Chapter 92
Chapter 92
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 92
Chapter Title: The Soulstone Heist
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“Chapter 92.”
“If you’re not here to ask permission, then what? Are you here to steal it?”
“No.”
Juliet smiled brightly as she replied.
“If you don’t lend it to me, I’ll expose everything that happened in the Papal Palace basement.”
“Cardinal, what does that mean?”
The High Priest asked in bewilderment, but Cardinal Gilliam’s face hardened instantly as he grasped the meaning of Juliet’s words.
Only then did he understand why Juliet had deliberately pulled down her veil to show her face.
Her intention was clear.
“……Are you threatening the temple right now?”
“Yes, you heard that right.”
Cardinal Gilliam couldn’t believe his ears. He wasn’t sure whether to admire her audacity or be utterly appalled.
She was right, though.
The incident in Lucerne was only just being quietly resolved.
In that situation, if the person who had suffered the most damage at Sebastian’s hands came forward, the Papal Palace would have no options.
Zenobia’s Soulstone had also become an ambiguous item for the Papal Palace to claim ownership over.
Cardinal Gilliam glared at Juliet with a hardened expression and pointed out her mistake.
“Aren’t you being too complacent? That threat only works if you leave this place unscathed.”
“The priest is saying something so villainous.”
Juliet smiled brightly as if she didn’t care at all.
Gilliam felt an odd sense of unease from Juliet’s strangely relaxed demeanor.
“If we shout right now, the guards will come running.”
He was right.
No matter how much Juliet threatened to reveal the truth, it only held weight if she left the grand temple unharmed.
“Well, I don’t think so.”
Juliet glanced sideways at the window, murmuring something ambiguous.
Cardinal Gilliam and the High Priest followed her gaze.
But there was only a large clock.
What?
“Ah, it’s done.”
Juliet smiled brightly and said.
“Then I’ll just expose it all from outside.”
Juliet hugged the box to her chest and suddenly bolted toward the dark interior of the room.
“……?”
“G-G Guards!”
The flustered High Priest flung open the door to the entrance.
But what greeted him was thick smoke billowing into the room.
“Guards…?”
Oh no.
Seeing the High Priest collapse immediately, Cardinal Gilliam finally realized what was happening.
‘Sleeping incense…!’
Juliet had never intended to persuade them. She had just been buying time.
Until the sleeping incense fully filled the annex.
*
Juliet slipped out of the smoke-filled annex without feeling much guilt.
If Zenobia’s Soulstone could be considered the legacy she left to her younger brother, then Juliet had a claim to a share of it as compensation for her suffering.
She had been kidnapped and tormented by that mad fake pope, and she had lost her butterflies because of it.
‘I nearly died. My life was threatened.’
Juliet thought as she followed a breezy passage out of the temple.
The House of Count Monad was a devout family that regularly donated to the temple despite their modest means.
Thanks to that, she had frequented the place since childhood and knew the grand temple’s layout like the back of her hand.
She also knew that security was tight only at the main gate.
Since the two priests had sneaked into the annex to deal with the Soulstone, it would take time before anyone discovered them.
‘If I had my butterflies, it would’ve been much easier….’
Juliet had made the sleeping incense using herbs Roy brought from Katia’s Forest.
She had sprinkled it bit by bit into the censer in the annex before the evening service incense was lit.
At first, it was a light concentration that just made one drowsy, but it built up over time.
It was said to take effect immediately once inhaled.
‘They said the forest is full of wondrous herbs.’
It works great.
Juliet marveled as she exited the temple.
‘I figured I’d run into guards a few times escaping the temple.’
That thought was only half right.
In truth, it was because Roy, who had been anxiously waiting outside, had knocked out every guard he spotted.
Juliet only learned this after fully escaping the temple.
Perhaps because of the service time, there were few people outside.
To avoid suspicion if she ran into guards later, she was taking a slightly longer route.
Better to slowly walk out through open doors than to be caught jumping over a fence in a hurry.
The only thing left was a small side door to the meeting spot with Roy.
Roy was supposed to wait below the tall outer wall just past that door.
Juliet leisurely passed through the door, clutching the hidden box.
She briefly lost her balance on the slightly high threshold.
“Ah!”
“Oh, be careful.”
She nearly twisted her ankle, but luckily a passing priestess supported her.
Adjusting her veil so it wouldn’t fall off her head, Juliet thanked the woman who had caught her.
“Thank you.”
“No problem.”
Then their eyes met.
“……!”
Juliet paled.
Glowing cerulean eyes in the darkness. Those eyes were definitely……
“Gr-High Priest!”
At that moment, a scream calling the High Priest echoed from the central temple.
Both women turned toward the sound.
“The High Priest has collapsed!”
It seemed they had discovered the two collapsed in the storage room, as the temple began to grow noisy.
“Where is the Cardinal!”
“Cardinal!”
Chaos erupted.
People poured out from the building where the service was in full swing.
‘Oh no….’
Juliet snapped to attention at the noises coming from beyond the fence.
“Um… wait a moment!”
But the priestess who had helped her vanished into the crowd rushing toward the central temple before Juliet could grab her.
Juliet bit her lip, unable to chase after her.
It was definitely Dahlia.
**
Thanks to the commotion in the temple grounds, Juliet actually escaped without being caught.
“Juliet!”
Roy, waiting below the tall outer wall, caught her as she jumped down.
“I was worried since you were late.”
Roy chided her with a light sigh. Juliet, who had been a bit out of it until then, came to her senses and replied.
“Sorry. I ran into someone for a moment.”
“The Soulstone?”
Juliet held up the small box in her hand. The box containing the Soulstone clinked softly.
“So that’s the Soulstone.”
“Yes.”
“Can you break the curse with that?”
“……Who knows.”
Juliet fiddled with the gleaming orb.
“I hope so.”
Juliet, who didn’t know much about holy power, couldn’t guarantee it.
‘But they said Zenobia’s holy power was truly remarkable.’
And no matter what kind of curse it was, an overwhelmingly powerful force could shatter it like a barrier.
So it should definitely help.
Juliet glanced back at the temple she had just escaped.
‘Dahlia can use both magic and holy power.’
It was said to be an extraordinary thing that defied the laws of this world.
Juliet had been born with magic too, but no matter how hard she tried, it paled in comparison to the girl blessed by the world.
“Juliet?”
“Ah, sorry.”
Recalling old memories for a moment, Juliet smiled brightly.
“Now let’s take this to the duke’s residence.”
Juliet said, glancing at Roy’s expression. Roy smiled brightly and held out his hand.
“Let’s go.”
Forgotten Juliet