Having set down the box, he draped his cloak over Rosaline and tied the strings firmly. Then he arbitrarily bent his knees and sat down, opening the box he’d placed on the ground. Two bottles of wine that looked expensive at a glance lay inside. He raised his eyebrows as if incredulous.

“You went all the way to such a place just to get alcohol?”

In reality, seeing the wine bottles Juliet often drank, Rosaline felt her tension loosen somewhat. Right, she was with him because of Juliet. She sat comfortably on the grass and took out wine glasses wrapped in cloth from her bag.

When she held the waist of a glass and shook it as if telling him to take it, Romeo also settled beside her and received the glass with a face still saying this was ridiculous.

“You asked me to do what I did with Miss.”

Rosaline gripped the neck of the bottle and stroked it with her thumb, then inserted the screw into the cork with the prepared opener and turned it.

“When we were young, Miss and I used to secretly drink here. I drank a little bit too.”

“……”

“Even now Miss often looks for this wine, but since it’s not officially distributed, you can’t buy it unless you come in person.”

“Must have drugs in it.”

“A little?”

When he spoke seriously, Rosaline smiled.

“I’m joking. Though it’s in a wine bottle, it’s ordinary fruit wine, but the fruit that goes in it hasn’t been approved, so it can’t be distributed.”

“…That’s too much of a joke.”

“As much as yours.”

He burst into laughter without reserve. The laughter that burst out as if truly amused had not a trace of shadow. Watching this blankly, Rosaline discovered something new.

When he smiled so brightly like that, a long dimple formed in Romeo’s left cheek. Had there been a dimple before?

The pondering didn’t last long. He held out his glass and looked up.

“Understood. First, pour for me. Rosaline.”

Rosaline poured the wine, feeling her heart that hadn’t yet settled strangely leaping. He held his glass, then gently took the bottle with his other hand and poured into her glass.

“Just a little……”

“This much?”

Touching the edge of the glass with the bottle’s mouth, he smiled with his characteristic eye-curving laugh. She couldn’t tell if it was a conscious action. The sunset sky, his smile, the grass with a faint breeze—everything felt so unreal that Rosaline nodded blankly.

“Yes, that much.”

He poured only as much as Rosaline wanted and leaned the bottle against the box. They toasted to the air and drank. Romeo downed all his wine at once. His thick Adam’s apple moved refreshingly.

Unlike his appearance, his actions were like a mercenary suited to the smell of metal. His thick, long fingers holding the glass, the back of his hand with many small scars, his solid elbows—the tendons stood out tautly. When his gaze that had been in the distance brushed past her, Rosaline turned her head and swallowed a sip of wine to moisten her dry throat.

The sun tilting toward the horizon entered her view.

“I ran away here when I was fourteen.”

It was a story she was telling another person for the first time. She smiled faintly as she brought up something that must have been at least ten years ago.

“I was just suffocated beyond endurance, and without even knowing what the problem was, I packed and left.”

* * *

Fourteen years old, summer.

It was a day no different from usual. She went to the temple early at dawn, prayed with Laurence all morning, cleaned the altar, and studied doctrine. If there was anything slightly special, it was only that her body heated up and her lower abdomen hurt particularly.

On the way home, seeing blood flow between her legs, she knew she’d started menstruating. She couldn’t not know. Just a few months ago, Juliet had her first period and burst into tears in alarm. At the time, Rosaline’s mother hugged the startled Juliet and patted her.

“Miss, it’s all right. It doesn’t hurt.”

Though her mother was originally affectionate toward Juliet, that time she even showed tears she’d never shown in her life.

“Kata said menstruation is a noble thing. Miss, you’ve become an adult now. You can have children now.”

“B-but the blood……”

“If you’re human, it’s natural to have blood flowing in your body. Don’t be afraid. Blood is natural.”

Rosaline, who had been crying in confusion along with her, was deeply relieved by her mother’s words. After Juliet fell asleep and the cleanup was finished, her mother hummed while preparing flowers and dessert for Miss.

“Miss seemed very startled, but fortunately you were there. Well done, Rosaline.”

Perhaps for the first time that Rosaline could remember, her mother stroked Rosaline’s head. The flower scent and soap smell that hadn’t left her hands mixed and lingered around her nose. Her chest swelled.

“Wash the cloth clean. No, you have to boil it before washing, understand?”

Her mother seemed somehow excited. So Rosaline, it seems, had expectations. If her blunt mother experienced this so-called ‘noble thing’ too, wouldn’t she kiss her forehead and cheek saying she’d worked hard?

Rosaline had done most things her mother wanted without complaint until now. Though it was natural to repay the grace received from the Capulet family, even dogs and horses receive praise if they obey their master well. They receive care when they bear young.

So wouldn’t she embrace her hurting child?

Rosaline went home, collecting her rising feelings. At the time, she was sharing a room with her mother in the annex, so as soon as she entered, she faced her mother’s back as she lit a lamp.

“I’m back.”

“You’re here.”

Rosaline set down her bag on the side table and pondered how to say it while removing her thin cloak that still held warmth. Her heart pounded as if she’d stolen candy. She pondered and pondered, then went to her mother’s side as she took out her knitting.

“What is it?”

When a shadow fell before her, her mother looked up. She seemed puzzled as Rosaline, who would normally have washed and gone to bed, approached. Rosaline found it difficult to speak right away. Glancing at her mother’s cheek illuminated by the lamp, Rosaline couldn’t speak immediately and acted shy.

“What are you making?”

“…A cover to wrap a pouch.”

“What kind of pouch are you wrapping?”

At Rosaline’s behavior different from usual, her mother set down her knitting needles.

“Rosaline. Did something happen today?”

Rosaline fidgeted and said.

“Actually, I started menstruating today……”

“Ah.”

“…My stomach hurts too……”

“If you really can’t stand it, keep something warm against your body.”

“Don’t you have anything else to say?”

When Rosaline didn’t leave and kept standing, her mother spoke as if absurd.

“You’re going to devote yourself anyway. There’s no need to tell you to be careful of men.”

“…Yes? Ah, yes.”

“Take cloth from the laundry room and use it. Why are you like this when you’ve already seen Miss do it?”

Though being scolded, Rosaline’s heart surged. Because it was practically the first time her mother gave her a warning out of pure concern for her.

She gathered courage and kissed her mother’s forehead. Her startled mother widened her eyes, but Rosaline found it hard to hide the smile that kept slipping out.

“You really……”

“Sleep well.”

Rosaline changed clothes, washed herself, and placed clean cloth over her underwear. After checking her outfit, she went up to Juliet’s bedroom. Because Rosaline attended to her bedside unless there was something special.

Come to think of it, Juliet had told her to definitely tell her when she started the ‘terrible menstruation.’ Rosaline was unusually excited, as if they had a secret to share.

“Rosaline? Did something good happen today?”

Juliet had already finished preparing for bed and was leaning against the bed reading a book. She closed her book and smiled, as if the thoroughly excited Rosaline was fascinating. Rosaline lit the scented candle on the silver plate and sat in the chair beside the bed.

“What is it, what happened?”

Rosaline moved her lips several times before speaking carefully.

“Miss. Actually, I started menstruating today too.”

“Oh my, congratulations. Does anything hurt?”

Juliet firmly held both of Rosaline’s hands.

“Thank you, Miss. My stomach hurts a bit……”

“Want some tea?”

Juliet reached out and took a teacup from the nearby side table. It was tea with a strong sweet scent.

“The nanny made it, and it hurts less if you drink it. I’m doing it too. Our timing must be similar.”

But Rosaline didn’t take the tea and was staring at the edge of Juliet’s blanket as if in a daze. In the blanket edge lifted as Juliet moved, a cover the same color as the pouch her mother had been knitting wrapped something round and wide.

“…What’s that, Miss?”