Chapter 14
Chapter 14
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 14
Chapter Title: Caught on the Platform
-----------------------------------------------------------------
'Let's think of something else. Something else...'
Juliet consciously tried to imagine pleasant things.
Sparkling, pretty, glamorous things.
So once again, Juliet thought of her glass slippers. More precisely, the dresses and jewelry she had left behind at the mansion and the ducal castle.
She had left behind all the gifts he had given her, every last one.
'If I could have, I would have burned all those dresses to ashes...'
Juliet smiled bitterly.
Those things were legitimate property of the Carlyle family. They were probably worth several mansions in the capital, so leaving them behind had been the right choice.
'That necklace was beautiful.'
Juliet smiled faintly.
Thinking of the lover she had left behind.
The kind-hearted heroine from a fairy tale might shed tears, but the fact that her cherished thoughts turned to the expensive jewels left at the mansion...
'I was awfully materialistic...'
But Juliet didn't think of herself as a good person anyway, so she didn't mind.
Juliet suddenly grew curious.
How soon would someone fill the empty spot beside him?
Just as Juliet had easily replaced his past lovers, Lennox would forget her quickly. Then the duke's new lover would take the spot beside him that had once been hers.
Just one thing.
Juliet hated the idea of his new lover—a woman whose face she didn't know—using the items he had given her.
Of course, Lennox wouldn't care.
Even if he really gave the jewels Juliet had left behind to his new lover, she had no right to object.
So Juliet made one final wish.
That the necklace would not adorn the neck of some unknown woman.
That was all.
'Maybe I should have left a note.'
My necklace—don't give it to anyone else, just sell it? Juliet chuckled a little.
But she really hadn't had any time. No time to calmly sort out her feelings and choose parting words with a composed smile.
So she hadn't prepared in advance.
Foolish, foolish Juliet Monad—this is the ending you wanted, isn't it?
You knew from the beginning it would end like this. You knew you'd end up fleeing like this.
Juliet smiled bitterly.
If she had taken a little more time and broached the subject slowly, he might have simply said, "Alright," without much emotion.
Or he might have been the one to bid her farewell first, without any lingering attachment.
'What an idiot.'
All this time, she had spent too long deceiving herself.
Clinging to the delusion that she could stay just a little longer.
Harboring vain hopes and fleeting expectations.
But he had remained Lennox Carlyle to the end. He never changed, and Juliet, who had vowed to herself not to get hurt, ended up exhausted first.
He might not have, but for the seven years she spent by his side, she had been preparing for this farewell. A little yesterday. A little more today.
If this had been Carlyle territory, she wouldn't have escaped so easily.
But she had planned this farewell long ago. And finally, she had succeeded.
Juliet calmly lifted her head.
Wondering if the train was coming, she glanced around the dark surroundings again and suddenly noticed something odd.
It was too quiet.
There had definitely been a few other passengers waiting to board the train inside the station besides her.
When had it gotten this silent?
Something was wrong.
The moment Juliet sensed it and tried to stand from her seat—
Thud. Thud.
From the darkness ahead came a somehow familiar footfall, making Juliet freeze.
And soon, emerging from the shadows, was a tall man.
Unlike usual, his attire was disheveled, his collar undone haphazardly. His tie was nowhere to be seen, perhaps left behind somewhere.
As if he had rushed here on horseback, his black hair was tousled over his smooth forehead.
Even through his clothes, she could see his firm chest heaving with ragged breaths.
But he smiled languidly, as if it were nothing.
"Should I say it's been a while?"
He was definitely a man she knew.
"..... Lennox?"
There was only one man in the world who smiled like that: Lennox Carlyle.
"I didn't realize you hated me enough to attempt a midnight flight like this."
"How did you... get here...?"
Staring at him with a face pale as if she had seen a ghost, Juliet suddenly noticed his left hand wrapped in bandages.
In his haste, the hastily bandaged hand was stained red with seeping blood.
Ah.
Juliet instantly realized how he had tracked her down, and she was horrified.
She hadn't considered it—though, thinking of the duke's family's ties to the temple, she had deliberately ignored it—but the capital's grand temple housed a sacred relic with mystical powers.
Argos's Eye.
'He used that sacred relic.'
Juliet was aghast.
He had personally slashed his own hand and used his blood to trace her whereabouts.
"Fine."
Noticing her gaze, he tucked his left hand into his coat pocket to hide it.
"If you hate it that much, no need to force it."
The smile vanished from Lennox Carlyle's face in an instant as he smiled nonchalantly.
Striding up to her, the man asked coldly.
"But what about my child?"
"Your... child?"
"The one in your belly—isn't it mine?"
Lennox Carlyle was barely suppressing his anger.
He wasn't sure if he was angry at himself or at Juliet Monad, but it didn't matter.
The moment he saw the silhouette of the woman standing alone on the deserted, pitch-black platform, he knew.
Her meticulously dressed attire, the way she jumped in shock upon seeing him, the way she clutched her skirt as if ready to flee at any moment.
Nothing failed to grate on his nerves. Everything about Juliet Monad fueled his rage.
"You hate this sort of thing, don't you?"
He suddenly recalled the woman who had smiled at him like a summer flower, as if she knew him so well.
He should have cut her off long ago, before she became a tiresome presence with all her talk of affection and attachment.
He knew.
This was completely out of character for him.
Juliet Monad had stayed by his side far longer than any of his past lovers.
Except for the fact that she was the one declaring the breakup, Juliet Monad was no special existence to him.
There was no reason to chase after her. And yet, he had given in to that momentary impulse and emotion.
Defying reason, he had chosen to hold onto this woman.
"Fine. But what about my child?"
"......A child?"
"The one in your belly—isn't it mine?"
"What are you..."
My child?
Juliet froze, about to reflexively question him.
No way.
"No!"
Juliet's face flushed bright red in an instant.
Only then did she realize Lennox was under a ridiculous misunderstanding.
My God. He thought she had run away pregnant with his child.
How was she supposed to explain this?
Faced with the enormous misunderstanding, Juliet was at a loss for words and could only stare at him in a daze. His expression grew even colder.
"The pharmacist brought the order slip. You ordered abortifacient herbs."
Ah.
Only then did Juliet understand where this absurd misunderstanding had begun.
But it wasn't true.
Knowing she would leave someday, why would she let an unfortunate child come into existence?
It was true that she had steadily taken sylphium tea as a contraceptive. However, the mistletoe and sylphium flowers ordered a few months ago weren't for herself.
They had been secretly purchased by Juliet for her maid, who had recently married and left her service.
The maid who attended Juliet at the northern ducal castle had actually been with her since the days at Count Monad's estate.
About two months ago, the maid had tearfully confessed to Juliet.
"I think I'm pregnant, my lady."
Her maid's fiancé was a sailor who had gone missing at sea recently.
While worrying about her fiancé's safety, the maid had belatedly realized she was pregnant.
Juliet had comforted her, promising to help however she could with whatever decision she made.
So she had discreetly ordered sylphium flowers to abort the pregnancy, along with mistletoe, which was good for expectant mothers.
But fortunately, the missing fiancé returned safely, the maid married, and left Juliet's side. Now she was living well, even having given birth far away.
Juliet had sent her off with plenty of jewels and even given her congratulations.
'But where do I even start explaining this?'
Overwhelmed, Juliet let out a hollow laugh.
For some reason, he interpreted that laugh badly, and Lennox's expression darkened ferociously.