Bridget received a report that Michael had been eating with Nigel at his house.
'It seems like you're doing well.'
Despite the disgusted look on his face when he was told that he had to get Nigel's attention, he seemed to be doing a good job.
Since Michael took on that mission, he was not allowed to enter the palace. This was because he had to hide the fact that he was in contact with Bridget.
Leticia, whose swordsmanship lessons were suspended due to this, had more free time.
In the morning, she would run errands for Bridget at the palace or keep her company, and in the afternoon, she would diligently attend various social gatherings.
Leticia had her own things to do.
Breaking up Diane.
Leticia seemed to be using all her intelligence to find out which social gatherings Diane's fiancé attended and following him wherever he went.
She was observing what kind of person Diane's fiancé was and getting to know his family and friends.
In the process, Leticia found out that Diane's fiancé was having an affair with a young man named Utah Lennox.
And that she came back and saw exactly who Utah Lennox danced with at the party last night and told Bridget.
"Do you know who your first dance partner was in Utah Lennox last night, Mrs. Winston?"
"Well. Are you the Miss Marie you were so sick of?"
Bridget had little interest in the love affairs of young ladies and gentlemen.
While responding Indifferently, she was diligently sorting through the letters that had come to her with her hands.
'It's not easy to find a sorcerer.'
Of the people on the list Leticia had brought her in the past, four had declined the invitation to the tea party.
When Bridget looked at the rejection letters, they all had plausible reasons.
The two said that it would be difficult for them to visit the palace because they were either about to travel abroad or were currently traveling there.
The remaining people said that they were either recuperating in their estates due to health reasons or staying with relatives outside the capital due to family events, which was difficult.
She couldn't tell if this was all excuses or the truth.
Bridget was at a loss as to how she could find the sorcerer who controlled the Duke of Linchester's assassins, the one with the mole on his wrist.
Leticia gave a challenging look to her, who obviously didn't seem very interested in her story.
"Will Mrs. Winston be interested in my interests when you hear this name?"
"Now that you mention it, I'm a little curious. Who was the dance partner of this guy named Utah Lennox?"
"Chloe a sheep!"
"...?"
Bridget who had been staring at the letter, raised her head.
Leticia's expression was triumphant.
"Could it be my sister Chloe?"
"Yes, that Chloe!"
"Is that kid going to parties again?"
The letters were crumpled in her hands.
The family members were being watched by Millea.
Bridget trusted Millea and was concerned about her family.
She has been very busy these days.
She recruited and managed the new royalist nobles, held tea parties for political purposes, and planted spies like Michael.
The most important of these was to supply external magi to Julian's Shadow Knights. Bridget would go around the palace whenever she had the chance, gathering magi.
Millea said she would keep an eye on them alone until something happened that would require her to tell Bridget so that the busy Bridget wouldn't have to worry about her family.
Of course, it was something that happened between Millea and Bridget that Leticia didn't know about.
'I guess Millea didn't tell me because she thought it wasn't something worth telling me...'
Regardless of whether she believed in Millea, she couldn't help but feel nervous when she heard Chloe's name.
'Isaac still hasn't taken his hands off Chloe. I thought he was busy plotting a plot with the Duke of Linchester, who was connected to Eli.'
Leticia's subsequent words filled Bridget's empty connection.
"I thought Viscount Winston had a relationship with Utah Lennox? That's why he introduced him to Miss Chloe."
"Isaac is friends with him? Leticia, tell me what you know about Utah Lennox?"
"He is the eldest son of the Count of Lennox. Among my friends, he is said to have a good face, background, and wealth. He seems like a kind and gentle person. He is similar to Sir Eric. Of course, I do not agree with him, but it is my friend's opinion. We should compare him to others. In my opinion, Sir Utah Is not even close to Sir Eric. Sir Eric is really handsome and kind, and when he visited last time, he complimented me on how cool my swordsmanship was..."
"...?"
"Hmm?"
Leticia tilted her head as if she didn't understand why she was suddenly talking about Eric.
"That's strange."
She muttered, repeating what she had said before returning to the main topic.
"Anyway. Utah Lennox is popular, but there's something odd about him showing interest in Miss Chloe over other ladies. I don't want to offend Mrs. Winston, so I can't go into detail, but Miss Chloe has been rejected by many gentlemen for her uncivilized behavior, and now she has no one to dance with."
Although she couldn't go into detail... Leticia went on to tell her about all the ridiculous things Chloe had done at balls and other social gatherings.
Bridget put her hand to her forehead.
After Leticia had rambled on about the various trivia she had wanted to tell to her satisfaction, she brought up the information that would most interest Bridget.
"Oh, by the way. Utah Lennox is the great-nephew of the Duke of Linchester. By collateral line."
"..."
Bridget realized.
'The Duke of Linchester deliberately introduced Utah Lennox to Isaac. He's trying to trip him up with Chloe.'
Now, she didn't want to bring her family into her life.
However, the Duke of Linchester was trying to exploit Bridget's weakness.
***
At that moment, Isaac, Josh, and Chloe were sitting together in the drawing room of Winston Mansion.
"You're saying that Utah Lennox really proposed to you?"
Isaac was grinning from ear to ear.
It was the same for Chloe and Josh.
It was a festival here now.
Chloe blushed shyly and began to talk about the conversation she had with Utah.
"Lord Utah said he fell in love with me at first sight when he first saw me. Did he feel It was fate?"
"Yeah, so?"
"When I was dancing, he smiled without frowning even though I stepped on his feet several times. Then he said I looked tired from dancing and took me to the terrace..."
Chloe's face turned bright red as she remembered her kiss with Utah.
Even though Chloe was a woman, she didn't want to tell her brother-in-law and older brother all the details about that story.
She omitted everything and just talked about the important parts.
"He told me that if I would let him, he would tell my story to Count Lennox. He wanted to get engaged."
Chloe cupped both cheeks.
It was a face that had already fallen head over heels for Utah.
Isaac and Josh exchanged a look.
'Yes!'
Isaac nodded to Josh to give him the signal.
Then Josh spoke to Chloe with a pretended serious face.
"Chloe, but the House of Lennox is too much for our family. No matter how much you two get along, the union of two houses is not easy."
"Why, brother? Lord Utah proposed to me and I accepted, so isn't that okay?"
"That family will surely demand a huge amount of dowry from you, but as you know, I don't have that much money. If I can't raise the dowry that the other family demands, the marriage won't happen."
"What?"
Chloe jumped up as if she found this ridiculous.
"Why? Sister married my brother-in-law just fine!"
"That..."
Josh glanced at Isaac.
Isaac spoke instead as if it was nothing.
"You are old enough to know now, so I will tell you honestly. Bridget brought me the honor of the House of Florence. That is why I used that to settle the dowry issue and married Bridget."
Chloe didn't know much about Isaac's background or the circumstances of the Florence family.
It was because Lauren and Josh didn't tell her anything, saying, "You're still young. so you don't need to know."
Josh didn't care about Chloe, and Lauren thought of Chloe, the youngest, as a six-year-old.
Chloe was still called a baby in the house to this day.
Josh hammered Chloe with his nails...
"We have no dowry to pay to the Count of Lennox, and nothing of value. You will not marry Lord Utah."
Chloe's eyes filled with tears at those shocking words.
"Lie."
"It's not a lie."
"There has to be a way! Brother, there has to be a way! We really love each other! I'll do anything! Help me, Brother!"
Josh, who had a gloomy face, raised his head.
"Anything?"
"Yeah, anything!"
Josh and Isaac's gazes met meaningfully.
Support Novellate!
Comments
Post a Comment