Chapter 5 (Part 3)

She woke up to sunlight piercing through the curtains. Getting out of bed and checking the time, she found that the morning had already passed. She had planned to visit William’s house today, so she had cleared her schedule. Still, she couldn’t go to see him today. As a result, the whole day was left empty. She felt drained. She lay back down on the bed. As she closed her eyes, yesterday’s events came vividly to mind.

When he finished his confession, a freezing silence lingered between William and her. In that silence, where she wanted to escape, she barely managed to speak.

“I’m sorry.”

She tried to continue speaking. 

You’re a very good person. Thank you for always comforting me by my side. 

There were many words swirling in her head, but none seemed capable of comforting William.

“I’m sorry for causing you trouble too.”

William, who had somehow composed his distorted face, was smiling as usual. Her eyes stung.

“Don’t be sorry. Thank you for liking me. I mean it.”

She wished he wouldn’t apologize to her anymore. Everything he felt sorry for was what she had wanted. She wanted William to like her and to change the original. William merely smiled and nodded.

“I think it’s best if I leave for today. I’ll see you again.”

She couldn’t bring herself to stop William from leaving. Everything had gone as she wanted. Yet, strangely, her heart was unsettled.

Yes, everything had gone as she wanted. She tried to think positively. She no longer needed to fear for her life. If William wrote, ‘Romeo and Juliet parted ways and lived happily in their own lives,’ everything would be resolved.

William would willingly do so, even if it meant giving up his Masterpiece. She was now safe. And William was hurt.

The thoughts that circled around eventually returned to William’s face from yesterday. She abruptly sat up. She needed something to clear her mind.

She boldly got up and left, but all she could do was take a walk in the garden. She wanted to go to the bustling streets and lose herself in the noise, but the nanny stopped her with an awkward face as she was about to leave.

She could guess whose order it was. 

Did they think I would elope with Romeo? 

Considering the original, it wasn’t an excessive suspicion. But she couldn’t help feeling annoyed. Moreover, the garden walk didn’t help clear her mind at all. How could she clear her mind in the garden where William had confessed to her yesterday?

He said they’d meet again. Until William came to find her, it was only polite to wait. 

When would the ‘next time’ he mentioned be? 

More than when she was in her room, William swirled in her mind.

“There you are, Juliet.”

Yes, it seemed like William would speak to me like that any moment now. 

As she sighed, she froze. 

What did I just hear? 

She whipped her head around.

“May I walk with you?”

There was William, as always, with a smiling face. Yesterday’s events felt like a lie.

“How did you get here…”

She trailed off without realizing it. William showed her a familiar notebook from his pocket.

“There are many things I need to discuss with you.”

It was his playwriting notebook. She stared at him with her mouth agape. 

Was the person in front of me really the same person who had been so tormented yesterday? 

She wondered if she was dreaming.

“Let’s change locations first.”

William offered his hand to her. She placed her hand on his, looking at him suspiciously. He didn’t seem like the William she knew. He led her to the pavilion in the garden as if he knew nothing. She found herself sitting across from him, half dazed. She never imagined a day would come when she’d be swayed by William.

“How did you get here?”

“I can now visit the Capulet household anytime.”

William answered nonchalantly to her question, which she barely managed to ask after regaining her senses. His calmness made her smile despite herself. Of course, no one in her household would have stopped him. As of yesterday, he was the fiancé recognized by her father.

“Honestly, I didn’t expect you to come today.”

After one laugh, she felt a little more at ease. She expressed her honest feelings, not bothering to hide the relief within.

“If I hadn’t come, you wouldn’t have sought me out first.”

William replied softly. Though she felt a slight prick of conscience, there was no hint of reproach in his tone.

“So I came. Because I wanted to see you.”

Was the person in front of me really William? 

She doubted again. The gentle tone and soft expression were all William’s, but the content of his words was hard to believe he was saying.

“I confessed all my wrongdoings to you yesterday. And Juliet, you forgave me.”

William continued speaking. She just listened with a dazed mind.

“Juliet, you said you don’t love Romeo, right?”

William, who had been speaking calmly, suddenly looked into her eyes and spoke. For the first time in the long conversation, he demanded an answer from her. His serious demeanor made her nod involuntarily.

“Then I will hesitate no longer. And just the fact that there’s no reason to hesitate anymore makes me much happier than before. There really was no reason I couldn’t come here.”

William laughed. As if he was genuinely happy. Feeling her face heat up, she put on a deliberately stern face. William continued to look at her, as if it didn’t matter. Only her.

“Is that a playwriting notebook you brought today?”

“Yes. I brought it to discuss what to do next.”

She deliberately changed the subject. William responded nonchalantly, as if he wasn’t disappointed.

“I’d like to hear your thoughts first, Juliet. What do you think should be written in this notebook?”

His question was quite unexpected. 

What meaning would there be in what he wrote now?

As if sensing her thoughts, William opened the notebook in front of her. On the page he opened, the situation thus far was summarized in a timeline.

“I organized it once yesterday. It was strange I didn’t notice; the events that happened matched exactly with what I wrote.”

William, holding a pen, marked two places on the timeline.

“And as I mentioned before, these were the two times I noticed the alignment between reality and the story.”

The places he marked were Tybalt and Mercutio’s survival and his engagement with her.

“Those are the parts that don’t match the original.”

It was something she had somewhat realized during yesterday’s conversation. William nodded.

“Yes. But why did I only feel something was off at the points that didn’t match the original, or from my perspective, the first draft?”

It was a question she hadn’t considered. After finding the answer to ‘How did William notice the alignment between reality and the story?’ as ‘Because he wrote something different from the original,’ she hadn’t thought deeply about it. She had been satisfied enough with finding a reason.

“I suspect it’s because those parts were no longer Masterpieces worthy of recognition.”

“Because they were no longer Masterpieces?”

She asked back, surprised. He nodded.

“In the story I initially conceived, Tybalt and Mercutio were supposed to die. But I suddenly changed the story and let them live, so it’s natural for the coherence to be weaker compared to the original plan. My engagement with you goes without saying. I wasn’t even a character in the story until then.”

“So you’re saying that because it lost coherence and wasn’t a Masterpiece, it escaped the influence of the Masterpiece.”

It made sense. There was no other reason. If the magic had been intact, William would never have noticed the commonalities between reality and the story. A Masterpiece is never compromised.

“Then even if you continue writing now, what you write won’t happen in reality.”

It wasn’t the best outcome, but it was a secondary result. While they couldn’t sort out what had happened so far, nothing more would happen. But William shook his head again.

“No. I tested it once this morning.”

William opened another page of the notebook he brought and showed it to her. ‘William Shakespeare goes to see Juliet.’ Seeing the words written in the notebook, she widened her eyes.

“I wrote it this morning. As soon as I closed the book, my body moved unexpectedly and brought me to you.”

Having one’s body move on its own was something she had experienced countless times. According to him, ‘Romeo and Juliet’ still held the power of a Masterpiece.

“I think the current Masterpiece is cracked all over. It’s still maintaining its form, but who knows when it’ll break if it’s even slightly shocked.”

The Masterpiece breaking. Perhaps everyone could escape the magic’s influence and return to their original lives. But…

“Juliet, you said that when two Masterpieces collided, the people involved lost their memories, right?”

She nodded. She couldn’t think optimistically.

“Then what would happen to the people involved if the Masterpiece completely shattered?”