Bridget went where the maid had told her.
The dark hallway was filled with magi.
She looked around for a while, wondering where to go, then she found a shawl lying in the hallway and ran straight to it, throwing open the doоr.
"Julian!"
Julian was strangling Avril.
Julian flinched at Bridget's voice, but he didn't take his hands off Avril.
She used the gap to forcefully push Julian out of the way.
A huge amount of magical energy was generated and released from Avril as she faced death.
It was being sucked into Julian's shadow.
Julian rolled to the floor, confused.
Should I continue attacking Avril, attack Bridget who suddenly appears, or do nothing?
Bridget grabbed him by the collar, momentarily stunned.
"Wake up, Julian!"
The light that flowed from her enveloped Julian.
Julian's pupils dilated and constricted repeatedly.
At the same time, he grabbed Bridget's wrist as if he was going to break it, then released it, then gave it some more strength, then released it.
Bridget realized that Julian was fighting a curse.
"You have to win. Julian, win."
Julian let go of Bridget's hand, gasping for breath.
"Good job. Good job, Julian."
Bridget sighed in relief.
But at that moment his face twisted in pain and he shoved Bridget hard.
It was an incredible brute force that did not seem like human strength.
"Huh!"
Bridget was thrown into the fireplace mantle as if flying.
"Ah!"
Boom!
The wooden cover snapped and Bridget was thrown halfway into the fireplace.
Julian crouched down, covering his face with his hands as if squeezing it.
Cold sweat soaked the floor.
He groaned and cried in agony, then came to his senses for a moment.
"Bridget..."
He looked around.
He thought Bridget was just there.
Where? Where?
He looked around for Bridget, panting with pain that seemed to slice through every nerve.
Then his eyes widened when he saw Bridget collapsed in front of the fireplace.
"Bridget...!"
He approached her on his knees, one step at a time, then gritted his teeth and slapped himself across the face.
'Wake up, wake up!"
His mouth burst and blood flowed out.
Only after adding more pain to escape the pain caused by the curse could he raise his trembling body.
"Bridget"
He approached Bridget, trembling, not knowing what to do and unable to touch her.
When he finally caught Bridget's hand with hia own, which had been hesitating in the air for a long time, Bridget opened her eyes with a faint groan.
"Julian."
“Ah...”
Only after hearing Bridget's voice did he lower his head as if collapsing.
"I... Yeah, I'm okay, Julian."
Bridget sat up.
She cupped Julian's cheek with her hand which was flowing with light.
Something hot flowed over the back of her hand.
"So don't cry."
"..."
His face was bowed down and hidden from view.
Bridget could only sense that he was gritting his teeth.
Her light purified him and reached even his shadows.
Bridget completely covered the shadow with her light.
The shadow disappeared from Julian.
Then his trembling in pain stopped.
'Yes.'
Bridget's eyes sparkled.
She saw the magic coming from Avril being sucked into his shadow, so she tried it just in case.
It seemed that completely blocking the magic had the effect of relieving Julian's suffering.
"Julian, what happened just now..."
She wanted to ask if he felt a change.
But Julian gently shook her hand away and helped her up.
He turned to Avril without showing his face to Bridget. Avril was passed out.
"I have to kill her."
It was a voice seething with anger.
Bridget stopped Julian.
"Don't do that."
If Julian were to kill a young noble girl without due process, it would be difficult to deal with no matter what the reason. This was especially true for Julian, who had a notorious reputation.
Bridget pleaded.
"I'm not stopping you for the sake of that foolish kid. I've finally turned the tables on you. Killing her is never a wise choice. I'll punish him accordingly. Very severely..."
"Because of that, you!"
Julian turned around and shouted at Bridget, then lowered his head and shut his mouth again.
For a moment his expression appeared and then disappeared.
He clenched his fists and turned his back on Bridget again.
"... I really don't know who I should be angry at."
He roughly ran his hands through his sweaty hair.
"Do whatever you want and call a doctor right now."
Then he left the living room in a huff.
"Julian..."
Bridget reached out with an out-of-touch hand towards Julian's back.
It was only for a moment, but she saw it clearly.
His expression was not one of rage but of fear.
But she couldn't just leave Avril like this and follow him.
Bridget took the call to call a doctor to mean to treat Avril.
Fortunately, Avril was breathing.
'There might be a problem with her cervical spine.'
Bridget put her hand on Avril's forehead without waking her.
Magi flowed into Avril through Bridget's hand.
Soon, Avril was groaning in pain.
It was a nightmare.
'This is a surefire way to keep her sleeping for a long time.'
Bridget could not put people to sleep.
However, it could cause a sleeping person to suffer from a nightmare from which they could not wake up.
Bridget returned to the den and woke up Anna, who was sleeping.
"Ma... No, Mrs. Winston, what's wrong?"
Bridget briefly explained, gesturing to the surprised Anna to lower her voice.
"There is an injured person. Bring the doctor to the place I told you to. Move quietly."
"Are you hurt? Yes, yes, I will do that."
Anna got up in a hurry and went outside.
Bridget went back to the building where Avril was.
After a while, the doctor and Anna came running towards where the two people were.
The doctor, who knew that this was a secret matter, entered the building and turned on the light. As soon as he saw Bridget, he grabbed her arm.
"I will treat you right away."
It was only then that Bridget realized that her left sleeve was soaked with blood.
The wooden mantelpiece on the fireplace appeared to have shattered earlier, leaving a long gash on Bridget's arm.
'I was so out of it I didn't even realize I was hurt.'
Bridget tried to dissuade the doctor.
"It doesn't seem like a deep wound, so please take care of mine later and then look at that patient first."
It was only then that the doctor discovered Avril lying on the sofa.
Under the lamplight, the gruesome bruises that had stained Avril's neck were clearly visible.
"What happened?"
"She was strangled. I wonder if there will be a problem when she wakes up."
The quick-witted doctor examined Avril without asking any further questions.
During her nightmares, he observed her occasionally twitching her limbs... felt her neck tilted to one side, and came to a conclusion.
"I think she'll have to put a splint on her neck and lie still for a while."
"Are there any other abnormalities?"
"We'll know for sure when she wakes up, but judging by her movements, her neck isn't broken."
Bridget was satisfied with that answer.
"Please take a look at this child without anyone knowing. I'm going to leave her to sleep until the bruise completely goes away, so make sure there's nothing unusual in the meantime."
Then he had Anna give the doctor a gold bracelet of considerable value.
The doctor understood what Bridget meant.
After that, Bridget and the doctor visited Avril every morning to give her medicine and food.
Each time, Avril would eat food in a half-asleep state without fully waking up, and then fall into a deep nightmare again.
Avril had long, agonizing nightmares in that empty building for over two weeks.
When the bruises had completely disappeared, Bridget woke Avril up.
She was dumbfounded, not realizing what had happened to her.
"I know you have been suffering from a high fever. I think it would be best for you to go back home and recuperate."
"Fever. How long have I been asleep? I've had such horrible nightmares. Ugh, was it really all a dream? So... so... sob!"
Avril couldn't continue speaking and just started crying like a child.
Bridget nodded resolutely.
"Oh, poor thing. Don't cry. Everything you've seen and experienced was just a dream."
So Avril was kicked out of the palace.
'You're trying to seduce Julian without thinking.'
Bridget watched the carriage carrying Avril leave.
'If she had died, things would have been more complicated. I'm glad it ended this way. Oh my.'
She wasn't really upset about Avril's actions themselves. She was just a little annoyed that it almost led to such a bad outcome.
Bridget knew that such temptations would not work on Julian.
Because Julian...
'He's extremely shy.'
Bridget shrugged and turned away.
It's not very flattering to chase after and annoy an introvert who has dug into his or her own cave.
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