THIBV - Chapter 101

As Bridget walked down the hallway and down the stairs.

The nursery door burst open and Penelope ran out.

They received the documents, and she thought she would be so angry that she couldn't stand it if they sent Bridget away like this.

'How dare you do this to me?'

Penelope ran up to Bridget and reached out to grab her hair as she was about to go down the stairs.

She felt like she needed to scratch her face to feel better.

"You crazy bitch, you did something like this and you... GASP!"

Her hands couldn't reach Bridget.

Because a large arm shot out from Bridget's shadow and grabbed Penelope's wrist.

"Ahh!"

Penelope pulled her hand away and stepped back at the tremendous force, but he did not move at all.

Bridget sighed deeply, turned around, and approached Penelope.

"If you don't want to get cut off, don't move."

"Hey, let go of this! This monster..."

"This is the knight His Majesty gave me as a gift. Did you think I would come here alone without any safety measures?"

Bridget patted the black knight's shoulder as if to say that it was reassuring.

The black knight's upper body was slightly out of the shadows, but he was so large that he was almost at Penelope's eye level.

Penelope turned her head away, unable to even look at it properly as smoke poured out of its black eye sockets.

"Penelope."

Bridget warned Penelope, leaning close enough to touch her forehead.

"Don't you dare try to use my retreating to this extent as evidence of your innocence?"

"What?"

"I'm just giving you a look right now. Do you know why?"

"What nonsense..."

"I pity your daughter who was born without sin. Do you really not understand my warning? Be careful, Penelope."

Bridget spoke softly, smoothing Penelope's collar.

Although it was a gentle touch and voice, the content itself shocked Penelope like lightning.

Penelope trembled.

"Wh, what are you talking about? Oh, you still want to slander me with such nonsense! You're crazy! You're absolutely crazy! You crazy thing! I gave birth to a son! Do you not believe it even after seeing it with your own eyes? Or are you, are you crazy because I'm jealous?"

Penelope denied it to the end, feeling as if she would collapse at any moment.

It almost seemed as if the black knight was supporting her rather than holding her.

Penelope tried to laugh at Bridget, her face twisted and trembling. It was a grotesque expression.

Bridget no longer spoke softly or smiled leisurely.

With a cold face, she spat out each word sharply as if stabbing with a needle.

"Reveal the truth yourself, even now. Don't commit an irreparable sin against your child. Now is the time to embrace that child again. This is the last chance I am giving you."

"You bitch! Shut up!"

"...Of course, you will pay the price for lying, but wouldn't it be better to be abandoned by Isaac who has lost affection for you than to abandon a child who will grow up thinking that you are her whole world?"

Penelope's eyes shook wildly at this.

She glanced down the hallway, afraid that Isaac might come out of the nursery.

Isaac seemed to still be preoccupied with soothing the baby, as the sound of the baby crying could be heard outside the door.

An angry voice was heard asking where the nanny had gone.

Penelope took a deep breath and tried to calm herself down. She told herself not to be swayed by Bridget's random remarks. She told herself not to get excited and let her feet tingle.

The baby swap took place inside the Hudson Counts mansion.

The wet nurse who had provided the baby boy was taken on board, and the Count of Hudson promised to keep the mouth of the mansion's only servant tightly shut.

There was no way the secret could leak out.

"Ha! Who would believe you, who ta lIks nonsense when you bring along a quack doctor..."

But Bridget was clearly reading Penelope's thoughts.

She felt sorry for Penelope, who was still worried that her secret would be kept.

“Jonas Milo.”

Penelope paused at the name that came out of Bridget's mouth out of nowhere.

Jonas was a servant to Count Hudson.

"It was five years ago. Yes, before we were both married, so it must have been around that time. I still remember the day I went to visit you at the Count Hudson's house after hearing that you were sick."

"Have you met him?"

"The Count of Hudson was complaining that the King was paying him the wages of a common servant while he was using him as his butler. All it took was two gold pieces to make him open his mouth."

"...!"

"If you're going to steal the wages of your employees, you shouldn't expect loyalty from them. There are actually people who don't understand that simple truth."

Penelope realized that Bridget really knew everything.

Her face was now filled with fear rather than anger.

Every time she rolled her big eyes, tears welled up in her eyes.

She felt like she was panicking when it became clear that she couldn't handle the situation.

Penelope suddenly fell to her knees.

The black knight absentmindedly put down Penelope's hand, who had lost her will to fight, and disappeared.

Penelope clasped her hands together in prayer. Her clasped hands were shaking terribly.

"Please..."

Bridget, with her arms crossed, looked down at Penelope absentmindedly.

"It would be better not to do this."

"Please, Bridget. Please... Just this once. Close your eyes just this once. Please... What, what should I do? Huh? What should I do... Heh."

Penelope held onto Bridget's skirt, tears streaming down her face.

Her back was aching and her mind was spinning. Cold sweat was running down her body and her hair was sticking to her cheeks and neck.

She felt sick. She thought she was going to throw up. She felt like she was sinking into a swamp.

Penelope couldn't understand why Bridget was doing this to her.

'A vicious and greedy bitch.'

She tried to please Bridget, even though she cursed inwardly.

"You're happy even if you're not her le. In the palace, receiving the love of His Majesty the King... Isaac, the Winston family, they don't interest you anymore! You have so much more, and this is all I have...!"

It was a shiver of pride to admit it.

Still, Penelope said it with tears in her eyes. It was shameful and horrible.

"I, I have nowhere to go now. I lost my case against the Bellinghams not long ago, and now I can't even be called Mrs. Bellingham... I can't even go down to that horrible country estate... You know my family barely makes ends meet. Father won't leave me alone. I really... Bridget, oh, Bridget..."

There was a sob in her voice. It was almost like a scream.

"I'll just live in the annex, I won't let you see me again. Oh, right. I'll apologize. I'll deeply reflect on everything I've done for you. Yes? Please."

Bridget lowered herself and looked into Penelope's eyes, speaking clearly.

"I have only one choice for you. Tell the truth with your own mouth and take your daughter. Atone for your sins to the child. Then I will let you go. For the sake of that poor little girl."

"What kind of forgiveness is that! What kind of forgiveness is that!"

"If you don't stop now, you will go through every hell I have prepared for you, and head towards destruction."

Penelope was not convinced.

What could be a worse hell than being kicked out of Winston Manor and having no place to go?

This place was already hell.

"I, I'll lose everything if I do that..."

Bridget, who was turning around and shaking off Penelope at that muttering, paused for a moment.

"...Not everything. You can protect your child."

Now the judgment was hers.

Bridget had no intention of taking the time to educate Penelope.

"Penelope. This is the price I pay for all the happy memories I've made making strawberry jam with you."

But Bridget's words didn't seem to have much effect on Penelope.

Penelope glared at Bridget as she left the lobby.

Her eyes moved busily.

How can a secret be covered up?

Penelope had only one answer.

"I guess I have to... kill that thing."

She looked like a demon as she glared at Bridget, her body trembling with an emotion that could be either fear or anger.

***

As soon as Bridget came out, she threw Magi into the shadows.

"Wait. Right, eat it."

The black knight leaped up like a dolphin and snatched it away.

It was pretty hungry from last night's experiment and was screaming for more magi.

However, Bridget still kept the Black Knight trapped within the Wall of Purification and only supplied him with a small amount of magi.

When Penelope rushed at her, the black knight did not move of his own accord in response to the threat.

'You clearly heard my orders.'

It was Bridget's will that made the Black Knight stop Penelope.

Bridget now clearly saw that the hungry black knight listened to her orders too.

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