Shortly after the family of Count Monad left the imperial palace in a carriage, some of the guests also decided to leave the banquet hall earlier.
“Oh, it’s His Highness!”
“But it’s the middle of the ball…”
There were Duke Carlyle and his knights.
Some of the nobles began whispering in amazement as they watched him, but no one dared to stand in the Duke’s way.
“It was a waste of time.”
Lennox Carlyle had nothing more to do here. He has seen enough already.
Besides, he didn’t originally come here to hang out with idiots who danced carelessly in their gaudy, ridiculous costumes.
Moreover, visiting the capital in the summer was a rather spontaneous decision.
One of the three men he left behind in the capital contacted him and said that he might have found what he had been looking for.
Few of Duke Carlyle’s closest associates knew that for many years he had been secretly looking for one thing.
It was a relic given long ago to Duke Carlyle. However, it disappeared ten years ago in the chaos that followed the death of Lennox’s father, the previous Duke Carlyle, when the seat of ruler of the Northern Lands was empty and his relatives committed various atrocities.
“You will find it soon.”
Hadin, the dark-clothed man who followed the Duke, said softly.
Although Hadin had served the Duke for a long time, he still didn’t know exactly what the item was.
All he knew was that this item looked like an ordinary gem, but unlike ordinary gems, it also had magical powers.
Hadin knew that his master, for whom neither things nor people had value, was simply obsessed with finding this relic for many years.
“Let’s go back to the auction house located to the south and research everything there again.”
“No, no need. As soon as I finish urgent business here, we will head North.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
When Lennox reached the main entrance, he suddenly turned around and gazed at the banquet hall before leaving the imperial palace.
“Are you looking for someone?”
“…No.”
He felt a vague unease, as if someone’s gaze had followed him from the moment he entered the hall, but some time ago this feeling disappeared, as suddenly as it appeared.
Lennox watched the people in the brightly lit banquet hall for a moment longer, then turned away and said:
“We are returning.”
* * *
Flash!
“Oh my God, don’t do this!”
“Get out of my way!”
Being half-conscious, she could only distinguish someone’s voices that barely made their way through the fog that descended on her mind.
“Damn it, don’t move!”
“Lily!”
“No, Cassius!”
Then someone screamed, but the scream was abruptly cut off.
“Juliet!”
Hearing someone scream, Juliet could barely open her eyes.
She felt a strong pain in the back of her head, as from a strong blow. It felt like she had a concussion.
Although Juliet hadn’t yet fully recovered, she realized that she was lying on the icy stone floor.
‘Where I am? And where are my parents?’
Juliet thought, when the fog in her mind began to slowly dissipate.
However, then she suddenly heard an angry voice nearby.
“No! Who told you to kill them?! I told you all you have to do is steal the key!”
…Who did they kill?
The moment Juliet heard the familiar voice, she seemed to have a flash of light. She could recognize that voice without even seeing the man.
It was Gasper, her uncle.
“But you didn’t ask not to kill them.”
“What, I had to explain this too?!”
While Juliet was lying on the floor, Gaspar and strangers began to quarrel among themselves.
“Ah, who said we killed them all? Their daughter is still breathing.”
“…She is alive?” Gasper asked confused.
It was quite obvious that he was now thinking about whether it was better to leave Juliet alive or kill her and dispose of the body later.
“Listen, Baron, your brother drew his sword and began to defend himself, because of him we lost a comrade!”
“Did you think it would be so easy to capture a former knight without killing him?”
“Ugh… okay. But where is the key?”
“I told you that it wasn’t in a place you mentioned.”
The key. That means what he needs.
Juliet tried desperately to remain conscious, despite the fact that her eyelids grew heavier with each passing minute.
Hearing their conversation, she began to guess what had happened.
Those thieves must have raided the mansion on Gasper’s orders, who had visited her father the day before.
Feeling powerless like never before, Juliet clenched her teeth in rage.
‘I should have just killed that bastard!’
But, then Juliet suddenly noticed something glowing on her chest, hidden under the neckline of her dress. It was the key her father had given her the other day.
‘Hm… So Gasper hired those rascals to break into the mansion and steal the key.’
But what the hell are these antiques? And why does he need it so much?
But what these people didn’t know was that the day before, her father had given this key to Juliet. And now he hung around her neck. And since Gaspar was arguing with his accomplices, it means that they didn’t know where it was now.
“Anyway, I’m coming back. Listen to me carefully. You guys don’t know me and we’ve never met! And if you even hint about this to anyone, you will be in big trouble!”
As soon as Gasper finished speaking, he turned around and left.
“So we can do whatever we want with this bitch?”
Then, the eyes of the remaining men turned to the unmoving Juliet.
“And what do you propose to do with her?”
“Let’s just kill her.”
“No, wait. There is a more interesting option. Let’s sell her as a slave. We will be paid very well for this noble bitch. And we will split this money in half.”
Despite the fact that these people were now deciding the future fate of Juliet, every second she understood less and less what they were talking about and almost didn’t pay attention to them.
Her surroundings gradually blurred, and there was a deafening noise in her ears. And what was most curious was that she only saw a shiny silver key.
(…Hey.)
‘Who said that? Is this a hallucination?’
She felt as if something was talking to her.
(You.)
(We are waiting.)
(I will kill them for you.)
Juliet felt a throbbing pain begin to rise in the back of her head.
At the same time, she felt the rumble of insistent voices, without stopping, swarmed in her head.
As soon as she realized this, the line that had previously separated them broke and they poured out in an unrestrained stream. There were several voices. Some sounded sweet and gentle, while others were fierce and vicious.
But they all desperately wanted to talk to her.
(No. I will kill them for you!)
(We are big, we are strong.)
(For us it costs nothing.)
(Tear them apart…)
(Easy.)
(You can lie still.)
(Only me. Just take it out. Us. From here.)
“…”
To take out where?
And then an insight, like a lightning strike, hit her.
Juliet finally noticed that those voices were coming from the key.
Key.
Monad – Guardian.
And what was this door that she couldn’t find in any way, no matter how much she wandered around the mansion.
Ah, that’s it.
Suddenly Juliet understood everything.
It was a door to lock something.
No wonder she couldn’t find the right door anywhere.
Was what lay behind her really that dangerous?
But, if this door was originally hidden so that no one could even find it, then it is so.
The guardian is the protector!
And this meant that what was locked there shouldn’t come out…
But, then Juliet’s eyes began to slowly close.
In a fading consciousness, she quickly grabbed the key.
At that moment, in the midst of the darkness that clouded Juliet’s mind, a huge door appeared, all covered in blood.
Chink!
Even with her eyes closed, Juliet clearly saw and heard the opening of a door that had been closed for hundreds of years.
Then there was a deafening, joyous laugh, and she saw the monster that was held back by this door return to this world again.