Chapter 19

Shortly after the family of Count Montagu left the imperial palace in a carriage, some of the guests also decided to leave the banquet hall earlier.

- Oh, that's His Serene Highness!

- But how come, the ball is in full swing...

They were the Duke of Carlisle and his knights.

Some nobles whisperedly watching him in amazement, but no one dared to stand in the way of the Duke and his knights.

- It was a waste of time.

Lennox Carlisle had nothing else to do here. He's already seen enough.

In addition, he did not initially come here to communicate with idiots who danced carelessly in their tasteless, ridiculous costumes.

Moreover, visiting the capital in the summer was quite a spontaneous decision.

One of his three people, whom he left in the capital, contacted him and said that he might have found what he had been looking for a long time.

Only a few of Duke Carlisle's closest associates knew that for many years he had been secretly looking for one thing.

It was a relic handed over a long time ago to Duke Carlisle. However, it disappeared ten years ago in the chaos that reigned after the death of Lennox' father, the previous Duke of Carlisle, when the place of the ruler of the Northern Lands was empty and his relatives were doing various atrocities.

- You'll find her soon. - Hardin said quietly, a man in dark clothes who followed the duke.

Although Hardin had served the duke for a long time, he still didn't know exactly what kind of subject it was.

All he knew was that this object looked like an ordinary gem, but unlike ordinary gems, he had certain magical abilities.

Hardin also knew that his master, for whom neither things nor people had value, was simply obsessed with the search for this relic for many years.

- Let's go back to the auction house located in the south, and everything will be common there again.

- No, you don't have to. As soon as I finish urgent business here, we will go to the North.

- Okay, sir.

When Lennox reached the main exit, he suddenly turned around and stared at the banquet hall before leaving the imperial palace.

- Are you looking for someone?

- ..... No.

He felt vague anxiety as if he had been haunted by someone's gaze from the moment he entered the hall, but some time ago this feeling disappeared, as suddenly as it appeared.

A couple of moments Lennox was still watching people in the brightly lit banquet hall, and then turned away and said briefly:

- Let's go back.

*****

Flash!

- Oh my God, don't do that!

- Get out of my way!

Being semi-unconscious, she distinguished only someone's voices that barely made their way through the fog that fell on her mind.

- Damn it, don't move!

- Lily!

- No, Cassius!

Then someone screamed, but the scream broke abruptly.

- Juliet!

Hearing someone's scream, Juliet could hardly open her eyes.

She felt a severe pain in the back of her head like a strong blow to the head. It felt like she had a concussion.

Although Juliet hasn't quite recovered yet, she realized that she was lying on the icy stone floor.

"Where am I? And where are my parents?" - Juliet thought when the fog in her mind began to slowly dissipate.

However, then she suddenly heard an angry voice nearby.

- No, no! Who told you to kill them?! I told you that all you have to do is steal the key!

..... Who did he kill?

The moment Juliet heard a familiar voice, it was as if she was illuminated. She could recognize this voice without even seeing this person.

It was Gaspard, her uncle.

- But you didn't ask not to kill them.

- Did I have to explain that too?!

While Juliet was lying on the floor, Gaspard and strangers began to quarrel with each other.

- And who said we killed them all? Their daughter is still breathing.

- .... Is she alive? - Gaspard asked confusedly.

It was quite obvious that he was now thinking about whether it was more profitable to leave Juliet alive or whether it was better to kill her and get rid of her body later.

- Listen, Baron, your brother pulled out his sword and began to defend himself, which is why we lost a friend!

- Did you think it was so easy to grab a former knight without killing him?

- Um... okay. But where's the key?

- I told you that he wasn't there where you said.

The key. That means he needs it.

Juliet desperately tried to stay conscious, despite the fact that every minute her eyelids became harder.

Hearing their conversation, she began to guess what had happened.

These scoundrels probably broke into the mansion, on the orders of Gaspar, who visited her father the day before!

Feeling her impotence more than ever before, Juliet clenched her teeth with rage.

"I should have just killed this bastard!"

But then Juliet suddenly noticed something glowing on her chest, hidden under the neckline of her dress. It was the key that her father gave her the other day.

"Hmmm... So Gaspar hired these scoundrels to enter the mansion and steal the key."

"But what the hell are these antiques? And why does he need him so much?"

But what these people didn't know was that the day before my father gave Juliet this key. And now he was hung around her neck. And since Gaspard quarreled with his accomplices, then they didn't know where he was now.

- Anyway, I'm coming back! Listen to me carefully. You guys don't know me and we've never met! And if you even hint at it to someone, you'll have big trouble!

As soon as Gaspard finished, he turned around and left.

- So we can do anything with this bitch?

Then, the eyes of the remaining men turned to Juliet lying motionless.

- And what do you suggest doing with her?

- Let's just kill her.

- No, wait. There's a more interesting option. Let's sell it on a slave ship. We will be paid very well for this noble bitch. And we'll divide this money in half.

Despite the fact that these people were now deciding Juliet's future fate, she understood less and less every second what they were talking about and paid little attention to them.

Her entourage was gradually blurred, and there was a deafening noise in her ears. And what was most curious was that she saw only a shiny silver key.

<.... Hey. >

"Who said that? Is it auditory hallucination?"

She felt like something was saying to her.

"I'll kill them for you. >

Juliet felt pulsating pain begin to increase in the back of her head.

At the same time, it seemed to her that the hum of persistent voices, not silently swarming in her head.

As soon as she realized this, the line that previously separated them broke through and they poured an unrestrained stream. There were several voices. Some sounded cute and gentle, while others sounded furious and angry.

But they all desperately wanted to talk to each other.

"We are big, we are strong. >

"For us, it costs nothing. >

"You can lie quietly. >

- ...

Where to get it from?

And then the insight, as if a lightning strike, struck her.

Juliet finally noticed that these voices came from the key.

The key.

Montagu is a Guardian.

And what was it for the door that she couldn't find, no matter how much she wandered around the mansion.

Oh, here it is.

Suddenly, Juliet understood everything.

It was a door to lock something!

No wonder she couldn't find the right door anywhere.

Is what was behind her so dangerous?

But if this door was originally hidden so that no one could even find it, then it is.

The Guardian is a defender!

And that meant that what was locked there shouldn't have come out...

But then Juliet's eyes began to close slowly.

In a fading consciousness, she quickly grabbed the key.

At that moment, in the middle of the darkness that envelops Juliet's consciousness, a huge door appeared, all covered with blood.

Chink!

Even with her eyes closed, Juliet clearly saw and heard the door open, which had been closed for hundreds of years.

Then there was a deafening, joyful laughter, and she saw the beast held back by this door return to this world.