Forgotten Juliet

A smile slowly faded from Roy’s lips. He did not answer.

But Juliet remembered where she had smelled the scent of golden amber coming off of him that night.

Tonight, when she approached the snake with a crossbow at the closest distance. But Roy had no reason at all to harm Juliet. And yet, why did she feel the strong fragrance of flowers from Roy and the snake, and why was there sparkling dust falling from his hands?

Roy’s face, now without a smile, looked quite unfamiliar.

“Was it Roy who let the snake escape?”

Instead of answering, Roy just looked at Juliet vaguely.

He didn’t avoid her gaze.

Perhaps because he wasn’t smiling, Roy seemed much colder than usual.

Juliet had to suppress the urge to step back as she looked up at Roy.

“…Say it’s not.”

But the man who used to shyly smile warmly whenever their eyes met was nowhere to be found.

With an expression unfamiliarly stern, Roy affirmed.

“Yeah, I did.”

“Why?”

Juliet blankly inquired. Though it was strange, she thought she saw the real Roy for the first time.

“I…”

Juliet bit her lip for a moment.

She had told him everything.

It wasn’t intentional, but she had shared exactly what and why she feared. All of it.

It was true that she needed someone to confide in, albeit selfishly.

“Did you want to see me get hurt?”

Whether it could be called a feeling of betrayal, she didn’t know. But Juliet felt more sad than angry.

“Because otherwise, Juliet wouldn’t give up.”

“On what.”

“Lennox Carlyle, that man.”

Juliet didn’t know how to respond and just blankly looked at Roy.

“You shouldn’t get mad at me, Juliet.”

Roy pulled her hand and pressed it against his cheek.

“If you reconcile with that man, I will never have a chance.”

“Let go.”

But Juliet coldly pushed him away.

Slap.

He could have easily avoided it, but Roy didn’t.

The cold night air amplified the sound of the slap.

“Miss Juliet?”

“Miss, what’s the matter?”

The knights of the Ducal house, who had given them space, sensed the unusual atmosphere and approached.

“Sir Milan, this man is the culprit who broke the barrier.”

Juliet coldly pointed at Roy in front of her.

“Yes?”

“No, Countess Monad, what are you talking about all of a sudden? The forest folks are honored guests of the temple!”

Archbishop Gilliam interjected, surprised.

But Juliet and Roy only looked at each other with cold expressions, showing no particular reaction.

“Hey, don’t do this… ah, I just had a great idea!”

Archbishop Gilliam, who had been helplessly frustrated, brightened up all of a sudden.

“All holy relics have a special luminescent material applied to them as an anti-theft measure! It’s actually a confidential matter. But…”

Archbishop Gilliam looked triumphant as if he had made a great discovery.

“If we shine a moonstone like this, it will reveal who touched the cage barrier…!”

“…Is that green residue on the wolf’s hand traces of the luminescent material?”

“Ah, no, how can this…”

Archbishop Gilliam couldn’t hide his confusion.

“See? Arrest him now.”

Without taking her eyes off Roy’s face until the end, Juliet spoke sharply and turned to disappear into the forest.

“Miss!”

“Miss Juliet!”

Ignoring the calls from behind, Juliet headed towards the path behind the villa.

Juliet didn’t care if her shoes and dress hem got dirty, she walked very fast.

Even though Juliet was staggering on the dark trail, she didn’t fall.

Until a little while ago, while Juliet was accusing him, Roy’s eyes were fixed on Juliet. He neither denied what he had done nor tried to hide it.

‘Those eyes.’

Juliet blamed herself for not noticing earlier that Roy’s golden eyes were unfocused like a person entranced by something.

Because it was the same eye as that lady, Eunice, who got her fiance with a potion.

Actually, Juliet was more angry at herself than at Roy.

‘Stupid Juliet Monad.’

In this way, there was no difference from the previous life where she was foolishly played in the hands of that snake.

‘Clearly, it targets those weak to desire!’

It was the snake’s specialty.

Delving into a person’s weaknesses, manipulating them to misunderstand at will, and controlling them as if brainwashed.

Knowing that, yet being at ease.

Juliet was full of self-satisfaction.

This time, it really felt like everything was over.

Yes.

“It’s my fault…”

She wasn’t sure what kind of deal Lennox had with the temple, but seeing how much he mobilized sacred artifacts and even got cooperation from the temple knights, it was certain that he promised a huge payoff.

‘I ruined everything.’

Angry, Juliet was walking hastily when suddenly she found herself standing alone in the middle of a desolate path.

Looking up, she saw the bright moon.

Suddenly leaving without a word, everyone must be worried.

Feeling pathetic, Juliet sighed and stepped back.

‘Let’s go back.’

It was then.

“Peep!”

The feeling of stepping on something and a familiar scream from under her foot almost happened simultaneously.

Surprised, Juliet quickly looked down.

“Nix?”

What was pitifully squealing was a baby dragon.

Surprised, Juliet quickly picked up Onyx.

Did it follow from the banquet hall?

“I’m sorry, did it hurt? Sorry…”

“Peep!”

Whether it was the tail or foot that got stepped on, Juliet comforted the baby dragon and apologized.

Onyx quickly cheered up, forgetting the pain from his tail being stepped on.

The naive baby dragon was quietly following Juliet and often got his tail stepped on.

“I’m sorry…”

Juliet stood still for a while in the middle of the desolate path.

Holding the whimpering baby dragon, surprisingly, her mind became calm.

‘First, think about what to do next.’

She heard that when the snake broke the boundary and escaped, along with it, the Second Prince and his soldiers also escaped from the underground prison of the imperial palace.

It can’t be helped that the snake got away, but what’s frustrating is that all the witnesses and evidence disappeared.

‘How did they get caught?’

Last night, Duke Carlyle pressured the Emperor with that evidence, and got a promise that the Duke’s family would be left alone in future endeavors, and necessary support wouldn’t be withheld.

Of course, the Emperor will backtrack on his words.

Since the evidence Juliet prepared just in case, meaning, the proof of a tie between the snake and the Second Prince from witnesses Ronda and Ansel Hauser siblings, disappeared.

Sighing, Juliet looked at the baby dragon whimpering in her arms, and suddenly had a doubt.

“But Nix, how did you get in here?”

When she left the mansion this evening, Juliet asked the maids to look after Onyx.

And those maids were evacuated to a nearby port in case of any unforeseen circumstances.

“Did you come here alone?”

When Juliet asked tilting her head, Onyx also tilted its head, mimicking her, in a serious manner.

“?”

It was cute, but unfortunately, not helpful.

After learning to fly, Onyx was going everywhere at his whim, so it wasn’t strange for the baby dragon to follow in here.

“Sigh, your feet are all wet.”

“Peep.”

While holding the baby dragon and dusting off the dirt, Juliet suddenly looked up.

‘The sound of waves?’

She realized the desolate path behind the banquet hall led directly to the sea as she had been sensing the salty breeze for a while.

Alkalon palace was built near the port.

“…It was this close.”

Maybe Onyx was playing alone near the port, sensed Juliet’s presence and scurried over.

Juliet stood there for a moment.

It was still a long time before dawn, so it was dark and hard to see, but the silhouettes of large ships on the horizon were clearly visible.

“The witness is gone.”

The immediate problem was that.

Now, she had lost the means to pressure the Emperor, who, whenever possible, tried to undermine the Duke’s house and lay traps.

The relationship between the imperial family and the Duke’s family was always uneasy.

Duke Carlyle, a nominal vassal of the Empire, was actually exercising autonomous rights and ruling the north at his discretion.

The Duke showing loyalty to the Emperor was nothing but a once-a-year appearance at the New Year’s martial arts event.

As the Duke’s power grew, the Emperor was always nervous. Forming a marriage alliance to bring them to the same side was one way, but the Carlyle house was the only Duke’s house that never had a blood tie with the imperial family till now.

What the Emperor would do was obvious.

The snake that was hard to catch, the Second Prince, and even all the evidence, all gone, now he could subtly undermine the Duke’s house and move in a direction that benefits him.

It might not be immediate, but perhaps the Emperor could secretly support the escaped Second Prince.

Looking blankly at the sea, Juliet seemed to know what she had to do.

“If that’s the case…”

“Peep?”