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The silver craftsmanship, depicting a dove with half-spread wings, was incredibly intricate.
Among the Northern Duke's territories were rocky archipelagos, small islands difficult to approach by ship and with poor fishing prospects.
The archipelago's nickname was "Carlyle's Silver Cup."
Contrary to its appearance, the mines there held a significant amount of silver.
Even so, the rugged Northern territories yielded various minerals, and the silver mines of the Carlyle archipelago were modest compared to the Duke's other mines.
That's probably why it was given such a cute name like "Silver Cup."
Everyone knew the archipelago had substantial silver deposits, but for nearly 20 years, the Duke had never ordered the full-scale mining of silver there.
Frankly, it was because the ownership of the archipelago traditionally belonged to the Duchess.
In other words, it was the Duchess's private property, like a slush fund.
And for the past 20 years, there had been no Duchess in the Carlyle household.
Juliet learned of the existence of the silver mine about three years after she began staying at the Duke's castle in the North.
**
"I greet the mistress of the house!"
An old man dressed in clothes that looked about 100 years out of fashion came to the Duke's castle.
As soon as he saw Juliet, the old man bowed deeply in a courtly manner.
Elliot rushed over to the flustered Juliet and explained the situation.
The old man was the village chief of the archipelago, and he insisted that he could not leave until he had seen and greeted the Duchess, the owner of the archipelago, whenever he visited the Duke's castle every ten years to report on the settlement of accounts.
"Just accept it appropriately. Your Highness won't ask about it anyway."
Elliot urged in a whisper.
"Last time, Head Maid Meryl received the greeting instead.
Hurry! Otherwise, that old man won't leave. You're not thinking of letting an old man who could die any day now pass away in the guest quarters, are you?"
That was the first and last time Juliet was swayed by Elliot.
Juliet nodded absentmindedly, and the old man smiled brightly and grabbed Juliet's hand.
"This is our heartfelt gift to the Duchess."
Then, suddenly, carts filled with silver crafts began to enter in a line behind the old man.
Horrified, Juliet managed to persuade the old man and concluded the situation by accepting the smallest pair of dove ornaments placed on top of the first cart.
"I like these! So... this is enough."
The old man looked somewhat regretful, but upon seeing the doves Juliet had chosen, he nodded in satisfaction.
"Indeed, the Duchess's eye is excellent! Doves are a symbol of fertility.
The household must be peaceful... Seeing such a wonderful mistress, this Zenope can now depart from the world without any regrets..."
After the old man Zenope, who kept wiping away tears, finally left, Elliot grumbled maliciously.
"That old man will still be alive for his next visit."
After finishing the boisterous reception, Juliet, left alone in the backyard, fiddled with the dove ornaments in her hand for a long time.
The silver doves, with their wings spread amicably, were slightly different in shape.
They were made separately, but the two were shaped to fit together as a pair.
Juliet looked at them intently, found the grooves, and overlapped the two.
With a click, the two fit perfectly. The two pairs of wings, leaning against each other, looked so affectionate that Juliet smiled a little to herself.
Then, suddenly feeling a gaze, she raised her head and was startled, hiding what she was holding behind her back.
"This is, well..."
"I know."
The man, who had been leaning against the entrance of the backyard since who knows when, cut her off.
How much had he seen?
The man strode towards Juliet, who was flustered and lowered her gaze, and held out his hand.
Juliet bit her lip and handed over the dove ornaments she had hidden behind her back.
Why had she hidden them anyway?
She was ashamed of her own actions, startled like a child caught stealing.
Afraid to see what kind of expression he was making, Juliet kept her head down while he carefully examined what was in his hand.
The man looked closely at the dove's wings and asked.
"You like this cheap trinket?"
Juliet felt her blood run cold at the chilly question.
"Answer me, Juliet Monad."
She didn't want to raise her head, but his hand lifted the tip of Juliet's chin.
Lennox's face, which she was forced to meet, was smiling. But his eyes were not smiling at all.
It was a habit he had when he was in a bad mood.
In that moment, all sorts of thoughts flashed through Juliet's mind.
What on earth had bothered him this time?
The first possibility that came to mind was that.
Daring to receive greetings in his stead, acting as if she were really the Duchess, even though she was just a mistress?
Did he think she was overstepping her bounds?
Or did it seem like she was coveting the Duke's property?
Should she at least explain that she wasn't trying to steal it?
"...It's not cheap."
Of course, compared to the Duke's enormous wealth, it was worth less than a feather...
"Give it back. It's mine."
Juliet looked him straight in the eye and said.
For a brief moment, she thought he might throw what he was holding away and tell her to leave his castle.
"...Okay."
But Lennox quietly returned the dove ornaments to her hand.
That afternoon, he left the Duke's castle, using a tour of the territory as an excuse, without saying anything else, and she didn't see him again until a month later.
Moreover, a few months later, one of the pair of doves, which had been carefully placed in her jewelry box, suddenly disappeared.
But Juliet did not regret what she had said that day.
**
Juliet, staring blankly at the dove ornament dangling precariously from the handle of her luggage, detached it and put it separately in the inside pocket of her luggage.
It was a silver ornament she had obtained by being stubborn. It wasn't that she particularly coveted the silver.
But it was something she had protected by acting like a child, and she remembered being very upset about losing half of it.
She must have thought she should put the remaining one in a visible place and attached it to her luggage.
She didn't want to lose even the one remaining dove.
Juliet stared blankly out the window.
Lennox, who had chased after her last night, seemed angry, but that would only be for a moment.
Lennox Carlisle was not used to being rejected, so he was only momentarily flustered. He was a man who had rarely lost anything.
The night before, Lennox Carlisle had changed his schedule and ordered her to return to the North with him immediately.
But she had run away from him, even telling cruel and harsh lies.
So perhaps Lennox was now angry at Juliet's actions and had left for the North with the Duke's vassals.
But if he was still staying in the capital...
"...Would they have met by now?"
They would have.
Dahlia Fran.
His real lover, that is.
Contrary to his widely known image, Lennox Carlisle was a fairly exemplary nobleman.
The temple spread a black propaganda campaign, calling him the son of a licentious demon and a profligate tyrant, but the daily life of Lennox Carlisle, the ruler of the North, was surprisingly monotonous and simple.
Outside of working hours, Lennox Carlisle's leisure activities were largely twofold.
He either went hunting in the Magical Creature-infested forest, or he locked himself in the bedroom with his lover for days on end.
He was somewhat difficult to serve, but he was a pretty decent boss.
He never got drunk to the point of losing his mind, he didn't touch drugs, and he had no gambling addiction.
The hunting he occasionally enjoyed was, when you think about it, a healthy exercise of his ruling power.
The North was a land infested with Magical Creatures. The people of the North loved the master of the North who worked hard to subjugate demons.
And the latter case, well.
It was okay, except that there was no talk of marriage, let alone engagement.
But Elliot thought it would be better if his master were a drug addict or an alcoholic.
If that were the case, he wouldn't be tormenting so many people in the middle of the night like this.
"Kee-reureureu~!"
"Ugh!"
The scream of a Magical Creature echoed from the Black Forest again.
Elliot reflexively screamed along with it. Only one person would know what was going on inside.
"...At this rate, the Magical Creatures near the capital will be wiped out.
Jude muttered with a serious expression.
"Shouldn't we receive an allowance from the Imperial Family?"
Elliot clicked his tongue in disbelief.
Jude, the youngest member of the royal guard, was usually cheerful and cute, but he sometimes made unreasonable remarks that were hard to tell whether they were jokes or serious.
Elliot became a little bitter.
"I knew something was wrong."
The night before, Lennox, who had gone to the train station to pick up Juliet, had returned alone. And he had been like that ever since.
He had holed himself up in the forests near the capital where Magical Creatures appeared, and he was cutting them down indiscriminately.
"Tsk. And they obviously don't know it themselves, again."
Perhaps even Juliet herself was unaware, but Carlisle's daily life had slowly become addicted to her.
And when Juliet left, the Duke of Carlisle was at a loss and holed himself up in the forest.
"...I wish he would just drink."
"Or go inside and sleep."
The Forgotten Juliet
