Chapter 13
“Argos' Hundred Eyes. Hand it over.”
Although he was somewhat prepared, the High Priest was taken aback.
Argos' Hundred Eyes.
It was the most precious Sacred object currently possessed by the Grand Temple in the capital.
As its name suggested, it was a powerful Sacred Relic that could instantly locate anything within a radius of thousands of kilometers, rivaling the Divine Power of a High Priest.
“That, that is something I absolutely cannot hand over, even if it costs me my head! Even if you are the Duke of the North, you cannot plunder a Sacred object…”
“I said I would borrow it for a while, not plunder it.”
Had he?
Only after belatedly retracing his memory did the High Priest realize that he had given up too quickly and felt embarrassed.
However, the High Priest's face turned ashen again at Duke Carlisle's calmly continued words.
“But killing you and taking it wouldn’t be bad either. I don’t have much patience, you see.”
Eek.
The young priest standing beside the High Priest, holding a lamp, was silently horrified.
“What are you going to do?”
“No, still, we cannot carelessly lend out the temple’s treasure…”
“If you hand it over, I will return the northern temple in exchange.”
…If he lent Argos' Eyes, he would return the northern temple?
It was truly an unconventional condition.
The High Priest quickly calculated in his head.
Perhaps this was an opportunity.
The fact that Duke Carlisle wanted Argos' Eyes meant that he was currently looking for something. Whether it was a person or an object, he did not know.
The High Priest wondered who Duke Carlisle was so desperately searching for that he would even return a temple.
In any case, Duke Carlisle was the one in a hurry, so he thought it was worth raising the stakes.
If he did well, he might be able to extort cash from the Duke. Perhaps he could even be promoted to a higher-ranking priest in a higher diocese.
Having finished his calculations, the High Priest put on a solemn expression.
“But Duke, a sacred Sacred Relic cannot be used for personal purposes…”
“You are under some great delusion, High Priest.”
However, Duke Carlisle shattered the High Priest's ambitious plan with a single sentence.
The man, who had been slightly bowing his head, languidly swept back his hair as if bored.
“When did I ever say I was negotiating?”
In the darkness, arrogant red eyes flashed profanely.
The station on the outskirts of the capital was deserted and desolate.
It was understandable. It was already well past midnight. People caught up in the festive atmosphere were busy eating, drinking, and enjoying the New Year all night long.
Juliet had just seen fireworks rising into the sky from the direction of the Imperial Palace.
“Yes. So it was.”
The Magical Creature in the form of a butterfly whined incessantly in a wavelength that only she could hear. Just like a sulking child.
She thought it would be angry that she had made it do something unreasonable, but that was not what the butterflies were complaining about.
They were telling their contractor how ruthless the man who had destroyed a part of them was.
(The moment its wings were pierced by a dagger. That. Man. Human. Hate.)
However, Juliet listened silently, knowing all about the exaggeration.
The wicked and childish Magical Creature was satisfied with that, and after a long time of babbling in clumsy human language, it left.
Juliet was alone again.
She was not too worried about the man's pursuit that the butterflies had warned her about.
After all, she would soon be far away from the capital. No matter how capable his subordinates were, it would be impossible for them to find her in such a short amount of time.
Juliet sat alone on the deserted platform, simply wondering when the train would arrive.
There were seats inside the station building, but Juliet deliberately came out to the outside platform to wait for the train.
Juliet tapped her toes.
She was dressed in unremarkable, plain clothes, making it hard to believe that she was the same person who had attended the New Year's banquet at the Imperial Palace just a few hours ago.
A dark-colored blazer, a white blouse, and a long skirt that reached her ankles. She did not forget to neatly tie her hair up in a bun and bring a black veil to cover her face.
Juliet looked down at her feet, estimating how much time was left until the train arrived.
Instead of the high-heeled and beautiful shoes she had worn to dance in the banquet hall, she was wearing unadorned leather boots.
Who would have thought that what she had left behind in the mansion was not a heartless lover or memories, but beautiful shoes.
Lennox Carlisle was a very generous lover. He readily gave her lavish gifts without her even having to ask. Beautiful dresses and jeweled tiaras. Anything she asked for became hers.
'Even though I don't have the slightest interest in them.'
Anyone who became accustomed to such a life would naturally be mistaken into thinking that they had won his heart.
But Juliet never made that mistake from the beginning. Because she knew that she would be abandoned someday.
The extravagant gifts were completely unrelated to his affection.
Affection. Lennox Carlisle was far from such soft emotions.
"I won't bother Your Highness."
"He gets bored very easily, you know."
It was more of a bony piece of advice.
"Duke Carlisle gets bored very easily, you know."
If that tone had been hostile, she might have dismissed it as jealousy, but Juliet did not.
Before Juliet could say anything,
"It's a waste of the Monad County's name."
People sneered at her, saying that they didn't know how she, as a noble lady, could do such a thing, let alone a low-born woman.
They were strangers, but after becoming his lover, she was used to the unprovoked hostility.
Juliet smiled.
They might have expected Juliet to ignore them or burst into tears.
"Eek!"
Juliet was not so kind as to do that. Instead of sitting down and dabbing her tears with a handkerchief, Juliet always chose to overturn the teacup.
Thanks to that, Duke Carlisle's notoriety only increased, but so what?
Unlike what people sneered at, enduring by his side was nothing to Juliet. Because she had not expected anything from the beginning.
Becoming Lennox Carlisle's lover was that easy.
But guarding her heart was not so easy.
Duke Carlisle didn't necessarily need her. Anyone would have been fine anyway. As long as they could warm his bed.
Thud. Juliet tried to ignore a drop of tear that fell on the back of her hand.
Forgotten Juliet
