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Chapter : 10
His Incongruous Smile.
“Engagement? An engagement—what nonsense is that?”
Pyotr’s face twisted at the news brought by the butler.
The butler reported solemnly.
“Young miss is in a relationship with His Highness the Crown Prince. They will soon hold an engagement ceremony as well.”
“Charlophe, that girl? With whom…? The Crown Prince? At a time like this? The Crown Prince, of all people? Why, why? Is that bastard out of his mind! My old father is lying sick in bed, and he wants to hold a ceremony now?!”
What kind of ridiculous nonsense is he spouting?
The aged emperor lay ill in bed. These days, it was the empress who stayed by his bedside.
Soon the balance of power in the imperial family would shift, and even the Tuteur family was entrusting itself to that current.
“What does His Majesty say?”
“What could someone whose mind isn’t even whole say? Even these days he drifts in and out of lucidity. He stays buried in Her Majesty’s arms, and it seems she’s still keeping it quiet for now.”
“Why, why? Why is that?”
“His Majesty doesn’t even remember who the Crown Prince is.”
The emperor, who had just turned fifty, was showing signs of delirium.
He had long claimed that the former emperor appeared in his dreams to torment him, demanding that the tomb be moved.
‘Move his grave! Move it outside the palace! Damn it, how much more does that old man intend to torment me!’
The emperor, who trembled in fear saying the former emperor kept appearing in his dreams, soon turned completely gray-haired.
The aged emperor lost all vitality and, relying only on the empress, threw the affairs of the state aside.
They thought the power had already fully shifted.
“Charlophe. Charlophe…!”
Damn you, Cosette! What did you leave behind for me?!
“Find out where Charlophe is!”
Charlophe had a dress fitted at Shan Boutique.
“It’s for an engagement ceremony, but isn’t the color a bit too flashy?”
Her waist was measured with a tape, fabrics chosen, and lace decorations to match.
Staff crowded around as Charlophe watched herself in the mirror.
The red fabric flowed gorgeously. Roses were embroidered into it, and even the fabric alone boasted vivid colors.
“Your Highness, will this do?”
Benjamin lifted his head and took Charlophe in.
“That’s enough.”
He closed the catalog and dismissed Madame.
“Have the staff step out now.”
“Yes, understood. Is there anything else you need?”
“Prepare jewelry to match the dress. We’ll check it right away.”
“Then we’ll wait outside.”
Shanran led the staff out of the fitting room.
Everything proceeded with military precision.
Charlophe wiped her forehead with her sleeve. Was she running a fever? Probably not. She braced her waist with one arm and caught her breath.
“Looks like you don’t like standing for too long.”
Noticing her strain, Benjamin drew the fitting-room curtain closed.
“My ankle isn’t very good.”
“You’ve got a slender frame.”
Charlophe unconsciously fiddled with her wrist, and his gaze followed.
“Is that why your wrist too?”
“Why?”
“It just looked like you keep touching your wrist without realizing it, so I was curious.”
Perhaps because her bones were fine, her whole figure was slender. That fragile look drew the eye.
“Are you tired?”
Charlophe shook her head in response.
Seeing things like that, he really was a careful person. That attention to detail caught one’s eye.
“Just the jewelry left, Charle.”
Benjamin whispered gently, as if soothing a tired, whining child.
With smooth gestures, he guided Charlophe.
After that, they chose jewelry to match the fabric.
“For an accent, it would be best to wear just one piece around the neck. So we prepared a necklace.”
Madame Shanran took out the necklace.
Jewelry cases opened in a row, and Charlophe looked down at them with cool eyes.
She felt no great excitement.
Had dying once and coming back even erased her desire for possessions?
She hadn’t cared much for such things even in her past life…
“Try to look a little happier, Charle.”
Benjamin placed a hand on her shoulder.
“There’s a reason we’ve been sticking so closely together outside the palace, making a show of it. We have to hammer your presence into their heads. Plant you there root and all, stir up chaos.”
“Yes.”
“If that’s the case, half-hearted posture won’t do.”
With a smooth motion, he took Charlophe’s hand and placed the necklace into her palm.
It was made of ice crystal carved from a glacier stone, holding a chilling cold within its core.
“You must become the sharpest blade and lodge yourself in their chests. Be etched into their minds so that just your existence irritates them.”
Charlophe hooked the necklace around her finger and lifted it before her eyes.
Her hand overlapped with Benjamin’s, the necklace tangled between their fingers, creating a strange atmosphere.
“Beautiful, isn’t it? It’s a very rare piece, called unmelted ice.”
Madame Shanran cleared her throat.
“Your Highness, shall we go with this for the jewelry?”
“This will do. Make sure none of those fools end up wearing anything similar.”
“What do you take me for, Your Highness? Just trust me.”
Shanran placed the necklace back into its case and closed it.
“I’ll pack the rest nicely and send them to the Windsor estate. If you only took this one, wouldn’t the people of the Empire think Your Highness terribly stingy?”
“If you can’t even talk.”
She smoothly gathered the remaining cases as well.
If Roskella served as an informant at a tavern, Shanran collected all kinds of rumors spreading through the boutique.
This place was a hub for the Crown Prince’s intelligence network.
How had it been in her past life? Aside from Roskella, she didn’t recall informants so openly known…
“Moderate won’t do. We have to make a complete mess.”
Benjamin whispered, enclosing Charlophe’s hand.
“Shall we go now?”
Guests would arrive soon.
Benjamin hinted at the timing.
Charlophe turned.
He led her at a leisurely pace. It felt like he was urging her on, yet his steps were slow.
“Follow me.”
When Benjamin took one step, Charlophe took half.
“Charlophe!”
Then—a familiar voice called out to her from behind.
A voice she knew well, yet had nearly forgotten.
Ah. I waited so long for this.
“It’s been a while.”
Father—she swallowed the rest of the words.
How long had it been since she last saw her father?
Even counting only this life, it had been a long time, but adding her previous life, it was decades.
‘Twenty years, maybe?’
His face hadn’t changed.
“You really haven’t changed.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean you’re exactly the same.”
Exactly the same. Because he was unchanged, it had been easy to cut off the ties that bound them.
“Y-Your Highness! I wish to speak with my daughter alone. Please, just for a moment… give us some space.”
You dare call me your daughter with that mouth. Was I ever your daughter?
Charlophe couldn’t cry. Her crooked lips kept forming an unnatural smile.
“Was I ever your daughter to you?”
If I had been, you shouldn’t have treated me that way.
Each word scraped her throat as she forced them out. Every syllable bitten off between clenched lips was heavy.
I told you. You shouldn’t have let go of my ankle.
“Has it been a little over two weeks since we last met?”
“……”
“A lot has happened since then, but I guess it takes something like this for you to finally show your precious face.”
Even when Mother died, he left, muttering about damned business.
When Charlophe was disowned, he didn’t even show that fine face of his once before erasing her from the family register.
She wasn’t disappointed by that. If anything, she was grateful he’d consistently forgotten her.
Pyotr grabbed Charlophe roughly.
“Do you have any sense at all, you wretch? The Tuteur family serves Her Majesty the Empress. Have you forgotten whom we serve?”
He whispered harshly, lowering his voice.
“What on earth have you and your mother got against me?”
Charlophe covered her lips with trembling fingers.
“I haven’t forgotten.”
“And you remember that, yet you brazenly keep the Crown Prince close to you!”
Charlophe called him quietly.
“Marquis Tuteur.”
“What? What did you just call your father?”
“At this rate, you’ll hit me.”
Only then did Pyotr snap back to his senses. Seeing his own hand trembling, he hurriedly lowered it.
When he looked around, people nearby were glancing their way. How shameful…!
Pyotr’s face grew redder and redder. Blue veins stood out on the back of his hand, making it look vicious.
“To be wandering around, clinging to the memory of your dead mother. Did you go visit your maternal relatives because you miss her so much?”
There are many cruel words in this world.
People are delicate and sensitive.
A few words can slice a person apart like knives.
“Have you forgotten where your mother’s remains are buried? I shouldn’t have just disowned you—I should’ve locked you up in the house! You howled like a madwoman for three days and nights, so I thought you must’ve missed her terribly… and behind my back you pull something like this?”
There had been times like that. Howling for three days and nights, collapsing from exhaustion, passing out, crawling across the floor to clutch her mother’s portrait and wail again.
“You weren’t there even then.”
You talk as if you were by my side.
“But you weren’t.”
You never once looked back, even when I was dying. Then you shouldn’t treat me like this.
“Let’s correct a few things. First, my mother’s remains aren’t there. I placed them where they should be, so you won’t find them if you look there. Second, don’t talk as if you did me a favor by disowning me just because I was an eyesore. You already calculated it, didn’t you? Which side would benefit more.”
Why do you still stand so shamelessly in front of me?
“You didn’t calculate this far, did you?”
Of course he hadn’t.
He might have calculated my value as marriage merchandise, but not this far.
“I couldn’t calculate it either. I couldn’t. Leaving everything else aside, why did it have to be that lunatic…!”
Pyotr cut himself off. His face, which had been flushed with anger, slowly drained pale.
At the end of his gaze stood Benjamin.
“So it seems you’ve always had a rough way with words.”
Benjamin trailed off, as if regretful. A lunatic, huh…
“I’ve heard a few times that some nobles call me that.”
He touched his lips, swallowing the rest of his words.
“But this is the first time someone’s dared to say it right to my face.”
“I knew I had a filthy temper, but…”
“……”
“Was my personality really so trash that you’d dare use such a term right in front of me?”
Benjamin idly played with Charlophe’s ear.
Her reddish hair tangled around his fingertips.
Toying with the curls, he let out a low laugh.
“I used to wonder whom your carelessness resembled. Looks like it was your father.”
Benjamin closed his hand around Charlophe’s shoulder.
“And yet you dare use that kind of term right before my eyes?”
Pyotr jerked his head up and shouted.
“It’s a misunderstanding, Your Highness! I only meant that my daughter, without a word—!”
A shout echoing through the quiet.
And Benjamin’s incongruous smile.
Charlophe felt a chill at the sight.
Benjamin murmured softly.
“I’m speaking. Don’t interrupt. I might just cut off your tongue.”
