s meaning.

They were elegant people who would ask why someone living there would do such work.

It was understandable that a young woman from a neighborhood where people didn’t know the sanctity of labor would come looking for a job at a meat factory.

“I live alone. Oh, I mean…… I’m renting a place. It’s where an elderly couple lives, and I help with the housework.”

Eloise replied with a bright smile, raising the corners of her mouth to hide her surprise at her own lying skills.

“Good. The job you will be doing Miss Bailey is…….”

“…….”

“Plucking chicken feathers. The feathers.”

“Plucking……?”

Eloise’s face turned pale at once.

It was because she remembered the chickens flapping with tremendous force, immobilizing two grown men.

“Can I do that job? Doesn’t it require strength……?”

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

“……Snapping……?”

At that, Mr. Osborne laughed heartily.

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

“Dangle…….”

Somehow, it was becoming more and more ridiculous.

Whether he knew Eloise was feeling dizzy or not, the man continued explaining in a relaxed tone.

“Anyway, if you’re too strong, you might ruin the meat while plucking the feathers. The flesh could tear.”

“I see.”

“Yes. Speed is important, but delicate skill is crucial too. That’s why it’s perfect for women.”

Eloise swallowed dryly.

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

Just then, Mr. Osborne suddenly leaned his face forward.

“Well, can you do it?”