Forgotten Juliet

“…Lennox, please.”

A woman with long hair spread out on the cold stone floor was sobbing.

Butterfly-shaped fragments of blue light scattered around her as she sat on the ground.

Unlike usual, the butterflies barely flickered and their wings moved feebly.

The woman, with disheveled chestnut hair, pleaded at his feet.

Her appearance alone was enough to evoke sympathy from anyone who saw her, but the gaze of the man who coldly looked down at her with a raised chin was chilling.

No matter what trick she tried, she couldn’t mend the heart of a lover that had turned cold in an instant.

“It was my fault. I won’t pressure you again.”

Even if it wasn’t love, she wanted to stay by his side.

From the beginning, he had warned her not to expect anything, but she couldn’t protect her own heart in the end.

Secretly, she might have been conceited.

For a man who had never allowed anyone to stay by his side for long, the only presence he considered special was herself.

She believed that if she patiently waited, someday even a small piece of his heart would be given to her.

With that belief, she endured.

However, her futile hope shattered in an instant.

“…I won’t mention that woman again. No, I won’t even utter her name.”

She didn’t need kind words or a smile.

He was indifferent to everyone, and that was fine.

But what she truly couldn’t bear was that the man, who had been so heartless to everyone else, was different with only one person.

And that person who received his affectionate smiles wasn’t her.

The place by his side that he allowed only for one person could never belong to her.

She finally realized that everything had been a misconception from the very beginning.

Far too late.

“Please, Lennox, our child…”

“Juliet Monad.”

As if signaling that he couldn’t listen anymore, the man cut her off.

With his limited patience, even tolerating the crying woman had its limits.

He reached out his hand and lightly lifted her chin.

With watery eyes, she looked up desperately. But the only thing she saw in his crimson eyes, as he looked down at her, was a complete lack of emotion.

“I’m sure I warned you not to expect anything.”

Even though she had abandoned her pride and pleaded one last time, all that came back was a cold laugh that pierced her ears.

“It would be troublesome to have misconceptions. Since when were we ever ‘us’?”

* * *

Gasp.

Juliet woke up from her dream and blinked her eyes. Tears streamed down her cheeks.

Thump, thump.

The regular vibrations and the unfamiliar ceiling. And the small single bed barely brought Juliet back to reality.

Even after waking up from the dream, she remained breathless for a while.

“It would be troublesome to have misconceptions.”

The cold voice still echoed vividly in her ears.

‘No, I didn’t…’

Juliet bit her lip.

‘I ran away.’

That’s right. This place was no longer by that man’s side. So, what had just happened was nothing more than an unreal nightmare.

‘It’s just a dream.’

It was a nightmare she had never experienced before, neither in her past nor in her current life.

This kind of nightmare was familiar.

‘So, it’s okay.’

She comforted herself like that and absentmindedly played with the pearl necklace she always wore on her body.

The smooth and cool surface of the pearl gave her a sense of relief.

It was more like a rosary made of small pearls strung together, similar to a relic used in prayer, rather than a necklace.

Except at the end, instead of a crucifix, there was a small silver key pendant.

The pearls were not particularly large, but to Juliet, it was more precious than anything else.

It was an heirloom of her deceased mother, Countess Monad.

Juliet absentmindedly ran her fingertips over one corner of the necklace. Without even looking at the intricately engraved writing inside, she could read it.

‘Lillian Seneca.’

Lillian was the name of her mother, Countess Monad.

As far as Juliet knew, her mother’s name before marriage was not ‘Lillian Seneca’ but ‘Lillian Mayfair’.

‘Then where did Seneca come from?’

Juliet was curious, but she didn’t know much about her mother.

‘I should have asked more.’

Juliet only knew a few things about her mother’s family: they were from the eastern region, of low status, and considered a mixed-blood family. Almost all of her family members had died, leaving her essentially an orphan.

‘I heard that father fell in love at first sight and passionately pursued mother, and she accepted his proposal.’

In fact, Juliet had never heard of her maternal family.

‘I think I heard that she was the daughter of a knight…’

Surprisingly, Juliet knew very little about her mother.

One of the reasons Juliet decided to leave for the east was because of this.

She had meticulously searched through the nobility records of the Empire, but strangely, she couldn’t find any trace of the Seneca family.

Perhaps they weren’t nobles at all, Juliet finally thought.

When two people of different social status marry, there are often cases where the lineage of the child born between them becomes an issue.

So, there were cases where a commoner would buy a genealogy of a fallen family and then marry into it.

‘It’s not uncommon.’

The capital of the Empire was biased towards the west, and the nobles of the capital were well aware of the trouble they would face if they ventured outside the capital.

So, if someone said they were from the east, they would just brush it off.

Juliet asked her mother’s friends, but they were friends she made after becoming Countess Monad, so they didn’t know who the pre-marriage Lillian exactly was.

Even the long-serving servants in the Monad estate apologized, saying they didn’t know much about the deceased Lady’s family.

At the very least, no one in the capital knew the name Lillian Seneca.

After thinking about all of this, Juliet rose from her bed.

The view of the small single-person room came into her sight.

The rapidly passing scenery outside the large window on one side filled the view.

Juliet discreetly glanced at her surroundings and got off the bed to tidy up her sleeping area.

Knock, knock.

“Are you awake, miss? Guest? Good morning!”

As the sound of a knocking reached her, Juliet opened the door to find a steward holding a towel outside.

“We have hot water ready. Shall I prepare breakfast for you?”

The girl, who appeared slightly younger than Juliet and was dressed in a uniform, asked cheerfully. Juliet nodded in response, asking for the meal to be prepared, and then retrieved her luggage to change her clothes.

Juliet consciously tried to think pleasant thoughts. She needed to think of something bright and lively to escape the lingering unease from her disturbing nightmare and the events of the previous night.

What could it be? Something cheerful and vibrant.

It was her first time sleeping on a moving train. And traveling like this was also a new experience.

While tidying up her clothes, Juliet suddenly gazed out the window.

It was quite rare for an unmarried young lady to wander about without a maid accompanying her.

So, to avoid suspicion, Juliet had rented a single room and casually portrayed herself as a young wife going to meet her husband.

The name written in the passenger list of the train was Lillian Seneca.

Juliet thought that using her mother’s maiden name would not attract attention.

On the other hand, it was also possible that she would meet someone who knew the name ‘Lillian Seneca’ in the east if she was lucky.

Combing through her long hair, Juliet contemplated the forged identification written on her ID card.

According to the set-up, Lillian Seneca’s husband was working at the eastern gate.

Although they had been married for three years, they had spent a lot of time apart, and they had no children yet, so they were still in the honeymoon phase.

Lady Seneca preferred modest and inconspicuous dresses, fitting for someone from a conservative family. However, upon closer inspection, her black dress was quite luxurious, with lace and frills used in an extravagant manner.

The Seneca household had been running a successful drapery business for generations, so the quality of clothing was not a concern compared to their social standing.

Juliet quite liked her fake identity.

In line with her status, Juliet neatly gathered her hair and adorned it with a black veil.

Just in case someone recognized her, it would be troublesome.

‘Lady Seneca is discreet, after all, so it’s necessary.’

As Juliet was arranging her hair, her gaze suddenly fell on a small bag.

Oh no.

‘I thought I left everything behind.’

Juliet bit her lip softly.