Chapter 83
Chapter 83
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 83
Chapter Title: Gravely Ill
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"There's no change in the amount of the Lady's magic power."
Eselrid slightly spread the space between his thumb and index finger.
"Whether before or now, it's still just this much, the same as always."
*Slosh, slosh.*
Eselrid mimed shaking the back of his hand horizontally.
Juliet had sought out Eselrid immediately after the doctors failed to identify the cause.
But his answer felt just as baffling.
Originally, Juliet Monad's magic capacity wasn't particularly outstanding.
If anything, it seemed a bit lacking for freely summoning butterflies at will.
Yet Juliet had wielded them with complete mastery.
That was precisely why Eselrid had taken such an interest in her, observing her closely all this time.
Perhaps it had all been luck up until now, and losing the butterflies was the natural progression.
But Juliet didn't see it that way.
"I took a soulstone from Sebastian when I was in the underground prison."
Juliet briefly explained what had happened in the underground prison.
The puppets wielded by Pope Sebastian, and even the soulstone made from his sister's remains.
"Hmm, that might be the cause."
"Because of Zenobia's soulstone?"
"Yes, magic power and holy power are polar opposites, after all."
"Even though I didn't use the holy power myself?"
"I'm not sure about that part."
Eselrid furrowed his brow in serious contemplation.
"I'll look into that girl Zenobia and the soulstone a bit more."
A genius of that caliber was bound to have records left behind, he added.
With that, he suddenly grinned.
"You're the only one who's ever summoned a spirit right in the heart of Lucerne."
Eselrid kept repeating it with a smirk.
It was truly unprecedented.
Eselrid thought he'd never forget the sight of thousands of butterflies soaring into the skies over Lucerne.
"You sounded just like a wicked sorcerer there for a second, Eselrid."
"How could I help but feel exhilarated?"
Eselrid shrugged.
Come to think of it, the longstanding rivalry between the temple and the mage tower was infamous.
"It's like planting your flag in the heart of enemy territory!"
Of course, Juliet wasn't a spirit summoner or a mage, but she had used magic power in the holy bastion of holy power.
Eselrid knew plenty of mad wizards who'd pay a fortune for the chance to unleash massive spells right in the middle of Lucerne.
"If the Lady visits the mage tower, the masters will line up barefoot to welcome you as an honored guest."
"But wouldn't they want to meet a spirit summoner with the power to actually pull off something like that?"
Not just someone with the title who could no longer summon butterflies.
Eselrid faltered at Juliet's somewhat cool response.
"Ah..."
"Why?"
Eselrid hesitated, glancing around awkwardly before speaking.
"W-Well, you see..."
* * *
Juliet descended to the lower floor of the mansion with Eselrid.
"Squeak?"
Onyx, who had claimed an armchair in the drawing room as a guest and curled up by the fireplace, spotted Juliet and came scampering over.
He bounced around joyfully, too excited to contain himself.
"Thwack!"
After a week apart, Onyx had definitely grown a bit.
He was now a little too big to hold in one hand comfortably.
Juliet lifted Onyx onto her lap. He flapped his wings excitedly but still couldn't fly.
"Is it because he's still a baby? Too small?"
"Juliet, that's commonly known as 'my baby's too small syndrome.'"
"Then maybe it's because there's no adult dragon around to teach him?"
Or perhaps because he was the first dragon in centuries?
The fact that they'd found him in a long-abandoned dungeon nagged at her.
'Maybe he was born with some congenital health issues...'
Onyx, oblivious, purred contentedly in Juliet's arms.
'Fool, clueless to others' worries.'
Eselrid, who had once been intensely interested in Onyx, seemed to have lost interest even faster.
"Don't worry. They'll soon realize he's no great dragon—just a cat with wings."
That was the situation Eselrid revealed.
Coincidentally, rumors were spreading that someone had seen a dragon at the scene where Lucerne's terrarium was destroyed.
Juliet bristled a little.
"It could just be nonsense."
"I don't know the details. From what I saw, Roy had him."
Eselrid shrugged.
"How on earth did he get out?"
Juliet gazed down at Onyx, who was purring on her lap.
"Yeah, really. How did he get outside?"
"Squeak...?"
Onyx suddenly flopped over, exposing his belly innocently.
"It's still being dismissed as idle gossip for now... but if sightings spread seriously, it could lead to trouble."
In other words, even without summoning butterflies, she might get dragged into headaches.
"Who knew the wings were just for show..."
Eselrid stared at Onyx for a long moment with eyes full of betrayal.
***
Just before dinner, Juliet heard unexpected news.
*Clang.*
Silver cutlery struck a dish.
"...The Duke is in the capital?"
"Yes. Didn't you know?"
Eselrid, who was helping serve the meal, looked puzzled as he carried in the dishes.
Lennox Carlyle rarely left the North. He spent only a handful of days in the capital each year.
"Why?"
"I don't know the details, but people are in a frenzy. Seems he's quite gravely ill.
Talk of life or death... Juliet?"
Juliet's face drained of color.
Only then did Eselrid realize his slip. He'd momentarily forgotten that the lady of the house and the duke had been lovers for seven years.
"Are you alright?"
"Yes. Excuse me for a moment..."
Juliet dashed up the landing but stumbled briefly.
Now that she thought about it, wasn't it obvious?
'You idiot!'
He'd shattered a single barrier and lain bedridden for a full week—how must he have fared?
Juliet rushed to her room and changed clothes.
Her hands shook so badly the buttons wouldn't fasten.
Her heart pounded, head throbbing, mind in chaos.
Her mind was consumed by one thought.
'What if he dies?'
No way.
'But he's only human—there's no way he could pull that off and emerge unscathed...'
"Juliet?"
"Roy!"
Rushing down the stairs, Juliet ran into Roy.
"I-I think I need to go now, Roy. I..."
Roy grabbed the arm of the pale, rambling Juliet and met her eyes calmly.
"Juliet."
"Yes?"
"Calm down. Want me to take you?"
"......Yes."
Juliet nodded.
Moments later, the two boarded the Monad count family carriage side by side.
Roy watched the dazed, fragile-looking Juliet from the opposite seat and asked abruptly.
"You're going because of that rumor?"
"Huh?"
That rumor? What rumor?
Her confusion must have shown, as Roy blinked and spoke calmly.
"Don't you remember? What you said back then, at Lucerne's altar."
"Lennox, you mustn't antagonize the temple."
Right. There had been that conversation.
'Ah.'
Juliet's face paled.