Romeo and Rosaline - 27

Sarah, who had stepped away, carefully observed Rosaline’s intentions. She fixated her gaze on her daughter’s reddened eyes, the only remnants of laughter on her lips that could no longer express sadness, and the cheeks that had been touched.

Rather than having an intense glare, her eyes reflected a mix of desperation to save Juliet and the shame of having to ask Rosaline due to her circumstances.

Breaking the tense silence, Lord Capulet intervened.

“Sarah!!!”

He grimaced with a harsh expression and shouted as if he couldn’t bear this situation any longer. It was a loud voice that made everyone except Rosaline flinch.

“Even if you’re desperate, you shouldn’t be this desperate.”

He sighed, seemingly unable to address Juliet directly, and lowered his voice.

“Everyone except Rosaline, leave. Sarah, you also take Juliet and go to the adjacent room.”

“But!”

Sarah tried to protest, but Lord Capulet remained resolute.

“Apologies to the clergy, but please leave for a moment.”

Not wanting to exacerbate the situation, Sarah supported Juliet and left the room. The room, which had been as calm as the aftermath of a violent storm, was now quiet with only Rosaline and Lord Capulet remaining.

He stood in front of Rosaline, lost in thought, and sighed several times. Then, as if finally making up his mind, he pulled something out from his pocket. It was a letter yellow with age.

“Twenty years ago, there was a governess close to Sarah. Shortly after you were born, she left Capulet, leaving a letter confessing her sins, which were not her own, to Friar Lawrence.”

He handed her the letter.

“It’s another truth that can hurt you. Do you want to see it?”

There was no reason to refuse. Rosaline reluctantly took the letter and began to read.

[Dear Friar Lawrence, please listen to this confession and do not blame Sarah too much.

Sarah told me that her days next to Lady Capulet, who has everything while she has nothing, were filled with lifelong suffering. I understood this. If Lady Capulet hadn’t treated me as a governess and called me a friend, I would have trembled at her deception and hypocrisy.

You may not know, but Lady Capulet, who was kind and gentle, had a talent for charming things with her innocence.

In the midst of deprivation, inferiority, and jealousy, Sarah must not have been in her right mind, knowing she had to bear a child. How could she refuse? Without Capulet, she had nowhere to go, and she couldn’t reject her ‘friend’ Beatrice, who had taken her in.

It was terrible, sharing a bed with a man she didn’t love and who didn’t love her in return. But she said it was a strange kind of love, and she came to love the child growing inside her as much as her own.

I felt relieved. Even though she couldn’t hear the voice of a mother, she would grow up as Capulet’s unique and cherished heir, lacking nothing.

However, it wasn’t long before Beatrice became pregnant with Juliet. Of course, Lady Capulet said she would raise both children as her own, but Sarah didn’t listen. Instead, she lost her sanity.

She said, “Treat my child and her child equally as our own? Don’t be ridiculous. In the end, my child will become like me.” She lost all reason.

Just as with Beatrice and Sarah’s relationship, I worried that Rosaline and Juliet’s relationship would turn out the same. So, my friend came up with a bold and dangerous plan.

It was a baby swap. As you know, it’s difficult to distinguish newborns with the same hair color.

However, Father, no matter how much I favored Sarah over Lady Capulet, I couldn’t let her get away with her wrongdoing. So, I restored what Sarah had done on a dark night.

Don’t we say that parents and children have a natural bond? I believed that if I kept them together, love for their own child would eventually grow. The songs Sarah sang to the child in her womb still lingered warmly within me as I wrote this letter.

However, as time passed, I realized that it was my misconception. Sarah completely ignored Rosaline. It seemed like she was doing her best to hate Rosaline, as if denying her own blood.

It pained me to see Rosaline. Despite being innocent, Rosaline yearned for her mother’s love as if she were a sinner. I blamed myself for not letting go of Sarah’s grip with just one hand, for only looking at her mother’s back and not making a sound. It was all my fault.

But I didn’t have the courage to confess the truth. Sarah, who loved Juliet so deeply, seemed to have gone mad.

So please, let everything be my sin. I ended up creating another tragedy for Sarah.

I am the only sinner, so please have pity on Sarah, who remains foolish. Please cherish Rosaline, who is left alone.]

At this very moment, there was only one question Rosaline could ask.

“Does my Mother know, too?”

“Your mother still doesn’t know.”

Of course.

“I didn’t plan to tell you this quickly either.”

He gently touched her cheek that was wet with tears.

“I don’t have the right to call you like this, but my daughter, I have committed a great sin against you. I won’t ask you to sacrifice yourself.”

Rosaline lifted her heavy eyelids and looked at her father. His face bore the weight of guilt, hypocrisy from silence, and all the sorrow. It resembled Juliet’s face so painfully.

“What will happen to Juliet if I don’t sacrifice myself?”

“This is Capulet. Do you want to hear the words of a weak human relying on a god? Calling it a divine punishment is ridiculous. If possible, I will bring a physician from another country to mend it.”

He said the words she hoped Juliet would say. However, Rosaline couldn’t feel any sentiment. Lord Capulet was merely expressing these words to relieve himself of the unbearable truth and guilt.

If he truly cared about Rosaline, he would have immediately revealed the truth to her instead of remaining silent for so long.

“This is your only chance. I will give you enough money and provisions to leave. The clergy will not ignore this and will try to take you away. They are those who exact a price in the name of God.”

Rosaline burst into laughter again at the absurd and yet overwhelming situation. She had reached the point where she could only laugh, as she had no more tears left to shed. Laughing didn’t stop the tears, though.

Even if she were to rush to her mother right now and pour out the truth that she, who was condemned for a lifetime, was actually her own flesh and blood, the past would not change. Moreover, she had initially tried to alter the past because of Juliet’s death. But if Juliet were to die, could Rosaline truly live a happy life?

Oh, my beloved Juliet. Even though I was your true sister, I couldn’t be close to you. Whom should I blame?

In your tragedy-free life, I am merely a one-line supporting character.

My tragedy is Romeo. If he hadn’t opened my eyes to the truth, I wouldn’t have been trapped in the sweet illusion of not being alone, and I wouldn’t have been in such excruciating pain.

“I’m leaving with you. I’ll rid you of all the torment and leave those who consider you as nothing. Let’s live together.”

His earnest and desperate expression naturally came to mind. Perhaps, the only thing she wanted to hear was that, and once again, laughter bubbled up.

“No matter what happens, you must come to me. Rosaline.”

Rosaline loves Romeo.

Despite the newfound realization, Rosaline couldn’t choose him. The freedom gained at the cost of Juliet’s death would not last long. She would live a life of constant pursuit, and it was only natural that being with Romeo would become dangerous.

There was no answer where no one would get hurt. There was no reason not to choose.

“I will be the sacrifice.”

With eyes filled with tears, she whispered, barely managing to catch her breath.

“But before I leave, there is someone I need to meet. Just a little… Please give me some time.”