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Chapter : 12
Quietly Drunk.
Charloff wet her throat with whiskey.
The whiskey stung as it scraped down her throat. The lukewarm liquor washed through her esophagus, and her head grew hazy.
She had stepped outside to get some fresh air.
Walking along the promenade, a cold wind struck her skin.
She took another mouthful of whiskey and set the empty glass down.
When she clasped her hands behind her back and shook the empty glass upside down, it seemed the air inside rang faintly against the crystal.
“You don’t know how precious your body is. Charle, Charle, my child.”
It was something her birth mother used to say now and then, like a nagging reminder.
“Please, spare me the lectures.”
Charloff stood blankly, staring up into the empty air.
“It’s been a long time since I had such strong liquor.”
I learned to drink as late as I could, too.
So please understand my situation—waking up after dying only to find myself back in the past.
That was how Charloff let her mother’s scolding roll off her.
“When I drink, my head gets foggy, and at least in this moment, I feel at ease.”
Which meant that her life, as it was now, wasn’t easy at all.
Only after a long while did Charloff start walking again.
Even if her steps were unsteady, her posture remained straight.
“Charle?”
A languid voice called her name.
It was alluring, yet cloying.
Charloff stopped as she walked along the outdoor path.
Lights laid beneath her feet illuminated the night road.
Under the bright moonlight, a familiar figure emerged.
Charloff tilted her head slightly.
“Why are you out here, Charle?”
Benjamin stood to one side of the path with his hands clasped behind his back.
His gentle voice was soft and calm.
“I just wanted some fresh air.”
“I told you to drink in moderation. That smell of alcohol…”
Benjamin walked up and stopped in front of her.
“Why are you here alone?”
“To wish you a quiet day today, perhaps?”
It truly had been a quiet day.
The air in the banquet hall had grown ripe, and Charloff herself was soaked in drink.
“Did you have fun?”
“In my own way.”
“Then that’s enough.”
Her body felt languid. As Charloff let out a stifled breath, Benjamin chuckled softly and asked,
“Are you like this because I left you alone?”
“Why?”
“Why are you so careless right now?”
Keeping his right arm behind his back, Benjamin used his left to tidy the stray hairs at her temple.
Charloff stood there blankly, staring up at him. Benjamin lowered his gaze to meet her eyes.
“Why?”
he asked again in a gentle voice.
“I was just wondering what you were doing out here alone, Benjamin.”
Benjamin was a man clad in black in every sense. He murmured quietly,
“Just a moment.”
Pitch-black darkness draped itself behind him—and then engulfed him.
Benjamin turned his back and thrust his sword.
“Kh—kgh!” A dying scream rang out, followed by a wet slicing sound, as something was severed.
Darkness? A shadow? Something lay at their feet…
“It’s writhing like a worm.”
Benjamin muttered in an indifferent tone, utterly without remorse.
Raw killing intent radiated from him.
Venomous fangs—
Benjamin was like a poisonous snake.
With venom-filled teeth, he tore into his prey and swallowed it whole.
As he drove his blade in again, Benjamin spoke,
“The Empress sent an assassin, but I thought things would get messy if I dealt with it inside the banquet hall.”
The assassin died with his eyes still open.
Blinking through her haze, Charloff rubbed her eyelids with the back of her hand.
“Charle, you’re quite drunk, aren’t you?”
“No.”
“That expression of yours is far too calm right now.”
Benjamin sheathed his sword and straightened his clothes.
“Was it noisy, taking care of it out here? I tried to handle it quietly, you know.”
He wiped his hands clean and tossed the handkerchief onto the ground.
“The banquet’s almost over?”
“Yes. It’s wrapping up.”
“I’m done here too. Shall we tell the Windsors and head back to the mansion?”
Benjamin cupped Charloff’s cheek.
“Your cheek’s hot too. See? The alcohol’s getting to you.”
“Stop teasing me.”
“No, look. Your cheeks are red.”
It was time to go home.
Benjamin stroked her hair and whispered.
Maybe it was because her head was spinning.
All her senses felt blurred.
It’s okay now. Really, it’s okay. I’ll be okay too.
“Tomorrow… would you go somewhere with me?”
“Where to?”
“I’ll tell you tomorrow. It’s a place I don’t have the courage to go alone.”
Charloff began to walk slowly.
It felt as if the ground were sinking beneath her.
And at some point, her consciousness faded.
Benjamin lifted the sleeping Charloff into his arms.
His steps slowed, and even the soft rustle of grass grew quiet.
When they reached the Windsor carriage, the Windsor family members were waiting.
“Were you two together?”
“Yes. It just happened that way.”
“Please hand the child to me.”
Leandro reached out his arms toward Charloff.
Benjamin stared blankly down at her sleeping face.
Quiet.
Yet gloomy.
That expression strangely drew his gaze.
It was as if Charloff were wrapped in thorny vines, whispering for him to go down to the depths together.
Leandro held his breath as he watched Benjamin stand there.
Benjamin raised his index finger to his lips, signaling, Quiet.
Sleep peacefully. For just today, wouldn’t that be all right?
He carefully passed Charloff into Leandro’s arms.
“I’ll take the child from here.”
While everyone was absorbed in the banquet hall,
outside, several assassins died soundlessly.
And among them was Pyotr as well.
Pyotr stiffened, his face dark with shock.
The child who had changed so much felt unfamiliar. She had already become someone else.
His instincts told him—
bring that child back.
Even if by force—drag her back to her knees, or lock her away.
“I… I have to find that child again.”
Pyotr’s muttering drifted in the empty air.
“Is Charloff all right?”
Aster smacked his lips, looking flustered.
Charloff was dressed for going out and wore a beret on her head.
She had business today and was about to head out immediately.
“You’re awfully diligent from the morning.”
Aster scolded her as if to say, You tough little thing.
Charloff hurried to finish getting ready.
“What do you mean?”
“You looked like you drank too much, so I mixed you some honey water…”
“Uncle, how old do you think I am? Don’t worry about me.”
“How old? Charle, do you remember being carried in last night?”
“Carried? Don’t joke. I washed up and slept properly in bed.”
From the moment she stretched and got out of bed that morning, her body had felt refreshed.
She’d even bathed—her body smelled of soap.
She had changed into clean clothes too.
“Just drink the honey water first.”
Charloff drank the honey water Aster handed her.
“Your stomach’s just like Cosette’s.”
“Mother only liked wine. If she touched any other liquor, she’d almost always throw up.”
“Oh, Cosette… You really taught your daughter something nice.”
She used to wonder why her mother still drank strong liquor.
Only as she grew older did she understand.
When the bitterness made her retch, it felt as if the tightness inside finally loosened.
For that moment, everything that weighed on her became meaningless.
“Where are you off to so early?”
“Yes. I’m going out with His Highness.”
Aster narrowed his eyes slightly.
“Right after waking up?”
“Of course.”
“No, no… All right. Have a good trip. And pass a message to the Crown Prince—when you fell asleep like that, His Highness carried you to the carriage himself.”
Aster left, holding the honey water, muttering, “This isn’t right…”
“Miss, you’ve arrived?”
Roskella greeted Charloff. He set down a cup and looked at Benjamin, who was seated across from him.
“Your Highness, even if you’re busy, you should see your fiancée. The young lady is here.”
“She is?”
Benjamin closed his documents and gestured toward her with his eyes.
Roskella, on the opposite side, wiped a glass with a dry cloth,
while Benjamin, seated at the island table, quickly organized his papers.
The Crown Prince’s engagement had just ended, and the intelligence officers under him were busy as well.
“Would you like something to drink, miss?”
“I’m heading out soon, so I’m fine.”
Roskella set down the cloth.
“Our kind young lady has made a big decision. Is this engagement really all right?”
Benjamin paused and looked up.
“What do you mean?”
“Your Highness, just stay still.”
Benjamin shot him a look that said, Go on, say more.
“If the young lady’s being threatened, just shake the carrot. Or if you feel burdened because His Highness is here, tap the wineglass twice with a spoon. Then I’ll—”
“Enough.”
“You’re always so cold to me, Your Highness.”
Pretending not to notice, Roskella hung the glass upside down in the cabinet.
After neatly tidying the table, he looked at Charloff. His eyes seemed to say, How did you end up with a bandit like that?
“Congratulations on your engagement.”
Despite his troubled look, he offered sincere congratulations.
“So, you’re planning to go to the outskirts of the city today?”
“Yes. Benjamin, are you done with your work?”
“If we want to be back before sunset, we should leave now.”
Benjamin set aside the papers he’d been reading and handed them to Roskella.
Roskella gathered them up and disappeared through a hidden side door behind the table.
“Follow me.”
Charloff put on her robe and went outside.
Quite some time had passed since the engagement ceremony.
“Do you have an escort?”
“My mother’s family is very worried.”
She had been temporarily assigned a guard.
The knight assigned was a woman with long dark auburn hair tied tightly back.
“I’m Katarina.”
Katarina seemed taciturn by nature and spoke little.
Charloff pulled her beret low and climbed into the carriage.
“Where are we going?”
“I have to stop by an apothecary.”
“An apothecary? Are you ill? You could tell the family physician…”
“It has to be him.”
“The outer districts have poor security. Will it be all right?”
“It’s a place I used to visit often.”
The carriage stopped before a quiet alley.
“Is it here?”
Benjamin lightly tapped the old fence of a ramshackle house with the back of his hand, as if to confirm.
This was the shop of Aaron the apothecary.
It had been when her mother had no hope left.
‘Why are you crying alone?’
Aaron had appeared before the young Charloff like that.
She had wanted to try anything.
As her mother’s illness worsened, the medicine grew stronger—
all the more desperate. She had to try something, anything.
“It’s too late now.”
What should she say for a first greeting?
“I should have come earlier to greet you properly… but I stopped coming so suddenly.”
Only after death did she remember. After decades.
Charloff stopped before the old building and looked up at it.
Seeing it now, she could feel how desperate she herself had been.
“Who is it? Huh…?”
“It’s been a long time, Aaron.”
Aaron hesitated when she greeted him first.
“Did you come to have medicine made?”
“Not today.”
“Then why have you come all this way?”
For more than ten years she should have thanked him, yet she’d forgotten.
Only after she married and grew old and stiff, unable to move, did she think of him again.
“My mother passed away.”
Aaron held his breath.
“She went peacefully in the end. We received so much help from your shop, and I owe you greatly. Thank you for everything.”
Charloff ended her words stiffly.
“Charle.”
Benjamin studied her closely.
His gaze followed her relentlessly; she could feel its weight settle on her shoulders.
Benjamin placed a hand on her shoulder.
“For now, let’s go inside.”
He met Aaron’s eyes.
“This doesn’t seem like a conversation to have out here.”
