Dear My Rude Darling With Multiple Personalities

Episode 9

Monica stayed up all night, not realizing the benefits of going to bed early.

It wasn’t that the bed was uncomfortable. On the contrary, it was the warmest and most comfortable bed she had ever slept on in her twenty-plus years of life. But she had a hard time sleeping soundly.

Finally, she got up tired and went back to the bathroom to wash up. She turned on the faucet and waited for a while, and warm water started flowing out little by little.

If it were before, she might have felt a new sense of excitement in the warm water, but she didn’t feel that way now.

When she went to the kitchen early in the morning, the maids greeted Monica.

“You’re here, teacher.”

Among them, Maria, whose face Monica had already seen yesterday and whose name she knew, offered her a seat at the kitchen table.

Monica glanced at the maids. They were eating breakfast, sitting in a corner of the kitchen, holding only small wooden bowls. Maria noticed this and smiled.

“This is convenient for us. We eat quickly and have a lot of work to do.”

“I feel like I’m just adding to the workload…”

“If that’s the case, then quickly pick up your spoon. It’s most comfortable for us if you finish your meal quickly.”

Maria was a cheerful person. Her speech was simple but comfortable.

After finishing her breakfast of warm soup with white bread, Monica asked Maria where the nearest market was.

“What do you need?”

“A hairbrush and… simple things.”

“I see.”

She had packed big items like clothes but didn’t have many small things. Since the sun was hot, she thought it would be good to buy something like a straw hat. The things the sailors at the port were wearing didn’t look expensive.

Maria heard what Monica wanted to buy and said, “I’ll take you to the train station! Hey, Hans!” Then she went out the kitchen door and shouted loudly.

“Why?”

The man who came and stood in front of the side door, making a fuss, was a handsome young man.

He had a newsboy cap pulled down roughly over his crimson hair, leaves stuck to it, and his hands were caked in dirt; anyone could tell that he was a gardener.

“This is Miss Monica, young master’s new teacher. Are you going to the market later? Let’s go together.”

Hans poked his head over Maria’s shoulder. Monica tried to decline, but Hans smiled and answered first.

“We’ll be leaving shortly, so please come to the main gate of the mansion!”

Monica nodded absentmindedly.

In retrospect, it was a good thing. Martinel’s doctor had said he would be here around lunchtime. She figured she could make it there and back quickly if she followed someone who knew the way.

Monica wore the most comfortable clothes she owned: the one-piece dress she had worn when she was eighteen, when she left the orphanage and went on a military assignment as a nurse.

Although it was a dull gray and worn out after five years of wear, it was very sturdy, as orphans’ clothes usually are. Additionally, the sleeves could be rolled up and down. The hem of the skirt was cut off at the calf, making it a dress that could be run around in without dignity.

Her hair was tied up and braided. When going to meet Martinel, she would just roll up the braids and tie them into a ball.

Hans, who met her at the entrance of the mansion, opened his eyes wide.

“I heard you were a teacher…”

“Oh, actually, I’m not a teacher. I’m a nurse. Everyone just calls me that out of courtesy. Feel free to talk to me.”

When Monica answered like that, Hans waved his hand.

“Oh, no! That’s not it. I didn’t notice it when I saw you earlier, but now that I look at you, you look so young.”

The gardener’s cheeks turned red as he spoke. The morning was long, but the air was still cold. The conversations they had on the way to the market were ordinary, but some of them were things that Monica needed to hear.

“Come to think of it, you are the same age as the eldest daughter of this house! Then you are not that young.”

“Ahaha, is that so?”

“Yes. Even the servants are whispering among themselves that Miss Riella will soon become a spinster!”

So am I an old maid now?

Monica rolled her eyes. But Hans immediately went on to brag about Riella’s marriage proposal.

“But Miss Riella’s foolishness will soon come to an end. I heard she’s getting engaged to a groom from a very prestigious family. Someone said they saw him before. He’s a beautiful blonde…”

The servants seemed to enjoy the good things of this household as if they were their own. However, they did not want to pay much attention to things like Riella’s marriage proposal. So Monica quickly changed the subject.

“Oh, those roses are very pretty. Do you have any at the Mallett Mansion?”

“Oh! It’s an imported rose. It’s really expensive and precious, but surprisingly, our lord grows tulips that are even more expensive than those! That pink one is… compared to our tulips.”

Fortunately, Hans did not notice that Monica had changed the subject and continued to talk about the garden for a long time. Meanwhile, the young man continued to walk along the long, narrow alleys. He said that this was the fastest way from the mansion to the market.

“The carriages of the higher-ups don’t come here, so there’s no need to be careful while walking!”

“Okay.”

But I guess I shouldn’t go here alone.

Monica glanced at the floor. The alley had become dirty in an instant after leaving the wealthy neighborhood. Old ropes, trash, and things like a pair of shoes someone had lost long ago were strewn everywhere. The smell of salt from the sea mixed in, creating a musty odor.

Hans cleverly avoided them all, but Monica naturally slowed down.

“I’m going to the blacksmith shop to order a new shovel. There’s a general store over there for the comb. If it’s okay, let’s meet up here and go up together!”

“Oh, that would be great. But please don’t wait too long if I’m late.”

“But this is your first time here! The market here is complicated, and there are a lot of drunkards… Ah, should I just go with you?”

Monica stubbornly refused Hans’ offer to go with her to the grocery store because she felt burdened by the young man who secretly showed interest in her.

The young man waved his hand wildly until Monica disappeared down the alley. Monica smiled forcibly and waved back.

“Phew.”

The market was crowded from morning.

People carrying fruits and vegetables, merchants selling fish with piles of them… The floor was strewn with withered vegetable scraps and crumbs from wooden boxes. Men pushing carts passed busily between them.

Monica quickly avoided them and went into the general store. She bought a wooden comb and a straw hat among the glass jars full of small white candies and silk ribbons for sale. Then she turned around and turned back again.

“Could you give me just enough blue ribbon to tie around this straw hat?”

“Oh, you have such good taste, young lady!”

The owner of the general store smiled and said, holding up the ribbon.

“60 singles!”

“It’s expensive!”

“Don’t you know that silk ribbon is expensive?”

After some wrangling, Monica accepted the ribbon, which was long enough to make a small decoration.

“Oh my, you’re going to be rich!”

The owner, who had been selling expensive ribbons since morning, grumbled and laughed at the back of Monica’s head.

Monica felt better, anyway. She was broke until she got her paycheck this week, but she wouldn’t have to spend any money while she was working at the mansion, so that would be okay.

‘And when I get my salary, I’ll be a rich person with 500 Singapore dollars!’

The store owner put the ribbon in a small paper bag. The bag had a purple flower design printed on it, though it was of poor-quality ink, which made Monica feel a little better.

I think it would be a good idea to use this envelope when sending a thank you note to Diana for writing the letter of introduction.

“What should I do?”

Monica hesitated near the road she had promised to go back with Hans. She didn’t hate Hans, but she wanted to go back somewhere else. It was still early, and there was still a lot of time left until lunchtime.

Monica hesitated but eventually decided to take a different path. She had told him to go first, so he wouldn’t wait for her.

But Monica soon regretted it. Hans’ words were not empty words. She got lost in the complicated alleys of the market.

“Where is this…”

“Excuse me, how do I get to the wealthy neighborhood?” She asked several people, but still couldn’t find the direction. It was only then that she realized that La Spezia was a city that had been built over and over again.

Even the road she took was becoming increasingly dirty. Up until a moment ago, it had been a street with many restaurants, but the alley she turned into, which seemed to lead outwards, was lined with bars.

Besides, it wasn’t a good area, and there were drunkards lying around on the street after drinking all night.

‘This won’t work. I have to go back…’

Monica turned around, thinking it would be better to go back the way she came rather than wander aimlessly. But the next moment, she bumped into someone violently.

“Whoa!”

There was a loud noise. Stars flashed before her eyes.

Monica fell backward, screaming without realizing it, her skirt billowing up.

The other person must have been hit hard too, as they stumbled back with a thud. Monica couldn’t even see properly and just spat out, “I’m sorry.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. Are you okay…”

But what came out of the other person was abusive language.

“Damn, what the hell is that…”

Monica tried to get up but instead looked ahead in confusion.

The opponent was a strong man, but he was holding onto the wall and staggering despite bumping into a small girl like Monica. Then Monica realized why the opponent was acting so weak.

‘The smell of alcohol…’

It was a very messy situation.

“Damn. I just had to be unlucky…”

If it had been the original Monica, she would have picked up her things and run away the moment she heard that sound.

But Monica couldn’t do that. Now, the drunk who was holding onto the wall and whining was someone Monica knew.

Blonde hair that shone even in the shadows of a back alley. And unusually broad shoulders. Even though he’s hunched over, his tall stature wasn’t hidden.

“Luis?”

At those words, the other person raised his head and looked at her. Deep, blue eyes. Familiar, like the night sea…

“Who are you?”

“What are you looking for in front of me?”

Monica opened her mouth. She was dumbfounded.

—