To him, it was a question he shouldn’t even have asked, but he went ahead and did.
He tried his best not to be petty, but he couldn’t help but get annoyed with every little thing.
At that, Juliet, who was intently looking at the card, shifted her gaze to him.
“No.”
Juliet closed her fan with a snap. Her demeanor was incredibly straightforward.
“…Why?”
She has no conscience.
For a moment, Lennox hoped Juliet would say it was because of him.
He would’ve been content with words spoken cautiously, taking into account the situation.
A blatant lie would have been fine, saying she wasn’t feeling well would have been okay.
He didn’t even hope for an answer that she liked him. Just adhering to the decorum of their 6-month contract would’ve sufficed…
“I am not a good catch.”
In that moment, he felt as if he’d been stabbed.
“If I were a diligent bride, I’d find a diligent groom.”
However, Juliet spoke indifferently without even looking at him.
“Ladies might be saying this because they are concerned about me, but I know my place.”
Juliet lowered her eyes modestly, and explained, counting on her fingers.
“There are rumors about me, I have no parents, and all I have is an old mansion. It was said I’d never marry into a good family.”
“If I dared to dance with her son without notice, Marchioness Schnabel wouldn’t like it. The same goes for other ladies.”
Suddenly, Lennox Carlyle felt like crying.
Even in moments like this, even in a daze, Juliet easily pushed him into despair. Just a few words were enough.
“Juliet.”
“Yes?”
Her round eyes looked bewildered, innocently.
“Why…”
Her gaze felt like a sharp knife piercing his heart.
What is lacking in you?
Lennox clenched his teeth.
He had no right to ask such a question.
Shortly after Juliet unexpectedly left him, he sometimes imagined her in someone else’s arms or laughing brightly.
He would have preferred that time. Then, he could hate an unknown rival.
But hearing and seeing Juliet being conscious of someone else and belittling herself was far more painful.
Instead of putting herself down, she should have put everything she wanted at her feet. She seemed to casually throw him into the abyss without any intention.
It should’ve been like that.
‘What are these people thinking? How dare they?’ There was no need to ask who had belittled her and made her feel this way.
It was none other than himself, who neglected to care about what his lover heard.
“Lennox…”
He gritted his teeth.
At that moment, Juliet leaned her head on his arm and murmured with concern.
“Are you angry?”
“…I’m infuriated.”
Their eyes met, and he gave a hollow laugh.
Lennox swore that he wouldn’t let go of those who made Juliet drink, whoever they were.
By the time the carriage arrived at the Duke’s residence, Juliet was lightly asleep.
“My lord? We’ve…”
“Quiet.”
The servants rushed out, but Lennox, trying not to wake Juliet, gently carried her to the bedroom.
As he gently laid Juliet on the bed, he hesitated whether to call a maid. Her shoes and pinned-up hair seemed uncomfortable.
It was easy to remove the shoes, but not so much the hairpins.
“Your Highness.”
“What.”
At some point, Juliet had woken up and was silently gazing at him with shining eyes.
“Damn, how do I take off this?”
Although Lennox complained, Juliet didn’t seem to want to help.
Juliet suddenly chuckled.
“I found out.”
“What?”
“I know where what you’re looking for is.”
Juliet suddenly mumbled as if talking in her sleep.
However, Lennox, busy with her tangled hair, was distracted and didn’t catch it.
“If I tell you, you’ll let me go and bring her back, right?”
“Her?”
“And then you’ll give me a poisoned cup again.”
“…What?”
Lennox paused for a moment.
“What did you just say?”
“It’s okay. I know too.”
“Juliet.”
The giggling Juliet seemed to be in a good mood.
She easily removed the hairpin that Lennox struggled with and then took off her heavy dress.
Dressed in a light chemise beneath the dress, Juliet, with flushed cheeks, smiled with an absent expression she usually wouldn’t show.
“Even if I go through it again, it’ll be okay. This time.”
Juliet smiled faintly, then crawled into the sheets.
Lennox was certain.
He couldn’t not love a woman who smiled with such a face. He wouldn’t have made her drink from a poisoned cup.
Her soft auburn hair flowed down randomly.
Juliet tossed and buried her face in the pillow. Consequently, her white neck and smooth back were exposed.
Suddenly, Lennox recalled something.
In contrast, the Juliet of the past that he had glimpsed had no untouched skin anywhere on her body.
She seemed like someone severely beaten, the battered image of Juliet lingering before his eyes took his breath away.
“Juliet.”
“Yes.”
“The scar that was on your back in the past, how did it happen?”
Perhaps now he might get an answer.
That had been the question tormenting Lennox intensely over the past few days.
Though he only saw her briefly, the Juliet of the past had scars so old that they made anyone who saw them feel pity.
Marks as if she had been obsessively abused with a whip.
All he had glimpsed were fragmented scenes. Lennox didn’t know why the Juliet of the past was in such a pitiful state.
In the dream, Lennox, remembering how cruelly he behaved towards Juliet, wasn’t sure he hadn’t done such a thing.
If he really was the one who hurt Juliet, he couldn’t bear or forgive it.
And he had to confirm that.
Although he summoned the black panther spirit on his sword several times, the demon didn’t respond.
Of course, asking Juliet would have been the most certain and quickest way.
But, unlike earlier when Juliet would readily answer anything, she now kept her mouth shut.
‘Is she asleep?’
As the silence prolonged, Lennox reached out to lay Juliet down comfortably. Then-
“Lennox.”
Without looking at him, Juliet spoke.
“Back then, why did you save me?”
“What?”
“Out of pity?”
Saved her?
Lennox wondered what she was talking about.
Could it be about the first time they met?
If so, he had liked the fact that, except for him, Juliet had no one else to rely on. The face of a woman, calm even after her parents’ funeral, had stimulated him.
“I fell for you at first sight.”
In retrospect, it was he who had fallen at first sight.
However, after listening to Juliet’s following words, Lennox realized he had thought too lightly.
“I wish you hadn’t. Because I must have looked hideous.”
Hideous.
With those words, Juliet quickly pulled the thin bedsheet up to her shoulders.
As if she didn’t want to show her back.
For some reason, Juliet glanced at him with fearful eyes.
“It doesn’t hurt now. Even though the scars remain… I’d prefer if you didn’t see.”
Lennox quickly realized.
The present Juliet was confusing memories from her past life with the present.
She was talking about scars she acquired in her previous life.
She still talked and acted as if she had scars on her back.
Whether due to drowsiness or alcohol, she was confused.
“Juliet.”
Desperately, Lennox grabbed Juliet’s shoulders and met her gaze.
He desperately tried to think of a question that would get the answer he wanted from Juliet.
If he asked directly who did it to her, she would surely shut her mouth again.
“Think carefully and answer. I’ll give you a reward if you guess right.”
He soothingly coaxed her as if talking to a child.
“A reward?”
“Yes. Where did I first see you?”
Half-drunk Juliet blinked in confusion as to why he would ask such a thing and then answered.
“In the Marquis of Guinness’s punishment room.”
Juliet’s voice was almost a whisper as she answered.
But it was enough to stop Lennox Carlyle’s breath.