“Engagement? What do you mean by engagement?”

Pyotr frowned at the news brought by the butler.

The butler solemnly reported:

“The young lady is courting His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. They will soon hold an engagement ceremony.”

“You mean Charlotte? With whom…? The Crown Prince? At this time? Why, why? Is he out of his mind! His elderly father is bedridden and he’s holding a ceremony!”

What nonsense is this fool spouting now?

The elderly emperor lay ill in bed. These days, it was the empress who watched over the emperor’s sickbed.

Soon the power in the imperial family would shift, and the Tueter family had also gone along with that flow.

“What does His Majesty say?”

“What could a person not in their right mind say? His mind wanders these days. He only buries himself in Her Majesty the Empress’s embrace, and it seems Her Majesty is still keeping it secret for now.”

“Why, why? For what reason?”

“His Majesty doesn’t even remember who the Crown Prince is.”

The emperor, who had just turned fifty, showed signs of delirium.

From before, he had been pestering to move the former emperor’s tomb, saying the former emperor appeared in his dreams to torment him.

‘Move his tomb! Move it outside the imperial palace! Damn it, how much more will that old man torment me!’

The emperor who showed fear, saying the former emperor kept appearing in his dreams, soon had his hair turn white.

The aged emperor lost his strength and relied only on the empress, neglecting state affairs.

Now it seemed that power had completely shifted.

“Charlotte. Charlotte…!”

Damn you, Cosette! What have you left behind for me!

“Find out where Charlotte is!”

* * *

Charlotte was fitted for a dress at Shan Boutique.

“Isn’t the color too flashy for an engagement dress?”

They measured her waist with a tape measure, chose the dress fabric, and picked lace decorations to match.

The staff followed her in a line, and Charlotte watched herself in the mirror.

The red fabric flowed down beautifully. Roses were embroidered on it, and the fabric itself boasted vibrant colors.

“Is this alright, Your Highness?”

Benjamin raised his head and took in Charlotte with his eyes.

“It’s fine.”

Benjamin closed the booklet and sent the madam out.

“Take the staff with you.”

“Yes, understood. Is there anything else you need?”

“Prepare accessories to match the dress in advance. I’ll check them right away.”

“Then I’ll have them ready outside.”

Chaneran took the staff and went outside the fitting room.

Everything proceeded smoothly and efficiently.

Charlotte wiped her forehead with the hem of her dress. Did she have a slight fever? It didn’t seem so. She steadied herself with one arm on her waist and caught her breath.

“You don’t seem to like standing for long periods.”

Benjamin realized she was struggling and closed the fitting room curtain.

“My ankles aren’t good.”

“You have rather thin bones, I see.”

Charlotte unconsciously fiddled with her wrist. His gaze fell there as well.

“Is that why your wrists are like that too?”

“What do you mean?”

“I was just curious because you seem to unconsciously fiddle with your wrist even when you’re just standing still.”

Perhaps because she had thin bones, her figure was also slender. That precariousness drew one’s gaze.

“Are you not tired?”

Charlotte shook her head in response.

When you look at things like this, he’s an attentive person. Such attention to detail catches the eye.

“Just the accessories left to match, Charl.”

Benjamin whispered in a gentle tone, as if soothing a tired child whining.

He guided Charlotte with a smooth gesture.

Afterwards, they chose accessories that matched well with the fabric.

“It would be best to wear just one piece of jewelry as a point on the neck. So I’ve prepared a necklace.”

Madam Chaneran brought out the necklace.

The jewelry boxes were lined up and opened, and Charlotte looked down at them with cool eyes.

There was no great excitement.

Did even the desire for material things disappear after dying and being reborn once?

It seems I didn’t have much desire for material things in my past life either…

“Try to look a little happier, Charl.”

Benjamin placed his hand on Charlotte’s shoulder.

“There’s a reason we’ve been seen together so openly outside the imperial palace. We need to imprint your presence in their minds. We need to plant you deep in those fools’ minds and create chaos.”

“Yes.”

“If that’s the case, a halfhearted attitude won’t do.”

With a smooth gesture, he placed his hand on Charlotte’s hand and pressed the necklace into her palm.

It was an ice crystal made by carving an iceberg. It held the coolness intact within its crystalline structure.

“You must become the sharpest blade and pierce their hearts. You must be imprinted in their minds like this, so that your very existence irritates them.”

Charlotte hooked the necklace on her finger and lifted it up to her line of sight.

With Benjamin’s hand overlapping hers, the necklace entwined in their hands created a mysterious atmosphere.

“Beautiful, isn’t it? They say it’s a very rare item because it’s ice that doesn’t melt.”

Madam Chaneran cleared her throat.

“Your Highness, shall we go with this for the jewelry then?”

“This will do. Make sure no fools wear anything similar.”

“What do you take this Chaneran for, Your Highness? Just trust me.”

Chaneran put the necklace in the jewelry box and closed it.

“I’ll pack up the rest nicely and send it to Windsor House. If you only bought this, the imperial citizens would view Your Highness’s spending as too frugal.”

“As if they could say anything.”

Chaneran skillfully packed up the remaining jewelry boxes as well.

If Rosquella played the role of an informant in taverns, Chaneran collected all sorts of rumors spreading in boutiques.

This place was a concentration of informants belonging to the Crown Prince.

What was it like in my past life? I don’t think there were any informants known as directly as Rosquella besides him…

“Moderation won’t do. We must create utter chaos.”

Benjamin whispered, grasping Charlotte’s hand.

“Shall we go now?”

It’s about time for customers to arrive.

Benjamin subtly let her know the timing.

Charlotte turned around.

Benjamin led Charlotte with leisurely steps. He seemed to be urging her, but his actions were sluggish.

“Follow me.”

When Benjamin took one step, Charlotte took half a step.

“Charlotte!”

And then. A familiar voice called out to Charlotte from behind.

A familiar voice, but one I had almost forgotten.

Ah. I’ve waited too long.

“It’s been a while.”

Father, I swallowed the last word.

* * *

How long has it been since I last saw my father?

It’s been a long time even just counting this life, but if we add my previous life, we were meeting after several decades.

‘Has it been twenty years?’

That face was still the same.

“You really haven’t changed.”

“What do you mean?”

“I meant you’re consistent.”

Consistent. Because he was so consistent, it was also easy to cut off our entangled relationship.

“Y-Your Highness! I’d like to talk to my daughter alone. Please… give us some privacy.”

You have the audacity to call me your daughter with that mouth? Was I ever your daughter?

Charlotte couldn’t cry. Her crooked lips only continued to draw an unnatural smile.

“Was I ever your daughter?”

At least if I had been your daughter, you shouldn’t have treated me like that.

Her throat felt scratchy with every word she forced out. Each word she spat out while biting her lips felt heavy.

I told you. You shouldn’t have let go of my ankle.

“It’s been a little over two weeks since we last met, hasn’t it?”

“…”

“A lot has happened in that time, but it seems it takes this much for you to show that expensive face of yours.”

Even when my mother was dying, you left, talking about your damned business or whatever.

Even when Charlotte was disowned, you erased her from the family register without showing that precious face of yours even once.

She’s not disappointed by that fact. As Charlotte, she was almost grateful that he consistently forgot about her.

Pyotr roughly pulled Charlotte.

“Do you have any thoughts in that head of yours? The Tueter family serves Her Majesty the Empress. Have you forgotten whom the Tueter family serves?”

He whispered, lowering his voice sharply.

“Why are you two, mother and daughter, doing this to me?”

Charlotte covered her lips with her fingers, fumbling.

“I haven’t forgotten.”

“You say you remember that, yet you openly keep the Crown Prince close!”

Charlotte calmly called out to Pyotr.

“Marquis Tueter.”

“What? What did you just call your father?”

“You’ll hit me soon at this rate.”

Only then did Pyotr come to his senses. He lowered his hand, startled by the sight of it trembling as he spread his fingers wide.

As he whipped his head around, he noticed people around glancing this way. Oh no, how embarrassing…!

Pyotr’s face gradually reddened. Blue veins bulged on the back of his hand. The back of his hand with the bulging veins looked vicious.

“To think you’d wander around caught up in memories of your dead mother. Did you go to your maternal relatives’ house because you missed your mother so much?”

There are many cruel words in this world.

People are sensitive and delicate.

A few words can cut a person like a knife.

“Have you forgotten where your mother’s ashes are buried? I shouldn’t have disowned you. Instead of disowning you like that, I should have kept you locked up in the house! You wailed like a madwoman for three days and nights, so I thought you must have missed her terribly… Yet you do this behind my back?”

There were times like that too. Wailing for three days and nights, collapsing from exhaustion after crying, fainting, crawling on the floor to clutch her mother’s memorial photo and wailing again.

“But you weren’t there then either.”

You talk as if you were by my side.

“You weren’t there.”

Even when I was dying, you never looked back once. If that’s the case, you shouldn’t have treated me like this.

“Let me correct a few things. My mother’s ashes are not there. I’ve enshrined her where she should be, so you won’t find her there. Secondly, don’t speak as if you did me a favor by disowning me when I was bothersome. You already calculated it, didn’t you? Which side would be more profitable.”

Why do you still act so righteous in front of me?

“You didn’t calculate this far, did you?”

There’s no way you could have.

You might have calculated my worth as marriage material, but you couldn’t have calculated this far.

“I didn’t calculate it either. I couldn’t calculate it. Putting everything else aside, why did it have to be that madman…!”

Pyotr cut off his words abruptly. His flushed face gradually turned pale.

At the end of his gaze stood Benjamin.

“It seems your usual manner of speech is quite vulgar.”

Benjamin trailed off, as if regretful. Madman…

“I’ve heard a few times that some of the noble factions call me that.”

Benjamin licked his lips and swallowed.

But it’s the first time someone has dared to use that term right in front of me.

“I knew my temper was nasty, but…”

“…”

“Is my personality so rotten that you’d dare use such a term to my face?”

Benjamin fiddled with Charlotte’s ear with his finger.

Red hair curled around his fingertip.

Benjamin, who had been playing with the curled strands of hair, spoke softly with a low chuckle.

“I’ve sometimes wondered who your carelessness takes after, but it seems it’s from your father’s side.”

Benjamin wrapped his hand around Charlotte’s shoulder.

“Yet he dares to use such a term in front of me?”

Pyotr suddenly raised his head and cried out.

“It’s a misunderstanding, Your Highness! I was just upset that my daughter, without a word…!”

A shout spreading in a quiet place.

And Benjamin’s incongruous smile.

Charlotte felt a chill there.

Benjamin murmured softly.

“Don’t interrupt when I’m speaking. I might cut out your tongue, you know.”