Sweet you who doesn’t love me - Chapter 5: Joy And Sorrow

Juliet finally tilted the teacup in her hand. The warm tea flowed into her mouth.

 

“I’d prefer the latter if I had to choose.”

 

Cassio lazily tossed a lump of sugar into his teacup and spoke.

 

“If it’s the former, it might make me a bit sad, but with the latter, I’d be a bit happy.”

 

(T/n: talking about her life.)

 

With a soft thud, Juliet placed the teacup back down and asked, “What if it was both?”

 

“Hmm, I haven’t thought about that.”

 

He smiled as if slightly embarrassed, raising his eyebrows while leaving the sugar untouched in the teacup. He was truly a man who could use his expressions exceptionally well, whether it was intentional or not.

 

But the next moment, after taking a sip of the tea that seemed to be crazily sweet, he let out a satisfied chuckle.

 

That wasn’t a practised expression.

 

‘He must really like sweet things.’

 

“In any case, it seems like you’re happy.”

 

“Why is that?”

 

“Because happiness is always stronger than sorrow, no matter what.”

 

“Is that so?”

 

“Yes.”

 

Cassio firmly declared, then placed the teacup back down and reached for the tea food.

 

The cookie he picked up was covered in a generous amount of powdered sugar. After examining it from different angles, he finally put it in his mouth.

 

‘Oh, he’s smiling again.’

 

“And I’m telling you, don’t ever read such terrible books again.”

 

After enjoying the crispy cookie, he lifted the teacup again.

 

Oh, his right hand.

 

He wasn’t wearing bandages over his clothes anymore. But there must have been bandages underneath. She could smell the medicine.

 

Yet, he moved so nonchalantly. Laughed so nonchalantly, and spoke to Juliet so tenderly.

 

“It’s better if you ask me directly. About the war or about myself. It would be much more accurate coming from me.”

Juliet brought the teacup to her lips and took a sip again. The warm tea numbed her tongue.

 

‘Did he get hurt too much?’

 

He was definitely hurt to some extent.

 

But how? Why?

 

Why did Juliet being curious about him make him happy?

 

‘Why…’

 

“In that sense, Juliet.”

 

“….”

 

“Juliet?”

 

Juliet, who was staring intently at Cassio’s right hand holding the teacup, was startled and lifted her gaze when their eyes met.

 

Cassio smiled sweetly when their eyes met.

 

“In that sense, sometimes, won’t you join me for tea?”

 

As if enchanted by his gentle laughter, Juliet nodded.

 

Cassio laughed again, and Juliet covered her mouth with the teacup. She couldn’t ask.

 

‘I really don’t know….’

 

He had just casually asked her to have tea together, but he seemed so pleased.

 

＊ ＊ ＊

 

‘When he said ‘sometimes,’ I thought it might be once or twice a week, but…:

 

Cassio’s “sometimes” was a bit different. The next day, and the day after that, and the day after that, Juliet found herself sitting across from Cassio, drinking tea.

 

It wasn’t a planned arrangement. Whenever Juliet went out for a walk, Cassio was there, waiting for her. Or maybe not waiting.

 

‘No, I don’t really know if he’s waiting.’

 

It was different every time they met.

 

Once, they ran into each other beneath the gazebo when he was standing there absentmindedly. Another time, as Juliet settled under the gazebo lost in thought, he appeared.

 

‘Another time, we crossed paths under the pomegranate plant unexpectedly.’

 

Every time, it was a similar yet different encounter.

 

However, there was always one constant. Whenever their eyes met, Cassio would be the first to say with a warm smile.

 

“Hello, Juliet.”

 

Slightly surprised, he raised his eyebrows, but quickly smiled brightly.

 

Every time she heard that affectionate greeting, Juliet became unsure of how to respond. So, whenever she heard it, she would always bow her head deeply.

 

“Your Grace.”

 

“Ay, there’s no need to bow so deeply.”

 

After the greeting, Cassio would be slightly taken aback but would quickly smile again and lift Juliet up.

 

Perhaps Cassio also enjoyed their encounters. Maybe he just happened to come across Juliet while taking a stroll.

 

Then, they could have just parted ways there. But Cassio would always insist on walking with Juliet, stepping on the soft grass in the garden and standing side by side under the gazebo, gazing at the pouring sunlight.

 

As the sun began to tilt and the shadows lengthened, he would casually propose:

 

 

“Shall we have another cup of tea?”

“…”

“Together.”

With that, Juliet nodded her head without realizing it. The tea table was simply set. It included the tea that Juliet always kept in the kitchen, along with some light snacks.

“If you want, I’m not particularly recommending this, but…”

 

“Hmm…”

 

“Haha, you. You don’t seem to like sweet foods.”

 

“I didn’t know it would be this sweet…”

 

“That’s mine. You have this one. Not sweet.”

 

Unlike the first day, they were sitting across from each other at the same place, in the unimpressive tea room.

 

In the afternoon, even though they were indoors, the sunlight shone brightly into the tea room, making it one of Juliet’s favourite places.

 

“So, it suits your taste better?”

 

“Yes… thank you.”

 

“Not at all. Anyway, going back to the original topic, that snake…”

 

Perhaps the expectation or rather the misconception that he had waited for Juliet at the pavilion for four consecutive days was the reason.

 

“The body was as thick as my waist.”

 

Actually, at first, having tea with Cassio itself was a little awkward. Having tea together implied having a conversation. Juliet was not someone who talked much. Spending the past three years confined in the castle and meeting no one except for the subordinates had made her even less talkative.

 

A conversation with no orders or instructions, just casual chatter, was an unfamiliar experience for Juliet after such a long time.

 

“The tail was longer than my forearm.”

 

“…”

 

So, she thought it would be uncomfortable.

 

Awkward words, no appropriate response to his remarks. The ensuing silence felt stifling, and ultimately, the time itself became uncomfortable.

 

That was her concern.

 

“Really, I mean it.”

 

“…Yes.”

 

“Juliet, you don’t seem to believe me at all.”

 

However, surprisingly, the time spent sitting across from him was rather comfortable.

 

Juliet hardly initiated the conversation, and she didn’t ask about the war or what he had been through, as he had already casually shared those stories himself.

 

“Such a large snake, how did it manage to get into the heart of the ship?”

 

Trivial everyday stories he experienced on the ship, the mysterious events he encountered while drifting in the open sea, the intense sunlight that would shine on his head if he was floating in the middle of the sea, the distant and beautiful lands…

 

Cassio’s voice, succinctly explaining those things, was always gentle. Although he had experienced war, the stories he shared with Juliet sounded like travel tales.

 

“Do snakes exist in the sea?”

 

“They must have been snakes living on the island. It happened while we were docked. I had never seen such a thing before.”

 

So, without feeling too uncomfortable, Juliet could occasionally ask him light questions and listen to his stories.

 

Then she became curious again.

 

‘What kind of things did he go through?’

 

Despite experiencing something potentially dreadful like war, he could share such beautiful stories with her. Even though he had been absent-mindedly bathing in the sunlight and merely looking at her nameless wife while going through challenging times.

 

‘How…’

 

“…”

 

When lost in thought, Juliet habitually closed her mouth. But Cassio didn’t rush her.

At times like that, he would simply pick up a cookie and taste it after turning it around in his hands. Thanks to Juliet’s earlier notice, the kitchen was always baking sweet snacks for him.

 

Watching Cassio enjoy the cookie with a melting smile, all the complex thoughts in Juliet’s mind melted away.

 

Then Cassio opened his mouth again, and Juliet listened to his story.

 

“Anyway, it was not just because of one snake that those soldiers, despite being soldiers, were all terrified.”

 

It was a time when their conversations were sporadic, but the awkward or uncomfortable moments of silence that followed were brief.

 

Cassio didn’t seem to find it difficult to start a conversation with Juliet, and he didn’t seem to mind the occasional silence. At least, not outwardly.

 

‘A fascinating person.’

 

Thinking like that, Juliet’s gaze met his.

 

Cassio’s emerald green eyes sparkled like the sun itself, as if absorbing the rich afternoon sunlight, and when Juliet noticed that light, they curved into a soft curve.

 

Even when he had a cookie in his mouth or not.

 

In other words, Juliet found having tea with Cassio was not bad at all.

 

‘…It felt nice, maybe.’

 

However, on the fifth day.

 

After passing through the early afternoons where they often met in the pavilion, the late afternoons sitting across from each other in the sun-filled tea room, and the time when the shadows leaned over at a steep angle became longer than their original height…

 

Juliet found herself alone in the sunset-painted garden that had turned yellow to a deep crimson.

“Hello, Juliet.”

The man who had walked to the pavilion with her every day, who would walk by her side as they approached the gazebo, then stood under the empty gazebo, gazing blankly at the garden illuminated by the sun…

 

“Do you want to have tea?”

 

Asking that while smiling, he looked different today without a single strand of hair visible.

 

The sun was setting. Although it was the beginning of summer, the intense heat hadn’t fully set in yet. The morning and evening breeze still felt quite cool.

 

It was a rather chilly evening. It didn’t feel like summer. Juliet’s fingers, which had been sitting in the shade all day, were already freezing.

 

Nevertheless, Juliet didn’t leave her seat. She just sat there, lost in thought.

 

‘Yes, this is my everyday life.’