Chapter 20

- Everyone should stop immediately.

At the same time, the duke, who was now in the middle of the way from the capital to his mansion, suddenly stopped his horse.

The Duke's black horse laughed dissatisfiedly when his rider sharply pulled the reins.

- Your Serene Highness, what happened?

Naturally, everyone who followed him immediately stopped after hearing the gentleman's order.

Duke Carlisle fell silent for a while and stared into the dark, as if thinking about something or trying to see something in the dark.

The knights looked at each other embarrassed and then stared at their master's back.

- Don't you hear that?

- What are you talking about?

- That sound.

- What... what sound?

And only then did they really pay attention to him. It was a weak, monotonous sound, as if someone was crying.

- I hear him too!

The first to hear him after Carlisle was Jude Hayon, the youngest knight in his squad.

Jude pulled a sword out of his scabbard in a hurry.

This weak sound came from a magic stone mounted in his sword.

- It's a resonance.

Hardin nodded his head, confirming his words.

- Is it possible that it's nearby?

- It is most likely that a huge amount of mana comes from somewhere in the capital. - Hardin Juda explained, as he was also one of the first to catch the echo of this resonance.

He heard that this is possible, but it happened very rarely. Moreover, in order to cause resonance, an incredibly powerful magical explosion must occur. Only then could the nearest mana stones sound.

Then all the knights began to check their swords.

But how could such a powerful magical explosion have occurred at this time of day, in the center of the capital?

- What could have caused him?

- Maybe the dungeon has opened.

- Don't joke like that, idiot! - Jude exclaimed frightenedly.

If the dungeon were opened in the center of the capital, as one of the knights said, it would be a real disaster.

- Let's go there.

Lennox, listening to the piercingly screaming stone in his sword, took them out of the capital.

By the time he approached the forest near his destination, his ears were already ache from the loud crying of a magic stone.

The place to which he was led by the weeping voice of the stone was an abandoned stone building on the outskirts of the capital. Such dilapidated ancient temples were spread throughout the empire, and no one has visited them for a long time.

Why here?

- Huh?

It was Jude who was the first to discover Juliet.

- Hey, there's someone there!

Thanks to the ascending moon, which illuminated the area as brightly as it were day, the ruins of the ancient temple were perfectly visible.

As Jude said, in the middle of the dilapidated stone building there was a woman who then gently settled on the floor.

- Oh, shit...!

Jude hurriedly got off the horse and began to sneak through the bushes of the ruins of the temple to it, but suddenly he stopped.

The stone floor of the ancient temple was covered with something black and sticky in appearance. It looked like someone was randomly spraying oil paints on it.

- ....

But, of course, it wasn't paint at all.

It was dried blood.

*****

- What a mess!

Honestly, it was still quite modest wording.

There were four corpses in the corner of the temple, but the blood frozen on the floor did not belong to them.

These were the bodies of a well-dressed middle-aged man and woman who at first glance looked like a married couple, as well as their servants and coachman.

All four were dead.

"So this woman is the daughter of this couple?"

Lennox looked at a woman lying on the floor with a deep, tense look.

She looked quite unusual.

The hem of the blue dress, which must have looked very beautiful in its original form, was impregnated with blood. But it wasn't her blood.

She couldn't survive if she had lost so much blood, moreover, he didn't notice a single wound on her body.

- Your Serene Highness, maybe we should take all the bodies? - Hardin asked.

When he was about to answer, a desperate moan fell off the woman's lips.

- Umm...

"Don't touch me!"

That's what Juliet was going to say.

To tell the truth, since this man was next to her, she already wanted to scream.

However, unlike what she really wanted to say, the sound that escaped from her mouth was more like a panic cry, as if she was suffocating.

Juliet stared at him with her eyes in which a gloomy fire was burning.

The man, who looked at her from top to bottom with a slight curiosity, seemed to smile slightly, noticing her reaction.

- Don't touch your body, Hardin.

- Your Serene Highness?

- Don't touch anything. And let everyone step back ten steps.

In the end, the knights gave way back, following his order.

When all his people disappeared from sight, Lennox looked at Juliet again.

- You.

He fell on one knee, completely ignoring the bloody floor, and leaned towards it as low as if he wanted to be on a par with Juliet's eyes.

- Do you even understand what you've done? - The man asked.

Judging by his voice, he enjoyed this situation.

Juliet looked at him furiously instead of answering. But even if she could talk now, she wouldn't be able to answer his question.

She didn't understand what was going on at all.

When Juliet recovered, she was left alone in the middle of a dilapidated temple.

Although, to say that she was alone was not such a true statement. Small, the size of a fingertip, butterfly-shaped shimmering lights fluttered throughout the temple. They looked just like living creatures.

"Hey hostess. >

"Can you hear me? >

These shimmering butterflies the size of a nail, who hovered around them, talked to her continuously, and their voices seemed identical to what they had been talking to her before.

In addition, all these chirped voices sounded much louder than before she lost consciousness. And all attempts to drown them out somehow were useless, as they kept talking too loud.

Moreover, she felt unbearable heat in her whole body and pain, as if all the bones were broken, which made her not even move.

She didn't know what had happened or why she felt like that.

So she was just waiting, hoping that someone would help her...

Suddenly, this man came out of nowhere.

Lennox Carlisle is a man she so desperately wanted to avoid.

In his past life, this man saved Juliet, and she passionately fell in love with him.

But also, Juliet's life ended at the hands of this man.

- Hmmm...

Meanwhile, this man, who all this time looked at helpless Juliet with interest, suddenly reached out to her.

When his big cool hand touched Juliet's cheek, she instantly wanted to push him away. But, unfortunately, she didn't have the strength to move, let alone push someone away.

- Ah!

However, his touch affected her in a very unusual way.

The voices she heard in her head suddenly disappeared.

And in an instant everything around calmed down.

From this touch alone, the pain that tore her head instantly receded. And although she felt better, the heat that engulfed her body did not disappear anywhere. And the dizziness she felt was probably caused by him.

- Hah.

Why the hell is he laughing?

Lennox, who was staring at her, suddenly grinned.

- You use this power quite ridiculously.

What is he talking about?

- But for that matter.

The man's eyes slowly moved from her to many blue lights fluttering around them.

- You don't even seem to know how to cancel or control a spell.

Perhaps it was because of his words, but a flock of small butterflies, which were no larger than the tip of their finger, seemed to shudder at that moment.

- And now you're losing all your mana.

At his next words, he smiled lazily.

- That's why you'll die soon.

..... What?

"Oh, you red-eyed bastard!"

At that moment, tears of anger came to Juliet's eyes.

- But looking at you, I decided that I could help you a little. So, listen to me very carefully now.

Is that wrong with you? Does this spectacle amuse you?

Lennox then slowly approached his face to Juliet, and gently whispered in her ear:

- Stop using your mana, otherwise you'll die soon.

Judging by the way he said that, it was obvious that he knew how to stop using mana, but he clearly wasn't going to tell her how to do it.

No, maybe he waited for her to do something?

But Juliet was so weak that she couldn't even move her finger. Realizing her helplessness, she wanted to cry.

- Kha...

What's wrong with my throat?

Even the sound of crying didn't work out as it was supposed to be.

Then he leaned over to her again and lifted her chin slightly with the fingertips of one hand, and with the other hand he touched her cheek.

The pleasant coolness of his hands made her feel better again.

From the outside, it might look as if he was really going to help her, but Juliet felt that it was not.

"This man will let me die."

Because Lennox Carlisle, whom she knew, was not one of those who would help you for no reason.

Even his cold look confirmed this. Despite the fact that his red eyes looked at her with a touch of slight curiosity, his expression looked as if he was bored. He looked at her as if she were a weak little animal standing on the verge of death, no more.

..... He's always been like that.

I knew that.

In his past life, he also behaved the same way. He showed no mercy to anyone and always remained cold-blooded, except for only one person.

However, for some reason I couldn't give up so easily.

If it all ends like this, then why did I avoid it so desperately?

Her breathing gradually began to slow down, and she felt numbness throughout her body, after which her consciousness began to fade. Juliet's eyelids began to slowly sink, covering her eyes, and soon they were completely closed.

But right before she completely lost consciousness, she felt someone's light touch on her lips. It was a fleeting and very affectionate touch of her lips to her lips.

- I'll only help you once.

At that moment, it seemed to Juliet that she heard someone's muted laughter, a moment before she lost consciousness.