Forgotten Juliet

* * *

When Duke Carlyle escorted Juliet to the mansion, the Duke’s servants noticed that his complexion was stiff.

The Duke, for some reason, aggressively ordered those around him not to interfere. He even sent away the baby dragon, which Juliet was very fond of and wouldn’t let go, out to the corridor.

“Peep!”

The baby dragon, clueless as to why he was chased away, sadly scratched at the tightly closed door with his front paws, but the door didn’t open.

The servants, who had served the usually reticent Duke for years, sensed something urgent and realized that the situation was serious.

“…Shouldn’t we intervene?”

There had been similar situations in the past.

The last time they sensed an unusual atmosphere was perhaps when Juliet Monad had run away.

The expressions of key members of the Duke’s house, including the vice-captain Milan and secretary Elliot, became serious.

Five worried-looking humans and a magical creature gathered closely in front of the bedroom door, pressing their ears to it.

If they heard a loud noise, they were ready to rush in immediately.

However, even after listening for a while, they only heard a quiet conversation from inside, and there were no sounds of a fight as they had feared.

“It seems okay.”

“Ha! See, I told you! They are resolving it through a civilized conversation…”

Then it happened.

“I said you’re an idiot!”

There was a loud voice.

“…?”

However, the exclaimed phrase was quite different from the serious dialogue they had anticipated.

* * *

Lennox Carlyle was used to being hated.

However, amidst all the insults and curses, this was a new experience for him.

“What were you thinking?”

“Juliet.”

“Why! Did you think I’d be thankful for being deceived without knowing anything?”

Baffled by the harsh words he had never heard before, he felt dazed.

“I’m not a child… Why didn’t you tell me from the start!”

Then when were you planning to tell me?

“I thought… I thought… that I was left alone in the world and wondered…”

After sobbing and pouring out her feelings, Juliet slumped down.

“It’s not surprising.”

Juliet let out a deep sigh.

“I always hesitated to ask because I was afraid to confirm the truth.”

It was as she said.

They acted as if they understood each other, but they hadn’t realized the deep misunderstanding between them.

“And you probably thought you didn’t need to explain every little thing to me.”

Upon hearing Juliet’s mumbling, Lennox frowned.

“It’s not important, and explaining every single thing would just be bothersome and annoying.”

“…It wasn’t bothersome.”

Lowering himself to Juliet’s eye level, he finally regained his composure.

He realized what he needed to say.

Although it might not be enough to calm her anger immediately, he had long suppressed emotions that needed to be expressed.

“I never found you annoying. It’s just…”

Like Juliet, he too was just afraid.

“I thought that once you knew, you would undoubtedly be scared and run away.”

In hindsight, he had always felt this way.

He fooled himself into thinking that he could let her go at any moment, but that was just a deception. He had fallen for her long before he realized it.

Whether it was the moment he received an embroidered handkerchief or when he met the girl in a black dress, he wasn’t sure.

Juliet’s blue eyes, which had been staring blankly at him, became misty.

“…So you didn’t tell me because you thought I’d be scared and run away if I knew the truth?”

“Yes.”

“Do I look…”

With tear-filled blue eyes, Juliet reached out and touched his cheek.

“…that stupid to you?”

“…”

“My goodness, Lennox Carlyle!”

Juliet’s still-irritated blue eyes glared sharply at Lennox.

“Get out right now!”

“What?”

“No, I’ll leave.”

With that, Juliet shrugged off his hand, stood up, and flung open the bedroom doors with a swing.

Bang!

“Peep!”

“Oh!”

Thanks to the sudden noise, the people who had been gathered outside the door fell over in succession.

But Juliet just gave them a brief glare.

“Jul…”

“Don’t follow me!”

Bang.

Juliet entered the guest bedroom at the end of the corridor and slammed the door shut.

Just after that, an awkward silence pervaded among the people left in the corridor.

“Didn’t I clearly tell you to stay away?”

“My lord, it’s just…”

“We were worried and…”

Those who were eavesdropping at the door flinched under the sharp gaze.

* * *

Meanwhile, Juliet, who had entered a small bedroom at the end of the corridor, threw the pillows from the guest bed towards the door as if building a barricade to ensure no one entered.

She then sat down heavily on top of them.

‘It’s not that I’m treating people like fools, it’s just frustrating!’

“Hmph…”

Quietly following her, Onyx cautiously approached, gauging Juliet’s mood.

Juliet, still a bit irritated, tightly hugged the little dragon.

She was mad at Lennox for hiding the truth, but that anger was more towards herself. For a long time, Lennox didn’t bother to explain, and Juliet was too scared to ask, just like at the summer palace.

Misunderstandings accumulated over such a long time, leading to the situation today.

However, Juliet remembered who was the root cause of the hardship she faced in the past.

‘So, it’s all because of that snake.’

Juliet’s blue eyes sparkled menacingly.

Whether the opponent was an ancient evil spirit or a great deity from another dimension, it didn’t matter.

She was determined to make them regret messing with her.

Placing Onyx, who was trying to get her attention, on her lap, Juliet stared intently at empty space.

“I know you’re listening.”

(…Are you sure you called me?)

“Come out.”

No sooner had she spoken than a black panther spirit appeared with a look of disbelief.

(Do you not know how great an entity I am?)

Be that as it may.

Juliet didn’t bother listening and looked around the small room. This small guest bedroom was being used as a storage for the documents Juliet had recently collected.

After a quick glance at the stack of books, Juliet pulled out an item.

It was a small hand mirror.

“This mirror shows one’s true nature, right?”

(Yes.)

The black panther surprisingly admitted.

When she held up the mirror, as before, it reflected a black panther bound in golden chains.

(You’re not trying to expose the identity of a spirit with that, are you?)

Although the panther seemed amused by the question, Juliet calmly said:

“To my eyes, you appear bound in chains.”

(…I suppose so.)

“Is this glowing yellow chain what you call a ‘restriction’?”

Instead of answering, the panther grinned. It seemed she was right.

According to Juliet’s speculations, for some reason, this black panther and spirits like Juliet’s butterflies seemed to be vulnerable to the yellow snake.

Because they were extremely reluctant to leak direct information or vulnerabilities about the yellow snake.

However, Juliet was quite adept at handling spirits.

“Is that snake your leader?”

(How dare you make such a sad suggestion.)

Predictably, the black panther became agitated.

(That snake is just an old-timer.)

Juliet had heard tales of the primordial snake, the oldest of spirits.

“So why can’t you move?”

(It’s because of a restriction that old snake imposed in the past. That’s all.)

The panther looked a bit uncomfortable. It seemed to be taboo for spirits like him to mention the events of the ‘past’ directly.

‘But that can’t be all…’

Juliet stared intently at the black panther. Just like the butterflies, this panther spirit seemed to want something from her but couldn’t directly speak of it.

She suddenly asked:

“Is the snake’s name Eleanor?”

(…Are you asking me to reveal the true name of another spirit?)

The black panther grumbled.

(One shouldn’t casually utter a demon’s real name.)

Nevertheless, Juliet shrugged off.

“So it’s not. Is Dahlia the snake’s real name then?”

(That’s the name of the vessel the snake was confined in. Of course, you need the name of an artifact to seal a spirit, but without the spirit’s true name, it’s not that deadly…)

While the panther rambled on, it noticed something strange in Juliet’s gaze.

(Hmm? Why are you looking at me like that?)

“So, if I know both the artifact’s and the spirit’s true names, I can seal the snake, right?”

(…Damn it.)

The panther looked as if it was annoyed with itself.

Rumble.

At the same time, Juliet could see the golden chains wrapping around the panther’s neck.