Millea knew that Julian had misunderstood something, but she had the cook prepare a simple soup.
It was a good thing that Julian took care of her meals, whether Bridget was hungry or not.
'Have you reconciled?'
A smile spread across Millea's lips.
"Eat properly."
Julian watched Bridget the whole time to make sure she was eating her soup properly.
Julian was relieved when he saw Bridget finish the entire bowl.
"..."
"..."
There was a slightly awkward atmosphere as it had just passed after a storm of emotions.
They looked at each other.
In the past, the perpetrator and the victim were clear, but not anymore.
The two sat facing each other with heavy hearts and just sighed.
They didn't trust each other. They had hurt each other in some way.
Still, it was surprising that they were together now.
Julian now realized how much courage it took for Bridget to come to him.
She now realizes that even after hearing harsh words from him, he still smiled and loved her just like before.
It was both heartbreaking and pleasing to see that he had been consistent from the beginning until now.
Don't be so mean.
Their eyes met.
Without saying who would go first, they both revealed their feelings at the same time.
"I'm sorry, Bridget."
"Thank you, Julian."
The two smiled at their understanding.
There was no need for further explanation.
"Come here."
Julian took Bridget's hand and pulled her into a hug.
She buried her nose in the familiar scent of perfume.
She felt grateful that she could embrace his warmth, his touch, and such things.
Just by holding him, all the useless words that had piled up inside her melted away.
***
Late in the morning, Julian carefully took Bridget out of his arms and left the bedroom.
As he pulled the rope, Millea came to Julian and asked absentmindedly as he put on the clothes she had brought him.
"You're taking the Florence family with you?"
"Yes."
Millea's eyes were anxious.
What if he decides to find them and kill them?
She couldn't look at Julian as she tied his tie with her gaze down.
Fortunately, Julian spoke generously.
"Fine. If that's what Bridget wants so badly, then let him live."
Millea's hands paused for a moment but soon became busy again.
"But I won't forgive you."
"You should do that."
He nodded and took a step back.
Bridget was also prepared to not stop Julian from handing down any punishment he wanted.
Millea had no intention of defending them to that extent either.
It was something that even a god would not do to wish happiness to evildoers who deliberately brought misfortune to others.
"Sell Josh Florence into slavery in the salt pans."
It seemed like the Intention was to make Josh think that it would be better to die...
"Find out if there's a doctor among the criminals in prison and put him on the hook."
The idea was to prevent them from dying indiscriminately by giving them medicine if they were sick and stitching them up if they were injured.
"What about Lauren Florence?"
Julian thought for a moment.
"Let's find a farm In a remote rural area that can't reach the capital and let her live there."
Living alone was a punishment that suited Lauren, who had no confidence in herself to be independent and had to rely on her children, especially her son.
Deprived of her life as a noblewoman, she would have to live off her own earnings every day until the day she died.
The older and sicker she gets, the sadder and lonelier she will become.
"Never let her contact Bridget again."
However, considering the hard work that went into giving birth to Bridget, he did not punish her so harshly.
As a noblewoman who lived comfortably even though she was poor, he don't know what she thinks.
***
Josh was held captive by unknown people and then taken away somewhere."
"Josh! Josh!"
"Oh, Mother!"
Blindfolded and handcuffed, he could only assess the situation through sound.
Josh and Lauren emerged from their confinement and each climbed into a carriage.
There was a sound of nails being hammered into the carriage door.
"What are you going to do with me? Where on earth are you taking my mother?"
Josh asked the air.
"Hey! Is anyone there?"
Just then, someone kicked his side.
"Ugh!"
"Shut up. It's so noisy."
"Who, who..."
"Ah. I have to stay with that idiot for the rest of my life."
The grumbling man was a doctor. He had committed a heinous crime and was serving a life sentence in prison.
He didn't know where the carriage was headed, but he was told that as long as he kept Josh alive, he would be allowed to stay outside the prison.
Prison was a horrible place. But for him, it was better to let Josh breathe and live out his days in the open air than to rot away in a place like that.
That doesn't mean he had any intention of teasing Josh.
"Hey, I'm here to kill some annoying humans."
"Yes, yes? What is that..."
The man kicked Josh in the stomach.
"Ugh!"
"Don't make me say it twice, you punk. I'm telling you not to act like a bastard anymore. I think I'll want to kill you too."
Josh was quickly put off by the fact that this was the first time anyone had ever treated him like this.
'Damn Nigel. Where the hell did you sell people off to for not paying your debts?'
Josh still thought he was being held captive by Nigel.
'In the first place, only Chloe signed the slave contract! Why me too!'
It was unfair.
The carriage ran for three days.
Although the coachman occasionally gave them water and dry goods through a small window in the coachman's seat when he took a break, he did not let the two people out.
In the meantime, the blindfold covering his eyes was taken off, but no one had taken off the handcuffs that bound his hands, so Josh was still tied up.
Bound, he became the plaything of the man who was also locked in the carriage.
There was nothing to do, so he was trapped and sensitive, and he was filled with anger. Screams came out of the carriage from time to time.
So, when they reached their destination, the coachman abandoned the carriage, let go of the horses, and disappeared.
A group of men who looked like bandits broke open the carriage door and dragged out two people.
"Are those new slaves coming?"
Josh, who had become quite worn out by the time he arrived, still thought it would be better to be outside in the crowded place than to be locked in the same carriage with the criminal who had been harassing him.
It was a mistake.
This salt farm was a place where people who had committed crimes and become slaves were forced to work.
"Please, save me. I think I'm going to die!"
Working hard without knowing anything, Josh begged for his life not even for a day.
"Hey, you still have the energy to talk. Heh heh. If you really feel like you're going to die, you can't even say that you're going to die, you bloated brat."
Josh worked several times a day, getting hit by different people.
As a week passed, a month passed, and several months passed, being hit became so routine that missing a single day felt like something was wrong and Josh started to feel more afraid.
Not even a moment of rest was permitted.
Besides Josh, there were many other slaves brought here.
Josh felt terrified as he watched people dying day after day.
He too often collapsed from working hard in the blazing sun.
But every time that happened, the man who had been locked in the carriage with him would come and put medicine in Josh's mouth.
He thought he was a quack, but he was surprisingly a very capable doctor. His character and his skills were not proportional.
"You can't go out without my permission, you son of a bitch. Who are you going to throw in that fucking prison again? Go out there and do it."
Isn't this place hell?
For many days, Josh shed tears.
But soon even the tears stopped coming.
He couldn't sleep at night, wondering what he had done wrong to deserve such a terrible place.
"I just wanted to be rich....!"
At first, he felt wronged, but later he reflected on it.
"I was wrong... I was wrong..."
Josh just muttered absentmindedly, not knowing who he was talking to.
After a while, that was the only thing he knew how to say.
He had to let go of his mind to be able to endure this life.
***
Meanwhile, Lauren was also in a state of ruin.
"Josh... Sob sob!"
Bridget... Chloe...
Lauren was terrified in the farmhouse she had suddenly found herself living in, even though she was not locked up or under guard.
"Even a place like a barn like this can be considered a home, so I'm going to live here from now on."
Still, she thought someone would at least pack me a meal.
But after she got here, she starved for two days straight and no one brought her food.
There wasn't even water inside the house.
Lauren eventually came out cautiously and asked a passerby for some food and water.
The townspeople knew her as a noble lady who had come to the countryside for some unspeakable reason.
At first, they were curious about what crime she had committed to escape here, and they even offered her food as a favor.
However, they lost interest and treated Lauren harshly, considering her shameless in asking for food every time.
"If you're hungry, you have to find a way to earn money yourself!"
"You want me to... make... money?"
Lauren's eyes went dark.
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