Chapter 2 (Part 6)

The words she spoke pretending to be her father came out in her own voice. It didn’t change her voice! She blamed the perfume’s shortcomings.

“Juliet, what are you doing?”

“I’m sorry, Mother.”

Her mother made a strange face at her apology. It seemed awkward for her daughter to have her husband’s face.

“Like you said, I was curious if there was anyone who would see me as myself even with the perfume.”

She quickly thought of an excuse while her mother was flustered. It was a plausible excuse for something made up on the spot. Her mother sighed softly after looking at her intently.

“You should have asked directly. Pretending to be your father was very rude.”

“I was so flustered that I sprayed the perfume. I’m sorry. It really wasn’t on purpose.”

Her apology seemed to ease her mother’s feelings somewhat. It was fortunate.

“Come here. I’ll give you some perfume.”

Surprisingly, her mother easily gave her some perfume. She accepted the small bottle handed to her.

“Thank you!”

“Come to think of it, you’re at an age to be interested in romance. Whose heart do you want to know?”

“Th-that’s a secret.”

Her mother chuckled softly.

“Whoever it is, I’m on your side.”

Her kind words made her feel a bit guilty. As she lowered her head to avoid her gaze, her mother spoke again.

“As long as it’s not Montague.”

She couldn’t lift her head and only let out an awkward laugh.

Infiltrating the Montague family while wearing the perfume was very simple.

“Oh, it’s you.”

“Miss Phoebe…”

“How did you get here?”

She just learned a lot about other people’s love lives. People who saw her murmured different names. Among them, it seemed there was a maid having an affair with one of their household knights. It was funny to say this while being Juliet, but they were truly a couple like Romeo and Juliet. 

They must have been ordinary lovers until the Masterpiece made the Capulets and Montagues enemies. It was bitter. No one had ill intentions, yet everything got tangled.

She hurried to where Romeo’s room might be. It was her first time at the Montague residence, but the mansions in this neighborhood were generally similar in structure. Finding a room where the master’s son might be wasn’t difficult. She stopped in front of a large door and knocked.

As expected, Romeo opened the door. She tried to speak to him. But before she could say anything, his eyes wavered in surprise upon seeing her. He spoke.

“Rosaline?”

And the name he called wasn’t Juliet’s.

She was surprised at her own reaction. Despite saying Romeo’s feelings were fake, she had believed without doubt he would call her name. And because that belief was shattered, the ‘fake’ part of her heart hurt. She smiled bitterly to herself.

“Did someone come?”

Someone walked out from behind Romeo. It was William.

“Juliet?”

“William.”

She reflexively called his name and then closed her mouth, realizing her mistake. To Romeo, she would appear as Rosaline. Yet she answered with Juliet’s voice.

She glanced at his face, but contrary to her expectations, his expression was calm.

“Juliet, you entered the Montague residence. Was there any danger on the way?”

Romeo naturally addressed her as if he hadn’t just called Rosaline’s name. She looked at him in confusion, and a hypothesis crossed her mind.

When he first saw her, the effect of ‘The Lovely Person’ had mitigated the magic of ‘Romeo and Juliet.’ The limitation of “only while the fragrance lasts” and her voice must have prevented the complete removal of the ‘Romeo and Juliet’ magic. But if this hypothesis was correct, the magic of a Masterpiece could be nullified by another Masterpiece.

Though it was a plan executed without certainty, hope was in sight. As she pondered various thoughts, Romeo took a step closer to her.

“Juliet, how did you get here? Is there something important?”

“Actually, there’s something I’d like to ask.”

She spoke awkwardly. It was embarrassing to keep asking for favors while pushing Romeo away.

“If you came all the way here, it must be an important request. What is it?”

But to Romeo, who was under the spell, it didn’t seem to matter. His willingness to grant her request surprised her a bit.

“Um, didn’t the head of the Montague family win a painting at the auction yesterday?”

“I think I heard something about that. Do you want to see that painting?”

She nodded. Romeo seemed ready to lead her to the painting immediately. She urgently grabbed the hem of Romeo’s clothes as he was about to leave the room.

“Let’s take Mr. Shakespeare with us. We can’t just leave him alone in the room, can we?”

It was meaningless for only her and Romeo to go. She had to make sure William and Romeo looked at the painting together.

“Oh, I’m fine waiting here.”

William tried to withdraw. Despite his firm words, he wore a pitiful expression.

“No, William. I’ve been too thoughtless. I can’t just leave a guest in the room.”

Fortunately, Romeo acted as she intended. William followed them, seemingly resigned. Thankfully, neither of them seemed to know what kind of power the Masterpiece ‘The Enemy of the Family’ held. If they did, they wouldn’t have followed so willingly without asking questions. Soon, Romeo stopped walking.

“The painting we won yesterday is in this room. It’s strange to keep it in a room instead of displaying it.”

Romeo said as he opened the door. He had no way of knowing that keeping it in a room was the best way to avoid witnessing the absurd sight of a family feud being born in the same house. She only managed an awkward smile.

Inside the room, there was a large painting occupying half of one wall. The painting, with its rough style, had something overwhelming about it, just as when she first saw it.

“It’s a bit of a barbaric painting.”

William faintly furrowed his brow. She glanced sideways to confirm that both were looking at the painting. Now was the moment. The moment when both of them fixed their gaze on the painting. She quietly turned her body in the opposite direction of the painting.

There was no spectacular reaction like a bang or the room being filled with light. She contemplated when it would be safe to turn around.

“Where is this? Why am I here…?”

William’s confused voice was heard. Something had definitely changed. Only then did she turn around to look at them.

“Juliet?”

Both William and Romeo called her name in unison. Did they get along so well because they had spent a short time as comrades?

“How did you get into our house? Did anyone see you?”

“Is this the Montague house? Why are we here?”

But both of their reactions were somehow strange. Romeo, speaking only to her without seeing William, and William, looking at Romeo with suspicion, indicated that the magic of ‘Friendship’ had undoubtedly been broken.

However, Romeo, who repeated what he had said earlier, and William, who couldn’t remember why he was there, both acted as if they had amnesia.

“I remember nothing. What’s going on?”

“Juliet, do you happen to know what’s going on?”

As if to confirm her thoughts, they both said they remembered nothing. Then they looked at her with eyes full of expectation. The focused gazes were burdensome.

“I don’t remember anything either.”

It was suspicious for one person to remember everything when two out of three had lost their memories. Unable to think of a suitable excuse, she decided to ride along with their amnesia.

“This is strange.”

“Juliet, let’s go back.”

William, still looking at Romeo with wary eyes, took her hand. Romeo looked discontentedly at their clasped hands.

“Wait a moment. William, I want to fix my attire. Could you help me?”

“M-me? If it’s your request, Juliet, gladly.”

William blushed as he tidied her dress. His hands were quite clumsy, possibly because it was his first time arranging a woman’s clothes.

When William was fully focused on her clothes, she gestured to Romeo. There was something she had wanted to check since she first devised this plan.

At her call, Romeo approached. She turned her hand to point at the painting. Naturally, his gaze followed her gesture. She and Romeo looked at ‘The Enemy of the Family.’

The magic cast on William and Romeo seemed to have been completely resolved by the power of this Masterpiece. Then what about the magic cast on her and Romeo? She looked at Romeo with hopeful eyes.

Romeo still looked at her with gentle eyes. Nothing had changed.

Feelings of disappointment and inevitability crossed her mind.

Strictly speaking, the setting of Romeo and Juliet was ‘falling in love with a family enemy.’ It wasn’t going to change to becoming family enemies now. Still, she couldn’t help feeling regretful.

“It’s done. Let’s go.”

Just then, William spoke to her. She naturally placed her hand on his outstretched hand.

“Then, excuse us, Romeo.”

“Wait a moment. This is the Montague house. Let me show you a way out where you won’t be noticed.”

Despite his displeased face, Romeo led the way. Thanks to him, they safely exited the mansion and boarded the carriage.

William, sitting opposite her, stared at her. His gaze always had a fervent aspect, which made her a little embarrassed.

“Juliet, are you seeing Romeo?”

After moving his lips for a while, he finally asked as if he had made up his mind. It was an absurd misunderstanding.

“Not at all.”

She replied with a degree of firmness that might have been excessive. But this misunderstanding needed to be cleared up quickly. She learned through this incident how bothersome a misunderstanding William could be. Just imagining him saying, ‘I can’t be alone with someone who’s seeing someone!’ was a headache.

“I see.”

William murmured. His reaction was much more subdued than she had expected.

“I see.”

William said again, this time meeting her eyes. His blue eyes were filled with uncontainable joy.

Suddenly, she recalled what had happened earlier. William had called her name when he saw her wearing the perfume. She turned her head for no reason. He kept making her feel embarrassed.

The spell was broken, and memories faded. Lying in bed after returning home, she reflected on the day’s events.

Earlier, she had been too flustered to think, but the loss of memory was undoubtedly a consequence of the spell being broken. From subtly probing William in the carriage, the lost memories were those from right after seeing ‘Friendship’ to just before seeing ‘The Enemy of the Family.’ It was foolish to think there was no connection.

In a way, it was fortunate. Regardless of the purpose, it was better for everyone to forget about visiting the Montague house to meet Romeo. She didn’t want Romeo to have unnecessary hopes, nor did she want William to start misunderstanding again.

It was neatly resolved. With a drowsy sense of relief, her body sank into the bed. Tomorrow, she would visit the Shakespeare residence as originally planned to check on the progress of the work. Hoping William hadn’t written too much, she drifted into sleep.

* * *

[A note in the drama notebook contained a memo that didn’t seem familiar.

‘I wish the person Romeo liked wasn’t Juliet, but you.’

What on earth does this mean?]