Forgotten Juliet

* * *

“Juliet!”

“Hey! Are you okay?”

Then, Roy, Teo, and Eshel rushed to Juliet. For some unknown reason, Teo even had iron bars on one arm.

…He seemed to have run quite urgently.

Juliet, being supported from both sides, walked slowly to the other side of the terrarium.

The goddess’ body disappeared without a trace as soon as Lennox started breaking the ninety-eight barriers.

The sky was perfectly clear. As if nothing had happened just moments before.

However, Juliet could see the tragic scene under the bridge.

‘What did I mess up?’

Inexplicably, that was her first thought.

Something was going seriously wrong.

Dahlia still hadn’t appeared, and so much had changed from her first life.

Juliet slowly closed her eyes and opened them again.

In her past life, Dahlia, the prophetic girl, received the full support of the temple. Dahlia bridged the worst relationship between the North and the temple by falling in love with the Duke of the North.

However, now it seemed that the relationship between the North and the temple was deteriorating.

“…Ugh!”

Suddenly, Juliet felt a pain as if her organs were being turned inside out.

“Be careful!”

As her legs gave way from the unbearable pain, Roy, who was following, supported her.

“Juliet, are you okay?”

Roy asked with concern.

But Juliet wasn’t in a state to answer.

‘It hurts…’

Her body kept leaning forward.

“Juliet?”

“Cough.”

Suddenly, something hot welled up from within. She tasted metal in her mouth. Covering it with her hand was futile.

“Lennox, Your Highness.”

“Juliet!”

“Don’t conflict with the temple.”

She didn’t know why she suddenly said that.

Juliet gasped for breath as if it would be her last and clung to Lennox’s clothes.

‘It hurts…’

Juliet was not in her right mind.

“Because…”

“Stay still.”

“You will need their power.”

“Don’t speak.”

“I have something to say.”

Her body was shaking, and her vision was getting blurry.

“It might sound crazy, but please listen.”

“Damn it, shut up!”

“Lennox, I…”

Every time she opened her mouth, it felt as if her heart would jump out. She could feel her heartbeat intensely.

“I’m sorry.”

“Look at me straight. Keep your eyes open and snap out of it!”

Ah.

For the first time, Juliet thought she might die like this.

“Don’t underestimate the barrier, miss.”

Of all times, Pope Hildegard’s words came to mind.

“If you overstep, you’ll be punished.”

‘Maybe I’m being punished.’

A human who doesn’t know how to handle divine power will be cursed if they act recklessly.

It seems that wasn’t a metaphor.

“Juliet?”

Her consciousness kept fading.

The last thing Juliet remembered was voices shouting desperately trying to wake her up.

“Juliet!”

* * *

For once, Juliet had a pleasant dream. It was neither a recurring nightmare nor a horrible memory from the past.

With the sounds of flowing water and the wind, Juliet sat on a small boat.

She didn’t know who was rowing the boat or who sat behind her, but she didn’t look back. She just sat at the bow, dipping her hand into the water, wanting to touch two white fish swimming gracefully beneath her.

She stretched out her hand a little further. The moment her fingertips brushed against a fish, Juliet slowly opened her eyes.

The first thing she saw was…

A familiar ceiling.

“…My room.”

Juliet looked around.

She wasn’t in the Lebatan mansion in the East or the Duke’s mansion in the North. It was the mansion of the Count Monad’s house, where she was born and raised.

The bed she used since she was a child and the worn-out dolls were all there. The white curtains fluttered from the open window. The wind felt refreshingly pleasant on her skin. She felt light.

‘It’s strange.’

Juliet closely examined the back and palm of her hands. Something felt different, but she couldn’t pinpoint exactly what it was.

What has changed?

The chirping of birds, the sound of the wind, and then…

“…Juliet?”

“Ah, Roy.”

Turning to the voice calling her name, Juliet saw Roy standing at the door, looking quite handsome in a simple shirt and pants.

Approaching the parlor near the entrance, Juliet peeked in and spotted a redhead sitting in a bad posture.

“Hello, Teo.”

“What? When you… Agh!”

Crash!

Teo, who was leaning back on his chair with his legs up on the table out of habit, fell backward.

Forgetting about his fall and his dignity, Teo quickly got up and lashed out at Juliet.

“Hey! Was that how you greet someone?”

It seemed like Teo’s outburst woke up the entire mansion’s people.

The previously quiet mansion became lively in an instant.

People left their rooms, glanced once at Juliet’s room, and moved on.

“Miss Juliet.”

Eshel popped his head in.

“I’m glad you’re back.”

“Yes.”

Still groggy from sleep, Juliet replied in a daze.

“But you know, Teo.”

“What?”

“Teo, your voice is beautiful.”

Startled, Teo, whose mouth was wide open, exclaimed:

“…Doctor!”

“He’s surely hit his head, hasn’t he?”

Teo, grumbling beside them, was eventually chased out by Eshelrid.

“No, do you know what she said to me? That my voice is… beautiful…!”

He made a fuss for a while, but finally left the room after being told that Juliet needed some rest.

“It’s been a while since the world felt this quiet.”

Juliet stared blankly at her empty palms. The evil whispers in her ears and the throbbing headache were gone.

And… the butterflies had disappeared.

* * *

She might have blacked out for a while, but it wasn’t just that.

Lionel Lebatan, looking displeased, scolded Juliet.

“So, do you know that you’ve been sleeping for a whole week?”

‘Well, if it was just a brief blackout, I wouldn’t have passed out in Lucerne and ended up here.’

As soon as she woke up, Lionel summoned thirty of the most renowned doctors in the continent.

“Is the tinnitus… gone?”

“Yes.”

“Ah, that’s… quite rare.”

The doctors were cautious with their words, but they were sweating, glancing over their shoulders.

The legendary underworld bigwig, Lionel Lebatan, was staring at them.

“The young lady… I mean, your granddaughter is healthy.”

“Healthy? She faints, and you call that healthy? Look at her face. Does she look healthy to you?”

“Well, but…”

“Well, she is healthy, but there might be psychological issues…”

“Psychological? You’re saying my granddaughter is mentally disturbed? Then find the cause!”

“Please, sir, spare us!”

“Shush!”

This sort of repetitive pattern didn’t really help.

‘If the tinnitus is gone, isn’t that good?’

All the doctors examining Juliet seemed to think so.

Yes, normally that would be the case.

Juliet instinctively touched the key pendant around her neck.

Worried she might lose it, she was relieved to find that the fake Pope, who had taken it, was a tidy and meticulous villain.

All her possessions had been safely returned.

On the surface, everything seemed to have returned to normal. But along with her voice, the butterflies had vanished too.

‘Can a power just suddenly disappear?’

Where did the butterflies go?

Juliet stared blankly out the open window.

The chronic headache was gone as well. Yet, she couldn’t tell if it was good or bad.

Juliet gazed at her grandfather sitting by her bedside.

Lionel Lebatan, the Red King.

Leader of the underworld.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

That is, an enemy of the Empire.

“But grandfather, are you okay?”

“Hmm?”

Lionel Lebatan smirked enigmatically. Juliet was confused about the meaning of that smile.

Whether it meant ‘My days of getting caught are numbered,’ or ‘Compared to me, the Emperor is nothing.’

“I’d prefer the latter…”

“What are you thinking about? Need something?”

“No, it’s just… Ah-choo!”

Maybe it was due to the open window, but she sneezed.

Suddenly, the gentle smile on Lionel Lebatan’s face, reminiscent of the world’s kindest grandfather, vanished.

In an instant, his face turned stern and he stood up abruptly, shouting.

“Doctor!”