“Your eyes are looking somewhere far…….”

As if looking at a very distant place.

“As if you’re about to die.”

“…….”

“You’re gradually withering away.”

Charlotte avoided his eyes.

“You avoid my eyes now.”

He closed the distance, making it difficult for her to escape.

“Your expression, like you’re about to die, doesn’t make sense. We’re alike, but different. Do you know what’s different? You seem like someone who’s died once. Not a person about to die, but one who died once and stands here alone.”

Her head felt foggy. The surroundings became quiet. A faint scream was heard. It was a silent scream. This was the thread of a past and present life.

“It’s lonely and desolate. Eerie and precarious. Your appearance standing before the tomb is…. Like someone who has already let go of the thread of life, utterly bleak. Though you suffer, you swallow your screams and have made a habit of it. Also……. There’s an expression only seen in front of the tomb.”

A mourning sent to the dead.

It was not a mourning only sent to her biological mother. It was akin to mourning herself.

“……You don’t even give me a chance to run away.”

Charlotte once again avoided his eyes.

“I had left a chance for you to escape until now. It was you, Charlotte, who closed that distance.”

Benjamin whispered, bending down.

“Don’t avoid me. Charlotte, avoiding my eyes here is like presenting your own neck. You shouldn’t show your neck to anyone. You’re not my prey. Then, hide yourself where you would be a weakness.”

Benjamin whispered things difficult to understand.

“Is it difficult?”

“…….”

“It meant not to show what could be a weakness in the palace.”

Even if you frequently showed your defenseless sides, you can’t in the palace.

“If you show a weakness, the first to dig into it will be me.”

Benjamin wedged a ring between Charlotte’s fingers.

“Me digging in might be a tiring thing for you.”

Charlotte relaxed her body. Her breath trembled.

“If you want to hide, hide thoroughly. So that I won’t have to dig myself.”

Initially, she had left Tuteargal to avoid humiliation.

Leaving Tuteargal was impulsive.

She had felt lingering regrets for the life where she did nothing and died.

‘Ah, I thought I had no regrets, but I do.’

There was a desire to feel guilty about her mother’s death.

‘I didn’t want to leave my mother’s death as a humiliation.’

She wanted them to feel even a slight guilt towards her.

“You seem to have no regrets in this life, but still, it looks like there are regrets. You are difficult, Charlotte.”

Charlotte barely swallowed her breath. She must not show her weakness here.

“I wish for peace in my life too. If there’s no regret, it’s a lie. Now, unlike before, I have a lot.”

Others may not see it as much, but it was an area not permitted to her previous life.

‘It hurts, me too.’

She swallowed those words so that he couldn’t hear them.
“I chose you and it became……”

“Yes.”

“It seems to have become a shackle.”

Charlotte barely caught her trembling breath.

“The breath is getting more and more urgent.”

Benjamin Visennov covered Charlotte’s mouth. His thick hand covered her lips and bowed his head.

“Just hold your breath for a moment.”

“……”

“Now, exhale slowly.”

Charlotte clenched her fist.

“Relax your fist, it looks like you are going to hit soon.”

Charlotte belatedly relaxed her grip. Her body slowly relaxed.

“I’ll put the wedding off for now.”

“……”

“Holding you now seems like ruining you.”

Benjamin Visennov had a strange premonition.

“I don’t want to ruin you, Charlotte.”

(This is a time divider.)

Charlotte woke up. The dawn sun slowly rose. Did she wake up too early?

Hiding her body under the blanket, her dark red hair tangled.

‘It’s annoying.’

Too long. As she swept up her hair and raised her upper body, the ends of her hair flowed down messily.

Brushing the hair that obscured her view and lifting her head, her eyes followed.

“Are you awake?”

Her vision was still blurred with sleepiness.

“It’s dawn. You can sleep more.”

“There are many signs of waiting outside. Courtesy is cumbersome, but it is a difficult area to separate from the palace.”

Benjamin Visennov seemed to understand, taking out a short sword. He lightly bent his arm and put the short sword back.

“The bed is clean and there are many stories to follow. Also, the palm is noticeable.”

Benjamin Visennov stroked Charlotte’s head.

“The family is coming to Windsor in the afternoon, so I’ll see you later.”

Charlotte sat alone.

Until the sleepiness subsided to some extent.

Charlotte raised her head and pulled the bell cord.

The bedroom door opened.

“Your Majesty. It’s Becky. You will hear it.”

Charlotte only turned her eyes and looked down at Becky. She was a child who had followed from Windsor, raising the national soul.

“Did you sleep well?”

“Yes, it’s a good day.”

Charlotte entrusted her body to Becky and dressed up. From the shoulder to the waist, she added white lace, and embroidered pale and red roses on it.

She left her shoulders bare and puffed the dress below the waist. The maids added ribbons to the dark green dress, creating an elegant yet heavy atmosphere.

“The palace has been greatly undermined by recent chaos. It is a great honor to finally serve the Empress.”

Charlotte passed over the whispering words beside her.

“You need to come outside. Outside…….”

And the following story should not have been overlooked.