Eugenie’s head turned toward him at Elliot’s calm words. She didn’t even think about that, so shock and a little guilt came over her face. Elliot always found this new thing about Eugenie and liked it. That she was ashamed of her own ignorance. And that she’s trying to fix it. Soon after, Eugenie turned her gaze back to the parents as they climbed into the carriage with the children. And he said something with a thoughtful look on his face.
“Okay.”
She would be a good ruler. Elliot forgot the fact that Eugenie was the second child of the Biscon family, and that the Biscon family already had an heir named Oliver.
He said as he climbed into the carriage.
“Shall we go?”
It took two days to arrive at Holloway, making stops at several villages along the way. Partly because she had to deal with menstruation and, above all, because she had to sleep at night.
Elliot thought, if she moved a little faster, she could catch Lauren and Julia at the town where the carriage first stopped. And, as expected, she was able to meet people who said they saw Lauren and Julia in the carriage that the two first stopped.
“Ladies, are you going to Holloway?”
Inside the carriage heading to Holloway, the man who had been watching Lauren and Julia started talking to them. It seemed that he overheard the conversation between Lauren telling her to go back and Julia saying that she would go after seeing them arrive at Holloway.
Everyone didn’t seem to be interested in each other, but they could hear the whole story because they were inside the narrow carriage.
“I’m thinking about it.”
Lauren responded quickly. She’s going to Holloway, but she had no intention of telling anything to someone who didn’t even know her name. The man that seemed to notice Lauren’s thoughts too, said with a grin.
“Ah, she said he was going there. Why are you going there? Does anyone know?”
She didn’t feel like talking much. Lauren shut her mouth and Julia pulled her toward her. Then the man who saw it spoke again.
“I’m eating you? Are you going to Holloway? Someone I know has some power there. How is it? I can introduce you to a good job.”
Julia was taken aback by the man’s rudeness. Not everyone was a gentleman, although she had many opportunities to meet young men thanks to her father, who was the leader of her knights. It was the first time in Julia’s life that someone had been so rude.
And so did Lauren. Even if she was the mistress in her dream, it’s because the ones she dealt with were nobles. There were men who told her to deal with them, but they were all metaphorical. The two of them just stared at each other, not knowing how to react to the man’s attitude. The best thing was to ignore it, but both of them didn’t know if it was okay to ignore it. Eventually, Lauren stepped in.
“I do not need it.”
“Why? Do you know anyone at Holloway? Who? I know Holloway well.”
When she said she knew Holloway well, Lauren wondered what to say. Indeed, if that man knew Holloway well, she could be caught lying. Seeing her hesitation, the man cast his gaze at her colleague at a distance. He never thought he would find such good stuff in a place like this. Both looked young and naive. In particular, the woman who hesitated had an excellent appearance. If he took her and sold her, he would be able to get some pretty good money.
“Hey, stop asking. You don’t want to answer.”
As promised, the man’s colleague stepped in to help Lauren and Julia. The two went on to play a bit to cheat on Lauren and Julia.
“Ah, they say I eat them? I tried to help if no one knew.”
“She doesn’t like it. Stop asking.”
At the words of his colleague, the man grumbled and withdrew. Relief came to Julia and Lauren’s faces when they saw it.
“Thank you.”
As the carriage stopped in a village for a break, Julia and Lauren got out of the carriage and greeted the man who helped them. He glanced at an ignorant colleague and then spoke to Julia and Lauren.
“Girls, be careful. Do you know how many dangerous people there are in the world?”
Lauren thought she knew. But her experience was limited and there was another kind of risk.
“Thank you.”
A smile came across the man’s face as Lauren greeted her. He said casually leading the two to a bar in front of the station.
“Sit next to me when riding in the carriage. I’ll block him from approaching you again.”
‘He’s a good person.’ Julia thought so and she followed the man.
“Did you come to pick up those girls?”
The coachman of the omnibus Elliot found asked bluntly after smoking a cigarette. Yes. Eugenie nodded, and his gaze turned to the small bar in front of the station.
“That’s good. I was wondering if I should wait.”
Eugenie’s face brightened at the coachman’s words to go to the bar. She thought that meant they were in that town which was much better than in a rather large village located about three hours by carriage from the capital.
“Thank you.”
Eugenie said so and started walking toward the bar. Elliot, who stayed behind, shook hands with the coachman skillfully and said.
“Thank you.”
Something hard touched the coachman’s hand. He looked at the coin Elliott had poked at him, raised one eyebrow, and looked at Eugenie’s back. Then he said to Elliott, who was waiting as if he knew he would give him another piece of information.
“Looks like there was a bit of a fight in the carriage. Those ladies, they were wearing nice clothes.”
Just like that girl who was going now. Eugenie’s attire was not flashy, but it was made of fine fabric, befitting a wealthy aristocrat, and the few decorations were great. Of course the young and old looked back at her as she walked across the boulevard. Lauren and Julia weren’t dressed up to Eugenie’s, but they looked decent enough in the coachman’s eyes. He clicked his tongue and continued.
“Don’t you know what will happen to the ladies from such a nice house when they go on a trip alone?”
He knew. Eliot glanced at Eugenie, who had stopped to avoid a passing carriage, and he said,
“You know you shouldn’t send a nice house girl to a bar alone.”
The coachman said quickly.
“There was a commotion in the bar. I think they ran away.”
Saying that, the coachman looked at the second floor of the tavern. The bar in front of the station usually operates on this floor as an inn. And according to Elliot’s experience, that inn would not be of a very high standard. It would have been better than running outside. If Lauren and Julia were hiding in the inn room, nobody would be able to drag them out without breaking down the door.
“Okay.”
Elliot handed the coachman one more of his coins in return for the information and quickly began following Eugenie.
“Oh my god.”
Lauren and Eugenie were on the floor of the inn, as the coachman said. The two of them sat side by side on a bed that was too small for one person to lie on, contemplating what to do next.
‘I can’t go out because I’m afraid.’ Lauren had already spit it out to the world who know how many times. The man who appeared to be helping the two entered the bar and ordered a large beer. And since he helped, Lauren had to pay, he said. It was fine until there. If only the man who was arguing in the carriage hadn’t intervened. The drunk man and the man who had a fight started fighting, and in an instant other men came rushing in. Lauren thought that far, then she said.
“Do you think the two of them were a team?”
“Huh.”
Julia was thinking the same thing. The men who fought began to claim that Julia and Lauren were to blame for their injuries. There was also a man who made a noise to sign something right away.
There, Julia woke up. Aren’t these kids all one?
“Will the carriage leave even if we didn’t get on?”
At Julia’s question, Lauren put on a look that she didn’t know. But it would leave. There’s no way the coachman would wait forever for two of their guests. If the coachman was also a team member, it’s different.
Were there still those guys out there? Julia cautiously approached the door and brought her ear. The men who chased after the two and behaved threateningly became quiet before they knew it. But Julia decided not to gamble on opening the door. She quietly returned to bed and sat next to Lauren.
“Julia, you can stop.”
Lauren said cautiously. She should have stopped when she said she was coming along in the first place. But Julia climbed into the carriage just before it left, and when Lauren took stock of the situation, she was after it had moved.
“Leave you alone in this situation?”
Julia asked, as if she were dumbfounded. It was Julia who made the men who acted intimidating to stop even for a moment. At the men who were about to drag the two of them away, Julia shouted that her father was Lord Escalee, buying the two time to flee.
“It’s because of me.”
Maybe Lauren was destined to be a mistress. Feeling miserable, Lauren buried her face in her hands. Why was her life like this? Nobody and nothing helped her. She felt as though she was trapped in her own pit, from which she could not escape no matter how hard she struggled.
“Don’t worry, Lauren.”
Julia opened her mouth to comfort the depressed Lauren. She kept it a secret until now, but now she had to tell her. She told Lauren what she had done to ride the carriage.
“Eugenie will help you.”
“Eugenie? Lady Biscon?”
To Lauren, who was surprised when Lady Biscon’s name suddenly appeared, Julia revealed that she had contacted Eugenie before she came. Eugenie would help her. She must have sent someone to bring them back. But Lauren thought differently. She stared blankly at Julia, who said that Eugenie would send her person, so she could hold out.
If she was destined to become a mistress, as in her dreams, she must give Julia her word. Because she had to give Julia time to prepare if she couldn’t avoid it.
“Julia, there are some dreams I didn’t tell you about.”
She had to give Julia the chance she got as well. Lauren thought so and continued her words.
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Translator Note:
This chapter has a lot of changes in the narrator point of view without a proper break, so sorry because it’s going to be a little difficult to read.
Hello there! This is RJR. I hope you liked it <3
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Next post will be released on April, 6.
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