To My Rude Darling with Multiple Personalities

Chapter 5

“I guess I’ll get to introduce you sooner than expected, Miss Monica. This child is my Martinel.”

“Hello, Miss Monica.”

The boy Lady Mollet was holding against her skirt looked very much like her, with his soft brown hair and glossy black eyes. His gently curved eyes, which appeared to contain all the goodness in the world, seemed completely unaware of dirty or sad things.

“Martinel, you are to call her ‘Teacher,’ not ‘Miss Monica.’”

“Understood, madam. Hello, Teacher!”

“And madam, you say! Please stop addressing me in that strange way!”

Lady Mollet laughed while trying to scold her son. Martinel whined about something and tugged at her skirt. Normally, Monica would have thought the spoiled boy was cute and greeted him in a friendly way.

But Monica still couldn’t take her eyes off the young lady behind the boy.

“And over here is...”

“I’m Riella Mollet.”

Just as Lady Mollet had opened her mouth, the young lady, whose eyes were also fixed on Monica, quickly answered. It was as if she was cutting off her mother’s words. Lady Mollet opened her eyes wide and smiled.

“Yes. This is my daughter. She is my pride. Did I tell you that she’s the same age as you, Miss Monica?”

“Yes...” Monica barely answered.

“Riella, this is Miss Monica, who will be Martinel’s teacher. Since she’s the same age as you, she can become your good friend. She’s from the capital.”

“I see. It’s nice to meet you, Miss Monica.”

Riella answered in an emotionless voice as if reading from a play script. While Lady Mollet tilted her head, she didn’t pay much mind to it.

“Since this is also fate, could you both show Miss Monica to her room?”

“Me?”

“Yes, Martinel. She’ll be using the room next to yours.”

“Of course! Anything for the madam!”

The boy answered cheerfully as he let go of his mother’s skirt. Riella looked reluctant, but smiled when she made eye contact with Lady Mollet. Lady Mollet then disappeared, saying that she had something to do in the afternoon.

The boy, Martinel, stepped in front of Monica first.

“Will you be using the room next to me, Teacher?”

“Thankfully, it turned out that way.”

Monica could barely smile. Martinel didn’t seem to care, as he grasped her skirt and led her somewhere. Even though it was early summer, he was well-dressed. Martinel, who was conscious of Monica’s gaze, grumbled about the thin, shiny silk stockings that reached his calves.

“Madam says that I need to wear them at all times so I don’t catch a cold. But don’t you think these stockings make me look like I’m only seven?”

“Of course not! In the capital, the young boys wear stockings in the summer too.”

“Really? Ah, by the way, Teacher. You can speak comfortably about anything with me!”

While saying that, Martinel proudly puffed out his chest. Monica smiled awkwardly and started down the hallway, following after him.

The hallways were covered with thick, blue carpet, so the sounds of footfalls were barely noticeable. Riella slowly followed behind the two, pausing occasionally, giving the impression that she was following them reluctantly.

“Riella! Aren’t you coming with us?”

However, she couldn’t avoid Martinel’s eyes. He stopped and gestured a couple of times before Riella caught up with just a couple of steps.

Martinel was really a lovely boy. The boy was jumping up and down, telling Monica that he would have a birthday soon, and that he would be a grown-up when he turned eleven, and then he wouldn’t have to wear shorts like these.

“I have an older cousin, and he has a really nice frock coat and wool trousers! I also asked for a frock coat as a present for my eleventh birthday...”

Monica tried to keep up with his pace, saying things like, “Wouldn’t a frock coat be a bit hot in the middle of summer?” However, his steps continued to slow down, as he was conscious of Riella behind them. Nevertheless, in the end, all three arrived at their destination.

The first thing Monica noticed was large white doors with fancy lace curtains. The doors were open, and she could tell that it was Martinel’s room because he made a blatantly displeased face and sighed while saying, “I really don’t like the lace curtains though!”

So did the small white doors next to that belong to her room? As Monica was about to approach, someone laughed.

“That’s a storage room.”

Monica looked back. It was Riella. Riella crossed her arms, and then walked a little ways out of Monica’s line of sight.

She then stopped in front of doors as big as Martinel’s doors. They were covered with beautiful molding and featured no major decorations, but looked elegant on their own.

But Monica’s eyes stayed on Riella’s fingertip that was pointing to the door. She was wearing very delicate-looking chemical lace gloves on her hands.

The machine-woven lace was something that all young noble ladies, who had to wear gloves even in the middle of summer, wanted to have. However, they were tremendously expensive, and because of the war, all kinds of machines had been mobilized to produce military supplies, so obtaining such gloves was a difficult task.

The moment she saw the gloves, an inexplicable feeling of despair came over Monica. The feeling of being hot, which had disappeared while she drank iced tea, seemed to come rushing back to her.

“Your room is over there.”

“Over there.” The words were quite impersonal and cold. And they had also been spoken in a wary tone. But before Monica could respond with anything, it was Martinel who stepped in.

“Riella, what’s the matter? Why are you being so mean?”

“Huh...?”

Riella looked down at Martinel in confusion. Martinel tried to get to the bottom of the situation as he slightly squinted his black eyes.

“Speak nicely. Are you still mad?”

“No, Marty... Why would I be mad?”

“Lies. Is it because you’re still angry about your watch that I broke a few days ago?”

The boy stamped his feet as if he were a baby. Riella hurriedly explained that that wasn’t the case, and Monica found out that Martinel had accidentally broken her prized watch a few days ago. However, she had no idea what that had to do with this situation. Anyway, Riella threw up her hands.

“I’m sorry, Marty. I just feel awkward because she and I have never met before, that’s all.”

Riella then raised her hand and looked at Monica again. “Pardon me for asking, but what is your last name...?”

Monica opened her stiff lips.

“It’s Monica Orphen.”

“Miss... Orphen.”

Riella mumbled as if her last name was rolling around in her mouth.

Martinel then suddenly jumped up. “What are you doing, Anbi?!”

Both people looked in his direction in surprise. Martinel quickly ran into his room. The maid named Anbi had come out of Martinel’s room carrying a bunch of things and was startled when Martinel started to push her back in.

“Why did you clean up my blocks?! Don’t do that!”

“But young master, these blocks...”

“No! I worked so hard to build that!”

“But madam said to clean them up because no one could move around the room!”

The boy, who had already forgotten about the two young ladies, could be heard pouring out the blocks again that the maid had carried out. Monica, who had been staring at the scene in a daze, suddenly turned her head. In front of her, Riella could be seen with Monica’s door half open.

* * *

As Lady Mollet returned to her room, she suddenly realized that she had not received Miss Monica’s reference letter. She could’ve just gotten the butler to do it, but…

She then remembered that she had ordered him to run some very important errands. One of which was to go to the Soliven family’s townhouse.

Well, I guess I can just get the reference letter.

After all, the doctor had been nagging her to walk more. She had to walk a lot, even if it was just within the mansion.

So Lady Mollet turned around.

* * *

“You can use this armoire for your clothes. And next to it is...”

Riella was dryly continuing her explanation.

The room given to Monica was also a very nice room. Autumn wildflower-colored silk wallpaper and wainscoting placed here and there to block the cold of the stone mansion made the room very cozy and luxurious.

And that wasn’t all. There was a large black mirror above the fireplace in one corner of the room.

My goodness, a black mirror! It wasn’t glass filled with black ink, but rather a mirror made of genuine obsidian. And it was very large.

However, Monica put aside thoughts about the black mirror, and looked at Riella in a half-daze.

Anyone could see that Riella’s beautifully bouffant brown hair had a lot of effort put into it. The maids must have been busy polishing it with irons for at least an hour.

“Excuse me. Hello?” Riella, who had been half-heartedly explaining the room, called out to Monica in annoyance.

“Yes, Miss Mollet?”

“Ah, I’m sorry. I seem to have forgotten your last name.”

Unlike her tone of voice, her smile was extremely kind. Monica blinked, then suddenly looked at the black mirror in front of her. It was a strange contrast.

Riella was standing right in front of the fireplace where the black mirror was placed, and her pink-striped dress looked very beautiful against the autumn wildflower-colored wallpaper. It was a light and soft texture that was perfect for the early summer. Falling from the short sleeves were plump arms that were soft, slightly fat, and of a beautiful complexion. And below her wrists were the customized chemical lace gloves.

At that moment, she saw herself reflected in the black mirror.

Her face was a little red from the heat. Unlike Riella’s peach-colored cheeks, which were covered in red tin powder, her cheeks looked strangely dirty. And she was wearing a long-sleeved taffeta dress that covered her wrists, which she had been wearing for two days. The hands sticking out from underneath were rough and had thick joints.

The black mirror was so transparent and crisply detailed that, even though she had worked hard to flatten her hair, she could see every single follicle that was sticking out here and there, because she’d had no hair oil.

Monica impulsively opened her mouth.

“I doubt you’ve forgotten it.”

At first, she hadn’t been sure.

This was because she had confused Sol with a young man named Louis yesterday. Although she’d thought she’d known him, Monica was bewildered by the fact that he had been a completely different person, who only looked like the person she knew.

However, Monica didn’t miss the dark roots beneath Riella’s gorgeous brown locks.

Moreover, a strangely hostile attitude…

This child was Lizzie. There was no way she wasn’t.

Lizzie twisted her lips in a pout. Monica continued, “You’re Lizzie, right?”

The gray eyes were unfazed. She just stayed silent and looked at Monica.

“It’s been a while, Lizzie. You’re doing well, right? It looks like you’ve been living well. You look great, by the way. I had no idea you’d be here.”

Monica curved her eyes as she smiled. Now, what are you going to say to me, Lizzie? Was she going to welcome her as someone who lived in the orphanage with her? Or thank her for the life she had in this beautiful mansion? Or ask her to take good care of Martinel? Or…

Lizzie opened her mouth.

“Why did you come here?”