I stopped singing as I felt the suffocating magi gradually dissipate.
I could tell from the flow of magi that Julian wasn't asleep.
Just a moment ago, waves of magi surged into his room.
Then it shook threateningly as if it were going to swallow me
I suddenly got scared. I've been seeing magi since I was born.
When I was young, I was frightened by a lump of magi that took on a human form, but after I grew up a little, magi stopped scaring me.
Because I knew it was weaker than it looked and that it wouldn't affect me.
But I was scared just now.
It was just like a natural disaster.
I felt like I was facing an overwhelming force created by nature.
'I've never seen anything like this before.'
Even in that horrible convent, I have never seen anyone who exuded such magical energy.
I placed my hand on the wall next to my bed, my hands trembling slightly, a lingering sense of fear still present.
Beyond that was Julian.
He was just a wall away from me, and I couldn't figure out what he was doing there.
What could have happened so late at night that he would invite death?
Why did he unleash such enormous misfortune?
'Julian...'
I wanted to run to him right away.
I wanted to relieve some of the loneliness.
But I was scared.
I couldn't bring myself to face the miserable sight of Julian.
I wiped away the tears that were streaming down my face.
How long had he endured nights like this
alone?
***
The next day, Bridget, who had been sleeping late at night, woke up to a knock on the door.
"I've come to help with your morning care."
Two young maids came in, explained, and then helped Bridget wash and dress up.
This time, as she had no spare clothes, Bridget wore the maid's outfit that Millea had lent her.
The maids seemed to be at a loss as to how to treat Bridget, who had returned to the palace and taken over the mistress's apartments, all the while serving her.
"His Majesty? Is he awake?"
Despite Bridget's questions, one of them remained silent with a sullen expression the whole time, while the other acted overly kindly.
"Well, His Majesty is a very elusive person, and we can't even go near His Majesty's bedroom, so we don't know His Majesty's movements very well. In addition, he moves as he pleases, so he has no set schedule or route. We don't even know if he's awake or not, or where he's gone."
She was so nice to Bridget that she wanted to impress her, and ended up telling her story about Julian in too much detail, which got the other maids to notice.
"Stop talking nonsense. You'll get in trouble with Mrs. Spencer."
"No, I just answered because she asked me."
It was definitely something that Millea would hate.
Bridget didn't ask any more questions so as not to embarrass the maids. They were the King's chambermaids, not her personal maids.
'The surrounding magi seem quiet, so he must be either still asleep or going out.'
The kind maid whispered as she finished getting ready and left.
"I support you, Madam. I am glad His Majesty has chosen you. I am sure Mrs. Bellingham is shivering right now."
“Melony!”
The maid, who had been keeping a straight face the whole time, frowned.
Then the maid named Melony winked at Bridget and quickly followed her companion out. It seemed that Melony had decided to side with Bridget after reading the gossip.
If the maids had been passing around gossip among themselves, then the other maid's cold attitudes were understandable.
'I thought I was a good victim, but it's ridiculous that I ended up joining Julian's government.'
This isn't just the maids who settled their own.
When the story of Bridget becoming the King's mistress becomes official, people will support her, criticize her, cheer for her, or ignore her according to their own thoughts and standards.
'It doesn't matter. The reason I revealed my face in the gossip magazine was to become a hot topic in the first place.'
She intended to use the topicality to prevent the Duke of Linchester from manipulating public opinion at will in the future.
The topic is a double-edged sword. It could be toxic to oneself, but one could also use the focused attention to hurt others.
Bridget had nothing to lose, nothing to fear, and she was prepared for what lay ahead.
She has lived as a person who was swayed by public opinion, and she also knows how to sway public opinion.
She was thinking of leading public opinion in the future.
'To do that, I first need to gain the trust of the people around me.'
Bridget went into the kitchen and looked for Millea.
Millea spent a lot of time in the kitchen preparing Julian's meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Millea, who was carefully checking the ingredients to be used in Julian's meal, saw Bridget entering the kitchen.
"What are you doing here, Bridget?"
"Can I talk to you?"
"Is it so."
Millea left the unprepared ingredients with the chef and went to the living room with Bridget.
She felt the same awkwardness from Millea as yesterday as she sat across from her.
"Have you done any research on me?"
"Ignore the vague hints. If there's something you want to tell me about yourself, why don't you just say it directly?"
"I can't do it."
"Then I can't help but find Bridget suspicious. I have no idea what you're trying to say."
A moment of sadness passed across Bridget's face.
Millea didn't miss it.
"There's definitely something unfair going on. Why can't I say anything?'
Millea hoped that Bridget would eventually give in and confess her secret.
But Bridget chose to give up.
"Then I will tell you only what I can tell you."
"Do whatever you want."
Millea sighed as if she was frustrated.
Bridget didn't flinch.
"Actually, Your Majesty and I knew each other before. We were lovers."
"I had a rough idea of that. I regret not knowing that and bringing up the story of Bridget to His Majesty rekindled the flame that had been extinguished. Have you not intended to leave it as a beautiful memory of the past. Just as it has been so far?"
It was a rebuke asking why she insisted on becoming a government official.
Millea, a woman of principle, wanted Bridget to maintain a pure marriage, even if she had a husband who was not even the most human of beings.
Just because one side didn't do something doesn't mean the other side has to do the same.
Millea did not want to associate with anyone who would defile the sacred value of marriage.
Even if that person is her son's benefactor and a friend she cares about.
"I am not a beautiful memory of His Majesty. I have done you a great wrong. His Majesty will not forgive me for that. He still hates me."
"I don't quite understand."
Millea frowned.
If that's true, doesn't Julian's behavior now seem even stranger?
Why did he bring his ex-lover, who did something unforgivable, to his side?
Moreover, Julian, who had become a cruel and ruthless tyrant who would cut off anyone he did not like without mercy, could not possibly spare someone he hated.
"His Majesty would never want to appoint such a person as his government. Aren't you mistaken?"
"The reason he put me here as a government official is to punish me."
"To punish?"
"He loves me, but he hates me at the same time, so he can't kill me or ignore me. Even if others don't understand Millea will."
"..."
Although she didn't show it, Millea was very surprised.
Who would have thought that there was someone else who knew a side of Julian that only she knew?
'Even if I betray him, His Majesty will probably not be able to kill me.'
That was Julian's contradiction.
Surprisingly, someone notorious as a brutal murderer could be so indecisive and weak.
'He would rather go mad than kill me.'
He was that kind of person.
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