Forgotten Juliet

Suddenly, she heard the sound of carriage wheels rolling, and soon after, a carriage stopped in front of the teahouse.

The person who got off the carriage and approached was the one Juliet had expected.

“I have come to escort you, Miss.”

The man with a large scar on his face seemed to be a weapon himself.

But instead of standing up, Juliet stared at him intently and spoke.

“Cain, is it?”

“Yes, Miss.”

“Why were you absent earlier?”

“…”

Cain was at a loss for words in response to her direct question.

Meanwhile, Juliet smiled brightly.

“Judd mentioned that sir Cain had to leave urgently, so he should accompany me instead of you. Why were you absent?”

“I apologize, but I can’t disclose that information.”

Avoiding the question was the usual response.

However, Juliet Monad was far from ordinary. Rather than being satisfied with an acceptable answer, she leaned forward and asked persistently. The glimmer in her eyes seemed more like she already knew and was asking just to confirm.

“Did His Highness summon you?”

“… No.”

Although her tone wasn’t demanding or probing, Cain hoped that Juliet would stop asking.

He was generally expressionless, so his discomfort didn’t show, but he was currently in a difficult position.

Cain knew that he was bad at lying.

He was more skilled in fighting with weapons than engaging in conversation. He was originally a gladiator slave who roamed the battlefield as a high-ranking mercenary captain.

The reason he, a mercenary, had reached the level of a swordmaster was because he was employed by the Duke of the North, what was rare for mercenaries.

Duke Carlyle employed anyone who was competent, regardless of their background.

Fortunately, Cain caught the attention of Duke Carlyle, and now he taught practical swordsmanship to the duke’s knights and served as Juliet’s escort since coming to the capital. But strictly speaking, Cain wasn’t an official knight.

He wasn’t even a commoner; he was a former runaway slave from the gladiatorial arena.

And Juliet Monad was the only person who referred to Cain as ‘Sir ‘.

A few hours ago, Duke Carlyle suddenly summoned Cain and inquired about Juliet Monad. He asked where she had been recently, whom she had met, and with whom she had been in contact.

“Was there anything different from usual?”

Cain didn’t know why the Duke was asking such questions, but he sensed the sharpness of the Duke’s attention. So Cain defended Juliet Monad as much as he could within his knowledge. He said that she was doing well without any problems and that there was nothing suspicious.

However, it wasn’t his place to disclose everything to Juliet straightforwardly.

Of course, his master was Duke Carlyle, not Juliet Monad. But somehow, Cain felt a pang of conscience.

“What did His Highness ask? Did he mention me?”

“I can’t disclose that information. I apologize.”

Cain gave up on beating around the bush and honestly declined.

“I understand.”

Cain inwardly worried about what would happen if Juliet pressed further, but surprisingly, she immediately understood. She didn’t ask any more questions, and she didn’t seem particularly disappointed either.

Cain cautiously glanced at Juliet.

“Hmm.”

Somehow, Juliet seemed to lose interest. She didn’t look upset either.

After a couple of minutes, Juliet, who had been silent all this time, suddenly smiled widely, as if she remembered something and pushed a cup of tea towards him.

“Have a seat and enjoy. Tea is refreshing and sweet.”

“Yes.”

Cain took the glass as he sat across from her in the appropriate seat.

At that moment, the teahouse’s owner, who happened to be absentmindedly looking out the window, was startled.

The former mercenary captain who could easily handle a sword with his bare hands and the Duke’s lover were sitting face to face at the tea table, enjoying their tea.

It was quite an unusual sight.

It was a fact known to only a few, but Cain didn’t particularly enjoy strong alcohol. Instead, he preferred sweet and refreshing drinks. It was a taste that contradicted his appearance.

Juliet was one of the few who noticed that fact. She often invited Cain to join her during her tea time alone.

Just like now.

Cain quite enjoyed this time quite a bit.

Juliet Monad didn’t speak much, but she had a strange talent for creating a comfortable atmosphere.

So Cain occasionally wondered if the reason Duke Carlyle, his lord, kept her by his side was because of that.

As Cain finished his glass, he discreetly glanced at Juliet.

She seemed completely disinterested, not even touching her drink, and instead looked around at the surroundings. Then she casually smiled upon seeing Cain.

“Would you like another drink?”

“Yes.”

Although the drink was as she described, sweet and refreshing, Cain couldn’t seem to taste it.

* * *

Evening.

Lennox Carlyle arrived at the banquet hall of the palace a little earlier than planned.

However, instead of going down to the floor and revealing himself, he stood on the balcony of the sparsely populated upper level, overlooking the scene below.

“We found him.”

The knight in black armor quietly approached him and reported in a calm voice.

They were elite knights who moved secretly under the Duke Carlyle’s orders, known as the ‘wolves’ of the Duke’s household.

And Hadin was the leader of those wolves.

“He is a man living in the 8th district, his name is Donovan.”

Following the Duke’s command to bring the suspicious man who had visited county, the Duke’s wolves had found a man whose face and name were unknown.

“Yes.”

But the expression on Lennox Carlyle’s face, as he listened to the report, didn’t change at all.

The 8th district was an area where wealthy commoners lived, who formed something like their own small state there.

So that was really true.

The unknown ‘man’ who visited Juliet’s father’s estate few times was a real person and not a maid’s fantasy.

“Your Highness, what shall we do with him?”

“Wait for now. I will decide what to do after the banquet is over.”

“As you command.”

Even after the man in black armor quietly stepped back, Lennox didn’t leave the balcony.

In the meantime, the ball began downstairs.

Among the people dressed splendidly, dancing and mingling, a woman caught his attention.

She was dressed in a deep blue dress, standing quietly against the wall. Her chestnut-colored hair shimmered silver under the lights, and her elegant neckline and round shoulders were fully revealed. She had an enchanting figure.

Contrary to her appearance as a wallflower, the woman who had been bothering him all day was none other than her.

‘If she didn’t show up at the banquet hall, using various excuses, I was determined to find and bring her here myself.’

Juliet bravely revealed herself at the palace banquet hall, just as she had promised.

Honestly, Lennox admired her a little today.

His lover, who usually behaved like a tongue in his mouth, seemed capable of challenging his patience whenever she pleased.

Juliet Monad was a lover who required very little effort. To put it more bluntly, that made things convenient. She never demanded things like buying various things, nor did she whine and demand affection and attention.

The most important thing was that Juliet had never forced one-sided emotions on him. She didn’t expect any emotional reciprocation from him.

In fact, Lennox Carlyle didn’t have particularly high standards for his lover.

A lack of refinement or social status was probably fine. He just preferred a partner whom he could cleanly cut ties with whenever he wanted.

It didn’t matter to him at all whether his lover spent money like water and indulging in extravagant pleasures, but the most important thing was the end of the relationship.

He would end the relationship cleanly when he desired.

Lennox Carlyle wasn’t a fifteen-year-old boy infatuated with his first love.

He detested wasting time on juvenile love rhetoric.

Although he kept women by his side as needed, the reason he didn’t maintain relationships with any one person for long was also because of that.

But…

Lennox Carlyle smirked.

Juliet, with delicate features, stubborn eyebrows, a small nose, a round forehead, and an elegant neckline, was not talkative but perceptive.

She was a little different from the past women who liked to sit by his side and engage in idle chatter.

In fact, Juliet was somewhat distant from his taste.

He liked things grand, but Juliet Monad looked like an elegant beauty straight out of the frenzy-inducing temple murals that nobles go crazy for.

In the first place, his decision to take Juliet Monad as a lover was quite impulsive.

However, Juliet Monad rarely engaged in idle conversation, let alone demanded things annoyingly before anything else.

So, sometimes Lennox found her intriguing.

“‘Convenient,’ huh…”