That day with his father, and now again with Tyutega.
I thought I had severed ties, but had I ever actually severed them?
He changed his course.
Charlotte followed the man into the alley.
“A hideous sight.”
“If he showed up before me like this, there must be a reason.”
The man crumbled like a wet sponge.
“Then, it’s right for me to see it myself.”
Charlotte reached out her arm, cutting her sentence short.
“Don’t block the path.”
The man scratched his neck with his arm. That itch seemed unquenchable as he scraped his skin with his nails and rolled on the ground, scratching his forehead.
His eyes filled with blood.
“……Hide, hide me. If the Duke finds me, he’ll kill me. Please, don’t forget our past connection. Ugh!”
The man choked himself.
“Gag!”
Katarina obscured Charlotte’s view. However, Charlotte had already seen the corpse.
‘I didn’t want to see him like this.’
Her gaze fell on the corpse.
It was a familiar face.
Even if her emotions for them were not good and she cursed them, she hadn’t expected such a death.
“He’s dead.”
“Is his breathing and pulse both stopped?”
Charlotte spoke indifferently. People usually tremble when they speak of death, but she showed no sign.
The scene was bizarre. Katarina again checked the man’s pulse.
“The pulse is stopped. Is he someone you know? Could it be a mistake?”
“It’s a servant from Tyutega.”
Charlotte muttered as if scratching her throat.
“It’s strange. Why in this state here……”
“The symptoms were very clear.”
Charlotte narrowed her eyes.
“Is the carriage ready?”
“The wheel is worn, it will take a bit longer to replace.”
“Then, send someone to the palace to report. I need to go to Tyutega.”
She set foot in that household sooner than she had expected.
The gates of Tyutega opened.
They were never really closed.
‘It’s quiet.’
There was no sign of anyone. The inside was too peaceful.
‘Why……’
It should be the liveliest time at sunset.
When firewood was split, and the smell of food preparation wafted.
None of that was there. A dark courtyard welcomed them.
“Stay here. I will go in and check.”
The guards crossed the gate.
Charlotte also stepped over the threshold.
No one was there.
Neither a hint of danger nor discomfort.
It used to feel suffocating and like a prison, but now it felt like a barren field.
“No signs.”
Even if people had lived here, traces should remain.
Everything here had been severed.
“Just one day.”
Officials in uniform stepped into the mansion. They were intelligence officers from the palace.
Benjamin mixed in with them, scrutinizing the mansion.
“He fled.”
“I didn’t expect him to disappear in such a state.”
“Who could have known he’d run away with those symptoms?”
Approaching quietly because it was the queen’s family was the root of the issue. He had already fled.
“Is there any sign inside, and have footprints been identified?”
“There are no footprints leading outside.”
“Then, he disappeared inside.”
Benjamin narrowed his eyes at the intelligence officers.
“Search the mansion.”
“We will.”
The investigation by the intelligence division proceeded swiftly. Soon, one of the intelligence agents emerged from the mansion and reported.
“The house is empty.”
“What about the servants?”
“All have hidden themselves.”
Benjamin Visennov narrowed his eyes.
“Any other signs?”
“There’s a minor presence.”
The intelligence agent gestured toward the inside of the mansion.
“There was a small room with a locked door. When we tried to force it open, we heard crying…”
Somehow, he felt like he knew who it was.
“I’ll go check it out.”
He was familiar with the layout of the mansion. The suffocating years he had spent within these walls led him unerringly to his destination, even with closed eyes.
A long corridor stretched before him. All the candles had been extinguished, leaving only darkness.
‘Sniff. Sniff.’
His breath hitched as he grasped the doorknob.
“It’s me.”
The door remained locked.
“I’m coming in.”
As Catarina struck the doorknob with her sword, the door swung open. The room was shrouded in darkness.
The child had hidden herself, but there was only one place for a child to hide in a room like this.
‘Just as I did when I was young.’
Charlotte lifted the tablecloth of the small table.
“You’re too old for hide-and-seek but you hid well.”
The child was on the verge of passing out from terror.
Her complexion had turned pale, and cold sweat trickled down her neck.
“Her condition is deteriorating. It would be best to take her to a physician outside.”
Catarina advised from the side.
Her pupils had already dilated, and her fingertips were raggedly torn. It looked as if she had been biting her fingers.
“Take the child outside.”
“No. No, don’t. It’ll hurt.”
“It won’t hurt.”
“Everyone said it would hurt.”
“No one is here anymore, Henrietta.”
Henrietta wedged her small body under the table.
Her short brown hair was a tangled mess. She was on the brink of fainting. Her breathing grew rapid.
“Ah.”
Charlotte let out a soft breath, wincing.
‘The reason I found this place familiar.’
The child resembled him—him at his gloomiest period.
That’s why he couldn’t hate her, even though he found her annoying; couldn’t despise her, even though he didn’t like her.
‘How did we end up like this?’
A presence approached from behind.
“The inside is empty.”
Benjamin Visennov ruffled his short hair as he approached.
“Any other signs?”
“All signs have been erased.”
“Then, this child is all that’s left.”
It didn’t seem right to leave her here alone.
Charlotte reached under the table. Her slender wrist seemed unusually thin, yet the arm she extended was strong.
“Come out. Come here.”
“……”
“I’ll pull you out. Come.”
“I don’t want to be alone.”
“Let’s go together.”
For some reason, his mood darkened when he looked at the child.
Was it because she resembled him?
“……I want to go out.”
That was the last thing Henrietta whispered.
Afterwards, she fainted.
Male lead reborn without memories — but he still falls for her.
The person he finds displeasing in this life turns out to be his cherished wife-master in previous life…
Xie Zhi and Fang Xianxing who had known each other for less than three days through a blind date sat in the same car in front of the civil affairs bureau. They had a disagreement and failed to get married.
Xie Zhi immediately took out his phone, slid through his contacts, and randomly selected the next marriage candidate.
The woman snatched his phone and hung up. Looking at his phone wallpaper, she awkwardly changed the subject: “An ancient painting, eh? It looks pretty good, it’s just that the person in the painting looks a bit like me.”
When he heard this, he sarcastically mocked her for being so delusional, completely unaware that, the person in front of him was the reincarnation of Wen Ru, the famous prime minister of Yuan Shun whom he most admired…
The female CEO who doesn’t want to get married with a divorce agreement in hand × The male archaeological researcher who will only get married if he’s sure he can get divorced
