Chapter 14
‘Let’s think about something else. Something else.’
Juliet deliberately tried to imagine pleasant things.
Something shiny, pretty, or fancy.
But Juliet found herself thinking about her glass shoes. To be exact, the dresses and jewelry she left behind in the mansion.
All the gifts she had received from him remained intact when she left.
‘I wanted to burn all those dresses or get rid of them, but…’
Juliet laughed bitterly.
Those are clearly the property of the Karlyle family. She didn’t know for sure, but the prices of some mansions in the capital city must be ridiculously high, so it’s only right to leave it behind.
(T/N: When she thought of burning the dresses, she was worried she might end up burning down the mansion as well, hence she decided to leave it behind.)
‘It was pretty…….that necklace.’
A smile rose from Juliet’s face.
If she was the heroine of a sweet fairy tale, she’d cry over the thought of leaving behind her lover, but what filled her mind right now is the expensive jewels she had left in the mansion.
‘You’re such a snob.’
But Juliet thought it didn’t matter anyway because she didn’t even consider herself a nice person in the first place.
Juliet suddenly became curious.
When will the empty space next to him be filled?
Just as Juliet easily replaced the spot of his past lovers, Lennox will soon forget about her.
Then the Duke’s new lover will occupy the seat next to him, which once belonged to her.
One thing bothered her though.
Juliet hated the fact that his new lover, who she wouldn’t know the face of, might use the stuff he had given to her.
Lennox, of course, doesn’t care.
Even if he really gave away Juliet’s belongings that she left behind for his new lover, Juliet had no right to complain.
So, Juliet made a wish for the last time.
Don’t let her necklace decorate that unknown woman’s neck.
That was all.
She should’ve left a note.
-My necklace, don’t give it to anyone else. It’s better to sell it.-
Juliet let out a chuckle.
But she really didn’t have the time. The time to slowly arrange her mind, calmly smile, and choose the right words to say goodbye.
‘Why didn’t I prepare it in advance?’
Stupid and foolish Juliet Monad. This is the end you wanted.
You knew it was going to be like this from the start. You knew you’d end up leaving like this.
Juliet laughed bitterly.
If only she took the time slowly to bring up the talk, who knows he might allow her to leave without much enthusiasm.
Or he might say goodbye to her first without hesitation.
‘Like a fool.’
In the meantime, she wasted too much time deceiving herself.
With the illusion and fleeting expectation that it’s okay to stay like this a little longer.
But he was indeed Lennox Karlyle until the end. Juliet, who had pledged that she wouldn’t change and wouldn’t be hurt, was the first one to be exhausted.
He might not think about it, but for the entire seven years of staying with him, she was always prepared for a breakup. Yesterday and today, too.
If this was Karlyle’s territory, she wouldn’t be able to escape so easily.
But she planned this break-up a long time ago. And at last, she succeeded.
Juliet looked up calmly.
She wondered if the train was coming, so she glanced at the dark surroundings and suddenly realized something strange.
“…”
The surrounding was too quiet.
She was sure there were a few other passengers in the station who were waiting for the train near her.
Since when has it been so quiet?
Something is wrong.
Following her intuition, Juliet was about to stand up from where she was sitting.
Thud-! Thud-! Thud-!
Somehow, a familiar sound of footsteps appeared beyond the darkness, which made Juliet flinch.
Soon after, a figure of a white man revealed himself in the dark.
Unlike usual, his clothes are all crumpled and his hair disheveled. She doesn’t even see his necktie.
Perhaps he drove the horse in a hurry, even his black hair was scattered over his forehead.
She could also see the chest over his tight clothes was going up and down because he was out of breath.
But he smiled as if nothing had happened.
“Should I say, long time no see?”
Clearly, it was the man she knew.
“…Lennox?”
There’s only one man in the world who smiled like that, Lennox Karlyle.
“I didn’t know you hated me this much, enough to run away at midnight like this.”
“H-How could you…”
Juliet, staring at him with a pale face as if she had seen a ghost, suddenly noticed that his left hand was wrapped in a bandage.
As he was in a rush, red blood was leaking from the roughly bandaged hand.
‘Ah.’
Juliet was astonished when she realized at once how he had found her.
It is a matter that she did not consider – in fact, assuming the relationship between the duke and the temple, it was deliberately not considered – but there was a sacred relic with mysterious power in the capital’s temple.
Argos’s eyes.
‘So you used that relic.’
Juliet was astonished.
He drew the blood from his own hand to trace her whereabouts.
“Fine.”
Whether he noticed Juliet’s gaze, he hid his left hand in his arms.
“If you hate it so much, I shouldn’t force you.”
Lennox Karlyle’s face, which was smiling calmly, quickly faded away.
The man, who came in front of her, asked coldly.
“But what about my child?”
“…What do you mean?”
“In your stomach, isn’t that my child?”
***
Lennox Karlyle was barely keeping his anger under control.
It was unclear whether he was angry at himself or Juliet Monad, but that was not important.
As soon as he saw the silhouette of a woman standing alone on a desolate dark platform, he realized.
She was dressed meticulously, and she wore a terrified expression and clenched the hem of her skirt as if she was trying to run away when he found her.
There was nothing that didn’t bother him. Everything about Juliet Monad fueled his anger.
“You hate it, right?”
Suddenly, he recalled a familiar woman who smiled like a summer flower.
Love and sorrow, those things should have been cut off before it becomes a nuisance.
This was a totally unseemly act.
Juliet Monad stayed with him much longer than his past lovers.
Juliet Monad was not special to him, except that she broke up with him first.
There was no reason to pursue her. Nevertheless, he lost in a momentary impulse and emotion.
He chose to go against reason and catch this woman.
“Fine, but what about my child?”
“…What do you mean?”
“In your stomach, isn’t that my child?”
“What are you talking about?”
His child?
Juliet, who thoughtlessly asked back, paused.
No way.
“No!”
Juliet’s face instantly blushed.
Only then did she realize that Lennox had a ridiculous misunderstanding.
My god. It seemed that he thought she was going to run away with his child.
‘How can I explain this?’
Juliet was tight-lipped because of this huge misunderstanding and just stared blankly at him. Then the man’s expression became colder.
“The pharmacist brought the order sheet. You ordered a pill to remove the child.”
Ah.
At his answer, Juliet understood how this ridiculous misunderstanding began.
But that wasn’t true.
Knowing that she’d leave someday, she can’t let her have an unfortunate child, can she?
It was true that she had been steadily taking Silphium tea as a contraceptive pill. However, the flowers that she ordered a few months ago weren’t for Juliet herself.
Not long ago, Juliet secretly purchased it for her maid who left her side to get married.
The maid, who was attending to Juliet at the duke’s castle in the north, was actually a child who had been together with her in Monad County.
Around two months ago, the maid confessed to Juliet, crying that she had a child.
“I think I have a baby, Miss.”
The maid’s fiance was a sailor, but she said that he had gone missing a little while after boarding a ship.
Constantly troubled about her fiance’s safety, the maid belatedly found out that she was pregnant.
Juliet stroked the maid and consoled her that she would help her, no matter what decision she made.
So, she opposed the usage of a Silphium flower that would secretly remove the child and ordered mistletoe which is good for pregnant women.
Fortunately, the missing fiance returned safely and the maid left her side to get married to him. Now, they are living well with their child in a faraway place.
Juliet even congratulated them with a generous amount of jewels.
‘…But where do I begin to explain this?’
At a loss, Juliet laughed dejectedly.
It’s not clear how he interpreted her laughter, but Lennox’s expression became fierce.
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