Jupiter didn’t know what this feeling was. He was happy someone else cared about Juno just as much as he did, but at the same time, he was anxious. He wasn’t the only person in Juno’s heart now.
Trying to comprehend what he felt, Jupiter said, “…That’s a relief.”
“Well, you probably mean the most to her. Do something about your eyes,” Peter said.
Jupiter looked at the mirror again. His gaze was a mixture of jealousy and other emotions. He took a deep breath. “…I’ll be more careful.”
“It’s all right to walk around on the third floor, but you can’t do any more than that.”
“I see.”
“I’m going to say this now.” Peter looked at him with a serious expression. “Juno is still the same as before, but she’s changed. If you hurt her because she’s no longer the person you knew…”
“Such a thing will never happen.”
“She’s different from the Juno you remember.” Peter, who was larger than an average human, looked down at Jupiter. He had never liked him that much. Peter cupped Jupiter’s face; he touched the area around Jupiter’s right eye with his thumb. “Don’t even think about trying to hurt me. I’ll gouge out both your eyes if there’s a problem.”
What a wonderful threat. Jupiter smiled. “I don’t believe it will happen.”
Peter lowered his hand. “She’ll be back soon. Will you see her?” He picked up the box he brought in and opened the door. “Of course, you can’t go down from the third floor because of the girl. We haven’t decided yet if we should introduce you.”
Jupiter was sure of it. Peter Sergien dislikes me.
He didn’t like Jupiter, but Juno liked him, so he was doing her a reasonable favor. Even now, Peter’s words were more like a suggestion, but his sharp gaze kept an eye on him. Of course, Jupiter would never reject the “suggestions”, but Peter’s tone wasn’t to his liking.
“…You care a lot about Juno.” However, Jupiter was certain her teacher wouldn’t harm her.
“Of course.” Even though Peter showed his dislike for him, he treated Jupiter well. Jupiter was reminded of Pi who flew past them moments ago.
As Jupiter left the lab with Peter’s help, he said, “I understand who Pi takes after now.”
“Be nice to her too. She worried about you a lot and was the one who brought you back here.”
Jupiter remembered. The moment the carriage exploded, large wings shielded him from the blast, and Pi dragged him to a safe place to use the medicine on him even when she was injured. Pi also brought something for Jupiter to eat and forced the food into his mouth. She saved his life.
“I know. I remember what she did when I was still conscious.”
“Let’s go.”
Peter told Jupiter that Juno was still the same despite her aloof appearance. You have a family whose members are similar in many ways.
Juno climbed up the stairs and began to give instructions to John. Afterward, when she walked up to Jupiter, she had a bright smile.
“Jupiter?”
The moment he saw her, whose expression softened, he thought she was very pretty.
“Juno.”
“Are you here to see me?”
“Yes. How was your trip?” Jupiter added, “You have dark circles under your eyes.”
“Really?” Juno ended up being the one to help Jupiter stand. Peter had rolled his eyes and stepped back after John whispered something in his ear. “I’m back, Teacher. And John, you worked hard today.”
Peter shrugged as if he was dissatisfied with Juno’s greeting. “Hmph.”
“Thank you, my lady. Please relax for the rest of the day.”
“All right.”
It was a very peaceful time.
***
Argos observed his surroundings. Everything around him, even the escort knights who were drunk and revealed sensitive information, was a mess. Argos was perfectly fine. He stared at the Protective Barrier. He was aware of the ones supplied to the army.
“She said it was of a higher grade, but I didn’t know it’d be like this…”
The Protective Barriers used by the army could deflect a sword attack. How did she have a stronger version of that?
“As expected…”
He guessed she wouldn’t have revealed everything. Perhaps this was just a fraction of what Juno Sergien owned.
“Should I consider myself lucky?”
The relationship between his father and the alchemist was estranged, resulting in Argos acquiring a strong ally.
“I still haven’t figured out everything.”
Argos was a prince, and his mother was the empress. Obviously, the power the two had was tremendous. But even Argos couldn’t collect enough information on Juno Sergien. She must be the one controlling what information gets released. All he knew was what everyone else knew. I only know the information about Lily, her half-sister. Argos was still suspicious of Juno’s intentions and didn’t trust her completely. I was thinking about whether or not I should bring it with me.
Argos looked at the Protective Barrier in his hand. He thought it was a weapon to attack him; however, after learning that his bodyguard leaked information, Argos took a gamble. This was the result. For whatever reason, Juno Sergien was his ally for now.
“I have no choice but to take advantage of what was given to me.”
He approached the frightened people and knights. Argos didn’t know what would happen, but he was looking forward to his upcoming meeting with her.
***
Juno looked at Jupiter who was standing in front of her. Two weeks after waking up, he was able to move around and hold a sword without the help of others. Therefore, she didn’t understand his decision after making a full recovery.
“You don’t want to reveal yourself to Lily yet?”
“Correct.” It also meant Jupiter couldn’t go outside the mansion.
“Why?” she asked.
“I need to think about something still.”
“Is it bad?”
“Not at all.” He smiled, so it didn’t seem to be problematic.
“So what will you do?”
“I will continue to wait.”
It was the same as before. Jupiter said a lot of meaningless things.
Juno pouted. “I don’t get it.”
“You’ll understand eventually.”
Juno accepted his choice since he wanted to do it, but she couldn’t help but worry. “Won’t you be uncomfortable?”
“The mansion is big enough.”
“That’s true.”
Jupiter laughed. “In any case, you have a meeting today, do you not?”
“Yes.”
“It happens quite often, don’t you think?”
Unless something else happened, there was always a meeting. “It’s only once a week. Isn’t once every two weeks too much?”
“At this time?”
“Everyone is busy during the day, right?”
The nobles all occupied important positions in the empire, so they had business to take care of. It was the same for Juno, so the only time they could meet was late at night.
“Hm.”
“Are you worried, Jupiter?”
“Yes.”
She took out the Shooter she carried around and showed it to him. “I’ll be fine.”
Over the past few days, Jupiter learned about a lot of things. From Juno’s work in the past eight years to the work of Count Sergien and the relationship between the crown prince and the Kingdom of Darnan.
Jupiter touched the Shooter in Juno’s hands. “It’s definitely remarkable.”
“You have to carry one around as well.” Juno pointed to the Protective Barrier in his pocket. What she gave him was the final version of the Protective Barrier. She didn’t want to have a repeat of the delegate incident.
Noticing her sullen face, he squeezed her hand. “I will. What do you think the emperor will do?”
“He knows he’s not on good terms with me but believes it’s only temporary.”
His being absent from the meeting was just a means to upset Juno. He worked with her for several years, but he didn’t know her that well. It wasn’t unreasonable he acted like that since Juno still provided her services as an alchemist. Juno didn’t mind since it meant he was less troublesome.
“I don’t have to worry about it for a while.”
“Why does he want the crown prince to ascend the throne?”
Juno shrugged. “Love.”
“I suppose. However, I don’t understand why he must express his affection that way.”
Juno agreed. Why did the emperor feel the need to show his affection by handing over the crown?
