The Count looked confused and rolled his eyes between Bridget and Julian.
Why that woman?
She's just the wife of some commoner who bought a title and a woman with the money she earned by luck.
What does that worthless woman have to do with Julian, except for her pretty face?
Although he didn't know, the Count instinctively denied it.
"Oh, no! Oh, oh, nothing, nothing..."
Julian silently returned the sword he was holding to the knight.
Then the knight raised his sword and aimed it at the Count.
The Count, sensing death, cried out desperately.
"If... if you keep slaughtering nobles like this without any reason, it'll be hard to protect the throne! How long will the noble council leave you alone... Aaaah!"
He was unable to continue speaking.
Another black knight beside him dragged him out of bed, and it didn't take long for his screams to die down.
"I don't sit there to protect. I sit there to take."
Julian approached Bridget, speaking nonchalantly as if he had no interest in the throne.
The black knights turned to smoke at Julian's will and disappeared Into his shadow.
In this spacious mansion, only he and Bridget were alive and breathing.
Julian looked down at Bridget for a moment, then bent down and wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth.
Then he stopped when he saw the tears forming in her eyes.
His breathing was slightly ragged.
"..."
A scratchy sound came out from between the teeth.
"Is this the life you chose for me?"
His throat moved several times.
He swallowed and swallowed countless words and countless emotions.
"I didn't mean to end up like this."
He moved his lips several times, but eventually, he couldn't finish his words and closed his eyes tightly.
The black knights who sympathized with his feelings cried out silently from the shadows.
***
Milea was astonished to see the woman Julian had brought to the King's chambers.
"She is..."
Even though she was wearing strange clothes, Milea could tell at a glance that she was Bridget.
"What the heck is this?"
Millea looked up at Julian in astonishment.
Julian just stood there silently looking at Millea as if he didn't know what to do with Bridget, whom he had brought with him.
"First, let's put her to bed in the unused maid's room."
Julian followed Millea obediently.
After becoming King, he acted as he pleased and played like the world's greatest debaucher, but it was rare for him to ask for help from Milea and act so obediently.
But Millea didn't realize it because of the thousands of thoughts that were running through her head.
"Take care of her."
Julian put Bridget down, blurted out a word, and left the room.
Millea called her maids and instructed them to treat Bridget and change her clothes.
She didn't forget to keep their mouth shut.
"If you know that your life is precious, don't talk nonsense. If you go out and mention even a single word about what you saw in this room, I don't even know what kind of unbearable thing you'll face."
The maids nodded, swallowing dry saliva, at Millea's sharp tone of voice that threatened them.
The maids who frequented Julian's quarters were people who were tight-lipped and cautious in their actions and were carefully selected by Milea.
Although they weren't the type of people to act rashly, she thought it would be better to make sure.
The King left the palace alone in the middle of the night and returned without a sound.
The woman he brought in was covered in wounds and wearing only revealing underwear.
If this news became known, it was impossible to even guess what kind of repercussions it would have on the royal palace, which was already going through a turbulent time.
Millea left Bridget in the care of the maids and hurried after Julian.
"Your Majesty."
Milea, who had been blocking Julian's path with quick steps, looked up at Julian as if she was looking at a shameless person.
"When I introduced Viscountess Winston to His Majesty, it was to cure your insomnia and give her gold and silver treasures, not to kidnap her."
"..."
A gaze that was dry and insensitive, but filled with a hint of affection for the person she considered her only ally, fell on Millea.
Millea asked, drawing courage from the small affection she felt for Julian, who had decided to abandon his good humanity and become a ruthless murderer.
"What on earth is going on? I must ask why the person I recommended came to Your Majesty in such a state."
Millea was worried that Julian might have done something bad to Bridget.
She was worried about Bridget, but she was more worried that Julian might end up being a useless piece of trash.
It was Millea who took care of and raised Julian, the Illegitimate child of the former King, from a young age.
She treated him like a son, even though he was practically abandoned, and desperately protected him, keeping him company until now.
Millea felt heartbroken as she watched him gradually turn into a monster.
"What did you do to Bridget?"
"What am I doing?"
Julian, who had been listening silently, snorted.
"I saved her."
It was a self-deprecating voice.
"I was wondering what kind of expression she would make."
"Yes?"
Julian walked past Millea as if he didn't want to say anything else.
Millea did not understand what Julian was saying.
Still, she understood that he had done nothing wrong to Bridget.
She sighed in relief and looked at Julian's back with pity.
***
I came to my senses with a terrible headache.
It seemed like a nightmare. I looked around with an uneasy feeling and was terrified to realize that I was lying in an unfamiliar place.
'It wasn't a nightmare.'
Just then. Millea entered the room carrying a pitcher of water.
"Millea?"
I, who had been pale and tired, looked at Millea and relaxed a little, but was also embarrassed.
"Where am I? What's going on?"
"Don't worry, Bridget. This is the palace."
"The palace...?"
"His Majesty brought you here last night. Don't you remember anything?"
I paused at the words,
'So what I saw just before I fell asleep...'
The strange phenomenon of magi surged in like waves.
'It was Julian.'
It really was he who came.
My heart raced. It wasn't because of relief at being saved or joy at finally reaching Julian.
I was heartbroken that I had to show him that kind of behavior.
"Ah..."
I clutched my head in pain.
In my past life, when Millea learned of my talents, she introduced me to Julian, who suffered from insomnia.
At that time, I was locked up in a convent overnight as if I had disappeared from the world, and Julian, who had been searching for me lately, found me through Millea.
At that time, Millea had put everything aside and left the palace, so it seems that there were many twists and turns before my letter reached Julian.
So when we met, I was already on the verge of death from illness.
'I didn't want to show you that miserable sight again.'
When we meet again in this life, I want to meet again at least on the outside looking normal.
I didn't want to be forgiven for what I did to him because I felt sorry for him and pitiful.
I hoped he wouldn't feel sorry for me.
He was a hurtman, and he was the one who hurt others.
Of course, more than any other reason.
Who wouldn't want to look miserable in front of their ex?
But in the end, it ended up like this. Again.
'Isaac...!'
Anger boiled over.
The culprit behind all the shame and misfortune I have experienced.
A chilling disgust washed over me.
Millea sat down close to me, who was shaking my shoulders and bowing my head.
"Are you okay, Bridget?"
She hesitated for a few moments and then awkwardly placed a hand on my shoulder.
I broke down at the call. The emotions that were fiercely stirring in my chest welled up and flowed out as tears.
"Who did this to you?"
"This is my husband."
My tearful voice trembled with fierce anger.
"He sold me to another man."
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