The maid pointed to a corner of the gossip paper.
There was a portrait of the couple. Bridget and Isaac.
And next to her was Penelope.
The mistress who stayed at the first wife's house, and soon after, the first wife's grave was discovered in the garden!
It was the headline of a gossip magazine.
Beneath each portrait were written the words "wife" and "mistress" clearly visible to everyone.
Another maid who had read it first came running over and burst into rage.
"The mistress broke into the mansion and stole all of Mrs. Winston's dresses and jewelry! She was caught by a visiting dress shop employee who was trying to steal her wedding gift. And yet, Viscount Winston took her side! It's unbelievable."
"..."
"Because you took her side like that, that mistress got all cocky. Oh my gosh, she even built a grave for Mrs. Winston and cursed her. The gardener found out and the mansion was completely destroyed. Huh, isn't this the end of the world?"
The maids of the settlement were squeamish about Bridget, but they immediately took her side after reading the gossip.
"Poor Mrs. Winston! We didn't even know..."
"How much pain must she have felt while enduring this alone?"
"This is what the employees and costume shop staff testified about, but how much more harassment did she actually receive?"
Testimony?
Millea narrowed her eyes.
The gossip paper did indeed say. According to a dresser and an employee who works at Winston's house... But how do we know if the testimony was real when we're not even sure who wrote the gossip in the first place?
Yet the maids were soon absorbed in this provocative story and believed its contents as if they were ironclad.
'Of course, considering Bridget's story and the rumors that have been circulating in social circles, it can't be considered false.'
But Millea knew who published this gossip magazine.
And for what purpose was it issued?
So even if this isn't a lie, it's likely that the story has been embellished to make it more sensational than it actually is.
'She shifted the blame that had been pouring on His Majesty to her husband's mistress."
Bridget was very smart. No, smart is not enough. She was outstanding, she was a genius.
But it was not wise to let herself embroiled in scandal.
Bridget hugged Penelope and jumped into the abyss with her.
When Millea asked the maids, they tilted their heads and answered.
"How far has this spread?"
"Well... I don't know, but the street in front of the palace was filled with this gossip magazine. Even if you didn't buy it, it was spread all over the street, so everyone had a copy in their hand and was reading it."
Millea couldn't believe that Bridget, with her kind and clean face, had done something like this.
How could you act so calmly after preparing something this huge?
There was a huge gap between the calm voice of Bridget, who said that the world would be different tomorrow, and this explosive gossip.
'Will things be okay from now on?'
People want the victim to be completely good and innocent.
They hope that those who curse the perpetrator are making a justified attack on the innocent victim.
But no human being can be perfect.
Public opinion could have turned the corner the moment even a hint of guilt was discovered about the victim.
People would start mocking even the victims, and all sorts of people wouId swarm them like hyenas.
But Bridget took it upon herself to spread the Winston family's love story as if it were a play script.
More exciting, more delicious.
"There's going to be a huge storm at Winston Manor."
And to Bridget too.
Bridget said that she couldn't even ask for help from her parents, let alone her husband.
So who can protect Bridget in the future?
What made her do such a reckless thing?
As resolutely as someone who jumps off a cliff knowing that there is a safety device at the bottom...
But as far as Millea knew, there was no corner of Bridget that she could trust.
No, wait.
There was someone who crossed Millea's mind.
'No way.'
Julian?
***
By evening, Bridget's words that everything would change turned out to be true.
Gossip about the Winston family's love affairs quickly spread everywhere.
Whenever people, noble or common, gathered together, they would talk about what was happening in the Winston household.
Some people spread rumors as if they had actually seen it.
Thanks to these people, Bridget's story grew bigger and bigger and spread faster than any other news.
Attaching portraits, as Bridget intended, was a clever move to emphasize that the story was about real people.
The affection of someone who knows the face has a way of doubling people's interest.
The people who had gathered on the street in front of the palace suddenly disappeared.
Instead, the capital's taverns and the tea rooms of prominent ladies of high society were filled to capacity.
Gossip was best enjoyed with a side dish.
"But is this all true?"
"I told you I heard it directly from the costume shop employee. Why would the costume shop employee lie? That's why the story of the concubine living together was a hot topic for a while."
"Oh, right, that's why the Marchioness Cavendish invited them to a party. She wanted to see what kind of people they were. I saw them myself at that party."
The rumors that had been circulating for some time gave solid support to the content of the gossip magazine. And so everything solidified into truth.
"Not only did she take Madam's belongings, she's even committing theft. What a disgrace!"
"What about making a tomb and cursing It? Isn't that really evil?"
"Wow, that's creepy."
***
The political drama that took over the entire capital in half a day reached Julian's ears the next day.
After hearing the whole story from Millea, Julian looked at the portrait of Bridget printed in the gossip magazine and crumpled it up.
"What are you doing?"
He roughly ran his hands through his hair.
It was laughable that she did something like this for herself.
Last time she tricked people into becoming a fool, and now she's done something so bizarre.
"There are many ways to drive people crazy."
Are you trying to atone for your sins?
I'm so pissed.
If you thought this would atone for your sins, you were mistaken.
Julian had no interest in his notoriety or criticism.
"I left you alone to live quietly in hiding."
He sent her off to meet an ordinary man, have an ordinary marriage, have an ordinary child, and raise them normally.
When he thought he could close his ears and eyes and live well without her, he could have just accepted the feeling of betrayal and suppressed my anger.
"Why are you doing something like this...!"
The anger that had been suppressed for a long time finally exploded.
Bridget's misfortune was all crumpled up in his hands.
He picked up the coat as if snatching it away.
***
The Winston mansion was turned upside down.
Penelope's screams and cries echoed throughout the mansion for a whole day as she suddenly became a villainess that the whole world pointed at.
Isaac was also angry and went on a rampage, saying he would track down those who had testified.
In the process, several employees, including Anna and the gardener, were also named.
But most of them had alibis, and those who didn't have them were able to get away with it thanks to Cedric's hasty arrangements.
If employees banded together and stood in opposition, the employer's power would be lost.
Isaac, who had never even thought about getting even one employee on his side, was helpless.
Today, a day has passed like that.
Penelope opened Bridget's door roughly, her face puffy.
"Oh my, this is all a misunderstanding!"
She laid the gossip paper in front of Bridget.
Her voice trembled as if she couldn't bear the injustice.
She had an expression on her face that looked like she might burst into tears at any moment.
Just looking at her face, the innocent victim was undoubtedly Penelope.
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