Chapter 12 : It's the same thing
1030 Words
It wasn't Marvin's first time eating alone. He always ate alone. Even before Juliette was avoiding him, he was avoiding her. It was a game he started and now she was getting the hang of it. Marvin was slowly losing. Eric had gone back, so he had no one to converse with.
The maids in the house had already finished their work and were told to leave by Marvin. In the large dining hall, he was sitting on the chair farthest from Juliette's chair. He ate in silence and went to the kitchen to make some herbal tea for himself. It had better make him feel calm during the night or he will be too troubled to fall asleep.
He walked here and there when a maid came into the kitchen with an empty glass of milk.
"That was for Juliette?" He asked her. The maid nodded.
"Yes," she placed the glass in the sink to be washed, "Miss has been having trouble sleeping so she wanted to try having warm milk and see if it helps."
"Alright," Marvin took his cup of tea and left the kitchen. He took it back to the study and switched on the laptop on his desk. He opened the browser and typed in the key words.
How to get good quality sleep.
A bunch of results showed up on the screen and he carefully selected a few articles and read through them. After he finished reading, he also texted the doctor to confirm his findings. Only after the text was sent that he realised that his actions were not in line with his normal behaviour. He never acted like this towards Juliette.
Going as far as to spend - he checked the clock on the table - an hour, looking for the solution to the problem. The problem she did not tell him about! But when did she ever come? He only ever received good things from her side, never the smallest of grievance came from her side.
It was impossible to have zero problems/complains for such a long time. But Marvin never thought about it. He was just relieved that she had no problem and moved on with his life. He saw her as a responsibility and Juliette tried her best not to transform herself into a burden.
He fell into a gloomy silence in the golden light of his lamp. The laptop screen went off after a period of inactivity. He switched it off and left the room.
He went straight towards Juliette's room and knocked on it. Don't ask him why he did that. He did not know either. His head was filled with guilt towards her. And he was even more guilty for realising it at that time. When she had enough to keep it to herself, only then did he see what she was putting herself through while living with him.
Her parents had great expectations of Marvin. They left her with him, thinking he'd be a good match for her and take good care of her. But what did he do? He just saw her as an additional mouth to feed. Just someone who lived in his house.
He did not love Juliette and he had a little bitterness in his heart because he was robbed of his chance to find his true mate. But so what? Was it a good enough reason to make Juliette feel as miserable as she did? It wasn't justified at all. And now that Marvin realised it, he also knew it was a bit too late.
Just when he was about to go back to his room, Juliette opened the door. She had taken a shower and changed into a pajama set. The makeup was gone, her hair was up in a bun and the bottom of her pants was rolled up to right under her knee. She also had a mask on her face and a rabbit ear fluffy hair band on her head.
"What?" She asked. Her voice wasn't loud enough because the mask limited the movement of her mouth. She also shook her hand in a way to ask : What?
"Um," Marvin was still in a strange way after seeing her like that. His eyes fell on the collar. Right then, light hit the crystal of the pendant she was wearing. He found a topic.
Marvin pointed at the red crystal necklace pendant, "That's the necklace you brought today? How much did you shop? Did you bring me anything?"
Naomi lowered her chin to look at the crystal. It was something she brought. She brought a lot of things and all of that was still packed in the bags. Only this one was different.
Naomi loved the pendant so much that she had been thinking about it even in her tired state. So she took it out and wore it. It looked pretty. This one could be her default neckpiece. The one she wore when nothing sounded good.
Seeing that the necklace had caught Marvin's attention, she felt a little smug about her taste.
"Yes, I brought it today. I will give you the bill tomorrow to see what else I have brought. And no, I did not get the time to shop for you. How about I ask Eric to take you shopping?"
Marvin's expression went dark. He wasn't expecting her to bring anything and he was not interested in it. But the way she said it made him feel like a criminal for asking.
"Don't bother," Marvin replied, "You haven't slept yet? Any problem?"
Naomi denied it,, "Nope. I was waiting for the mask to dry. I'll wash it off and go to sleep now."
"Alright. Go to sleep. Tell me if you need anything."
Naomi smiled despite the drying mask on her face, "Now, now, Alpha. How can I possibly ask you? You are the esteemed owner of this manor, Alpha of hundreds and thousands. I cannot afford to have you serve me. I have Vienna. I'll ask her if I need anything."
Marvin narrowed his eyes at her response and came up with an excuse before leaving,"I pay her. It's the same thing."
- Writer
