Arc 1: Chapter 4

Elenor left the place with Alec and returned back to her room. She flopped down to the couch and heaved out a sigh. A towel then came into view.

"Here milady."

"Ah alright, thanks." Elenor nodded, taking it from Alec, gently wiping the sweat away from her face.

"Can you prepare the bath for me?" Elenor asked, looking up at him from above.

"...Certainly." he bowed and left the room.

Elenor relaxed into the soft couch, sleepiness slowly getting to her now that all the adrenaline from horse riding had left her system. Resting her head on the couch on the arm rest, her eyelids grew heavier.

'A small five minute nap will be alright..'

-

Alec checked the water temperature and once it was the temperature Elenor always favoured, he left the bathroom to inform her that the bath was now ready for her. Knocking on the door, he walked in.

"Milady your bath is ready-" his sentence falls short once he sees Elenor asleep on the couch.

He walked over to the sleeping figure and bent down now at the same eye level as her. He noticed her shoes were dirty and removed them from her feet. He stared at the shoes, making sure to remember to wash these later.

He tidied the room a bit before going back to where Elenor was.

"Milady." he called out multiple times but she didn't budge one bit.

He sighed before shaking her slightly, "Milady please wake up." he tried again.

This time, Elenor moved a bit before mumbling, "Five more minutes…"

"Milady please wake up. I have prepared the bath for you."

Elenor slowly sat up, her eyes still closed. Alec watched every movement of hers in silence. She rubbed her eyes before opening them sleepily.

"Alec? What time is it?"

"Almost time for dinner milady. I have prepared the bath for you."

"Ah is that so? Thank you." Elenor sleepily spoke before getting up.

She then headed to the bath, her feet moving clumsily. The doors closed behind her as she left. Alec kept his gaze on the door, where she had gone through.

"Strange." he mumbled but he had a small smile on his face.

His milady suddenly looked interesting. As if she was another person. Alec's smile grew wider, wondering what else will she do.

Elenor came back into the room after a nice long bath. As usual, Alec dried her hair before she got dressed and headed for dinner. After dinner, she didn't feel like going back to her room just yet.

She headed to the library which she had stumbled upon after losing her way to the horse stable, Alec following behind her as usual.

Brushing her finger along the rim of the books, she took one book out that caught her attention. Reading the back of the book, it was a fairytale book. She didn't know any fairytales from this world so it piqued her interest.

Sitting down at the reading desk, Elenor turned the reading lamp on and began reading the book. Alec had left only to return with some calming tea for her while she read.

After he poured the tea for her, Elenor paused her reading and gazed up at him.

"Alec, you don't need to stay with me until I go back to my room. You can get off work now."

Alec shook his head, "It is my job and duty as your butler to be by your side."

'Yeah until you poisoned me…'

"If that's what you want.."

She turned her focus back to reading, flipping page after page, forgetting how much time has passed until Alec spoke up.

"Milady, you should head back now. It's almost midnight."

Looking up at the clock in the library, Elenor noticed that he was right. A small gasp escaped her mouth before she closed the book shut.

"I forgot how much time flies when you're having fun…"

Elenor turned to Alec and nodded, "Thanks for telling me."

"It's nothing milady."

"If you weren't there I would have for sure stayed up until late in the night." Elenor sheepishly chuckled.

Alec didn't say anything after that, following behind her until they reached her room. He bowed deeply, "Have a good night's rest, milady."

Elenor nodded about to close the doors, "You too Alec."

She shut the doors and placed the book she took from the library down on the nightstand. Changing into her nightgown, she turned the lamp off and headed to sleep.

The next day Richard asked if she wanted to go to town after breakfast.

"Brother, you aren't going to work today?" Elenor asked.

"Today I took a day off work." he smiled.

She returned him a smile, "Then okay, I will go get ready."

"You have been smiling more."

"Is it weird?"

He shook his head, "No, your smile is very cute."

"..Thank you.."

Richard nodded, "I'll wait at the entrance." he turned his heels and walked away.

Elenor called in some maids and they helped her get dressed for the outing to the capital. They were still afraid of her so Elenor didn't speak and just let them do their job.

Once she was finished being dressed by the maids, Elenor left her room and headed to the entrance where Richard was waiting for her.

"Your dress is different from usual." he said once he noticed her walking towards him.

Her hair was tied into a high ponytail with braided sides.

The outfit was a simple light green dress with some embroidery on it and topped it off with a bonnet similar colour with her dress.

Elenor didn't wear any accessories other than a simple necklace.

She smiled and slightly bowed, "Thank you brother since we are going to the capital I thought it was better to dress a bit lighter and comfortable."

If Elenor didn't tell the maids, they would have given her the usual dresses the previous Elenor would have worn.

Looking at them made her feel tired already. They were all so eye catching and just too much.

What she wore right now was perfect for a simple outing in the capital.

Richard and Elenor got onto the carriage while Alec sat with the coachman.

It took almost half an hour to reach the capital. They all got off the carriage and Richard told the coachman to come back around late afternoon.

"Do you want to look around the shops?" Richard asked once the carriage left.

Elenor nodded, trying to contain her excitement as this was the first time she had ever left the estate since she came to this world. "Yes please."

Richard looked at her before turning away and covered his face. "Elenor how could you become cuter than before…"

"..."

'Have I ever wrote about him having a sister complex?'

They slowly walked around, Alec following them from behind. They walked around the market that was selling different kinds of things like food, random knick-knacks and other stuff which caught Elenor's eyes.

"Brother will buy anything you want!" was what Richard said every time something caught her eye.

'I know you would but please refrain yourself. I much prefer window shopping since that's a habit of mine that can never be gone.'

Around lunch hour, the two decided to go to a popular cafe Richard suggested. Apparently they had a new kind of dessert and it was extremely popular now.

"Tell me what you want and I'll order it for you Elenor." he said as they looked through the menu.

Once Elenor laid eyes on the menu, she felt nauseous.

The prices were so expensive! One food from the menu could cost a whole shelf of instant noodles!

No wonder everywhere she looked inside the cafe was full of nobles and merchants.

Elenor ordered the cheapest thing on the menu she could find and had a nice chat with her brother until the food came to the table. It smelt really good and tasted amazing.

But honestly Elenor knew she wouldn't come here often, seeing the prices. They finished their food around the time they soon had to go back.

"Brother," she tapped his arm to gain his attention.

"Can we go in here?" she asked, pointing at a bookstore.

Richard looked at the bookstore, "Sure…"

They headed into the store. The bells chimed happily as they entered and looked around at the books.

"Welcome! What are you looking for?" the owner of the store asked with a smile on her face.

"Ah I would like to look around." Elenor responded.

She nodded, "Certainly, please take your time."

"Thank you."

Richard went into another section which was mostly politics and work related stuff while Elenor headed to the section that had all sorts of genres.