His words seemed to be in line with a courtship, but they were more like mocking. It was a situation that could be understood. In any case, Romeo was her benefactor, but she had ignored him without even giving a proper greeting.

In fact, she had ignored him for a long time in case his interest would wane. But he had contacted her at all costs.

It didn’t matter if he just wanted to be compensated, or if he was regarding her as a temporary pleasure.

She had to take action when he showed interest in her.

“So, Rosaline. After thinking about it, what did you think I wanted?”

His black eyes, even though he was smiling affectionately, shone dangerously. Rosaline clenched her fists. Romeo fell in love with Juliet at first sight, but that was also after Rosaline had rejected him.

Please, let your pathetic order of love remain unchanged.

She walked forward a step and narrowed the distance Romeo had opened. Facing his gaze, which was clearly watching what she was doing, Rosaline held his wrist and carefully stroked the back of his hand.

His tightly clenched arm was hard like a rock, and his skin was rough. She held his fingertips very slightly, as if she were touching them.

“You said I was yours.”

“…You said it was an excessive joke.”

Romeo’s voice was lowered and his eyes darkened. Because she had never been so close to a man, Rosaline couldn’t even swallow, and it was hard. The smooth but angular jaw, and the tanned voice. His presence was too much.

Leaving the sensation of being drawn away behind, she approached him as if to embrace him.

“Then, why don’t you truly have me, not as a joke?”

It was a clumsy seduction, but he looked surprised as if he hadn’t expected it at all. She looked straight into his well-crafted obsidian eyes and said.

“You saved me. You are my benefactor, you know.”

The wind blew between the heavy silence. The long cloak that knights would wear when preparing for battle swayed, and a strange metallic smell was also blowing. No, rather… it was more like the smell of blood. The death of Juliet came to mind again.

Rosaline’s mask, which she had been trying to maintain, was cracked.

The moment her eyes filled with fear, his brows instantly distorted.

“You are so scared just by touching me, yet you want me to have you.”

Romeo laughed shortly with a ha.

“Are you telling me to r*pe you?”

He grabbed Rosaline’s arm. His hand, full of heat, penetrated her cold flesh.

“What a lovely plan. If the royal knight and the novice priestess mix, they will fall together. You will be punished for betraying God, and I will be punished for daring to touch the priestess.”

It had been completely revealed. She had intended to seduce him and keep him from touching Juliet at all. It was clichéd and reckless, but it was the best she could do in the short time.

“I don’t think you have a grudge against me enough to ruin your life. Why?”

As Rosaline was biting her lips with a sense of frustration, he laughed even louder. He seemed to be very excited, perhaps even angry at having insulted the knight.

“What do you think I’ll do to your young lady?”

She tried to get away from him, being so surprised, but he grabbed her and even pulled her. Romeo had gone beyond her flimsy intentions and recognized her true intentions. How?

As though he had read the question in her mind, he scoffed.

“It’s not surprising that you don’t know. You have treated me like a rogue who would eat your unborn child. And how absurd it was to see you rolling your eyes.”

“No, that’s a misunderstanding… Ugh!”

The hand holding her wrist was harsh. Unable to escape from him, Rosaline bowed her head and trembled. But his breath followed her to the end, close enough to touch her chin.

“I am impressed by the sight of you sacrificing yourself to remove one man who is just loitering around the young lady, but, how about rethinking this?”

His breath tickled her cheek every time Romeo spoke fiercely. It was like he was speaking with his lips on her skin.

“You see your master as a loyal individual, but, well. It seems that your master considers you to be one of dozens of dogs.”

The whispering voice, like a snake, twisted one side of her chest.

“It’s so sad to see a disgraceful dog.”

Although it was her fault for insulting the knight with a clumsy seduction, his attitude of pretending to know everything was disrespectful.

Even though she knew she shouldn’t react, Rosaline raised her head to glare at him. She was going to shoot at him, saying not to speak carelessly without knowing anything, but her words were blocked when her eyes met his.

It was because the shadow in Romeo’s eyes was closer to sorrow than anger.

Was it an illusion? They just exchanged rough breaths as they looked at each other blankly. His gaze, which had been shining brightly, slowly descended, reaching her lips. She couldn’t move, even though he was just looking.

Everything around her seemed to have captured her. The night, the shadows, the thick floral scent and metallic smell coming from beyond the balcony.

And Romeo.

His Adam’s apple quivered as if he was about to say something.

Without giving Rosaline a chance to look deeper into him, he let go of her first. Romeo stepped back and leaned against the railing. He exhaled a long breath, as if cooling his heated breath.

“I don’t need a body that can be thrown away so easily. The price is not worth it.”

Romeo spoke again with a cold face.

“Give me your heart.”

He spat out the words about wanting her heart as viciously as if he were saying them to an enemy. While glaring at some point in the empty air, not at Rosaline.

“That heart of yours toward your master, the one you’d throw away even your body to protect.”

It was absurd. Setting aside the body, a heart wasn’t something you could give just because you wanted to. However, now that everything was exposed, she couldn’t stubbornly refuse. Romeo now exuded an atmosphere incomparable to before. If he set his mind to it, the innocent Juliet would fall for him without fail.

Once the banquet ended, Juliet would leave on a trip with her fiancé. Until then, she could at least pretend to give her heart.

But there was something that bothered her about accepting outright.

“How will you know that my heart has gone to you? If I insist it hasn’t until the end and torment you……”

“I’ll know.”

He spoke as if chewing the words, then sighed.

“Because I know better than anyone about what it’s like to devote yourself without receiving a response, and longing for someone who will never look back.”

Rosaline blinked vacantly like someone who’d been struck, trying to understand his words. Did he mean that my feelings toward Juliet were devotion without response and longing for someone who would never look back?

She spoke sharply without realizing it.

“My feelings toward Juliet do have a response, and they’re not one-sided.”

Romeo finally looked at Rosaline. His eyes, which didn’t even have a glint in them, were full of mockery.

“Oh, is that so? Then how should the ignorant me confirm it? Telling you to die for me would be most convenient, but it’d be a waste to kill what I went through the trouble of saving.”

He shrugged nonchalantly while saying something terrifying.

“To recognize your devotion toward Juliet, I need to know about it, but what to do……”

He repeatedly clenched and opened his hand placed near his waist, pondering.

“Teaching me should come first.”

“Emotions aren’t something you understand just by learning about them.”

“Rosaline. I have no intention of debating philosophy with you.”

He smiled.

“What matters is that I desperately want to know.”

Romeo’s eyes had a strange power. A strange power she hadn’t known before, one that would envelop a person and stiffen their spine just by meeting his gaze. He slowly raised his hand and wound Rosaline’s hair around his index finger. Then he tilted his chin slightly and whispered.

“Do to me exactly what you did with Juliet.”

He kissed Rosaline’s cheek. So briefly and lightly it would be embarrassing to call it a courtesy.

“Once I receive what I’m owed, I’ll disappear cleanly.”

In the blink of an eye, he dropped below the balcony and disappeared into the darkness. All that remained was a cold silence.

* * *

The banquet held to reconcile with the Montagues was closer to a ball that even invited royalty, so the preparation process was no small matter. While every single Capulet employee was busy, Rosaline was able to free up her afternoon hours with the excuse that she had business at the temple.

Naturally, her business was not with the temple but with Romeo.

She met Romeo twice a week at the same time in a secluded forest or in the garden by the annex. It was perfect to mistake for a tryst, but all they did was Rosaline unilaterally chattering about Juliet.

Throughout the conversation, Romeo maintained a proper distance and didn’t approach, nor did he brush against her even by accident. When had he ever grabbed her so carelessly—after meeting on the balcony, he acted as if he hated even touching her. However, just because his behavior was well-mannered didn’t mean his mouth was refined.

Romeo mostly listened silently, but occasionally with a bored expression he would sneer, “How nice for you.” Rosaline was anxious that his interest might wane, yet hoped he wouldn’t take an interest in Juliet.

It was when such not-so-peaceful meetings exceeded two weeks.

Rosaline sat side by side with Romeo in the dense forest, bringing and explaining the cigars Miss smoked. Since Juliet quite liked the sight of her smiling with a cigar in her mouth, she chattered happily.