Eida raised the corners of her mouth crookedly and continued speaking.
“To be honest, Melly, you know too, don’t you? The fact that you’re quite lacking as a duchess.”
“……”
Of course, Melly knew it well, but the answer to agree didn’t come out easily.
“It won’t do for the mistress of the Pelton family to act clumsily. From now on, I intend to educate you. About everything you need to have as the mistress of the Pelton family, from A to Z.”
She turned her gaze towards her son.
“You have no objections, Edric?”
“None, Mother.”
Edric agreed plainly. Just like that, Melly’s affairs were decided in an instant by the agreement of the two, regardless of her own will.
As the former duchess, Eida’s decision was natural. And Edric’s agreement was too natural as well. But…
Melly kept having this thought.
‘I would appreciate if you left that matter to us as a couple.’
Wouldn’t it have been better if he had said something like that…
“Do you have any complaints?”
Eida, who had been observing Melly’s changing expression with narrowed eyes, asked.
Melly quickly composed her expression and shook her head.
“No. I have no such thing, my lady.”
“Then that’s fortunate.”
Her eyelids arrogantly closed and opened. As if saying,
‘Of course you shouldn’t. Someone like you shouldn’t have any complaints.’
…Like that.
She continued her instructions while looking at Melly.
“First, let’s fix two things.”
“…?”
“Among all the duchesses in history, there has never been one who spoke down to her husband.”
The upper part of Melly’s round pupils was slowly covered by descending eyelids. Melly knew what Eida was talking about.
“From now on, speak respectfully to Edric. Not just in front of others, but when you’re alone too.”
“Yes.”
Melly agreed without another word. Because she thought it was natural.
“What’s the second thing, Mother?”
Edric asked. Eida said.
“The name. Let’s change the name a bit.”
Melly’s gaze, which had been cast down, turned straight towards Eida again.
The kindness of Eida Pelton, which had been artificial but outwardly benevolent, could no longer be found.
“My… name?”
Melly asked with a bewildered expression. Eida spoke without hesitation.
“Yes. To be honest, how can it be that a duchess’s name is indistinguishable from the servants’?”
“……”
“Your name, I suppose your father gave it to you?”
Melly nodded with a stiff motion.
Eida Pelton snorted. As if she had expected as much.
“If it had been your mother Jasmine, she would have given you a more splendid name. What a pity.”
“……”
Melly, who had never once thought her name was shabby, was somewhat dumbfounded.
Was this name really that bad?
Well, perhaps there were so many things about her that were shabby that her self-loathing hadn’t yet reached her name.
“Melissa.”
Finally, the lady uttered a name that was both unfamiliar and familiar, familiar yet strange.
“Melissa Pelton. That will be your name from now on. Not a vulgar name like Melly.”
“……”
Melly didn’t know what expression she should make at this moment. So she turned to look at Edric.
“It’s not bad, is it?”
Edric looked at Melly with an innocent face and smiled gently.
“Don’t you think so too?”
“……”
The answer to agree didn’t come out easily.
She could only think that this somehow didn’t seem right.
But she didn’t want to shatter the happiness that had just come into her hands. It seemed like if she just endured this one thing, everything would become peaceful.
Well, changing surnames after marriage was natural. And the name… it was just adding one more letter to her original name. Isn’t that right?
Melly smiled at Edric. Then she looked at Eida and answered.
“Yes. I will do so, my lady.”
Somehow, she felt the corners of her mouth trembling slightly.
[This is the timeline separator]The water stream rising from the fountain scattered droplets in all directions.
The sprinkler deeply embedded in the lawn rotated round and round, spraying artificial rain on the dry autumn garden.
The midday sunlight cast a shimmering rainbow around them, and then…
Step, step.
The woman crossing the garden, deliberately getting hit by the sprinkler while leaving the perfectly good stone pavement, instantly changed the genre of what had been a picturesque scene.
Her clothes, soaked by the water stream, clung to her body, revealing her sensual figure explicitly.
Enough to make male servants not know where to look, their gazes wandering in the air. Enough to make female servants gape in admiration.
It was always an impressive figure, and elegant appearance. Like the goddess statue of the fountain. But goddesses don’t make such spiteful expressions.
“Just that kind of girl?”
Rosalyn, emerging from the water stream, sat on the marble rim of the fountain, panting. Then Francis, who had been watching the stream of urine sprayed by the Cupid marble statue at the top of the fountain, turned his head.
“What?”
“I mean the Duke of Pelton.”
Rosalyn said, waving the wet extra edition in her hand mockingly.
“He broke off our engagement just to marry someone like Melly Enwood?”
“……”
Indeed, as she said, the names of Edric Pelton and his Cinderella were written in large letters on the front page of the extra edition.
Francis said nothing.
Rosalyn threw the newspaper into the water.
“They must have grown fond of each other living in the same house. That can’t be called love.”
Francis didn’t say anything this time either, but he didn’t particularly disagree with those words.
‘Maybe so. They might believe it’s love themselves.’
“If he was going to meet someone, shouldn’t it have been a better woman? What am I supposed to be?”
“You’re not losing anything, are you? You’re the one who broke it off. Officially.”
“Right. That’s true.”
Rosalyn had sighed with relief more than once or twice, thinking it would have been a big deal if she had actually been dumped.
“How fortunate that I gave up on the idea of letting people think he dumped me. If I had, I would have really looked like I lost to that kind of girl.”
“……”
“Come to think of it, it’s quite cute. Who would have thought Melly wouldn’t know her place and set her sights on Duke Pelton, all while perfectly playing the role of a foster sister?”
Francis was irritated by Rosalyn’s words.
Strangely, it had been like this for a while now. Before, no matter what this girl said, she had looked pretty to him.
‘Her place? What is her place?’
He impulsively rebutted.
“It might be the opposite. Duke Pelton might have been the one hanging onto Enwood.”
Rosalyn laughed hysterically at Francis’s words.
“That’s nonsense. What does Duke Pelton lack that he would go for a girl like that.”
‘It makes sense though.’
Francis wondered how Rosalyn would react if he told her about how Duke Pelton’s eyes used to sparkle every time the girl’s name was mentioned. He was also curious about how she would respond if she knew that he had nearly met his end for touching her inappropriately. Would she still laugh at Enwood like that?
It was an uncharacteristically mischievous thought.
“Anyway, it must feel like her world right now, Melly Enwood. No, no. Should I call her Melissa now?”
Rosalyn continued with a smirk of satisfaction.
“She’ll soon realize reality. It’s going to be quite a harsh married life. The former duchess has quite the personality, you see.”
“How do you know her personality is unusual?”
“You can tell just by looking. My eyes are accurate. Except for missing Melly Enwood.”
While Rosalyn was confidently asserting, Francis quietly searched his memories.
Eida Pelton.
‘She might indeed be like that.’
She was a woman who smiled kindly, but hidden in that smile was a blade just like her son’s.
She was definitely not someone who would allow others to step into her domain, even if she showed compassion and mercy to those beneath her.
‘You’re going to have a hard time, ugly duckling.’
Francis shook his head and turned his eyes back to the Cupid marble statue.
Something kept catching his eye at the end of his gaze. Looking down, he saw the extra edition half-submerged in the water.
Melly’s name and photo were turning black as they got wet. Coincidentally, only her photo was like that. While Edric Pelton’s photo was shining brilliantly in the afternoon sunlight.
“Now that it’s come to this, I think I’ll make my stance clear too.”
Rosalyn suddenly said in a voice that had become cheerful.
Francis’s amber eyes moved from the extra edition back to Rosalyn.
“What stance?”
“I mean I’m going to focus on you now.”
Rosalyn said with a charming smile, seductively leaning her body.
“……”
Rosalyn, focused on her words and actions, didn’t notice that Francis’s face wasn’t as pleased as she had thought.
She continued speaking.
“It’s a good thing to keep the name Rosalyn Adel as it is. Actually, my name is quite particular, so it doesn’t go well with just any surname. To be honest, I really didn’t like the idea of being called Rosalyn Pelton.”
A smile spread across Francis’s face as he quietly watched her.
It was indeed the smile he should have given Rosalyn at this point.
“But Rosalyn.”
However, the words that came out of his mouth were not what Rosalyn had in mind.
“How about Rosalyn Herbert instead of Rosalyn Adel?”
“……”
At the unexpected words, Rosalyn’s intelligent face momentarily became blank like a fool’s.
“Her…bert?”
As she repeated the name as if hearing it for the first time, Francis laughed softly and said.
“Why are you so surprised? It’s my original name, Francis Herbert.”
“……”
“I’m thinking of using it as my name again. What do you think?”
He spoke of his decision in a somewhat mischievous tone. And that decision had started from the moment he was lectured by that ugly duckling girl in Milord Square.
Rosalyn’s eyes quickly hardened.
“You don’t mean… you’re leaving the Adel family, do you? Right?”
“That’s right.”
Turns Out He’s Been Secretly in Love with Me
One-line summary: He acts like he doesn’t like her but is actually playing hard to get.
Synopsis:
Xu Muzhou like her. He has liked her for a very long time, and through repeated schemes, he finally closed the distance with her.
But this is still far from enough.
He wants to be the one who stands out among her many suitors, to fight for her attention, and to make her take the initiative to pursue him.
_____
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