Forgotten Juliet

* * *

The servant led the three of them down to the audience room downstairs.

“Welcome!”

As they descended, a squat man dressed in a brilliantly colorful robe sprang up and shouted.

Robert Aquitas.

The great lord of Aquitaine, was old and decrepit, and nobody was left by his side.

His talented eldest daughter, who was his successor, was killed in the battlefield, and the whereabouts of his two remaining sons have been mysterious for years.

Rumors had it that they had a big fight with their father about their sister’s death and left their family.

Thus, the only ones left by the old lord’s side were those who flattered him, always eager to pull something off.

“Thank you for your hospitality.”

But that was not the concern of Lennox Carlyle. His purpose for being here wasn’t Aquitaine’s Lord.

“What do you mean by hospitality!”

Despite Lennox’s soulless formalities, Robert, Aquitaine’s Lord, kept laughing and welcoming him.

“You’re welcome to stay as long as you want, don’t feel pressured.”

Robert winked at his servants and took Lennox and his companions out again.

“Now, come this way. A place has been prepared.”

The lord seemed to be showing off his guests as they followed him.

Robert took their party downstairs.

The downstairs, adorned with a red banner and lavishly decorated, was a small banquet hall, and a few guests had already arrived.

As they entered, the people in the banquet hall stood up all at once, and the sound of chairs being dragged on the floor could be heard.

The atmosphere was chaotic with attitudes that seemed a little tense overall.

Hadin, who usually showed little change in expression, had no reaction, but Jude blew a low whistle and looked at his master.

The intentions of the lord of Aquitaine were obvious.

He obviously wanted to show off his friendship with the Duke of the North in front of the nobles.

‘That’s all he can boast about.’

Jude frowned briefly, but as far as he knew, his lord, Duke Carlyle, wasn’t the type who likes being used in such matters.

However, contrary to Jude’s expectations, Lennox quietly sat in the seat next to the lord of Aquitaine without a word.

Hadin and Jude had no choice but to sit down with a slightly disappointed look. Jude quietly pursed his lips.

As the lord instructed, the musicians started playing, and the glasses were filled.

After a while, Robert, who had been rambling on, patted Duke Carlyle’s shoulder as if he was his father.

“Your dead father and I were very close. So feel free to think of me as your father.”

Lennox knew that if his father were alive, he would never have associated with someone like Robert Aquitas, but he din’t bother to point that out.

“Ahem.”

One middle-aged man among the people sitting in the banquet hall cleared his throat to get the lord’s attention

“Oh, I should be mindful. Well, well, there is someone I need to introduce.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the man who had coughed falsely approached and introduced himself.

“It’s an honor to meet you, Your Highness. I am Viscount Caiman.”

Caiman was ambitious man.

He was so ambitious that he would flatter the old and crafty great lord of Aquitaine and wait for his chance.

He hunted rare monsters and sold them in the arena, kidnapped beasts and sold them at auctions, and much of the money the Red Chariot Guild made flowed directly into Robert Aquitas.

Although slavery was illegal under imperial law, the law of the Empire meant little in the East.

The nominal ruler of the East, the great lord of Aquitaine, was turning a blind eye to all these illegal activities in return for gold.

But the reason why Caiman had so far flattered the great lord of Aquitaine was that he was waiting for an opportunity to connect with other nobles through him.

And his expectation was answered. In a much larger scale than he had thought.

‘Duke Carlyle.’

When Robert Aquitas casually mentioned the name of the millennium family of the North, Caiman couldn’t believe him.

Isn’t it too incredible? Even if the Emperor had come, he wouldn’t have been so surprised.

But as the wine glasses circled and he got drunk, Viscount Caiman began to loosen up, even his mind, thanks to the relaxed tension.

‘You can’t trust rumors.’

Caiman glanced at Lennox, who was sitting in the seat of honor, with lax eyes.

‘That young punk. He’s arrogant.’

Caiman thought, his own son would have been about that age if he had married early.

The moment he first saw Duke Carlyle, Viscount Caiman couldn’t help but be surprised.

…Is he ‘that’ Duke Carlyle?

He was indeed a handsome man, hard to forget once seen.

When he heard the story that he had achieved his legendary deeds before turning thirty, Viscount Caiman naturally imagined a giant over 2 meters tall.

While assuming that there would be some exaggeration, he also had a certain admiration for the warrior.

But what he saw before him was a young man who hadn’t even reached his thirties, with a look that could charm the noblewomen of the court.

The balanced posture and muscular body were undoubtedly achieved only after long years of training in swordsmanship.

But the impact of his neat face, which seemed to be drawn only in black and white, was so strong that it blocked other thoughts.

On top of that, his red eyes were somewhat creepy.

‘Hmph. So this is the noble Duke.’

He was peeved at his unexpectedly more aristocratic appearance.

Moreover, there was a decisive reason that most provoked Caiman.

He didn’t see a sword.

If he is a knight, he should consider his sword as important as his life.

Only two knights who appeared to be the escort of Duke Carlyle were armed.

Although Caiman was acting aristocratic, like many new nobles in the east, he was just a scoundrel who crawled through back alleys and bought his position with money.

The East operates more on the logic of guilds and the underworld than the Emperor’s law, and Caiman was proud of himself for having survived in such a harsh place.

He admired the nobles more than anyone, but at the same time, he despised them.

Even the duke of Aquitaine in front of him was the same.

A hundred years ago, the Aquitas family might have ruled the east, but now, aren’t they selling knighthoods to anyone for a chest of gold?

Viscount Caiman was subtly disregarding the old and frail Duke of Aquitaine, Robert Aquitas, while using him for his own purposes.

Nobles who are said to have blue blood are all the same in the face of power and money.

So isn’t it superior to start from nothing and secure a position with your own strength?

The young lad was the same.

A well-raised young master who keeps away from the sword, making the excuse that it’s heavy and only dresses fancy.

Perhaps it was the start of his drunkenness, but once that thought came to mind, one thought led to another.

Viscount Caiman began to see everything about the young Duke Carlyle, who was clearly younger than him, as displeasing.

In other words, it was obvious that he was relying on the good luck of his noble birth and a half-baked face.

He would have usurped the achievements of the lower ones by flaunting his position. And that without even getting blood on his hands.

However, the next moment, as the gaze of Lennox Carlyle casually glanced towards him, Viscount Caiman quickly flinched and adjusted his expression.

At that moment, the sufficiently intoxicated Duke Aquitas spoke.

“By the way, Caiman, I heard your guild members are looking for someone in Aquitaine these days?”

“Ah, yes, they are. But your lordship, you don’t need to worry. Haha.”

If he mentioned that they were looking for an unidentified spirit summoner, inevitably the conversation would have flowed towards the werewolf he had illegally captured.

Viscount Caiman, who wanted to leave a good impression in front of the Duke as much as possible, vaguely told him to pay no mind.

However, the Duke Aquitas, who was under the influence of alcohol, was clueless.

“What’s going on? Tell me, I can help as far as my reach extends!”

It seemed that Robert Aquitas wanted to show off his authority in front of the young Duke from the North.

“Ah, it’s nothing.”

With a groveling smile, Viscount Caiman reluctantly spilled the beans.

“During the process of moving goods from the top, a woman appeared and messed things up.”

Duke Aquitas clicked his tongue as if it was a bother.

“Huh. She must be a bold woman. So, did you catch her?”

“Not yet, but you don’t have to worry. Where can such a thing run away to? She will pay the price for touching your lordship’s goods.”

Robert, who was pleased with Caiman’s flattery, boasted unnecessarily.

“No, no! Then I absolutely cannot stand idly by! Your business is also my business, isn’t it?”

“Your lordship, you don’t have to worry too much. It’s very specific, so catching her is just a matter of time.”

“A matter of time?”

“Ah, that’s…”

Caiman hesitated for a moment.

But once he confirmed that all eyes, except for that arrogant Duke’s, were on him, he became cheerful and eventually spoke.

“Since she’s a rare woman who wields evil magic, we’ll find her soon.”

“What do you mean by evil magic?”

“That… She’s a rare spirit summoner who can manipulate butterfly demons.”

“!”

Upon hearing that, not only the other people at the banquet, but even the bored Jude and silently sitting Hadin turned their heads.

Encouraged by the stirring response, Caiman puffed up his chest.

“I’m not sure if Your Grace knows, but in our East, it’s not that difficult to find a spirit mage.”

Actually, Caiman himself had only met one twice in his life, but that wasn’t very important now.

Baron Hilben quickly interjected, seizing the opportunity.

“I remember the suspect’s face clearly, so there will be no difficulty in finding her, Your Grace.”

“Hmm.”

“Ah, although the East is wide, it’s still within my palm!”

Robert Aquitas just raised his glass, seemingly satisfied with the situation.

“Did you say a spirit summoner?”

At that moment, the air turned cold.

For the first time Duke Carlyle, who had been maintaining his position with a bored expression throughout the banquet, showed interest.