Juliana tossed and turned in her bed, feeling a splitting headache.
But as soon as she felt a fluffy blanket, she felt relieved despite her headache.
You’re alive.
‘I can’t believe I survived that fall. I guess I’m destined to live a long life after all,’ Juliana thought inwardly.
She wanted to feel the touch of a fluffy blanket once more, so she deliberately tossed and turned again.
It was then.
A hard, coarse hand brushed Juliana’s cheek and touched a single strand of her tangled hair. It was a cautious touch as if someone was touching something of great value.
Eventually, Juliana ventured to open her eyes.
Ah…
As expected, her husband was sitting in front of her.
While he was sitting near the bedside and staring at her without expression, Evan’s blue eyes seemed to be distant and cold.
She was scared of his insensitive eyes, in which there was no criticism or affection. His eyes were simply silent. Juliana opened her quivering mouth and called him.
“Evan?”
Evan flicked his fingers as the hazy candle burned out.
At the same time, a small candle caught fire. The fire, which added firepower, burned the candle fiercely.
Juliana belatedly noticed Evan’s gaze as she watched the candle burn with her blurred vision. After making eye contact, he spoke harshly.
“Why did you do that?”
“…I just didn’t want you to get hurt.”
“I was supposed to be a plaything for the stupid Emperor, but it was all he could do. It would have been better if I got hurt a little as I promised.”
“Was that what you were up to? Wasn’t it you who said you could have lost without getting hurt?”
“I didn’t think you’d believe it. Actually, you didn’t believe it. Am I wrong?”
“…”
Juliana shut her mouth and stayed quiet like a mute.
She intended to exercise her right to remain silent. Even though she took a fall, played a great game, and lost in a big style, all she got in return was an interrogation from her husband. This was a bit unfair.
Evan folded his arms as he gazed at Juliana’s pale face. It was a persistent gaze.
“But your next move was really unexpected. Because—.”
“Did you think I wouldn’t care if you got hurt or not?”
“Yes.”
“!”
Juliana was speechless.
She didn’t know what to say to Evan, who said such a thing more to himself than to her with a completely unharmed face.
“Why, why did you think that? Did I seem so unfriendly?” Juliana said, stuttering.
“It’s my wife who asked me to divorce her as soon as I returned. What could I have expected,” Evan said sarcastically for the first time. And then he continued with a look of unbecoming meanness that did not suit his handsome face.
“I beg, but you have no intention of giving it to me. Unfortunately, this is our relationship. It doesn’t hurt less, it still doesn’t hurt less.”
“I, I…”
Juliana blinked.
Evan touched her lips as he looked at her tearful eyes as she was about to cry.
“Don’t cry. I’m not saying this to make you cry. I swear, believe me.”
Soon Evan, who had erased the mean spirit and spoke affectionately, reached out and stroked her trembling cheek.
Juliana did not avoid it. Evan said softly before Juliana, who was stained with resentment, anger, and embarrassment, was able to say something.
“You said something while you were sleeping. In the language, I’ve never heard of…”
“!”
Juliana took a breath.
Yes, she had a dream. It felt like a very distant event… But in reality, it was her past life that was not so far away. And some parts of her present life were also strangely intertwined into that dream.
It was a nightmare.
Juliana was frozen with fear, afraid she’d spit a piece of nightmare out of her mouth. Then Evan, with his face shining with that unforgettable beauty, asked Juliana.
“Juliana. Are you, as far as I know, Juliana Auburn?”
“…!”
With her eyes dropped in surprise, Juliana shivered.
She had a dream.
She had a dream of something, nothing, something.
“…I had a dream about my mother.”
Juliana spat out a sentence that flashed through her mind. And she was so surprised that she couldn’t keep her mouth close. At the same time, Evan’s eyes squinted. The hand touching her cheek grasped Juliana’s pale hand.
“It was just a nightmare,” Juliana said as an excuse.
“It sounded as if you were calling someone,” Evan said a little as if to soothe her.
This story about Juliana’s mother, Teresa, was well known to the public. A heartless woman who abandoned young Juliana Auburn.
However, Juliana wasn’t talking about her present life mother now. She was now talking about her mother who had abandoned her in her past life.
Juliana was seized with a feeling of exhaustion.
…I know. Past and present, and I still have such a person as my mother.
She thought about this present life that didn’t resemble her past life at all. However, it was still heartbreaking to think of a time in her both childhoods when she was abandoned.
Ah. Even if I were to be born again…
“I’m sorry,” Evan whispered to Juliana, who looked exhausted, as he held their hands tightly together.
“Every time you act sweet, I get confused that you’re not yourself.”
Juliana looked at him with confused eyes.
...I know. Why did I want to save you? You’re just the man in the novel, and I’m just the woman in the same novel. I’m simply a person who wants to get away from the main story and be alone. But, Evan, you change that. Change me. I’m scared of that.
Juliana raised her head and looked at Evan’s cold eyes.
“Evan.”
“Huh?”
“If I’m not Juliana Auburn, what would you do?”
Juliana wanted to ask him this question ever since she realized that she had changed after remembering her past life.
Neither she in her past life nor in her present life believed in love. To be exact, she didn’t believe in love that would last forever. The one whom she loved the most left her at once in search of a better love. After something like this, the child cannot easily become an adult.
Nevertheless, in both of her lives she did so. Throughout her life, Juliana Auburn could not erase the memory of her mother packing her bags and leaving her empty closet behind. So love has always been a nuisance for her.
She didn’t want to give him affection. They’re leaving. The people she loves…
Before she remembered her past life, Juliana had always tested Evan Hilchen.
I’ve been forcing you to prove your eternal love.
Juliana laughed clumsily as she felt pity and disgust with herself from the past. And by doing so, she hurriedly turned these words into a joke.
“Huh?”
At the same time, Juliana moved away from him. Then Evan approached her as she moved even further away from him as if he were a predator chasing after his prey.
It was Juliana who caught his attention in the first place and now had to face his persistent gaze.
Let’s just laugh and say it’s a joke—.
Evan spoke to Juliana, who was trying to giggle as if she were telling the truth, in an unsympathetic tone of voice.
“I didn’t know you’d do that to help me. So I kept thinking. What I’m missing about you, what I’m missing. I’m so curious right now that I’m going crazy.”
“…”
His sudden words kept her silent.
Evan showed himself, as usual, in the silence of Juliana. In his confusion, he lost his composure to the guilt and whispered in a low voice, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to give you a hard time. It’s just how powerless I was when I heard that you, you, were so unconscious and collapsed. It’s so confusing. That’s why. I’ve never wanted you to do this for me. Why did you do this, I keep thinking about it.”
Juliana felt the latent confusion in his speech. She wanted to calm him down in his confusion.
So she reached out to the foolish knight who had promised to offer her a blue rose. Evan Hilchen’s hand, which was under her hand, was trembling thinly.
“Evan.”
She only called his name once, but surprisingly, the tremors of Evan Hilchen have subsided.
“…Juliana.”
After calling her name, Evan kissed the back of her hand around his hand.
Then he kissed her palm. His breaths and lips clinging to the palm of her hand were unfamiliar.
Juliana blushed at the sensation. Evan, whose lips were pressed against her palm, raised only his eyes, and looked at Juliana for a moment.
The straight gaze was as intense as if it was trying to devour Juliana. But as soon as he looked at her, he took his lips off her palm.
And said to Juliana, who was still pale, “Get some rest. I told you a useless story.”
Juliana grinned. The hand he had kissed was still hot. To be precise, the skin that came into contact with him felt hot.
With his gentle gaze, Juliana rolled herself under the blanket. At the same time, he blew out the candle.
Darkness came.
However, Evan Hilchen, sitting in the chair next to her bed, didn’t go anywhere. Juliana felt delighted by the fact.
The confusion did not go away, but a strange peace came.
How long has it been?
Juliana fell into a restful sleep. A very deep sleep that won’t be disturbed by any bad dreams.