Chapter 77
Chapter 77
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 77
Chapter Title: The Surveillance Puppets
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The two of them held their breath until the eerie sound from above passed by.
Juliet asked about the source of the noise that had been bothering her.
“What’s that sound?”
“Sebastian’s surveillance puppets.”
“Surveillance puppets?”
“You’re lucky, Lady. Looks like you haven’t run into them yet.”
Hildebrandt chuckled as if he found it amusing.
Juliet was puzzled.
Sebastian’s puppets were so sophisticated they could deliver last words and fake death in place of real people—why was avoiding them considered lucky?
“You’ll know when you see them. Better not to, if you don’t want nightmares.”
“I’m not ‘Lady.’ My name is Juliet.”
“Juliet. Got it.”
Juliet had introduced herself a bit curtly before falling deep into thought.
She had never heard or read of holy power that could create dolls identical to humans.
“To make dolls that look exactly like people…”
Was that even possible?
“Your Holiness, I have a question.”
“Hm? Ask away.”
“You said you knew the Zenobia siblings as children?”
“That’s right.”
“What level was Zenobia’s holy power at?”
“She was a born genius. No other explanation for it.”
Hildebrandt spoke in a tone dripping with regret and longing.
It seemed Hildebrandt had liked Zenobia just as much as Sebastian had.
Juliet smiled playfully.
“Better than Your Holiness’s holy power?”
“Of course. Children’s talents don’t fade, even if they’re unstable.”
“Then was Sebastian a child born with holy power like Zenobia?”
At that question, Hildebrandt gave an ambiguous smile. He seemed to already know why Juliet was asking.
“Well… But as you know, Lady—Juliet—holy power can awaken later in life. It’s different from mana.”
“If she died in a fire, Zenobia’s body wouldn’t have remained either, right?”
“That’s right.”
“I see. Got it.”
Juliet stood up and stretched her legs. They had gone numb from sitting so long.
She had asked everything she needed to.
“Oh, one last thing.”
Juliet thumped her legs and asked casually.
“Don’t you want to get out of here?”
*
“What’s going on?”
Sebastian hurried up to the surface.
“Ah, Your Holiness.”
The pleading priests lit up at the sight of him.
“No! You idiots! Someone’s missing!”
Sebastian frowned ever so slightly.
This red-haired man with his rough speech and hot temper was a notorious troublemaker.
He was the grandson of the famous Lionel Levatan and a VIP who brought massive donations from Levatan every year.
‘A real pain.’
Sebastian scowled.
He didn’t know the exact connection, but…
This guy had come with Via. They were supposed to be siblings, but that was absurd.
No way this vulgar lout shared blood with the noble and beautiful Zenobia.
“Please explain the situation in detail.”
“Yesterday—no, until this morning, she was fine, and then suddenly she left just this one note!
Does that make any sense?”
Sebastian took the note.
The neat handwriting was brief.
I have a headache and will be leaving for a bit. I’ll contact you later. Sorry I couldn’t tell you in advance.
Juliet’s name was signed at the bottom.
Sebastian spoke as if seeing it for the first time.
“Well, it seems your sister has left. Is there a problem?”
“What? Of course there’s a problem!”
Theo exploded in anger.
“She leaves just this one note, and only her luggage is gone! No one saw a carriage that took her or anything! Does that make sense?”
Sebastian smiled thinly.
“Calm down, brother. It’s all part of the goddess’s design. Your sister has gone to seek her freedom.”
“Hey!”
Theo bellowed from behind, but Sebastian apparently saw no value in listening further and turned on his heel to leave.
“Brother! Even if you are a brother, you can’t be so rude to His Holiness!”
Several priests rushed at Theo Levatan.
“I’m already pissed enough as it is…!”
Theo, who had been grumbling, paused.
But did that bastard just call Juliet ‘sister’? Why the hell is Juliet my sister?
***
Sebastian opened the barrier and returned to his private space.
His irritation vanished the moment he spotted Juliet sleeping peacefully in the bedroom.
He had given her a hefty dose of the drug, and she was out cold, oblivious to the world.
The sight delighted him to no end.
“I knew it the moment I saw you.”
From the instant he laid eyes on the statue Gilliam had brought.
This had to be the goddess’s design, Sebastian thought.
It couldn’t be anything else.
The woman who had modeled for the statue had the exact same face as his sister, Zenobia.
Sebastian’s sister, Zenobia, had been a girl with light brown hair and gentle purple eyes.
Aside from the eye color, she was identical enough to pass for the dead Zenobia returned to life.
Sebastian, gently brushing her hair, suddenly furrowed his brow.
“Don’t worry, Via. I’ll make you perfect soon.”
He murmured as he slowly stroked Juliet’s eyelids.
“Just need to replace the eyeballs…”
Sebastian turned toward the box he had brought, looking pleased.
Inside was a precious pair of eyes he had collected and preserved over many years.
They were the exact same color as Zenobia’s in life.
With these, he would have his perfect Zenobia back.
But the moment he eagerly opened the box—
*Stab.*
“......?”
At first, Sebastian didn’t realize what had happened.
He tried to turn around, staggering.
But his legs wouldn’t support him.
Finally managing to look back, he saw a woman standing there, holding a syringe in one hand.
“Whew. Thought I was gonna suffocate.”
Zenobia—no, Juliet—muttered in complaint.
**
“Peep?”
The baby dragon was the first to sense something off.
Onyx snapped his eyes open in the empty room. The baby dragon was always hungry at random times, so it wasn’t anything special.
Onyx woke up fully refreshed.
He rolled around, gnawed at the cotton doll she had given him to play with—
But the baby dragon quickly grew bored.
When would she come?
Circling the bedroom, the baby dragon flopped down right in front of the door.
*Flap flap*
“Good boy, Nix. Can’t let anyone else see you.”
That’s what Juliet had said while shoving Onyx into the box.
The quick-witted baby dragon understood what that meant. But he had snuck into her luggage because he was afraid she’d leave him behind!
Staying hidden in the room was more boring than expected.
*Thud thud.*
“?”
At the unfamiliar footsteps outside the door, the startled baby dragon quickly ducked into the box.
No sooner had Onyx scrambled inside than the door burst open.
“Is it really true?”
“That’s what I said!”
Chattering voices filled the air.
Onyx peeked out from the box, just his eyes showing, and looked around.
They were low-ranking priest trainees there to fetch laundry.
The young girls chattered nonstop among themselves as they changed the bedsheets.
“A flower crown like that really sells for that much?”
“Yeah. They say as long as it’s been blessed by His Holiness, it’ll sell for any price.”
“Aren’t there tons of flower crowns at the altar entrance downstairs?”
“Exactly. So if you can just sneak one out, you name your price.”
“Ugh. But how do you get it out without getting caught?”
Onyx didn’t understand tough words like ‘blessed,’ but he knew what a ‘flower crown’ was.
It was the thing Juliet had brought before.
Yellow flowers woven into a circle. The baby dragon felt a bit proud of his smarts.
Juliet would have praised him if she knew!
The flowers in the flower crown—yellow and white petals—had tasted awful.
He had been tricked by the sweet scent, eaten some, then spat it out, and his master’s subordinate had laughed holding his belly.
But humans liked putting that tasteless stuff on their heads?
Onyx tilted his small head.
Even after the trainees closed the door and left, the baby dragon rolled his eyes around inside the box, deep in thought.
His master liked those tasteless flowers too?
And that ‘flower crown’ thing.
Onyx pictured his master’s face lighting up with a smile at the sight of the flower crown and praising him.
Pretty, pretty, and if he was lucky, she might even give him something tasty. Like an ‘apple.’
“!”
The baby dragon kicked open the box he’d been hiding in and bounded out energetically.
The trainees, distracted by their conversation, hadn’t even checked the door lock after cleaning.
Onyx headbutted the handle and easily slipped out.
He emerged into the wide hallway, but Onyx’s top priority was clear.