"But why did you have to get married if you had that much money?"
"I think the Duke of Linchester has been messing with the papers."
Felix took out the building register.
The registers of buildings traded between nobles in this way were not open to the public, so not only were the conditions for viewing difficult, but they were also difficult to obtain secretly.
Felix managed to obtain this document with great difficulty by selling Millea's name and lobbying.
That was the reason why there was a delay in Bridget's background investigation.
"As you can see here, the building was returned to the Duke of Linchester after six months. It was auctioned off three months after it passed to Viscountess Winston. It seems the Duke used the publicans to levy a huge tax on the building."
"Oh, tsk tsk..."
"It was a dirty trick. Mrs. Winston, who had no money to spare, would have been in prison for nonpayment of taxes if she had not entered into a marriage of convenience. The amount was so large that she would never have been able to get out."
"That's what the Duke wanted."
They pretended to reward those who helped them, but in reality, they were trying to get rid of them.
The Duke of Linchester was too mean and caused a person to be treated with innocence.
Millea counted the years with her hands.
"If we look at the timing, the reason the Duke of Linchester left Bridget, who escaped without being fooled by his tricks, alone until now... was probably because of the rebellion."
"Yes. As it so happened, His Majesty the King ascended the throne shortly after Lady Winston's marriage, and the Duke of Linchester had to flee."
If Julian had not rebelled, Bridget would have been killed by the Duke of Linchester.
'Could it be that he started a rebellion to save Bridget...?'
Millea shook her head to shake off the thought. She didn't want to think of Julian as a madman to that extent.
After giving Felix a generous reward and sending him out of the palace, she sat alone with her thoughts.
'Information that Bridget could pass on to Josephine. Information that would be of great value...'
It wasn't that hard to guess.
Bridget acts like she has sinned against Julian. Julian treats her roughly, saying that he doesn't trust her even though he seems to love her.
Even when Millea said she wanted to investigate Bridget, Julian didn't stop her.
'She's not exactly a trustworthy woman.'
Bridget betrayed Julian.
'When was it?'
Millea has always been with Julian.
Of course, just as many sons in the world do not tell their mothers all the details of their love affairs. Julian had never told Milea about his secret affair with Bridget.
But if Josephine had gotten involved and the secret affair had degenerated into something threatening, Millea would have had something to remember.
'Ah. That's it.'
Three years ago. One day, Julian suddenly disappeared and reappeared two weeks later, dragging his bloody body.
He said it took him a while to get away from the assassin.
His body was covered in terrible wounds. Even now, the wounds from that time remain as scars.
Millea hid Julian in a safe house. Julian was very sick and came close to death several times.
Then, when he was finally able to sit up on his own in bed, the curse began to blossom.
Julian summoned countless black knights from within him and led them into the palace, where they killed Josephine and the former King.
Julian had suffered numerous assassination attempts before and had come close to death several times.
Julian, who would shrink back and hide his presence every time, couldn't stand it that time.
It would be more accurate to say it exploded.
At that moment, Millea felt a deep resentment from Julian that she had never seen before.
Josephine was mutilated so badly that when her body was recovered, it was torn into dozens of pieces.
From that day on, Julian became a completely different person.
Now Millea knew the source of his anger.
Although his hatred may have been directed at Josephine, the real culprit that drove him mad was Bridget.
As the thought crossed Millea's mind, goosebumps ran down her spine.
'You accepted that woman back...?'
That can't be.
Millea thought there was something she was missing.
She went to find Julian with Bridget's note.
Julian was in his office, his face looking deeply thoughtful.
Since his recent seizure, he's been having a lot of moments where he's just been lost in thought.
"Felix, who was in charge of investigating Bridget, just came and went, Your Majesty."
Julian silently raised his head at the sound of Millea's voice starting the main topic after cutting things short.
"No matter how much I think about the various circumstances Felix has resented, I can only conclude that Bridget sold Your Majesty to Josephine. Am I wrong in my guess? Am I missing something?"
"..."
Julian lowered his gaze, resting his chin on one hand and not looking at Millea.
Millea felt like her heart was going to burst.
"Please tell me I misunderstood. Use common sense!"
Millea managed to keep her voice from rising in a way that was not typical of her.
"Common sense tells me that I can't have a traitor like that by my side as my lover. Did I misunderstand?"
"..."
Julian sighed and closed his eyes.
Silence, not denial, was a clearer answer than any words.
Millea's heart broke.
"How, how could that be? How, how could Bridget deceive Your Majesty. How could two people deceive me like this?"
“Millea.”
"So that's why Bridget was so insecure in front of Your Majesty? As Bridget once said, Your Majesty had her here as your mistress to punish her. She put aside her honor and became your mistress to atone for her sins."
Words that she couldn't understand back then have now become clear to her.
Millea's hands shook slightly.
"I don't understand at all. I don't understand at all. Neither Your Majesty nor Bridget."
She felt dizzy and collapsed into the chair next to her.
Even after confirming with Julian directly, she couldn't calm down easily.
Julian waited a long time for Milea to calm her breathing.
And then he finally opened his mouth.
"Forget it, Millea."
"Forget it? Forget it!"
"It's something I forgave."
"Would you still do that knowing that Bridget did that?"
Julian said calmly.
"Because she is a woman I have decided to love."
"Ever so...!"
"You taught me that love is covering up all your flaws. Love is something very strange that cannot be explained by common sense."
Millea was speechless.
She never thought she would receive back her teachings like this.
Milela didn't teach him to love so passionately. She said that because she wanted him to grow up to be a person who knows how to cherish and take responsibility for the woman he will one day take in.
"Your Majesty, is that okay?"
"It's not okay."
Julian ran his hand over his face.
He swallowed dry saliva with a frown on his face, his throat feeling like it was choking him up.
"What can I do if it's not okay? I missed her so much I thought I was going crazy."
Julian's voice trembled with a hint of tears.
"When I look back, I want to hold her, hug her, and protect her so much that I can't come to my senses. What should I do? I can't sleep because I'm so happy to see the woman who abandoned me like a fool. I don't know how to stop my heart from beating so fast, so what should I do?"
"..."
"Millea, do you know how to stop your heart? Even if you try to hate it, you can't hate it."
He laughed because he couldn't cry.
"If you know, please tell me. I want to stop too. When I see Bridget, I want to live just a little longer, just a month longer, just a day longer, and I'm going to go crazy."
Millea's gaze shook slightly.
"...What did you say?"
Julian looked at Millea, gritting his teeth.
"What should I do? I'm afraid of dying."
It was the same expression he had on his face as he looked up at Millea and held back tears on the morning he discovered that his once black eyes had turned red.
The face of a child barely able to swallow his fear as he realized that he was the successor to this great curse.
At that time, Julian could not accept death. Every night, he knelt down with Millea and prayed to God that the curse would not be ignited.
However, when he finally awakened to his curse and began to command the Black Knights, he became a man who did not fear death.
His eyes were empty and dry, like those of someone already dead. He was a man who lived because he could not die.
But at this moment, the fear of death once again entered Julian's eyes, and ironically, the light of life came back to life.
Millea realized.
'Your Majesty, Brigitte is the lifeline of your Majesty.'
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