If the Count of Kensington was uprooted because he was disliked by the King, he was anxious that the sparks would fly to him too, having unwittingly offered his wife to be uprooted.
"Did you grab hold of the rotten rope...?"
Isaac stamped his feet, not knowing who had caused the rope to rot.
'You said everyone died, so is Bridget dead too?'
He placed his hands under his chin as if praying.
"Oh my God..."
Isaac didn't dare send anyone into the mansion to find Bridget's body.
He has to pretend not to know as much as possible.
Pretend to have no relation to the Count of Kensington.
'It's not true, is it? We've never even had a meal together. I haven't even seen him!'
So how do we explain Bridget's presence in the mansion last night?
On the day that Bridget's body is found there...
Isaac rolled his eyes, wondering if there was any trick, and then suddenly picked up a pen and paper.
[To Count Josh Florence. My wife and your sister, Bridget, have run away from home and have not been seen for two days...]
What he chose was to survive by trampling on the honor of the dead.
***
"Mom, look at this!"
Bridget's older brother Josh showed up. grumbling, and thrust a letter at his mother.
"Josh, what's going on?"
"Bridget has run away!"
"What?"
Lauren took the letter and quickly scanned it.
"Oh my God."
"She's not a kid, how does this make sense?"
"Is it because of Penelope?"
Lauren looked at Josh as if to say, "How nice."
They also knew that Isaac had taken Penelope as his mistress.
At first, they were surprised to hear that Bridget had let Penelope stay at the mansion, but since they had known each other for a long time, they figured it was okay.
"I thought she was doing well because she was so quiet..."
Since she didn't even come to her parents' house to complain, they thought she just accepted the situation in an adult-like manner.
But they never thought they'd get this deal.
"She ran away from home because her husband had a lover. She's a disgrace to the family! How can she be so irresponsible?"
Josh was pacing around in circles, angry and at a loss.
"What if Isaac brings up this issue and starts a divorce, Mother? What if he demands that I return the money he gave me when they got married?"
"Ah."
Lauren put her hand on her forehead as if her head hurt just thinking about it.
"I can't believe it. Why would a good, well-behaved kid do that? Without even consulting you, Josh. She's not the type of kid who should be causing trouble like this."
Bridget was a very good and obedient daughter to Lauren from a very young age. A daughter who is more like her mother than her own. A dependable daughter.
After her husband's death, Lauren relied more on Bridget for emotional support than on her eldest son, Josh.
Bridget was a solid, dependable daughter who would do anything for her family.
"First, we need to find Bridget. Where is she staying?"
"I've already sent servants to places where Bridget might go. How could she run away without being in trouble?"
"If you find Bridget, don't say anything too much."
"Mother, Bridget is like this because you treated her too softly."
The spark flew to Lauren.
Josh got angry and yelled at Lauren.
"Because you accept all her wishes, she thinks she's great and has high self-esteem, so she doesn't even receive affection from her husband. Isn't it because she's not friendly that Isaac fell for her?"
"You're blaming me, Josh! Do you think it was easy raising you without a husband? I did my best. I don't deserve to hear that from you."
Josh sighed deeply as he watched Lauren wiping away tears.
"If we find Bridget, we should beg Isaac to forgive us somehow. We don't have the money to pay him back."
Lauren didn't want to defend Isaac's actions.
It was enough to upset Bridget.
What kind of person can remain calm when his spouse has an affair with a close friend of his wife?
If Bridget had come to her crying and complaining, she would have taken her daughter's side and gotten angry with her.
It was something that should have been resolved and concluded at that level.
It was too much to ignore the conflict of interest between families and run away from home. It was selfish.
Lauren felt that her daughter's marital problems should not escalate into something that would cause hardship to her family.
The Florence family was too indebted to the Winston family for Bridget to have any pride.
"Even If she ran away from home because of her emotions, she is a wise child and will not just sit by and watch her family suffer."
Lauren was just as angry as Josh was at Bridget for doing this.
To be exact, she was afraid that the family that was barely hanging on would fall because of this incident.
"That won't do. Getting divorced will
absolutely, absolutely not happen..."
***
At that time, Bridget was a dead person to Isaac and a reckless runaway to her parents.
Bridget was cleaning Millea's room.
The maids were wondering who she was, why she was in Julian's arms, and why she was dressed like that.
Even though Bridget had kept her mouth shut, there was no way to know where or how people's words would leak out.
The cautious Millea kept her in her room, hoping that no groundless rumors would spread.
Millea looked at her, who was moving diligently, with eyes full of suspicion.
'What did the two of them talk about?'
What conversation were they having that caused such a suspicious bloodstain to appear on Bridget's lips when she came out of the bedroom?
Could such a sight be considered a sign of violence? Absolutely not.
'I ran my finger over it. It was that kind of mark.'
Millea didn't know if he touched, rubbed, or prodded her, but one thing was certain: Julian had touched Bridget.
'The face. And the corners of the mouth. It must have been close.'
Millea looked at the serious side of Bridget's face as she purified her magic, and at the wound on her lip that was now cleanly wiped away.
'Young men and women, in a closed room, having contact without violence.'
Just as the maids were curious about Bridget's true identity. Millea was also curious about the relationship between Julian and Bridget.
But in the end, nothing was asked.
Although she regarded Julian as a son, he was not his real son.
Julian was the King and Millea was the maid.
"The palace is full of magi."
Bridget remained calm, either unaware of Millea's suspicious gaze or pretending not to notice.
"I purified everything here, but even the outdoors is covered in magi, so I think it'll get contaminated again soon."
She kept looking out the window with a stuffy face, like someone who had entered a dusty place.
"That's the kind of place a palace is. Don't try too hard and leave it alone... The palace is a better place than a graveyard for evil spirits to gather. I won't be affected by that."
Bridget stopped what she was doing and sat down at the table.
"How is your son?"
"Eric has improved a lot. Thanks to you, he can breathe a little easier too."
Millea said that since Eric had started to take care of himself, the only one left to take care of was Julian.
Bridget was glad to hear that.
'In the past life, Millea lost Eric at the end of this season and, in despair entered the convent on her own.'
Millea said that she had been so distraught by Eric's death that she could not bear the feeling of being useless anywhere that she had taken herself to the convent.
From then on, there would have been no one around Julian.
Without the only person who had been there to warm him up, nagging him, giving him attention, feed him.. and changing his clothes, he would have been alone in the cold palace.
I felt sorry for Julian, who must have been lonely.
Fortunately, that didn't happen this time.
Eric will be okay, and Millea will be with Julian as she always has been.
"Next time I meet Sir Eric, I will purify his magi once more."
"He was curious about Bridget anyway. I think he'll like it."
Millea now brought up Julian's story, which was more problematic than Eric's.
"I hope you can take a look at His Majesty with that ability. Didn't you feel anything when you met His Majesty?"
Support Novellate!
Comments
Post a Comment