“Here. This is the handwritten copy you asked for.”
The moment she saw the notebook Janette held out, Julieta’s face filled with disbelief.
“You really finished all of this? In just two days?”
“Hm? Yes, I did. You told me to have it done by today, so I prepared it… Is there a problem?”
There is.
A huge one!
‘She was obviously supposed to fail!’
Had the deadline she gave been a little too tight?
‘It wasn’t even two full days… She only had a day and a half!’
On top of that, yesterday she had deliberately kept sending her on errands so she wouldn’t have time to copy during working hours like usual.
So naturally, Julieta had expected her to fail and had even prepared what she was going to scold her with…
‘What the hell is she?’
Julieta stared at Janette in utter shock.
But only for a moment.
“Wait. Don’t tell me you….”
Julieta abruptly cut herself off, lips pressing tightly together.
“Yes, Your Grace?”
“…No. It’s nothing.”
Answering curtly, Julieta pretended to casually skim through the notebook containing the copied botanical encyclopedia.
But she couldn’t focus on a single word.
Her eyes kept drifting toward Janette’s roughened skin.
The dark circles under her eyes that made her look strangely exhausted, the skin rougher than usual, even the unusually pale complexion.
‘Did she stay up all night?’
Both nights?
Julieta bit down on her lip.
‘Why is she being so stupidly stubborn? 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 around Julieta always had.
“Did you see that dress earlier? Where does someone even buy something so gaudy?”
“If it weren’t for the name Ludwig, I’d have thought she belonged to some traveling theater troupe.”
“Just like her mother, you mean?”
“Oh my, shh! If the Grand Duke hears you saying things like that outside, you’ll be in serious trouble!”
Ahahaha!
Those shrill laughs still rang vividly in her ears.
They were laughing with faces completely different from the ones they showed in front of her.
And it wasn’t just them.
“Teaching the young lady is truly exhausting. She simply has no talent for studying.”
“I’d rather teach a block of wood.”
“For Your Grace’s own sake, I think you should give up on academics. You’d be better off putting more effort into dressing yourself up.”
Countless tutors who taught young Julieta had quit after saying things like that.
Even when little Julieta cried and apologized, they would leave with expressions of utter exhaustion.
“Julieta.”
“It’s because of you. You stole everything from me.”
“Wait, Julieta. Calm down first—”
“Why?! Why do you get everything?! We were born together, so why were you the only one blessed while I got nothing?!”
“…No. That’s not it.”
“No? It is! You took it! My life turned out like this because of you! Because of you… I’m this miserable!”
“……”
“I wish you’d disappear. I wish you didn’t exist. I… really hate you.”
Just like Julieta herself had done.
Everyone hid ugly true selves beneath the surface.
They pretended to keep it buried deep down, but in the end, it always burst out and clawed at others.
That was simply how people were.
‘So then why?’
She had endlessly belittled her, humiliated her, pointed out every flaw she could find.
She had mocked her in front of the maid, Sien, embarrassing her deliberately.
She never acknowledged a single thing she did properly and even outright denied her with, “You’re wrong.”
‘Shouldn’t she hate me? Shouldn’t she resent me and suffer because of me?’
Shouldn’t she be finding someone to blame and pouring all her anger onto them?
The sudden confusion made nausea rise in her throat.
Her heart pounded violently, her hands and feet throbbed, and a nervous anxiety slowly crept in to cloud her mind.
Sometimes this happened.
Moments when emotions exploded over the smallest things.
“Ugh.”
Clutching her dizzy head, Julieta let out a faint groan. Alarmed, Janette rushed over to check her complexion.
“Your Grace, what’s wrong? Are you feeling ill somewhere?”
“…Get away from me!”
Her slender arm shoved Janette away irritably.
“Your Grace?”
“Take this and leave for today.”
Janette accepted the notebook with a bewildered expression.
Her gaze remained fixed on Julieta’s deathly pale face.
“But Your Grace…”
“I said it’s fine, so just go! I’m going to sleep now, so don’t wake me.”
Holding her head, Julieta staggered toward the bed.
Janette desperately resisted the urge to support her. She was worried that touching her now might somehow make her condition worse.
But—
“Your Grace. I’ll stay outside the door.”
“……”
“I won’t bother you. I’ll stay quiet. And if you need me, I’ll come back right away.”
“……”
“Then… please rest.”
With a whisper-like farewell, Janette quietly left the room.
Click.
Even the soft sound of the door closing carried consideration in it.
Lying on the bed, Julieta squeezed her eyes shut.
Sleep probably wouldn’t come.
The insomnia she had suffered from for years had only gotten worse lately.
‘…Maybe I should go see Nova.’
Nova Morgan was one of the few people Julieta could lean on.
Her former nanny from childhood had taught her many things.
“People are all the same. They only want Your Grace’s money, Your Grace’s family, Your Grace’s circumstances. So never trust kindness, and never show your sincerity.”
“If you don’t want to be looked down on, then simply don’t appear weak. Make them kneel first. Make sure they never dare look down on you.”
“My poor young lady. Everything I say is for your own good. 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 suffered, Nova was always the one who came to comfort her.
Even though she had struggled with insomnia for years, on the nights she met Nova, she could always sleep deeply.
“I suppose it’s because I’m someone Your Grace can rely on, so you feel safe enough to sleep soundly.”
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 completely.
Julieta had gone to see her a few times herself, but after noticing how troubled Nova looked whenever she said she was busy, Julieta stopped visiting so often.
‘…Still, I was managing somehow.’
For the past couple of weeks, she had been so preoccupied with Janette that she had even forgotten she hadn’t seen Nova.
But now that she was alone again, loneliness returned along with longing.
At that moment—
Thunk, creak.
A small noise came from outside the door.
It sounded like someone sitting down while leaning against it.
Then—
“Oh my, why are you sitting here like a beggar? Did you get kicked out—”
“Shh. Her Grace is sleeping. Lower your voice.”
Sien’s loud voice was followed by Janette’s soft one.
“…What? Her Grace is taking a nap? That can’t be right.”
“If you need something, tell me.”
“No. I’ll speak to Her Grace personally later.”
With a sulky reply, the sound of someone walking away echoed down the hall.
Not two sets of footsteps.
Only one.
Which meant the other person was still sitting outside the door.
Julieta slowly blinked and stared at the tightly shut door.
Sleep still wouldn’t come.
Her stomach still churned unpleasantly.
But the discomfort that had been swirling around her toes had vanished.
‘It feels like I’m dreaming while awake.’
Thankfully, at least, 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 of her presence before slipping silently inside.
Entering her mistress’s room without permission was improper, but today Julieta had looked unusually unwell.
In special circumstances concerning one’s master, entering without permission was one of the privileges afforded to maids.
‘At least she doesn’t seem sick.’
After checking Julieta’s complexion, Janette let out a sigh of relief and left the room.
Creak, click.
Once the door closed carefully behind her, the eyelids that had remained shut slowly opened before closing again.
“…What an idiot.”
A pleased murmur softly echoed through the quiet room.