Onyx quickly scrambled over the railing and began ascending the stairs toward the upper floors, trying to remain unnoticed.
As the little dragon climbed, he suddenly sensed a familiar presence nearby.
"Q!"
Once he reached sufficient height and surveyed his surroundings, he easily located the source of that sensation.
Red hair caught his attention from a distance.
It was his mistress's subordinate—and standing before him was a woman who bore a striking resemblance to her.
But just as Onyx was about to bound down joyfully, he heard the red-haired man shouting at the woman. He stopped short and concealed himself behind the railing.
"Do you have *any idea* how worried I was?! How long I spent searching everywhere for you?!"
The angry man was definitely someone Onyx recognized. But the woman he'd glimpsed from afar—the one he'd initially mistaken for Juliet—was clearly not his mistress. The little dragon sensed no familiar energy from her whatsoever.
"Q..."
Watching the oblivious man, the dragon simply shook his head, not dwelling too deeply on what he'd witnessed.
Still, he felt a pang of sadness that the woman wasn't Juliet.
After this, Onyx resumed wandering through the building, ducking behind decorative objects whenever he encountered people along the way.
During his exploration of the temple, he managed to locate the small flower crown the junior priests had mentioned. However, despite traversing nearly the entire vast Terrarium, he still couldn't find Juliet.
The lengthy journey hadn't tired him at all—but it had made him considerably hungrier.
Looking around, he realized he'd wandered into some remote, isolated area. Then, sensing something strange, he scrambled rapidly toward the nearest column to hide, his small paws moving in a blur. But even though he pressed himself against the stone as though trying to merge with it, he was still discovered.
Someone seized him by the scruff of his neck and lifted him into the air.
"Hm?"
Finding himself suspended in zero gravity, the confused dragon began desperately paddling his paws through empty air, trying to escape. Then he met the gaze of the person holding him.
A man with red eyes.
"Q..."
Recognizing who stood before him, Onyx immediately ceased struggling. He squeezed his eyes shut and froze, barely breathing.
The little dragon listened intently to what the terrifying man would do next while he pretended to be dead.
It was deeply humiliating to hang there so casually, dangling by the scruff of his neck. But his natural instincts screamed at him to play dead when facing an opponent so overwhelmingly superior.
In any case, the man holding him so roughly seemed entirely uninterested in this theatrical performance. Instead of releasing him, he spoke coldly:
"And where is your mistress?"
"...Q-q?"
Onyx, who had been desperately avoiding eye contact, furtively cracked open one eye.
*Does this man know Juliet?*
*Sniff-sniff.*
The little dragon's nose twitched as he inhaled deeply. He detected the same scent that lingered on Juliet's clothing.
After this, Onyx studied the man's face more carefully and recalled having seen him with his mistress some time ago.
"Hmm..."
Though the little dragon remained frightened, he simultaneously felt—for reasons he couldn't quite explain—that everything would be alright now.
---
## — The Prison Cell —
Eventually, after all the chaos, the priests confined Theo to a prison cell to prevent further disturbances.
"The best people from the Marigold Guild are searching for her now. I've also contacted the old man."
Meanwhile, while Theo languished in confinement, Ethelid had been conducting the search on his behalf.
After a thorough investigation, the wizard confirmed that Juliet had indeed vanished from the Terrarium—exactly as Theo had claimed.
He had also contacted Lionel Lebatan and dispatched people throughout the city to determine if anyone had witnessed her in Lucerne.
The search had consumed every moment of Ethelid's night. He only managed to catch a brief rest when he went to visit Theo.
The wizard leaned his back against the iron bars and surveyed the cell with grudging admiration.
"Quite impressive. Who would have imagined a church would invest so heavily in maintaining a prison?"
The Temple of Lucerne was also notorious for its zealous suppression of heretical cults and the capture of their members half a century ago.
Ethelid turned his attention to Theo and was surprised to find him unusually calm.
"What's wrong with you?" Ethelid asked, puzzled.
Before arriving here, Theo had raised absolute hell trying to locate Juliet.
Such violent temperament was typical of him. But after spending some time imprisoned, he'd grown uncharacteristically quiet. He simply stood there, calmly gazing out the window.
"Hey, Ethelid."
"Yes?"
"Look at this." Theo pointed toward something he'd been staring at for some time. "Is it just me, or does she really look like Juliet?"
Ethelid narrowed his eyes and followed Theo's gesture.
Since this was a temple, numerous memorials, monuments, and angel statues dotted the grounds.
What did he mean by "similar"?
When Ethelid's gaze finally landed on one particular statue of an angel, his mouth fell open in surprise.
"Haa?"
Among the thirteen angel statues, one stood out distinctly from the rest.
---
## — Turning the Tables —
*Thump.*
Juliet regarded Sebastian where he'd collapsed on the floor.
Some scarlet liquid still remained in the syringe she clutched.
It was the same drug that had been administered to the wolf on the train.
After injecting her last time, Sebastian had apparently assumed she wouldn't wake for quite a while. He'd carelessly left the syringe on the bedside table.
"How does it feel to fall into your own trap?" Juliet asked in a deceptively gentle tone.
Of course, it was a dirty trick.
One glance at Sebastian's stunned expression provided his answer without need for words.
"Xenovia... why are you..."
"Listen to me carefully, Your Holiness," Juliet interrupted with a weary sigh. "I am *not* Xenovia. Simply open the dimensional door and release me."
In truth, the fastest and safest resolution would be for Sebastian to free Juliet of his own volition.
"If you do, I'll make an exception and turn a blind eye to everything. We'll pretend none of this happened. Agreed?"
"......"
However, instead of responding, Sebastian simply stared at her with that same shocked expression.
*Well. It was predictable he wouldn't accept that option.*
Juliet frowned at him.
"Alright then. Let's begin."
Sighing again, she began searching through Sebastian's clothing.
All the clues she needed had been embedded in Hildegard's words.
The first clue: Xenovia was a genius who possessed immense divine power from birth.
The second: she died in a fire, and not even her body remained.
The third: Sebastian—her brother—had not possessed divine powers as a child.
*"He was very skilled with his hands as a boy, so we intended to apprentice him to a carpenter."*
That had been his destined path until a certain moment, according to Hildegard's account.
But Sebastian had eventually manifested divine power after his sister's death.
Now he was renowned as the youngest bishop in history—celebrated as a genius, just as his sister had been in life.
Moreover, despite his dishonest methods for seizing the bishop's position, the divine powers Sebastian displayed were genuine. He truly could alleviate pain or heal someone completely.
One detail in Hildegard's story had particularly caught Juliet's attention.
He'd mentioned that not all children were born with identical abilities—some possessed special talents.
So what abilities did Sebastian actually have?
"Here it is."
After searching his clothing, Juliet found a round sphere hanging around his neck like a pendant.
Apparently, this purple orb was Xenovia's soul stone.
*Somehow you resemble a mana stone more than a soul stone.*
Juliet turned it over in her hands, examining it with surprise.
At first glance, it looked like a smooth bead—the kind little children played with.
The soul stone was a special artifact that allowed people not born with divine power to wield it at their own discretion.
Just as mana stones enabled those without mana to use magic.
Its only drawback was extreme rarity and astronomical cost.
Unlike mana stones, which could be harvested from dungeons, soul stones weren't easily created.
Typically, they were produced only when the body of a priest possessing great divine power was cremated.
In other words: you had to burn a human body to create one.
This was precisely why such items were so expensive and scarce.
In fact, this was only the second time Juliet had ever seen one.
She'd encountered countless fake soul stones before, but only once in her first life had she witnessed a genuine article.
*Dahlia also possessed a soul stone.*
She had claimed it was a gift from a child dying of an incurable disease—one who had fallen in love with her and followed her everywhere.
Come to think of it, that soul stone had also possessed a delicate purple hue, just like Xenovia's...
*Is it possible...?*
As far as Juliet recalled, Dahlia in her previous life had possessed unique divine power.
*Then why would she need a soul stone? Isn't it only used by those without divine power—or those with very little?*
Like Juliet herself. Or Sebastian.
Regardless, Xenovia's soul stone was genuinely beautiful. It had a smooth, perfect shape like a bead, and glowed with a lovely, delicate purple color.
*The size of a soul stone is always directly proportional to the amount of divine power a person possessed during their lifetime, isn't it?*
If that was true, then the late Xenovia's divine power had been immense indeed.
Juliet's contemplation was suddenly interrupted by Sebastian.
"Umm... Viya... what... what are you going to do with that?"
Instead of answering, Juliet fixed him with such an icy stare that he involuntarily shuddered.
If Sebastian possessed abilities of his own, as Hildegard had suggested, then perhaps he'd created this dollhouse through them.
Alternatively, he might have constructed it using his deceased sister's soul stone.
"I don't know if this will work, but..." Juliet murmured anxiously, turning the stone over in her hands.
She had never before attempted to use a soul stone containing divine power.
When planning to locate it, she'd assumed she would feel *something* upon contact. But it was merely warm to the touch—nothing more.
*Why does everyone always make things so complicated?* Juliet mused silently, releasing a soft sigh. *This could have ended so much more simply...*
There had been a peaceful, easy path. But no—because of one stubborn madman, she now had to take the difficult, arduous route.
The circumstance irritated her immensely.
Juliet, clutching the soul stone, drew a deep breath and raised her gaze.
*First of all... I have to break through the barrier.*
Only then would she be able to access her mana and summon her butterflies.
*Please let this work!*