I closed my eyes completely.
Then I placed a magi potion on the spot where I was going to step.
It was a power that could be felt delicately even with my eyes closed.
So I knew without looking that I was casting and moving the magic to the right place.
A black knight emerged from my shadow to pave the way to consume my magi.
I stepped on it and walked.
Julian's face crumpled.
When I felt she was almost there...
I opened my eyes.
I bravely climbed up and was startled to find that my body was floating in the air much higher than I had expected.
It felt higher than when viewed from below.
Once I got scared, I lost my balance.
"Oh!"
I staggered and fell backward.
"Falling."
As I closed my eyes tightly, Julian suddenly got up and came over to me, stepping on the air and hugging me tightly.
"What are you doing?"
I opened my eyes and looked up at Julian.
"My heart feels like it's going to burst."
It really was. My heart was pounding really loudly with fear.
Soon my dopamine levels started like crazy.
Julian bristled at my Innocent face.
"I almost died. Do you think I have ten lives?"
"I wouldn't have left you to die."
"Don't have any strange beliefs. There will be no next time."
He immediately brought me down.
As soon as Julian got down on the floor, he started yelling at me.
"Since when have you been able to control the Black Knight? Why didn't you tell me?"
"It was just the first time. I didn't control it but used magi as bait to lure it. I didn't know if it would really work."
Julian, who had recently looked into the records, said that there wasn't much information about it.
I asked Julian for permission to feed the Shadow Knight some magi.
The fact that the Shadow Knight eats magi is new information, so something previously unknown could have happened.
The two happened to be together, and I was doing what I was permitted to do.
I didn't know Julian would be this angry.
Julian's anger subsided a little when he realized that I had not been manipulating it, but had simply used the magi as bait to bring the Black Knight out of the shadows like last time.
"They are filthy guys. They are like parasites. If you use them for pranks and then pass them on, you will be like me..."
Julian closed his mouth as he spoke.
He clenched his molars.
He was about to say something, but then he stopped and started again.
It was only after he let out a small curse that he finally spoke.
"Don't let it out of the shadows without my permission. Don't feed it where I can't see it. No, rather, take it back"
After saying that, he closed his mouth again.
"This is driving me crazy."
He roughly tossed his hair and instead of continuing what he was saying, he emphasized what he had said before.
"Don't do anything useless when I'm not watching. I don't know what wouId happen if your control were to fail."
He couldn't contain his excitement.
I stared at him intently, then suddenly cupped his cheeks with both hands and made him look at me.
"Don't be anxious, Julian."
Julian looked at me with a stern face.
But he wasn't as cocky as before.
Slowly his excitement subsided.
"I thought about it carefully, and if the Shadow Knight likes magi, it can't be transferred to me. I'm no one else."
"..."
"I have a strong immunity to magi, and I can easily detect it and remove it. Unless I feed it to you, it won't be able to extract magi from me on its own, so if the Black Knight is really a parasite, it shouldn't be able to pass it on to me, right?"
Julian's gaze wavered.
I had been thinking a lot since the day I told Julian that the Black Knight was eating magi.
I made several assumptions and tried to approach it logically.
"Maybe the reason you inherited that curse is because you have a constitution that attracts magi?"
I shrugged.
I asked, but there was no way for either of us to know.
"I wish I could have seen the other royals who inherited the Shadow Curse. I could have confirmed that they too had the constitution to attract magi like you."
By then, Julian had become much calmer, in contrast to how he had been just a moment ago.
"... If there are any records of them, I'll find them and bring them to you. Go back first."
After saying that, he turned around.
"Right now..."
I tried to tell him that I would look up the Information later and that we should go back together now, but Julian disappeared down the other road.
I turned around and became sullen, unable to see the expression on Julian's face.
'No matter what, let's go together now and eat something. I told you, you really don't take care of your health.'
It was ironic that those who had little were more likely to waste what they had than those who had much.
I had no choice but to walk towards the sinking alone.
Then, suddenly, a thought crossed my mind and I stopped walking.
'I just clearly said that Julian is a dirty bastard...'
I remembered hearing that exact same thing somewhere recently. A sharp voice. Who was it?
'Prophet Nostram.'
He made a ball of cow dung and threw it at them, shouting.
"Eat this, you filthy creatures! Eat this and be quiet! Be quiet!"
I looked down at her hands.
The cow dung that Nostrum used to throw into a round shape.
I had shaped the magi into a ball and thrown it at the Black Knight.
The realization struck me.
'Nostrum gave me a hint about the Shadow Curse back then!'
***
Bridget returned to the precipitation and found Millea.
Millea was arranging flowers.
"I need to meet Nostrum again, Millea."
Millea's face suddenly distorted.
She was decorating a vase and smelling the fresh scent of flowers, and then she heard Nostrum.
"Ahhh... Please, Bridget."
"It's important."
Bridget was adamant.
Because she couldn't leave her alone, Millea eventually stopped what she was doing and followed Bridget.
But there was no Nostrum.
Everything seemed to have disappeared, leaving only traces of the shack where he had stayed for a long time.
The two returned to the palace in vain.
Over the next few days. Millea sent people to look for Nostram, but they were unable to find him
***
The next day, several administrators came to see me.
In their hands, they held the royal records.
"These are records of the successors to the Shadow Curse. His Majesty asked me to bring them to you."
'This quickly?'
Julian must have been harassing the administrators. When I looked closely, their faces were stern.
I felt sorry for nothing.
"Thank you."
Then I had Anna bring the administrators over and treat them to some cool sorbet. Only then did their faces brighten up a little.
The maid candidates who had been chatting away while eating snacks next to me opened their eyes wide as they looked at the tall pile of records on the table.
"Do you see all of this?"
It was quite a large amount.
There were detailed records of the curse, at least regarding its successors.
It seemed like that because there were many people with unusual behavior.
For me, the more records the better.
'If there are people among these who have a constitution that attracts magi, they will definitely have personality traits recorded that set them apart from ordinary people.'
I was anxious.
I spent the whole morning going through the records.
I was so focused that if someone hadn't been there to remind me of my meal times. I would have sat there without even realizing how time had passed.
Meanwhile, the maid candidates who had been suffering under Millea's care came to me and complained.
"Mrs. Winston, please take a break."
"It's not good for your health to sit in one position all day long and just read."
"That's right. The weather is really nice today! Why not go out and get some sun?"
The girls tried to impress me whenever they had the chance.
Of course, some people just wanted to see the palace.
No matter how much free time I was given, they couldn't just wander around the palace like it was their home without me, as long as they were still here as a candidate for maid.
I had no choice but to push aside what I was watching and get up from my seat as the girls nagged me.
'I don't think it's something that wilI end overnight.'
"Yeah. I think I'd like to go for a walk."
Weeding out the candidates was also a task that had to be done.
I pointed out a few girls I had been keeping an eye on for a few days and went out with them.
It was a clear day.
The girls were delighted to have the chance to tour the palace.
The palace gardens were beautiful.
In particular, the area around the central palace, where many people pass by, is the face of the palace, so gardeners pay extra attention to it.
I was wondering how to test the girls.
Then a girl called me in an indifferent voice.
"Madam Winston. Isn't that Viscount Winston?"
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