Astonished, Juno, who was on the terrace, looked in the direction the voice came from. In House Trish’s mansion, Jupiter was the only one who talked to her so casually. But that voice wasn’t his.
“Who could have…” She spotted a small shadow in the garden below. The mysterious entity had no intention of hiding itself.
“You’re a girl, aren’t you?” The voice sounded young.
Juno didn’t let her guard down and glanced behind her. I have to get inside and ring the bell.
Trying to remain calm, she asked, “Who are you?”
“You’ll know if I show you.”
As soon as she heard a voice behind her, the terrace door slammed shut. Juno felt a shiver down her spine; she could no longer escape. There was one thing left to do. Juno slowly looked behind her.
“Where are you going? Are you trying to call for someone?” The owner of the lovely voice was a child. He had blond hair, blue eyes, and chubby cheeks. When he and Juno made eye contact, the child smiled and said, “I sneaked in to see you. If you don’t keep this a secret, my master will scold me.”
Juno stared at him. How did he jump up here? It was impossible for a human. But if he wasn’t… She recalled what he said earlier. Master? It was a ridiculous notion, but she remembered who was going to be her husband tomorrow.
“Impossible…”
The child with rosy cheeks smiled and waved his hand. “Tomorrow, you’ll be his wife.”
“Do you belong to Count Sergien? But how…”
He giggled. “I’m not a human.”
“You aren’t?”
“I’m a doll.”
It was unlikely the child was a human, given he jumped to the terrace. However, there weren’t any doll joints to be seen on him. His face was also full of life. He was no different from a human child.
Juno frowned. “You can’t be. A doll has—”
“Isn’t it obvious I’m different from them? I’m special.” The child walked up to Juno and grabbed her hand. His hand was soft and warm.
“This…”
“My skin is smooth too.”
“Let go of me.” She glared at the child who kept holding her hand. He had a strong grip.
He poked himself in the cheek and said, “I’m also cute, right?”
Juno couldn’t believe the child, blinking and looking at her, was a doll.
“My master’s new wife is pretty too.”
Her instincts told her the child wasn’t a human, but he acted too much like one. He also didn’t plan to let Juno go.
She slowly asked, “…Are you going to take care of me?”
“Yes. My master said so.”
The child visited her out of curiosity, and he didn’t have Peter Sergien’s permission. I think he wants to talk to me. Juno decided to find out what the owner of this doll was like. Isn’t this situation strange? This child was an uninvited guest in her house; however, because of his cute appearance, it was easy to lower her guard. Was it because she realized this child was a doll? Or because she was doing herself a favor?
Do dolls have feelings? Whatever the case, it didn’t confine to the norms of thought. “What’s your master like?”
“What kind of person is he? A tough, eccentric old man.”
“Why is he marrying me?”
The doll shrugged. “How should I know?”
“Why are you here?”
“I told you already, didn’t I? I was curious.”
“I can’t believe this…” Was that the only reason he was here at such a time?
The child blinked and laughed. “Why? Is it because I’m so cute?”
Juno narrowed her eyes. “Being cute and bad manners are two different things.”
“That’s mean. Look at my beautiful blond hair.” He began to play with a lock of his hair. The strands themselves looked human-like.
It’s better than the person who takes care of it. But could she say that out loud? Juno murmured, “…You really love yourself.”
“Of course. However, I prefer hair that’s red like yours.”
Juno snorted. She didn’t care about that. Carelessly, she said, “Then make your hair red.”
“What? That’s…”
Juno observed the process of the child changing his hair color. “Can you do that whenever you want?”
“Huh?” The child’s eyes widened as he touched his own hair. When he had blond hair and blue eyes, he looked like a coy noble, but with his hair red, he looked lively.
She said, “Red suits you.”
The child seemed to be very upset about something. “Why? How…”
Before Juno asked if he was okay, someone knocked on the door to her room. She heard a voice call for her.
“Juno.”
It was Jupiter. Juno glanced at the child. It wasn’t a good idea to let him find out about the doll.
“Go.”
“No, wait—”
She patted the child on the head. The red hair between her fingers was soft.
“Leave. I have a visitor.”
The child hesitated. “Okay, but…”
Before she knew it, her initial surprise had disappeared. Now all Juno could think about was sending the child away and seeing Jupiter. “We’ll meet again.”
“…Yes, my lady.”
Juno watched as the child disappeared into the night, then returned to her room to open the door. As expected, there stood Jupiter.
“Juno.” In a week, he had gotten thinner.
“What’s the matter?”
“I have something to tell you,” he said
It wasn’t good for either of them that Jupiter came to her room so late at night since Juno’s marriage had been decided. She looked around before letting him in. The door closed.
Juno approached Jupiter who was standing in the middle of the room. “Well?”
“…I understand you have no choice but to get married.” He grabbed her hand. “Please promise me one thing.”
“What is it?”
“If you ever find yourself in trouble, come and see me.”
“I beg your pardon, what did you just say?”
He squeezed her hand, but he looked so sad that she didn’t try to step back. “If you’re ever in trouble, won’t you pay me a visit?”
“I can’t, Jupiter.” Nothing would change. Visiting him won’t solve anything, and it would only make things more difficult. She shook her head. “I can’t keep giving you a hard time, can I?”
“Promise to keep in touch with me.”
Juno squeezed Jupiter’s hand before letting go. “It’s not good for you.”
“Juno!”
Juno was upset, but this was reality. “What are you going to do if a scandal breaks out while we keep in touch?”
“What?”
“Do you think Nusrion will stay still?”
“I’ll take care of my father,” Jupiter said.
“…No. I’m doing this for you.”
He closed his eyes and said in a choked voice, “Aren’t you being too cruel?”
“Jupiter…”
When he opened his eyes again, it appeared as if he was on the brink of tears.
Without realizing it, Juno said, “…If I can’t stand it, I’ll see you then.”
“Really?”
She wanted to tear her own mouth apart. I shouldn’t be doing this. But she couldn’t stop talking. “Of course.” It was cruel. Knowing this was like giving him a false sense of hope, Juno hated that she gave such an answer.
“Will you send me letters at least?” Jupiter asked.
That was the last thing she should do. It might have been funny to say no, but this wasn’t the time.
“…I’m not sure,” Juno said.
“Why?” Jupiter responded with a bittersweet smile upon seeing her expression. “I know you told me to calm down.”
“Not until we both do.” In the end, she added a condition. If she didn’t, Jupiter would never calm down. Maybe I want to put some space between us.
“When will that be?”
“Not now.”
“I don’t like this. I thought I could have done something, anything,” Jupiter said. He, who always looked neat and elegant, was currently a mess.
Juno didn’t try to console him. Why does Jupiter like me so much? It was sad to see him struggling. If you were unlucky, you would’ve known the path ahead had an end.
Then Jupiter stepped closer to her and whispered, “May I kiss you?”
“Huh?”
Despite seeing her astonishment, Jupiter didn’t take back his words. It was better to give her first kiss to him than give it to an old man who she had never seen before. However, Juno was afraid this would affect Jupiter’s future. I can’t be selfish anymore.
Yet Jupiter was trembling; he was terrified she would refuse.
“…All right,” Juno said.
With a shaky hand, he tucked some of her hair behind her ear and leaned in. Their lips touched, and soon enough, almost frantically, desperately, they were swallowing each other’s breath. Holding Juno tightly in his arms, Jupiter looked pitiful. Juno wasn’t in the position to pity anyone, but she pitied him.
When they pulled away, Jupiter pressed his forehead against hers and sobbed, “Happy birthday.”
“…Thank you.”
It was a painful first kiss.
