Forgotten Juliet

The two of them held their breath until that strange noise from above passed.

Juliet asked about the noise that had been bothering her for a while.

“What is that sound?”

“It’s Sebastien’s surveillance dolls.”

“Surveillance dolls?”

“You’re lucky, Miss. You haven’t encountered those dolls yet?”

Hildegard laughed with apparent amusement.

Juliet was puzzled.

Sebastien’s dolls were so sophisticated that they could stand in for real people and even feign death. Why was it considered lucky that she hadn’t encountered them?

“You’ll see when you see them. It might be better not to see if you don’t want to have nightmares.”

“It’s not ‘Miss’. My name is Juliet.”

“Juliet. Understood.”

After introducing herself somewhat gruffly, Juliet sank deep into thought.

She had never heard or seen any such divine power.

“To create dolls identical to humans…”

Is such a thing even possible?

“Your Holiness, I have a question.”

“Hmm? Ask away.”

“You said you knew Genovia when they were young?”

“Yes.”

“What level of divine power did Genovia possess?”

“She was a natural-born genius. There’s no other way to explain it.”

Hildegard spoke with a tone dripping with nostalgia and longing.

It seemed Hildegard had been as fond of Genovia as Sebastien had been.

Juliet smirked teasingly.

“Even more than Your Holiness’s divine power?”

“Yes. While young ones can be unstable, their innate talents don’t diminish.”

“So was Sebastien also born with divine power like Genovia?”

At that question, Hildegard smiled ambiguously. She seemed to guess why Juliet was asking.

“Maybe. But as you know, Juliet, divine power often awakens later in life. It has different characteristics from magic.”

“If she died in a fire, Genovia’s body wouldn’t be left, right?”

“That’s correct.”

“I see. Understood.”

Juliet stood up and stretched her legs. Sitting for so long had made them stiff.

She had asked everything she needed to.

“Oh, just one more thing.”

Juliet rubbed her legs and continued.

“Don’t you want to leave here?”

* * *

“What’s going on?”

Sebastien hurriedly ascended to the surface.

“Ah, Your Holiness.”

The priests, who had been praying fervently, looked surprised upon seeing him.

“No! Where is she? How can she just disappear?”

Sebastien frowned slightly.

This hot-headed redhead was infamous for his antics. He was the notorious Lionel Lebatan’s grandson, an esteemed guest who brought considerable donations every year.

‘Annoying guy.’

Sebastien scowled.

Although he wasn’t sure of the exact relationship…

This man had come with Via. He had heard they were siblings, but it was hard to believe.

Such a vulgar man couldn’t possibly be related by blood to the elegant and beautiful Genovia.

“Please explain the situation calmly.”

“Until yesterday… no, this morning she was fine! Now she’s gone, leaving just this note! Only her luggage is missing! And there are no witnesses or any carriages that might have taken her! Does this make sense?”

Sebastien took the note.

Written neatly was a brief message:

[I have a headache and will leave for a while. I’ll contact you later. Sorry for not telling you in advance.]

Below it was Juliet’s name.

As if seeing the note for the first time, Sebastien said:

“Well, it seems my sister has left. Is there a problem?”

“What? Of course there’s a problem!”

Teo exploded in anger.

“Is it reasonable for her to disappear just leaving this note behind?”

Sebastien smirked.

“Calm down, young man. Everything happens according to the Goddess’s plan. Your sister sought freedom.”

“Hey!”

Teo shouted from behind, but Sebastien walked away without another word.

“Dear guest! No matter how upset you are, you shouldn’t disrespect His Holiness like that!”

Several priests confronted Teo Lebatan.

“I’m already boiling with anger…!”

Teo paused, grumbling.

But did that guy just call Juliet ‘my sister’? Why is Juliet his sister?

* * *

Sebastian opened the barrier and returned to his own space.

The annoying feeling disappeared the moment he saw Juliet, who was quietly asleep in the bedroom.

Perhaps she was heavily sedated, as she was sound asleep, oblivious to the world around her.

Her appearance was utterly pitiful.

“I knew it at first glance.”

From the moment he saw the statue that Gilliam had brought.

Sebastian thought it was the work of a goddess.

It had to be.

The woman who had been the model for the statue had the exact same face as Sebastian’s sister, Genovia. Thus, Genovia, Sebastian’s sister, was a girl with grayish hair and gentle violet eyes.

Excluding the eye color, she looked so much like the deceased Genovia that one might believe she had come back to life.

Sebastian, gently stroking her hair, frowned.

“Don’t worry, Via. I’ll make you perfect soon.”

He murmured, gently brushing Juliet’s eyelids.

“Just need to change the eyeballs…”

Sebastian turned with satisfaction towards the box he had brought.

Inside were the precious eyes he had collected and kept over the years.

They were the exact color of Genovia’s eyes when she was alive.

With these, he would have the perfect Genovia again.

But the moment he eagerly opened the box,

Thunk.

“…?”

At first, Sebastian didn’t realize what had happened.

He tried to turn around.

But his legs wouldn’t cooperate.

Struggling, he saw a woman holding a syringe.

“Phew. I thought I was suffocating.”

It was Genovia, no, it was Juliet who grumbled.

* * *

“Peep?”

The first to notice the strange atmosphere was the baby dragon.

Onyx woke up in the empty room, blinking. The baby dragon was always hungry, so this wasn’t unusual.

Onyx, having had a good sleep, was lively.

He rolled around, tearing up the plush toy given to play with. But he soon got bored.

When will she come back?

After wandering around the bedroom, the baby dragon lay right in front of the door.

“Good boy, Nix. You can’t be seen by others.”

Juliet had said this while pushing Onyx into the box.

The smart baby dragon understood. But he had secretly followed by hiding in the luggage!

Staying hidden in the room was more boring than expected.

Step, step.

“?”

As unfamiliar presences approached from outside the door, the startled baby dragon quickly hid inside the box.

The door opened abruptly.

“Is that really true?”

“Yes, why?”

Chatter.

From inside the box, Onyx peeked out just enough to observe the outside.

They were lower-ranked priest trainees who had come to collect laundry.

While changing the bedsheets, the young girls were engrossed in their chat.

“Are those crowns really sold for that much?”

“Yep. Just saying it’s blessed by the Pope makes it sell at any price.”

“But aren’t there many crowns at the entrance of the altar below?”

“Yes. So, just taking them out fetches a good price.”

Onyx didn’t understand complex words like ‘blessing,’ but he knew what a ‘crown’ was.

It was something Juliet had brought before.

Made by weaving yellow flowers in a round shape. The baby dragon was a bit proud of his cleverness.

Juliet would have praised him!

But the taste of the crown’s flowers was terrible.

Lured by its sweet scent, he tasted it, then spat it out, making Juliet’s subordinate laugh.

Yet, humans liked putting those tasteless things on their heads?

Onyx tilted his head in thought.

Even after the priests left, he stayed in the box, pondering.

Juliet liked those tasteless flowers too, right?

And also that ‘crown.’

Onyx recalled Juliet’s face, smiling and praising the crown.

She might say it’s beautiful and perhaps reward him with something delicious, like an ‘apple’.

“!”

The baby dragon burst out of the box.

The priests, engrossed in their conversation, hadn’t checked the room’s door lock.

Onyx, with a mere head-butt, could easily open the door and step outside.

Though he emerged into a vast corridor, Onyx’s priorities were clear.