Charlotte moistened her throat with whiskey.

The whiskey stung as it went down her throat. The lukewarm alcohol washed down her esophagus, making her head fuzzy.

Charlotte had just come outside to get some fresh air.

As she walked along the path, the cold wind stung her skin.

She put the whiskey in her mouth and set down the empty glass.

When she shook the empty glass upside down behind her back, it seemed like the air hitting the glass made a small ringing sound.

‘You don’t know how precious your body is. Charlotte, Charlotte, my dear.’

It was something her birth mother would occasionally say naggingly.

“Keep your nagging to yourself.”

Charlotte stood blankly, looking up at the empty sky.

“It’s been a while since I’ve had such strong liquor.”

I learned to drink as late as possible too.

Please try to understand my situation of dying and waking up back in the past.

Charlotte casually brushed off her mother’s nagging like that.

“When I drink, my head gets fuzzy, and at least for this moment, I feel comfortable.”

That meant, of course, that her current life was not comfortable at all.

It was a long while before Charlotte started walking again.

Though her steps were unsteady, her posture remained upright.

“Charlotte?”

A leisurely voice called out to Charlotte.

It was both alluring and cloying.

Charlotte, who had been walking along the outdoor path, stopped in her tracks.

The ground beneath her feet was lit with lights illuminating the night path.

A familiar silhouette emerged under the bright moonlight.

Charlotte tilted her head slightly.

“Why are you out here, Charlotte?”

Benjamin was standing with his hands behind his back on one side of the path.

His affectionate voice was soft and gentle.

“Just to get some fresh air.”

“I told you to drink in moderation. The smell of alcohol…”

Benjamin walked over and stood in front of Charlotte.

“Why are you here alone?”

“In hopes that your day would be peaceful?”

It was an extremely peaceful day.

The atmosphere in the banquet hall was ripe, and Charlotte was thoroughly soaked in alcohol.

“Did you have fun?”

“In my own way.”

“Then that’s good.”

Her body felt languid. As Charlotte exhaled her held breath, Benjamin asked with a small laugh.

“Are you like this because I left you alone?”

“Why?”

“Why are you so disheveled?”

Benjamin kept his right arm behind his back and tidied Charlotte’s messy hair with his left hand.

When Charlotte stood still, staring up at him blankly, Benjamin lowered his gaze to meet her eyes.

“What?”

Benjamin asked in a soft voice.

“I was curious what Benjamin was doing outside alone.”

Benjamin was a man all in black. He murmured quietly.

“Just a moment.”

Pitch-black darkness loomed behind his back. And then, it pounced on him just like that.

Benjamin turned around and thrust in his sword.

There was a strangled “Kuk, kurkek!” scream, then a cutting sound.

Darkness? A shadow? Something at his feet…

“Wriggling like a worm.”

Benjamin muttered in a dispassionate tone. His attitude was monotonous, without a trace of regret.

Raw killing intent spread from Benjamin.

Venomous fangs,

Benjamin was like a venomous snake.

His poison-filled teeth bit and devoured prey indiscriminately.

Benjamin spoke as he stabbed with his sword.

“The Empress sent an assassin, but I thought it would be messy to send them to the banquet hall.”

The assassin died with their eyes open.

Charlotte blinked in her daze and rubbed her eyelids with the back of her hand.

“Charlotte, are you very drunk?”

“No.”

“That expression of yours is too peaceful right now.”

Benjamin sheathed his sword and tidied his clothes.

“Was it noisy cleaning up outside? I tried to handle it quietly.”

Benjamin wiped his hands clean and threw the handkerchief on the ground.

“Is the banquet almost over?”

“Yes. It’s ending.”

“I’m finished too, shall we tell the Windsor family and head back to the mansion?”

Benjamin touched Charlotte’s cheek.

“Your cheek is hot too. See? You’re flushed from drinking.”

“Stop teasing me.”

“No, look. Your cheeks are red.”

It was time to go home.

Benjamin stroked Charlotte’s hair and whispered.

Maybe it was because her head was fuzzy.

All her senses were blurred.

It’s okay now. Really okay. I’ll be okay too.

“Tomorrow. Would you like to go somewhere with me?”

“Where?”

“I’ll tell you tomorrow. It’s somewhere I don’t have the courage to go alone.”

Charlotte slowly started walking.

The ground seemed to sink beneath her feet.

And at some point, her consciousness cut off.

Benjamin picked up the sleeping Charlotte.

His footsteps slowed, and the rustling of grass became quiet.

When they arrived in front of the Windsor family’s carriage, the Windsor household members were waiting.

“Were the two of you together?”

“Yes. It just happened that way.”

“Please give me the child.”

Leandro reached out his arms for Charlotte.

Benjamin looked down blankly at the sleeping Charlotte.

Peaceful.

But gloomy.

This expression strangely caught his eye.

It was as if Charlotte was whispering to wrap herself in thorny vines and go down to the bottom together.

Leandro held his breath as he watched Benjamin standing still.

Benjamin put his index finger to his lips and gestured ‘quiet’.

Sleep peacefully. It’s okay to be like this for at least one day, isn’t it?

Benjamin carefully handed Charlotte over to Leandro.

“I’ll take the child.”

It was when everyone had melted into the banquet hall.

Outside, several assassins died silently.

And Pyotr was there too.

[This is the timeline separator]

Pyotr’s expression hardened in bewilderment.

The child who had changed so much was unfamiliar. That child had already become a different person.

Instinct told him.

To bring that child back again.

Whether by force or confinement.

“I, I must find that child again.”

Pyotr’s muttering lingered in the air.

[This is the timeline separator]

“Is Charlotte alright?”

Aster mumbled with a dumbfounded expression.

Charlotte had put on her outdoor clothes and a beret on her head.

She was planning to go out right away today because she had some business to attend to.

“You’re diligent from the morning.”

Aster admonished Charlotte like that, saying “What a stubborn girl!”

Charlotte hurriedly finished getting ready to leave.

“What do you mean?”

“I thought you drank too much, so I prepared some honey water…”

“Uncle, how old do you think I am? Don’t worry.”

“How old are you? Charlotte, do you remember being carried back yesterday?”

“Carried back? Don’t joke. I washed up and slept properly in bed.”

From the moment she stretched and got up from bed in the morning, her body felt refreshed.

Her body smelled of soap from finishing her bath.

She had even changed into clean clothes.

“At least drink the honey water first.”

Charlotte drank up the honey water Aster had prepared.

“You little rascal, your stomach takes after Cosette’s.”

“Mother only liked wine. She would vomit if she put other alcohol to her lips.”

“Oh my. Cosette… She taught her daughter something very good.”

I wondered why mother drank hard liquor even though she was like that, but I understood when I got older.

When the bitter taste made her throw up, her stuffy insides felt somewhat cleared.

All the suffocating things became meaningless, if only for that moment.

“Where are you going from the morning?”

“Yes. I’m supposed to go somewhere with His Highness.”

Aster subtly narrowed his eyes.

“As soon as you woke up?”

“Of course?”

“No. No. Have a good trip. Send at least a message to His Highness the Crown Prince. You fell asleep like that, and His Highness carried you and took you to the carriage.”

Aster picked up the honey water and left, saying this isn’t right.

[This is the timeline separator]

“Have you arrived, young lady?”

Rosquella greeted Charlotte. He set down his wine glass and looked down at Benjamin sitting across from him.

“Your Highness, even if you’re busy, you should see your fiancée. The young lady has arrived.”

“Has she?”

Benjamin closed the documents and followed her with his eyes.

Rosquella wiped the glass with a dry cloth from across,

Benjamin sat at the island table and quickly organized the documents.

Just after the Crown Prince’s engagement ceremony, the Crown Prince’s intelligence officers also got busy.

“Would the young lady like something to drink as well?”

“It’s fine, I’m leaving soon.”

Rosquella put down the dry cloth he was using to wipe the glasses.

“The kind-hearted young lady has made a big decision. Is this engagement alright?”

Benjamin looked up from organizing the documents.

“What do you mean?”

“Your Highness the Crown Prince, please stay still.”

Benjamin gave a look that said, go ahead and say more.

“Young lady, if you’re being threatened, please wave a carrot. Or if you feel burdened because His Highness is here, you can tap the wine glass twice with a spoon. Then I will…”

“Shut up.”

“Your Highness is only cold towards me.”

Rosquella pretended not to know and hung the glasses upside down in the cabinet.

Rosquella neatly tidied the table and looked at Charlotte, his eyes seeming to say ‘How did the young lady end up with such a bandit-like person.’

“Congratulations on your engagement.”

Despite his troubled expression, Rosquella offered his congratulations readily.

“So you’re planning to go to the outskirts of the city today?”

“Yes. Benjamin, are you done with your urgent work?”

“We should leave if we want to return before sunset.”

Benjamin put down the documents he was looking at and handed them to Rosquella.

Rosquella took the documents and went through a hidden side door behind the table.

“Follow me.”

Charlotte put on her robe and went outside.

Quite some time had passed since the engagement ceremony.

“Did guards come along?”

“My maternal family members are very worried.”

She was even temporarily assigned a guard.

The temporarily assigned guard knight was a female knight with long chestnut hair tied tightly.

‘I am Catarina.’

Catarina was taciturn, whether by nature or not.

Charlotte pushed down her beret and got in the carriage.

“Where are we going?”

“I have some business at an apothecary.”

“An apothecary? Are you sick somewhere? You could have told the family doctor…”

“It has to be that person.”

“The outskirts have bad security too, will you be alright?”

“It’s a place I used to visit often.”

The carriage headed towards a quiet alley.

“Is it here?”

Benjamin lightly tapped the old fence of the shack with the back of his hand.

He seemed to be checking one more time if this was the right destination.

This was the apothecary of Aaron the medicine seller.

It was when there was no more hope for mother.

‘Why are you crying alone?’

Aaron appeared before such a Charlotte.

I wanted to do something.

As mother’s condition worsened, the medicine became stronger.

It was that urgent. I wanted to do something, I should have done something.

“It’s too late.”

What should I say for the first greeting?

“I should have visited and greeted you earlier, but I suddenly stopped coming.”

To only remember after death. It had been decades.

Charlotte stopped in front of the old building and looked up at it.

Now that I see it, I can feel how desperate I was.

“Who is it? Oh…?”

“It’s been a long time, Aaron.”

Aaron hesitated at the sight of Charlotte greeting him first.

“Are you here to get medicine?”

“Not today.”

“Then why did you come all the way here?”

I should have thanked you for the past ten years but I forgot.

I only remembered you when I got married and my limbs stiffened so I couldn’t move.

“Mother passed away.”

Aaron held his breath.

“She left peacefully at the end. We received a lot of help from the apothecary, and I owe Aaron a lot. Thank you for everything.”

Charlotte ended her words stiffly.

“Charlotte.”

Benjamin stared at Charlotte like that.

His gaze continued to follow her. She could feel his heavy gaze settling on her shoulders.

Benjamin put his hand on her shoulder.

“Let’s go inside first.”

Benjamin met Aaron’s eyes.

“This doesn’t seem like a conversation to have outside.”