The next moment, he stood in the familiar hallway of the Northern Dukeâs Mansion. It was the hallway in his dreams.
Lennox wasnât surprised.
As soon as he saw the black panther leisurely walking in front of him, he blurted out:
âGet lost.â
He snapped irritably.
He realized the situation immediately when the unlucky beast and the all-too-familiar dream scene appeared together.
âIt was your doing after all.â
The panther, as large as a house, swished its tail.
(Did you forget? This was the price for restoring your eyesight.)
âThis damned demon.â
He cursed, but there was nothing he could do.
It was clear that everything, from having strange dreams to suddenly losing consciousness moments ago, was because of this black panther.
Dragons are known to pull people into the spiritual realm without hesitation.
(Consider yourself lucky I didnât take your firstborn, like in old tales.)
The black panther chuckled.
While a beast canât laugh, Lennox felt it did.
While it looked like a captivating carnivorous beast, its real identity was a demon attached to a pitch-black sword.
Their relationship resembled a strange symbiotic one that had continued for over a decade. But until now, the beast couldnât control him at will.
Unlike the cunning butterflies that lured Juliet to borrow their power in exchange for a deal, he needed an unyielding sword, not demonic power.
Except for the fact that it doesnât dull or rust, it was just a sword with exceptionally good durability.
Despite the countless temptations to lend him power, Lennox scoffed. Hence, the demon, taking the form of a black panther, couldnât interfere with his mind.
Until he began having vision problems.
(That was our contractâs condition.)
The black pantherâs tail swished gracefully.
(Hand over control of your mind when I want.)
âYou said just once.â
(Iâm impatient.)
Wasnât constantly making him have nightmares against the contract terms? He wanted to protest.
(I just imprisoned your physical body for a while to show you something. Once the matter is over, Iâll let you go, so donât act rashly, contractor.)
He knew in his head that with so many skilled knights around, Juliet would be safe. But he couldnât help feeling anxious.
(Your girl is safe.)
Although the demon spoke leisurely, Lennox felt annoyed as if his thoughts were read.
âDamn it. Whatever it is, finish it quickly.â
This isnât how one should deal with a demon. Regretting was pointless now.
Lennox felt it would be better to quickly comply with whatever this demon wanted and return.
(A wise decision.)
The smiling panther disappeared again.
What did he want to show?
Lennox had memorized this entire dream.
Walking down the mansionâs hallway, and when he reached the bedroom door, it would inevitably end. So he wasnât too worried.
Before he could even see the crying womanâs face in the bedroom, he would wake up from the dream.
But this time, it didnât end.
Lennox stopped in front of the door.
Instead of waking up, for the first time, he could clearly see the silhouette of the woman sitting on the bed with its curtains drawn.
Her long hair was of a light hue.
Her trembling shoulders were slender, and glimpses of her neck and back, visible through the gap in her draped clothing, were full of scars.
[You must feel relieved now.]
The sobbing woman who had her head down raised her head. Lennox felt as if his breath had stopped for a moment.
It wasnât a face he was seeing for the first time. No, in fact, it was a face he was so familiar with that he could picture even with his eyes closed.
[Now that the nuisance is gone.]
Those watery blue eyes staring at him.
ââŚJuliet?â
Bang!
At the same time, the door closed in front of him.
(Scared already?)
And the wavering black beast reappeared.
ââŚStop this nonsense.â
Lennox gritted his teeth. A sense of unease made his fingertips cold.
It canât be.
That unknown woman canât be Juliet.
Thereâs no reason for Juliet, a face heâs seen dozens, hundreds of times, to look at him with such sorrowful eyes.
(Oh dear, thereâs still a long way to go. You canât be scared already.)
âWhatâs the reason for showing me this hallucination?â
(Hallucination? Thatâs harsh.)
The demon giggled while muttering something incomprehensible.
Youâre lucky you lost your eyesight.
(Why? Because Iâve been waiting for this day for a very, very long time.)
The black panther whispered softly.
(Open your eyes and look carefully. This is a memory you had forgotten a long time ago.)
Snap.
Before he could comprehend the meaning of the words, the scene changed.
Lennox was no longer walking down the corridors of the palace. Both the season and the place had changed. He sat in a gazebo in a garden lush with rose bushes.
And there she was.
Juliet, with rosy cheeks, the complete opposite of the tearful image that had shot him a glance moments ago.
She was wearing a green dress that went up to her neck. Perhaps to hide the scars on her back?
But this Juliet felt unfamiliar as well.
He pondered why Juliet seemed so unfamiliar, and it didnât take long for him to realize.
Even in his imaginations, Juliet had never had that expression.
She neither blushed innocently nor shone with the blind love and trust in her eyes.
Juliet, looking at him with her emotive eyes, felt entirely unfamiliar, yet endearing.
[I have something to ask, Your Highness.]
The Juliet standing before him seemed oddly tense.
[What if we were to have a childâŚ]
[I told you, I donât desire a child from you.]
At his cold words, her eyes widened in shock.
[But Your Highness, what if?[
Her blue, moist eyes, unable to hide her emotions, followed him.
[Itâs not about marriage, but if we were to have a childâŚ]
Her immediate and naive response felt unfamiliar too.
[There are no âifsâ.]
And as if reciting a scripted line, he spoke without intent.
[Donât you understand, Juliet?]
His voice, even to his own ears, was chillingly sarcastic.
[I said I donât need a child. Even if one is conceived, it wonât be born.]
The eyes that once shone with love and trust quickly filled with caution and disappointment.
[âŚYes, you did say that.]
Juliet, looking pale, hung her head and forced a semblance of a smile.
The anxious movement of her fingers on the hem of her dress was obvious.
His mind went cold.
He remembered this conversation.
â I said itâs not necessary.
â Itâs no longer here.
The tone of the woman, sitting under the red plum blossoms, speaking in a calm voice.
But before he could make sense of the chilling realization, the scene changed again.
The next moment, he stood in a messed-up room, and at his feet, a woman with a familiar yet unfamiliar face knelt.
Hanging onto his arm, Juliet sobbed like a child.
[I was wrong!]
With a terrified expression, Juliet looked up at him, her tear-streaked face pale and pleading.
Thump.
Silent servants were frantically turning over furniture in the small room.
Whether she was scared of those servants or of him, Juliet was terrified.
Each time a drawer or a closet was overturned, items carefully collected spilled out onto the floor.
At his feet rolled items that looked like they belonged to a child â clothes and small toys.
[Really, I wonât ask for anything anymore! I wonât plead again.]
Watching the obviously new baby clothes and meticulously collected white gazette towels getting trampled by the people turning the room upside-down, the woman cried even louder.
[I didnât mean to deceive. So, Lennox⌠please, ask them to stop. Okay?]
Even though a grown woman was crying out loud, the servants paid her no heed.
Seeing the woman claiming to be the owner of this small room, he realized. It must have been her doing, hiding all the baby items like a squirrel.
[Itâs all my fault, okay? Iâll go away and live as if Iâm dead. SoâŚ]
The fragmented scenes passed before he could grasp them.
He couldnât remember how many times he had seen these hallucinations or understand their context.
The only clear thing was the voice and the image of the woman pleading at his feet.
[âŚPlease just save our baby.]
The Juliet he knew was never this emotional. She was always calm, never losing her composure.
When she smiled, it was faint. Rarely did she even tear up.
The woman in front of him, with Julietâs face, laughed much more brilliantly and cried much more sorrowfully.
Laughing out loud easily and bursting into tears easilyâŚ