Millea came to see Bridget, who was left alone.
"I heard that Viscount Winston has been here. Are you okay?"
“Millea.”
Unlike Isaac, who had been indifferent towards her, Bridget now had an anxious expression on her face.
"Chloe... Is she okay?"
"If you regret it, should I take her out of Nigel Abbington's clutches and take her to a safe place?"
Bridget stared into space with wavering eyes, then shook her head.
"I spoke weakly. I think this will be a chance for Chloe to grow up. Please proceed as planned."
Bridget was going to let Chloe get dragged away by Nigel.
Of course, she doesn't want that child to die, so she puts someone in charge of her.
The order was to just watch and follow until the situation became extremely dangerous.
Michael reported that Nigel often seemed to send people somewhere under slavery contracts.
The target audience was mainly young women.
Bridget found out that the affair was connected to Bruce Linchester, the third son of the Duke of Linchester.
'It's so suspicious.'
When Nigel and the Duke of Linchester broke up, it seemed there was something more hidden than was known.
She asked Charlotte, but she said she didn't know much about Nigel or Bruce because she wasn't really close to them.
"Nigel is wild and Bruce is crazy. I am not close to my brothers because I am afraid of them. But I can tell you that if they were to join hands, there is a high chance that my father would be involved. I am sorry. I don't know much about them."
Bridget understood Charlotte.
If Charlotte had any important information in the first place, the Duke of Linchester would not have spared her when he cut ties with her.
It seems unlikely that a man who treats his daughter like a consumable would entrust or inform his daughter of important matters.
Bridget decided to follow Chloe for a while to find out where they were taking the young women who were being sold in this manner.
'Chloe, you are responsible for this as well, so use this time to reflect and grow.'
Eventually, she would be saved, but until then, Chloe had to suffer.
Bridget tried to poison her mind.
But no matter what, she couldn't help but feel worried without realizing it.
***
Count Nicholas couldn't even breathe comfortably.
It was because of the low pressure of Julian since morning.
"..."
Julian was staring blankly at the report, his brow furrowed.
The secretaries knew that Julian wasn't acting like that because of the report.
In the office, there were six secretaries besides Julian sitting at his desk, but not a single one of them made a sound.
Even the birds flying past the window seemed to stop crying when they passed by his office.
Why?
Everyone exchanged glances, wondering why Julian was in such a bad mood.
Everyone shook their heads.
They couldn't figure it out.
Then, a knight from the guard came running in a hurry.
"Your Majesty."
As soon as Julian saw him, he dismissed his secretaries.
The secretaries, who were out of breath, quickly left the office.
"Did you find out?"
"Yes. I think it has something to do with this."
The knight took some pieces of paper out of his bosom and placed them in front of Julian.
It was a piece torn into several pieces.
The knight quickly repositioned itself to its original form.
"Painting?"
"Miss Leticia said that Mrs. Winston cried when she looked at it."
Julian looked down at the drawing, which looked like it had been drawn by a child.
It was a picture of Bridget's family.
His eyes narrowed.
Bridget cried.
Last night, she didn't come to Julian's bedroom, saying she was tired and wanted to go to bed first, but this morning she showed up with puffy eyes.
She said something ridiculous like, "I lost sleep over it."
"What do you think this is?"
"Isn't this a painting of a family? Looking at the blond, blue-eyed brothers, I think they are Mrs. Winston's maternal family."
Julian smiled briefly at the mention of the picture being drawn by young Bridget.
But why did you tear it? And why did you cry?
The knight spoke cautiously.
"Maybe she cried because she missed them?"
"She misses them, huh."
Julian didn't understand.
You're crying because you miss your family.
Although he was loved by Millea and shared a brotherly bond with Eric, Julian had never fundamentally experienced attachment to the concept of 'family'.
The word family brought him only emptiness and coldness.
His father locked him up in an abandoned palace and never showed his face to him
His mother, the daughter of a fallen nobleman, she worked as a maid in the palace, but his mother was suddenly taken away by the King due to his whim and had her in just one night.
It was said that Julian's mother died Immediately after giving birth to him.
Now that she thinks about it, maybe it wasn't Josephine's scheme.
Anyway, Julian never missed his mother, whom he couldn't even remember.
Even more so, his father, who created and abandoned any woman he could find out about out of lust.
Julian, looking at Bridget's painting, felt strangely offended.
He never once thought about Bridget's family.
He didn't think about Bridget having a family because he didn't think about his own family. It wasn't even on his mind.
He felt a twisted jealousy towards the family that made Bridget cry.
Julian got up and headed towards Bridget.
Bridget was checking the sword the craftsman had made.
It was a gift to be sent to Duke Elias, who guards the northern territory.
These days, she is constantly trying to bring Duke Elias, who is living in seclusion in his territory, back into politics.
"Julian."
Bridget stood up when she saw Julian.
Julian noticed that Bridget's eyes were red. It seemed like she was crying again.
"Shall I give you a jewel?"
"What? What are you talking about all of a sudden?"
Bridget smiled brightly as if she had no shadows on her mind.
"You already gave me enough jewels."
"Then should I give you flowers?"
Julian picked a flower from the vase next to him and put it in Bridget's ear.
"What, why are you doing such a pretty thing?"
Bridget hugged Julian's waist and looked up at him.
Even though he saw her face every day looking into Bridget's blue eyes so closely felt like her heart was going to burst.
It was a face she missed even when she knew that she had betrayed him.
He wanted to see her even though he was trembling with hatred and betrayal.
He thought that if she ran to him and said no, that she was not, he would believe her even if it was a lie.
But when she finally came back to him after a long journey, he was still hurt by the admission that she had betrayed him.
Still, Julian couldn't take back the heart he had once given to Bridget.
Bridget, who was so cruel to him but so madly lovely, was smiling in his arms.
"I'll give you whatever you want. I'll give you everything, without any lack."
"Enough, Julian. It's overflowing even now."
Bridget didn't question the onslaught of his affection that surged toward her, enveloping her mind without question.
Julian's affection took different forms from moment to moment.
Sometimes it seemed like he was cruelly teasing her, but today, he strangely trembled and yearned for her affection.
This and that were all branches of love.
She thought that Julian must have been thinking complicated and anxious thoughts on his own again, and he held him in her arms.
Julian kissed Bridget's eyes.
"I would give up my throne if it wouId just make you stop crying."
"Ah..."
It was only then that Bridget realized that her puffy eyes were what was making him uneasy.
Today, Chloe was dragged away by Nigel.
The Florence family was turned upside down.
Bridget didn't save Chloe.
She wondered if her mother was okay and what had happened to Josh, but she didn't bother to ask Millea for details.
Even though she was prepared for everything, she couldn't help but feel upset and cried.
It didn't make sense to hide it with useless lies and smiles.
"This is not that big of a deal."
Julian glared at Bridget disapprovingly.
You're so good at lying about things like this.
Why does a mouth that lies so easily refuse to tell the lie that it has not betrayed me?
"Do you miss your family?"
Am I not enough?
“Nо.”
A calm smile spread across her hardened face. She tried to keep her expression in check.
"But why are you crying? Because of that picture."
Bridget looked up at Julian.
Julian's heart sank at the sadness he saw in her.
"Don't make me go crazy, just tell me. I'll do it all. I'll give you everything you want so that your tears will disappear.
"... I resent it."
"Resentment?"
"Why is everyone doing this to me? What on earth is family? Why is it so hard? It's because I resent it."
"Ah, you resent it."
Julian felt a damp sense of relief at the words, "resentment," not "longing."
She resents her family.
The only thing that's most precious to her is him. He snickered.
He asked in a much gentler voice.
"Should I kill them?"
Julian really didn't know what family was.
Millea, who was devoted to him, and Eric, who was struggling, were people who belonged to a superior-subordinate relationship anyway.
He didn't understand the complex relationship that can be divided into degrees of hate and affection, and the degree of blood ties that cannot be ignored.
"If you find them annoying and hateful, I will get rid of them."
So Julian couldn't understand why Bridget shook her head at this suggestion.
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