Forgotten Juliet

* * *

[I’ll return as soon as the work is done.]

A few days later, Ursula received a notification that the princess was giving birth, and she returned to the capital.

[You don’t need to worry about Juliet. We’ve already called a skilled doctor to the castle.]

Ursula assured confidently.

With the arrival of spring, he had the gazebo in the garden repaired, and thanks to that, Juliet often spent time in the spring garden.

Thanks to this, Lennox, who habitually moved to the garden that day, spotted Juliet from afar and hesitated.

Juliet wasn’t alone.

She was engaged in a conversation with a young man he had never seen before.

[What’s that?]

[Oh, you mean that doctor?]

Elliot, who followed, explained as if it was not a big deal.

[It’s a temporary replacement called by Madam Ursula. He is her disciple.]

‘That sly snake.’

Lennox was astounded.

He had assumed that Ursula’s disciple would naturally be a woman.

There are many skilled primary doctors in the noble families.

Yet, the reason he had specifically asked Ursula to look after Juliet was because there were few gynecologists who specialized in taking care of noblewomen.

Ursula must have known that fact.

But it seemed like he was the only one worried about it.

[Ah! I greet the Duke.]

The young man who was chatting with Juliet noticed him and hurriedly stood up.

[Well miss, if you have any more questions, feel free to call me anytime.]

[Yes, thank you.]

The young doctor with a melancholy impression courteously greeted and soon left the spot.

With only the two remaining in the garden, Lennox deliberately pretended to be unaware and suddenly spoke.

[It was Ursula’s disciple.]

[Randel?]

Unaware of others’ pace, Juliet smiled broadly. It appeared they were familiar enough to call each other by name.

[Yes, he’s kind and knows a lot.]

[What did you ask him?]

[Oh… just this and that. Shall we take a walk?]

With a sunshade, Juliet lightly strolled around the garden with him.

Throughout the walk, Juliet shared what she had been up to while he was absent. How she named the foal he gifted ‘Apple’, or how she tasted jewel grapes for the first time.

They were trivial and cheerful stories, but to him, who had secretly been keeping tabs on her comings and goings, they were not novel.

Rather, he was irked that Juliet didn’t mention anything about the man from earlier.

As they completed a round in the garden and returned to the gazebo, a plate of fruits was placed on the table.

The bowl full of strawberries was tempting.

[Have some.]

As he pushed the bowl towards her, Juliet seemed pleased with the spring strawberries.

She had lost her appetite as spring arrived, but tart fruits like strawberries or pomegranates seemed to be an exception as she ate them quite well.

[The princess gave birth to a baby this afternoon.]

Juliet said, wiping her hands.

[So, Randel said Madam Ursula might return sooner than expected.]

He had heard that too.

But he had no interest in others’ stories.

His mind was entirely fixated on the scene he witnessed earlier.

The extremely shy Juliet was seen chatting with a man she had met for the first time, which bewildered him.

[Your Highness, may I ask you something?]

[Go ahead.]

[You don’t really dislike children, right…?]

[…]

[I mean, even if you don’t get married, there could be a child.]

Lennox didn’t know what to say.

He vaguely understood why Juliet was saying this.

But what Juliet was hoping for seemed quite unlikely to happen.

He scoffed internally.

Their family’s bloodline was different from ordinary people; they were born with considerable magic powers, so unless there was a good compatibility, it wasn’t easy to have a child.

In other words, unless they were extremely lucky or unlucky, it was clear that Juliet was having false hopes.

[Juliet.]

Unintentionally, he spoke in a cold tone.

[There is no reason to hope for a child from you.]

[But what if…]

[Even if it happens, there’s absolutely no reason to have it.]

Peep!

Suddenly, there was a collapsing sound from behind, and the birds began to chirp loudly.

It seemed that the gardener, who was trimming the branches of a cypress tree nearby, had accidentally knocked down a bird’s nest.

Confirming it was a minor incident, Lennox absentmindedly looked back at Juliet, only to be unusually flustered.

[Why are you crying?]

[Just…]

Unexpectedly, Juliet was shedding tears silently.

[I was just a bit startled.]

He was stunned.

Is this something to cry about?

The startled gardeners rushed over and placed the bird’s nest back onto the tree.

[Is it alright now?]

Even after confirming that the baby birds had returned to their parent’s embrace, Juliet still seemed to continue feeling down for some reason.

[I want to go home.]

On the way back to the castle, Lennox found himself unintentionally glancing at Juliet’s expressions.

But Juliet, with her reddened eyes, was lost in thought and didn’t even look at him.

However, it was just the beginning of Juliet’s secretive behavior.

For some time after that, Juliet seemed to be quietly doing well.

She would take walks in the garden, occasionally visit the shopping area with the maids, walk around the castle with the foal, and seemed quite ordinary on the outside.

[She’s avoiding me.]

Lennox was convinced as he looked at the empty bedroom.

If there was one change, it was that Juliet had been blatantly avoiding him since that day.

Even when playing with the foal, she would hurriedly enter the castle if she saw him, go to bed early, or make excuses that she wasn’t feeling well.

For several days, Lennox hadn’t even seen a shadow of Juliet.

Moreover, what was bothering him was that Juliet was still laughing and getting along well with other guests and the young doctor.

Lennox decided to find out what the problem was today.

[I don’t know what it is, but Master must have done something wrong.]

[Perhaps she’s homesick?]

[She might miss home.]

While the aides who saw the repeatedly disappointed Lennox had various opinions, there was no plausible speculation.

[Oh, could it be that?]

The somewhat plausible guess was made by Elliot.

[It’s Miss’s birthday.]

[Birthday?]

[Yes, it was right after the New Year.]

[…]

In any case, finding her inside the castle, no matter how much she avoided him, wasn’t a problem.

When he had walked around half of the castle, he found Juliet in the dense shelves of the deserted library.

Juliet was sitting on a window seat with a soft cushion placed below, legs gathered, back rested, and quietly reading a book under a large window.

The neatly half-tied hair shone as it caught the sunlight.

The serious expression on Juliet’s face as she slowly turned the pages was so focused that it made him curious about what book she was reading so intently.

[Juliet.]

[Ah?]

When Juliet looked up and met his eyes, she looked quite flustered.

[Your Highness? Why are you here…]

As she hurriedly got up, the pile of books tumbled and the pages of the book she was reading spread out.

The spread page showed illustrations of herbs and constellations, indicating that it was an old book on herbology.

Why herbology?

[What are you doing here?]

He picked up and handed the book to her, and Juliet hugged the old book tightly to her chest.

[I was just… reading a book.]

Juliet hesitated for a moment, then naturally sat next to him by the window as he took a seat.

He smiled a bit mischievously.

[Oh? Were you hiding because you didn’t want to run into me?]

[Who said I was hiding…]

Not missing the chance when Juliet was getting upset, he pulled her towards him and quickly kissed her.

As if accustomed, Juliet fluttered her eyelashes and gently pushed him away.

[I don’t like it now.]

[Why?]

[Well, because…]

Juliet made an awkward expression and quickly spoke.

[I feel like I have a cold. I don’t want to pass it to you.]

He gently looked at Juliet whom he embraced and touched her forehead. When his cool hand touched her forehead, Juliet flinched momentarily.

Indeed.

She felt warm, and her body temperature seemed to be slightly high, indicating a fever.

It appeared that her saying she had a cold wasn’t a lie.

With a hint of disappointment, he tried to get up.

[Shall I call a doctor?]

[No!]

Surprisingly startled, Juliet frantically grabbed him as he tried to stand.

[I’ll get better with some rest. So…]

[So, I should do nothing and stay like this?]

[Yes.]

Juliet glanced at him and nodded.

She disliked being touched and also disliked the idea of calling a doctor.

Lennox’s red eyes narrowed.

[Okay.]

He changed his position while embracing Juliet with a smile.

Like Juliet had earlier, he leaned against one wall with his back, lifting his legs onto the window seat, half lying down.

The window seat was too narrow for him to lift and sit with his legs.

It seemed quite spacious when Juliet was sitting, but for him, it was uncomfortable as he couldn’t even straighten his legs.

However, he willingly endured the discomfort. He liked that Juliet was snugly nestled in his arms, unable to move.

[Let’s talk instead.]

[About what?]

[Like, about your birthday gift.]

[Ah…]

Juliet didn’t seem particularly surprised or disappointed about the birthday topic.

[Did you know?]

He didn’t know at all, but there was no need to say it straightforwardly.

[Don’t you want anything?]

[Not really…]

As he kept probing, Juliet hesitated.

[Then, money.]

[What?]

[Just a little is fine. A few gold coins…]

Juliet blushed for some reason and lowered her eyes.

He was puzzled. It wasn’t a big amount of money, just a few gold coins?

[I want to buy something in the shopping district.]

Speaking of which, they mentioned that she sometimes visited the shopping district with maids about once or twice a week.

But that couldn’t be considered a birthday gift.

[I’ll tell Elliot.]

The money for shopping was trivial.

Lennox probed with a discontented face.

[Other than that, is there anything you want as a birthday gift?]

[Something I want…]

As if contemplating, Juliet bit her lip and glanced at him.

For a very brief moment, a hint of conflict crossed her blue eyes.

[If not now, could you grant me a favor later?]

[A favor?]

[It’s not a big deal.]

[…]

He stared at Juliet, who seemed a bit anxious, for a moment.

She looked like someone who desperately wanted something.

Drawn by her gaze, he unknowingly nodded.

[Just say it.]

[This is my request.]

Juliet then smiled with a complex expression of relief and sorrow.

[When I say something later, I hope you don’t get too angry.]