Chapter 037
Never hang from the ceiling.
Don’t climb trees.
Don’t go up to strange places.
Do as you’re told.
Charlotte gave Stephanie too many restrictions. If she broke even one, she had to return to the castle immediately.
After waking up and wandering around the market, Stephanie couldn’t do anything since she had no money. She could only watch while drooling.
Crunch.
“Wow. This is really a new world. I’ve never tasted something so delicious!”
“Don’t get it all over yourself. Theo! Don’t sneakily grab another one!”
Charlotte sharply pointed it out. Theo slowly lowered his hand, and Charlotte let out a sigh.
She didn’t even realize how the past two weeks had gone by. She had made up her mind to leave, but she hadn’t even brought up the topic.
She hadn’t seen Lorencia either.
According to the head maid, Lorencia was staying quietly in the annex.
The nanny, on the other hand, was always out.
“Sigh.”
How did things end up like this?
Stephanie watched the two kids running around the market like wild horses.
Cassius sipped from a straw. In truth, sweet things weren’t to his taste.
He had bought it because Charlotte wanted to try it, and he was curious to see how she would react.
Cassius and Charlotte strolled slowly through the street. If not for the knights escorting them, people would have crowded around, eager to talk to them.
“…They have so much energy. How can they run around without getting tired?”
“Maybe Theo’s stamina is improving thanks to Stephanie.”
“I think so too.”
Charlotte agreed naturally.
Theo was a competitive child. He wanted to be faster, go farther, and be stronger than Stephanie.
That was his goal lately.
His cheeks turned red from running under the sunlight. It was a sight that would have been unimaginable before.
A faint smile spread across Cassius’s face at the thought.
All of these changes started because of Charlotte.
Cassius glanced at her.
Her warm green eyes shimmered in the sunlight. The simple yet elegant dress she wore, chosen according to her changing preferences, made her beauty stand out even more.
Even the people in the castle who had been avoiding her were now drawn to her.
Charlotte probably didn’t realize it yet.
Records about the “Divine power” (a rare phenomenon) were as rare as records about dragons.
The imperial family often ignored Cassius’s messages, but there was one request they accepted—sending him records about “Divine power” and dragons.
However, there were no remarkable records to be found.
As Cassius was lost in thought, Charlotte spoke.
“Tomorrow, Stephanie and Theo are supposed to start their lessons, right?”
“Yes.”
Charlotte hesitated for a moment.
“…Have you met the teacher?”
She asked nervously.
Cassius shook his head.
“Not yet.”
He hadn’t felt the need to.
“They did reach out a few times, saying they wanted to meet and discuss Theo’s progress.”
Charlotte swallowed hard.
“…I’ll meet them.”
Cassius glanced at her.
Her face looked tense.
“If that’s what you want.”
It was finally time to face what she had been putting off.
Charlotte made up her mind to meet Lorencia in person.
Without any notice or explanation, Theo’s lessons were canceled.
Which meant Lorencia suddenly had plenty of free time.
For the past two weeks.
“Why were the lessons canceled all of a sudden? They even told me not to go near the main building.”
Lorencia asked with clear frustration, pressing Janice for answers.
Janice clicked her tongue.
She had tried everything to get into the restricted library.
But each time, she was blocked under the excuse of the Duke’s orders.
It was obvious they were hiding something, but she had no way to find out.
The lower-ranked servants coming in and out of the library were all tight-lipped.
Whenever the topic of the library came up, they would immediately stop talking.
“I don’t know anything.”
Yeah, right. What a lie.
Janice rubbed her tired face with her palm.
When had things started to change in the Duke’s household that she didn’t know about?
‘It was from the moment she suddenly changed.’
Janice frowned and responded coldly.
“I don’t know. The people around the duke are keeping quiet.”
“If you don’t know, what are we supposed to do, Janice? Even that little brat isn’t saying anything?”
Janice hesitated.
It had been a long time since she had stopped being involved with Theo. The head maid was the one looking after him now.
“I haven’t seen him in a while.”
“Sigh… Just what on earth is going on?”
Lorencia puffed up her cheeks in frustration.
“I’ve requested a meeting with Duke Cassius, but he keeps rejecting me.”
Janice bit down on her lip.
“They say he’s busy. But can he really be this indifferent to his own little brother’s affairs?”
She glanced at Lorencia.
There was no doubt—Lorencia was an outstanding beauty, the kind who could easily draw people’s attention.
Janice had been confident in that.
The problem was… Charlotte was a beauty too.
She was just as stunning as Lorencia.
In the past, her heavy makeup and ridiculous outfits had hidden it, but lately, she had been growing more and more beautiful.
If it was just about looks, Lorencia might not be enough to catch Cassius’s attention.
“Maybe this is actually a good thing.”
Janice muttered under her breath.
“What?”
“Why not create a more dramatic first meeting?”
“…A dramatic first meeting?”
