Chapter 60: A Name’s Meaning
Oakham’s little garden was truly beautiful. The variety of flowers in this remote area wasn’t vast, limited to those that were easy to cultivate. But his garden was filled with blooming white camellias, and they were thriving. While camellias weren’t particularly delicate or difficult to grow, it was a different story in this remote location.
Most vampires preferred to live in the warm south, but Spark Farm was located further north. In the north, camellias were definitely not easy to cultivate. Moreover, camellias were shade-loving plants. The seedlings couldn’t be exposed to direct sunlight and needed diffused light. But the manor servants couldn’t work during the day. How could they have taken care of the camellia seedlings and made them bloom so magnificently?
It was clear that Oakham had put a lot of effort into making the camellias thrive.
Jasmine hadn’t known much about plants in her previous life. She could barely take care of herself, let alone plants, flowers, or small animals. Her main goal had been survival. But now, as a maid for the Blake family, she had learned a lot about essential floral knowledge.
Come to think of it, she had the former head maid to thank for this knowledge.
Jasmine could tell how much effort Oakham had put in based on the state of the camellias, but Adele only saw, “These flowers are just like your name.” Captivated by the beauty of the white camellias, Adele couldn’t help but sigh.
Hearing this, Jasmine was baffled.
Seriously? Her name was Jasmine, not Camellia. Apart from both being white, how were they alike? Jasmine wanted to retort. And she didn’t think Oakham had intended to grow white camellias. Generally, camellias were red, and vampires loved red. Flowers like roses and hybrid teas, with their deep red hues, were vampire favorites.
Red camellias were also popular among vampires. Because of the nobles’ preferences, red camellia seeds were much more expensive than white ones. White camellia seeds, which were relatively rare in Jasmine’s previous life, were now worthless in this world.
Perhaps Oakham had been scammed when buying the seeds. The seller might have told him they were red camellias, but they turned out to be white. But at this point, he couldn’t just uproot the flowers he had painstakingly cultivated. He could only console himself: White is also beautiful. It’s the color of the moon.
Although Jasmine didn’t know what Oakham was actually thinking, she figured that was probably his thought process.
Adele, oblivious to Jasmine’s thoughts, reached out as if to caress a camellia blossom. A gentle smile appeared on her face, “The first time I saw you, I thought you were perfect for this kind of white, delicate-looking flower. That’s why I named you Jasmine.”
Jasmine was stunned. This was the first time she had heard Adele say this. She knew that the Blake family had given her the name “Molly,”* but she hadn’t realized it was Adele who had chosen it. Everyone usually called her “Molly,” and Jasmine had always assumed that Adele was saying “Molly” as well.
“茉莉 (Mòlì)” was a more accurate transliteration of “Molly,” but she hadn’t expected Adele to have the same thought as her. Jasmine asked softly, “If it’s Jasmine, wouldn’t it be better to use the original word for jasmine?”
The language in this world was somewhat similar to English in her previous life. Jasmine was certain that the original word for “jasmine flower” wasn’t “Molly.” So, she had always thought that she had chosen the name Jasmine for herself.
But Adele said, “The original word for jasmine doesn’t sound very nice. I’ve read some ancient books, and they mentioned that ‘Molly’ also means jasmine in a certain human language. That’s why I chose this name for you.”
Jasmine was speechless. Should she point out that Adele had terrible taste? What kind of eyes could see her as a jasmine flower?
But Adele couldn’t forget the first time she had seen Jasmine. In the bustling childcare institution, the other children were full of anticipation, eagerly hoping to be chosen. But only Jasmine stood there quietly, showing no emotion.
She wasn’t like the other children, either cowering in fear or desperately trying to stand out to be noticed. Only Jasmine stood there, towards the back, holding a toy rabbit and pulling its ears, letting it dangle.
She seemed to cherish that toy rabbit. It was very clean, cleaner than most of the human children in the institution. Adele had seen Jasmine, and she admitted that her immediate thought was: I want her.
Jasmine was well-behaved, her long black hair framing her small face like green leaves. Her face was pale, and her black eyes looked at her, just like a jasmine flower. White blossoms dotted among large green leaves, pure white, yet delicate and soft.
If she left this child here, she would definitely be bullied. That was what six-year-old Adele had thought. She didn’t want to see the jasmine flower fall from the branch and be trampled in the mud, so she tugged at her parents’ sleeves, pointed at Jasmine, and said, “I want her.”
And so, Jasmine became Adele’s maid. But before that, she had to stay at the institution while the paperwork was processed. Only then would the Blake family bring her to the castle. On the way home in the vintage car, the Blake lady asked Adele, “Have you decided on a name for her?”
Adele was stunned, “Do I have to give her a name?”
“Yes, you do. She didn’t have a name before, only a number. But since she’s your maid now, you should give her a name.” It was the first time Adele had to name someone, and she felt like she had been given a very important task.
Because names were very important.
Her parents had put a lot of thought into her name before deciding on “Adele.” They told her that the name meant “noble,” and they hoped that she would become a noble vampire.
So, she had to choose Jasmine’s name carefully. She had read many books before settling on this name. To others, it was simply “Molly,” a simple, safe, and easy-to-remember name. But in Adele’s heart, it represented the pure white jasmine flower.
To be honest, she had only ever named Jasmine. She had insisted to her parents, “I want her.” She had been adamant, and apart from Jasmine, no other maid had ever served her personally.
Hearing Adele’s words, Jasmine felt a touch of emotion. Although Adele had terrible taste, her thoughts were somewhat aligned with hers. At least… she had thought of “Molly” as a translation.
Seeing Jasmine fall silent, Adele became nervous. She didn’t even dare to look at Jasmine, her hand holding the camellia trembling slightly. She pretended to be calm and collected, taking a deep breath before asking, “What do you think of the name Jasmine?”
She thought she had hidden her emotions well. After all, Jasmine was just an ordinary human. She shouldn’t have noticed the subtle changes in her demeanor. But she was unaware that her every little action was obvious to Jasmine.
Hearing her cautious question, Jasmine almost wanted to laugh, “It’s a nice name. I like it.” She genuinely liked the name Jasmine. And Adele had put thought into it. It was much better than names like Cuihong, Liulv, or Yingge. She disliked even more those common local names like Anna, Bella, or Helen.
So, overall, she was quite satisfied with the name Jasmine.
Hearing Jasmine say that she liked the name, Adele was thrilled. She even dropped the flower and turned to look at Jasmine, a smile blooming on her face, “See, I spent a long time choosing this name. I think it’s a good name too.”
The pride on her face was evident. She was practically begging for praise. Jasmine had seen this expression before, when Adele had asked her to guess her exam score last semester. In Adele’s mind, being told that she had chosen a good name was as praiseworthy as getting first place in her exams.
Maybe she was even more proud of choosing this name than getting first place.
Thinking of this, Jasmine’s expression softened, and a smile unconsciously touched her lips. Adele, who had been staring at Jasmine intently, didn’t miss this smile. She was stunned.
Jasmine rarely smiled. Although rare, she did smile. She was an ice queen, not a literal iceberg. Smiling was human nature. But Jasmine smiled so rarely, and genuine, soft smiles like this were even rarer. So, it was understandable that Adele was mesmerized.
Jasmine, noticing Adele’s intense gaze, was surprised and quickly erased her smile. Adele, however, protested, “Jasmine, why did you stop smiling?” Her question stunned Jasmine. She instinctively touched her face, thinking incredulously: Did I just smile?
She hadn’t even realized how gentle her smile had been.
Adele even took a few steps closer, standing before her. She said, “Your smile just now was beautiful. Smile again, let me see.” Her words sounded like those of a street thug, harassing a girl.
Jasmine turned her head away, “You must have been mistaken, Miss. I wasn’t smiling.”
How could she be out of character? She had faith in her chuunibyou persona.
Adele, refuted, widened her eyes in disbelief, “!” Her voice even rose slightly, “You’re lying! You were clearly smiling! Unlike you humans, I can see perfectly in the dark. You were smiling!”
Jasmine refused to admit it, “No, you must have seen wrong, Miss. I wasn’t smiling. Don’t I know if I’m smiling or not?”
“Ah, Jasmine, you’re being unreasonable! You were smiling!”
***
-茉莉 (Mòlì): This is the protagonist’s original name in Chinese. It directly translates to “Jasmine” in English.
-When they use “Molly”, they mention it in English, not in Chinese.
-Basically, Adele named the protagonist 茉莉 (mòlì), which means Jasmine, but the protagonist thought she was being called “Molly” without any meaning, and this chapter clears it up.
-I will maintain her name in English(Jasmine).
Leave a Reply to SluggishReader Cancel reply