Chapter 13
“The Hundred Eyes of Argos. Hand it over.”
Although he was determined to some extent, the head priest opened his mouth wide.
The Hundred Eyes of Argos.
It was the grandest sacred relic possessed by the current temple in the capital.
As the name implies, the powerful relic, capable of locating the desired object within thousands of kilometers at once, equaled with the sacredness of the holy temple.
“I-I will never give it to you even if I lose my neck! No matter what methods the Duke of the North uses in attempting to steal the sacred relic…”
“I said I’d borrow it for a moment, but I didn’t say I’d steal it.”
Is that so?
After the high priest retraced his memory belatedly, he realized that he had given up his neck too quickly and had lost his mind.
But at the following cold words of Duke Karlyle, his complexion turned gray again.
“But kill-and-steal is not bad either. I don’t have that much patience.”
Hiik-!
The young priest, who was standing beside the head priest while carrying a lantern, let out a frightened noise.
“What will you do?”
“No, nevertheless, you are not allowed to borrow the temple’s treasures without permission…”
“…”
“If you bring it, I’ll return the northern temple in exchange for it.”
‘…If I lend him the Hundred Eyes of Argos, he’ll return the temple in the north?’
It was truly an exceptional condition.
The high priest promptly flicked the abacus bead inside his head.
Perhaps this was an opportunity.
Duke Karlyle yearned The Hundred Eyes of Argos, which signified he was looking for something at the moment. He doesn’t know if that was a person or an object.
Seeing how Duke Karlyle went as far as returning the northern temple, the high priest wondered what he sought so urgently.
Anyway, Duke Karlyle was in a rush, so he assumed it was worth raising the stake.
At best, it might be feasible to extort donations from the duke. Maybe he’ll get promoted to a higher parish.
The high priest, who had finalized his calculation, gave a solemn expression.
“But Duke, the sacred relic cannot be used privately…”
“You’re making a great mistake, high priest.”
However, with only his words, Duke Karlyle shattered the high priest’s ambitious scheme at once.
The man, with his head bent down, slightly brushed his hair in slow motion as if he was bored.
“When did I ask for a negotiation?”
Arrogant red eyes gleamed profusely in the dark.
***
The train station outside the capital was desolate.
It was worthwhile. It was already well past midnight. Excited by the festive atmosphere, people were busy eating and drinking all night, relishing the New Year.
Juliet stood in the direction of the imperial palace and saw the fireworks ascend to the sky a moment ago.
The fireworks were so vivid that it could be seen from outside the capital.
As the bright and dazzling fireworks splendidly rose in the sky, Juliet stared at it vacantly and adjusted her collar.
The weather was very cold to the point that even a small sigh from her lips would freeze away.
Flutter-!
Suddenly, a few butterflies with bluish gleaming wings emerged from somewhere and hovered around her.
Juliet slightly furrowed her brows.
The butterflies with its shining wings were more apparent in the dark.
Her control seemed to have weakened as they appeared even if she didn’t even summon them.
It’s only natural for that to happen since today, Juliet exerted a lot of mana.
The butterflies protested about other parts of themselves that had just perished from the duke’s residence.
Although appearing as separate entities, these butterflies were a cluster of shared consciousness.
One of them landed on the back of Juliet’s hand and chatted about what happened the moment after the magic arts she had put, broke.
Thanks to that, Juliet was able to know everything, as if she had seen what happened in the mansion after she left.
Maybe it was that man who recognized her magic arts and broke it.
“Yes. I see.”
The demon, in the form of a butterfly, whined in a wavelength that only she can hear. Just like a sulky kid.
She thought they’d be angry at her after making them perform unreasonable work, but that’s not what the butterflies complained about.
Instead, they told their contractor about how ruthless the man, who had wiped out some of their kin, was.
They complained that she doesn’t know how painful it was the moment his knife pierced through their wings.
“Did it hurt a lot?”
Of course, they were exaggerating.
The main body of this demon is a massive and powerful deity that exists beyond the dimension. There’s no way they felt pain.
Although Juliet knows it was only an exaggeration, she listened quietly.
This evil and immature demon was satisfied with it and left after a long time whining using their poor human language ability.
Juliet was left alone again.
She wasn’t too worried about the man’s pursuit that the butterflies had just warned her of.
In a few minutes, she will be away from the capital anyway. No matter how competent his men were, it was impossible to find her in such a short time.
Juliet sat alone on the desolate platform and pondered when the train would come.
There was a seat inside the station, but Juliet intentionally came out and waited for the train.
Juliet tip-toed.
She was plainly dressed. Her appearance was so unobtrusive that no one would think she was the same person that attended the Imperial New Year’s banquet just a few hours ago.
A dark blazer, white blouse, and ankle-length skirt. She didn’t forget to neatly tie up her hair and put on a black veil to cover her face.
Juliet looked down at her feet, speculating how much time was left until the train arrives. Instead of the beautiful high-heeled shoes that wandered through the banquet hall, she wore unadorned leather boots.
The ankle-wrapping boots were suitable for traveling.
It seemed as though it was a lie if she said she strolled around the imperial banquet hall on high heels just a few hours ago.
Suddenly, Juliet remembered an old story. The story of a kind-hearted heroine who hastily ran away from the banquet hall at midnight when the spell was lifted.
‘But it’s hard to run away in glass shoes.’
‘I’m not even the main character in the first place.’
Everything that Juliet received from the Dukedom was similar to the kind-hearted heroine’s glass shoes.
Instead of high heeled, gorgeous silver shoes, she chose strong leather boots.
But Juliet realized she was unconsciously thinking about those silver shoes.
As she thought that part of her was rather silly, Juliet laughed a little.
She can’t believe that the last thing she left behind wasn’t a regretful reminiscence of the heartless lovers, but a pair of gorgeous high heels.
Lennox Karlyle was an exceptionally generous lover. He gave her an abundance of luxurious gifts even if she didn’t ask for it.
From beautiful dresses to jeweled ornaments. Just say a word and it’ll be hers.
‘Actually, I’m not even interested in those.’
Anyone who gets used to such life will naturally misinterpret it for winning his heart.
But Juliet wasn’t mistaken from the start. It was because she understood that she would be abandoned someday.
The extravagant gifts were completely unrelated to his affection.
Affection? Lennox Karlyle was far from having such a mushy feeling.
“I won’t bother you.”
In fact, it wasn’t what she wanted to say to him, but it was to remind herself.
It was a pledge to never misunderstood and not to desire anything.
Once, Juliet bumped into this mysterious woman at the banquet hall. Juliet didn’t know her name or face, but she said she had waited for her as soon as she saw Juliet.
“You’d better enjoy it while you can.”
A piece of cryptic advice.
“Because The Duke is very bored.”
If her tone was hostile, Juliet could’ve just dismissed it as jealousy, but Juliet didn’t do that.
That woman hurriedly left the banquet after meeting someone.
Juliet wanted to explain that her advice is unnecessary. It was none other than her who knew a man named Lennox Karlyle the best.
But Juliet brooded over that woman’s advice on her way back to the duchy.
“Well, that’s vulgar.”
“I don’t even know her.”
“What a waste of Count Monad’s name.”
They are not even speaking about some random low-ranking lady, but a noble lady. She had no idea how people have the confidence to make sarcastic remarks about her.
It’s not her first time meeting those people, but after she became his lover, such irrational hostility was familiar.
A smile rose on Juliet’s face.
They might have expected Juliet to pretend to not hear or cry.
Clink-!
Juliet wasn’t nice enough to do that. Instead of sitting down and wiping away her tears with a handkerchief, Juliet always chose to flip the teacup over.
Thanks to her, Duke Karlyle’s notoriety has increased, but what about it?
Contrary to people’s sarcasm, it was not a big deal for Juliet to stand by his side. Because she didn’t expect anything from the start.
It was an easy job to become Lennox Karlyle’s lover. However, it seems that she doesn’t have anyone’s heart to protect.
She doesn’t have to constantly become Duke Karlyle’s woman. Whoever his lover was doesn’t matter. Any woman could be one as long as it was someone who can be his sleeping partner.
Tuk-!
Juliet tried to ignore a drop of tear that fell on the back of her hand.
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