Chapter 21

A few hours later, Juliet opened her eyes and saw what was lying on a soft bed.

At the same time, she felt that the heat had receded. Honestly, she generally felt much better than she thought, so she couldn't help but wonder: "Wasn't it all just a dream?"

"Finally, you opened your eyes. >

"Hey, hostess, I'm here. >

- .....

Well, of course, all this is just an illusion of my inflamed mind.

The butterflies who talked to Juliet were now much smaller and behaved much more modest than yesterday.

And their speech now looked more like a nursery, as if they had just learned to spell words.

"It's strange. I must have been raving to myself because I couldn't say a word."

When Juliet tried to get up, her body was pierced by such severe pain that she even closed her eyes for a second.

"It still hurts."

But still, her condition was much better than she expected.

Except for bitten lips, dizziness and body pain, she felt surprisingly good.

This pain throughout the body felt like the day after an intense workout. This condition must have been due to the fact that she was wounded last night, and she still had a sore throat, but in general everything was quite tolerable because she had enough strength to walk.

Juliet ignored the painful pain and left the bedroom.

Violin!

Surprised by the sudden opening of the bedroom door, the young man sitting in front of her on a chair hurriedly got up.

- Have you woken up yet?

He was a handsome young guy with red curly hair.

Jude Hayon.

Juliet knew the name of this man.

Jude, who was the youngest son of a family that faithfully served the emperor for many generations, was quite famous in the capital, as he suddenly decided to serve the Duke of Carlisle.

Jude must have known Juliet too, because he suddenly said:

- Um, Miss Montagu. You're probably hungry, so first eat, and I'll call the doctor for now...

- No.

- Oh, so you can talk? - Jude asked laughing.

However, Juliet didn't even smile back, and instead asked:

- Where?

- Ah, the Duke is away now.

- Not him.

"Isn't he?"

Jude stopped laughing for a moment, trying to figure out what she was asking him.

And the next minute he thought that if he ever wanted to laugh, he would definitely think about it at least a hundred times before that.

- My parents.

A grin instantly disappeared from Jude's face.

- Show me.

- Um, Miss Montagu. You'd better not look at it.

- Please. I want to see them with my own eyes.

But no one could break Juliet's determination, who continuously repeated the same words with a pale face.

Neither the doctor, nor the chief maid, nor even the Duke's secretary managed to dissuade her. They all tried to do it, but the result remained unchanged.

In the end, the secretary sighed heavily and ordered:

- Let her in.

The doors to the cool underground room opened.

There she saw the bodies that the duke and his knights found last night.

Juliet slowly approached the coffin without a word.

The faces of the Montagu couple lying next to each other in the same coffin were so calm and peaceful as if they were just sleeping.

The secretary, concerned that Juliet may faint after seeing her parents' bodies, calmed down a little after seeing her unexpectedly calm reaction.

- Do you mind if I sit here alone for a while?

- Oh, yes. Call me if you need me.

The secretary left her alone with her family so that she could mourn them alone.

However, as soon as he went out the door, there was such a heartbreaking, desperate scream from the inside that he involuntarily froze.

******

Only closer to the middle of the night did Lennox finally remember her existence, as he was busy with work all day.

- Where is she?

- Huh?

In fact, Lennox was not originally going to take care of his guest, so he never remembered her in a whole day, being completely sure that his servants would take great care of her and immediately send her home as soon as she wakes up.

- If you're talking about the girl you brought yesterday, she...

However, the servant's answer turned out to be completely unexpected for him.

- ..... Where?

Lennox did not expect to hear it from his servant, so he was very surprised.

The Duke's capital residence was quite large, but most of the premises in the building and its annexes were practically not used, as he spent most of his time in his palace in the North.

And one of these rooms was a semi-basement extension, into which light did not penetrate.

Lennox, who entered the annex room without a single spot of light, was slightly puzzled. Because there he saw a woman kneeling right in front of the door, where a coffin with two bodies was temporarily lying.

- What are you doing here?

- .....

Only then did Juliet finally raise her head. But even looking at him, it seemed that she did not recognize him, as if her thoughts were hovering somewhere else.

Nevertheless, she undoubtedly had to recognize him, as the butterflies flying around them gave enough light to distinguish faces in this darkness.

Lennox went inside and carelessly sat down on a couch covered with white fabric. He looked indifferently at butterfly demons when he saw that they were still flying around her, although now there were significantly fewer of them than yesterday.

- Can't you still talk?

- ..... No, I'm fine now.

Juliet frowned slightly because when she spoke, her voice sounded like an echo in her head.

Lennox, as if after reading Juliet's thoughts, said:

- You'd better be more careful. If the owner does not perform his role well, they will absorb his body.

- The owner?

- Whose voice do you think they borrowed?

Juliet suddenly got colder.

If you think about it, the voices in her head were similar to her own.

- I heard you wanted to see me.

- Oh yes, I need to tell you something.

Juliet slowly rose from her knees. But instead of getting straight to business, she looked closely at Lennox while he was silent.

It was quite strange to see again the man she loved in her past life. Although he didn't even remember her.

"I hate you."

But the moment she met him face to face again, she felt lying to herself. It was rather mixed feelings of hatred and affection, resentment and love.

In addition, she clearly understood that Lennox Carlisle, who was now in front of her and that man from her past life, were both completely different people.

All day Juliet sat in front of her parents' coffin, thinking about what to do next.

She didn't want to go through "it" again.

But if everything goes on, the same thing will happen again and again.

Moreover, as soon as Dahlia appears, she will be immediately abandoned. Just like in her first life.

Juliet was ready to do anything for him, but for him she was just a tool.

And if she doesn't do anything, the final will be the same as then.

However, Juliet could not help but admit that she needed Lennox now.

- I thought you said you had something to tell me.

- Yes.

Juliet remembered what the words "stop using mana" meant, said last night that Lennoxom.

The same thing happened in her past life when Dahlia first met Lennox.

That was when Dahlia stayed in the Duke's house as a guest. Juliet, who also lived in his palace at the time, had a chance to overhear a conversation between two maids who served Dahlia.

"Stuppy, don't you know what it means to control mana? That means you have to sleep together!"

When a person first awakened mana, its flow was particularly unstable. However, at the same time there were people who had an innate talent to manage this flow. And they did it as naturally as breathing.

However, for novice wizards, improper use of mana was quite dangerous, as they were ignorant in how to control it correctly. Therefore, it usually took such wizards five or six years to learn how to control the flow.

Thus, the situation in which Juliet found herself the day before could lead to her most likely dying, as she had no idea how to cancel the magic she released.

And now, in order to survive, she needed a partner who could skillfully manipulate mana and constantly keep it under control.

By touching her skin, he would absorb an excessive amount of mana, so that she could remain stable. Since the closer the partners are and the more trust between them, the more effective the result was.

That's why Lennox kissed her last night in the woods.

However, the fastest and most effective way to achieve such a result is if you became lovers.

- Your lordship, I know what you've been looking for for so long.

Even in the dark, she noticed the sharp shine of red eyes.

In her past life, there were some influential people, including the Duke of Carlisle, who were looking for certain types of relics.

Although at first glance these objects seemed ordinary, in fact they were very rare objects, and could give people who possessed them incredible power, even if they could not use mana or divine power.

And what Lennox had been looking for a long time was a long-lost relic of his family.

This item had incredible power and was necessary to avoid future difficulties, but now the person who disappeared with him was more important.

"Dahlia Frann."

She was a childhood friend of Lennox, and was as beautiful as the flower, whose name was the same as hers.

However, when Lennox' father died and his greedy relatives began to fight each other for the duke's empty throne, Dahlia's parents, who served the former duke, fled with their daughter.

Taking the Duke's relic with him.

Lennox, from the very moment he returned with an invincible army and forcibly seized power in the duchy, regaining the legitimate title of ruler of the Northern Lands, was looking for this relic.

Maybe even now he was still looking for Dahlia.

However, Juliet already knew what would happen next.

Seven years later, Lennox will finally take possession of this relic when he was reunited with Dahlia, whom he considered dead.

"But, of course, I don't have to tell him anything about Dahlia."

Will she be able to explain to him how she knows this story, which none of his closest people even knew?

- So what?

- Huh?

- Is that all you wanted to say?

Lennox looked at her mockingly with his red eyes twinkled in the dark.

- Do you think you're going to blackmail me with this?

Blackmail?

- I...

Juliet fell silent for a moment, then carefully picking up the words, spoke again.

- I want to make a deal with you.