To My Rude Darling with Multiple Personalities

Chapter 2

The orphanage where Monica had grown up was typical for an orphanage.

It was on the outskirts of the capital, and although there were many children, the staff members were always lacking. The building, which was a renovated old school, was cold and drafty.

Still, on the days when donors would visit, the orphanage managed to look pretty decent. The children hung flowers made from scrap fabric on the building and tied hand-knitted ribbons in their hair.

Nobles and the newly rich patted the heads of such children, and under the illusion that they were great people, donated some money and left.

And once in a blue moon, there would be someone who would take an orphan away. Most of them did so because they needed a young maid or a playmate for their child, rather than for adoption. It was similar to collecting a pet.

Nevertheless, it was something that all the children at the orphanage desperately wanted. No matter where they went, it would be better than the orphanage.

People wanting to take a child always had the same conditions: a smart and kind child. Also, the younger, the better.

While Monica had met the first two conditions, she was not young. When she had been dragged to the orphanage, she was already eight years old. People preferred younger children who were unable to discern between right and wrong.

Nevertheless, even Monica had had an opportunity.

The lord of one of the semi-noble families that supported the orphanage said he wanted to adopt a child. The man who visited the director’s office said that his wife had always been sad about not being able to have children since having a miscarriage twelve years ago.

“A twelve-year-old child, who is smart and kind. A boy would be difficult... so I would prefer a girl.”

The one who the director recommended was of course Monica. She was quick-witted and smart. At the age of twelve, she was already taking care of children much younger than herself. As soon as she woke up in the morning, she washed up with cold water and woke up the children sleeping in the beds next to hers one by one to wash their faces. She had also learned how to read and write quickly, and even taught the other children.

While the director would be sorry to lose her, it’d be better than sending a clumsy child, possibly having the adoption be dissolved, and the child being sent back to the orphanage.

Furthermore...

“Her hair... it’d be nice if it was black. Even if she doesn’t dress up much, black hair will make her look elegant.”

Monica had black hair. The director smiled brightly and said, “I have the perfect child for you!”

“Is that so? That’s great to hear.”

“Yes, her name is Monica...”

But coincidentally, there was another child hiding with Monica near the director’s office at that time.

Lizzie.

Lizzie Orphen.

Because the two of them were cleaning the room across from the director’s office that day, they ended up hearing everything between the director and the lord. The two girls’ eyes met.

At that moment, Monica clearly saw envy and sadness swirling in Lizzie’s gray eyes.

Lizzie was the same age as Monica, and had the same-colored black hair.

However, unlike Monica, who was intelligent and quick, her actions were slow and sluggish. She had barely learned how to read and write with Monica’s help, and she wasn’t good at other things due to her lack of know-how. That’s why Lizzie had always admired and envied Monica.

“You’re lucky...”

Lizzie closed her mouth sullenly after saying that. But a few days later, she suddenly came to Monica’s bed at night.

When all the children were asleep, Lizzie knelt next to Monica’s bed and held her hand. She cried while whispering, “Monica, please. Could you give up that spot to me?”

“Lizzie...”

“I beg you,” Lizzie pleaded desperately.

Monica hesitated. Her honest feelings were that she didn’t want to give up this chance. And above all, this wasn’t a situation where she could just give it up even if she wanted to.

So after deliberating for a moment, Monica said, “Even if I were to do that, I don’t think the director would allow it...”

In Lizzie’s desperation, she nearly lunged at Monica as she grabbed the hem of her skirt. The worn orphanage pajamas were so tough that Monica had never once thought that they would tear. However, at that moment, she nervously thought that Lizzie would tear them. Lizzie continued to cry and hold on.

“I-I’ll take care of it! Whatever it takes!”

“How?”

“When the carriage comes tomorrow to pick you up, just pretend to get distracted for a moment. Remember my brooch that you liked? You can have it!”

Lizzie’s brooch? Monica’s eyes shook.

When Lizzie had been abandoned, all she had on her was a brooch that didn’t have any value to the adults, since it was costume jewelry. Still, it was tempting like honey in oatmeal to young children.

It was a small, round brooch with an imitation gem that had a crest on it. In the sunlight, the brooch would scatter pink rays of light on the white walls of the building. Like the other children, Monica had really wanted that brooch as well. When the children at the orphanage wanted to see the light show, Lizzie would always show off and take out the brooch only for a moment, as if she was showing it to them against her will.

“While you’re playing with the brooch, I’ll get in the carriage. I beg you, please?”

Monica wondered if that would really work and deliberated for a long time. When she saw Monica’s hesitation, Lizzie clutched the hem of her skirt again and wailed silently.

“You’re smart and pretty. I get scolded by the director every day... I probably won’t ever get such a chance because I’m just a stupid, worthless girl! But you'll get another good chance!”

A stupid, worthless girl.

That was what the orphanage director had always called Lizzie. But if Monica could go back in time, she swore that she would call herself that.

Because at that time, she had gotten shaken by Lizzie’s words and crying.

“Everyone likes you, but they don’t like me. I’m ugly and stupid. I wish I was like you...”

The one-sided praise and admiration from someone who was the same age as her. Even if it was a rudimentary statement with an obvious purpose, young children were weak to such things. And young Monica wasn’t an exception to that.

Is that true? Since I’m smart and pretty, will I quickly get another chance to be adopted? But it’ll be difficult for her, right? Fragmentary and complicated thoughts filled Monica’s head.

Moreover, she felt sorry for Lizzie, who would be left alone and scolded every day if Monica were to get adopted.

Whenever Lizzie was scolded by the director, she would clutch her dirty apron, and perhaps that was why the wrinkles on that apron never went away. Her cheeks, which had always bulged as if she were biting on candy, had become very thin over the past few days.

So the next day, Monica hid in the attic early the next morning, just as Lizzie had said to. In her hand was Lizzie’s pink brooch.

When she approached the window and held the brooch up to the sunlight, a ray of pink light reflected off the wall. Beautiful, sparkling light. But strangely enough, she didn’t feel any emotion. Suddenly, Monica opened the attic window and looked down.

The view that she saw from that small window was something she’d never forget.

The director was nearly losing her mind when the noble family’s magnificent carriage arrived early in the morning and Monica was nowhere to be seen. At that time, Lizzie had quickly put on her best dress and appeared in front of the director. As always, she was holding her skirt tightly.

The director paused for a moment, then grabbed the nervous child by the shoulder and pushed her toward the man standing in front of the carriage. The man wearing the fine hat tilted his head, and then held out his hand to Lizzie without any expression on his face.

Lizzie got into the carriage without looking back.

Later, when Monica had been discovered, the director beat her until her legs nearly broke.

“You give me trouble like this?! You foolish girl! You think there’ll be a next time?”

Monica, who then cried herself to sleep, cried even harder the next morning when she saw the bruises on her legs. They lasted for nearly a month.

While, before, Monica had been waiting for parents to adopt her, she now switched to hoping that Lizzie would return.

She even dreamed that one day, the man in the fine hat would suddenly appear again and say, “We were mistaken. The girl we wanted is Monica.”

However, the director was right. There was no next time for her. The director may have been angry at the two devious girls, but if someone else had shown up who wanted Monica, she would have given her up for adoption. But those who came did not want to adopt a girl who was older than twelve.

Lizzie also never came back.

Monica remained at the orphanage until she was forced to leave at eighteen.

Monica sighed deeply. Now that she thought about it, perhaps Lizzie had truly been the smart one, right?

She may have looked slow, but was quick when she needed to be.

But what was the point of dwelling on the past? Monica wiped the bridge of her nose.

* * *

In the early summer weather, her taffeta dress that wrapped around her wrists felt a little hot. But it was the only good dress that Monica owned. She had to walk carefully, because she had to wear these clothes tomorrow, too. Unlike in the capital, the commercial streets of La Spezia were not yet maintained, so a cloud of dust rose up with her every step.

Mrs. Oran had informed Monica that the child she would be teaching was a boy.

Originally, the family only had a daughter, but they then had a son years later. He had been weak since he was young, so that was why they needed someone to look after him regularly and respond to emergency situations.

While the family’s title of nobility was only a knight of the third degree, they had a tremendous amount of money. The lady of such a house was overprotective of her son, as he was the apple of her eye.

So it was understandable as to why she would dismiss servants who showed even the slightest sign of being ill, out of fear that the son would catch it, too.

I’ll be in big trouble if I catch a cold.

The most famous things in La Spezia were the swimming competitions held right in the sea and the nearby lake. Monica had heard that the lake, which was connected to the sea but was, surprisingly, a freshwater lake, was full of people boating in the summer. She had wondered if she could at least take a sneak peek at it since she would be serving a noble young master in the area, but it seemed like she couldn’t even dream of it.

“Huh?”

After her thoughts reached that point, Monica’s eyes grew big. This was because the surrounding scenery had suddenly become unfamiliar. Her original plan was to return to the inn near the La Spezia Train Station…

“The port?”

When she started paying attention again, she found herself walking among the sailors.

Monica gaped. The smell of salt wafted through the wind. Amidst the scorching sun and salty breeze, several large ships were showing off their tall masts while anchored in the distance.

Before she had realized it, the dusty street had disappeared and she was now stepping on a rough stone road. Light-colored tents with water stains fluttered here and there, and sailors with tanned skin walked around them.

“Move, move!”

“Hey! You fraudster!”

“The compensation for this voyage is...”

Men wearing fancy hats, workers with their sleeves rolled up, a young boy leading a horse that was pulling a load, a street vendor who was attracting the attention of anyone and everyone with parrots…

Monica then remembered what Mrs. Oran had told her: “The La Spezia Train Station was not used during the war, so the area in front of the station is a mess. There are many cases of people getting lost, as the street is a bit confusing.”

She had heard that there was a port right near the train station. As she had walked alone, lost in her thoughts, she hadn’t realized that she had reached that port. Monica looked around in confusion. The port wasn’t a very good place for young ladies to walk alone, anyway.

“Excuse me, where is the La Spezia Train Station?”

“Go away! Can’t you see that I’m busy?!”

She wanted to ask for directions, but busy people didn’t want to deal with Monica. A sailor carrying a large box glared at Monica. He frightened her, so she stepped over to one side of the street.

Fortunately, after looking all over the place, she caught a welcome sight in the distance. It was the tip of the clock tower in front of the train station that she had seen when she had first arrived in La Spezia.

If I can at least get there, it’ll all work out.

From the train station, Monica felt like she could roughly figure out where to go. Monica sighed and turned toward that direction. The moment she did that, something blocked her vision.

Before she could even let out a surprised exclamation, Monica hit her forehead on that something.

“Ah.”

Fortunately or unfortunately, she immediately realized that it was someone’s chest. Although, this was also because she had grabbed onto the shoulder of the one she had bumped into.

A firm chest beneath soft fabric, a rich body scent mixed with a salty smell. The hand that had grabbed Monica’s arm pulled her upright with surprising ease. Monica raised her head in a daze.

“Are you all right, miss?”

She suddenly felt dizzy. She couldn’t tell the difference between the afternoon sunlight shining on the port and the blond hair of the young man holding her.

Amazingly beautiful blue eyes were looking down at her. Monica opened her mouth slightly.

“Sol...?”

The man’s face became blurred.