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Chapter 117




* * *
Lennox, having hastily returned to the mansion, frowned slightly.
“Juliet?”
He briskly climbed the stairs.
Without a word to him, or to the knights of the duchy knights, Juliet had returned from the ballroom to the mansion.
There was a commotion as people searched for her whereabouts.
“The lady has already returned,” the butler reported, but it didn’t ease his anger.
Lennox found Juliet in a bedroom on the second floor of the mansion.
“What are you doing here?”
The lights were not turned on. She had vanished without a word, again causing concern. And it wasn’t even her bedroom she was in but his.
He paused for a moment at the door, glaring at Juliet, assuming that nothing but harsh words would come out.
When he realized Juliet had disappeared from the ballroom, he was beside himself.
The door to the terrace was wide open. White curtains flapped wildly.
“Duke.”
Juliet, who had been sitting on the railing of the terrace, turned to look at him.
“Come down.”
“Why?”
“Damn it. It’s dangerous.”
Seeing her precariously seated, Lennox approached quickly to pull her down, extending his hand.
However, Juliet just stared blankly at his hand, then looked away again.
“Your Highness.”
Barefoot, without even a robe on, Juliet was dressed in a short negligee, revealing her calves.
“The moon is beautiful.”
Her dress fluttered in the wind.
The moment Juliet flicked her ankle while sitting on the railing, he felt a surge of frustration. The bright full moon seemed eerily beautiful.
“I get it. Come down.”
Unable to restrain himself any longer, Lennox forcibly pulled Juliet down.
With his strong grip, Juliet obediently came down from the railing.
However, as Juliet staggered and pushed him, they both fell.
“…Did you drink?”
He felt a mix of exasperation and also the need to immerse her in a warm bath immediately.
Her body was cold.
But as Lennox tried to lift her up, wrapping his arm around the back of her head, he hesitated.
Juliet clung to him like an animal trembling from the cold.
“Lennox.”
“Why.”
“Have I ever told you I love you?”
For a moment, it felt as if his heart had stopped.
That statement was a taboo between them.
Juliet, breaking the silence of years, asked with her calm eyes:
“If I say I love you, what will you do for me?”
“…What do you want?”
Lennox hoped his voice didn’t sound too eager, but his touch betrayed his greed.
“I loved you very much a long time ago.”
Juliet smiled broadly.
“So, just this once, die by my hand.”
In a flash, Lennox noticed the sharp knife Juliet held in her right hand.
His reaction was pitifully slow and clumsy, but he didn’t avoid her.
* * *
The next morning.
It was a continuation of several days of feasts, and the imperial palace was bustling with guests from the morning.
This was because guests kept arriving in anticipation of the upcoming wedding.
“Yet, I don’t see Duke Carlyle.”
The Emperor glanced around the ballroom.
“I was informed he’d attend today.”
“Well, who knows.”
Marquis Guinness appeared somewhat anxious.
‘The hypnosis should have worked perfectly.’
He had planted many informants around Duke Carlyle, but strangely, by morning, the news the Marquis had been waiting for had not come – the news of the Duke’s assassination by his lover.
‘Did it fail?’
Even if that were the case, the Duke wouldn’t have spared the woman who tried to stab him.
‘So, was Juliet Monad the one who was assassinated? Hmm.’
Marquis Guinness toyed with his rosary beads for a moment.
Regardless, there was no loss for the Marquis. After all, he had managed to steal Juliet Monad’s spirit.
The Marquis’s eyes met Dolores’s, who was on the other side of the banquet hall. Dolores discreetly nodded with a smile.
The previous night, just before leaving the ballroom, Juliet had revealed how to manipulate the butterfly spirit.
Under hypnosis, Juliet shared every secret she was asked about.
Dolores, being a spirit summoner that the Marquis had painstakingly found, soon became adept at handling the butterflies.
While others hadn’t noticed yet, the Marquis and Dolores saw it clearly: the shimmering butterfly spirits fluttering from Dolores’s hand.
“And if need be, we can frame the Duke of Carlyle for murder.”
Marquis Guiness thought so.
It’s a grave sin to kill someone in a situation that is neither a duel nor a war.
If he is accused of killing a woman who had been his lover for seven years over a mere quarrel, even if he’s Duke Carlyle, the impact would be significant.
Then, taking advantage of that gap, Marquis Guiness would completely dominate the magic stone market.
The Marquis had prepared plans to buy mines in the north as soon as Duke Carlyle faltered.
It was a time when Marquis Guiness was very ambitious.
“Your Majesty!”
From the far end, a servant of the palace hurriedly ran.
“It’s a big problem!”
“What is this commotion in such a joyous feast?”
The Emperor frowned gently.
“Just now, news came from Duke Carlyle! The capital’s guards… No, the royal guards…!”
“Goodness! Speak clearly and slowly!”
“Duke Carlyle has been assassinated!”
* * *
Juliet Monad was arrested covered in blood. The ones who accused her were none other than the Duke’s own people.
The secretary of Duke Carlyle, with a stern face, said so.
“We will exercise the rights of Silica.”
Silica’s right is an act of requesting the intervention of another noble family for a fair trial and mediation when a first-degree murder occurs within a noble family.
Until a verdict is rendered, all proceedings are kept secret. Only after all conclusions are made can a murder charge be applied.
“I’ll take it.”
“Marquis Guiness, you?”
Knowing how much Marquis Guiness had restrained the northern Duke, the Emperor asked in disbelief.
“Yes, it seems appropriate for the late Duke of Carlyle.”
“…”
The Emperor seemed to ponder for a moment, but he found no reason to refuse.
Moreover, Marquis Guiness is a renowned nobleman. There were few nobles qualified to intervene in the murder of a Duke.
“Besides, aren’t we in the midst of a joyous wedding? Investigating a murder would be a nuisance to the bride, groom, and guests.”
In the end, the Emperor handed over Juliet Monad’s custody to Marquis Guiness.
“Fine, Marquis. You will investigate this murder.”
Inside, Marquis Guiness rejoiced.
In fact, if the Duke’s house hadn’t come forward with the Silica arbitration proposal, Marquis Guiness would have taken the initiative to request it himself.
‘I need to extract Juliet Monad from the middle.’
There are very few women who possess the qualities of a spirit summoner. Moreover, Juliet Monad was a woman who received great attention from the ‘Lady Dahlia’ he served.
“I’ve heard the story, Marquis!”
Rumors tend to leak, regardless of how strict the Silica law is.
Several quick-footed nobles approached the Marquis, even before he left the palace.
“Oh, how could this happen!”
“Indeed, who would’ve thought?”
“That Duke Carlyle would be killed by a mere lover!”
After muttering some condolences, they subtly brought up the main point.
“By the way, Marquis.”
“I’m interested in the magic stone mines of Marquis Guiness.”
“If you need investment-“
They eagerly offered to invest in Marquis Guiness. Things seemed to be falling into place.
The Marquis replied gracefully.
“We will discuss this after the funeral of Duke Carlyle. That would be the proper etiquette.”
Juliet was immediately moved to a castle owned by the Marquis and was watched by palace guards and the Marquis’s subordinates.
The Marquis’s castle, located on the outskirts of the capital, had a dungeon typical of old castles.
“You’ve done well. I’ll take it from here.”
Waiting for Juliet in the dungeon was none other than Archbishop Solon.
Solon, unlike usual, looked at the dazed Juliet and inwardly admired.
‘My spell succeeded!’
Things were going so smoothly.
With a satisfied smile, Solon dragged Juliet into the dungeon.
The dungeon of the Marquis’s castle was suitable for dubious activities. Although it wasn’t used for wartime prisoners like centuries ago, it was recently used as a space to dilute the potency of magic stones supplied to the capital.
The traces of the ongoing work were still evident on a table inside the dungeon.
“Tie her up tightly.”
“But she’s a woman. Do we need to tie her?”
“If I say tie her, then tie her!”
Moreover, Juliet Monad was, on the surface, the murderer of Duke Carlyle.
“But what does the Marquis plan to do with this woman?”
“I don’t know. Maybe he will send her to a place where magic stones are extracted to make her ‘material’.”
“Material?”
Oops.
Archbishop Solon realized his slip of the tongue. Just then, a melodious voice came from behind them.
“Aha, so that’s how it was done.”
“…?”
Turning around, Archbishop Solon and the Marquis’s subordinates were baffled.
The woman, who was sitting on the floor with vacant eyes just a moment ago, was now calmly picking up a magic stone from the ground and examining it against the light.