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Chapter 13
“Here. This is the handwritten copy you asked for.”
The moment Julieta saw the notebook Janette handed over, her face filled with shock.
“You actually finished all of this? In just two days?”
“Hm? Yes, I finished it all. You told me to bring it by today, so I prepared it… Is there some kind of problem?”
There was.
A very big problem!
‘She was obviously supposed to fail though?!’
Had the time limit she gave been too harsh?
‘It wasn’t even two full days… It was only a day and a half!’
She had even deliberately kept sending Janette on errands yesterday so she wouldn’t be able to work on the copying during regular hours.
So of course Julieta had assumed she would fail, and had even prepared a lecture in advance…
‘What on earth is this girl?’
Julieta stared at Janette with utter disbelief.
But only for a moment.
“Wait. Don’t tell me you…”
Julieta abruptly stopped herself and pressed her lips shut.
“Yes, My Lady?”
“…No. It’s nothing.”
Replying curtly, Julieta pretended to casually skim through the notebook containing the copied botanical encyclopedia.
But not a single word entered her eyes.
Her gaze kept drifting toward Janette’s roughened skin instead.
The dark circles under her eyes that made her look oddly drained, the skin rougher than usual, even her unusually pale complexion.
‘Did she stay up all night?’
Both nights?
Julieta bit down on her lip.
‘Why is she being this stubbornly foolish? Why won’t she just give up?’
It was strange.
At this point, shouldn’t she have started showing her true colors already?
…Just like most of the people who had once stayed by her side.
“Did you see that dress earlier? Where does one even buy something that gaudy?”
“If it weren’t for the Ludwig name, I’d have mistaken her for some wandering theater actress.”
“Just like her mother, right?”
“Oh my, shh! If the Grand Duke hears you saying things like that outside, you’ll be in huge trouble!”
Ahahaha!
Those shrill laughs still rang vividly in her ears.
The faces they showed in front of her were completely different from the faces they wore while laughing behind her back.
And it wasn’t just them.
“Teaching the young lady is truly exhausting. She has no talent whatsoever for studying.”
“It would honestly be easier to teach a tree.”
“I’m only saying this for your own good, Lady Julieta, but I think you should give up on academics. You’d be better off focusing more on dressing yourself up.”
Countless tutors who had once taught young Julieta would quit after saying things like that.
Even when little Julieta cried and apologized, they would leave with exhausted expressions.
“Julieta.”
“It’s because of you. You took everything from me.”
“Wait, Julieta. Calm down first—”
“Why?! Why do you get everything?! We were born together, so why were only you blessed while I got nothing?!”
“…No. It’s not like that.”
“Not like that? It is! You took it all! My life turned out this way because of you! Because of you… I’m this miserable!”
“……”
“I wish you’d disappear. I wish you’d never existed. I… really hate you.”
Just like Julieta herself had once done.
Everyone hid their ugly true nature.
They pretended to keep it buried deep down, but in the end it always burst out and clawed at the other person.
‘Then why?’
She had endlessly looked down on Janette, humiliated her, pointed out all her shortcomings.
She had mocked her in front of the maid, Sien, just to embarrass her.
She never acknowledged anything Janette did properly, and even outright denied her with, “You’re wrong.”
‘Shouldn’t she hate me? Shouldn’t she resent me and find this unbearable?’
Shouldn’t she be looking for someone to blame, someone to pour all her anger onto?
The sudden confusion made nausea rise in her throat.
Her heart pounded violently, her hands and feet throbbed, and a nervous anxiety slowly crept over her muddled mind.
This happened sometimes.
Moments when emotions burst out over something seemingly insignificant.
“Ugh.”
Holding her dizzy head, Julieta let out a faint groan. Startled, Janette rushed over to examine her complexion.
“My Lady, what’s wrong? Are you feeling ill somewhere?”
“…Get back, move!”
Her slender arm shoved Janette away irritably.
“My Lady?”
“Take this and leave for today.”
Janette accepted the notebook with a bewildered expression.
Her eyes remained fixed on Julieta’s pale face.
“But, My Lady…”
“I said it’s fine, so just go! I’m going to sleep now, so don’t wake me.”
Pressing a hand to her head, Julieta staggered toward the bed.
Janette desperately resisted the urge to support her. She worried that touching her now might somehow make her condition worse.
But—
“My Lady. I’ll stay outside the door.”
“……”
“I won’t bother you. I’ll stay quiet. And if you need me, I’ll come back immediately.”
“……”
“Then please rest.”
With a whisper-soft farewell, Janette quietly left the room.
Click.
Even the small sound of the door closing carried consideration.
Lying on the bed, Julieta squeezed her eyes tightly shut. Sleep probably wouldn’t come anyway.
The insomnia she had suffered from for years had only worsened lately.
‘…Maybe I should go see Nova.’
Nova Morgan was one of the few people Julieta could lean on.
The woman who had once been her nanny had taught her many things.
“People are all the same, My Lady. They only want your money, your family, your status. So never trust kindness, and never reveal your sincerity.”
“If you don’t want to be looked down on, then don’t appear weak. Make them kneel first. Make sure they never dare look down on you.”
“My poor Lady. Everything I say is for your sake. You only have me, don’t you?”
How to survive in the world.
How not to be looked down on.
How not to get hurt.
Nova had taught her all of it. And whenever Julieta struggled, Nova would always come to comfort her.
Despite suffering from insomnia for so long, the nights after seeing Nova were the only times she could sleep soundly.
“I suppose you sleep so peacefully because you feel safe knowing I’m someone you can rely on.”
Nova had been right.
But—
‘She hasn’t come to see me lately…’
Ever since her promotion to head maid a year ago, her visits had stopped entirely.
Julieta had gone to see her several times herself, but after noticing how troubled Nova looked while saying she was busy, Julieta stopped visiting so often.
‘…Still, I’d been doing a little better.’
For the past two weeks or so, her attention had been so focused on Janette that she’d even forgotten she hadn’t seen Nova.
But now that she was alone again, loneliness and longing flooded back in.
Just then—
Thunk, creak.
A faint noise came from outside the door.
The sound of someone leaning against it and sitting down.
Then—
“Oh my, why are you sitting here like a beggar? Did you get kicked out—”
“Shhh. My Lady is sleeping. Lower your voice.”
Sien’s loud voice was followed by Janette’s quiet one.
“…What? My Lady is taking a nap? That can’t be right.”
“If you have business, tell me instead.”
“No thanks. I’ll tell My Lady myself later.”
With that sulky reply, someone’s footsteps faded away.
Not two sets of footsteps.
Only one.
Which meant the other person was still sitting outside the door.
Julieta slowly blinked as she stared at the tightly shut door.
She still couldn’t sleep.
Her stomach still churned unpleasantly.
But the discomfort that had been writhing at the tips of her toes had already vanished.
‘It feels like I’m dreaming while awake.’
Fortunately—
it wasn’t a nightmare.
That night, Janette quietly visited Julieta’s room.
She hesitated over whether to knock, then merely made the faintest sound before silently slipping inside.
Entering her mistress’s room without permission was improper, but today Julieta had looked particularly unwell.
In special circumstances concerning the master’s condition, a maid was permitted to enter without prior approval.
‘Thankfully, she doesn’t seem sick.’
After checking Julieta’s complexion, Janette let out a relieved sigh and quietly left the room.
Creak, click.
Once the door carefully shut, the eyelids that had been closed slowly opened before shutting again.
“…What an idiot.”
The pleasant little murmur softly echoed through the quiet room.
