Forgotten Juliet

Juliet sat on the couch, hugging her knees.

“There’s… nothing.”

Juliet sighed lightly.

After learning about Eleanor’s identity, Juliet ransacked the documents about Eleanor Carlyle but found nothing substantial.

Did she take it too lightly?

“…Maybe it was just a marital relationship, as grandfather said.”

Juliet sank deeply into the couch’s backrest, crossed her legs and flicked her toes.

Lennox seemed to consider the existence of snakes as the default. He treated it like a natural disaster, as if it obviously belonged there.

But Juliet thought differently.

Why did the snake come to hate the Carlyle family? If she could understand the reason, wouldn’t the solution to the problem become apparent?

It was a flawless logic, and it was fine up to there.

But what followed was the problem.

She couldn’t find a single piece of information about Eleanor Carlyle’s whereabouts, or anything regarding the ‘Yellow Snake Evil Spirit’ in any documents she combed through.

However, there was some gain.

Juliet reached out and flipped through a few papers she had separated.

The Carlyle family boasted records as vast as their long history. Apart from the accounting books, every few years, a list of art and jewelry owned by the family was created.

Among hundreds of years of records, what caught Juliet’s eye was the family’s treasure list.

“Purple Storage.”

Juliet pointed at the marked section.

This ‘Purple Storage’ appeared and disappeared on the treasure list every few decades.

Normally, the family’s treasures wouldn’t disappear like this without a special reason.

“It must be an artifact.”

Sure enough, this storage was definitely ‘Dahlia.’

It appeared and disappeared roughly once per generation, and the timing matched.

“It really is.”

When she heard the story from Lennox that the possessed artifact voluntarily ran away from the family, it was hard to believe, but seeing this recorded evidence made it believable.

Moreover, when comparing with the record that the first child born during that period had died, the snake’s hatred towards the direct bloodline of the Duke seemed certain.

At this point, Juliet got angry.

“No, these arrogant and self-indulgent people.”

Juliet muttered.

The Carlyle family members she knew were the most ruthless clan in the world.

“Didn’t anyone have the will to solve the problem for their descendants?”

(There’s no way.)

Suddenly a voice rang out and Juliet was startled.

Looking up in surprise, she saw a large black panther lying elongated beside the table.

(Do you think those arrogant Carlyles didn’t try?)

“So? They tried to break the curse for hundreds of years, but they all failed?”

(You catch on quick.)

“…”

Juliet was distressed again.

Was the curse so hard to break?

“Is there really no way to break the evil spirit’s curse?”

Juliet asked, almost talking to herself without much hope.

(There is. Three ways, in fact.)

“Uh?”

(The cursed party lifts it, or the entity that cast the curse is extinguished, or it leaves for another dimension.)

Rumble.

Juliet was taken aback.

On the mirror laid on the table.

The reflection of the black panther was visible. Another golden chain appeared, tightening around the panther’s neck.

‘It looks painful.’

Juliet looked with a surprised expression, but there was no change in the calm expression of the black panther.

She felt sorry and couldn’t ask anything.

Juliet hesitated, then decided to consider the three methods mentioned earlier one by one.

“So the first one is where the cursed snake voluntarily lifts the curse.”

That was impossible. The crazy snake hated the Duke family intensely, so if such persuasion was possible, the curse wouldn’t have lasted for hundreds of years.

“Ah, what about the second one where the snake leaves far away?”

(That’s impossible too.)

“Why? That seems to be the easiest?”

(That crazy snake, even if it could return, would never leave this place. It probably forgot which dimension it came from, where it was king, and even who it was.)

“…”

(I told you. It’s insane.)

The black panther yawned broadly.

“So… if we can’t drive it away.”

There was only one thing left.

“Extinguishing means killing, right?”

(It sounds similar but it’s different. Even if you catch that snake now and slit its throat a hundred times, it will never die.)

“So what does extinguishing mean?”

(It’s like what happened to that little girl Genovia.)

“…Genovia?”

Was it about the Soulstone?

Suddenly, a familiar name popped up, and Juliet was flustered. Genovia was a name of an unfortunate girl who had overflowing divine power but was forced to suppress it.

“Why is the name Genovia coming up all of a sudden?”

(She was also a contractor of evil spirits, and that little evil spirit was extinguished.)

Juliet was at a loss for words.

“So, did Genovia also have a contracted evil spirit?”

(Must have.)

Must have?

Juliet frowned at the lukewarm answer.

The black panther, who had always acted as if it knew everything, was now showing an unexpected attitude.

“I thought you evil spirits knew about each other. Wasn’t that the case?”

In reality, these seemingly idle yet boastful and talkative evil spirits knew quite a lot.

(I knew before, but I forgot.)

“You forgot?”

(Yeah. That little girl burned to death, and that crazy snake ate her remains. After that, nobody remembered her, so the evil spirit lending power to that girl was forgotten.)

“…Then what happens?”

(It disappears as if it never existed. It gets robbed of its name, even traces of its existence vanish.)

The explanation was that if the contractor, who is able to recognize and remember an evil spirit as they lack a physical form, suddenly dies or disappears, the spirit bound to that soul will also vanish.

The black panther conveyed this story in a nonchalant manner.

(If no one remembers anymore, it completely disappears.)

“…”

It was a chilling story.

Knock knock.

“Miss, are you awake?”

Then, the maids knocked on the door from outside.

Turning back, the black panther had discreetly hidden itself again.

“Yeah, come in.”

Juliet sighed softly as she tidied up the scattered scrolls.

“Oh my.”

“Did you not sleep at all? Oh dear.”

Juliet rubbed her tired eyes.

“It’s okay.”

“It’s not okay. You have to attend the dinner party right now!”

The maids nagged as they wide opened the window for ventilation.

The cool morning air flowed in and felt good.

Juliet thought blankly, resting her chin.

‘Genovia was a contractor?’

Juliet didn’t think deeply about the issues like how young Genovia, a candidate for sainthood, could be a contractor of evil spirits, or where Genovia’s artifacts had gone.

She knew from the beginning that the temple wasn’t exactly a pious apostle of a good deity, but the fact that if the connected contractor dies, the evil spirit also vanishes, and nobody remembers, was a chilling story.

‘Then if I die, will those butterflies also be forgotten?’

Juliet was seriously contemplating the whereabouts of the butterflies that left her, when someone appeared with a clinking teacup.

“Good morning, Miss.”

“Yeah. Hi, Ronda.”

Caught up in thought, Juliet suddenly lifted her head.

“…?”

A familiar scent brushed against her nose.

“Why so, Miss?”

“Ah…”

Juliet blinked slowly.

“Is there something on my face?”

“No, nothing at all. Go on out.”

Juliet calmly brought the teacup to her lips as if nothing had disturbed her.

But as Ronda left the room, Juliet put down the teacup she had brought to her lips.

“How long has Ronda been here?”

“Ronda?”

“It hasn’t been long. But you wouldn’t know how boastful she’s been.”

The other maids who were preparing to clean with the door wide open seemed to seize the opportunity to chime in.

“Right, right. Ugh, she’s been boasting about serving tea to the Duke lately.”

Juliet’s expressionless face tilted slightly.

“Ronda serves tea to the Duke?”

“Yes, the head maid hurt her back. Even though she hasn’t been here long, she’s been boasting about entering the Duke’s office.”

“Since when?”

“Three days ago.”

“Three days? I see…”

Juliet seemed to be thinking deeply, with her index finger on her lips.

Her disheveled hair flowed down without her bothering to brush it back, appearing lost in thought like someone entranced.

“Miss?”

After a while, Juliet, who had been immersed in thought, suddenly laughed softly.

“My head hurts. Can you call the doctor?”

“Lord Halbery?”

“Yes, I think I need a headache medicine.”

Juliet’s blue eyes twinkled ominously.

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