Charlotte slapped her own cheek hard. Seeing this, Benjamin frowned.

“What are you doing?”

His gaze was sharp.

“Are you drunk?”

He finally reached the conclusion, ‘Is she acting like this because she’s drunk?’ Charlotte laughed awkwardly. Heat gathered in her cheek.

“I’m not drunk.”

“Then you’re doing this sober?”

Benjamin reached out his hand. Though the gesture was casual, his attitude was polite and restrained.

“It’s red.”

“Pardon?”

“I said your cheek is red. A Windsor wouldn’t blush from just wine. And don’t hurt yourself. Especially if you’re staying at that house. Although Leandro seems indifferent, he worries a lot. If you did that in front of him, you’d get all sorts of attention.”

Charlotte pushed his hand away. The friction of their hands colliding was unexpectedly tingly.

Wait, why did I come here again…? I almost forgot my original purpose getting caught up in this! With that dazed expression, she glanced at his hand, and Benjamin added in an indifferent tone:

“I said that because you seemed to avoid their attention.”

“Thanks for the consideration.”

“Did Aster let you come alone?”

“I came without the family knowing.”

“Oh my. There’s no way they wouldn’t know…”

Benjamin trailed off, saying something else. But Charlotte was lost in other thoughts and didn’t hear. What did he just say? Why do I keep spacing out?

“Charlotte. Where’s your mind wandering?”

Benjamin withdrew his outstretched hand and shook his head.

“You look like you didn’t hear.”

“Huh? I was lost in thought.”

“Never mind. It wasn’t important anyway.”

Benjamin sat with his legs crossed, looking down at her.

“Why do you have that expression?”

“It feels like Your Highness is manipulating me.”

Benjamin fidgeted with the sofa armrest out of boredom.

“Charlotte.”

He used the nickname once more. The distance between them was gradually closing.

“I told you to be wary.”

Benjamin warned in a low voice.

“Don’t let me manipulate you.”

“…”

“Didn’t Aster warn you? He told you not to get close to me, didn’t he?”

Benjamin was now exposing his own informants. Yet he remained composed and instead wove a web for Charlotte, who had come to him directly. It entangles. Slowly ensnares.

“Are you crying?”

Charlotte covered her mouth and laughed.

“No? Are you laughing?”

Benjamin reached out his hand. It touched her eyelids.

He wiped away her tears with his fingertips and then touched them to his tongue. Then, fiddling with his lips with his fingertips, he frowned.

“…Salty.”

“Benjamin.”

“Yes?”

“Tears aren’t for eating.”

Benjamin answered as he lifted his body from where it was buried in the sofa.

“Charlotte.”

“Yes?”

“The one who should have been wary here wasn’t me, but you.”

Benjamin stomped on something with his foot.

It seems like what’s being trampled under his foot is the distance between us.

“Your Highness has forgotten that I am a person of the Tuthe. The Tuthe are a faction that supports the Empress.”

“You are a Windsor.”

“No. Half of my blood is Tuthe.”

“That’s what I was curious about too. Why would a child like you be born there? You don’t resemble them at all. If we separate you, you’re closer to the Windsors. From your usual manner of speaking, to your gestures, even to how you handle your gaze.”

Charlotte knows this well too. She resembles the Windsors, not the Tuthe. That fact had stimulated her birth father’s inferiority complex.

“I don’t resemble them, do I?”

From a single strand of hair, every little thing resembled the Windsors. It seems the blood that flowed in her veins was Windsor, not Tuthe.

“That child resembled his father though.”

“Were there more children in the Tuthe family besides you?”

Her birth father had one more son.

“Ah, should I start looking soon…”

“For whom?”

“There are people I could bring to the Tuthe family in my place.”

“Write down their names and personal information. I’ll find them for you.”

“Why?”

“Just returning the favor, that’s all.”

Benjamin handed her a blank note. Charlotte roughly wrote down the personal information and passed it back, and Benjamin received the note.

“Just these two?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll find them quickly then.”

Benjamin fidgeted with his lips and narrowed his eyes. Only then did he withdraw his gaze that had been on her.

‘Boredom.’

This guy finds everything bothersome right now. He moved his lips.

“I wonder why.”

Benjamin, caught by a strange emotion, fidgeted with his lips.

“It feels like you’ve put your head in my mouth.”

“So did you catch the prey?”

“If you really did put your head in my mouth, I’d catch you right now just like this.”

If you see me as prey like a snake, I’d gladly become prey. I’d willingly let myself be eaten by that mouth.

“If you’ve caught that prey.”

What dwelled in those deep eyes was emptiness.

“Hide me behind Your Highness’s shadow.”

Benjamin was like a snake. The snake opened its mouth and dripped saliva.

“Where, in my mouth or in my stomach?”

“The mouth is fine, the stomach is fine too. But if you put me in your stomach, don’t digest me. I’ll give you indigestion if you eat me.”

As if giving her one last chance to escape, Benjamin asked her:

“Does Aster know you’re doing this?”

“Don’t misunderstand. My uncle doesn’t know.”

“I know that much. Aster wouldn’t bring you in front of me unless he had gone mad.”

Benjamin closed his lips. He swallowed the prey in one gulp.

* * *

“What kind of fierce downpour is this?”

Outside, rain was pouring. Aster put down his monocle and opened the window. Was it because of the humidity? His hair drooped lazily as if soaked with rainwater. That humidity was cumbersome. Rainwater had pooled in front of the main gate, falling steadily.

“Charlotte is late.”

Leandro turned his gaze to the window in response to those words.

“She’ll come when it’s time.”

“Aren’t you being too indifferent to her?”

Leandro closed his eyes and pressed his eyelids firmly.

“Then what should I have done?”

“It’s too late, tell her to go out when it’s light…”

“Don’t force her to stay. That child, if you try to forcibly hold her back, she’ll cut off her ankle and leave.”

“She resembles her birth mother in that aspect too, doesn’t she?”

To the suggestion of breaking ties with that family and returning to the Windsors, Cosette had unhesitatingly cut off her own ankle and bound herself to the Tuthe family.

‘What will happen to that child if I let her go?’

Was that the last thing she said?

Once again, only the sound of rain continued. The Windsor family had settled.

“She resembles her too much.”

That child is still difficult. Breaking through the sound of rain, a private carriage stopped in front of the main gate. Someone with an umbrella got out.

“Isn’t that His Highness?”

“You mean the Crown Prince?”

“Why is His Highness with that child…?”

“They must have run into each other somewhere.”

“At this hour? It’s true that the Windsor family is close to His Highness, but that’s limited to the Windsors, isn’t it? That child only met him for the first time a few days ago…”

The Windsor family has long stood by Benjamin’s side, balancing the power between the Empress’s faction and the Crown Prince’s faction.

Even the Duke of Windsor, while maintaining neutrality on the surface, had already tilted the balance towards the next Emperor.

Leandro rubbed his eyelids, saying he was tired, and spoke:

“Enough. You go to bed too.”

“Yes. It’s late, so I should go to sleep now.”

Aster followed Charlotte’s retreating figure with his eyes. Her slow footsteps continued, and then her presence disappeared.

“But is it just my feeling?”

“What do you mean?”

“Why do I feel like something strange has gotten tangled up?”

Aster frowned at the unpleasant premonition. It feels like some strange fellow has gotten tangled up and rolled into the house, doesn’t it?

* * *

‘I told you to be wary.’

‘The one who should have been wary here wasn’t me, but you.’

Charlotte blinked her eyes slowly as she took off her outdoor clothes.

“Was I not wary?”

It’s true that she loses her wariness uniquely in front of Benjamin.

Why was that?

Rather, she had defensively torn down walls. She had never been that defenseless even in front of her maternal family members.

She felt a strange sense of existence in front of that person.

It was as if he confirmed once more the existence that the name ‘Charlotte’ held.

That’s right.

It was Benjamin who saw her as a Windsor, not a Tuthe, and awakened that sense of existence.

Charlotte muttered, fidgeting with her lips.

“Is this what they meant by harmful?”

Her eyelids felt heavy, and her shoulders ached dully.

Just as she was about to go to bed wearing her nightclothes, someone knocked on the door.

“Charlotte. Let’s talk for a moment.”

Aster cleared his throat and made his presence known outside. Why is he looking for me when it’s so late? She draped the shawl she had carelessly thrown over a chair and opened the door. Aster was standing outside the door with his hands behind his back.

“Did I call you out for nothing when you were about to sleep?”

“No. Were you still up at this hour without sleeping?”

Aster looked around the room.

“For now, why don’t you sit down instead of standing? Sit here.”

“No. No. I just came up to check.”

“Didn’t you say you had something to say just now…?”

“Did I say that? Right. I did say that. Well, you see. I saw you coming back from going out somewhere just now. Um, it seemed like His Highness was dropping you off, where were you coming back from?”

His words were broken up intermittently, showing how careful he was being in his roundabout expression. There was no need to be so cautious,

It was obvious where that caution came from. It was guilt. Guilt stemming from her birth mother’s death, which made her feel bitter for no reason.

“I felt stuffy so I went out for some fresh air. Um, I ran into His Highness on the way and he offered to drop me off since it was late.”

“Is that so? I see. Well, you would know how to handle yourself. Charlotte, you seem to be getting a bit close to His Highness, or is that just my imagination?”

So that’s what he wanted to say, being so careful.

“Would it be troublesome for you, Uncle, if that were the case?”

“No. No! That’s not what I meant. I was saying this because I thought you might find it troublesome. Don’t misunderstand.”

Charlotte covered her mouth and smiled faintly. Ah, what should be done about that naked guilt? I’m fine now, really fine now.

“Do you know that your birth father is close to the second prince?”

“Uncle, do I need to consider his position too?”

“…”

“Do I really have to?”

Let’s reconsider.

The Windsor family chooses Crown Prince Benjamin.

The Tuthe family chooses the second prince Rodens.

“Benjamin Bissenov, that person was born to be a monarch.”

Aster spoke matter-of-factly, as if stating a plain fact. Even so, each word carried weight.

“Don’t let him take an interest in you. Cut it off. Don’t create situations where you walk into his mouth with your own feet.”

Aster is wary of Benjamin.

“He is dangerous to you.”

Charlotte smiled faintly and asked back:

“Do you remember when the previous Empress passed away?”

“It was 16 years ago.”

“How old was His Highness then?”

“He was seven.”

“Yes, he was seven. 16 years ago. He was so young, wasn’t he? He experienced his mother’s death and saw the execution platform with his own eyes.”

This is one of the reasons why Benjamin has no power base. The supporting factions that would have built his power were executed one after another along with the previous Empress.

“He’s a person standing before death.”

In the end, he’ll wield the blade himself.

“As am I.”

We are both similar people.