I Have No Intention Of Training The Male Leads - Chapter 3 Part 1
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03. Capital City, Londinium (1)
Translated by: ???
Eve sat back in her excessively fluffy, comfortable seat and stole a glance at the man across from her. Alberic was reading a newspaper with the ornately decorated words “Londinium Times” on it, his face serious.
‘How the hell did this happen……?’
Eve nodded and made a pained sound as she recalled the events of just a few days ago.
It was the day she had asked the Countess for an audience to ask for her permission to go to the capital. Countess Adelaide, who had heard from Tilda about Eve’s proposed tea time, had invited Alberic to tea without telling Eve in advance. As a result, Eve and Alberic had tea together twice a day. Adelaide probably believed that he would side with her and oppose her going out together.
When the subject of a trip to the capital came up, neither Eve nor the countess expected Alberic to agree to it, and he turned the countess’s mind upside down by saying that he would like to take Eve on a trip to the capital himself. Unable to disagree with her precious son, she smiled shakily and praised their friendship. Eve was pleased, but somehow conflicted.
The country house where the Vermell family usually stayed was located in Calais, a little more than five hours by train from the capital city of Londinium, so when Eve later tried to argue with Alberic in a private meeting that she could get to the capital on her own, he didn’t even listen to her.
So the two sat in the first-class compartment of the train and headed for the capital. First class, a whole room in a compartment on either side of the long train car, was as expensive as it was comfortable. Moreover, Tilda, whom the countess had sent along out of concern for her, had been given a second-class ticket.
When Eve asked him, hinting about the Vermells being poor, he replied, “That’s why we take the first class instead of the special class in the sleeping compartment.” which made Eve soon put the thought of money out of her mind, realizing that the aristocracy’s sense of money was something she, a commoner, could never understand.
The trains of the 19th century are very romantic. Eve, who had only ever seen clunky, square-shaped or pointedly streamlined trains, could not help but swoon at the sight of a beautiful black train, like a magnificent ornament cast in iron. She had no appreciation for art, but she wondered if this was classical beauty.
Alberic looked at Eve who was wide-eyed in admiration, as if he were looking at a peasant fresh from the countryside. It was a bit unfair to Eve, who lived in the most advanced age, but she was at a loss for words, as she had just entered the train’s compartment and was oohing and aahing again.
‘But! I’m used to seeing compartments with seats attached to each other, but when I see a compartment like this, which is half of a train car, decorated like a room, and paid for to my heart’s content, I’m sure anyone in the 21st century would be impressed! It’s so unfair!’
Looking at the first-class cabin, with its antique wallpaper, furniture, and beautiful decorations, like a luxury hotel room, Eve realized, albeit very late, that she had indeed become a “lady.”
If she had been Evelyn Touranne instead of Evelyn Vermell, she would have had to travel in a third-class cabin, where people were packed in like bean sprouts and she had to stand for five hours to get off the train.
Even if she had been fortunate enough to be able to afford it, she would have had to sit up straight in a second-class cabin, sharing space with everyone else. Spreading out in a half-lying position to maximize physical comfort would have been unthinkable.
‘If first class, where you share a train carriage in half, is so comfortable, what the hell do you think a special compartment, where you share a whole train carriage, is going to be like……? Aristocrats really are in a different class…….’
“Do you have anything to say?”
“What? Oh, uh, no. I just thought you looked pretty today.”
“Pretty……. That’s okay, you should probably just not say anything.”
“No. Would you mind if I gave you a compliment?”
“…….”
She stopped thinking and stared at him, mesmerized. As if sensing the stare, Alberic made eye contact with Eve over the newspaper and shook his head in disbelief at Eve’s smirk before turning his attention back to the newspaper.
For a character in charge of the game’s beauty department, Alberic was anything but pretty today. Unlike Eve, who was dressed in a modestly tailored, unadorned, light green promenade dress, he looked like he’d put a lot of thought into his outfit from head to toe.
From his hair, which was neatly swept back and tied with a clear blue ribbon that matched the color of his eyes, to his crisp white wing-collared shirt and equally well-shaped, flowing white cravat, to his navy blue vest and coat, which were embroidered with intricate designs in the same color thread, to his charcoal-colored, long-bottomed trousers, to his shiny black leather shoes, and to his saccharine top hat, which he had taken off for the moment.
Despite his monochromatic outfit, which gave him a somewhat cold air, he looked like a gentleman of the aristocracy who had probably never done a single rough job in his life.
‘He’s no peacock picking his tail feathers……. This guy struts his stuff when he’s not supposed to, he’s a sneaky, sneaky bastard.’
“What did you say now?”
“What?”
“I’m not …….”
“Oh, did I just say what I was thinking out loud?”
“You…… better not even think about it.”
“No, it’s just something that happens when people are concentrating.”
Eve coughed loudly, feeling unnecessarily embarrassed, and turned to look out the window. Beyond the window stretched a wide, green plain. Short trees whizzed by and disappeared into the distance, and animals that looked like sheep wandered lazily across the open plain.
It wasn’t much different from what she’d seen not long after the train left. More than two hours had passed.
Soon enough, Eve’s posture slumped downward as she grew tired of looking out the window. She was very bored, but she couldn’t sleep sprawled out with Alberic in front of her. If she drooled, her makeup done by Tilda would be ruined. Without taking his eyes off the newspaper, Alberic pointed out her unkempt demeanor.
“Apparently my education didn’t mean anything to you.”
“H, how can a person change in a little over a month?”
“A person? All I see in front of me is an animal. How confident you must be to refer to yourself as a person.”
“Why are you arguing with me again? How can a person spend five hours sitting with their backs to the wall, even in such a padded and comfortable chair….. that’s torture, torture!”
“Torture is what I call what you’re doing to me now, Evelyn, when I’m forced to watch a nobleman I taught being stretched out like a beast in a barnyard, and I wouldn’t be surprised if my eyes started bleeding soon.”
“T, that nagging……!”
Grumbling, Eve pushed herself up from the padded seat, sensing that Alberic’s nagging would never end if she didn’t stand up. As she sank deeper into the cozy backrest, she thought to herself.
‘Oh, he’s an as**ole, but he’s a damn good talker.’
As much as she didn’t want to admit it, Eve and Alberic had an amazingly fluid conversation, even when they were being mean to each other. Eve felt a little bad that it was going so well, but she didn’t let it bother her too much and changed the subject.
“By the way, what will Brother do in the capital?”
“You. What were you going to Londinium for? You knew Mother would object.”
“Well, well. Is it proper etiquette to answer a question with a question?”
“Who are you to lecture me on manners?”
“Never mind, I’m going shopping, I need to buy something. Oh, and while I’m at it, could you give me some pocket money? I’m a little short on my savings.”
“You extort my money quite naturally. Is this another “etiquette” you learned in the orphanage?”
“It’s all because it means a lot to me.”
Eve suddenly smiled and jumped to her feet, noticing that Alberic had closed his newspaper and was staring at her with a puzzled expression on his face. Then she moved across the room and sat down on his left side with such force that it made his hair stand on end. Alberic shifted away from her, startled, but Eve stuck with him, whispering in his ear.
“There’s a workshop just east of the river from Central City, towards East Plumen, on the street of workshops. That…….”
Eve’s voice dropped lower and lower, tickling Alberic’s ear, and his cheeks instantly flushed bright red as he stiffened and listened to her whisper.
“What, you unscrupulous……!”
“Oh, my God. Unscrupulous. That’s not all, if you go deeper inside…….”
Blushing at Eve’s continued explanation, Alberic followed suit, lowering his voice to a whisper.
“Are those things…… that common in East Plumen?”
“I wouldn’t say common, but…… everybody in the know, knows.”
Eve smirked and coyly ran her hand up Alberic’s left thigh. He flinched, and she could feel the muscles in his thigh stiffen, but she didn’t mind, sliding her hand a little further in and stroking gently.
At the sweet sound of her breath against his ear and the tantalizing feel of her slender fingers slipping underneath, Alberic fluttered his long lashes and wet his lower lip, which was parched with nerves, with his tongue.
Her voice whispered in a low voice that seemed to capture Alberic’s imagination, making his cheeks and ears burn.
“You know I’m not doing this for my own good.”
With that, Eve effortlessly reached for his heavy bundle of bills and his pouch of gold coins.
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oooh ? thanks for the update !!