Chapter 56
Julian couldn't forget the shock he felt when he first visited the Obelia household.
The family, huddled together in a small parlor, greeted him with bright smiles.
Slightly different but subtly similar, their kind faces smiled at him in unison.
The house was always filled with the aroma of delicious food.
Laughter never ceased. They fought and got angry over the most trivial things.
Julian learned for the first time at the Obelia household that chess could be such a dangerous game that the sisters would hurl harsh words at each other.
But even the fiercest battles, blazing like fire, would quickly subside before a generous table.
As if nothing had happened, they would look at each other's faces and burst into laughter again.
The Obelia family was the ideal family that Julian had only seen in books and vaguely imagined.
No family was more deserving of the word "family" than the Obelia family.
Julian saw the source of Rebecca's strength here.
The seed of her passion, constantly erupting despite any hardship, was hidden within her family.
That's why Julian was sad.
He thought he would never be able to become strong in his life.
The strength that Rebecca possessed was completely different from his own, which only had a seemingly solid shell.
It was a strength he could never possess, as breaking the shell would only leave a fragile core.
Before knocking on the front door, Julian took a deep breath.
His neck was stiff with tension. Julian turned his stiff neck from side to side.
He didn't want to look like a boy who had never had a loving family.
He armed himself with luxurious clothes and held expensive gifts in both hands like weapons.
"Welcome, Duke!"
Before he could even knock, the door burst open.
Danae greeted him with a bright smile.
Julian gave an awkward smile and shook the paper bag containing the gift boxes.
"Greetings to the Duke."
Helena and Livia slightly lifted their skirts and bowed politely.
Julian was momentarily stunned, unsure how to react.
Normally, the twins would have rushed out without either of them taking precedence and snatched the gifts from his hands.
But today, they treated him with utmost respect, as if he were a stranger.
Julian's face immediately turned pale.
Had they decided to treat him awkwardly?
Had he made a mistake during his last visit?
Thousands of thoughts raced through his mind.
But Julian was relieved when he soon discovered the twins struggling to suppress their playful laughter.
Julian gave an exaggeratedly polite greeting.
"It is a great honor to meet two ladies more beautiful than the shining stars in the night sky."
Rebecca's two younger sisters burst into giggles.
At the sight, Julian's tense lips relaxed slightly.
It didn't feel strange. He didn't seem like a stranger.
He seemed to have blended in here.
He briefly thought it was fortunate that Rebecca wasn't here.
The clever Rebecca would have noticed how desperately he was trying to fit in with them.
"Duke! It's so awkward when you use honorifics."
"That's right. You're more charming when you're ill-mannered, Duke."
"Exactly. Your bad manners are so popular among our friends..."
"Livia! Helena!"
Danae put her hands on her hips and shouted in dismay.
"I told you to behave politely today!"
"But Mom! It's so uncomfortable. We'll do well outside. Okay?"
Julian stopped Danae.
"It's alright. I'm more comfortable with this kind of casual treatment."
Danae awkwardly covered her flushed cheeks with one hand.
"Still, they'll be debuting in society next year, so I'm worried sick."
"They'll do well when the time comes. Shouldn't they be comfortable at home, at least?"
"That makes sense too."
While Julian was handing Danae the gifts, Helena ran up to Julian and pulled his arm.
She sat Julian down on the sofa.
"Duke, Livia and I practiced a song to play for you this time. It'll be better than last time!"
Livia sat in front of the piano with a solemn face.
Soon, a clear piano melody was heard, and Helena began to sing.
It was hardly a skill to boast about, but Julian found the sound pleasant.
From Danae's eyes as she looked at her two daughters, and from Theo's face as he leaned against the kitchen door, humming with flour on his hands, an incredibly wonderful harmony flowed out.
Julian felt uncomfortable and awkward sitting in the middle of it all.
But he desperately wanted to cling to it.
Julian imagined Rebecca listening to the beautiful song, coming down the stairs from the second floor, and sitting next to him.
And he hoped that she would lean on his shoulder, exchange smiles with him, and finally help him blend completely into this family.
When the performance ended, applause poured out.
Helena bowed politely to the audience.
Livia suddenly sighed.
"It would be nice if Unni Becky was here too."
At those words, Danae briefly glanced at Julian's expression.
A shadow briefly fell over Julian's face before disappearing.
"How is Rebecca doing today?"
"She's much better. She doesn't have a fever anymore. But the Pustules still haven't healed."
"That's still a relief."
"Um... Duke. Would you like to hear her voice, at least?"
"No!"
Theo rushed out of the kitchen at Danae's words. The savory smell of butter followed behind him.
"Danae, I promised Rebecca that I wouldn't let anyone meet her until she wanted to."
"But it's not polite to turn him away every time he comes all the way here."
"Still, no. I'm sorry, Duke, I don't object to you visiting the house. But I can't force her to do something she doesn't want to do. Even if it's you, Duke."
Julian looked into Theo's cold eyes. And he carefully examined his thick, honey-colored blonde hair, the same as Rebecca's.
Ah, what warm coldness this was.
Julian nodded quietly with a smile.
"It's alright. I don't want that either."
At his words, Theo's face brightened slightly.
Theo seemed embarrassed by his accusatory tone and rushed back into the kitchen.
The sound of meat grilling loudly filled the air.
Danae stared blankly in the direction Theo had disappeared.
"He feels so sorry that he can't even talk to Rebecca. He thinks it's all his fault. Well, he's not wrong... So don't take it too hard."
"I don't take it hard. It looks good."
"Yes?"
"It looks good."
His tone, delivered calmly, was filled with deep sadness.
Danae was surprised and widened her eyes at his pitifully trembling lips.
But her admiration was soon erased by the fight that started between her two daughters.
"Hey! That's mine! Give it back right now!"
"I'll give it back after I look at it for a second!"
"You have a hairband! Give it to me right now, Helena Obelia!"
Helena snatched the hairpin that Julian had brought as a gift for Livia and ran upstairs.
"Oh, these kids, really!"
Danae glared and stood up from her seat.
She looked like she was about to chase after the children and slap their backs.
Julian chuckled and stopped Danae.
"It's alright. They're still children. I'm the one who caused it, so I'll try to stop them."
"But Duke..."
At Danae's dissuasion, Julian folded his eyes gently as if to reassure her.
Danae was momentarily speechless at his beautiful appearance, but soon sighed as if she couldn't help it.
Julian carefully climbed the stairs.
Tapestries reflecting Danae's taste were hung in a row on the walls of the staircase.
The warm-colored quilt tapestries seemed to have been made by her own hands.
Theo's face and the playful figures of the two twins were embroidered on them.
When he reached the end of the stairs, Julian paused for a moment.
A tapestry embroidered with the figure of a young girl caught his eye.
"It's Rebecca."
He stared blankly at the tapestry, which showed traces of time, without even thinking of stroking it with his hand for fear of damaging the work.
Even if you just glanced at it, the girl in the flower garden in full bloom was Rebecca.
Kittens were playing at her feet, and a pair of lovers who appeared to be Danae and Theo were watching her with affectionate eyes in one corner.
Julian felt as if he couldn't breathe from the sudden pain.
Rebecca's coldly sunken face as she gripped the Devil's Claw came to mind.
She was a lovely girl who seemed to have grown up only receiving the sunlight of spring.
But that girl had grown into a woman who hid her torn heart with a cold sneer.
As he recalled the past, scattered with sharp shards of ice on which she had walked barefoot, Julian clenched his teeth so hard that he couldn't bear the rising anger.
A desire to make her happy leaked out from between his tightly closed teeth.
Clack.
At that moment, he heard the sound of a door closing.
When Julian turned his head, he saw a notebook placed in front of the door.
Julian slowly approached and picked up the notebook.
The notebook was filled with detailed descriptions of her symptoms from the first time she ate the Devil's Claw until now.
"Justav must be waiting eagerly."
A clear voice was heard from beyond the room. Fortunately, Rebecca's voice was clear without any signs of illness.
Julian almost burst open the door at the sound of her voice, which he hadn't heard in a long time.
But Julian firmly grabbed his hand, which was about to go out on its own, as Theo's sharply raised eyes came to mind.
As Julian looked through the journal, which even had detailed drawings of the shape of the Pustules, he recalled Justav begging to be allowed to see Rebecca's symptoms even just once.
Just how far ahead is this woman seeing?
He was suddenly afraid that he wouldn't be able to catch up with her insight and would only get in the way.
Julian carefully traced Rebecca's elegant handwriting with his hand.
It was written calmly, but it must have been very painful to experience these symptoms.
His brow furrowed at the thought of her enduring the pain alone at the Count's Residence.
She looked very tired through Leo's eyes.
But Rebecca didn't even utter a word of pain to Leo.
He was angry.
Why wouldn't she lean on him? She could have yelled at him that she was in pain at least once.
Although she was more than qualified to rely on him, she stubbornly swallowed all the pain alone.
