In a sparsely populated train, those who stood out naturally caught Juliet’s attention.
The clothes they wore resembled some kind of uniform, but it was a bit strange.
Typically, a uniform would have some form of insignia, symbol, or badge that could indicate their status. However, there were no visible markings or signs of distinction.
And that wasn’t the only suspicious thing.
Though they passed by very briefly, Juliet noticed something peculiar. When they passed by her, she saw a medium-sized knife concealed within the fluttering folds of their black cloaks.
Juliet, who had grown weary of the knights of the Duke for seven years, could not fail to recognize it.
Carrying weapons on the train was strictly prohibited.
Should she inform the train crew? But she was concerned that it might cause even more commotion.
‘… I hope it’s nothing serious.’
Juliet glanced in the direction where the men with concealed knives had disappeared.
However, the truly strange event occurred when the train stopped at the next station. Once again, a group of suspicious individuals surged onto the train.
They didn’t seem to have knives this time.
But even from a distance, they looked out of the ordinary.
‘Really big.’
With her eyes wide open in amazement, Juliet locked eyes with a middle-aged man who seemed to be the leader of the group.
He was a rugged man who stood close to 2 meters tall.
‘Bigger than sir Cain, it seems.’
Juliet casually sipped her tea, recalling her former bodyguard, Cain.
However, that man seemed even larger than the former mercenary captain, Cain.
He seemed like a humanized bear, if anything.
Unlike the previous group that had carried large luggage onto the train, these individuals didn’t seem to be concealing knives.
But they were all sturdy figures, so imposing that it seemed they wouldn’t need any weapons.
Intuitively, it felt like they would have the upper hand if they were to confront the men who had hidden knives earlier.
“… I’m certain. Roy is definitely on this train.”
“Disperse quietly and search for him.”
Roy?
Juliet had no intention of eavesdropping on the conversation of these suspicious people, but a fragment of the phrase still flew to her ears.
It seemed like they were looking for someone.
As the train started moving again, the suspicious group quickly moved to another car.
Juliet thought it would be best to return to her compartment before getting involved in something troublesome.
She was concerned about the men in black clothes who concealed knives earlier, and seeing another suspicious group raised the likelihood of trouble.
‘…But what about the scones?’
Juliet was disappointed, but she thought it would be best to go back to her compartment for now. Her teacup was empty anyway. However, just as Juliet was about to get up from her seat, the attendant with a tray returned, and Juliet sat back down smoothly.
“Sorry for the long wait! I’ll distribute them one by one.”
The people in the dining car, who were quietly enjoying their meal, became excited at the smell of freshly baked scones.
People obediently sat in their seats, waiting for their turn like well-behaved children.
Before they knew it, the attendant with the tray arrived right in front of Juliet.
“Ahh!”
A faint scream was heard from afar.
The door of the dining car burst open.
“Don’t move, everyone!”
And as expected, men in black uniforms appeared, brandishing their knives and threatening the people in the dining car with cliché lines.
The only difference from before was that they wore black hoods, concealing their faces.
Aah!
People screamed and hastily took their seats.
The bandits quickly scanned the people in the dining car and pushed or threatened them with twisted blades in their hands.
Crash!
Due to the gust of wind, Angie, who was holding the tray, dropped it to the floor. Amidst the chaotic noise, the metal tray overturned, spilling the scones that had been neatly arranged.
While everyone screamed and panicked, Juliet alone remained seated calmly in her place.
She was holding a small dessert platter and her gaze fell on the scone tray that had fallen on the floor.
It happened in the blink of an eye.
“H-Hey, let’s put the knife down and talk…”
“Shut up!”
The sudden intruder leaped in and grabbed a hostage to gain control over the passengers. It seemed like the most suitable target to subdue.
And with the knife pressed against the hostage’s throat, the intruder arrogantly shouted.
“If you don’t want to see this woman’s head flying, you better not move!”
Perhaps the intruder was clearly unaware of the mistake they had just made.
Unfortunately, the chosen hostage was Juliet.
* * *
“!”
“Ahh, ahh!”
The decent passengers obediently knelt down, turned their backs, and sat quietly as commanded by the hostage-takers.
Amidst the suffocating tension, the passengers tightly closed their eyes when they suddenly heard horrifying screams erupting from behind.
People believed that the poor woman who had been taken hostage had been killed for resisting.
These guys deserve a punishment!
The terrified passengers trembled in fear and silently cursed the cruelty of the hostage-takers.
And they wished for the unfortunate woman who had been taken hostage to face a less agonizing death.
But in the next moment, a masked hostage-taker hurriedly crawled into their line of sight.
“P-Please… spare me…!”
As if overwhelmed by terror after witnessing something dreadful, the hostage-taker stumbled and collapsed onto the floor.
‘…Huh?’
The passengers in the train car, who quietly turned their heads, became even more bewildered.
What they saw were the bandits in black uniforms lying on the floor.
And standing unthreateningly was only one fragile-looking woman.
However, Juliet didn’t explain the whole story to the perplexed faces of the passengers.
Tsk.
Her gaze briefly flickered towards the floor with a disappointed expression, but it was truly just a momentary glance.
Juliet immediately approached the door leading to the front car and peered through the crack to assess the situation outside.
As expected, chaos ensued outside with men wielding knives and the earlier group engaged in a fierce battle.
Juliet released four butterflies through the gap in the door.
“Huh?”
“What the?”
“What is this… Ahh!”
And she let the enraged butterflies flutter through the train. The butterflies flew towards the assailants, striking fear into their hearts and feasting on their terror.
They are predators with murderous and malicious intent. It was a banquet-like environment for the butterflies who consumed emotions and grew stronger.
Perhaps unknowingly, it would take quite a while for the butterflies to circle the train and return.
Leaving behind the horrifying screams, Juliet calmly closed the door once again.
It seemed necessary to assess the situation and organize her thoughts. Juliet thought intuitively.
These individuals were not mere train robbers.
There were two distinct groups that turned the train into a chaotic mess.
One group consisted of the attackers who boarded the train later. They were searching for something.
“Search every inch!”
“Sir!”
“Lord Roy! Where are you!”
Juliet suspected that what they were searching for was a person of high status.
The other group consisted of the individuals who had just taken Juliet hostage. They were the kidnappers who had brought ‘Lord Roy’ here, wearing black masks.
Attackers and kidnappers.
Juliet calmly contemplated.
It was of no concern to her personally.
However, the fact that the train couldn’t reach its destination properly was a significant issue.
Juliet thought it would be better to quickly return the kidnapped person to the attackers and resolve the situation.
But how? What should she do?
As Juliet pondered for a moment, she suddenly recalled that the area behind the dining car was the luggage compartment.
And before the group of black-masked individuals boarded the train, something large was undoubtedly loaded into this luggage compartment.
What could possibly be here to warrant such an action?
“Uh…”
The black-masked man who had collapsed on the floor struggled to regain consciousness.
Juliet, with a touch of wickedness, stepped on his hand once more and then forcefully opened the door leading to the luggage compartment.
Creak.
The door opened easily, but the inside was darker than she had anticipated, making it difficult to see anything right away.
She waited for her eyes to adjust to the darkness, but apart from the iron grating, there wasn’t anything particularly notable… Wait, iron grating?
Juliet’s eyes widened.
It was only natural that she couldn’t see any other cargo.
Filling the entire luggage compartment was a massive iron cage, reminiscent of those used to transport ferocious carnivorous animals.
Creak. The sound of heavy chains clashing resounded.
In the darkness, something moved beyond the iron bars. In the next moment, Juliet was taken aback.
A pair of golden eyes, belonging to a massive beast, stared fiercely at Juliet.
‘…A wolf?’