Forgotten Juliet

The onlookers who had just been eagerly anticipating Juliet’s humiliation were frozen in unison.

What broke the silence was Princess Priscilla’s scream.

“…Juliet Monad!”

Princess Priscilla  shouted sharply, her face flushed red.

“A-Are you now so arrogant and reckless, relying on Duke Carlyle’s favor?”

“Yes.”

“W-What… What did you say?”

“Yes, absolutely right. I’m behaving recklessly, trusting the Duke,” Juliet smiled beautifully.

Princess Priscilla turned pale.

This was the first time she had experienced such humiliation, living her life like a princess.

“Juliet Monad! How dare you disregard people’s kindness and be so presumptuous!”

Priscilla was in tears, completely forgetting what she had just done.

Priscilla’s response wasn’t typical of her, who enjoyed embarrassing Duke Carlyle’s lovers in various ways.

However, Juliet’s expression remained unchanged, and she casually retorted.

“I don’t understand what you’re talking about. I only returned the favor to Princess Priscilla.”

“That…!”

A speechless Priscilla glared at Juliet.

Although Juliet merely returned the rudeness Priscilla had caused, it seemed that Priscilla lacked immunity when it came to facing the same treatment.

“…I’m speechless!”

APriscilla grumbled for a while, but she had no choice, so all that was left for her in this situation was to retreat.

“P-princess!”

Some ladies, not knowing what to do, rushed after Priscilla. Juliet calmly watched their retreating figures.

The reason why Priscilla’s forced malice had been tolerated so far was simple.

In the past, Lennox Carlyle’s lovers had low status and were shrouded in the dark side of high society. Those who were intimidated by Priscilla’s status had no choice but to run to the Duke and cry, offering their apologies. Or they would be too afraid to say anything and simply let themselves be mistreated, fearing that they would lose his attention.

But both scenarios were irrelevant to Juliet.

‘I thought she would grab me by the hair…’

She had intended to respond in the same way, but surprisingly, it ended rather flatly.

Juliet glanced around her. The onlookers surrounding her avoided eye contact and flinched in surprise.

“Ahem!”

They had made a fuss for no reason and soon dispersed.

Juliet smiled widely at those people, as if taunting them.

In fact, people were able to mock and ridicule the Duke’s lovers because Lennox Carlyle was completely indifferent.

But on the other hand, it also meant that even if Juliet Monad behaved recklessly in high society, he wouldn’t bat an eye.

Unless one was extremely foolish, they wouldn’t want to turn the Duke into an enemy.

However, there was someone like that. Someone who lacked common sense.

It happened when Juliet was leaving the church. Someone who had been waiting in the corridor tightly grabbed Juliet’s wrist.

“I heard that Lennox Carlyle’s taste in women is vulgar. Looks like I just understood these words.”

In response to his tantrum, Juliet shook off her captured arm and coolly retorted.

“I’m not sure what you’re talking about, Count Casper.”

It was Count Casper, the fiance of Princess Priscilla.

“Ha! Are you planning to throw a fit?”

Casper, who had approached closely, sneered.

“I’ve heard everything too.”

So what?

There weren’t as many onlookers in the corridor outside the church as there were before.

Casper, realizing that there weren’t many eyes around, lowered his voice and whispered.

“They say you use some sort of magic tricks, right?”

Juliet couldn’t help but burst into laughter at the absurdity. It seemed like they had haphazardly picked up rumors about her abilities.

‘It’s not even a secret.’

Juliet let out a soft sigh.

She could imagine how the rumors had spread.

“So, did you seduce the Duke with that? Hmm?” 

Some magic tricks, he said.

Suddenly, Juliet furrowed her brow. The sensation of fingers probing her wrist had felt unsettling.

“Or… are you skilled in other ways?”

Juliet could easily read the lecherous desire in Casper’s gloomy eyes.

She didn’t even blush. She had experienced such incidents a few times in the North. It was an old story, but there were occasionally men who threw even more blatant advances.

‘But what happened to those people?’

A sudden question crossed Juliet’s mind, and she tilted her head.

Come to think of it, she didn’t remember seeing those men who had made advances towards her.

‘How is that possible? The social circle in the North is narrower than in the capital.’

“Just because of that, do you think someone like you can become a real Duchess?”

As Juliet absentmindedly dozed off, the Count became more assertive.

It seemed like he thought she was frightened.

“You need to understand your place. Duke Lennox Carlyle is not someone to be taken lightly. If the Duke changes his mind, it’s over for someone like you. Got it?”

‘Ah, finally showing your true colors.’

Juliet raised her head. The words, ‘Just because of that, do you think someone like you can become a Duchess?’

It was strange when she thought about it.

Princess Priscilla was easier to understand. Her desires were transparent and straightforward.

Moreover, these people didn’t have any personal closeness with her to hold a grudge. Yet they openly belittled Juliet and picked fights with her because they feared Duke Carlyle.

While Duke Carlyle was intimidating, it was easy to criticize a powerless woman.

‘Cowards.’

Juliet scoffed coldly.

They, who didn’t have the courage to criticize Duke Carlyle, projected their distorted anger onto an easy target.

In truth, it was doubtful whether she was more enthusiastic about Duke Carlyle than anyone else.

“What are you going to do if you keep staring at me? Are you going to run to the Duke and tattle on me? Huh?”

Casper sneered. It was as if he knew that Juliet wouldn’t do such a thing.

Juliet glanced at him and asked.

“Count, are you jealous?”

“What?”

“But what can you do? As far as I know, the Duke doesn’t have a fondness for blue.”

“What is that…?”

Casper couldn’t quickly grasp Juliet’s words and blinked dumbly.

“Well, even without that, you’ll have to put in a lot of effort.”

Juliet openly scrutinized him from head to toe and added with a smirk.

Finally, Casper understood and his face turned crimson.

“Damn, crazy bitch…!”

However, as Count Casper raised his hand as if to slap Juliet’s cheek, he suddenly let out a choking scream and collapsed to the ground.

“Gah!”

The onlookers who had been watching from a distance were perplexed, unsure of what had just happened.

All they saw was a brief scene of Count Casper abruptly raising his hand menacingly towards Juliet Monad.

In a very fleeting moment, a blue butterfly fluttered its wings somewhere in the vicinity, but not many people noticed it. And in the next moment, with a loud thud, Count Casper was writhing on the ground.

The onlookers rubbed their eyes in disbelief.

The first person to approach Count Casper was Juliet, who happened to be closest to him.

“Oh my, Count?”

With a surprised expression, Juliet looked the most fragile and innocent in the world.

And it was understandable because she had never laid a finger on Count Casper’s body.

It was obvious to anyone that Count Casper appeared to be the one who had suddenly collapsed.

“Oh my, are you alright?” Juliet kindly extended her hand to Count Casper.

In the eyes of others, it might have seemed like an insignificant gesture of assistance…

“Ugh!”

“Ugghhh!”

Count Casper, with a terrified expression, tried to retreat backward. Well, he only scraped the floor in the process.

Approaching him as if trying to help him up, Juliet tightly grabbed the back of Count Casper’s neck.

“Count Casper.”

And with crimson lips, she whispered into his ear in a voice so low that no one else could hear.

“Shut up and listen. If I were you, I would be careful with my words.”

Although Juliet’s shoe was discreetly pressing on the back of Count Casper’s right hand, he seemed too terrified to even notice.

In reality, the Count didn’t fully understand what had just happened to him. He had simply intended to teach a lesson to this insolent woman.

But out of nowhere, a blue butterfly flew in and brushed against his forehead.

And then, and then…

Guhh.

The Count suppressed the groan that was about to escape.

It was because she had ordered him to shut his mouth just a moment ago. Fear caused his chin to tremble.

At the moment the eerie blue butterfly touched the Count’s head, the most dreadful and immense image of a being flowed into his mind.

“This time, I’ll let it slide, but you never know, right?” Juliet smiled playfully, as if finding the pronunciation of the word ‘crazy bitch’ amusing.

“If the judgment gets twisted next time, I might just cast a spell and make you jump off a rooftop in the middle of the night.”