I'd Give Up The World For You

Chapter 69 - Long Distance, Huh?



Juliet and the other laundry room girls spent the rest of their day off wandering around town after leaving the flower shop. There were some interesting things to see since she hadn't had much of a chance to explore this place before getting trapped in the castle.

Amaya bought herself a new ribbon, Mitzi got an éclair from the bakery, and Elaine bought some rouge. She was slowly building up her collection of makeup in the hopes of finding herself a husband and getting out of the laundry room for good.

Her goal was to find one among the soldiers headquartered in the capital because they were paid extremely well and she wanted an easy life. Mitzi disagreed with her plan because of the possibility of her ending up as a widow but Elaine shrugged and said at least that way she would be able to live off of the pension they offered.

Mitzi was horrified by how unromantic that was. She wanted to fall madly in love with someone even if it meant she still had to stay in the laundry room.

Juliet didn't want love. At least not until she was out of her situation. If it found her later, so be it, but she wouldn't marry someone solely to get out of the castle the way Elaine wanted to. That seemed like an overall bad idea.

Men were creeps back where she came from and they were probably the same here. She wasn't about to trust someone she didn't know well with something as important as her freedom. Not a chance!

She felt like she was back in high school all over again over the next week since all of the laundry room girls—not only the three she had gone to town with—were all over the fact that Fillyn, one of their coworkers, had gotten engaged. She would be quitting work just before the wedding since her fiancé was a jeweler's apprentice and could afford for her to stay at home.

Juliet was so sick of all of the lovey-dovey romance talk that she went off on her own on her next day off. She decided to walk around the capital and get a better feel for her new (hopefully temporary) home.

Around dinner time she was on her way back to the castle to get something to eat, passing by a row of identical houses when she heard something very strange. So strange that she thought she might be imagining it. The sound was faint but she thought she heard the chorus of "Grenade" by Bruno Mars.

No one here should know that song other than her…unless someone else from her time had ended up here as well? It seemed impossible but if it had happened to her it feasibly could have happened to someone else.

Unfortunately, Juliet couldn't even tell exactly where she thought the singing was coming from. It could be inside a house but it could also be from someone's backyard or even somebody on a nearby side street with how faint it was. Or she could be losing it because she missed home so much. That was entirely possible too.

She would literally kill for a washing machine since her hands were falling apart from so much scrubbing! She missed heaters, fridges, her computer, music, her phone…at least there were real toilets in the castle. That was the one thing this place had going for it.

Part of her wanted to scream and beg the singer to help her, banging on every door she passed if she must. But the still rational part of her brain acknowledged that it was highly likely such behavior would get her arrested.

A dungeon would be worse than the laundry room, though she wasn't sure by how much. At least right now she had a bed to sleep on and three meals a day.

With great reluctance, Juliet headed back to the castle. She would visit this place again…stake it out if she had to. She was absolutely determined to find out who the singer had been. Provided it wasn't all a figment of her imagination.

===

Daisy woke up alone, distinctly feeling the lack of Leo's arms around her. Since there weren't heaters in this world she was always freezing trying to fall asleep during the winter but she hadn't been last night. She had been rather warm clinging to his back.

Sleeping cuddled up to someone was strange. She hadn't done it in such a long time but she couldn't deny it felt nice too.

Of course, she was only doing it because he had kissed her so desperately. Like he thought he was going off to die and needed to kiss her thoroughly before he left just in case. He claimed to be confident he would make it back but that made her think otherwise. He was a scared kid who needed reassurance from the one he loved so she gave it to him.

He would make it back, wouldn't he? He had last time and that was without the added benefit of previous battle experience. She had to believe he would. She didn't know what she would do if she had to go back to being alone in this world.

Daisy forced herself to act like everything was fine. All she had to do was distract herself when she was alone after work and on her day off. That wouldn't be so hard.

Or so she thought. She drowned herself in distractions for weeks and it still wasn't enough to keep her from worrying.

At least messengers from Zel seemed to be coming to and from the front much more quickly since it was closer than Aveleen. Instead of waiting a month for a letter to come back she only had to wait for a week.

Her first letter arrived faster than that since Leo wrote her a short note to let her know he made it there safely that didn't involve a roundtrip for the messenger. Hearing from him was reassuring but she still wished she knew what was actually going on over there. A lot could happen in a week.

Daisy ripped her most recent letter open hungrily, desperate for news.

'Dear Daisy,

'I'm afraid this might take longer than expected. Don't worry—it's nothing we can't handle—but I don't want you thinking something terrible has happened just because it might take a while for me to come home.

'Everything is fine. The food could be better though. A lot better. Somehow it's even worse here than it was in Aveleen. I'm looking forward to experiencing your cooking again. Do you think you could make an apple tart when I get back?

'Love, Leo'

A wry laugh made its way out. Classic Leo. Giving minimal detail and trying to get her not to worry. His letters had never been longer than a few paragraphs the last time he was away at war either.

Of course she could make him an apple tart. She would be so happy to have him home she would make him whatever he wanted! She was sure to tell him that in the letter she sent off with the messenger the next morning.

Daisy somehow missed him more than she had before she read the letter. With a sigh, she began heading back toward her house when she smacked directly into someone.

"I'm sorry! Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," said the woman as she dusted herself off. She frowned at Daisy. "Don't you work at the flower shop?"

"I do. Do I know you?"

"Not officially. I've seen you before but I can't remember your name. I'm Juliet."

"Veronica."

The two of them shook hands and Daisy heard the woman's stomach rumble loudly. She really didn't want to be alone right now and she could use a pick-me-up herself. Now might be a good time to try and make some friends so she didn't go crazy while Leo was gone.

"This might be strange but do you want to come to the bakery with me? I can get you something as an apology for bumping into you," she offered.

Juliet's eyes widened. "Are you sure? It really wasn't a big deal."

"Positive."

"Alright then. Thanks!"

They walked over to the bakery together and Daisy began asking her basic small talk questions. "So do you work around here?"

"I work in the castle's laundry room. Seems like I practically live there." Juliet said lightly though there was an expression of great bitterness on her face. It seemed she did not like working as a laundress.

"Have you ever been to the castle gardens?"

She couldn't quite disguise the eagerness in her voice and immediately felt stupid since her companion shot her a funny look. "I've walked through some of them on my way out but nothing is blooming right now so it's all a bunch of hedges and leafless trees."

"Right. That makes sense. Have you never seen them any other time of year then? You must not have worked in the castle long. Are you new to the area?"

"You could say that. What about you?"

"I haven't been here long either. I moved out in August so I could get married. My husband came here years ago for the sake of his career." That was the easier thing to say. She didn't want to go into the complicated fake romantic history between her and Leo.

Juliet looked at her sympathetically. "Long distance, huh?"

"Yeah.. We sent letters the whole time but it wasn't the same, you know? It's been so nice being able to see him every day the past few months and now he's gone again! I wish I knew when he would be back."

Tap the screen to use advanced tools Tip: You can use left and right keyboard keys to browse between chapters.

You'll Also Like