Marquis Guinness looked displeased.
“Hair? Is this some childish prank?”
However, Archbishop Solon confidently opened a black book.
“A prank, you say! This is a spellbook designated as forbidden hundreds of years ago.”
The fact that he could acquire such a dangerous spellbook was because the fake Pope was formerly a heretical inquisitor.
There were always some among the esteemed clergymen who indulged in dark magic and were corrupted.
Crack.
A page turned, and Solon pointed to a spot with his finger.
It was a page with a somewhat eerie illustration. Below a full moon picture, there was a drawing of a hanged person and a skeleton with a scythe.
The so-called full moon spell.
“This is different from Sebastian’s dolls. It’s a spell that can thoroughly and definitely control a human.”
Solon, being an archbishop, had considerable divine power.
Marquis Guinness promised to get any valuable ingredient required for the spell ritual.
Of course, the spells in this black book were extremely dangerous.
Every spell required a corresponding price. If the spell failed, the price would be entirely returned to the spell caster.
But for Solon, who had nothing to lose, this was the only way.
To score points with the Marquis or to seek revenge on Juliet Monad.
There was also a reason why Solon specifically chose the full moon spell.
“If successful, that woman will become a puppet moving at our will.”
Marquis Guinness stared at the page Solon pointed out, but all he recognized was the eerie drawing.
Marquis Guinness couldn’t read ancient characters.
“But what if it fails?”
“There’s no way it’ll fail. This is an ancient spell that can’t be stopped by any holy power or magic.”
The Marquis’s eyes narrowed with doubt.
“I’ve heard a bit about spells, and I’ve heard there’s no perfect spell that doesn’t have a way to be undone.”
At the Marquis’s point, Archbishop Solon chuckled. That was exactly why Solon chose this spell.
“You’re right. But what if the method to break the curse no longer exists in this world?”
Marquis Guinness felt intrigued.
“What do you mean?”
“Every spell has a counter, but this one is an exception.”
Archbishop Solon gave a meaningful smile.
“The being that can stop this spell has been extinct for hundreds of years.”
In other words, it was a spell that couldn’t fail because there was no way to stop it.
“In short, the woman named Juliet Monad is now practically in our hands.”
* * *
“The Archbishop of the Papacy?”
“Yes, and he’s a wanted criminal.”
“What is such a guy doing with Marquis Guinness?”
Frowning, Lennox, donning a robe, instructed:
“Get rid of him immediately.”
“Yes.”
The first thing Lennox checked upon his return to the capital was the identity of the priest accompanying the Marquis.
He felt like he recognized him, and his memory was correct.
It was suspicious enough that Marquis Guinness showed interest in Juliet, but having an Archbishop who committed sins in Lucerne and fled by his side was even more suspicious. And Lennox’s gut feeling was always eerily accurate.
They had to get rid of the Archbishop before Juliet knew.
When the knight left upon the Duke’s order, a diligent attending physician quickly asked:
“Your Highness, are you sure there’s no other discomfort besides insomnia?”
“Yes.”
Lennox reluctantly answered.
The only time Duke Carlyle allowed an examination was when Juliet Monad was away.
The attending physician, noticing this, seized the opportunity when Juliet was out to persistently check on the Duke’s condition.
No matter how fine he claimed to be, the family physician annoyed him, saying side effects could appear at any time.
“Then I’ll prescribe sleeping pills.”
“…”
Lennox didn’t respond.
He knew well the cause of his insomnia.
It was because of a disturbing dream involving a woman whose face and name he didn’t know.
Initially, it was just a short dream, but recently it tormented him relentlessly.
‘Am I possessed by an evil spirit or something?’
With this thought, Lennox couldn’t help but laugh.
“An evil spirit.”
The woman in his dreams never directly harmed him.
However, the problem was that the dreams in which that woman appeared had become more vivid compared to before.
At first, she just sat in the bedroom crying, but now the repertoire had expanded, including scenes like her desperately running down the stairs or wandering aimlessly.
In the dream he had just before, a woman in a pure white dress passed by. Despite her frail appearance, her back was full of wounds.
The identity of the woman was unclear, and the scenes were so fragmented that he couldn’t grasp the context.
Yet, after having these inexplicable dreams, Lennox occasionally felt as if his heart was being suffocated for no particular reason.
After being lost in thought for a while, Lennox asked:
“Where is Juliet?”
* * *
The day after Juliet returned to the capital, she headed straight to the Count’s mansion to pick up the baby dragon.
“Peep!”
Onyx, whom she met after a few weeks, clung desperately to Juliet’s skirt, chirping sadly, and wouldn’t let go.
But waiting for Juliet wasn’t just the baby dragon.
“Eshel?”
“It’s been a while, Miss Juliet.”
Eshelrid, the magician from the Marigold Merchant Guild, was waiting for her in splendid robes.
Juliet looked slightly confused:
“What are you doing here?”
“Don’t worry. I didn’t cross the continent just to see you, Miss Juliet.”
Eshel mentioned that he briefly stopped by the Count’s mansion on his way to the capital for some work at the guild.
“How are my grandfather and aunt? And Teo?”
Handing Juliet a thick stack of letters in response to her inquiry, Eshel said:
“They were sent by the old man.”
“Oh.”
While Juliet was reading the letters, Onyx kept slipping off her lap.
“Peep?”
Even though they had been apart for just a few weeks, Onyx had grown considerably.
Still, he was only about the size of a slightly large cat. Previously, he could roll around on Juliet’s lap, but now he’d tumble off with just a slight movement.
“Peep!”
Of course, the baby dragon didn’t seem to understand this all. Fidgeting, Onyx eventually curled up into a ball, purring contentedly.
Once Juliet folded the letters she had read, Eshel spoke up.
“I’ll be staying in the capital for a few weeks. If you have a reply, I can deliver it for you.”
“Yes, I’ll do that.”
“Hmm, by the way, Miss Juliet.”
For some reason, Eshel hesitated before asking.
“Have any strange people come looking for you?”
“Strange people?”
“That is… Don’t be surprised and just listen.”
Eshelrid explained that several magicians had come to the capital with him, introduced to the guild by him, and were originally from Mage Tower.
“But these crazy magicians are insisting they need to see a baby dragon!”
Eshel exploded, suggesting that was their motive for joining the guild in the first place.
For some reason, he looked a bit gaunt.
It seemed Eshel was harassed by his magician colleagues the whole way to the capital, pressuring him to let them see the baby dragon.
Then, Juliet recalled Eshel mentioning this after he returned from Lucerne.
He had said rumors about Juliet and the baby dragon had started circulating among a few magicians in the Mage Tower.
And so, he had told her to be careful.
However, she never imagined that Eshel himself would bring such magicians.
“Is it okay to show Onyx to those magicians?”
When Juliet asked, Ashelid quickly discouraged her.
“You can refuse. In fact, I’d advise you to do so.”
“Why?”
Looking at the baby dragon trying to catch its own tail, Eshel muttered meaningfully:
“Sometimes it’s more useful to leave fantasies as fantasies.”
Wondering about the dragon’s existence apart from its cuteness, he seemed to murmur.
Juliet didn’t quite understand, but nodded in agreement.
“By the way, Eshel, did you receive my letter?”
“Oh, are you referring to ‘Snowdrop’?”
“Yes.”
Before leaving for the South, Juliet had sent a letter.
She had asked him if he could help find information about a name, ‘Snowdrop’. Not the flower, but…
Although Eshel was expelled from the Mage Tower, he still had connections there.
Hoping he might have some information even the information guild couldn’t provide, she had reached out.
Eshel, yawning, replied:
“I’ve asked our master at the tower. I’ll let you know as soon as I get an answer.”
“Thank you.”
Juliet smiled.
“Anyway, Onyx will be with me for the foreseeable future, so there’s no chance of encountering Eshel’s magician colleagues.”
Juliet put the fidgety Onyx into a lidded basket.
“And I’m going to the imperial palace tomorrow.”
“The imperial palace… you’re going?”
“Yes. Why?”
Then Eshel’s expression turned very strange.
Tomorrow, there was a pre-wedding gathering for the second prince and Fatima Glenfield.
Although he wasn’t keen, he couldn’t miss it.
Marquis Guinness looked displeased.
“Hair? Is this some childish prank?”
However, Archbishop Solon confidently opened a black book.
“A prank, you say! This is a spellbook designated as forbidden hundreds of years ago.”
The fact that he could acquire such a dangerous spellbook was because the fake Pope was formerly a heretical inquisitor.
There were always some among the esteemed clergymen who indulged in dark magic and were corrupted.
Crack.
A page turned, and Solon pointed to a spot with his finger.
It was a page with a somewhat eerie illustration. Below a full moon picture, there was a drawing of a hanged person and a skeleton with a scythe.
The so-called full moon spell.
“This is different from Sebastian’s dolls. It’s a spell that can thoroughly and definitely control a human.”
Solon, being an archbishop, had considerable divine power.
Marquis Guinness promised to get any valuable ingredient required for the spell ritual.
Of course, the spells in this black book were extremely dangerous.
Every spell required a corresponding price. If the spell failed, the price would be entirely returned to the spell caster.
But for Solon, who had nothing to lose, this was the only way.
To score points with the Marquis or to seek revenge on Juliet Monad.
There was also a reason why Solon specifically chose the full moon spell.
“If successful, that woman will become a puppet moving at our will.”
Marquis Guinness stared at the page Solon pointed out, but all he recognized was the eerie drawing.
Marquis Guinness couldn’t read ancient characters.
“But what if it fails?”
“There’s no way it’ll fail. This is an ancient spell that can’t be stopped by any holy power or magic.”
The Marquis’s eyes narrowed with doubt.
“I’ve heard a bit about spells, and I’ve heard there’s no perfect spell that doesn’t have a way to be undone.”
At the Marquis’s point, Archbishop Solon chuckled. That was exactly why Solon chose this spell.
“You’re right. But what if the method to break the curse no longer exists in this world?”
Marquis Guinness felt intrigued.
“What do you mean?”
“Every spell has a counter, but this one is an exception.”
Archbishop Solon gave a meaningful smile.
“The being that can stop this spell has been extinct for hundreds of years.”
In other words, it was a spell that couldn’t fail because there was no way to stop it.
“In short, the woman named Juliet Monad is now practically in our hands.”
* * *
“The Archbishop of the Papacy?”
“Yes, and he’s a wanted criminal.”
“What is such a guy doing with Marquis Guinness?”
Frowning, Lennox, donning a robe, instructed:
“Get rid of him immediately.”
“Yes.”
The first thing Lennox checked upon his return to the capital was the identity of the priest accompanying the Marquis.
He felt like he recognized him, and his memory was correct.
It was suspicious enough that Marquis Guinness showed interest in Juliet, but having an Archbishop who committed sins in Lucerne and fled by his side was even more suspicious. And Lennox’s gut feeling was always eerily accurate.
They had to get rid of the Archbishop before Juliet knew.
When the knight left upon the Duke’s order, a diligent attending physician quickly asked:
“Your Highness, are you sure there’s no other discomfort besides insomnia?”
“Yes.”
Lennox reluctantly answered.
The only time Duke Carlyle allowed an examination was when Juliet Monad was away.
The attending physician, noticing this, seized the opportunity when Juliet was out to persistently check on the Duke’s condition.
No matter how fine he claimed to be, the family physician annoyed him, saying side effects could appear at any time.
“Then I’ll prescribe sleeping pills.”
“…”
Lennox didn’t respond.
He knew well the cause of his insomnia.
It was because of a disturbing dream involving a woman whose face and name he didn’t know.
Initially, it was just a short dream, but recently it tormented him relentlessly.
‘Am I possessed by an evil spirit or something?’
With this thought, Lennox couldn’t help but laugh.
“An evil spirit.”
The woman in his dreams never directly harmed him.
However, the problem was that the dreams in which that woman appeared had become more vivid compared to before.
At first, she just sat in the bedroom crying, but now the repertoire had expanded, including scenes like her desperately running down the stairs or wandering aimlessly.
In the dream he had just before, a woman in a pure white dress passed by. Despite her frail appearance, her back was full of wounds.
The identity of the woman was unclear, and the scenes were so fragmented that he couldn’t grasp the context.
Yet, after having these inexplicable dreams, Lennox occasionally felt as if his heart was being suffocated for no particular reason.
After being lost in thought for a while, Lennox asked:
“Where is Juliet?”
* * *
The day after Juliet returned to the capital, she headed straight to the Count’s mansion to pick up the baby dragon.
“Peep!”
Onyx, whom she met after a few weeks, clung desperately to Juliet’s skirt, chirping sadly, and wouldn’t let go.
But waiting for Juliet wasn’t just the baby dragon.
“Eshel?”
“It’s been a while, Miss Juliet.”
Eshelrid, the magician from the Marigold Merchant Guild, was waiting for her in splendid robes.
Juliet looked slightly confused:
“What are you doing here?”
“Don’t worry. I didn’t cross the continent just to see you, Miss Juliet.”
Eshel mentioned that he briefly stopped by the Count’s mansion on his way to the capital for some work at the guild.
“How are my grandfather and aunt? And Teo?”
Handing Juliet a thick stack of letters in response to her inquiry, Eshel said:
“They were sent by the old man.”
“Oh.”
While Juliet was reading the letters, Onyx kept slipping off her lap.
“Peep?”
Even though they had been apart for just a few weeks, Onyx had grown considerably.
Still, he was only about the size of a slightly large cat. Previously, he could roll around on Juliet’s lap, but now he’d tumble off with just a slight movement.
“Peep!”
Of course, the baby dragon didn’t seem to understand this all. Fidgeting, Onyx eventually curled up into a ball, purring contentedly.
Once Juliet folded the letters she had read, Eshel spoke up.
“I’ll be staying in the capital for a few weeks. If you have a reply, I can deliver it for you.”
“Yes, I’ll do that.”
“Hmm, by the way, Miss Juliet.”
For some reason, Eshel hesitated before asking.
“Have any strange people come looking for you?”
“Strange people?”
“That is… Don’t be surprised and just listen.”
Eshelrid explained that several magicians had come to the capital with him, introduced to the guild by him, and were originally from Mage Tower.
“But these crazy magicians are insisting they need to see a baby dragon!”
Eshel exploded, suggesting that was their motive for joining the guild in the first place.
For some reason, he looked a bit gaunt.
It seemed Eshel was harassed by his magician colleagues the whole way to the capital, pressuring him to let them see the baby dragon.
Then, Juliet recalled Eshel mentioning this after he returned from Lucerne.
He had said rumors about Juliet and the baby dragon had started circulating among a few magicians in the Mage Tower.
And so, he had told her to be careful.
However, she never imagined that Eshel himself would bring such magicians.
“Is it okay to show Onyx to those magicians?”
When Juliet asked, Ashelid quickly discouraged her.
“You can refuse. In fact, I’d advise you to do so.”
“Why?”
Looking at the baby dragon trying to catch its own tail, Eshel muttered meaningfully:
“Sometimes it’s more useful to leave fantasies as fantasies.”
Wondering about the dragon’s existence apart from its cuteness, he seemed to murmur.
Juliet didn’t quite understand, but nodded in agreement.
“By the way, Eshel, did you receive my letter?”
“Oh, are you referring to ‘Snowdrop’?”
“Yes.”
Before leaving for the South, Juliet had sent a letter.
She had asked him if he could help find information about a name, ‘Snowdrop’. Not the flower, but…
Although Eshel was expelled from the Mage Tower, he still had connections there.
Hoping he might have some information even the information guild couldn’t provide, she had reached out.
Eshel, yawning, replied:
“I’ve asked our master at the tower. I’ll let you know as soon as I get an answer.”
“Thank you.”
Juliet smiled.
“Anyway, Onyx will be with me for the foreseeable future, so there’s no chance of encountering Eshel’s magician colleagues.”
Juliet put the fidgety Onyx into a lidded basket.
“And I’m going to the imperial palace tomorrow.”
“The imperial palace… you’re going?”
“Yes. Why?”
Then Eshel’s expression turned very strange.
Tomorrow, there was a pre-wedding gathering for the second prince and Fatima Glenfield.
Although he wasn’t keen, he couldn’t miss it.
