Chapter 13

Juno scolded Jupiter for slamming the door open. “You’re going to break it.”

Following her into the room, Jupiter asked, “How can you be so calm?”

She appeared to be calm. That’s a relief.

After staring at him for a while, Juno said, “I told you before, didn’t I? I could become the wife of an old man.”

“Juno!” He slammed the door again to close it. This wasn’t something for others to hear.

“Well… If he’s a humble old man, he would’ve been upset at the marquis. But it’s Count Sergien.”

“…”

If it had been anyone else, Juno wouldn’t have accepted the marriage. I’m sure he would’ve been able to do something. However, the marquis refused to let Juno escape this marriage. She looked at Jupiter and said, “What’s done is done.”

“You never know. The alchemist—”

“What’s wrong, Jupiter?”

“Excuse me?”

Jupiter was so close to becoming the next marquis. He shouldn’t be this emotional.

“Look at the reality of the situation.”

He needed to be arrogant and pretentious, as he always had been.

“Isn’t this the moment where you ask me to be nice to you?” she asked.

“Juno!”

“It might benefit you in the long run if the count favors me.” She approached him and continued, “Of course, I prefer you over Lilith’s child. I can help you become the heir.”

“Don’t say that.”

Juno laughed bitterly. “I appreciate you being angry on my behalf, but you should stop.”

“You can be so frustrating sometimes!”

“It’s interesting. I never thought I’d see you so upset,” Juno said. She wanted to get through this as smoothly as possible. She didn’t want to deny the fact she couldn’t change anything. Juno tried to change the subject. “You never yelled like this even when you were angry, huh?”

But Jupiter had no intention of hiding what was on his mind now. “Do you not know how I feel?”

Juno stared at him without saying anything. How could I not know? She wasn’t an idiot. Juno was aware of the intimacy between them. Do you want to talk about it now?

He understood the meaning behind her look, but he didn’t avert his gaze.

“I know,” she said slowly.

“…You do?”

“Yes.” She didn’t know why Jupiter liked her, but there was something between them.

Jupiter grabbed her wrist. “Yet you’re just going to accept it?”

“I don’t have a choice.” Juno caressed Jupiter’s cheek. Trying to console him, she said, “…You also know this for a fact, don’t you?”

“So you are aware that I like you, but you don’t think much about me.” He continued, “You don’t want to put in the effort for nothing.”

Juno didn’t deny it. “…That’s correct.”

They knew of each other’s feelings; however, she didn’t like Jupiter enough to ask him to elope with her or to solve this problem. No, it’s because I like you that I’m doing this for your future.

Jupiter closed his eyes as if to hold back his anger, then opened his eyes. Having calmed down slightly, he asked, “Have you heard the rumor about the old man?”

“Of course.”

Count Sergien was famous not only in the empire but also throughout the entire continent. Peter Sergien, the alchemist. The rumor Jupiter mentioned was not of Count Sergien’s skill but rather his personality.

Is it because he’s an eccentric person that even the emperor can’t do anything about him? Count Sergien had no servants because he despised humans and didn’t trust them. The dolls that he made took care of the mansion. Not to mention, there were rumors the dolls were made with human body parts.

“We have to do something!”

Juno sighed. “…Jupiter.”

Rumors were nothing but rumors. They could be true, but there was also the possibility they were false.

Jupiter walked past Juno and headed toward the door. “I’ll take care of it.”

She caught up to him. “Jupiter!”

“My father must also be thinking of a solution.”

The branch families will try to do something about this; however, the time they had was limited, and the opponent was formidable.

Shaking her head, she said, “You can’t do anything.”

“We don’t know that yet!”

Juno, who continued to hide her innermost thoughts and pretend to be calm, raised an eyebrow. In this situation, Juno should be the person who was angry.

Why did he keep trying to give her hope? Why don’t you give up now? You’re going to fail. Aren’t you scared about being disappointed? To be honest, Juno didn’t want to be more hurt than she already was. What Jupiter had to do was neither be angry nor try to stop her marriage. If he truly liked her, he would allow this to happen.

The sadness, the anger Juno managed to hold back and struggled to ignore escaped. “I just want to be free!”

Jupiter was startled.

Then, Juno moved closer and grabbed him by the collar. “You better become the next marquis!”

She was in this situation because she was weak. But Jupiter had power. “I like you so much that I won’t be upset if you steal the title from me.”

Juno hated Lilith and her father, yet she understood why they made their choice. That child will mean a lot to them. But at the same time, she was angry. She was angry at her own helplessness, and she was angry at the two who wanted to kick her out of the mansion.

The greatest revenge Juno could get was to have someone else become the next marquis.

“You must never let their child succeed.” She realized she wasn’t a good person. Because she was weak, she was forcing the man who liked her to inherit the title she didn’t dare dream of obtaining.

“Take it.” But there was nothing else Juno could do. “The position of marquis belongs to you.”

“…”

She wanted him to promise her he’d become the next marquis. “Jupiter.”

With a wavering gaze, Jupiter loosened Juno’s grip on his collar and stepped back. In a soft voice, he said, “I’ll… Goodbye.”

Juno opened the door. As he left the room, she said, “Jupiter, calm down and reassess the situation.”

“…”

Juno sighed as she looked at the closed door. She despised being helpless. But she was never able to live in this household without any problems. Studying, being caught in the power struggle between her father and her relatives, enduring the contempt of a mistress and her servants, these were things a noble wouldn’t have to always worry about.

That alone was too much for me. Juno didn’t have the courage or determination to defy societal conventions and become the head of the family. To survive in a place where no one was on her side was hard. No, perhaps it was better to say she gave up early on. It was annoying to live like that. Yet…

She wasn’t in a hurry because Jupiter, the one most likely to become the heir, was fond of her. I’ve become complacent. Juno buried her face in her hands. She was pathetic. There were plenty of opportunities that appeared before her, but she missed every single one of them. She ignored her mother’s words.

“I’m a fool.”

Juno was just a silly girl pretending to be smart in the end. And now, it was all for nothing.

***

Juno bitterly laughed. The “wedding” was tomorrow; time passed slowly, yet this week went by too quickly. Tomorrow at noon, Count Sergien would send a carriage. Then she would go to the church, say her wedding vows, and sign the document. That was what she had to do tomorrow.

“Will I be by myself?”

She didn’t know whether the old man would be at the church himself. How many people have seen what he looked like? The emperor let him come and go, and Count Sergien rarely left his mansion for a long time.

“Well, I’ll know everything by tomorrow.” She wondered if he really was an eccentric person, if he used humans to make those dolls, and the reason he was marrying her.

But right now, Juno’s biggest concern wasn’t the wedding. Jupiter. She was worried about him. He never visited her in the past week. She didn’t think he would do anything rash, but she was worried nonetheless.

“This is him we’re talking about.”

Jupiter was Jupiter. It was pointless to worry about him. Her only regret was that her birthday would be over in half an hour.

“No one will wish me a happy birthday this year.” She pushed Jupiter away but also wanted him to wish her a happy birthday. She was a person full of contradictions. Juno sighed. Her birthday last year was a dream come true.

“Why are you sighing?”