Chapter 1
A gorgeous mansion and its five gardeners worked tirelessly for days to make the roses bloom. The flowers were in full bloom under the summer night's gas lamps. The word "Wealth" surely would look like this if it were a landscape.
But Monica couldn't simply stare at the overwhelming sight. It was due to the man in front of her.
"Aren't you.... Garcia."
She couldn't help being flustered. One might wonder whether Monica was more fascinated by the man's face or the mansion's view. The man was so handsome. He was slender and tall, with stunning golden hair that would make anyone admire him; he also had deep-set eyes.
“How many times do I have to tell you? That’s not my name.” The man answered with cold expression.
Monica paid close attention to the man again.
Now that she thinks about it, he was dressed in an elegant manner, which was the exact opposite of the person she knew.
‘Is he really a different person?’
Of course, it's not uncommon to mistake someone for another. In fact, Monica has had the same experience twice recently.
‘… Wait a minute. This situation feels very familiar.’ Monica furrowed her brow.
Didn't she mistake Garcia for Louis at first? Monica, baffled, blurted out before she had time to organize her thoughts.
"Surely you're not going to tell me your name is Louis now, are you?"
"Haa..." (sigh). A smile appeared on the cold man's lips.
It was very different from Louis' smile, which was as warm as sunlight, yet their faces were strikingly similar. However, the man disputed her words by giving her a new name.
“My name is Enrique Solivan.”
"…Yes?"
She could not believe it. She'd lately met two men who shared the same face. Blonde, blue eyes, and incredibly tall! They all looked identical to the man in front of her. This means that Monica is seeing a third man with the same face. All three have the same face, but are they truly three different people?
"It's a lie...You must be lying." Monica's eyes widened.
The man laughed, his right cheek twitched a little as if convulsing. At that moment, the banquet hall light created contrast on the man's cheek, and Monica saw shadows spread across the depths of his eyes.
“I wasted my time.” The man turned around and walked away without hesitation.
Monica's heart grew anxious. A scar was on the man's cheek, or more specifically near the corner of his eye. It was barely noticeable, but she knew...
"Wait!" Monica grabbed the hem of the man's shirt. He turned around and frowned.
“Sir, is it possible… …No, I mean, are you triplets?”
As she got closer, the wound around the man's right eye became more visible through his damp hair. And so was the small scar at the corner of his red lips. Monica familiar with this scar.
“But I’ve never seen twins with the same exact scars.”
(Either he’s lying… or ) at least, he has multiple personality disorders.
* * *
To tell the story of Monica's encounter with a man who is at least a liar and at most has multiple personalities, we have to go back in time to several days ago.
It is also necessary to know what kind of person Monica is.
Monica hates it when someone asked her name.
"What's your name?"
"Monica."
Really, it's not that Monica doesn't like her name. The person who named her was the director of the orphanage. It appears to be taken from the name of a princess from certain kingdom. She rather likes her name now that she knows where it comes from.
“...and after Monica?”
"Uh..."
Whenever Monica's response trailed off, the person who asked her name would always ask her again.
“What is your last name?”
Monica would then smile ambiguously, or answer while rolling her eyes.
“I don’t have it. I’m an orphan.”
The other person's response to the statement is always ambiguous. Or,
“Oh my...”
And they would roll their eyes, just like Monica did and trailed off. Then quickly changed the topic. That is why she hates being asked for her name!
Of course, Monica did have a last name. The orphanage director thoroughly registered all of the orphans' births in order to obtain more funding from the kingdom. However, all of the orphans shared the same last name. She happened to see documents for orphans with the same last name wrote next to each other. Seeing that unspoken name, Monica made up her mind. Rather than say that last name out loud, she would simply say that she had no last name.
The orphanage director also had some excuses.
“You’ll all change your last names anyway once you’re adopted, right?”
‘Oh my god. Even so, why on earth does everyone here have to be registered using that same surname? And if you are not adopted and reach the age of 18, you must live with that name for the rest of your life. That's so horrible!’
“… Miss --fen.”
'How awful...'
“Miss Offen!”
“Oh, yes!”
Monica, who was lost in her thoughts, was startled and responded loudly without realizing it. The surrounding eyes suddenly shifted to Monica, then quickly withdrew. Monica's face became red.
Monica Offen.
Her last name was simply a variation of the word ‘orphan.’
'I might as well introduce myself as an orphan with my mouth. What a surname!'
But this time, there was no option. And it was only natural, given that Monica was now sitting down to apply for a job. The person who called Monica by that awful name was a middle-aged woman with her hair styled neatly up.
They're at a tea house on a very sunny commercial street. The middle-aged woman was a maid serving a wealthy nobleman.
"I'm sorry. I arrived by train this morning and I'm still out of it."
"I understand. That train must be unpleasant." The middle-aged woman, who introduced herself as Madam Olan, responded in a tone that showed that she didn't actually quite understand.
Monica tried her best to mumbled out her excuse while smiling. But Madam Olan didn't seem to want to talk about the hardship of having to spend the entire day running, crouching in a third-class train cabin, unable to move. Monica quickly adjusted her posture instead and sat up straight.
The windows of the tea house were made of opaque glass. Monica's face was lighted obliquely by the sunlight flowing through the window.
She was confident in her appearance. Of course, being confident in your appearance is usually reserved for someone who is really attractive or has enough looks to enchant men at first glance. But Monica's confidence was of a different kind.
Sharp green eyes, and neatly tied black hair in a bun. She wore her best outfit, navy taffeta dress with narrow, long sleeves that looked neat and demure. In short, she looked very intelligent.
She looked like an ideal candidate for the role of tutor to the children of wealthy noble families. And Monica had just applied for that position.
Fortunately, the madam didn't ask Monica about her last name blatantly. Monica felt better.
"I read your letter of recommendation thoroughly. Your guarantee is solid. I heard you were a nurse in the military."
“Yes, I was in the same unit as Miss Diana.”
"That's excellent. The spirit of sacrifice that comes from working hard for the country is a virtue that young ladies require today."
“I am grateful for your kind words.”
'I don't think so though.' Monica stuck her tongue out internally.
Throwing whole body away for the country.
At that time, the kingdom where Monica lived had been at war for two years. The front lines were short of men, and the kingdom offered fairly generous compensation to women who volunteered as nurses. A monthly salary of 200 Sing, and, if desired, college admittance for women who served for more than two years will be supported.
'I had no intention of giving my all for the kingdom. However, I did think about giving my all for my salary and going to college.'
Of course, the college that the kingdom announced wasn't particularly good. But there weren't really any other options. So Monica enlisted.
However, life did not go as easily as she had hoped.
After three and a half years on the battlefield, her kingdom was lost, rendering all her effort futile. Furthermore, because they lost the war and had to pay war reparations to the opposing nation, the kingdom cannot pay the overdue wages. Even the city where Monica planned to attend the all-women's college was bombarded, and the school was completely destroyed.
So now Monica, at twenty-two, had to find a new way to live. Fortunately, Diana, a nurse friend who had served alongside her, introduced her to a good job. At the harbor city of La Spezia. A wealthy, semi-aristocratic family lives there and is looking for a tutor. They have a weak child who needs someone to teach and take good care of him.
A tutor was only in name, and it was more like hiring a nurse to look after the child from morning to night. More than anything, the salary was good.
Monica was secretly relieved that the city she had arrived in by train after staying up all night appeared to be a very pleasant place.
La Spezia. A resort at the southernmost tip of the kingdom. It's a peculiar city that appears peaceful, but the ocean currents are so rough that anyone who doesn't know how to get there would end up stranded. Naturally, the war had little effect on the city. Even the king fled to La Spezia shortly before the defeat. Also, many nobles remained there until the kingdom was restored. Money inevitably flowed into the city. It exuded an aura of wealth.
"I will introduce you tomorrow. I believe our lady will be able to determine whether Miss Offen is qualified, and you will be able to start work right away.”
“Do you have a place to stay for the night?”
"Yes. I reserved a hotel nearby the train station."
Madam Olan covered her mouth, as if troubled by her answer.
“Oh my. That area doesn’t seem to be a desirable place for a first-time woman visitor to the city to stay the night.”
“Really? It was a clean place…”
"While hygiene is indeed important, it is not what I’m talking about.” Madam Olan said softly, adjusting her clothing.
“La Spezia train station was not in use during the war, so the area in front of the station is a mess. There are many cases of people getting lost. The streets are very chaotic.”
“Ah…” Monica widened her eyes. She'll have to leave early tomorrow morning. It seemed like Madam Olan was giving her a warning not to be late. If she could work with someone like her, it might be a pretty great job.
Madam Olan cleared her teacups and stood up, Monica also stood up straight. The woman opened her mouth as she passed, placing two coins on the table for tea expenses.
“But, I have a question.”
“Yes, go ahead.”
“Are you… an orphan?”
Her hopes that this would be a nice workplace were dashed with that one question. But she managed to maintain her smile. Madam Olan continued, as if making excuses.
“Your last name.”
That dreadful last name!
Monica tried to nod gently.
"Oh dear... You must have had a difficult time."
Madam Olan patted Monica on the shoulder. After that, she was not particularly comforting her, and after a few words of necessary greetings, Monica parted ways with Madam Olan.
“Haa…” As she turned around, she let out a deep sigh.
“I guess I was being too kind. I shouldn’t have been so kind back then.”
Monica whispered softly as she walked along the street. Even though, it's already too late now.
“I guess I should have been adopted.”
Monica also had the opportunity to have a pretty last name, but she just kicked it away. Ironically, it was because twelve-year-old Monica was kindhearted.
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