Forgotten Juliet

Lennox Carlyle.

Velokitana quite liked its contractor.

Over centuries, it had seen many humans, but this contractor was the first to become a possessor of a possessed sword without asking what it could do for him.

-Quite useful.

He showed interest only in the fact that the sword didn’t rust.

He showed no interest in Velokitana.

Meeting a human without desires was very rare.

And it was harder to meet a wise human who knew there was a price to pay for borrowing the power of evil spirits.

Perhaps, if there hadn’t been a temporary problem with his vision due to an accident in this life, the contractor would have been too lazy to even speak to the panther.

A lazy evil spirit and an arrogant human contractor were quite good partners, and Velokitana grew quite fond of its indifferent contractor.

It enjoyed wandering around the world after being trapped in the cursed sword for a while, and maybe it had thought of settling down as a guardian spirit of the family secretly.

‘Maybe I am becoming more like a human.’

Velokitana thought of a corrupted snake that resembled humans too much.

The snake that hated humans and went crazy had already lost its sanity.

While impatient butterflies desperately want to return to their original dimension, that snake was obsessed with this world fanatically.

‘That snake probably forgot even its own name.’

There was only one thing that crazy snake wanted.

To turn back time and revive a contractor who had died hundreds of years ago.

‘Eleanor Carlyle…’

Coincidentally, Lennox Carlyle was the only contractor of evil spirits who could turn back time.

Of course, it might have been possible hundreds of years ago when that woman had just died, but now it’s almost impossible.

(But the snake will never give up as long as there’s a way in front of it.)

In the previous life, right after being captured by the young Duke Carlyle, the snake realized the fact at once.

And the snake killed the most precious being to Lennox Carlyle to wield him to its will.

‘So that guy will open the door to turn back time.’

To bring back a dead lover.

With the absurd hope that he might be able to go back hundreds of years, the snake turned Lennox Carlyle into the same pair as himself.

Of course, it was an absurd idea.

To go against hundreds of years of time as the snake wanted required tremendous energy, sacrifices, and offerings, which is not something a mere human can handle.

(I wanted to stop it somehow…)

Taking advantage of the damaged causality, Velokitana tried its best.

Though it was hard to say anything correctly due to the restriction of ‘curse’ set by that snake.

It was an unusual treatment for Velokitana, who enjoyed the time of indifference, to try to intervene in the mere human affairs.

It tried to somehow wake up the memory, avoiding the snake’s eyes, and also warned the human woman who held the key.

If either of them realized the truth, couldn’t they stop that crazy snake?

With such hope.

However.

Velokitana looked back sadly.

Creak.

The heavy stone door started to open very slightly with a faint sound.

(So this is the result of my effort.)

Velokitana sighed deeply.

To go back to the distant past as the crazy snake demanded required even greater pain and price to pay.

And ‘greater pain’ naturally meant the share that its contractor, Lennox Carlyle, had to bear.

Turning back time didn’t mean everything could be cleanly reversed.

Traces of cracks remained on the broken glass; time left traces somehow.

‘I wonder how many regressions that guy’s soul can withstand.’

Velokitana murmured sadly.

The snake that lost its sanity would never stop this madness, chasing two people to achieve an impossible goal until then.

Even now, if Juliet returns as a cold corpse, his contractor will dedicate everything to turn back the time again.

Then back to square one.

‘How can I break this shackle?’

In the end, Velokitana couldn’t find the answer this time either.

The black panther quietly looked at the door of time starting to open slightly with powerless eyes.

* * *

The reason Juliet understood the desperate hint of the butterflies was that it was the answer to the question she had always been curious about.

How did I die and come back to the past?

Why was a second chance given?

Juliet didn’t think she was special, so instead of simply being grateful for her luck, she had always been curious.

But if that snobbish black panther had the power to go against time, it explained somewhat.

“…After I died, did you push Lennox to go back to the past?”

“You’re quite clever for a human.”

The snake was more amenable than expected.

“I didn’t think you’d notice. That deserves praise.”

Juliet got closer to the answer.

Juliet Monad was not the snake’s target but a means.

To lure Lennox Carlyle into a well-crafted trap, to manipulate him as desired using bait.

What the snake truly aimed for was Lennox Carlyle’s sword.

Ever since the snake cursed Eleanor’s lineage long ago, it had repeated a tiresome game of tag, escaping and being caught by the northern humans.

This went on for hundreds of years.

-Break the damned curse.

The snake immediately recognized the young, fresh-faced Carlyle as the owner of the magical sword.

It was on a different level compared to mundane artifacts. Imprisoned within the magical sword was a lazy king who controlled time.

The great king of time, too, was nothing but a pathetic spirit bound to the artifact.

Once a contractor pays a fair price, it has to obediently open the door. Such was his fate.

Lennox Carlyle angrily demanded the curse to be lifted immediately to save a woman with a child.

However, from that moment on, the snake lost interest in tormenting Carlyle with the ancient curse.

‘With that, I can meet Eleanor again.’

Having found a goal after hundreds of years, the snake devised a scheme full of ecstasy.

Of course, the young fresh-faced Carlyle was not to be underestimated, but it didn’t matter. His only weakness, Juliet Monad, was easy prey.

In the end, the snake deceived the pitiful human woman and killed her in front of young Duke Carlyle.

So he borrowed the power of the spirit to forcibly turn back time.

Of course, there was a minor problem with the snake’s plan.

In his previous life, Lennox Carlyle did turn back time as planned, but it was only a mere 10 years’ worth.

To resurrect Eleanor, a character from hundreds of years ago, was significantly insufficient, but the snake thought such a minor discrepancy could be resolved.

The power exercised by the spirit was proportional to the pain and sacrifice offered by the contractor.

So, this time, should they offer a bigger price and sacrifice?

After all, the human woman, Lennox Carlyle’s only weakness, was in his grasp.

It didn’t matter if he failed again this time. They could repeat the same thing multiple times.

“But even if you notice my scheme, what can you do?”

The snake’s face, which had been smiling beautifully, twisted menacingly.

“Will you rush to Carlyle and tell on me?”

Pale-faced Juliet bit her lip and stepped back, but soon her back hit a cold pillar.

“Do you think you can escape this time?”

The snake, approaching step by step, roughly grabbed Juliet by the collar.

“Weak humans.”

Woosh.

Juliet thought it looked like a purple flame.

“Shall I teach you what I’ll do?”

The snake smiled wickedly with a handsome face.

“Initially, I thought of killing you alive in front of Lennox Carlyle, but I changed my mind. A quick death is too merciful, isn’t it?”

Suddenly, Juliet remembered when she scratched its cheek with a crossbow, the snake was furious like fire. ‘Eleanor loves this face!’ it said.

But that face, too, was obviously a shell stolen from some human he had devoured.

Juliet suspected that this snake had devoured someone whom Eleanor Carlyle loved and stolen their appearance.

“That’s right, I won’t kill you right away. You gave me a fun idea.”

The snake’s purple eyes shimmered with madness.

“I’m curious what expression Lennox Carlyle will have when he sees you gone mad.”

But Juliet’s gaze was slightly off from the threatening snake holding her throat.

Twinkle, twinkle.

She squinted a bit, looking over the snake’s shoulder.

Specifically, at the still feebly fluttering butterflies on the ground.

‘They mentioned it as the power of the field.’

Now barely breathing, losing almost all their light, according to the black panther, her butterflies had the ability to go anywhere.

And the story of Quirier Monad, who fooled such great butterflies and imprisoned them ‘beyond the door’ using their own abilities.

At a moment where she might die any moment, Juliet absurdly thought of such a story.

“Humans.”

Whether interpreting Juliet’s thoughtful expression as fear, the snake chuckled.

“You won’t die easily. Even if it’s just to spite you for all the trouble you’ve caused.”

Throwing Juliet on the ground, the snake bent down to grab the scattered butterflies.

The butterflies, struggling to move their wings, desperately tried to escape from the snake’s grasp, but it was futile.

Even then, the fallen butterflies desperately fluttered their broken wings, barely flying into Juliet’s hands as if seeking refuge.

The snake clenched a butterfly and ordered.

“Open.”

Then a massive door appeared before them.