You Are Gentle, But You Don’t Love Me - Chapter 10

“Elijah.”

Elijah Rogudoro. The third son of the Rogudoro family had come to greet them personally.

Juliet bit her lip slightly before composing herself and maintaining a calm expression. Meanwhile, Cassio waved his hand dismissively, as if already annoyed. Only then did Elijah lower the fist he had brought to his chest in salute.

“It’s been a while.”

“Yeah. Have you been playing with your Corsican horses?”

“I’ve had plenty of rest, sir. You seem to be doing well too. Your injury—”

“Don’t say anything unnecessary. It’s fully healed.”
“Haha, yes, of course.”

After finishing his exchange with Cassio, Elijah’s gaze shifted to Juliet. Cassio extended a hand, as though to introduce her.
But there was no need for introductions.

“It’s been a while, Duchess.”

“Elijah.”

Juliet extended her gloved hand, and Elijah, accustomed to the gesture, lightly pressed his forehead to the back of it before stepping back. The familiar greeting flowed effortlessly between them, as if rehearsed.

Even among Sardinia’s small and insular noble society, Elijah Rogudoro was a relatively familiar face to Juliet. They had shared tea together on several occasions.

Although those meetings were only maintained under pressure from their respective parents.

During the time when Rosalyn and Romeo had left Cagliari Castle, and Juliet had spent her days listlessly letting time pass, Elijah had been her only visitor.

As a prospective fiancé.

“It’s been a while,” she said.

But that was all in the past now. Juliet offered Elijah a faint, awkward smile as he returned one of his own.

“Elijah,” Cassio called.

“Yes!”

Elijah spun around immediately, the polite awkwardness he showed Juliet replaced with a soldierly discipline. His expression grew sharp, almost comically so.

“Would you show us to our rooms? I need to freshen up a bit.”
“You look as elegant as ever.”

“I told you to stop saying unnecessary things. Besides, it’s been a while since I’ve traveled—I’m feeling a bit nervous.”
“Oh, do colonels even get nervous?”

“Just shut up and lead the way.”

“Yes, sir…”

Cassio’s lighthearted grin left Elijah bowing his head in exaggerated submission. From that moment, Elijah led them through the manor in uncharacteristic silence.

“This will be the Duchess’s room,” Elijah said, stopping at a door. “The Colonel will be staying in the room next door.”
“Alright…”

The room they arrived at was on the third floor of the guest annex—a modest chamber by noble standards.

Like most Sardinian bedrooms, it was spacious, with a curtained bed occupying one end and the remaining area prepared as a private sitting room. Aside from its smaller windows and slightly narrower dimensions, it was almost identical to Juliet’s bedroom back at Escalus.

Juliet stood by the door, her eyes scanning the room before glancing back at Cassio.

When their gazes met, Cassio grinned mischievously.

“It’s true, you know. Married couples in the Rogudoro family really do share bedrooms.”

“…”

“Not that they’d expect guests to share, of course.”

Instead of responding, Juliet turned sharply toward Elijah. Her abrupt movement sent her light brown hair whipping through the air.

“When does the soirée begin?”

Elijah, who had been silently observing the odd banter between his superiors, looked startled when Juliet suddenly addressed him.

“Well… once all the guests have arrived, my mother will send someone to inform you.”

“Thank you, Elijah. I’ll properly greet you later.”
“Ah… yes, of course.”

With that, Juliet offered a slight curtsy and turned back to Cassio.

He was still smiling.

“See you later, Juliet.”

“….”

Juliet, ignoring him, shot him a brief glare before slipping into her room without another word.

“Phew…”

As the door shut behind her, the maids from Escalus followed her in, bustling about the room. Finally, Juliet let out a long sigh and strode across the room.

She pulled out a chair from the tea table by the window and dropped into it with a soft thud. Without needing instructions, the maids began unpacking her belongings.

“That goes over there… no, on the other side.”

“Yes, ma’am!”

“Put the extra shoes together over there.”

The maids’ excited chatter filled the room. Despite the extra work, they seemed energized, even thrilled.

Of course, they’d find it exciting.

After three years of living behind the castle gates, they had been stuck in a monotonous routine. A rare outing like this must feel like a refreshing change.

But Juliet…

She couldn’t stop thinking about Cassio’s face—the playful smile he had flashed behind Elijah, who had been struggling to maintain his composure.

How annoying.

For the past few days, Juliet had been so tightly wound, unable to sleep properly and tossing and turning, that she now felt foolish. If she had thought it through a little more, she might have realized sooner.

“Of course I’d be on edge, especially after hearing him say something like that.”

Juliet bit her lip and turned her gaze to the window.
She shouldn’t have.

“…!”

“…!”

Voices—loud and unmistakably boisterous—carried through the open window. Beyond the parted curtains, another carriage pulled up in front of the annex, its arrival fully visible through the glass.

The familiar crest engraved on the dark brown wooden carriage sent Juliet recoiling instinctively, even though no one on the other side could possibly see her. Her body moved on its own, as though trying to hide.

“Juliet!”

“My beloved sister.”

The voice that always called her so tenderly. The person who had been with her since the day she was born, always by her side during the most beautiful days of her life.

Rosalyn. It was her voice.

“I knew.”

From the moment she received the invitation from Rogudoro, from the moment she decided to attend the soirée, she had known. She knew she would meet them here.

She had simply forgotten for a moment.

“How could I forget?”

How could she completely erase their existence from her mind?
Her beloved sister, and her sister’s husband, who was also her childhood friend.

Now joined together under one name: Rosalyn Arborea and Romeo Arborea.

“…Ah.”

The pressure of a hand gripping hers pulled Juliet back to reality.

She caught sight of the guide walking ahead, the small gardens stretching on either side of the corridor connecting the annex to the main building, and the evening sky painted crimson by the setting summer sun.

And the man who had caught her hand as she swayed, preventing her from stumbling.

“Juliet.”

Yes, she was on her way to the soirée after taking a short rest in the room Elijah had shown her, escorted by Cassio.

Cassio steadied her with a firm grip and helped her stand upright. His face was partly shadowed, likely because of the dazzling evening light behind him. The setting sun cast a golden halo around his neatly combed red hair.

Juliet looked up at him, momentarily dazed, before parting her lips slowly.

“Sorry… It’s these shoes. I’m not used to them.”

“It’s alright. Keeping you from falling is my duty tonight.”

As their eyes met, Cassio wrinkled his nose playfully, a mischievous smile spreading across his face. Juliet managed a faint smile in return.

“Still, be careful.”

“Yes.”

Cassio extended his hand again, and Juliet placed hers atop it. They began walking once more, but even as her feet moved, Juliet’s mind remained a chaotic mess.

“They’ll be waiting.”

Perhaps. No—certainly.

When she regained her focus, she found herself already inside the lobby of Rogudoro’s main building, having passed through the corridor.

“They’ll be waiting…”

The sunset that had bathed the exterior in crimson was gone, blocked by the curtains the moment they entered. In its place was the early darkness of evening, pooling softly around their feet.

At the far end of the dim lobby, a door stood slightly ajar, a beam of light streaming through the gap and casting a long line on the floor. The light, stark against the encroaching night, seemed to point the way forward.

“Ha… Ah…”

Juliet exhaled shakily.

As a child, she had been terrified of the pitch-black darkness of night. But as she grew older, she found herself oddly comforted by the veil of night. In the light of day, she was forced to confront the things she couldn’t avoid—but in the dark, she could turn her eyes away.

It was the same reason she had taken daily walks in the back garden, avoiding the neatly arranged courtyards.
Avoidance.

So it was inevitable that Juliet felt this tension now.
“There’s no running away anymore.”

Step by step, her feet, veiled in the soft dimness, moved toward the light.

One step. Just one step away.

Thunk.

Her automatic steps halted abruptly.

It was Cassio. He had stopped in place, holding her hand firmly.
Juliet nearly stumbled again, but this time she steadied herself before he could help. Startled, she looked up at him.
“Why…?”

“Juliet.”

Cassio gently lifted her hand, still held in his.
“You’re trembling.”

Her hand, resting on his, was shaking uncontrollably.
“Why are you shaking so much?”

“…It’s nothing.”

“…”

“It’s just… I’m a little nervous. It’s been so long since I’ve faced so many people…”

She tried to sound nonchalant, but even she knew her words rang hollow. Her voice was too quick, trembling faintly, just like the tips of her fingers.

“It’s alright.”

Juliet forced herself to smile. Her stiff face made it awkward, the corners of her lips pulling upward almost mechanically. Her cheeks, tense with anxiety, twitched slightly.

“Really, I’m fine.”

“…If you say so.”

Cassio nodded, though it was clear he wasn’t convinced. His reluctant acceptance was written all over his face. Juliet pressed her lips together and said nothing more. Finally, the servant standing by the door sprang into action and opened it.
Light flooded in.