Melinda Desmond

is the wife of Donovan Desmond and mother of Demetrius and Damian Desmond. She is also the chairwoman of the Lady Patriots Society.
== Appearance ==
Melinda is a beautiful and fairly tall woman. She has dark brown hair, hazel eyes, and fair skin with a beauty mark on the lower right side of her mouth. Similar to Damian, her eyes are narrowed and droop slightly, with visibly long lower eyelashes and short, thin eyebrows above. She wears dangling triangular-shaped earrings with an inscribed circle and a small black dot in the middle. On her left hand, she has a ring on her ring finger, and on her right is a ring on her middle finger with the triangle and circle symbol engraved on it.
Melinda has been shown to typically wear a disguise when going out in public, wearing a bandana around her head and sunglasses to cover her face. She appears to be athletic and organizes the Lady Patriots Society which she leads to participate in sports games like volleyball.
== Personality ==
While Yor Forger has observed that Melinda has a strange air about her, Melinda appears to be a very energetic woman who is quick to make friends with those who interest her. After meeting Yor and seeing her skills, she instantly takes a liking to her and asks her to be the ringer for her volleyball team. During their volleyball game, whenever Yor messed something up, Melinda encouraged her to do better and explained where she went wrong. She does not worry too much about status and simply wants those around her to be themselves. She also appears quite generous, happily gifting Yor some of the cakes for her group's volleyball game after the housewife saves her and the cakes from falling down the stairs.
As the chairwoman of the Lady Patriots Society, Melinda appears to be very invested in the organization and helps in any way she can, as seen when she was at the department store carrying many boxes of cakes with her servant Nola for snacks for their volleyball game. She also appears to want a good reputation for the group, discouraging her members from making unsightly displays of themselves and policing other's behaviors.
Similar to Donovan, Melinda appears to not bother communicating closely with their children and appears to neglect her youngest child, Damian. When Yor insisted on apologizing for Damian getting punched by Anya during the school orientation, Melinda shut her down with an unexpectedly cold expression. In addition, she is also a rather secretive person who does not appear in public and communicates mainly only with friends whom she knew before her former status as First Lady.
When Yor's co-worker, Millie Myers, who lost her father to the war, insults the Desmonds at a public event when she accuses Donovan of being the one who started the war, Melinda reveals a more empathetic side of herself. Melinda decides to apologize, believing that as a Desmond, it is her burden to bear and that she has a duty to support both the veterans and their bereaved. Understanding Millie's suffering, Melinda shares that she also has her own family and would resent someone if she lost any of them. She then takes the load that Millie was carrying and thanks her for helping at the event, after which Millie apologizes for what she said.
== Relationships ==
=== Donovan Desmond ===
Based on Loid Forger's observations, Melinda seems to have an estranged relationship with her husband. When Damian mentions him to her after the Red Circus incident, her thoughts and demeanor abruptly change negatively as she refers to her husband as "that man," although earlier she mentioned him cheerfully and without hidden aggression in front of Yor. It also appears that the two live separately, with Melinda living in her own residence, according to the family servant Jeeves. Despite their estrangement, she later mentions to Millie that if she were to lose any of her family members, including her husband, she would also resent someone for it.
=== Demetrius Desmond ===
Almost nothing is known of their relationship and how Demetrius treats his mother. However, according to her own statement, she would have resented someone if she had lost someone from her family, including him.
=== Damian Desmond ===
According to both Loid's investigation and Melinda's friends, Melinda—like her husband—practically does not communicate with her sons, instead opting for a hands-off parenting philosophy. She learns about Damian mainly from the servants and is seemingly indifferent to the fact that Anya had once hit him. Melinda periodically has a frightening way of talking about Damian. For example, when Yor was too insistent in apologizing for Anya hitting him, Melinda's face darkened as she shut her down and said she did not care.
In truth, Melinda very much cares for Damian. While driving Yor back home, Melinda brought up Damian and expressed her desire that he and Anya would stay as friends while making a face with a strained smile. When Anya reads Melinda's thoughts, she hears her adoration for her son. However, Melinda suddenly starts feeling disturbing contempt for Damian at the mention of Donovan. These feelings for her son appear to fluctuate in an unsettling manner as she flips between calling him her treasure and curse, to the point that Melinda even thinks of wanting to take care of him but also wishing he died in the bus hijacking and that he is a burden to her.
Despite this, Melinda still shows care for her son. While she did not join Damian for dinner after returning home from the incident, she cooked every dish for him, something she mentioned wanting to do for him in her thoughts. Later, when Damian requests rare and exquisite tea cakes to gift to Anya, Melinda goes out of her way to get them for him, mentioning that she hopes that he and Anya might become closer with this gift. She later mentions to Millie that if she were to lose any of her family members, including Damian, she would also resent someone for it.
=== Yor Forger ===
Melinda was deeply grateful to Yor after she expertly saved her from falling down the stairs and asked for her help in a volleyball match. There, the two bonded together while Melinda was continuously amazed by Yor's immense physical abilities. Afterward, Melinda revealed her real identity to Yor and expressed her desire to build a friendship with her. Melinda seems to be quite fond of Yor and wishes for the two to be friends without her status affecting Yor's reputation.
Later, when Melinda is attending the charity bazaar for disabled veterans, she is surprised and happy to see Yor working there and cheerfully chats with her. When Millie loudly shares her opinion on the Desmonds, Melinda formally apologizes to her for her suffering, not wanting Millie to hate Yor because of something she did.
== Chapter Appearances ==
== Anime Appearances ==
== Trivia ==
== Quotes ==
* (To Damian Desmond, about Donovan Desmond): "Of course I won't tell him. But in exchange, you absolutely cannot let that man know that I came here. Promise?" 
* (To Millie Myers): "I know that this will not help atone for all that you've suffered. But I have parents too. I have children of my own. And a husband, of course. Were I to lose any of them, I'm sure I would resent someone for it too."
== References ==
== Navigation ==
Category:Characters
Category:Female Characters
Category:Desmond Family
Category:Married Characters
Category:Mothers
Category:Targets