Romeo and Rosaline - 26

Her tense body trembled uncontrollably, making it difficult even to pack her belongings. Thanks to that, her vision dimmed as she finished packing. Rosaline placed a farewell letter to Juliet on the desk.

Even though my mother may have been cold to me, it wasn’t the same with Juliet. Although she was only a bit more affectionate than others, if it weren’t for her, I would have lived without ever knowing warmth.

“I’m sorry, Juliet. I’m truly sorry.”

You must have loved in your own way, so please forgive me for resenting you. Please have some pity for me, just a mere mortal. Her only consolation and pain was that Juliet would be fine without her.

Rosaline checked the time, gathered her belongings, and left the room. But as she headed towards the garden in the backyard, the main house, which should have been quiet at this time, was noisy. She worried, but she decided to ignore it, thinking that if she hesitated, it would be delayed.

“Rosaline, Rosaline!!!”

The voice that came from the main house echoed loudly in the annex. Unable to simply ignore it, Rosaline had no choice but to enter and see who it was. In the corridor connecting the main house and the annex, the tearful woman with a pale face was Amy, the maid who had traveled with Juliet.

It would still be two more days until Juliet’s arrival.

Chilled, she noticed Rosaline and approached her with a troubled expression.

“Rosaline, you’re here!”

“Amy, what’s the matter? Has Juliet arrived?”

“She has. Since four days ago, she suddenly fell ill and still hasn’t recovered her senses. Even though we brought the most famous physician from the resort, there’s no improvement.”

A cold sensation ran through Rosaline’s entire body. It took her a moment to find her voice, clearing her throat several times.

“How is she now?”

“The fever shows no signs of subsiding.”

Amy tightly held Rosaline’s trembling hand.

“Master also heard the news and just arrived. Fortunately, the archpriests are staying with the Montagues, so they came to check on Juliet’s condition.”

“I have to see, too…”

“Yeah, the master was looking for you. Let’s go quickly.”

She was so absent-minded that she couldn’t even remember how she ended up in the main house. Juliet had never been sick before. Why all of a sudden? The familiar anxiety clouded her thoughts.

As she entered Juliet’s bedroom, she saw several high-ranking priests she had seen on the street during the day. Near the bed was a worried-looking Lord Capulet…

“Juliet!”

Rosaline approached the girl lying in bed as if she was about to collapse. She knelt on the floor and bent her body palely to meet the gaze of the girl lying down.

“Juliet, I’m here.”

“…Rosaline? Are you there?”

Juliet reached out her arms as if searching for Rosaline. As Rosaline firmly held her hand, the fragile girl smiled faintly.

“Ah, Rosaline. You’re going to the capital’s temple, right? Congratulations.”

“Juliet…”

Rosaline couldn’t help but smile back at Juliet, feeling that she had to return her laughter.

“It’s all thanks to you, Ms. Juliet, I worked hard for it.”

“Yeah, and I heard my father gave you a fountain pen? You’re really lucky…”

“Yes, yes.”

“I’m glad I saw you before you left. I missed you so much.”

“Me too, I really missed you.”

Juliet crinkled her nose and pursed her pale, disgusted lips.

“I’m sorry for not writing often. Did you feel upset? Paris was so jealous… But I kept everything you gave me. I brought gifts too.”

“Don’t apologize. I never felt upset.”

Rosaline smiled, gently pressing her cheek against Juliet’s hand.

“Let’s open the gifts together. Shall we?”

Handing over Juliet’s trembling locks of hair, she kissed her cheek and forehead. Juliet let out a short laugh as if unable to contain it.

“It will be fine. Even esteemed individuals have come to see me.”

Juliet, sitting with her back against the headboard of the bed, looked straight ahead. Her gaze fell upon several high-ranking priests and her mother standing there, their eyes fixed on Rosaline and Juliet, tears streaming down their faces. As Rosaline looked around the room, as if searching for a savior, she realized that these people, who were staring at her and Juliet, had no answers to offer.

Something was strange. Juliet was in so much pain, yet everyone seemed strangely calm, as if they had already received the answers. Even her mother. Amidst the confusion, a high-ranking priest suddenly asked a question.

“You said your name is Rosaline? What is your baptismal name?”

Rosaline felt a stifling atmosphere and an inexplicable pressure. It seemed that the elderly priest would be the one to save Juliet. She stood up, clasped her hands together, and responded.

“I am Lunaria, brother friar.”

“Lunaria, meaning the moon.”

“…I apologize, but where exactly is the young lady in pain? If a priest is coming instead of a physician…”

He nodded his head twice, as a sign of listening to Rosaline’s words.

“She is a novitiate.”

A novitiate? Rosaline momentarily froze, her eyes blinked dumbfoundedly. Juliet seemed surprised too, as she swallowed her breath. The priest spoke quietly, as if considering their feelings.

“The successor of the Capulet has died in the past.”

Overwhelmed by dizziness, Rosaline unknowingly closed her eyes. Whether her mother and Lord Capulet already knew, they maintained their silence. Her mother’s tired face must have been after a round of embarrassment and astonishment had already passed.

“I don’t know the exact circumstances, but she has regained her life. However, because the corresponding price has not been paid, she is suffering like this.”

“…Price?”

“There is no life without a price. Just as one takes the bone marrow of the birth mother to give birth to a life, there is a price for everything in life.”

He let out a sigh.

“You may not believe it, but it is so.”

Rather than disbelief, Rosaline recalled the prayer she once made in the past.

“I will give you everything I have. My body and soul already belong to you, so if you find my insignificant love acceptable, please take it.”

Rosaline could confidently say that she was sincere until she regressed. But in the past few months, Rosaline couldn’t be considered faithful even in words alone. She was diligent, but she wavered multiple times and became more negligent than before.

Pale and distressed, she clasped her hands tightly and asked.

“I-Is there a way?”

“We must offer a sacrifice. It must be a living sacrifice, a sacrifice that is alive.”

A living sacrifice meant becoming an Umbra, practically a slave of the temple…

“But just being alive is not enough.”

“…….”

“It must be someone of Juliet’s lineage.”

If it was lineage, then it was only Juliet’s father in this room. Yet their gaze didn’t divert from Rosaline.

“It is better if they are of the same gender as her.”

“But I…”

“Rosaline.”

The voice of Lord Capulet resonated above Rosaline’s forehead. As Rosaline slowly raised her head, he met her gaze and bent his knees.

“I apologize for not telling you earlier.”

“What… What do you mean?”

“You are mine and Sarah’s daughter.”

Rosaline momentarily wondered if he had gone mad, but Lord Capulet’s expression, stained with fatigue and concern, was solemn.

“My wife, Beatrice, had difficulty conceiving a child. She had four miscarriages and her health deteriorated significantly. I wanted to adopt, but she wanted a child who carried on my bloodline.”

Behind him, Rosaline noticed her mother, who remained tight-lipped, gazing out the distant window.

“So, my wife pleaded with Sarah. She promised to raise any child with my blood as her own, without any shortcomings. After much persuasion, Sarah and I eventually agreed, but…”

Shortly after Sara became pregnant, Beatrice miraculously conceived as well. Although she offered to raise Sarah’s child as her own, for some reason, Sarah vehemently opposed it.

“Sarah didn’t even accept compensation. She decided to stay in the Capulet household as a nursemaid and made me promise to never acknowledge you as my child.”

“Why…?”

It wasn’t a matter of feeling unjust for missing out on what the Capulets could offer. It was purely genuine curiosity. Rosaline helplessly turned to her mother and asked, but her mother remained chillingly silent.

“She believed you, a bastard child, would tarnish the Capulet name. That’s all.”

Rosaline didn’t easily accept it. No, there must be something else. It didn’t make sense for someone who obediently followed the Capulets to disregard their own daughter. Rosaline tried to interject, but someone tugged at her sleeve.

Pale and frightened, Juliet grabbed hold of Rosaline. Her composure seemed to vanish, just like a starved person faced with food.

“I’m scared…”

With just a few words, Rosaline felt a chill run through her entire body. It was as if all her strength drained away.

“Rosaline, what should I do? Is this how I’m going to die? I… I don’t even have any memories of being dead. Why? Why…?”

Juliet seemed completely lost in the fear of death. But Rosaline couldn’t console her rashly. She knelt down on the floor as if possessed, her chest touching the bed where Juliet lay.

“Miss, there are still things we don’t know. Even though you’re a novitiate, there might be another way.”

Of course, Rosaline knew that there was no other way. She had witnessed Juliet’s death and her own return.

However, still…

Even if they were destined to part ways forever, Juliet must also know that Rosaline, who became the sacrifice, could never lead an ordinary life.

Regardless of what they were, they were like sisters. Since they became true sisters, they should find another way together or even if it meant dying, they should at least say, “Stay by my side.”

If the beautiful and precious lady asks me to do so, I’ll willingly…

“I really think I’m going to die.”

Juliet pleaded. The woman who had been full of dreams and enthusiasm had never experienced loss other than her mother, so she crumbled pitifully in the face of the tremendous fear of losing her life.

“Kata doesn’t kill sacrifices. Oh, right. I won’t become an Umbra. I won’t die. So please, just once… Rosaline, I… I really…”

In fact, Juliet’s reaction was perfectly normal. Even between parents and children, one-sided sacrifice is difficult, and death pushes people with extreme fear, transforming them.

Despite understanding, Rosaline felt as if a part of her soul was sinking.

“No matter what it takes, I’ll get you back out, okay?”

With no response from Rosaline, the anxious Juliet clung to her. But her desperate cries only echoed in her ears, and the woman before her appeared as a blurry figure, no longer the cherished lady she knew.

The sorrow was too overwhelming.

Too indescribably devastating.

“What are you saying?”

It was when the bewildered mother intervened. She firmly grabbed Rosaline’s shoulders and shook her, trying to bring her back to her senses.

“Don’t you understand the situation? If you don’t go, the lady will die.”

Rosaline let out a bitter laugh.

“…Living a life as an Umbra is no different from dying, mother.”

“….”

“Yet you’re telling me to leave so easily?”

As Rosaline spoke without expression, her mother’s complexion turned pale, as if fearing the loss of her child. Her mother stared at Rosaline for a moment, then suddenly embraced her gently. And she whispered into her daughter’s ear, ensuring only she could hear.

“My daughter, you’re not dying, at least.”

“….”

“Don’t go in such a shameful way. If you don’t leave, you can read the letter from that person here and tell us what you did.”