FJ 4

Chapter: 4

Until just moments ago, the onlookers who had been eagerly anticipating Juliet’s humiliation were frozen in place.

The silence was broken by Princess Priscilla’s scream.

“…Juliet Monad!”

Princess Priscilla’s face flushed bright red as she shouted sharply.

“D-Do you really think you can behave so arrogantly just because you have the Duke of Carlisle’s favor?”

“Yes.”

“W-What… did you say?”

“Yes, that’s right. I’m being reckless because I’m relying on the Duke’s favor.”

When Juliet smiled broadly, Priscilla’s face turned pale with shock.

For Priscilla, who had lived her life being treated like royalty, this was the first time she had been insulted like this.

“Juliet Monad! There are limits even when one disregards someone’s kindness…!”

Priscilla, forgetting entirely what she herself had done moments ago, teared up.

This was a reaction entirely unlike the Priscilla who took pleasure in humiliating the Duke’s previous lovers in every possible way.

However, Juliet remained completely calm, her face unchanged, and replied nonchalantly.

“I’m not sure what you mean. I was merely returning the favor you extended to me.”

“Th-…!”

At a loss for words, Priscilla glared at Juliet, tears brimming in her eyes.

She had simply returned the rudeness that had been directed at her, but seemed unprepared to experience it herself.

Yet, there was nothing Priscilla could do immediately. At most, she could run to her uncle, the Emperor, to tattle.

“…I’m speechless!”

She muttered under her breath, but no solution came to mind to regain her dignity.

Eventually, Priscilla stomped her feet and retreated.

“Princess!”

A few ladies hurriedly followed after her.

Juliet leisurely watched them leave.

The reason Priscilla’s outrageous actions had been effective until now was simple.

The Duke of Carlisle’s previous lovers had been of low status and ignorant of social etiquette.

Terrified by Priscilla’s rank, all they could do was run to the Duke, crying, to inform him.

Or remain silent and endure it for fear of losing the Duke’s favor.

Neither of these applied to Juliet.

‘She might have tried grabbing my hair,’ Juliet thought, shrugging. She had been ready to respond in kind, but it ended unexpectedly easily.

Juliet glanced around.

The spectators surrounding her quickly avoided her gaze and looked away in shock.

“Ahem!”

They coughed awkwardly and dispersed shortly after.

Juliet smiled triumphantly at them.

In truth, the only reason people could mock and ridicule the Duke’s lovers was that Lennox Carlisle remained utterly indifferent.

But that also meant Juliet Monad could behave as boldly as she liked in society without the Duke batting an eye.

After all, no one in their right mind would want to make the Duke an enemy.

…Or so one would think.

As Juliet assumed the embarrassing incident was over and stepped out of the chapel, someone grabbed her wrist from the hallway outside, making her stumble.

“Claiming the Duke of Carlisle’s tastes are vulgar, huh? I see why.”

Juliet coldly freed her wrist from the sneering young man.

“I don’t understand what you mean, Count Kasper.”

The rude young man was Count Kasper, Princess Priscilla’s fiancé who had dashed out earlier.

“Ha! Planning to deny it?”

Count Kasper sneered as he stepped closer.

“I’ve heard quite a bit, you know.”

Heard… what exactly?

Juliet raised an eyebrow.

The chapel hallway outside had far fewer onlookers than before.

Seeing that few eyes were watching, Count Kasper lowered his voice to whisper.

“I hear you use… lewd illusions?”

Juliet let out a scoffing laugh.

It seemed he had overheard half-baked rumors about her abilities.

‘Not exactly a secret,’ she thought, sighing softly.

Lewd illusions, huh? She could guess how the story had been twisted in transmission.

“Did you seduce the Duke with that? Huh?”

Juliet frowned.

She felt the unsettling touch of his fingers lingering on her wrist.

“Or… are your other talents… more impressive?”

Juliet easily read the crude desire in Count Kasper’s dull eyes.

She didn’t blush. She had encountered such situations several times in the North. Though long ago, some men had openly made such blatant advances.

‘I wonder what happened to those men?’

She tilted her head, suddenly curious.

Come to think of it, she couldn’t recall seeing any of the men who had flirted with her again.

‘How is that possible? The Northern social scene is smaller than the capital…’

“Do you really think you could ever become the Duke’s wife?”

Lost in thought, Juliet said nothing, which only emboldened Count Kasper. He seemed to assume she was scared.

“You need to understand your place. Lennox Carlisle isn’t that easy to fool. If the Duke changes his mind, it’s over for someone like you. Got it?”

‘Ah, finally his true intentions,’ Juliet thought, tilting her head disinterestedly.

‘You think someone like you could ever become the Duke’s wife?’

It seemed absurd in hindsight.

Princess Priscilla was easy to understand; her desires were transparent and simple.

These people weren’t close enough to Juliet to hold personal grudges.

Yet they tried to belittle her and start trouble simply because they feared Lennox Carlisle.

The Duke was fearsome, but judging a powerless woman was easy.

‘Cowards.’

Juliet sneered coldly.

They projected their distorted anger onto an easy target, lacking the courage to confront the Duke.

In truth, she suspected they were the ones most secretly infatuated with the Duke.

“What if I stare at you? Will you run to the Duke to tattle? Huh?”

Count Kasper sneered, as if confident she wouldn’t.

Juliet looked at him steadily, then sighed.

“Count, are you jealous of me?”

“What?”

“Well, too bad. As far as I know, the Duke isn’t interested in men.”

“Men… what? What…?”

Count Kasper blinked dumbfounded, unable to comprehend Juliet’s words immediately.

Juliet openly surveyed him from head to toe, then smiled and added:

“Even if that weren’t the case… you’ll need to try much harder, Count.”

When Count Kasper understood her mockery a beat later, his face turned bright red.

“Damn… crazy woman…!”

But just as he raised his hand to strike Juliet, he suddenly let out a strangled scream and collapsed to the ground.

“Gah!”

Onlookers, who had been keeping a safe distance, were confused, not knowing what had happened.

All they had seen was Count Kasper raising his hand threateningly toward Juliet Monad.

In that brief moment, a single blue butterfly flapped its wings somewhere—but few noticed.

Then, with a clattering crash, Count Kasper rolled on the floor.

People couldn’t believe their eyes.

The first to reach him was Juliet, standing nearest.

“Oh my, Count?”

Juliet’s expression seemed delicate and innocent.

And rightly so—she hadn’t touched Count Kasper with even a finger.

Anyone could see he had collapsed all by himself.

“My goodness, are you all right?”

Juliet extended a hand kindly.

To others, it looked like a gesture of help, but…

“Hyaaah!”

Count Kasper recoiled in terror, crawling backward helplessly.

As if trying to help, Juliet grabbed him firmly by the collar.

“Count Kasper.”

She whispered softly into his ear, low enough for no one else to hear.

“Shut up and just listen. If I were you, I’d watch my tongue.”

Juliet’s shoe pressed gently on the back of his right hand, but the terrified, panicked Count didn’t notice.

In truth, he didn’t fully understand what had just happened.

He had merely intended to teach this insolent woman a lesson.

Then, suddenly, a strange blue butterfly brushed against his forehead.

And…

Gah…

He stifled a moan, obeying her earlier command. His jaw trembled in fear.

The moment the mysterious blue butterfly touched his head, the most terrifying and massive image he could imagine ‘flowed in.’

“I’ll let it slide this time, but who knows? Next time, if some ‘crazy woman’—”

Juliet smiled, clearly amused by the word itself.

“-gets twisted, she might just cast an illusion and make you jump off the roof in the middle of the night.”