Chapter 17
Chapter 17
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 17
Chapter Title: You'll Die Soon
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Jude, who had been about to dismount and push through the bushes to run, froze in place.
The stone floor of the ruins was covered entirely in something black and sticky. Like someone had wildly splattered oil paints everywhere.
Of course, it wasn't paint.
It was dried blood.
**
"What a mess."
That was putting it mildly.
There were four corpses in the corner over there, but the blood soaking the floor wasn't theirs.
The corpses of a middle-aged noble couple who looked like husband and wife, well-dressed, along with what appeared to be their servant and coachman.
All four of them.
'Then is this woman their daughter?'
Lennox looked down indifferently at the woman lying on the floor.
She seemed vaguely familiar.
The hem of her light blue dress, which must have been beautiful once, was a mess stained with blood. But it wasn't her blood, either.
For starters, no one could survive losing this much blood, and there weren't any conspicuous wounds on her body.
"My lord, shall we collect the corpses?"
One of the knights asked for Lennox's opinion.
Just as he opened his mouth to reply, a desperate groan escaped the woman's lips.
"Hng."
'Don't touch me!'
That was what Juliet had tried to shout.
In fact, ever since this man had appeared a moment ago, she had been trying to scream, but in the end, the knights backed away at a distance according to his command.
Once they were far enough that her voice wouldn't carry, the man's gaze turned to Juliet.
"You there."
He knelt on one knee, hand to the floor, lowering himself to meet her eye level.
"Do you have any idea what you've done?"
The man spoke in a tone that sounded oddly amused.
But contrary to expectations, all that came from her mouth were ragged gasps, as if her breath might give out at any second.
Juliet glared at him with bloodshot eyes. The man, who had been gazing steadily down at her, seemed to smile faintly.
"Don't touch the corpses, huh."
"Yes?"
"Don't touch anything. All of you, step back ten paces."
Juliet glared at him in lieu of a reply. But even if she could have spoken, she wouldn't have answered his question.
She had no idea what exactly had happened.
When she came to her senses, Juliet had been left alone in this place.
Or maybe not entirely alone. Tiny specks of light the size of a finger joint—more precisely, very small butterfly-shaped lights—were fluttering around her, twinkling like living creatures.
(Contractor.)
(Can you hear us?)
The fingernail-sized light flecks circling her were apparently the source of the voices.
The chattering had grown more numerous than before she lost consciousness.
Telling herself it was noisy did nothing.
Her entire body burned with fever, and it was hard to even twitch a finger, as if her limbs had been shattered. She couldn't even voice what had gone wrong.
So she had waited for someone—anyone—to come help her...
And out of nowhere, this man had appeared.
Lennox Carlyle. The very person she had desperately tried to avoid.
In her previous life, the man had saved Juliet, and she had loved him fervently. And Juliet's life had ended by his hand.
"Tsk."
With a light click of his tongue, as if displeased by something, the man touched her forehead.
The moment the large, cool hand made contact, Juliet nearly nuzzled her cheek against it.
'Ah.'
It was miraculous.
Just that single touch, and the voices blabbering in her head vanished clean away.
In an instant, silence fell around her.
That alone eased her throbbing headache. In its place, she became acutely aware of how hot her body was. Her hazy consciousness must have been from the fever.
"Ha."
'Well, now.'
A glint entered Lennox's eyes as he examined her.
"You've summoned something pretty outrageous."
Summoned what?
"But considering that..."
His gaze landed on the tiny light flecks still fluttering around her.
"You don't even know how to seal your mana, much less control those things."
Was it her imagination? The butterfly-shaped light flecks seemed to flinch for a moment.
"And you're leaking mana like this."
As he spoke, he flashed a grin.
"You'll die soon."
...What?
'You bastard!'
Tears pricked at her eyes in an instant.
'I thought he might help, at least a little.'
"Don't you get it?"
As if it were the greatest show on earth, Lennox Carlyle settled down right beside Juliet and whispered affectionately.
"If you don't seal your mana, you'll die. You."
Judging by his tone, he clearly knew how to seal mana but had no intention of helping her.
Or perhaps he was waiting for her to do something.
But all Juliet could think about was how much her body hurt, how she just wanted to sob.
"Hngt."
Was something wrong with her throat?
Even her sobs wouldn't come out right.
The man sitting beside her propped his chin on one hand while lightly stroking her cheek with the other.
Teasing her, almost.
Ironically, the cool sensation felt good.
Juliet knew it instinctively.
'This man is going to let me die.'
Because the Lennox Carlyle she knew didn't dispense unearned kindness.
His impassive eyes told her as much. Those red eyes, tinged with faint curiosity, were far too beautiful for the likes of him, but his expression was one of utter ennui. Nothing more than the look you'd give a mildly intriguing animal.
'...This is who he always was.'
She had known that.
In her past life, he had been cruel as a cold-blooded killer without a drop of blood or tear for anyone in the world—save one person.
And yet, she couldn't stand the frustration boiling inside her.
'If it's going to end up like this anyway, why did I run from him so desperately?'
Her breathing grew shallow, her consciousness fading. With her eyes drifting shut, Juliet slipped fully into unconsciousness.
Soon, she felt a gentle hand cupping her cheek. Lips brushed hers lightly, then withdrew.
"I'll help you just this once."
She thought she heard a whisper laced with amusement.