Seconds turned into minutes as the sun began to set, but no matter how long she waited, the carriage didn’t arrive. Nereus was absolutely livid.
“He’s practically making a carriage from scratch!”
Juno couldn’t take it anymore. The coffin was already buried at this point.
Her voice trembled. “…Mr. Nereus.”
He was surprised to see Juno’s shaky legs and helped her stand. “Yes, my lady?”
“The carriage…”
“Would you like me to get a horse?”
The old butler was not strong enough to ride one. Nevertheless, Juno couldn’t refuse his offer.
“…Is that all right with you?”
“Yes. I’m going to…”
Before Nereus finished speaking, they heard the sound of approaching hooves. The old butler looked at the main road.
“Ah, here comes the carriage…”
Juno was at a loss for words as carriages appeared one after another. The one in the very front belonged to her mother. Once they stopped in front of the gate, servants began to unload the carriages. Among them was the stableman who had gone to rent a carriage earlier. Like Juno, Nereus was very upset.
“Weren’t you supposed to get a carriage?”
The stableman avoided making eye contact with the butler. “I ran into Miss Lilith, and she said there weren’t enough carriages, so I…”
“What?!”
It was her again. Juno wasn’t the least bit surprised.
The door to her mother’s carriage opened, and a sweet voice asked, “What’s with all the fuss?” One of the servants rushed forward to help the woman get off the carriage.
“Ah, is my daughter here?”
Juno didn’t know her that well. She looked at Lilith who responded with a smile. Lilith was a woman with brown hair and brown eyes. She was also unworthy of her mother’s carriage.
Her expression was irritating. Lilith approached Juno and asked, “Oh, what’s the matter?”
“…”
Lilith looked so pleased with herself that her eyes sparkled. She looked around and found the stableman while Juno glared at her.
“Oh right, I need to ask for a favor.” Lilith was pretending to be noble, but despite awkwardly covering her mouth with her hand, one could still see a smirk. “Since we’re now family, please don’t be mad about this, all right?”
Juno wasn’t going to let this slide. She wanted to wipe that expression off her face. She wanted her to be upset. Juno already angered her father, so she wasn’t afraid of pressing Lilith’s buttons.
“…How are we supposed to be family?”
“Huh?”
The confrontation between them attracted everyone’s attention.
Juno slightly raised her voice. “You, a commoner, will always be a mistress.”
“Excuse me?” The corners of Lilith’s mouth began to falter.
“A mistress will never be in the family registry in her lifetime, so we can never be family. You’re nothing.” She said harsh words she wouldn’t normally say. Lilith could never replace her mother. Even if Lilith took her place next to her father, it was no different from being a shadow.
“It won’t matter even if you give birth to a son.” Looking at Lilith tremble with anger, Juno smiled. “As you can see, we can never be family.”
Lilith bit her lip as she stared at her. “…You’re so mean.”
Juno laughed. She was going to say those exact same words. “You only have yourself to blame.”
“Even so, aren’t you just a puppet whose strings have been cut?” Lilith snarled, her noble façade shattering instantly.
Juno nodded. “Maybe. Do be careful from now on. How long do you think your love will last?”
Lilith thought of herself as a great person, but she was still just a whore working at a brothel. Then, Juno heard a voice from someone she didn’t want to see.
“What is going on?”
“Oh, Rob!”
Marquis Robert looked coldly in their direction. Juno started to act even more unruly.
“I don’t see anything wrong here.” Juno scoffed at Lilith who was clinging to Marquis Robert. Juno wasn’t going to be afraid of her father now that her mother died. She met his gaze and said, “We need to retrain the servants. They actually dared to hand over a carriage to a mistress.”
“Excuse me?”
“The proud legacy of House Trish is about to be tarnished. The servants don’t even know the basics. It’s not good to blame them for their lack of education when Mother was relieved of all her responsibilities.”
As soon as her mother became ill, Marquis Robert stripped her of her authority over the household as if he had been waiting for it.
“You…”
Juno had one last thing to say to her father. “Of course, since you didn’t attend the funeral, it is natural the servants haven’t learned anything.” She curtsied, noting his face was red with anger. “Ahem, I shall excuse myself.”
“Oh, dear!”
Juno left them behind and boarded her mother’s carriage with the help of Nereus. “Go to Mother’s grave,” she said to the coachman.
The servant nodded. “Understood.”
Juno made them angry as she had hoped, but she wasn’t pleased one bit.
***
At sunset, there were no people in the cemetery. Juno stared at the place where her mother now rested.
“My lady.”
“Ugh.” Juno was devastated.
Nereus held her hand, took out his handkerchief, and helped wipe away her tears. “My lady.”
“I hate it. I don’t want to cry.” Yet no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t stop. She didn’t want to cry. Crying meant she was admitting defeat.
“It’s okay to cry.”
“Mother…” Juno was upset. She was angry. All she can do is make harsh comments, but she can only cry when everything was over. “I couldn’t even say goodbye,” she murmured.
“Her Ladyship will wait for you.”
“Waah…”
Nereus continued to comfort Juno. “It’s getting late, isn’t it? Please say your farewells. Fortunately, we’re the only ones here.”
Juno looked around. Now that the funeral was over, there would be nobody in the cemetery owned by Marquis Trish.
Sobbing, Juno said in a hoarse voice, “It’s all right, I… I’ll be okay. I should stop crying.” Her last goodbye didn’t mean much, but there were words she wanted to say. “Don’t worry about me.”
“My lady.”
Juno wiped her face with the handkerchief from Nereus. Then, a strong wind caused a flower to fall onto her mother’s tombstone.
Nereus looked at the flower. “Isn’t that a marguerite daisy?”
“Marguerite?”
Staring at the yellow center and white petals, he said, “I guess your mother is saying she heard you.”
“I see.”
The butler gave the marguerite daisy to Juno. “In the language of flowers, it means true love.”
“Waah…!” The tears Juno thought were gone fell once more.
“It’s all right. Let it all out just for today. Be strong tomorrow.”
In Nereus’s arms, Juno wept. His clothes were stained with her tears.
How much time has passed? The butler handed something to Juno, whose eyes were swollen from crying so much.
“What is this?”
“It is something to keep the swelling down.”
He had given her a bottle filled with a strange liquid.
“The color is weird.”
Nereus opened the bottle and explained, “It’s a medicine made by an alchemist.”
“Really?” Juno’s eyes widened.
“Yes, from a famous alchemist.”
Alchemist. A title that was like a star in the night sky to commoners and nobles. Juno, still teary-eyed, asked, “…Isn’t it expensive?” She knew one small medicine bottle could sell for a lot.
Nereus shrugged. “I don’t know. I received this as a present.”
Juno wondered who gave him such a gift. She glanced at Nereus, who smiled affectionately and said, “Now, close your eyes. It has to be applied gently.”
“Thank you.”
The butler squeezed a few drops onto his hand and rubbed the area around Juno’s eyes. “Well?”
The heart gradually faded from the places where the medicine was applied. The area around her eyes, once sore and painful, returned to normal.
Juno was unable to hide her astonishment. “It doesn’t hurt anymore.”
“Are your eyes better now?”
“Yes.”
The butler held out his hand. “We must return home now.”
Juno looked at the carriage and grumbled, “I don’t want to.”
“Hahaha, you’re scared.”
“…”
After crying her eyes out, Juno’s anger had somewhat subsided. There remained only surprise and fear of what she had done. Juno was alone now without anyone’s help. She thought she wasn’t afraid of her father anymore, but she was still scared.
Nereus tidied her hair. Juno grabbed his hand and held it against her cheek. His palm was rough but also warm.
He said, “Don’t worry. You won’t be able to do anything regardless. In that case, you must take advantage of the situation.”
Juno nodded. Her relatives only used her for their purposes, so if other cards appeared, they would abandon Juno. The only one who truly cared for her was this kind, friendly, old butler.
“I wish I was a boy,” she whispered. If that were the case, her mother wouldn’t have been treated so poorly, and Juno’s position in the family wouldn’t be unstable when her mother died. But this wasn’t something Juno could change.
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“…My lady.”
Juno shook her head as Nereus’s eyes were filled with sorrow. “Let’s go now.”
From the carriage, Juno watched the cemetery get farther and farther away. She strengthened her resolve. No matter how angry or sad you are, don’t be bothered if she doesn’t make the first move.
It wasn’t good for Juno to continue behaving like this. She hated that she was still a child. She needed something to protect herself, at least temporarily. Juno disliked having to be so calculating, but she would manage.
She will live proudly as an adult. For her mother.