Forgotten Juliet

“How should I, what should I say…”

They were miners and their families working in the mines.

Surprisingly, there was no damage to the extent of the collapse accident where the entire ceiling of the abandoned mine had caved in.

It’s obvious. The only missing were the old woman, who was the village chief’s mother, and Countess Monad, just the two of them.

“The Countess saved our children.”

“We, we will help too.”

They were the people Juliet hastily sent up first.

“…When the mine collapsed, they were with Miss Juliet too.”

Upon hearing this, the Duke moved his head for the first time.

The reason Lennox didn’t open his mouth all along was not because he was stunned or shocked.

For him, all of this situation felt eerily unreal.

The ceiling collapsed, and Juliet got involved in the accident.

Whispering words in his ears. All he had heard since he came here was worthless talk.

Lennox couldn’t understand this situation.

He was familiar with death. Having lived his life in constant strife as the Duke of Carlyle, and immediately after losing his parents, he was thrown into an abyss he could never escape.

But what he was accustomed to was the death of himself or someone he would kill, not the death of a lover whom he wanted to keep by his side by all means.

‘But who, how?’

All he understood was one thing.

Juliet.

His gaze turned towards the villagers with melancholy expressions.

“They were with Juliet.”

“Yes.”

It didn’t make sense to Lennox.

The tunnel collapsed, Juliet got trapped underground, and they came out alive.

If Juliet really got trapped underground.

“So why are they alive?”

“…Master!”

Milan, who was standing right next to him, instinctively blocked between the Duke and the villagers.

Milan regretted it. It was never wise to have people surviving instead of her in front of a man who lost his lover. Even if they had good intentions.

Duke Carlyle right now was as precarious as a man walking on a blade. He couldn’t expect rational judgment.

“Miss Juliet is trapped down there!”

Startle.

Milan’s words had an effect. The Duke responded when Juliet’s name was mentioned.

The red eyes of the Duke, who had paused breathing for a moment, slowly closed and opened again.

“First, rescuing the lady.”

“How long will it take?”

“Your Highness.”

“The underground situation is quite unstable, so it’s hard to guarantee anything.”

“If the work is hurried recklessly, there might be additional collapses.”

“I asked how long it will take.”

“At least ten days.”

“Then it will take less than that.”

“Yes?”

Seeing the Duke calmly saying insane words, none of the knights could dissuade him.

“Find a point that can minimize the collapse like using a battering ram. You can do that much.”

“Well, that’s correct. But…”

The engineers, although confused, understood the intuitive order of the Duke. It meant to calculate a point to break the entrance like breaking down the walls in a siege.

“Let’s do it.”

It was bound to be a tiresome job.

“Sir Milan.”

The Duke’s secretary, Elliot, called Milan from behind.

“…What should you say.”

Elliot whispered as quietly as possible.

“If something goes wrong, what are you going to do? His Highness…”

Anyone could see that Duke Carlyle wasn’t normal. If by any chance, something happened to Juliet, they didn’t know what would happen.

Nobody dared to say, but they all thought the same.

Milan sighed deeply.

“So pray.”

No matter if she was under the protection of a mysterious being.

Even if by a miracle Juliet wasn’t killed in the accident, how long could she endure without water or food?

* * *

‘It hurts.’

Juliet woke up feeling terrible pain.

But as soon as consciousness returned, the rushing pain almost made her faint again.

“Ughh.”

It seemed like her ribs were broken.

‘Am I alive?’

Feeling the pain meant she hadn’t died yet.

Juliet tried hard to open her eyes and come to her senses.

Strange.

Of course, the fact that she was still alive was the strangest, but besides that, there were more than one or two strange things.

Clearly, as the mine shaft collapsed, she must have been trapped inside the mine.

The situation was far from being suffocated or buried under a pile of dirt.

No, rather when she opened her eyes and barely lifted her head, what she saw was a high ceiling and…

“You’re awake.”

Shining blond hair and purple eyes.

“You’re quite the tenacious woman.”

It was the face of the smooth-skinned Count Jermang.

Ah, right.

Juliet remembered the last scene she saw before being entangled in the accident.

‘Surely, caught in a landslide…’

The snake, disguised as an old woman, had dragged her here.

“You…”

“Yeah. A sphere this time, right?”

Shamelessly, the snake grabbed Juliet’s neck, dragging her towards a stone pillar.

“Ugh.”

“Keep quiet now. I need to think about how I am going to kill you.”

Then the snake began to pace around the empty space, seemingly contemplating.

Sweating coldly, Juliet, who managed to sit upright, could see the arch-shaped pillars and the high ceiling.

It was curious how such a large stone chamber existed beneath this abandoned mine.

All that was visible was a high altar fit for placing a coffin and…

‘…Why is it visible?’

Although her body hurt, Juliet’s rationality was intact.

Since the shaft collapsed and they were trapped underground, there shouldn’t be any light… or so Juliet thought, but was shocked.

There was light?

Moreover, the faint source of light was none other than her butterflies.

To be exact, butterflies scattered haphazardly on the floor.

Butterflies that once flew around spreading bright light were now weakly laying on the ground, faintly glowing as they feebly flapped their wings.

“Butterflies?”

The relief was short-lived.

Juliet realized that the butterflies were in serious condition.

The butterflies fluttered their ragged and wounded wings desperately, attempting to somehow approach Juliet.

(…)

They seemed to be trying to say something, but the sound was too small and faint for her to hear.

“…That damned Carlyle bastard.”

Even the snake, anxiously muttering and pacing around the chamber, wasn’t normal.

‘Is it a side effect of breaking the barrier and escaping.’

The scar left by Juliet’s crossbow on his right cheek was still there, and the muttering snake seemed uneasy somewhere.

Of course, it was said he’s mad, but…

Juliet scrutinized her situation while glaring at the snake.

…Although her bones were broken, and she was trapped dozens of meters underground with dangerous spirits, she was still alive.

But, at the moment, Juliet had no way to escape from the snake.

All she had was the visible key in the water, and the nearly dying butterflies.

‘I might really die this time…’

Then suddenly, Juliet thought of a very obvious question.

‘Why doesn’t he just kill me?’

In this life, Juliet had encountered the snake several times.

At the temple, and at the auction house in the east.

Those were very brief moments, but if the snake had decided, he could have easily killed Juliet.

But despite having had several chances, the snake spared her every time.

And even now.

“A little more, no, now…”

The anxiously pacing snake seemed like someone waiting for something.

‘Waiting, for what?’

Come to think of it, was it only when Lennox was nearby that the snake tried to kill her?

(He hates humans and has gone mad.)

The black panther said so, but even though he lost his conscience and went mad, the snake was acting with some purpose.

At least Juliet believed so.

The snake loathed the Duke’s family, hovered around Lennox Carlyle threatening her – surely there must be a reason for that.

‘Some purpose…’

The purpose of an evil spirit who hated humans to the point of madness. What could it be?

‘Think, think.’

Flutter.

Barely catching its breath, a butterfly fluttering its wings on the ground flew onto the back of Juliet’s hand.

(Purpose. No.)

“…?”

(That woman. Eleanor. Purpose.)

(Died. Snake. Angry.)

(Snake.)

‘What?’

(Long ago. Snake. Noticed.)

(Carlyle. Human male. Had. Sword.)