To be a good prime minister, I first became the leader of a secret religion.

Chapter 13 Grandpa, I did it!

"Have you heard? Viscount Hammond is hosting another book salon."

As Anna sat at her dressing table getting her stage makeup done, she overheard several colleagues chattering behind her.

"What's the topic this time?"

"Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf".

"Pfft, really?"

"Really, what profound topics could Viscount Hammond possibly come up with? People go to his salons to have fun, not to discuss some masterpiece that nobody can understand."

"To be honest, I'm not interested in his salon. I just want to know how he maintains his appearance. So many years have passed, but his face hasn't changed at all, not even a wrinkle."

"I've heard he's exceptionally gifted."

"Special talent my ass! Do you even know how old he is? I've been with the Gilded Circus for ten years, and every year people talk about Viscount Hammond. After all, there are rumors that he's the mastermind behind the Circus, but I swear to the stars, his appearance hasn't changed a single thing in these ten years! Ten years ago, people said he was good at maintaining his youth, and you're still saying the same thing ten years later. But can even the best person maintain their youth for ten years? Is he even human?!"

After he finished speaking, the small dressing room fell silent. Everyone looked at each other, not entirely believing what he said, but they all felt a chill run down their spines.

After a long pause, someone tried to smooth things over: "Alright, alright, let's stop talking about important people, it's none of our business anyway. Has anyone seen Margaret Satya? It's almost nine o'clock, why isn't she up yet?"

Anna stopped applying powder to her face, her heart sinking slightly.

"I haven't seen her since yesterday afternoon," said a man with a clown nose. "The tour leader originally planned for her to make an appearance in the afternoon to liven things up, but he couldn't find anyone, so he had to let me fill in. The tour leader got angry about it."

"That's strange," the woman next to her said in surprise. "Doesn't Margaret live at the circus?"

"She came from the countryside and had nowhere to live in London, nor any relatives or friends, so she had to live at the circus."

"Where did she go yesterday afternoon?"

"I don't know... By the way, Anna, you and Margarita are best friends, has she told you what she's been up to?"

"No, um," Anna coughed twice and mumbled, "I don't know."

The man with the clown nose stood up and said, "I'll go look for it."

A kind-hearted woman nearby chimed in, "I'll go too. What if he hasn't come back all night? What if he's in danger?"

After they left, someone in the dressing room scoffed, "Hmph, encountered danger? They probably stayed overnight at the home of some nobleman. If the other party's skills were terrible, then it could indeed be quite dangerous."

"I knew it! Finally, some powerful people are going to make a move against her. But how come no word of it has leaked out? This woman is really tight-lipped. Anna is her best friend, and she didn't even tell Anna..."

Anna remained silent, pretending not to hear. Strangely, when her colleagues discovered that Margaret was missing, she felt not nervous or guilty, but rather relieved, as if the dust had finally settled.

During rehearsals with her partner, she would sometimes burst out laughing for no apparent reason, prompting her partner to ask, "What good thing happened to you?"

"I've made a little money recently," Anna replied with a smile.

Upon hearing that there was money to be made, his partner immediately chimed in, "What's the deal? Tell me all about it!"

"It's just a casino, he was just lucky..."

……

Margarita still did not appear in the afternoon.

She was still nowhere to be found that evening.

Everyone is saying that Margaret has been taken in by a baron and will never come back.

The troupe leader was furious and grabbed every member to inquire about Margarita's whereabouts, but to no avail. In the end, he had no choice but to back down and hastily arrange for someone else to take Margarita's place on stage.

However, Margarita became the star of the Gilded Circus in just six months. Eighty percent of the audience came because of her. The troupe leader dared not announce that the lead actress had disappeared, for fear that these audience members would turn to watch the more professional and exciting performances on stage. So he had to cover it up and be vague, lying to those who came to inquire that Margarita was just sick.

Fans were heartbroken upon hearing this and sent a huge amount of gifts and tips to the circus. As a result, the income of the Golden Circus increased instead of decreasing, making its competitors envious.

Anna watched coldly, thinking that the current excitement was just a temporary resurgence. The attention Margaret's captivating charm would eventually disappear with her departure, and the Gilded Circus would return to its reassuringly stagnant state, much like the lives of London's lower class.

……

Margarita was unaware that her "friend" had already pronounced her death sentence in her heart.

Or perhaps she wouldn't care even if she knew, because she's currently in a phase where she occasionally bursts out laughing for no reason.

A perfectly beautiful woman, every two steps she would smile foolishly at the air, smile at the birds dropping hand sanitizer from the trees, smile at the stray cats that couldn't climb the trees, and smile at the Scottish Terriers that peed on the tree roots and bent the foxtail grass.

She longed to open her arms and shout at the sky:

Grandpa, I did it!

Your granddaughter, I've found my people!

Today is Tuesday. The old man in the park asked her to come and help out on Tuesdays, Fridays, and Sundays. Margaret was reluctant to go back to the circus yesterday and was afraid that the commute would be too long the next morning, so she spent the night at the stable of an acquaintance who lived nearby.

This morning, just as dawn was breaking, she came galloping into Regent's Park, reeking of horse hooves.

Tantric Buddhism, here I come!!

Yes, Tantric Buddhism.

Margaret is quite certain that she has joined a cult.

What kind of organization would secretly meet in the depths of a deserted park? What kind of organization has such a strict hierarchy that a septuagenarian would be so respectful to a young superior? What kind of organization rigorously screens its members, requiring extensive training and evaluation before membership? Who would venture out during a time when esoteric religions are causing trouble?

National Intelligence Agency?

Impossible, absolutely impossible.

Margaret didn't even consider the possibility of it.

In her opinion, it must be Tantric Buddhism!

Unlike others who fear and loathe pagans, Margaret has long admired Tantric Buddhism, and this is not because she is still suffering from adolescent delusions.

Instead, the accusations made against her by Anna and others were actually correct.

Margaret is a witch.

She was born in a small village near Surrey, not too far from London. Her father was a local tenant farmer who managed about a hundred acres of land for a squire who rarely showed his face. His income was relatively stable, but far from wealthy.

My mother came from an even poorer family and worked as a maid in Guildford when she was young. She was literate and a rare educated person in the village, so she was also in charge of the accounts and the children's early education at home.

Margaret has an older brother and two younger sisters, making her family quite diverse.

But she was the only child in her family, and during her adolescence, she suddenly discovered that she could use magic.

It's not that she's particularly amazing, but she can make small things move out of thin air, make them float in the air for a second or two when she jumps, and transform the evil thoughts of those who have impure intentions towards her into pure and innocent affection.