I Have No Intention Of Training The Male Leads - Chapter 3 Part 2

03. Capital City, Londinium (2)

Translated by: ???????

The train pulled into the platform and gradually slowed to a stop.

Alberic picked up his top hat, looked at himself on the wall mirror of his cabin. He adjusted his hat, gave his clothes a once-over, and turned to Eve, who was still slumped over, and said,

“We’re going to the townhouse in the West Plumen first.”

“Yeah…”

“The attendants will be here shortly, so watch your posture.”

“Yes.”

“At least Hold out… Until we get to the carriage.”

“Yes.”

“Let’s freshen up at the Vermell townhouse for now, and I’ll see to your business tomorrow.”

“Speaking of which, is there any way to keep Tilda away from me for a while? I don’t think going to that… Workshop with Tilda would be…”

“You can tell her you’re coming with me and give her a different order.”

“Ohhh… I guess…”

Alberic’s brow narrowed for a moment, as if Eve’s admiration for something so insignificant could be taken as mockery, but then he smiled again as if nothing had happened. Several of Alberic’s attendants and Tilda could be heard walking to the door of the cabin.

The two remained silent, as if they hadn’t been talking just now. They casually followed the entourage off the train and quickly got off at the Central City’s main station.

A carriage bearing the family crest was waiting for them outside the station, as if they had been informed in advance.

Thanks to the skillful driving of the coachman, the carriage carrying the two of them skillfully dodged and weaved between regular station carriages, small hackney carriages, and huge multi-seater omnibuses as they made their way through the blindingly congested streets of the Central City.

The sun hadn’t set yet, so the streets were crowded with people from all walks of life. The colorful buildings along the road whizzed by, and at some point, one could suddenly see the scene outside the carriage began to change.

A street lined with neatly maintained mansions lined up side-by-side began to be seen. Although it seemed to be well maintained, unlike the city center such as the marketplace where there was a lot of traffic, there were not many people passing by.

The occasional quick glance out the window revealed a group of neatly uniformed servants. With a quick glance, Eve realized they had entered the area west of the river.

The capital city of Londinium was one of the wealthiest regions of the Britannia Empire. The city was strictly divided by class into neighborhoods to the west and east side of the river, with the Grand Plumen, a wide river that ran through half the city, passing through the palace where the emperor and the royal family resided, and the Central City, the heart of the capital, straddling the river.

West of the Grand Plumen, the West Plumen contained the facilities of the nobility, including the palace and parliament, and the mansions of the gentry, such as the knighted noble families, high-ranking court officials, and large landowners, while East Plumen, east of the country, was home to mostly free people, mixed-race immigrants, poor workers, small business owners, and some middle class. The central city was a more service-oriented neighborhood of banks, publishing houses, hotels, and luxury department stores, which were closer to the service industry, as well as mansions and offices of ordinary civil servants, and wealthy middle-class people.

Even in an era when iron trains ran and light bulbs that gave people the same freedom at night as during the day, there was still a gap between rich and poor. The poor and commoners could never step into the west side of the river, and the wealthy and aristocracy had no business going to the east, so prejudices against each other were entrenched and the polarization was growing.

The reason why Eve was able to walk around like the lord of the manor she once was without anyone questioning her sanity was that she had grown up in an orphanage on the outskirts of the capital, adjacent to the East Plumen region, which was mixed in with the working class.

Alberic, too, had dismissed the barely twenty-year-old woman’s bizarrely obscene knowledge simply because she was from the east side of the river, and while Eve appreciated their preconceptions and prejudices, she couldn’t help but feel a twinge of resentment.

‘Honestly,’ she thought, ‘if I were just a commoner, I would have started an organization immediately. You guys breathe discrimination against the lower classes like it’s your lifeblood. It’s offensive to the little people listening.’

Alberic glanced over his glasses at Eve, who had quieted down from her ramblings. If she kept her mouth shut, she’d look like any other young lady, which wasn’t a bad thing since she had a good foundation, but it was her mouth that was the problem. It was, as he had feared in the presence of the Countess, a terribly embarrassing thing to present to society. He had even considered introducing her as a child who could not speak with her mouth glued shut, a radical idea that, if Eve had overheard, would have caused her to blow fire out of her mouth and question his sanity.

Looking her up and down as she stared blankly out the window, Alberic clucked his tongue as he took in her hatless, low-slung pearl-pinned hair, her tiny peridot necklace strung on a slender cord, and her almost naked, unadorned, not even bustled, outing dress.

A stranger would have thought it was a household rag. He knew his parents’ neglect bordered on abuse for a nobleman, but it wasn’t something to be bragged about out in the open. It would bring the family into disrepute if he carried her around like this.

The carriage continued on its way, while the two people were drowning in their own thoughts, they finally reached the Vermell family’s capital mansion. When Alberic was attending a local university, he would usually live in the capital mansion instead of coming down to the estate during vacation, so even with a hasty telegram, the townhouse’s occupants had skillfully arranged the manor to welcome them.

The carriage door opened and Alberic, who had gotten out first, escorted Eve out, and for a moment she thought about ignoring him and jumping out, but then she realized that might be a little too rude, so she meekly allowed him to help her out of the carriage. However, the two soon parted ways, and walked some distance apart to the front of the manor, with Alberic slightly ahead of her.

“Welcome, my lady.”

A footman waiting under the porch opened the front door as the two approached. A butler, who seemed to be quite old, greeted them. It seemed like he had already been waiting for them at the door.

Stepping through the door, Eve struggled to keep herself from letting out the same sounds of exclamations she had when she first saw the train. High ceilings, glittering chandeliers, servants and maids standing in rows behind the butler. Eve was reminded of the question she had set aside about the Vermell’s actual finances.

‘You said there was no money! You said there was no money at home!’

While Eve was mentally tackling the mansion’s apparent lack of money, Alberic nodded to the middle-aged butler and spoke up.

“Evelyn. This is Joseph Lore, general manager and butler of the townhouse.”

“Ah. Nice to meet you, Joseph.”

“It’s an honor to serve you.”

“Joseph, why don’t you show Evelyn to her room and then come to mine.”

“Yes.”

Eve looked at the master in front of her with a strange expression. Alberic was clearly using honorifics, but he sounded strangely condescending. If that was considered a Talent, then he’s pretty good at it.

As if he had done his duty, Alberic disappeared at a brisk pace with his baggage-bearing attendant, and Eve, with Tilda close behind, took up her own luggage and slowly ascended the stairs, while being guided by the butler, Joseph.

“I apologize for the hasty visit you must have prepared in a hurry.”

“I’m only concerned that there’s any negligence in serving you.”

‘That’s a butler who looks like he was from a painting… Whoa…’

A middle-aged man with chestnut-colored hair neatly slicked back with sparsely gray hairs, who appeared to be a bit stiff, politely replied to Eve’s humble apology.

He escorted her to a room with a south-facing window on the third floor. He informed her that several maids would be coming in a while to attend to her, then bowed before closing the bedroom door behind him.

Once the butler was gone, Tilda unpacked her luggage while hanging the dresses she’d brought in the now-empty closet and arranging her accessories near the white dressing table, while Eve sat on the edge of the bed with her buttocks curled up against it. She could feel the fluffy, sun-dried bedding wrapped around her.

“Oh, I can’t wait to take off my dress and roll around in bed.”

“You haven’t even had dinner yet, shouldn’t you be dining with the Young Count?”

“What are you talking about? I’m going to ask you to take it up to my room. I had no choice but to eat lunch on the train with him in front of my face earlier, but I’m sure he’ll have an upset stomach if he eats dinner with me now.”

Eve replied bluntly, while crossing her legs, and pretending not to hear Tilda’s heavy sigh that followed. The butler said the maids would be here soon, and Tilda was halfway through packing up the last of her things when there was finally a knock on the door.

“Come in.”

Two maids walked in, who looked a little younger than Tilda. They seemed to be in their early to mid-20s. They bowed politely and introduced themselves briefly.

“Miss. It’s an honor to serve you, I’m Anna.”

“Miss. It’s an honor to serve you, I’m Maria.”

“Yes, nice to meet you. Will you be in charge of me while we are at the mansion?”

“Yes. I will be primarily attending to the young lady, and Maria will be in charge of the rooms and running light errands.”

“Good. I won’t be around long, but I hope you’ll take good care of me in the meantime. Oh, and this is Tilda. She came with me from the mansion. You can ask Tilda any questions about me, but can you prepare my bath first?”

“I’ll get it ready right away.”

Apparently Anna seemed to be the more senior of the two, having been here a bit longer, so she was the one who usually answered Eve’s questions. Maria was rolling her eyes at Anna’s side as if she was watching her attentively. Eve smiled softly at her demeanor, which was a little hazy but somehow innocent. The two maids relaxed a bit, as if they realized she wasn’t a difficult person to serve.

Eve immediately beckoned to Tilda to remove her makeup, and to Maria to finish organizing her luggage. After some time had passed, Anna, who had gone into a room connected to the bedroom, reported that the bath was ready and led Eve in.

Eve decided that it would be nice for the three of them to get closer during the bath, so she undressed with Anna’s help, then went into the bathroom, while kicking Anna out as she prepared to take a bath, and sat in the tub alone.

She could feel the muscles in her body relaxed wearily after the long train ride. Eve sank into the hot water, draped her arms over the outside of the tub, stretched out, and closed her eyes. It felt like she could fall asleep just like this.

It was a long time later that Eve, sprawled out in the water, finished her bath and stepped out of it. Three maids bustled about, drying her hair and dressing her, though neither of them rushed to apply makeup to her face as they had been informed by Tilda about Eve’s preference.

After changing into a long, crisp white, one-piece nightgown that reached down to her ankles, even though it was a bit early for bedtime, Eve asked the maids to bring her meal up to her room, where she ate a quick dinner and then kicked everyone out of the room, saying she was going to bed early.

Finally having some time to herself, she dragged over one of the stools in her bedroom and sat down by the window to watch the sky outside, which was beginning to darken. The window faced the street, so she could see the small garden in front of the mansion, the imposing gates, and the boulevard beyond. Before she knew it, winter had passed and the air outside was gradually warming. Britannia had short winters and long springs and summers. Moreover, summers in this world were somewhat hot, but the humidity wasn’t too high, so wearing long-sleeved clothing was still bearable.

Through the slightly open window, a clean, crisp breeze streamed in, free of dust. The sunset sky was beginning to turn an indigo color. If nothing else, the weather was that of a perfect world. She sat with her arms crossed by the window for a while, gazing at the sky in awe, when suddenly there was a sharp knock on the bedroom door. Eve, puzzled by the unexpected visit, asked the person to come in.

Joseph, who opened the door silently, said, “The young master is looking for you,” and as if he had been advised in advance that Eve would greet him without wearing a shawl, he put a deep blue outing shawl that he had brought separately over her shoulders, unfazed by Eve’s lack of decorum.

“Right now?”

“Yes, Miss.”

Eve slipped on the indoor slippers she’d left under the stool, wondering inwardly what the hell this man was thinking, and followed Joseph’s lead.

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