Juno would have never believed Jupiter if he said he wanted to be considered family.
“It’s nice that you’re honest.”
“Hm? Are you saying you like me?”
She didn’t answer his question and pushed him away. “I repay my debts.”
He moved to the side, but his scent stuck to Juno’s clothes. It tickled her nose.
“You don’t need to think of it like that. I did it because I wanted to.”
“What do you want?”
“I would like for us to get along.”
Juno still didn’t understand, but she won’t be insincere. She’ll open her heart to Jupiter. If ever so slightly. “Do you want me to be like how I am now? You have a unique taste.”
Jupiter tilted his head and blinked. “Is this your answer?” He chuckled.
Juno scoffed in response to his captivating laugh. “It’s very convenient for me.”
“Indeed.” Jupiter smiled and grabbed Juno’s hand. “The ink still hasn’t come off.”
There were traces of black ink under her fingernails.
I’m ashamed of myself. No matter how busy she was, it was obvious she didn’t wash it properly. Juno took back her hand.
Yet Jupiter continued to stare at her.
Juno hid her hand behind her back. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
“I’m just wondering how I can get rid of it.” His gaze seemed to be still focused on Juno’s hand, which was out of sight. Jupiter muttered, “I wish it disappeared without a trace.”
Juno, sensing something was off, changed the subject. “Now that you mention it, I haven’t returned your handkerchief yet.”
“My handkerchief?”
Juno tried to remember its whereabouts, but it seemed she forgot where she placed it. “The one you gave me to wipe the ink off my hands.”
“Oh, that.”
“The ink completely ruined it.” Juno brought it up, yet she was unable to recall where the handkerchief went. Did I take it to Mr. Nereus’s room? Or did I leave it on the desk? Have the servants thrown it away already?
Regardless, she couldn’t give it back to him now.
Jupiter grinned as if to reassure her. “Is that so? You can just give me a new one.”
Juno frowned. “Shouldn’t this be the moment where you tell me I don’t have to return it?” The Jupiter she knew would’ve said something like that.
With a bright smile, Jupiter said, “Hm? Why?”
Was it because they decided to get along with each other? Juno forced herself to smile.
“You asked me what I wanted, did you not? Please give me an embroidered handkerchief once a month.”
“Huh?”
“You may put my name or initials on it. Other patterns are also acceptable.”
How ridiculous. He said he wanted to get along with her.
More importantly, is this something to say after a funeral? Juno stared at him for a bit before nodding. By being close, they helped each other a lot, no?
“…Isn’t once a month too much?” she asked.
“Then once every two months.”
Still ridiculous. “Once every six months.”
Still smiling, Jupiter said, “Once every two months.”
“Why not once every three months?”
As if waiting for it, he said, “All right. Once every three months.”
Juno felt as if she lost a lot of money. But thanks to Jupiter, her sadness disappeared.
Juno pointed to the door. “If you got everything you wanted, leave.”
Jupiter nodded. “Rest well, Juno.”
Normally, he would exit the room immediately, but instead, he kissed Juno lightly on the cheek. Her face turned red starting from where his lips touched her skin.
Surprised, she pushed him away. Jupiter then waved his hand and left. Was it Juno’s imagination that she felt almost happy?
***
Juno stared at the handkerchief with Jupiter’s initials. It was the first time she would give a handkerchief as a present to someone other than her mother.
“I don’t think it looks good.” She continued to think about whether the pattern was ugly or the letters were crooked and if there were any stray threads on it. Holding the handkerchief in her hands, Juno soon realized it was almost up against her face. She threw the handkerchief across the room.
“What am I doing?” She turned her attention away from it and remembered what she had to do today. “The tailor will arrive with a new dress, and tomorrow’s lesson…” Her gaze slowly drifted back to the handkerchief.
Acknowledging she had class tomorrow was admitting she had to meet up with Jupiter. In other words, she would have to give him the handkerchief at that time.
“I’m still having trouble understanding what I learned from before. I should study…” Juno opened a book; however, after reading the same chapter ten times, she picked up the handkerchief. “It wouldn’t hurt to look at it again.”
Jupiter was the only one who helped with Nereus’s funeral, so her present had to be perfect.
“Why did you ask for this? …How troublesome.”
Juno returned to scrutinizing every inch of the handkerchief, which she had been doing for the past few days.
***
The start of class always began with a test on the material from yesterday. Juno, who finished the exam several minutes after Jupiter, was playing with her quill pen. Out of the corner of her eye, a hand pushed something by her elbow.
You almost scared me! Juno glanced at the person next to her. Jupiter was reading a book, pretending to be the perfect student.
Oh? She looked at the note with Jupiter’s handwriting. He had written, “Did you bring the handkerchief?”
Was this how a person felt when hounded by debt collectors? Regardless, Juno did have the handkerchief with her.
Wouldn’t it be better to give it to him after I made sure it was perfect? The pattern was a little ugly, and the color of the thread didn’t match the handkerchief. Juno was unable to concentrate in class because she continued agonizing over it until the teacher left.
This is Jupiter’s fault. Once class was finished, Juno made up her mind. I’ll just give it to him.
Because she focused so much on the handkerchief, she didn’t dwell on Nereus’s death, but it wasn’t good to fret over a handkerchief the entire day.
“Jupiter.”
Their eyes met.
Jupiter rested his chin on his hand. “What is it?”
Juno, who had started to admire Jupiter’s face, quickly snapped out of it and said, “I couldn’t concentrate on today’s lesson because of you.”
“Is that so?”
She glared at him. “I really couldn’t!”
“I promise to help you study then.”
Juno started to laugh before noticing she was acting unusually childish. I wasn’t like this since I was ten.
She took a deep breath. “Thank you again for your help.” She smiled calmly.
Jupiter smiled as well. “Mm-hmm. I have nothing else to do today besides wait for something to arrive.”
He was talking about the handkerchief.
Juno sighed and took it out. “Yes, of course.”
“I look forward to receiving it.”
As he excitedly stared at the handkerchief, Juno narrowed her eyes as if to warn him.
“Don’t judge it too harshly.”
“Of course. I don’t judge gifts full of sincerity,” he answered without any hesitation.
Juno was slightly relieved. “I don’t know if… No, I put a lot of thought into it.”
“Really?”
Shouldn’t he have noticed that Juno worked hard on embroidering the handkerchief?
“Did it take you three attempts to make?”
She was unable to understand the intention behind his words. Recalling the amount of time she spent on the embroidery, she said, “This is harder than you think.”
Jupiter never had to embroider anything, so he wouldn’t understand how much effort goes into it.
“That’s why three months isn’t enough time…” Juno hesitated before giving him the handkerchief. Why are you giving me that look? She looked down at her lap.
Jupiter, with his bright eyes and smile, was too dangerous. Juno slowly raised her head; their eyes met again.
The hand that his chin rested on partially covered his mouth as he said, “Thank you. I’ll make good use of it.”
He gazed at his initials embroidered on the handkerchief. The expression on his face seemed different.
Does he like it?
Touching the handkerchief, Jupiter looked at her again and smiled. It was the same smile he always had.
Was I imagining things? I don’t think I did…
Jupiter put away the handkerchief in his coat pocket and tapped the table to get her attention. “Juno.”
“What?”
“I like it a lot.”
She nodded.
Touching the pocket where he put the handkerchief in, Jupiter said, “I have high hopes for the next one.”
“Huh? Oh, all right.” Juno quickly added, “Don’t you think once every three months is too much?”
Jupiter ignored her and began to pack his belongings. Unbelievable. He wasn’t going to help her study like he said he would.
“Are you listening to me, Jupiter?”
“My apologies, Juno. I’m busy today. We’ll review the material at another time.”
“Then how am I supposed to study?”
“I’ll help you before the next class.”
“How could you—”
“Farewell.” Jupiter left instantly.
Left alone, Juno stared at the empty chair next to her. “You said you didn’t have anything else to do today,” she murmured.
Juno sighed. However, the corners of her mouth were slightly raised.
