Chapter 3

When the wobbly carriage stopped, Nereus said, “My lady.”

Juno, who was ready, nodded. “Yes, let’s get off now.”

With the help of the butler, Juno got out of the carriage and walked straight to her room, ignoring the servants. On her way back to the mansion, she prepared herself. Soon, the traces of her mother will disappear from the mansion. But it was all right. Her mother wouldn’t want to stay here either. It was sad she found freedom only after death, but she was free nonetheless.

Arriving in her room, Juno took out a fairy–tale book that her mother often read. It was a book about a girl who was unlucky. She remembered what her mother had told her.

“This child is neither sad nor pitiful. It’s just that some people are unlucky.”

Little Juno asked, “What if you’re unlucky all your life?”

Her mother smiled and patted Juno’s head. “There’s no one who’s unlucky all his life, my dear.”

“Really?”

“Sometimes luck is hard to come by.”

Juno, reminiscing about the past, smiled brightly. Come to think of it, her mother was not a quiet person.

“Is that true?”

Her mother held Juno’s hands together and said, “Yes. Remember, luck doesn’t come by very often. Don’t miss the opportunity.”

“I see!”

“My Juno is so smart.”

Her mother’s face looked sad when she said those words. Why did she laugh so sadly? Did she miss an opportunity? Juno placed the flower she got from the cemetery into the book.

Marguerite. The last present her mother gave. Juno stroked the soft petals with her finger, before closing the book and putting it back on the bookshelf. However, she couldn’t figure out what to do now. What did I do when I wasn’t taking lessons, other than meeting with relatives and talking to them?

After completing all the lessons that every noblewoman was expected to take, the relatives always called her over to tell the story of House Trish’s legacy and honor. Then I would eat while Lilith cursed the fact that I wasn’t a boy, Juno thought. Her relatives always checked up on her to make sure she grew up without any difficulty and to see whether she’d help them with their plans. When she returned to her room, full from eating earlier and looking at the sunset, Juno was free to do what she wanted.

What did she do then? Oh, right. Juno looked at the handkerchief on the other side of the room. Juno always worked on it with her mother in their spare time. She also wrote letters for her mother, trimmed flowers, embroidered handkerchiefs, and painted pictures. Juno would run to her mother’s room, carrying them for her mother to see. After her mother became sick, Juno could only see her after dinner and before going to bed.

Her mother smiled when Juno opened the door. As Juno gave her whatever she was holding, her mother’s expression seemed to brighten. Seeing that smile made Juno’s tiredness disappear as if it was washed away, leaving her mother’s laughter in its place. Juno then lay next to her sick mother, and they would giggle and chat. It really wasn’t much.

The flowers bloomed beautifully that day. What kind of clothes would be worn by the viscountess, who came to teach? Juno learned a lot and was praised for her improved skills. She hid the bad things and only told her mother good things. Then her mother smiled softly as she stroked Juno’s hair. Juno spent time with her until a servant came in and said she had to go. This was what Juno did in her free time; it was her hobby and her favorite thing in the world.

Yet now there was no one to give a handkerchief to, no one to draw a picture with, and no one who smiled when Juno read out loud a letter.

Juno glanced at the handkerchief with a girl’s name, her mother’s name. Juno wondered what to embroider on it and thought of a marguerite. Yellow tassels and white leaves. It didn’t take long to add them because Juno had done it before. She stared at the finished handkerchief. It’s time to get some rest.

As Juno, holding the handkerchief in her hand, lay down on the bed, the door opened.

Juno looked up. There was a man who she never expected to see.

“Juno.”

“Father.”

It was Marquis Robert, who never visited her room before.

Sitting up, Juno asked, “What’s the matter?”

“No matter how much I think about it, today cannot be overlooked.” Robert strode into the room. Based on his cold expression, he wasn’t here to console his daughter.

“Are you going to hit me?”

The marquis’ expression wavered, but only for a second. Then, he said, “…I’m giving you a warning.”

Juno gave him a confused look. She wanted to laugh at him but she didn’t have the strength. “Say it.”

“If you hurt Lilith, I won’t stand by and watch.”

Juno glanced at the fairy–tale book on the shelf and replied, “If she doesn’t do anything to me, I won’t do anything to her.”

Robert scrutinized her, trying to see if Juno’s answer was honest. She said it for the sake of her future, but his satisfied expression bothered her.

As Robert turned around to leave, Juno said, “Why didn’t you tell her? If she was too rude, she would have left the room.”

“…”

Juno continued in a disgusted tone, “Don’t forget about Nusrion.”

“…I’m going now.”

He tried to leave the room again.

Juno said, “Tell Lilith to leave me alone.”

Robert didn’t respond as he walked away, but she knew the silence had a positive meaning to it.

It’s a good thing she doesn’t bother me. Juno lay down on the bed. She stared at the ceiling, and tears began to trickle down her eyes. She promised not to cry, but she was crying again. It’s all right. She’s gone, so she won’t see it. The funeral was over, and her mother was in heaven. Nereus and the other servants weren’t around to be worried about Juno.

To be honest, she was excited to see her father. She was such a fool. I thought you’d tell me everything was going to be okay.

No matter how much he hated her mother, and Juno didn’t know why he hated her, but if he still thought Juno was a child, she figured he would apologize as if to understand the pain of his daughter who just lost her mother. Juno didn’t want his fatherly love. She wanted him to apologize to her and her mother.

“What an awful man.”

The marquis hated her mother, but rather than despising her, he could’ve apologized. He didn’t need to think of her mother as an obstacle to his love. Even if it was an arranged marriage, he had to apologize for breaking his vows. Even though he was unable to take his anger out on the servants, he shouldn’t have vented it on her mother.

He shouldn’t have made her mother so miserable. He was a man who couldn’t throw her away despite being angry at her.

A person who could neither fight against the branch families nor give up the title of marquis for love. A person who did not even think of blaming himself for his lack of courage and blamed others. A person who never approached Juno as a way to vent his anger.

Such a man visited Juno after her mother’s funeral.

She looked forward to it if ever so slightly. Because her mother was dead, she thought he might feel guilty. But it wasn’t even for that.

“For the first time in his life, he came to his daughter’s room only to tell her not to hurt his mistress.” Juno couldn’t stop smiling. It was hard for a person to stay the same.

Perhaps Juno’s behavior today was surprising, but seeing him fear what she’d do with that woman made Juno feel resentful. He was truly a coward. So, Juno warned him about a plot that would devour the marquis.

Life was predictable to some extent. The branch families and her father will continue in their power struggle. And I’ll be caught in the middle.

However, the fight won’t last long. If Lilith gives birth to a son, it will be over.

It will take Juno eight years to become an adult. Would Lilith not have a child until then? If that woman gives birth to a child and the child is a boy, Juno’s life will become worse than it is now. Juno, the daughter of his wife, and the bastard son of his mistress. Between the two, it seemed Juno was the one to inherit the noble title; however, the illegitimate son would be named the heir. Women weren’t allowed to be the head of the family.

When that time comes, Juno will have truly lost. “Until then, I’ll do my best to make use of them.” She’ll learn everything she can, get everything she can, and prepare herself to live alone.

It wasn’t bad for Juno to move as they wished, be used, and be abandoned once they got what they wanted. Marquis Trish was a prestigious man, so she received a high-quality education. We’re just using each other.

Juno hated her father and Lilith as much as they hated her. Juno glanced once more at the bookshelf and sighed deeply. I really am unlucky. She wondered how unlucky she could be.

Still staring at the ceiling, Juno put a blanket over her head. Perhaps it was summer that she had trouble breathing, but she insisted on keeping the blanket where it was. Then Juno held the handkerchief close. Touching the embroidery of her mother’s name and the marguerite, she tried to breathe normally. It wasn’t easy, but Juno managed to breathe.

This is because it’s summer. It was so hot that she was sweating.

It was the beginning of a hot, humid summer.