Even she hadn’t expected to faint like that.

It was fortunate that she had brought her mother to Windsor House, but letting her guard down was the problem.

“The child suddenly collapsed.”

An unfamiliar voice was heard.

“Who are you? I’ve never seen you before. Did you do something to the young lady?”

Cold metal touched her body. She waved her arm to refuse the uncomfortable sensation.

Was it due to fatigue? Drowsiness kept coming. Her body was still heavy, but it was better than before.

“I’ll check her temperature first.”

Someone said, “Young lady, just a moment,” and brought the cold metal close again.

“Her temperature is high. Was there such a young lady at Windsor House?”

“Not one of ours, but Cosette’s… Fearless like her mother, I suppose. She came alone at this hour, then fainted alone. I’m the one who’s perplexed.”

She felt like she had turned into a speck of dust. Her consciousness sank again.

* * *

“It seems to be accumulated fatigue. You said her complexion was poor when you first saw her, right?”

The unfamiliar voice was heard again. Her body felt much lighter. It seemed she had almost recovered.

“Are you awake?”

As she cautiously surveyed her surroundings, the man belatedly explained.

“This is the Windsor mansion. I am Aster Windsor, your maternal uncle.”

Aster raised both hands as if to prove he meant no harm.

He was the second son of the Windsor family and Charlotte’s maternal uncle.

The family doctor Linton beside him also introduced himself.

“I’m Linton, the physician of the Windsor family. Indeed, you look just like Miss Cosette. Even from afar, I can tell you’re of Windsor blood.”

Though we were seeing each other for the first time, we instinctively realized how much we resembled each other.

The Windsor bloodline was known for its magenta red hair, and Charlotte was no exception.

Though mixed with black, giving it a darker shade, its presence was undeniable.

“Where is this…?”

“This is the Windsor mansion.”

Charlotte slowly surveyed her surroundings. The pink wallpaper, the fluttering canopy, and the soft bedding.

Only then did Charlotte fully realize that this was indeed the Windsor mansion.

As she blinked with a dazed expression, Aster sat by the bed and called someone.

“Look at this, Linton.”

Linton, who had been summoned, approached the bed.

“What’s wrong with her? Unless there’s something wrong with her head. Why is the child like this?”

“Lord Aster, please mind your words. She can hear everything you’re saying.”

Charlotte sighed. It seemed she had fainted right after escaping from the Tutor family, as the tension left her body.

“What about the urn?”

Aster turned to Linton and asked back.

“Are you saying this isn’t a hypersensitive reaction? A child who just woke up is asking about her mother’s urn first, and you’re saying this is normal?”

“She’s just mature. Please, watch your words. The young lady is right in front of us.”

Aster dismissed Linton, sending him back, and turned to face Charlotte.

“Given the state you arrived in, there’s no need for explanations right now.”

Aster recalled Charlotte’s pale face as she collapsed in front of the mansion. Color had finally returned to her once-pale complexion.

She looked as if she might die at any moment. He couldn’t bring himself to ask why she had come in such a state.

If he probed carelessly, it seemed she might crumble at any moment. So, Aster had to swallow the question that had risen to the tip of his tongue.

‘Oh, Cosette…’

Aster ruffled his hair and with difficulty, managed to utter just one sentence.

“What about your father?”

What was father like around this time? The memory is too distant. It’s been over a decade if you include the past life.

“Charlotte.”

Charlotte barely managed to meet Aster’s eyes.

“He’s not at home.”

“He left you alone and went… Don’t tell me he’s off meddling in another doomed business venture? Even after the funeral?”

They had already heard the news of her mother’s death. However, their visit had been refused.

“He told us not to come, and left you alone?”

Aster gripped the armrest of the sofa, slowly suppressing his anger. Charlotte used this moment to look around the room.

The urn was missing. She had no memory after meeting them at the front gate, and her mind was becoming increasingly empty.

“I’ve kept your mother’s urn safe separately.”

Aster spoke with a sigh.

“Stop looking around.”

Charlotte finally relaxed.

Aster pressed his temples and averted his gaze.

“Don’t you need to explain about that urn?”

“…”

“No, if you were in a position to explain it, you wouldn’t have come to me in this state.”

She had dug up her mother’s grave and taken out the urn herself. On that dark night, she had even forgotten to feel scared.

Those eyes vacantly followed the air. The vacant pupils sent an ambiguous glance, unclear whether it was smiling or crying. Charlotte clutched the blanket and whispered in a languid tone.

“Please let me stay here just for tonight.”

And she tugged at Aster’s clothes like a child.

“Just one day.”

Charlotte lowered her head and opened her eyes vacantly. The emptied pupils cooled coldly. There was no warmth.

“We’ll talk again when dawn breaks tomorrow.”

Aster slowly moved away. Charlotte raised her head after confirming everyone had left.

She brushed back her long red hair and got off the bed.

Charlotte ran her fingers along the wall as she went to the window. When she pushed the window with her fingers, it opened smoothly.

It was late dawn. Moreover, being the dawn sky, it was dark.

“Ah… Ah…”

Her chest slowly began to ache. I’m angry. All of this is wretched.

* * *

Leandro Windsor,

He was the master of the Windsor family and her maternal grandfather.

Though Leandro’s hair was white, he was a solid and sturdy old man rather than frail.

“So this is Cosette’s urn.”

Leandro gently touched the urn before him. He took in the last traces of his daughter with sunken eyes.

“Cosette, Cosette… Did she resent me?”

Charlotte fell into deep thought. Her mother wasn’t the type to resent anyone.

“I’m not sure. She missed you, but she never said she hated you.”

“Do you know why she cut ties with us and lived separately?”

Charlotte bit her lip.

“Was it because of me?”

“No, grandfather.”

She didn’t know the details well either.

The two had been married for political reasons.

Both families had grown based on business, and they had made a marriage vow as a symbol of their joint venture.

Their relationship began there.

However, her father was authoritarian and failed in successive businesses. In the process, the two families often clashed.

Eventually, her mother’s family cut off support.

It was the result of three failed business ventures. Anyway, Charlotte was born around that time.

“If you want to leave for the Windsor family, they said to give up custody of the child and go.”

In the empire, there was a legal clause that gave priority custody of children to their biological fathers.

Whether the father was flawed or not, the priority of custody was unconditionally given only to the biological father.

Unless the father gave up custody first, the mother couldn’t claim custody first.

The choices were either to give up custody or to cut ties with the Windsor family.

“Mother didn’t want to show me that kind of life. I think she gave up on her own.”

That was her mother’s final choice.

“I’ll step out for a bit.”

Charlotte left the urn in Leandro’s office and walked out.

‘I don’t mind if I break.’

It’s okay if this life breaks. It’s fine if this path ahead is a dead end. I have no lingering attachment or regret. I’ve discarded even the tiniest bit of attachment.

“How was Cosette’s end?”

Aster asked from behind her.

“She closed her eyes peacefully.”

I can’t even remember her final expression anymore. If only they had let me see the corpse.

Then I might at least remember. Why, why is it this time?

It was me who dug up the grave and took out the urn, and it was me who was by mother’s side in her final moments,

‘I can’t remember.’

I can’t remember even a single final expression.

Charlotte clenched her fists in vain. Her nails scratched her palms.

“When will the urn be buried?”

Charlotte asked, sensing a presence behind her.

“We’ll bury it tomorrow morning.”

Aster followed her back with a complex, subtle gaze.

“Yes. Thank you.”

She turned her head and began walking again.

* * *

Charlotte held a single chrysanthemum in her hand.

She had come out to buy flowers to give to her mother when burying the urn.

Charlotte paid for the chrysanthemum and held the bouquet to her chest. The pure white chrysanthemum buried in her long red hair was peculiar.

“When I checked this morning, Charlotte’s bedroom was empty?”

As she brushed up her hair and tapped the flower petals with her fingertips, a familiar voice was heard.

“Did they say she went out somewhere? The house was strangely quiet, when she had been crying for days and days until it felt like her head would split.”

“Did you see her that day? When the girl opened her eyes that day, she seemed a bit strange? She asked where her mother’s grave was, and then laughed like she had lost her mind when she saw the portrait.”

Charlotte turned her head towards the familiar voices.

It was the maids of the Tutor family.

Charlotte ruffled her curly red hair. They were walking towards her.

“She seemed a bit crazy.”

“No, she is crazy. Did you see her laughing in front of her mother’s grave? She knelt in front of the grave and laughed like a madwoman. I was too scared to go near.”

They were people with no loyalty to the family. Look at how they snicker and mock the death of their mistress.

It’s disgusting. It’s vulgar. Was that death just another trivial death to you?

She covered herself with a shawl and hid her body in a corner of the alley.

‘Was that death funny to you?’

It shouldn’t have been a death you dared to find amusing.

As she hid her body in a corner of the alley, someone entered.

“Please go ahead first.”

As Charlotte moved her body to the side, the man was quicker to pass by.

Her shoulder hit the wall. As she crouched down, staggering,

Something enveloped her with a whoosh.

The man was looking down at her, embracing her with his thick hands.

Crunch−

The man stepped on a leaf.

“Are you alright?”

“Yes. Thank you.”

He only checked that Charlotte was standing straight before continuing on his way.

His back figure grew more distant. As she was about to take her eyes off his retreating form,

“Miss Charlotte…?”

The maid’s eyes turned this way. Ah. Their eyes met.

“Wait a moment!”

It would be more troublesome if they caught her.

As Charlotte pulled down her shawl and followed behind him, he stopped walking.

“Why are you following me?”

His robe came off, revealing his features. A few strands of hair fell down.

And there was a fishy smell of blood. Drops of blood trickled down below his hand.

“…Help me.”

It was when Charlotte lightly grabbed the hem of his clothes. He looked down at Charlotte fully. Then, that gaze turned behind.

“What is it.”

A low voice spread from inside the alleyway.

“Let go.”

The maid startled and released her hand.

“Get lost.”

Those few words were all.