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Chapter: 12
“Juliet?”
The bedroom was empty.
Lennox Carlisle’s gaze swept over the ownerless room before stopping at the vanity. Resting neatly atop it was a necklace glowing with an iridescent sunset hue.
And flying about the room, scattering light even brighter than the necklace, was a single blue butterfly.
The moment Lennox spotted Juliet’s butterfly, he understood the situation at once.
At the same time, his blood ran cold.
“Your Grace!”
Those who had belatedly followed him hurriedly gathered at the wide-open doorway.
Without a word, Lennox picked up the paper knife lying on the table.
Crunch.
The dull blade left his hand and pierced straight through the wings of the butterfly fluttering around the vanity mirror.
The blue butterfly trembled as if it were a living creature, then scattered into sparkling motes of light and vanished without a trace.
“N-no, what on earth is going on…?”
The servants who had rushed in behind him stared at the empty room, still wearing confused expressions.
“But, my lord, we definitely saw the young lady return and get down from the carriage.”
“Yes, and we clearly saw her come back and go up to this room on the second floor—”
Ah.
The moment the butterfly disappeared, the illusion spell shattered as well. Only then did the servants realize the situation, their faces draining of color.
They had certainly seen Juliet return—but from the very beginning, they had been caught in a monster’s illusion.
The servants hastily shut their mouths and glanced nervously at the duke.
It was something easily forgotten because she so rarely showed it, but Juliet Monad was the possessor of an exceptionally rare ability.
The butterflies bound to her were extraordinary magical beasts capable of deceiving both the eyes and the mind.
Yet Lennox ignored the surrounding commotion, staring fixedly at a single point.
He was thinking of something else.
‘Since when?’
No one knew Juliet’s ability better than he did.
A vision-inducing power that allowed her chosen targets to see illusions.
It was a rare ability, but with her current level, Juliet still had limits when it came to freely controlling butterfly monsters.
As far as he knew, she could only cast illusions on one or two people at a time.
Her power was potent enough to enchant people, but it consumed a great deal of mana and came with many restrictions, making it difficult to use openly in public.
Tricking a single coachman would have been easy—but deceiving all the people in the ducal estate at once should have been impossible.
And yet, Juliet had brazenly fooled everyone and escaped.
The meaning was obvious. She had hidden the fact that her ability had grown stronger.
Was appearing at the banquet after avoiding him all day part of the plan as well?
Since when had she been calmly planning her escape behind that composed expression?
“She did not go to Count Monad’s residence.”
The butler reported, having already made contact.
With emotionless eyes, Lennox looked down at the necklace still sitting in its box on the vanity.
It was the very necklace he had sent Juliet that morning.
Left behind all alone, it carried an ominous implication.
The room was immaculately arranged, with all the jewelry and clothes he had given her still left behind.
To an outsider, it would look as though she had merely stepped out for a moment.
Suddenly, one question occurred to him.
The servants aside, Kane—the guard assigned to Juliet—was a Sword Master.
He could understand deceiving others, but how had she fooled even Kane’s eyes?
“Kane.”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
“Did you eat or drink anything?”
“…Pardon?”
Startled by the sudden question, Kane soon grasped its meaning and grew flustered.
“Earlier today, the young lady offered me a drink—”
“She drugged it.”
Ha.
At this point, it was almost impressive enough to make him laugh.
Among the guards assigned to Juliet, Kane was the only Sword Master.
Juliet’s butterflies were terrifying beings, incomparable to the spirits bound to ordinary artifacts—but they came with limitations.
For example, due to her insufficient mana, her power struggled to perfectly deceive a Sword Master’s senses.
The foresight to drug someone beforehand if her ability wouldn’t work on them.
In the first place, the guards were meant to protect her safety—not to keep her from running away.
And stoic Kane was not the type to accept a drink easily.
“I have no excuse. I made such a mistake…”
Having pieced everything together, Kane lowered his head.
But Lennox Carlisle’s fury was directed at one person alone.
“So you were truly determined.”
A low, humorless laugh slipped through clenched teeth.
He no longer wondered why Juliet had done this. Nor could he guess when or where she had begun planning it.
From secretly purchasing silphium, to mastering her butterflies while hiding it—every detail stoked his rage.
Before the chilling fury of the Duke of Carlisle, no one dared lift their head.
Watching his master’s expression anxiously, Eliot cautiously spoke up.
“Shall we contact the capital guard?”
“No.”
It would be pointless.
Just as Juliet knew him well, Lennox Carlisle knew Juliet Monad.
If she truly wished to, she could hide herself completely.
Moreover, today marked the turn of the year. With crowds flooding the streets to watch the fireworks, searching would not be easy.
Juliet had clearly planned this escape for a long time—and had carefully chosen the timing.
She struck during the New Year’s banquet in the capital, when they had left the North and security was relatively lax.
Lennox was certain she was still in the capital.
Times of chaos were ideal for hiding, but also limited the means of secretly escaping the city.
Still, it was only a matter of time before Juliet fled beyond the capital.
He could deploy troops to block every road in and out—but if he acted rashly and botched things, Juliet would only hide even deeper.
If she truly resolved to disappear, he might lose her forever. She had the ability to erase all traces of herself if she chose.
“What shall we do, Your Grace?” Eliot asked softly.
Lennox Carlisle lifted his head.
“She hasn’t left the capital yet.”
He clenched the necklace she had left behind.
Clink.
The diamonds collided within his grasp, making a faint sound.
He smiled with only his lips.
“I’ll hold her accountable later. Find her first.”
He intended to let Juliet know—
That he, too, could be just as relentless as she was.
“Find her by any means necessary. Without so much as a single hair out of place.”
The mere thought that Juliet might be carrying his child made his blood run cold.
He had no intention of letting her run away with what was his.
Bang.
The intruders who dared storm the sacred temple in the dead of night had no intention of hiding who they were.
Hearing the commotion, the High Priest of the capital rushed out in haste.
“How dare you! Do you know where you are?!”
The High Priest, confronting the uninvited guests head-on, was livid. He had run so hastily that the ceremonial crown atop his head sat crooked.
“Do you know who I am?! How dare you bring weapons into this holy ground—!”
“You’re long-winded, High Priest.”
“D-Duke?”
Seeing the man calmly stepping out of the darkness, the High Priest went pale.
His sculpted face half-shrouded in shadow and his tall, imposing frame were so beautiful it bordered on blasphemous—as though a king of the underworld had risen to the surface.
Yet the Duke of Carlisle, the great lord of the North, was hardly a devout man who would visit a temple at midnight on New Year’s Day.
The duke stood with one hand lightly resting on his sword hilt, bristling with killing intent.
…Was he here to harm the temple?
“I-I will contact His Majesty the Emperor at once—”
The duke spoke without smiling.
“You know it won’t help.”
The High Priest shut his mouth. Of course, he knew.
If the temple requested aid, the Emperor would likely feign ignorance and dismiss it.
Unlike other great noble houses, the House of Carlisle had long been on bad terms with the temple.
In fact, the temple held an intense interest in the northern duchy, which possessed the largest territory in the empire.
Vast lands. And staggering amounts of gold.
But the Carlisle family—and Northerners in general—were notoriously irreverent unbelievers.
They had no interest in religion and could not understand building lavish temples or extracting enormous donations.
The relationship between the House of Carlisle and the temple had completely collapsed during Lennox Carlisle’s generation.
Ascending to the ducal seat at a young age after slaughtering his uncles, Lennox Carlisle closed every temple in the North not long after becoming duke.
Naturally, the temple fiercely opposed this and excommunicated him.
Excommunication meant he could no longer receive a priest’s blessing for marriage.
Furthermore, the temple threatened to withhold its blessing from any future heir of the ducal house.
Of course, the Duke of Carlisle ignored them completely—and mocked the temple. Since when had heirs of the ducal house been born from officially blessed marriages?
A man feared even by the Emperor himself—what could the temple possibly do to him?
Faced with such an arrogant adversary, the High Priest gave up protesting and cautiously asked his purpose.
“So then, what is it you want, Duke?”
