< Nina’s POV >
I’m surprised that everything goes more smoothly than I anticipated. Clarence has been too focused on making Dante's Inferno-inspired diorama without a lot of unnecessary chitchats. He’s also good at assigning me tasks that I can do efficiently.
You can say, Clarence has what it takes to be a great leader.
And just like that, after four or five hours without any break, I see our diorama come to life. We got the four circles which should look like a caste system, the spiral staircase using white clay with some glitters to reach each level and each floor represents the Untouchable’s success.
I gotta hand it to Clarence, he really did make it more believable. He even painted the figurines and dressed them up to match their level.
“You have a knack in art,” I comment, my eyes continue to fixate on the strokes of the brush he uses.
“And you know how to compliment, why, thank you, Nina,” he says while giving a dramatic light bow before continuing.
I laugh and find his gesture amusing. “If you could change goals, you can make your name as an artist.”
Clarence abruptly stops, he has been still for a moment before looking at me with an indescribable expression I couldn’t easily catch on.
My cheerfulness slowly replaced with wonder. “W-what’s up?”
“Nothing,” he says, shaking his head as he continues with his work.
No, I don’t think it’s nothing if he looks at me like that. This... reminded me of what happened earlier.
“Is something bothering you? You’ve been acting strange since this morning.” And here I am wondering why I asked Clarence.
He doesn’t answer as he finally finishes painting one of the figurines and puts it on the side to get it dry. He sighs and turns to me. “The more I interact with you, the more I see her in you.”
Her? I quickly catch on and ask, “You mean the one you...you despised?”
“But at the same time, you’re different from her,” he says, nonchalantly. Ignoring my earlier question.
Now that he mentions it, it’s the right time to ask him, “Clarence, who is she?”
He hums. “I guess I’ve never told you anything about her, huh?” He then picks a carved wooden figurine that looks remotely like a female gingerbread.
He starts painting it. “I brought Anastasia to my home when she got kicked out from her own abusive family. She was about to be sold to some rich pedophile but it turned out she wasn’t his type.” He chuckles. “So, I brought her and appointed her as a maid in the goodness of my heart.”
He looks at me and gives me a sly grin. “No? You don’t believe me?” He notices my doubtful look. “All right, no point fooling you, then. It was love at first sight.”
“I can’t believe it,” I say in a big surprise. “You don’t seem--”
“The type? I know,” he cuts me off. “But it just did. I was fourteen after all.”
He finishes the painting and I catch a glimpse of the figurine. Blonde with some dark highlights, teary green eyes, and the lips curved in a zigzag motion. I can already speculate that this is definitely Anastasia.
“She was born a stutterer, had no backbone, and acted very meek when I looked at her.” Then he smirks as he looks at me. “But she had a drive. She could be confident at times and treated me like a normal human being. Just like you.”
“If that’s the case, why do you hate her?”
I shouldn’t have released those words because as I said that, his expression suddenly darkens.
“Glad you ask, parvenu. I couldn’t believe I complimented her that much,” he says while grimacing.
And here I am wondering if I unleashed something I shouldn’t.
“To answer your question, she just betrayed me, that’s all. My parents weren’t happy that I’m fucking the maid.” I turn bright pink at that then he continues. “And I was even willing to give up the Benz family name, cut ties with them if they wouldn't approve of our relationship.”
Wow, just...wow. To think that Clarence can resort to extreme ways like this. I didn’t expect it at all.
“But she did the opposite. When we planned to run away together, she chose to accept my mother’s bribery and left without an explanation. The intels I hired told me that she went back to her family and they patched things up and moved to a city where they could start anew.”
“I…” honestly, I don’t know what to say. Clarence just laughs as he clenches the figurine.
“My sweet Anastasia,” he continues as he caresses the face of the figurine, newly painted color smears his fingers.”I’ve been completely deceived, used, and tossed away when she realized she won’t benefit by being with me if I become penniless without a name!” He grips the figurine too hard that the head snaps.
It tosses until the head finally lands next to my side, the worried look facing me.
“That’s not it. My perception towards commoners made it worse when they only approached and forced themselves to like me...just because I have wealth. I hate being used. Not any-fucking-more.”
“I tried to forget about her,” he turns to me as he gives a forced grin. “When you showed up, everything about you resembled so much of her. I want to...make sure you’re out of my sight.”
I frown before I ask, “Do you still think I’m like her?”
He loses the fake grin and stares at me, waiting for me to clarify it.
“I...I mean, you said you hate me because not only I am just using my stepfather’s status to enroll me in the school, I also resembled her. But that is what’s confusing for me, Clarence,” I say as I shake my head.
“What are you talking about?”
“I...I feel like y-you enjoy being with me, Clarence.” What the heck am I saying?! My cheeks flare up. But it’s been bothering me a lot, given that he has shown signs of contradictions of his previous statement for these past weeks.
“You?” He chuckles, darkly. “Don’t feel so special, parvenu.”
Without warning, he grabs my shoulders and pushes me to the floor. His face is closer to mine. “You were just a nobody before your mother married someone rich. That’s all.”
I should be scared, in fact, I feel like my hands are already shaking from this proximity. But when I look him in the eye.
Instead of anger or hatred which I first saw on that day, he seems lost, unsure. Yet, he forces himself to be the bad guy.
“So? It doesn’t mean a-anything to me. I respect my mom’s decision to marry him but here’s something I tell you: they do it out of love.”
“How do you fucking know?”
“B-because,” I sigh. Here I am already trembling because I am already trapped in his clutches, his knee already in between my legs and his hands are still gripping my shoulders.
I need to be rational.
“Because...you can s-see it. It’s possible for two people of different status to fall in love. Y-you just happen to fall in love w-with someone who had a different priority.”
Now, I don’t know if I made sense because right now, I am too scared and Clarence probably throws his logic away. He probably forgot the promise he made earlier.
But then, Clarence’s expression falters as he slowly absorbs what I’ve said. Okay, now I need to convince him to let go of me—
“Nina, I finished work earlier so—” Luca just enters the living room. Because we were absorbed in the conversation, we didn’t hear the sound of the keys at all. So when I heard his voice, both Clarence and I turned in Luca’s direction whose eyes widened as he witnessed a very compromising position Clarence and I had.
Oh, cripes.