“Don’t cry. If you cry, Aster will think I made you cry.”

Benjamin walked ahead first. His gait was neat and composed without any faltering.

“Charl, if you don’t come, I’ll leave you behind. What are you doing standing there blankly by yourself?”

Benjamin turned to look at Charlotte. He was waiting for her from a distance.

“You’re waiting for me now, aren’t you?”

“……”

“Hold my hand. If you’re going to walk like that.”

Benjamin interlocked his fingers with Charlotte’s hand in a familiar manner.

As they walked among the people, he cleared the way so Charlotte wouldn’t bump into anyone.

“Why are you standing there alone in a daze?”

Benjamin reached out his arm, ruffling her hair.

Charlotte looked up at him blankly.

“See? You almost bumped into someone because you were in a daze.”

Benjamin sharply pulled Charlotte’s shoulder as she nearly collided with a passerby.

Charlotte bumped her head against his stiff body and groaned to herself.

‘I’m sorry!’ The passerby hurriedly passed by.

Charlotte inhaled deeply from close by.

There was a bittersweet scent of medicinal herbs.

“It smells like medicinal herbs.”

“I applied herbs used as anesthetics on the bandages.”

Perhaps because of the herbs, a unique scent of flesh clung to his body.

It was bittersweet yet cool. It held the distinct chill of night air.

“Follow me closely.”

Benjamin stroked Charlotte and resumed walking.

“Your Highness……”

At that moment, a low voice rang out.

“Benjamin.”

“Yes?”

“Call me by my name.”

Benjamin uttered his name.

“Isn’t that right? Seeing you call me by name, I wonder if Aster would be shocked?”

Charlotte looked up at Benjamin with a clear expression.

Feeling her gaze, Benjamin scratched her palm with his fingertip.

“Why?”

Charlotte pulled her hand away, ticklish.

“You know what?”

“……”

“If you keep getting swayed like this, Charl, you’ll be in danger.”

Benjamin whispered in a low voice.

A carriage was sent from the maternal family’s house.

Until then, Charlotte had forgotten all about being disowned and everything else.

“Don’t let your guard down.”

Be wary.

Charlotte realized only then that she had been swayed again.

* * *

It was a few days later.

“……”

Charlotte held her breath in one corner of the corridor.

She was on her way to Leandro’s office. Just as she was about to open the office door, it opened and someone came out.

“Are you on your way to see Father?”

Cesar asked, loosening his tightly fastened cravat.

He was the eldest maternal uncle who had helped with the adoption process this time.

“Yes. Are you coming from seeing Grandfather, Uncle?”

“Yes. I was on my way back after confirming the completion of the legal procedures.”

It had been a few days since Cesar came home. She had become acquainted with her eldest maternal uncle during the previous adoption process.

“That’s good.”

Cesar looked down at his niece, rubbing his chin.

“Today, your complexion looks better than yesterday. Until a few days ago, your face was pale like watery porridge, which wasn’t good.”

“It wasn’t that bad.”

“I meant you look good today.”

He gestured towards the inside of the office and stepped aside, telling her to go in as he was waiting.

“Father is waiting. Go on in.”

Charlotte knocked on the office door and entered. The office reflected Leandro’s personality perfectly.

Stacks of documents were neatly piled on the tidy desk.

Charlotte fixed her gaze on the window before turning it back to Leandro. He opened his mouth in a smooth tone.

“Your father has given up his parental rights.”

The Tuteur family had relinquished their parental rights over Charlotte. In other words, Charlotte had become a stranger to the Tuteur family.

“Charlotte Windsor. From now on, I am your legal guardian.”

“The adoption process ended quickly.”

“Cesar came and completed all the final procedures.”

With her eldest maternal uncle handling the legal procedures, everything was completed smoothly.

It seemed the legal processing was taking a bit longer, but it was resolved today. With this, I’ve escaped from the Tuteur family.

Charlotte had been adopted into the Windsor family, and her legal guardian became her maternal grandfather.

“Did Father cooperate willingly?”

“It was a relationship that would have ended in a year anyway. Your biological father knew that, so he calculated towards what would be more beneficial.”

Father didn’t show his face even once in the end.

It meant they had become complete strangers. There was no feeling of disappointment.

If it was a relationship that could be cut off so easily, why didn’t they let me go earlier?

Why was I kept trapped in that house for decades?

“Tell the butler if there’s anything uncomfortable.”

The matter of her father was forgotten from her mind.

Charlotte tidied her hair, tucking it behind her ear. Her long red hair wrapped around her fingers.

She had escaped from their grasp.

Do they know?

You shouldn’t have let me go.

* * *

Pyotr looked around the empty mansion and took off his coat.

The interior of the Tuteur house was quiet.

He quite liked this rare tranquility.

“You’ve arrived, sir?”

The aged butler hurriedly received his coat.

“Was there anything unusual at home?”

“It was quiet, sir.”

“Is the disownment procedure complete?”

“Yes. It’s all finished.”

Pyotr frowned between his eyebrows. Perhaps because of the wrinkles between his brows, even that alone made his expression look quite fierce.

“She seemed ready to follow her dead mother, but couldn’t escape her dead mother’s shadow at all. The Windsor family adopted her, you say?”

“Yes. The Windsor family has adopted the young lady.”

“She could have been a great asset if put on the marriage market as she was… Buying that child for this money, the old man must have gone senile.”

The traces of the Windsor family were erased from the Tuteur house.

That insufferable woman died, and now the child’s traces were also erased.

Where did this hostility begin?

That woman who clashed with him at every turn was now treated as if it were nothing after her death.

The butler worriedly observed his master. What had been concerning since the time of the previous head of the family was beginning.

“Master……”

“We’ll talk later. I don’t want to break this hard-earned tranquility unnecessarily.”

Pyotr checked the mail handed to him by the butler.

‘Chloe Lynn.’

Seeing the name written, he frowned.

“……Shall I prepare a reply right away?”

“I’ll check it later.”

Pyotr put the mail in his jacket’s inner pocket.

“Just bring some liquor to the study.”

He sent the butler away and went to the study to loosen his clothes.

The inside of the study was neat.

Pyotr carelessly threw the mail on the desk.

As he was unfastening his cufflinks, he fixed his gaze on the envelope again.

Then, he shoved the unopened mail into the trash can and lost interest.

The study became unusually quiet.

Creak, creak. Perhaps because of that, the sound of the floor creaking rang out clearly.

* * *

“I heard you were disowned, but why do you look like that?”

Charlotte was about to pick up her teacup when she swallowed her breath. Benjamin swept back his hair as he climbed over the window sill.

The gesture of him sweeping back his black hair looked incredibly languid.

Charlotte’s gaze was captivated by it.

“Just, I’ve lost too much.”

“What did you lose?”

“I lost my mother, and I lost my life. I’ve just now regained it, but……”

Charlotte raised her calmly sunken eyes.

“Still, I’ve lost a lot.”

I’ve gained one thing, but lost many.

As Charlotte softly muttered, Benjamin drew very close.

“Since I’ve given flesh, I must take bone.”

“Charl….. Breathe slowly. There’s no need to rush.”

Benjamin spoke while embracing Charlotte’s shoulders.

“Hunting requires waiting for the right time. When biting prey, you don’t bite a scrawny one.”

Benjamin explained as if it were a natural principle.

It’s easy to hunt starving ones. But you get bored quickly.

Rather, wait until the prey fattens up.

When the prey is plump, there comes a time when it shows its nape.

“That’s when you hunt.”

When they show their nape.

When they feel most secure and certain of their victory.

You must sink your fangs into their nape and cut off their breath in one go.

‘Is that why you personally beheaded them when you were deposed?’

When all of them had no doubt about their victory,

Benjamin announced his victory by cutting their throats.

After ascending to the throne, he must have engraved in his eyes, one by one, the terrified looks of the Empress’s faction.

“You weren’t around for a few days?”

“I was briefly away on outside business. Did you greet Cesar?”

“Yes. We exchanged greetings while going through the adoption procedure. He resembles Uncle Aster a lot, so I didn’t feel any distance.”

Charlotte spoke without hesitation, then covered her lips and laughed weakly.

He’s unexpectedly considerate in some aspects.

Charlotte was about to pick up her teacup again when she fiddled with her nose. Is it the scent of herbs? A bitter scent tapped at the bridge of her nose.

“Where did you get hurt again….. You’re hurt again?”

“I got into trouble while running around outside because I felt stifled.”

“You were away for a few days, where did you go?”

“The Coroco River.”

The Coroco River was a river in the empire that took a day or two to reach.

If he got hurt at the Coroco River, then…..

“Did the matter with the defeated soldiers go well? You’re on your way back after suppressing foreign defeated soldiers who were attacking imperial citizens while committing robbery, right?”

“Who told you that story?”

“I just know.”

Because there was a similar incident around this time in my previous life.

“Your Highness! Crown Prince!”

From somewhere, a voice desperately calling for Benjamin was heard.

The door of the reception room where Charlotte was suddenly burst open.

Outside the door, a doctor was sniffling while holding bandages and a bag.

“Really! Where do you run off to in the middle of treating your wounds! Do you really want to see this Linton die of frustration! If I die, you won’t even leave a single flower on my grave! Why do you torment me so!”

Linton belatedly noticed Charlotte and opened his eyes wide.

“Young lady, why are you here?”

“You were too late in noticing me.”

Benjamin waved his hand dismissively and left the reception room.

“Ah, no…! Young lady, then I apologize for the intrusion.”

Linton wailed as he followed after Benjamin. Why does that sight seem so amusing?

Charlotte looked down at her cooled teacup. The terrace window was open, and the white lace curtains fluttered.

“Who’s comforting whom?”

Charlotte looked back at the place Benjamin had left.

“I should get some good quality wine.”

* * *

It was late in the evening.

A dark shadow fell inside the wine cellar. Charlotte, who had stolen only wine from there, sought out the attic room.

The stairs leading to the attic creaked.

“To think I’m drinking alcohol in secret.”

Charlotte climbed the stairs with a wine bottle in one hand.

When she opened the attic door, there was only a single sofa on the red carpet.

Charlotte went out to the terrace after opening the window.

She set two wine glasses on the terrace railing and took out a corkscrew from inside her mouth.

“Ailia wine is famous, they say.”

Charlotte held the wine bottle in her hand and checked the label.

It was wine from the Ailia region. When she removed the cork, the aroma of wine wafted out fragrantly.

“Look at this. I stole one from the wine cellar. You know the ones stored neatly, just Ailia wines?”

The terrace railing creaked.

Benjamin sat down towards the railing.

“Instead of sitting on the roof, how about a glass?”