The two were alike. So they were drawn to each other.

Both had lost something. Experienced terrible loss.

And now these two stand together.

‘Walk with dignity.’

So there are no gaps.

‘Light yet heavy.’

That step has already been taken.

The field of view widens. Everything is captured in sight. Charlotte trampled on white petals.

With each step taken, one moves further away from the abandoned past.

The procession continued along the virgin road. Many gazes followed, and many words trailed behind.

“Did you expect this marriage?”

“Who could have expected it? Back then, we were barely hanging on, weren’t we? To think that in just a few years, all those people would die…”

Charlotte let such talk flow by.

The young emperor who took over after the late emperor’s death.

Of course, there were stories that the son killed the old emperor,

And words that the crown prince had visited just before the emperor’s death.

That truth was buried on the other side.

Charlotte quietly lowered her veil. Covering her face with the veil, she lowered her gaze.

“Somehow… these two are terribly alike.”

[This is the timeline separator]

“Are you feeling unwell anywhere?”

The head maid whispered softly.

“This is a ritual question before consummation, so please answer comfortably.”

“I’m fine.”

“We will assist you with bathing.”

The maids bowed their heads deeply.

“Bring the perfumed oil.”

The maids gently poured water over Charlotte as they immersed her in the bath.

They liberally added perfumed oil to the hot bathwater. The faint floral scent helped ease the tension.

“We will help Her Majesty the Empress with dressing.”

After the bath, she changed into a nightgown. Careful hands helped her into the white nightgown.

She put her arms through the sleeves as they assisted, and tied the ribbon around her waist.

Her dark red hair was let down and combed to below her hips, and the nightgown was smoothed out.

“We will lower the canopy.”

The maids finished their duties and left.

Charlotte leaned against one side of the bed, touching her shoulder.

The bed was covered by a canopy, with only faint shadows visible beyond it.

The maids had left wine and fruit on the bedside table.

Soon, the bedroom door opened.

Heavy footsteps echoed. Charlotte shifted her gaze to follow the footsteps.

Thud, thud. Getting closer and closer. He took a step and stood.

“The late emperor trampled all the palace rules, causing unnecessary trouble.”

Benjamin lifted the canopy.

“Did you wait long?”

Benjamin was wearing only a robe. With just a sash tied at the waist, the loosely draped robe looked almost careless.

The sash loosened more and more with each movement, threatening to come undone.

His wet hair was heavy with moisture. Right now, he looked like a beast lazily stretching.

“You don’t look nervous at all.”

As she traced his cheek, Benjamin chuckled softly. His playful gesture lightly tapped her nose bridge.

“Do you know what we’re about to do?”

“Yes. I know.”

“Lying is not right. You look like you have no idea what couples do.”

His shadow grew enormous, as if about to devour everything. It felt like being swallowed up into the distance. There was something chilling about his mere presence.

“Will you take my hand?”

Benjamin extended his hand.

“Come here.”

He took Charlotte’s hand and laid her down.

As Charlotte fidgeted with her fingertips, his gaze fell on her small, squirming movements.

“I thought you didn’t know what spouses were, but you do know, Charlotte.”

“I learned it along with etiquette education.”

“What did you learn?”

“…Stop being so mischievous.”

Charlotte pulled up the bedspread to cover herself.

She felt uncomfortable as his gaze followed.

In her past life, she had also been pushed into marriage by her father, but that was all.

She had never held hands or lain in the same bed.

Charlotte was an object, merely a product sold by the Tutya family for a price.

‘This is…’

As Charlotte averted her gaze, a shadow fell over her head.

As if urging her to stop avoiding his gaze.

Benjamin smelled of dry grass at dawn.

The bitter aura of winter’s bare trees and firewood in the hearth.

“Tell me if you feel uncomfortable.”

Such things clung to Benjamin.

“No. It’s not that I feel uncomfortable, but…”

Charlotte took a deep breath. He permeated deep into her lungs.

This is harmful. From the tips of her toes to the top of her head, everything was telling her it’s harmful.

Her toes curled.

It seemed she couldn’t adapt to this unfamiliar atmosphere and was shrinking away.

Benjamin leaned in close, pressing against Charlotte.

He scrutinized Charlotte thoroughly. His short hair tickled her cheek.

“You’ve frozen up.”

His breath touched and dispersed on her earlobe.

“Wait…”

Just as Charlotte was about to place her hands on his shoulders.

“I used to think it was just a mood, but now I know it’s not.”

Charlotte froze with her hands outstretched. A crack appeared in her previously monotonous expression. Her dark red hair showed more black than red, and her complexion was pale and white. But she didn’t look ill.

“Your eyes are looking somewhere far away…”

As if looking at a very distant place.

“Like someone about to die soon.”

“…”

“You’re gradually withering away.”

Charlotte avoided his eyes.

“And now you’re avoiding my gaze.”

He drew closer, making it difficult for her to avoid.

“Your expression, as if you’re about to die soon, doesn’t make sense. We’re alike, but different. Do you know what’s different? You seem like someone who has actually died once. Not someone about to die, but someone who died once and is now standing here alone.”

Her head felt dizzy. The surroundings became quiet. A faint scream could be heard. It was a silent scream. This was the thread between past and present lives.

“Lonely and desolate. Quiet and precarious. Your appearance standing before a grave is… as bleak as someone who has already let go of life’s thread. You’re in pain, but you have a habit of swallowing your screams without uttering them. And… there’s an expression you only show in front of graves.”

Mourning for the dead.

It wasn’t just mourning for her birth mother. It was like mourning for herself.

“…You’re probing without giving me a chance to escape.”

Charlotte again avoided his eyes.

“I left room for escape until now. It was you, Charlotte, who closed that distance.”

Benjamin leaned in and whispered.

“Don’t avoid me. Charlotte, you avoiding my eyes here is like offering your nape. You shouldn’t show your nape to anyone. You’re not my prey. So, cover the parts that could become your weakness.”

Benjamin whispered words that were difficult to understand.

“Is it difficult?”

“…”

“I meant don’t carelessly show your weaknesses in the palace.”

Even if you’ve often shown vulnerable moments, it can’t be done in the palace.

“If you show a weakness, I’ll be the first to exploit it.”

Benjamin interlaced his fingers with Charlotte’s.

“My exploitation might be tiring for you.”

Charlotte relaxed her body. Her breath trembled faintly.

“If you want to hide, hide thoroughly. So I don’t have to exploit it myself.”

At first, she left the Tutya family with the intention of avoiding a dog’s death.

Leaving the Tutya family was also impulsive.

There was lingering attachment to the life where she couldn’t do anything and died, so she wanted to avoid such a future.

‘Ah, I thought I had no lingering attachment, but I did.’

She also wished they would feel some guilt over her mother’s death.

‘I didn’t want to let my mother’s death be a dog’s death.’

I hoped they would feel even a small sense of guilt towards me.

“You seem to have no lingering attachment to this life, yet it also feels like you still have some. You’re difficult, Charlotte.”

Charlotte barely swallowed her breath. I shouldn’t show my sore spot here.

“I also hope my life will be peaceful. It would be a lie to say I have no lingering attachment. Now I have many things that I didn’t have before.”

It might seem like nothing to others, but it was a realm not allowed to me in my past life.

‘It hurts, me too.’

She swallowed those words so he couldn’t hear them.

“My choosing you…”

“Yes.”

“It feels like it has become shackles.”

Charlotte barely controlled her trembling breath.

“Your breathing is getting more rapid.”

Benjamin covered Charlotte’s mouth. His thick hand blocked her lips as he lowered his head.

“Hold your breath for a moment.”

“…”

“Now slowly exhale.”

Charlotte clenched her fists.

“Relax your fists, you look like you’re about to hit something.”

Charlotte belatedly relaxed her hands. Slowly, the tension left her body.

“We’ll postpone the consummation.”

“…”

“It feels like embracing you now would ruin you.”

Benjamin had an inexplicable premonition.

“I don’t want to ruin you, Charlotte.”

[This is the timeline separator]

Charlotte woke from sleep. The dawn sun was slowly rising. Did I wake up too early?

Hiding her body under the blanket, her dark red hair was tangled.

‘It’s bothersome.’

It’s too long. As she raised her upper body while brushing up her hair, the ends flowed down heavily.

As she lifted her head while combing down the hair covering her vision, a gaze followed.

“Are you awake?”

Her vision was still blurry with sleep.

“It’s dawn. You can sleep more.”

“There are many presences waiting outside. Etiquette is cumbersome, but it’s an area difficult to separate from the palace.”

Benjamin seemed to understand as he took out a dagger. After lightly cutting the back of his forearm, he put the dagger away again.

“If the bed is clean, there will be many stories to follow. Also, the palm is noticeable.”

Benjamin stroked Charlotte’s hair.

“The Windsor family is scheduled to visit in the afternoon, so I’ll see you later.”

Charlotte sat there alone.

Until the sleepiness wore off somewhat.

Charlotte raised her head and pulled the bell cord.

−Click

The bedroom door opened.

“Your Majesty. It’s Becky. I’m coming in.”

Charlotte only turned her eyes to look down at Becky. She was a girl who had come from the Windsor family for the royal wedding.

“Did you sleep well?”

“Yes. It’s a nice day.”

Charlotte entrusted her body to Becky and got dressed. White lace was added from the shoulders to the waist, embroidered with white and red roses.

The shoulders were bare, and the dress was puffy below the waist. The maids added ribbons to the dark green dress, creating an elegant yet heavy atmosphere.

“The palace discipline had greatly collapsed due to the past turmoil. It’s a great honor to finally serve Her Majesty the Empress.”

Charlotte let the whispered words around her pass by.

“You should come outside. Outside…”

And the words that followed shouldn’t have been overheard.