FJ 17

Chapter: 17

Clink.

A sound of something breaking came from upstairs.

“Get out of here, you wretch! Who do you think you are, sneaking in here!”

“Ah, I was just about to leave anyway! Let’s see how long you can keep acting so high and mighty!”

The normally calm voice of Count Monad, which rarely rose in volume, carried all the way to the living room below.

Juliet, carrying a tray of tea up the stairs, deliberately paused on the landing for a moment.

“Really, making such a fuss over an ordinary antique… hmm?”

Moments later, a middle-aged man came down the stairs huffing and puffing, and froze when he saw Juliet.

“Wait, aren’t you Juliet? You’ve grown so much, I almost didn’t recognize you.”

Juliet smiled faintly with cold eyes, as if she had been waiting for this.

“Hello, Uncle Gaspard. It’s been a while since we last met.”

Before her reincarnation, in her first life, Juliet was only fifteen when her parents, the Count and Countess, died in a carriage accident.

At that time, the person who stepped forward to become her guardian was Baron Morfric Gaspard, Count Monad’s half-brother.

There were many suspicious circumstances surrounding the sudden death of the Count and Countess, but young Juliet was just a normal child and dared not suspect her uncle, who had appeared at the funeral shedding tears.

“Don’t worry, Juliet. You only need to trust me, your uncle.”

Baron Gaspard, who said this, first sold off the Monad family estate.

He put on a show of being a sophisticated businessman in fine clothes, but in reality, he was a typical swindler. He embezzled the Monad inheritance little by little under the pretense of investments and trusts.

He fired all the tutors and servants and used the money from selling the estate to indulge in a lavish lifestyle. Meanwhile, Juliet was given only just enough food to avoid starving.

Back then, Juliet was locked in a tiny room, barely educated, and had to figure out how to survive for several days on a single hard loaf of bread.

Gaspard squandered the family fortune before Juliet even came of age.

He even took the last remaining keepsake of the Countess—a single earring. When there was nothing left to sell, he even set his sights on Juliet herself.

“This is all for your own good,” he had said.

Juliet remembered the face of Baron Gaspard, who had sold her off in her previous life, as clearly as if it were yesterday. How could she ever forget—the face of the very villain and enemy who had thrown her life into ruin?

But unlike her previous life, where Gaspard had enjoyed a luxurious lifestyle at her expense, his current appearance was pitifully pathetic.

Although he had dressed in expensive clothes, his taste for luxury remained, the clothes were all long out of fashion, and his flashy gold watch clearly looked fake.

With half-gray hair and a haggard face, Gaspard looked at least ten years older than his age.

Yet Juliet deliberately smiled.

“You’re still quite the stylish one, Uncle. Your outfit is very impressive.”

“Uh? Oh, yes. But, uh, is that tea from Rienne?”

Baron Gaspard, who had a keen eye for luxury, immediately recognized the expensive tea set.

“Yes, that’s right. It’s the tea my father likes.”

“I see. Ahem… well, maybe I can have a cup of tea before I go….”

As he said this, Gaspard reached out to grab the tray.

But Juliet skillfully dodged, widening her eyes.

“However, Uncle, your friends have been waiting downstairs. Would it be alright to keep them waiting even longer?”

“Friends? Friends?”

Juliet tilted her head innocently.

“Hmm… what was it… Humphrey? I think that was the name. They seemed like very strong friends.”

The mention of the most notorious loan shark in the capital from Juliet’s innocent-looking mouth left Gaspard pale.

“W-when did…? Why are you only telling me now?”

Juliet shrugged casually.

“Well, you didn’t ask. Don’t worry, your friends said they wouldn’t move a step from the front gate until you came down.”

“The… front gate? Front gate…?”

“Yes. So you’ll definitely meet them without any mix-up.”

Gaspard anxiously looked out the window, obviously thinking:

‘With hunting dogs let out at the back, you won’t get away easily.’

Juliet chuckled quietly in her mind.

He couldn’t even suspect that his young niece standing before him had deliberately set a trap.

The trap: letting him taste a little money through poor investments, then gradually pushing him to borrow more and more from loan sharks—a professional, meticulous plan.

Her innocent face made it impossible to associate her with such a cruel plan.

“Well then, Uncle, take care of yourself and keep struggling for a long time.”

The longer he lived, the longer he would suffer.

“Uh, uh…?”

Gaspard, panicked, didn’t even notice Juliet’s open mockery.

Juliet briskly passed him and entered Count Monad’s study.

Knock.

She knocked lightly and peeked inside.

“Father, it’s me.”

“…Juliet.”

Count Monad’s normally stern face softened instantly.

“May I come in?”

“Of course.”

His brown eyes were filled with affection as he looked at his daughter.

Count Cassius Monad was a tall, handsome man with a gentle demeanor.

He had served as an officer in the East during his youth, but now he was better known as a caring father and devoted husband.

Juliet inherited her blue eyes and delicate features from her mother, and her slender build and brown hair from her father.

“Uncle Gaspard just left,” Juliet said.

Count Monad, pouring tea for her with a gentle expression, suddenly stood up with a stern look.

“Has that man not left yet? He didn’t say anything foolish to you, did he?”

“No, he just said hello and left in a hurry.”

Hurry indeed. He must have secretly escaped through the back door to avoid the loan sharks who hadn’t even come yet.

Returning to the past, Juliet was prepared to do anything to save her parents, but her main focus wasn’t to trap Gaspard for revenge.

Her priority was to destroy Count Monad’s trust in him.

Count Monad was gentle and mild-mannered, but that was also his weakness.

His inability to suspect others had almost cost lives in the past.

‘From a distance, it’s all so obvious.’

It was clear that Gaspard had caused the so-called carriage accident that killed the Count and Countess in her first life.

There was no solid evidence, but Juliet could stake her life on the fact that Gaspard had targeted her parents for the family fortune.

How could she ensure that bastard wouldn’t come near her parents in this life?

After some thought, Juliet decided to use herself as bait.

When she was about fifteen, she had been seriously injured falling off a pony she had been gifted. Though there was no proof, it was certainly Gaspard’s doing.

‘No solid evidence, and he had an alibi—just like before.’

Juliet used this to her advantage. If there’s no evidence, make some.

She carefully set up suspicious circumstantial evidence to slowly make Count Monad doubt Gaspard…

“If he even comes near again, tell your mother or me immediately, Juliet.”

“Yes, I will.”

Smiling at her father’s warning, Juliet felt confident.

Previously, Count Monad had silently dealt with his half-brother’s misdeeds, allowing Gaspard to continue squandering money. Banks had lent him money simply because they trusted Count Monad.

“You’ll never be welcomed back!”

However, two years ago, Juliet had subtly hinted at evidence linking Gaspard to her riding accident.

Count Monad immediately summoned his half-brother in anger. Gaspard desperately denied it, but suspicion took root like dry grass catching fire.

Once the flame was lit, Count Monad furiously expelled Gaspard from the household, forbidding him from ever approaching the family again.

The father’s unexpectedly fierce reaction was a little surprising, but it made Juliet’s plan much smoother.

With Count Monad disowning him, no one would lend Gaspard money, so he fell right into the trap Juliet had set, drowning in debt and chased by loan sharks.

For the past three years, Juliet had worked diligently to alter the preordained miserable ending.

And she could say she had half succeeded.

In her first life, Juliet lost both parents at fifteen. But now, at eighteen, she was living happily with her loving parents.

‘It could have been changed this easily.’

Why had she been such a helpless child in her first life?

Juliet briefly felt bitter, then smiled meaningfully.

‘Once Gaspard is completely gone, I’ll make my parents rich.’

Unaware of her thoughts, Count Monad smiled warmly when their eyes met.

“Father, what was Uncle here for?”

“Nothing for you to worry about, child.”

Count Monad spoke firmly, then suddenly called Juliet over.

“That’s right, Juliet. Come here.”

He took a small wooden box from a drawer and handed it to her.

The palm-sized mahogany box had a delicately embossed flower resembling a daffodil on the lid. Opening it, Juliet saw the red velvet lining.

Resting on the velvet cushion was a tiny necklace that contrasted sharply with the red.

‘So this is it.’

The “antique” Gaspard had demanded so arrogantly.

Juliet’s eyes sparkled.

The platinum pendant shaped like a key was both dainty and elegant, with tiny blue jewels intricately set in the handle.

Click.

Count Monad placed the key in Juliet’s hand. A long, slender platinum chain hung down.

The necklace had been passed down in the Monad family for a very long time.

Juliet tilted her head. And Gaspard had wanted this?

“Do you know what name our family is recorded under in history, Juliet?”

“Yes, I do.”

The Guardian Monad.

It had been called that for over 300 years.

The first emperor of the empire, Ernst, had granted them the house along with that title.

“That key was left by the first Count,” he said.

Count Quirie Monad, the first head, had been instrumental in founding the empire and even became prime minister.

But Juliet found something odd.

Guardian? Shouldn’t such a title go to a family famed for swordsmanship?

Moreover, the heirloom was just a necklace suitable for a young girl. Usually, family heirlooms were swords, shields, or at least imposing jewelry, like crowns or heavily gem-encrusted necklaces.

“This is called the Snowdrop,” her father said.

‘It even has a name?’

Juliet laughed at the delicate size, thinking it suited the name. Apparently, the flower on the box lid was a snowdrop.

‘Pretty, but far too cute for an heirloom.’

Even though it was 300 years old, it perfectly suited Juliet.

Count Monad looked at her as she gazed at the key.

“It’s for you.”

Juliet’s eyes widened.

“Really?”

“Yes. I had planned to give it to you on your nineteenth birthday…”

Frowning, Count Monad paused. He was clearly displeased that Gaspard had dared covet the family heirloom.

“In any case, I hope you’ll accept it.”

He carefully placed the thin platinum chain around Juliet’s neck.

Fiddling with the playful-looking pendant, Juliet smiled brightly.

“Thank you, Father. I’ll treasure it.”

‘And Gaspard wanted this?’

Why? Was he planning to sell it to a collector?

‘What about in my first life?’

She vaguely remembered that when Gaspard sold the estate, he had likely disposed of it then as well.