Forgotten Juliet

* * *

At that moment, a strange game of tag was happening at the entrance of the mine.

“Peep!”

“Catch that dragon!”

Just a while ago, Onyx was obediently sitting in front of the entrance, waiting for Juliet as she had instructed.

However, suddenly, armed soldiers appeared from the forest, starting a fight with the knights of the Ducal house.

Nyx tilted his head and tried to evade by climbing up a nearby tree.

“He’s over there!”

“Grrruk?”

But the unfamiliar soldiers chased Onyx with gleaming eyes.

The knights were baffled, but the soldiers, who had spotted the dragon baby, began chasing Onyx in earnest, firing nets and arrows.

“We only need to catch that dragon!”

The suddenly appeared unknown soldiers were actually the troops of the Second Prince who had been on standby.

It had been a week since Duke Carlyle left the capital, and among the rumors circulating in the capital was one saying that ‘the owner of the black dragon could take the throne.’ There was gossip about a prophecy being discovered.

Somehow, the content of the fake prophecy that Juliet used to threaten the Emperor had leaked out.

Having heard the rumor, the Second Prince decided to try to catch the dragon to aim for a last reversal.

“Peep!”

Neither Onyx nor the knights of the Ducal house knew why the soldiers of the Second Prince suddenly appeared and started throwing capture nets.

And thus, a mysterious game of tag began.

“Catch him!”

“He went that way!”

Onyx dodged the nets and arrows, fleeing in all directions.

The soldiers of the Second Prince persistently chased the baby dragon, with the Duke’s knights of the chasing behind them.

The soldiers of the Second Prince, seemingly determined, mobilized all their projectile weapons.

Swoosh!

Every time the nets flew in from all directions unexpectedly, Onyx flew higher up the mountain, gradually getting annoyed.

At first, it was quite fun dodging the flying weapons and teasing the humans, but not anymore.

Onyx thought that simply flying away would do, but those annoying pests tirelessly threw projectile weapons.

Moreover, unlike initially thought, Onyx couldn’t just fly far away.

Crack!

Juliet had clearly told him to wait at the big cave entrance.

Onyx was in a hurry to shake off these annoying pests and get to Juliet.

With nets and capture frames being thrown from all directions, Onyx, against his will, was gradually getting further away from the entrance of the mine.

“Peep!”

The wind on the snow-covered high mountain was harsh enough to surprise even the baby dragon, and whenever he flew a bit lower, nets and arrows flew in from below.

Dodging the flying arrows and projectile weapons while being alert was more tiring than thought.

The annoyed Onyx avoided the thrown nets, flying further and higher.

Before he knew it, he had reached the wooden bridge connecting the high mountain mine and the mine entrance, but the tedious soldiers had followed him up there.

“Peep!”

Eventually, tired and annoyed, Onyx landed on the old bridge.

Not missing the chance, the soldiers who had been chasing him surrounded the dragon from both sides of the bridge.

“It’ll be better if you come here without resisting!”

Baring his teeth and growling, Onyx realized he was surrounded by annoying humans.

“Grr…”

“Come here, good kitty!”

The smirking soldiers menacingly approached Onyx from both sides, holding threatening weapons and nets.

With nerves on edge, Onyx lowered his body, keeping an eye on both sides.

Then-

Creak.

An unusual sound came from under the feet of the baby dragon.

“?”

Not only Onyx, but also the soldiers who were ready to pounce on the dragon a moment ago, all turned their gaze to one place.

Maintaining a slight distance, the baby dragon and the soldiers of the Second Prince, who were in a standoff on either side of the bridge, shared an awkward silence for a moment.

“Grrru?”

“Oh, no!”

The soldiers were the first to understand the situation.

They were standing on a wooden bridge connecting the high mountain and the mountain, and coincidentally, due to an untimely cold snap, the bridge had frozen solid.

Tilting his small head, Onyx didn’t fully understand the situation.

“Hee”

“Heeek!”

However, as he pretended to stomp his feet, he noticed that the faces of the humans on both sides were paling and shivering.

“Go… good kitty?”

“Please, stay still!”

“Peep?”

Onyx, who had been alternately watching the soldiers and the towering high legs, vaguely realized.

High above in the sky.

He had wings, humans didn’t.

“Peep!”

The soldiers watched intently.

With his big round pumpkin-colored eyes half-closed, the baby dragon precisely pressed a crack with his paw.

“Oh… no!”

Now! Taking the scream as a signal, Onyx shifted his weight onto his hind legs and jumped up.

Crash.

With a loud noise, the bridge collapsed.

“Aaah!”

“Kahh!”

As the soldiers screamed and clung to the collapsing bridge, Onyx spread his wings and soared into the sky.

Nix cackled maliciously.

Now that the annoyances had cleanly disappeared from sight, he could return to Juliet.

But then-

Rumble.

“Peep?”

At the unusual sound, the startled baby dragon turned around in mid-air.

Rumble.

The baby dragon’s pumpkin-colored eyes widened like lanterns.

As the effects of the avalanching snow subsided, what came into view was a scene of the cave entrance blocked by a huge boulder.

The entrance of the mine where Onyx had sat waiting for Juliet a moment ago, that was the exact spot.

“Peep!”

The pitiful cry echoed through the snow-covered mountain.

* * *

The Second Prince who had fled, and his remnants were mostly missing, injured, or captured.

However, no one paid attention to the terrified Second Prince or tied-up soldiers.

Night came quickly in the mountain village.

But thanks to the torches placed here and there, the area around the mountain was as bright as day even in the middle of the night, and it was crowded with people hastily gathered.

“Peep!”

The baby dragon, restless throughout the night circling around the mountain range, folded his wings and landed.

Onyx desperately scratched the mound of earth with his front paw, and whined pitifully.

But there was nothing the young dragon could do. Mournfully crying, Onyx looked at the human man with desperate eyes as if pleading for help.

It was a brutal night.

The collapsed mine was so obliterated that it was difficult to find traces of the entrance.

Looking at the massive rocks blocking the entrance, the people who came late were at a loss for words.

And there, a black-haired man stood quietly.

“…Has he been like this for several hours?”

The knights were worried about Duke Carlyle, but didn’t dare to approach him.

They rushed as soon as they noticed, but it was already too late.

Juliet was already trapped underground.

“Master, it’s all my fault.”

The young knight who had been sitting disheartened on the ground spoke.

“The Miss… I failed…”

It was sir Jude, who had been accompanying Juliet.

He always treated Juliet like a younger sister without a hint of formality.

Jude too was injured while escaping from the mine, but his mental shock seemed more severe.

But Lennox Carlyle didn’t even look at Jude, let alone console him. His chilly red eyes, inscrutable in thought, were still fixated on one spot.

He was staring at the massive rocks that swallowed Juliet and collapsed.

The hastily summoned engineers were assessing the scale of the accident, shoveling the dirt.

“Master.”

Vice-captain Milan who had gone to the lord’s office came back and reported.

“There’s an outbreak in the village… the village chief came for help.”

Milan had heard the whole story from the administrator and the villagers.

Juliet had helped the villagers suffering from dysentery, and upon the villagers’ request, went to look around the abandoned mine, where the accident happened.

“…Master?”

Throughout Milan’s summary of the events, Duke Carlyle’s eyes were fixed on the collapsed entrance, making Milan doubtful whether he was listening.

“Sir, Duke.”

Then, a group of villagers, who had been shivering at a distance, approached.