Bike porn

It doesn't need a pulley, it just needs some structure in line with the cable. At the moment, the cable tension is only resisted by the bending stiffness of the noodle, i.e. not at all. Even if it doesn't break, braking performance will be shit because the noodle will flex and waste a lot of the lever travel. A simple tie-bar between the noodle and the stem will sort it out.

This cheap old Zoom job gets it right:

Don't you think adding a tie-bar as you suggested might make it all look too fussy though? The zoom design is neat but it removes the option for a threaded barrel adjuster. Arguably unnecessary perhaps but i still think the pulley would look the tidiest.