The sun had completely set.

The sky that had been tinged with sunset had darkened.

“What about those men?”

Charlotte turned her body from where she had been standing at the edge of the cliff.

“You took them away, didn’t you?”

Charlotte asked, turning to look at Benjamin. He glanced down at Charlotte, who was standing precariously, and asked back.

“Do you want to know?”

“……”

“It’s alright. I sent them back nicely.”

“Is it okay to send them back like that?”

Benjamin looked down at Charlotte.

“No. Probably not.”

“But you said you sent them back?”

“Yes. Whatever happened.”

Benjamin had intended to send them back nicely too. If not for the harmful substances found among their belongings.

Benjamin called out to Charlotte with a faint smile.

“Charl.”

Charlotte blinked at being called.

“What is it?”

“Your breathing is shallow. As if it’s difficult to breathe.”

Charlotte stiffly felt her neck.

The brush with death was still vivid.

Whenever she touched her stiff neck, she was reminded of the day she was dying.

Her airway hardening. Her lungs hardening.

All her joints stiffening and turning wooden moment by moment.

It was then that Charlotte was touching from her neck to her collarbone.

“Why are you touching your neck?”

“Pardon?”

“You’re compulsively touching your neck.”

Benjamin wrapped his hand around Charlotte’s neck.

Her breath was immediately cut off. He hadn’t even squeezed hard. Gently wrapping his hand around,

“Is it difficult to breathe?”

“Don’t joke like this.”

“If I don’t joke like this, you’ll get too serious on your own.”

Benjamin leaned his face in close. His eyes sank darkly right before her.

The black pupils were deep and clear, just like him.

“I barely crawled out of the grave. But they’ve shoved me back into the dirt.”

Benjamin pressed his forehead against hers and whispered.

“Your words are harsh, Charl.”

“……”

“The night air is cold. Let’s head back now.”

Benjamin stroked Charlotte’s hair and pulled her clothing tighter.

“Prepare the carriage.”

Charlotte lowered her hand that had been touching the nape of her neck.

There were aspects of our father-daughter relationship that were difficult to explain in words.

It’s fine now that father has brought home a mistress.

I have no regrets about the family taking in that illegitimate child. Mother’s death is now a distant memory.

“Why?”

“You are, how should I say…”

“Yes?”

“Difficult.”

“How so?”

“I can’t quite figure out what’s inside you.”

Benjamin trailed off with a smile. His eyes crinkled gently, but the pupils glimpsed between his narrow eyes were dark and murky.

Catarina cleared her throat with a “Ahem” to make her presence known.

“The carriage is ready.”

The sky had already darkened. It was time to depart.

Benjamin simply repeated Charlotte’s name without saying anything else.

“Charl. Charlotte. Charlotte Windsor.”

Charlotte tilted her head back and met Benjamin’s eyes.

“I just realized, it’s right after you’ve lost your birth mother, isn’t it?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“And yet there’s no hint of sadness.”

What was I like around this time? It was just after losing my birth mother.

There were moments when various sorrows would come flooding in. But that wasn’t happening now.

“I can barely remember anymore.”

She could barely remember her birth mother’s face, only from the memorial portrait. If you don’t see someone for a few years, you forget, let alone after over a decade.

The child who lost her mother had become a grown adult.

[This is the timeline separator]

“Have you lost your mind! What were you doing out until this hour? Going out without a word to anyone in the house…!”

The Windsor family members were furious when Charlotte arrived home late and they saw her.

“She was with me. Don’t scold her too harshly.”

Benjamin calmed Aster in a matter-of-fact tone. Aster glanced down at Charlotte once, then replied to Benjamin.

“Still, you should have let us know if you were going to be late. There are people waiting, what are we supposed to do without any word?”

Charlotte’s lips quivered slightly, feeling somewhat flustered.

It had also been a long time since anyone had waited for her.

It had been so long that she had forgotten she needed to let them know if she would be late.

As Charlotte’s lips quivered, Benjamin stroked her head.

“I didn’t realize it would get this late.”

“Were you together the whole time?”

“Yes, we were.”

“I suppose I was worried for nothing. Your Highness the Crown Prince, will you come inside as well?”

Benjamin looked down at Charlotte once before answering.

“No need. It’s late, so another time.”

“Charlotte, you come on in now. We’ve kept you out in the cold.”

Charlotte felt awkward for the first time.

“Go on in.”

Benjamin gently pushed Charlotte’s back. Charlotte, who had been hesitating, took a step and looked back.

“My fiancée’s mind is in turmoil. Aster, put her in a warm bath and let her rest for a while.”

“What?”

Charlotte rolled her eyes in bewilderment.

“If we leave her like this, she looks like she might lose a child.”

Benjamin left her behind. He quietly disappeared beyond the shadows.

As Charlotte stood still in front of the main gate, Aster called out to her, “Charl. Charlotte?”

“Have you eaten?”

“No, not yet. It’s still before dinner.”

“What have you been doing until this hour without even eating? First of all, yes! Housekeeper, put this child in the bath. Frost will settle on her body. Don’t you know it’s cold?”

Charlotte finally cleared her throat with a cough. The cold air made her nose sting.

As she touched her nose bridge, a maid hurriedly came over and covered her with a blanket.

[This is the timeline separator]

“I hear Duke Tutor has brought in a child born outside and his mistress.”

Rosquella pierced an assassin’s neck with a dagger.

“Charlotte will be troubled again.”

Benjamin muttered in a low voice.

“It seems he had originally planned to bring them in right after the lady of the house died. But the schedule got messed up when the young lady was disowned.”

“So.”

“The child was ill, so he brought them in for now, and he was planning to bring the young lady back too…!”

Rosquella flinched and quickly pulled back his neck.

Another assassin lunged at his neck. As Rosquella hurriedly tried to block with his hand, Benjamin grabbed the assassin’s nape and threw him down.

“Be careful.”

“Th-thank you.”

The surrounding assassins were swiftly dealt with. Like shadows sinking into the ground, everything became quiet in an instant.

Rosquella carefully observed his lord. Benjamin looked a little more tired than usual.

“Are you tired?”

“A bit.”

“You were out for a long time today?”

Rosquella wiped the blood off his hands with a handkerchief and tossed it on the ground.

“Anyway, whatever happens, it’s obvious the young lady will face difficulties. Since she’s been disowned from the family, I suppose the five-year-old child will become the sole bloodline of the Tutor family?”

Benjamin dropped the knife he was holding. The light in his eyes gradually faded.

“The young lady must be heartbroken.”

Is that so?

“She’s not a child who readily shows her sorrow.”

Charlotte wasn’t a child who spoke of her inner feelings first.

There was a sense of disconnection from that child.

Benjamin, who had been whispering the name Charl, Charlotte, touched his lips with his fingertips.

“What’s wrong?”

“My throat is parched.”

“Your Highness the Crown Prince, you need to hide your unsavory tendencies behind nobility. If the young lady saw, she would be utterly shocked and run away.”

Benjamin suppressed his presence.

“Your Highness.”

The intelligence officers joined, climbing over the walls. They were the subordinates who had scattered to deal with the assassins.

“The assassins have been taken care of.”

Benjamin looked around the empty alley.

In the quiet night street, all traces had been cleanly erased as if no one had ever been there.

[This is the timeline separator]

Charlotte ruffled her hair and got out of bed. When she pulled the bell rope, Becky brought in washing water.

“Good morning, young lady.”

Charlotte got out of bed, rubbing her stiff neck.

“You seemed to have a bit of a cold last night. How are you feeling today?”

“I’m fine. I took a warm bath right away last night, remember?”

“That’s a relief. Getting a cold at this time would be terrible.”

Charlotte put on a light pastel-colored dress and brushed her hair back.

Without putting on makeup, she picked up a newsletter in her comfortable attire and leaned back on the terrace sofa.

“The hunting competition is coming up soon, isn’t it? Have you prepared your handkerchief?”

“Was there such a schedule?”

“Did you perhaps forget?”

“No, I just remembered… So that was around this time.”

Charlotte had fallen gravely ill around this time.

The child who had been barely getting by day by day in her mother’s absence finally fainted.

“Young lady?”

Becky called out to her, gently tapping on the terrace window.

“Yes.”

“Will you be attending?”

“All the relatives from my mother’s side will be attending, so I should go too.”

Charlotte smoothly closed the newsletter. This newsletter also covered the upcoming hunting competition.

“Ah, and the head of the family was looking for you, young lady.”

Becky took the newsletter and put it away. Charlotte picked up the shawl that had been draped over a chair and covered her shoulders.

“I’ll go pay my respects to grandfather.”

When she went outside, all the windows were open for ventilation.

The wind blowing in from outside hit her cheeks. Charlotte squinted one eye and raised her hand to shield her view.

The sunlight was harsh.

Charlotte went downstairs, fiddling with her shawl.

“Young lady, have you come to see the head of the family?”

“Is grandfather in his office?”

The butler nodded with a faint smile.

“Master, the young lady has come.”

The office door opened, and Leandro could be seen through the gap. Leandro adjusted his magnifying glasses and raised his head.

Charlotte poked her head through the office doorway and asked.

“If you’re busy, shall I come back later?”

“No need. I’ve left the door open, so come in.”

Charlotte closed the door and entered.

The office was filled with the bitter aroma of coffee. When you grind and brew coffee beans that have been well-roasted and become fragrant, this savory scent spreads. Her attention was drawn to the coffee scent she hadn’t smelled in a long time.

“Do you know what this is?”

“It’s coffee, isn’t it?”

“We only started importing the beans recently, where have you seen it?”

Leandro paused and asked back.

“You shouldn’t have had a chance to try it.”