TMRDWMP CH 8

Chapter 8

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I Know My Place

Dinner was very delicious.

Madam Mollet asked Monica various things and shared the circumstances of the mansion. She mentioned that Mr. Mollet was difficult to see because he frequently travelled between the capital and La Spezia for work, and that the estate was at its most beautiful during the summer.

Even while having dinner, Monica kept glancing at Riella.

Riella handled her spoon with elegance expected of a noble young lady. There was not a single wasted motion as she cut her meat, pulled over her younger brother Martinel’s plate to cut his food for him, and then slid it neatly back.

“Martin’s doctor is coming tomorrow at lunchtime. He comes once a week. Would you be able to start looking after Martin from the afternoon after meeting the doctor?”

“Of course, Madam.”

“That’s good.”

Madam Mollet smiled faintly.

“Mother, would it be alright if I briefly taught Monica how to attend to Martin’s bedtime routine this evening?”

“You?”

“I’ve sometimes looked after Martin recently.”

“Oh my, have you?”

Madam Mollet looked at Riella appreciatively. Riella shrugged lightly.

“I know too!”

Martinel grumbled and Riella smiled.

“You keep biting on the thermometer, though. You shouldn’t do that.”

“I don’t bite it anymore!”

“And you can’t button your clothes properly.”

Isn’t that what the maids are for?

Monica was silently watching Riella and Martinel and the madam explained.

“There’s quite an age difference between Martin and her. They get along so well. Other people criticize it for not being aristocratic, but who cares? As long as I find it pleasant, that’s what matters. Don’t you agree?”

Riella nodded. Feeling somewhat complicated, Monica nodded along with them.

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Riella’s hands were skilled as she checked the shiny mercury thermometer after taking it out of the boy’s mouth. When Riella gestured, Martinel immediately burrowed into the bed as if he had been waiting. As Martinel lay down, Riella arranged his pillows and smoothly straightened his blanket.

“We record Martinel’s temperature every evening. If Martin is getting sick, a rash of heat breaks out on his neck first, so if there’s nothing unusual on his neck, you only need to tidy his bedding.”

“Thank you.”

“Sister, can’t I just read that and go to sleep?”

The boy whined, wanting to finish the book he was reading, but Riella was a strict sister. As Riella shook her head, Martinel pouted but didn’t press further and lay down. She bid him good night and closed the door.

“I need to talk to you for a moment.”

“...Alright.”

Monica nodded and let Riella into her room. Riella immediately closed the door after entering Monica’s room and looked around. Nothing had changed, apart from the luggage bag the maids had brought from Monica’s lodging during the day.

“Mother noticed. That both of us lied.”

“...I see.”

Who wouldn’t notice a lie that two young maidens had concocted awkwardly on the spot? Riella crossed her arms and looked at Monica haughtily.

“Mother is deliberating what to do with you.”

“...”

Monica just looked at her, Riella frowned.

“Don’t you have anything to say?”

“What should I say?”

Riella was more annoyed.

“Don’t you want to work in this house?”

“I do. And?”

“Then...”

“Then what? Are you telling me to clear out because Madame Mollet is displeased?”

Riella’s face twisted. Monica barely suppressed the urge to scoff but she shouldn’t. When Riella left earlier, Monica didn’t simply sat around in her room until dinner.

First, Madame Oran came to see her. As Madame Oran guided her through the mansion, Monica greeted the various servants she would mostly be interacting with.

“Oh my, you’re the new nurse! It’s nice to meet you!”

The servants were generally amicable. Monica casually chatted with them and asked various questions. Her mind was in a mess, but she needed to grasp the situation. It wasn’t too strange for a new servant who had just arrived at the mansion to ask about its circumstances. And so, Monica learned various things.

This mansion hadn’t originally belonged to the Mollet family, it had belonged to a wealthy high-ranking aristocratic family until about a decade ago, but the Mollet family bought it after that family fell during the war.

They had brought in few servants from the capital, and now only Madame Oran remained. She also naturally figured out things the servants hadn’t mentioned. Even the nature of what Riella feared.

“I don’t think you would want to see me begging on my knees for a job in this house, Ri-ella.”

She almost said Lizzie, but Monica managed to correct herself just in time. Riella tilted her head menacingly.

“Why wouldn’t I?”

“Well...”

Because none of the servants in this mansion know you were adopted into the family.

That was the fact Monica had discovered. Riella was adopted before the Mollet family came to La Spezia. Even if people in the capital knew, the servants here had encountered Riella as a daughter of the Mollet family from the start.

Moreover, Monica distinctly remembered what Madam Mollet had said earlier.

“I’m so forgetful. After giving birth to two children...”

Madam Mollet had also said she gave birth to Riella. But both of them knew that was a lie. Monica finally understood the source of the fear that had surfaced in Riella’s eyes. Riella was afraid that the fact of her adoption would be revealed.

Someone might think that it’s just the servants. What does it matter if she was adopted? After all, Riella’s last name was Mollet, not Offen.

But that thought was too simple. People don’t compartmentalize human affairs so neatly. Therefore, Monica swallowed the words she was about to say. Instead, she tried to speak in the softest voice possible.

“If you intended to kick me out, you wouldn’t have taught me how to check Martinel’s temperature earlier.”

“...Hmm.”

Riella narrowed her eyes while keeping her arms crossed. Monica wiped the sweat on her hands on her skirt. She could threaten to expose all of Riella’s secrets right here and now. But that wasn’t a very smart idea. Because Madam Mollet would likely also want to keep Riella’s adoption a secret.

Regardless, Monica’s employer was Madam Mollet. The madam wouldn’t choose to keep an orphanage mate who used harsh threats against the daughter she cherished, enough to say she gave birth to her, in her service, even for a salary.

Even if I spread rumours about the adoption, the madam can easily stop it...

Furthermore, Monica was merely a nurse from an orphanage background. Getting rid of a jobless girl who spread malicious rumours would be no big deal for the upper class. Riella might face a slight embarrassment no matter how much Monica talked, but Monica could lose her life at worst.

Looking down, she saw the glossy back of her hand where emergency medicine had been applied. The bleeding had long stopped, and there was a scab on her hand.

Monica glanced at Riella’s hand. Riella was wearing a new pair of chemical lace gloves. Another pair, not the expensive one she had torn during the scuffle with Monica earlier in the day. That was the difference between Monica and Riella.

“Riella, I know my place.”

“...”

“I’m poor. As you might have guessed, I left the orphanage when I was over 18. I wasn’t adopted... And I couldn’t even receive the money I earned as a nurse because of the war reparations. So, if it weren’t for the job of looking after Martinel, I don’t even have the money to go back to the capital.”

That was half-true. She had enough money for a train ticket to the capital, but even if she bought a ticket, she had no place to stay in the capital. There was no way she had any money left over for lodging. In the face of poverty, pride and distress quickly vanished. Monica raised her head and looked at Riella.

“I thought Madame Mollet would suspect me. But I believe the fact that I safely had dinner in this house is thanks to you. And I believe that’s because of... a small opportunity I yielded to you ten years ago.”

“...”

“So, I will only regard you as the young lady I must serve. As if someone like Lizzie Offen never existed in my life.”

I know that you, who were adopted in my place, haven’t forgotten my favour and defended me. So I will gratefully accept this opportunity and keep quiet.

Finally, Monica added.

“I ask this of you, Miss.”

Monica swore that those words were not spoken after hearing the conversation between Riella and Madam Mollet.

She had merely said that to praise Riella. For her, appeasing Riella was the most important thing. But the moment Riella heard Monica’s words, her insides twisted. She couldn’t understand why.

Riella had indeed come to this room for the reason Monica had expected. Riella intended to silence Monica. Seeing Monica sitting at the dinner table, Riella deeply regretted having defended her to Madam Mollet that afternoon.

I should have just asked her to kick her out!

It was ridiculous to let an orphanage mate into this house because of a momentary impulse she didn’t even understand. The Mollet family held a very important position in La Spezia society after the war, and Riella had a separate, big goal. If her adoption were revealed, everything might fall apart.

So, she had intended to tell Monica to shut up and live like a mouse. But when Monica became so submissive to her, she didn’t feel good, instead, she felt strangely irritated. But what could she do? Should she tell her to speak freely because she didn’t like the submissiveness? She couldn’t do that. So, Riella scoffed.

“Yes. It’s a relief you know your place.”

“...”

“I hope we don’t have to have this conversation again, Miss Monica.”

“We won’t.”

Monica replied calmly and turned her head. Riella, clutching her dress, left Monica’s room.

Now she was alone in the beautiful, spacious room, which Monica could never afford even if she worked her whole life. Monica laughed hollowly and began to unbutton her sleeves.

She hadn’t done much in terms of work, but she was surprisingly tired. She quickly took down her hair and took off her dress. She was taking out her undergarments from the luggage bag the maids had brought.

Clang.

It was a brooch. Lizzie’s brooch, whose shine had now faded. Even Monica had forgotten she still have it couldn’t even scoff. Monica shoved the brooch back into the bag without looking at it. She walked into the attached bathroom, where beautiful faucets awaited her. She turned on the water and buried her face in it, leaving no room for tears to remain.

Chapter 7

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Chapter 9