I suddenly opened my eyes.
Looking at the clock on the wall, I saw that I had only slept for about two hours.
The surroundings were as calm as before I fell asleep, but I felt a little restless.
It's common to see magi floating faintly in the air, but today it felt out of the ordinary.
'The magi is shaking.'
These days, I feel the flow of magi more keenly.
Since when did it start?
Perhaps it was from the day I increased the number of black knights I commanded by six.
I felt the magic more sensitively than I had ever seen or felt before.
Even the shaking now could be perceived with a sensation I had never felt before.
'This is strange. What could be happening?'
Feeling puzzled, I raised my upper body, and the blanket covering my body fell off.
'Blanket?'
I raised my head and looked around.
Anna was dozing off, sitting on the palace chair by the door.
"Anna?"
"Ah...!"
Anna, who had been sleeping, opened her eyes with a start.
"Madam, no, Miss!"
Anna had been calling me "Miss" since my divorce.
This was already the second change of title since she met me.
Anna was the one who stayed by my side the longest.
"You looked so tired that I couldn't bring myself to wake you up and tell you to go to bed. Are you feeling unwell? Would you like a massage?"
I scolded Anna for running towards her.
"Anna, why are you here? When Millea left, I asked you to leave with her."
"Where would I go, leaving Miss Bridget behind? Don't say such things."
"Anna..."
"Mrs. Spencer has Sir Eric, but if I leave, who will you have?"
Anna was ignorant of politics.
But I knew that Julian wanted to send me and Millea away because we might be in danger.
"Don't worry. Nothing will happen to a mere maid like me."
She wanted to say that it was because I had been strong all along.
And that power came from Julian. I was going to say that if Julian lost his power, neither Anna nor I would be protected anymore.
But Anna spoke bravely before me.
"I can easily protect my own body."
I frowned as I suddenly felt a surge of emotion at the sight of Anna's warm, smiling face.
Just as I did not want to leave Julian alone in the empty palace, Anna did not want to leave me alone in the empty bedroom.
Could I, who knew Anna's heart better than anyone else, scold her? Could I send her away?
When I returned to the den and felt that everyone had left, I felt an indescribable sense of sadness and loneliness.
I didn't blame the people who left, but I couldn't help feeling empty.
I took a short nap and had a sweet dream.
I had a dream where the prophecy changed, and Julian no longer pushed me away.
So, Millea and Eric come back. Leticia goes back to work, and Anna and I go back to our usual routine of telling funny stories.
But when I woke up from my dream, everyone had dispersed, and silence still flowed.
No, I thought so.
I took Anna's hand.
"Thank you, Anna. I'll definitely find a way."
How to change the future.
The warmth from Anna gave strength to me.
The strength to take a deep breath.
With one sigh, I shook off my anxiety, depression, and helplessness and stood up again.
Just as Anna had been a strength to me, now I had to be a strength to Julian.
"Has His Majesty returned? Have you heard any news?"
Anna shook her head.
***
I came out of the den, saying I had to find out where Julian was.
I happened to come across some knights of the guard coming this way.
They were pulling an empty carriage.
"Miss Bridget, please come with us. It is His Majesty's order to take Miss Bridget with you."
"Where did he tell you to send me?"
The knights did not answer.
I knew that Julian was sending his knights to a safe house abroad.
"Where is His Majesty now?"
"..."
The knights did not answer.
"Is he back at the palace?"
"Yes. He came back after hearing the news that Miss Bridget had returned to the palace."
Judging from the way he answered this question, it wasn't Julian who ordered him to hide his whereabouts.
"Do you by any chance know where His Majesty is?"
"..."
The knights again did not answer.
This time, I definitely felt some commotion from them.
I pretended to be angry.
"The knights of the guards have let His Majesty go. Do you even know your duties?"
One knight who stung at those sharp words made excuses without realizing it.
"That's because he suddenly disappeared as soon as he passed the main gate of the palace."
Then, when another knight next to him nods and makes a noise, he immediately shuts his mouth.
I sensed something off about them.
It was a common occurrence for Julian to shake off the knights of the guard and disappear on his own.
But this time, it was strange that the knights were particularly flustered.
The knights' expressions looked somehow uneasy.
"His Majesty... what happened?"
"...No."
I narrowed my eyes, as if suspicious.
I could intuitively tell that there was something the knights couldn't say.
The knights of the guard couldn't go around talking about Julian's safety, so even if I asked them in detail, they wouldn't be able to give me an answer.
I had felt that the flow of magi had been strangely chaotic and that the atmosphere of the entire palace had been strangely chaotic.
I felt uneasy for some reason.
"I have to find His Majesty."
Then the knights stopped me.
"I'm sorry, but we have been ordered to escort Miss Bridget out of the palace."
I sighed.
A similar thing happened in this spot just a few hours ago.
I brought the black knights out of the shadows once again.
This time, there were all six.
***
After shaking off the knights of the guard, I looked up at the sky and followed the direction where the magic flowed.
Wherever magi gather, Julian is always there.
As I was going to find Julian, I saw several knights standing at the corner of the central palace corridor, making a fuss.
I overheard them whispering in low voices.
"What on earth happened in that forest? Weren't you with His Majesty until the very end?"
"That's... there were monsters."
"A monster? What do you mean?"
"How should I put that?"
The knight who had accompanied him trailed off gloomily.
The knight's expression looked terribly confused.
The knights, seeing their colleague unable to continue speaking, asked the most important question.
"By the way, is His Majesty well?"
"They say His Majesty suddenly disappeared. What on earth is going on?"
"I convey..."
The knight lowered his voice even further.
***
A little while ago, in a forest that had been scorched by fire.
Assassins with masked faces were scattered all over the place.
No more arrows or flying weapons flew, and no one attacked with a sword.
The three knights of the guard who accompanied Julian thought the battle was over.
If there were any of them still alive, he planned to find them and capture them.
But then, from somewhere, a sound like the wind blew, and the bodies of the fallen assassins instantly turned black.
"What?"
The moment the question was raised, the fallen assassins began to stir and rise.
Clearly, most of them were killed by the merciless attacks of the Black Knight.
"Growl!"
"Ugh!"
They staggered about, making strange noises.
Even at first glance, it didn't look normal.
Even though he was bleeding and his stomach skin was torn, he moved like a living person.
They attacked Julian and the knights again.
It was a fairly quick movement.
Some threw their weapons like living people, while others bared their teeth and attacked like beasts.
"Kwaaaah!"
"Koooosh!"
It was a sight that no human being could help but feel fear.
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