Chapter 30

“Haah……. Ha.”

Charlotte walked through the dark corridor with an exhausted face.

Sadly, she had to return to the ballroom.

If she did not, rumors would spread that could never be repaired.

Not knowing where it had begun nor where it would end, she simply walked.

Again and again her knees weakened and her ankles buckled, but she could not sink down here.

All the while she walked, Charlotte found herself involuntarily retracing everything that had happened with Chris in order.

Trying not to remember was useless.

From the moment they first met in the crude dining room of the passenger ship to the night she had surrendered herself under the guidance of starlight.

She had thought she had forgotten it all, and yet it was astonishingly vivid.

‘Ah……’

A self-mocking smile touched her lips.

It was a smile of contempt for the foolish self she had once been.

‘I was a predictable woman. And he was a predictable man. So that is why, even now, he treats me like an easy, obvious woman.’

Charlotte came to a sharp conclusion about Grand Duke Eponhart’s behavior just now.

That he had thought lightly of her and toyed with her.

Twice, no less.

He had even humiliated her before countless nobles and tried to take her by force.

Among all predictable men, he was clearly the very worst sort.

Rumors that Grand Duke Eponhart possessed lofty chastity had spread even to the north, but rumors were always given to exaggeration and distortion.

At least the Grand Duke she had experienced for herself was nothing like the rumors.

From eight years ago until now, he had consistently been a rogue.

Perhaps only a few women, herself included, knew his true nature.

“Ha.”

Mocking her innocent past self once more, Charlotte stepped outside the annex palace.

Unlike the north, the south was excessively humid and hot even at night.

Her face, soaked in sweat and tears, would not dry easily.

She meant only to cool herself and then reenter the ballroom, when an unexpected guest appeared before her.

Beneath an old-fashioned streetlamp, a limping shadow fell.

Charlotte recognized him at once.

There could be only one lame man invited to the summer social season.

Crown Prince Isaac von Hartfells.

He was better known by the name the lame Crown Prince.

After the Crown Princess had died of illness the year before last, he had begun appearing in society from this year onward in search of a new bride.

Of course, the fact that he participated in the summer social season hosted by his father’s mistress was one of those open secrets everyone knew and pretended not to know.

Rumor said he was weak, indecisive, and far inferior in ability to Grand Duke Eponhart.

Yet the eyes with which he stood before Charlotte were gentle, and his tone courteous.

“My Lady, if it is all right with you, would you take a walk with me?”

Not expecting to encounter the Crown Prince here, Charlotte answered half a beat late.

“Your Highness Crown Prince, I was flustered and my greeting was delayed. Please forgive me.”

Her breath-laced voice rode the night breeze and sounded like song.

A calm smile spread at the Crown Prince’s mouth.

“Forgive you? Not at all. I was just feeling lonely myself. As you know, the flowers of the ballroom do not care to bother with me.”

It had already been ten years since the current of capital and freedom, begun in Neuropia, had started to affect Westden.

The power of the Emperor of Westden was still sound, and yet even so, the Crown Prince was not an appealing marriage prospect.

Young women who had already tasted freedom did not long for a life in the Imperial Family filled only with duty.

Of course, if the Crown Prince had been Grand Duke Eponhart, that would have been another matter.

Contrary to public opinion, which said he ‘lacked judgment,’ the Crown Prince understood his own position exactly.

And to think he could admit it so calmly.

Charlotte’s wariness softened at his honest manner.

“If I will do, then gladly.”

She quietly took the hand the Crown Prince extended.

She had no particular desire to take a walk, but it would have been discourteous to refuse him here.

Supporting his injured leg well with his cane, the Crown Prince escorted Charlotte without wavering.

It was the bearing of a man quite accustomed to showing consideration to women.

‘I heard he and the late Crown Princess had a good relationship. It must have been true.’

Though there had been no heir between the Crown Prince and Crown Princess, the two, engaged since childhood, had been known as a couple unusually close by Imperial standards.

After the Crown Princess died of illness, the Crown Prince had not appeared in public for over half a year.

The great nobles, including Earl Roimond, condemned the attitude as irresponsible.

They said it was not fitting of the Imperial Family.

But Charlotte had pitied him in secret.

Not because she truly felt sorry for him, but because her own pent-up rage at living as great nobility had burst out without her noticing.

Charlotte lifted her eyes slightly and stole a glance at the Crown Prince’s profile.

Black hair, black eyes, and the shape of his features resembled Grand Duke Eponhart’s almost like a brother.

He had a face that would shine, if only Grand Duke Eponhart were not standing beside him.

The Grand Duke’s mother, the Emperor’s sister, had looked exactly like the Emperor.

So it was not strange that cousins should resemble one another.

Feeling Charlotte’s gaze, the Crown Prince smiled shyly.

“You may look at me more comfortably.”

“It is my first time seeing you so closely……”

Charlotte let the end of her words trail off with a modest smile.

The corners of the Crown Prince’s mouth lengthened with satisfaction.

The tree-lined path was far cooler than the inside of the building.

Before long, Charlotte’s sweat dried, and her hair settled naturally back into place.

It did not take long for her to regain the beauty of a sugar sculpture.

But the Crown Prince had liked Charlotte’s slightly disordered appearance, so he swallowed his disappointment in silence.

Once she had recovered her composure, he gently asked,

“My Lady, may I ask what happened? I do not mean to trouble you. I ask only in case you need my help.”

Charlotte’s mind turned quickly.

If she wished to restore her reputation after being dragged away by the Grand Duke, she needed at least some situation she could use to claim that nothing had happened.

In that sense, the Crown Prince’s help was welcome.

Lowering her lashes, Charlotte calmly made her defense.

“I do not know whether you will believe me, but nothing happened. It seems the Grand Duke mistook me for another woman…. After some time struggling, he let me go.”

The Crown Prince made no effort to determine whether her words were true.

It did not matter to him what was truth and what was false.

To the Imperial Family, truth was something that might be arranged according to convenience.

Still, he pretended to be very indignant and reproached Grand Duke Eponhart in a somewhat exaggerated tone.

“I shall apologize in my cousin’s stead for treating you badly. My Lady, do not be overly troubled. In the name of the Crown Prince, I shall make clear both the Grand Duke’s misconduct and your innocence.”

At the Crown Prince’s chivalrous conduct, Charlotte smiled bitterly.

Whether lowly or noble, men were all the same.

They acted as though they would do anything for a woman, yet turned away the moment their hearts cooled.

There would never again be anyone with a love like that of her true father.

So Charlotte let go of all expectation toward men.

“Your words alone are enough. Thank you.”

Deep resignation lay in Charlotte’s modest reply.

For a moment, something different came into the Crown Prince’s eyes, which until then had been merely gentle.

“No. Words alone are not enough. Let us return to the ballroom together.”

“What?”

“I left the ballroom shortly after the Grand Duke did as well, so how would it be if I said I helped clear up the misunderstanding between you and the Grand Duke, and then walked with you until you had calmed down? The Grand Duke will not contradict it. He likely does not even know what rumors are spreading in the first place.”

Charlotte found herself tempted by the Crown Prince’s timely solution.

She had thought her long-delayed debut in society had been ruined, but if the Crown Prince helped her, it seemed it might be repaired to some degree.

Still, she knew keenly that the Crown Prince would not help her for nothing.

Whether it was her body, money, or something else, he was bound to want something.

Lowering her eyes, she answered calmly.

“Thank you for your kindness. Still, I worry I may only trouble you, having nothing with which to repay you.”

“Trouble? Not at all. It is enough that you have kept me from being lonely, My Lady. Please accept a gentleman’s goodwill.”

Charlotte nodded reluctantly.

If it had been any other noble, she would have refused once more, but it would also have been discourteous to refuse the Crown Prince repeatedly.

There, on the spot, the two turned and found a shortcut back to the annex palace.