Two young people were sitting in a café, enjoying a slice of chocolate cake they'd ordered; the tanned man was watching the people coming and going in front of them. "So, you didn't go with them because you got badly seasick?" The girl with ruby-coloured eyes glanced to her left before popping a piece of chocolate cake into her mouth.
"Yes," his reply immediately drew laughter from the blonde girl; the man named Romeo covered his face with both hands. "I told you not to laugh!" But the laughter didn't stop for quite some time, leaving Romeo drowning in embarrassment.
"It's just funny—someone as strong as you, defeated by nothing but the waves," the girl named Juliet began to have mercy, stifling her laughter and trying to compose herself. "You really can't judge a book by its cover, can you?"
"Ugh…" Romeo was still covering his face as he growled, trying to hold back this unbearable embarrassment; he hadn't expected being laughed at by Juliet to be quite so humiliating.
"Sorry, sorry," Juliet wiped away her tears; her angry eyes glanced towards the plate where her chocolate cake should have been—but now only small crumbs remained. "I suppose I overreacted." Her hand reached for the knife and cut into her own chocolate cake.
"No, I'm just not man enough," his hand, which had been pressed against his face, finally came away, leaving his cheeks slightly flushed. Her eyes darted aside and she was taken aback when she saw a piece of chocolate cake impaled on a fork held out near her face; Romeo turned fully towards her, startled by the girl's action. "Er… Juliet, what are you trying to do?"
Juliet's face broke into a broad smile, though her cheeks were just as flushed as Romeo's. "Just think of this as an apology," she said. Hearing that, Romeo immediately raised both hands and waved them about.
"You didn't need to go that far!" Romeo was clearly being defensive, which annoyed Juliet a little. "We were just joking around, weren't we? It's nothing serious," she laughed, trying to brush it all off.
Hearing this, Juliet's cheeks puffed out in a pout before she finally revealed her true desire. "Just accept it, you idiot," she whispered, thinking only she would be able to hear it, unaware that they were close enough for Romeo to hear her clearly.
Romeo let out a long sigh before leaning in and popping the chocolate cake into his mouth; Juliet, seeing this sudden movement, nearly jumped out of her skin—she'd been the one to bait him, yet she was still taken aback when her bait took the hook. "This… is delicious," even though he'd only just eaten the same cake a short while ago.
A long, awkward silence filled the café, which was usually bustling with chatter and a steady stream of customers. Juliet felt a mixture of regret and delight that her daring move had paid off, even if it meant creating an awkward atmosphere for quite some time.
"By the way, even though Mother has… We tried to kill her—it turns out she's still alive, isn't she?" Juliet broke the silence, lightening the mood compared to before; Romeo even breathed a sigh of relief as the topic had shifted quite smoothly.
"Well, to put it simply…" He tried to think of a way to explain without having to go into great detail. "As long as we do something to her lifeless body, she'll be able to create a new one," he didn't go into detail for fear of being told off by the others.
Although what he'd said would be a big enough reason for us to give him a telling-off later, he was sometimes too daft to keep a secret.
"Oh? That's interesting." That wasn't Juliet's voice; it was more mature and deeper than her usual voice, which was usually full of summery cheer. The two of them turned round and saw a woman with black hair adorned with a purple overlay—in that very moment, Juliet's hand grasped Romeo's and pulled him out onto the street.
This forced several cars to brake sharply as the couple suddenly leapt onto the road. "Juliet, I know you are 'Lust', but isn't it going too far to betray your own comrades just for this man?" The woman stepped forward, her violet eyes never leaving the pair for a moment.
"You helped him kill Midas and Caesar, didn't you?" She stopped right in front of them, and both pedestrians and motorists began flocking to watch this argument as if it were a morning TV show. "I asked Midas about the letter he'd received—and after going to the place the letter specified, he was immediately reported dead."
Juliet was truly being made a scapegoat now, and Romeo couldn't bear to watch it—he then pulled his hand free from Juliet's grip and stepped forward to confront the woman.
"Don't blame her! It's my fault—I gave that letter to Juliet without knowing what was in it!"
Her violet eyes were now fixed on Romeo. "And you expect me to trust you?" She glanced back at Juliet, who was gnawing at her fingernails. "Juliet, you've been deceived by this man—when are you going to wake up?!"
Almost instantly, the girl retorted as she stepped forward. "No! Romeo isn't that sort of person. He—" Before she could finish her sentence, the woman named Miralda produced a red apple, which she held as though it were a piece of gold.
"He's what?" Miralda interrupted. "Now I ask you, are you a member of The Seven Sins, or are you merely a slave to that old woman called Mother?" The question hit Juliet like a slap, leaving her completely speechless.
Her hands clenched tightly, as if clutching all her hopes and desires within. "Didn't you join The Seven Sins to find out where your elder sister is? Because only Lord Death knows where she is now." Hearing that, her chest immediately felt tight, whilst Romeo's pupils narrowed—he hadn't expected that to be the real, underlying reason why Juliet, who was actually a good person, had joined the criminal group.
Juliet finally stepped right in front of Miralda; she whispered, almost to herself. "My name is Juliet Alighieri, The Lust," a drop of water fell onto the pavement—she then turned, her face full of determination and solemnity.
"I am a member of The Seven Sins!" Although she shouted it loud enough for the onlookers to hear, Romeo could see the sadness behind the resolute expression she was showing.
Miralda's hand rested on Juliet's hip and a sly smile played on her lips. "See that? The girl you've been using all this time, the girl you thought you could treat like a plaything, has spat right in your face!" The woman burst out laughing, and Romeo knew that this was no time to fight back.
"Let's get out of here, Miralda." Juliet wanted to leave this place and this sorrow behind as soon as possible, but her movements were halted by the woman in the black dress.
"And let him live? He's the one who killed our colleague, Juliet!" Her grip on the apple in her hand tightened; the girl's eyebrow twitched—she realised what Miralda was trying to do, and her hand immediately clamped tightly around the woman's wrist.
"Let's just go—two against one is the act of a coward!" She tried to persuade her, but Miralda didn't even spare a glance for the girl begging for mercy.
"Just so you know—at the scene where Midas was found… there were two Fables there." Juliet fell silent at once; she'd inadvertently made her own words backfire. Romeo's hands were clenched into fists, ready to fight should an attack suddenly be launched. "Him and his companion—Robin."
"Revenge is the only right course of action." Miralda released her hand from Juliet's tight grip, and at last her violet eyes flicked towards the girl who looked as though she might try to resist if she crossed the line. "And if you stop me, I'll report this to Lord Death."
Juliet fell silent; her hands finally dropped and her gaze went completely blank—her ruby eyes glanced one last time at Romeo before she finally turned away completely. "…I'll go, then," she said, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a small bottle which she immediately opened, gulping down its contents—the girl's legs slowly faded from view, as though her very existence had been erased from the world.
Miralda caught the same small bottle Juliet had just been drinking from. "No one is brave when faced with death," said Miralda before Juliet became completely invisible to the naked eye.
An apple floated through the air and landed right in Romeo's hand; he tilted his head—he was baffled by the apple's presence, but his memories began to swirl as he recalled the first time he'd met the woman standing before him. "W-Watch out!" shouted a girl, and without warning, two small figures struck the apple, sending it flying through the air.
The apple soon spewed poison into the air; Romeo's fingers were immediately gripped tightly by two tiny hands that yanked him backwards—Miralda furrowed her brow, watching the man who had already been swept up in the panicked crowd.
The woman clicked her tongue before taking a sip from the small bottle in her hand; she slowly faded into thin air like a ghost leaving after successfully frightening people. Meanwhile, Romeo was being dragged away by two dwarves whose hands were incredibly soft, as if made of foam.