Forgotten Juliet

He was leaning against the bed, looking into a book.

“Your Highness.”

Juliet stared at him with emotionless eyes.

Sometimes, she was melancholic.

Mostly, his attention wasn’t given without a price, and even after Juliet gave him what he demanded, she was always parched.

With a feverless gaze, Juliet stared at the man for a while and then asked.

“The hunting?”

“…Are you curious about that?”

His tone was incredulous.

“I canceled it.”

He closed his book with a sound, rose from the bed, and leaned on the headboard.

Occasionally, Juliet wondered how his red eyes could look so cold.

“Instead, I bought a boat.”

“…Suddenly?”

At Juliet’s reaction, his forehead creased.

“Didn’t you say you wanted one?”

Juliet lost her words and turned her head to avoid his gaze.

“Juliet.”

A displeased touch followed and lifted her chin.

Only then did Juliet notice her small luggage bag quietly placed on the armchair on one side of the bedroom.

There was no sign of it being opened or tidied up. It was just as it had been when she had taken it and fainted.

He was curious about the meaning of that bag, but he quickly understood the answer.

There’s no way. The one who had placed that bag quietly in the bedroom must have been one of the numerous servants of the mansion.

He must not have cared at all about what that bag was, or why she fainted not in her room but on the stairs leading outside.

She felt dizzy and tightly closed her eyes.

Nothing will change…

Nothing at all.

Swallowing her tears, Juliet barely pleaded.

“Next time… next time. I just want to rest now.”

* * *

The Canabel Village was a small rural village, so the children, including Magda and Deyna, decided to accompany them to Carcassonne, where the big hospital is, for treatment.

Deyna, and Lisbell, Zachary’s daughter, who was the same age, quickly became friends and frolicked around.

“Sister!”

Deyna, who had found Juliet eating porridge in the tent, came near the carriage and showed her something.

“This is a picture of our mom!”

“Wow.”

It was Magda’s sketchbook. Juliet opened her eyes wide.

“Did your mom draw all of these?”

“Yes! Our mom’s drawings are pretty, aren’t they!”

As a five-year-old, Deyna seemed to want to boast about her mother.

“?”

“Where, where?”

Passing people also stopped and watched the sketchbook.

“Is it Magda’s sketch?”

“Yes, they say Magda is a famous sculptor.”

“Oh, then this must be a sketch of the Sorrowful Saintess.”

“Sorrowful Saintess? What’s that?”

Everyone murmured in curiosity.

Thanks to this, Deyna’s shoulders got higher and higher.

“Deyna! Don’t bother sister!”

That was, until Magda came chasing after her to scold Deyna.

“It’s okay. But, I’m sorry for looking without permission.”

“It’s nothing.”

Juliet returned the sketchbook to Magda.

There were several sketches of an angel in flowing clothes, or rather, a beauty with wings.

She had a sharp sword in one hand and a scale in the other.

Juliet slowly admired the drawings.

‘Wow, a sculptor must be good at drawing too.’

They were all beauties that didn’t seem real.

“Can I take a look as well?”

“Yes, of course.”

Eshelrid, who seemed interested in the image of the Sorrowful Saintess from the beginning, sat next to Juliet and started flipping through the sketchbook.

“You said the statue is still unfinished?”

“Yes, only the final work is left… but I still don’t know what kind of face I should draw.”

Even though any face from these would be fine to sculpt, Magda’s worry seemed different.

“I might end up with a Faceless Saintess.”

Magda laughed as she said this.

Juliet admired the sketches over Eshel’s shoulder.

“But, does the Sorrowful Saintess always have to be a beautiful weeping woman?”

“Huh?”

“I think I wouldn’t cry if it were me. Being a sinner. Wouldn’t that look stronger?”

“Um…”

Eshel, who had been quietly listening, chimed in as if flabbergasted.

“Why should the Sorrowful Saintess look strong?”

“She’s the final saint descending to judge on Judgment Day, right? She must be the strongest!”

“…That’s a matter of interpretation!”

“Well then, the expression is also a matter of interpretation! Why does she always have to weep beautifully? Isn’t she the one giving out punishments?”

“That’s…”

“….Right?”

As Eshel rarely lost for words, Juliet smirked.

“Why did the Sorrowful Saintess become the most beautiful saintess in the first place?”

“Well, maybe because she’s the last one to come down? And since the main character usually appears last, maybe that’s why?”

So, the main character has a boosted appearance, that’s it.

“Big sis!”

At that moment, Lisbell, who had been playing with paper and drawing tools, ran over to Juliet.

She held a fluttering piece of paper in her hand.

“Brother Teo drew it for me!”

Teo can draw?

Juliet and Eshel unfolded the paper with trepidation.

“A mouse?”

“Can’t you see? It’s a bear, a bear.”

“Could it be a pig?”

“Are the legs at least four?”

Amidst everyone’s comments, Teo, who was approaching, looked fierce.

“Give it back.”

Teo took back his drawing, clenching his jaw.

“What on earth did you draw?”

The answer came from Lisbell’s mouth.

“A rabbit! Brother drew a rabbit for me!”

Lisbell hopped about, exclaiming excitedly.

While Juliet was looking at Teo with rare sympathy, Magda, who had been lost in thought, called her.

“Then, if you, Miss summoner, no, Juliet, were to draw, what kind of expression would you give?”

“Uh, I can’t draw.”

Juliet made a perplexed expression.

Her drawing skills were only slightly better than Teo’s.

“It’s okay. It’s not a drawing, it’s a sculpture!”

Drawing or sculpture. It seemed to be the same thing.

“I’m not sure, but if it were me…”

Juliet responded with a slightly embarrassed smile.

“I probably wouldn’t cry so prettily and pitifully for those who have sinned.”

Eshel, who had been listening to the conversation with his chin propped, cynically commented.

“Such an unforgiving saintess.”

Juliet shrugged her shoulders.

* * *

“Do you have to go to Lucerne?”

“Yes.”

Magda, who had been drawing something until just before she left, closed her sketchbook.

Magda seemed engrossed in deep thought until she arrived at her destination.

She seemed to have had some kind of epiphany.

Juliet hoped that whatever it was, it would work out well.

Upon hearing the news that Juliet’s party would go through Carcassonne and then to Lucerne to watch the carnival, Magda was extremely delighted.

“Well, the sculpture I completed will be unveiled at the Lucerne shrine.”

Juliet widened her eyes.

Right, Eshel mentioned something like that during their conversation.

‘Wasn’t it really amazing?’

Juliet looked at Magda with newfound admiration.

“I hope you can take a good look at the completed Sorrowful Saintess, Juliet.”

“Yes, I will.”

Juliet smiled and bid farewell to Magda and Deyna.

* * *

What followed was a luxurious journey.

Despite a minor sprained ankle, Helen treated Juliet as if it was a major incident, not allowing her to step a foot outside the carriage.

Naturally, the slow pace of travel and horseback riding were absolutely prohibited.

“But…”

“No. Just lie down quietly.”

If she gets used to this, it could be a problem.

Although the journey by quadrupedal carriage was extravagant, Juliet quickly became bored. She would have preferred riding a horse, but even that was forbidden.

Juliet then realized that her aunt’s insistence on making her wear a skirt that morning was all part of a calculated plan.

‘She kept praising how pretty I was.’

It was all part of Helen’s grand scheme, to keep Juliet obediently seated in the carriage.

Teo, who popped up annoyingly whenever she was about to get bored, seemed to find it amusing that Juliet was bored.

However, before long, he was snatched away by Helen for teasing, ‘You can ride sideways in the saddle, you dummy’ and Juliet didn’t see him again until they reached their destination.

“Roy!”

Juliet, who had been leaning on the window sill looking bored, was startled when Roy suddenly appeared.

Smiling broadly, Roy held something out to her.

It was wild strawberries wrapped in a leaf.

‘Wild strawberry…’

Looking at the appetizing wild strawberries reminded her of a memory.

“She smells like wild strawberries!”

A woman in Roy’s group, Elsa, said that.

From that day on, Elsa and Nathan, along with Roy’s group, traveled with the Guild and sometimes appeared and sometimes didn’t.

At first, Juliet was curious about where they had gone, but after realizing they appeared and disappeared as they pleased, she didn’t worry much.

Elsa wasn’t seen that day, so Juliet mentioned it to Roy.

“Elsa said that. I smell like wild strawberries.”

“…Elsa?”

Roy’s expression briefly turned peculiar.