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Chapter : 24
As If I’d Become a Wretched Man.
“I got scared, even though it’s a reunion after so long.”
Benjamin reached out and wrapped an arm around her waist.
“What if fear shows in the eyes when you look at your fiancé?”
Only then did Charlop realize she had been stepping backward.
“…You’re too close.”
“If you act like I’ve become some kind of villain, that hurts, you know.”
Benjamin withdrew the arm he had extended.
“The guardian is coming.”
Leandro said, panting.
His long white hair was tangled by the wind, and even his neatly worn clothes were slightly disheveled.
It was the first time she had ever seen her grandfather looking so unsettled.
Despite the cold wind, cold sweat beaded on his face.
His pale complexion regained some color only after he found Charlop.
“Grandfather, did you run all the way here?”
Leandro barely steadied his staggering body.
“You disappeared so suddenly—I was worried.”
“There were so many people, I got pushed away. Were you worried about me?”
For someone who had rushed over in such haste, it might seem like an anticlimactic result.
But when Charlop saw the relief spreading across Leandro’s face, she changed her mind.
He truly had been worried.
“Your Majesty.”
Leandro turned his gaze to Benjamin, who stood behind them.
“Were you traveling incognito?”
“I seem to have intruded on a family moment.”
“No. It’s enough that I feel at ease seeing you together.”
Leandro shook his head as he looked down at the child.
“As I get older, all I do is worry more. How foolish of me.”
“Why is His Majesty with Charl?”
“I came looking for her late and found them together.”
With his hands clasped behind his back, Leandro watched his granddaughter.
From afar, her hair fluttered with each step she took.
“Even after so long, the two of them are just the same.”
Aster agreed with her father.
“I was worried Charlop might feel awkward around His Majesty, but I suppose not. I keep forgetting how unusually gentle His Majesty is only with that child.”
He had always been like that.
When the two of them walked alone, it wasn’t awkward but rather dreamlike.
“And why is the strategist here?”
“His Majesty chased me away, saying I’d be in the way. That sympathetic look is fine, though.”
Rosskella, who had been driven off, also studied his lord’s back intently.
The night was growing deeper, and the lanterns of the Requiem Festival illuminated the ground.
“The festival is coming to an end.”
Rosskella started.
“Aren’t the two of them about to be married? Since they’ve been apart so long, we should let them spend some time alone, reminiscing.”
Unaware of the conversation behind them,
Charlop felt a sense of distance in this long-awaited reunion.
“Charl.”
Benjamin called her.
“Did you release a lantern?”
“…What lantern?”
“The Requiem Festival lantern. The one people send up into the sky.”
Charlop was walking along the river with Benjamin.
Crimson lanterns embroidered the sky.
“No. I didn’t really have the time.”
“Shall we send one up?”
“Together with you?”
“Yeah. Let’s do it together.”
Benjamin smiled, narrowing his eyes.
The softened atmosphere was just like the old days.
“Why do you keep flinching?”
“Pardon?”
“Look. You’re trembling.”
Benjamin twined a lock of her hair around his fingertip and lowered his gaze.
“I expected you to be different than before, but acting like you’ve seen something you shouldn’t have…”
“It’s not like that.”
“I’d never hurt you. Why are you pulling away?”
If he looked kind in her eyes now, was she the crazy one?
There was a slightly sharp air about him, but it wasn’t threatening to Charlop.
He was gentle and mild—
as if to say he would never let her be hurt, softly stroking her.
And then—
“That crazy bastard…”
A curse drifted over from somewhere.
Rosskella gasped and covered his mouth.
With an awkward smile, he whistled and looked away.
“Miss, would you like to buy a lantern?”
Charlop lowered her gaze.
A girl wearing a wreath of roses held out a lantern, her eyes sparkling.
“Three silver coins!”
Charlop paid and took the lantern.
Inside the crimson paper was a wick to light.
“Once, I saw a sky embroidered with these lanterns through a window. I was in a dark, narrow room.
If these guide lost souls on their way, then please guide my path too. I’m lost as well… please lead my way with light.”
Charlop stared blankly at the lantern.
“I thought it was all in vain, but it led me to this road and finally brought me here.”
Maybe it hadn’t been meaningless after all.
“Perhaps it’s true that those lanterns guide the lost.”
All around them, people were releasing lanterns.
Charlop tightened her grip and let hers go.
The lantern rose into the sky, coloring the black night, drifting farther and farther away.
Did anyone mourn my death too?
Was there someone who raised a lantern like this to light my path?
“I don’t really know.”
And so the Requiem Festival ended.
After the festival, some time passed uneventfully.
“Where is Charlop?”
Leandro asked a servant and came to find her.
Charlop was in the back garden, sitting on a mat and reading a book.
“Are you busy right now?”
“No. I was just resting.”
“I’m heading to the imperial palace. Would you like to come with me?”
Since Benjamin had taken the throne, this would be Charlop’s first visit to the palace.
She closed her book and nodded lightly.
“We’ll leave around noon, so get ready and come down.”
Charlop stepped outside in her dress.
With a pale lavender gown and a thick shawl draped over her shoulders, she felt heavy.
“Is this fine?”
“Yes. Becky said I should dress warmly first, since the shawl is thick.”
“You’ve got a capable maid. Let’s be off. If we linger, we’ll be late.”
Leandro patted her head and climbed into the carriage.
The road to the palace was quiet.
When they arrived before the gates, the guards merely checked the carriage and opened them at once.
No further verification was needed.
The House of Windsor held enough power to pass through the palace gates with its crest alone.
“This is my second time at the palace.”
“All this time… the country was a mess.”
Soon, someone knocked on the carriage door.
“From here, you’ll need to walk into the imperial quarters, so we’ve stopped the carriage.”
A troubled voice came from outside.
Leandro stepped down and replied while looking at the guard.
“I know that already. No need to mind my feelings.”
“We’ll keep the carriage for you.”
“And His Majesty?”
“He’s in his office. We’ll call an attendant to escort you inside.”
“No need. I’ve been here often enough. Charl, get down. We’ll walk from here.”
When Charlop poked her head out, the guard sharply inhaled.
Dark red hair spilled down, and even her slightest gesture carried elegance.
“You’re staring too openly.”
Leandro muttered in displeasure, and the guard quickly bowed his head.
“My apologies, Your Grace!”
Escorted, Charlop walked inside.
The audience hall lay along the corridor leading to the lobby.
Inside the passage were ornate porcelain pieces and imperial flags hung throughout.
Even the attendants looked visibly cautious.
“It’s been quite some time since His Majesty’s accession.
A throne gained by force may be ruled through fear, but that too is unstable.
Marriage will steady such a palace, and an imperial heir is a duty the royal house must fulfill.”
Leandro spoke as he took in the palace.
Charlop was the young emperor’s fiancée, and by schedule, their engagement had already lasted long enough that the wedding should have taken place.
“Some may burden you with too much responsibility.
Some may place too many expectations on you.
But remember this.”
He looked down at Charlop.
“Wherever you are, we stand behind you.”
“…”
“Wherever you go, we walk there as well.”
The palace was vast and grand—yet all the lonelier for it.
“If you wish to run away, then run.
If you flee, we’ll hide you.”
With eyes sunk low, Leandro gazed at her.
“If you choose to move forward, don’t look back.
We’ll push you from behind.”
“…That’s a difficult way of putting it.”
“I’m about to push you forward right now. Don’t be afraid.”
With his hands clasped behind his back, Leandro lifted his chin.
“Look ahead.”
The chief attendant approached, drenched in cold sweat.
He had rushed over after hearing of Leandro’s visit.
“Y-Your Grace, you’ve come? If you’d summoned us, we would have gone to greet you. My apologies.”
“It’s not like this is my first visit. Why so cautious?”
Charlop simply inclined her head in greeting.
Leandro asked, hands still behind his back,
“Where is His Majesty?”
“In his office. Shall I escort you?”
“Take care of this child for me.”
“Oh, you came together, great-grandfather and granddaughter?”
“I’m going to see the Minister of the Interior.
You guide this child to His Majesty.”
Only then did Charlop realize.
“Am I going alone?”
“You won’t be alone with the chief attendant guiding you.
I’ll leave the palace after meeting the minister.
Once you’re done speaking with His Majesty, come back at your leisure.”
Leandro smiled softly, his gaze lingering on Charlop for a moment.
Their eyes met, and with a wrinkled hand he gently stroked her head.
“Just don’t be too late. Your uncle worries far too much.”
“His Majesty is in his office.”
The chief attendant was a man of few words.
Partly by nature, and partly because the atmosphere in the palace was heavy.
From the ministers of the interior and foreign affairs to key figures of the imperial family, many had died.
Even the central elder and major posts had all perished and been newly filled.
Even if the palace seemed quiet now, dozens—hundreds—had lost their lives here.
The palace was like a building stripped of all its walls, with only the frame left.
“Your Majesty, Lady Windsor has come to see you.”
When the chief attendant knocked, a voice answered from inside.
“He says to come in.”
The office door opened, and a faint scent of cigar smoke drifted out.
Benjamin stubbed out the cigar he had been holding in the ashtray at the side of his desk.
