Chapter 12
“Did she die without eating a madeleine? Why is she buying so much?”
It was questionable whether the woman could carry that much, but what was even more strange was that the princess was making the purchase herself, without any attendants.
‘What is she doing here alone?’
This was why bad people were crawling around like insects.
Until just a moment ago, she had been unaware that she was the prey in a slave trade, yet Charlotte was leaving with boxes of madeleines in both hands. Noctem clicked his tongue quietly.
Was it possible that the guard had let his guard down for a second? He looked around, but there was no one who could even be considered a guard near her.
‘What else can I do?’
It would be unthinkable for a princess of the Empire to be harmed in the capital’s streets.
Noctem muttered as though making an excuse and followed her.
It was pure coincidence that he ended up picking up her handkerchief.
This woman was really hard to figure out.
She was clumsy, leaving handkerchiefs around, yet she couldn’t possibly be the villain they said she was.
‘This is why I’m guarding her.’
Noctem mumbled again, setting up another ridiculous excuse, and naturally began following her. Though he considered it protection, Charlotte had no idea about this.
Fortunately, her carriage was nearby.
‘Is she going home now?’
Just as Noctem was about to relax, the florist handed her a bouquet of white flowers.
Upon seeing that, Noctem’s expression subtly hardened.
Noble women didn’t give flowers as gifts. Giving gifts was the prerogative of men, and if a noblewoman did it, it was considered shameful.
But there she was, holding a bouquet of flowers.
Without caring about the gazes around her, she climbed into the carriage with the bouquet in her arms.
Noctem’s eyes naturally followed the carriage. Whether he should be relieved or not, the carriage was heading in the direction of her mansion.
Now he really should turn his attention away…
‘Whose bouquet is that?’
That question gnawed at Noctem. It couldn’t be helped; this was strange.
It was obvious that whatever Charlotte Daphsine, the infamous woman of the Empire, was doing, it would be a crazy act.
Maybe it was something trivial to stir the social scene once more.
‘Or maybe she bought it on purpose, realizing I was following her.’
Given that Charlotte had been pestering Duke Daphsine about her marriage with Noctem, this hypothesis also seemed plausible.
Noctem nodded slightly. For some reason, a faint smile appeared on his lips.
…Of course, realizing his strange expression, he quickly stiffened his face.
‘Hmm, maybe it’s dark magic.’
Despite his words, Noctem knew very well that it wasn’t. He had undergone inspections and even purification rituals several times at the temple just in case.
Yet, when he looked at Charlotte, strange emotions that even he couldn’t understand bubbled up.
“Tsk, what good does that do now?”
Noctem quickly cut off the budding emotions within himself.
After all, she was the daughter of an enemy faction, and he already had a fiancée.
Shaking off his thoughts, he trudged back to his carriage.
He could have gone straight to his mansion since it was near the imperial palace, but Noctem soon abandoned that thought.
With his current restless mood, he feared he would destroy a dozen training dummies in frustration.
“Hmmm. Should I visit that place after all?”
After much contemplation, he finally decided on a destination. It was none other than the mountain located on the outskirts of the capital, a place where no one ever visited.
It was the place he always went to when he wanted to be alone, and it was where he cared for the only living creature he looked after.
Thinking of Kai, whom he had last seen about a year ago, Noctem made his way towards the mountain, never imagining that someone other than Kai would be there to meet him.
The reason Charlotte bought a bouquet and madeleines before returning to the Duke’s mansion was simple.
‘It’s faster this way.’
His grave wasn’t buried near the Duke’s mansion or anything like that. It was just that the portal hidden in Charlotte’s room connected to the place where his grave was.
Charlotte had sent Anna away, who offered to help with her dress, and told her not to come in until further notice.
If it had been the old Anna, she would have persistently asked for the reason and held on, but in this world, there was no maid brave enough to speak such words to Charlotte.
Regardless of how they interpreted Charlotte’s words, all the maids and servants turned pale and desperately nodded their heads.
At this point, Charlotte figured that if she shouted for mercy, they’d be too scared to come in, so she entered the room alone.
Although it was the same room she had lived in before, the interior was completely different.
Unlike the simple things she used to like, this version of Charlotte was the epitome of luxury.
She first pulled back the red curtains adorned with clunky jewelry, squatted down, and began to feel the wall behind the bed.
Then, as if her hand had been sucked in, it vanished into the wall.
It was a common magical trick.
“Good thing it’s the same.”
Charlotte sighed in relief.
She had accidentally discovered this when she was six years old—an actual “secret passage” that wasn’t even listed on the mansion’s blueprints.
‘It looks like they built it as an emergency escape route when designing the mansion.’
Seeing that the portal was located near the outskirts of the Empire, close to the checkpoint and a mountain, it was clear that this passage was designed for secret use.
Also, judging from the fact that the Duke had no clue about this passage when he gave her this room, it seemed that even he didn’t know about it.
‘I’m glad I’m putting it to good use.’
Charlotte stood up, holding the madeleines and bouquet.
Unlike when unlocking the secret passage, she stood and walked towards the wall, and nothing obstructed her.
She passed through the wall and walked steadily down the long tunnel.
After walking for about five minutes, a bright light began to shine from afar.
She leaned forward, peeking toward the light.
The entrance was a large old tree in the middle of a field. After dusting the dirt off, she smiled at the familiar view of the field she hadn’t seen in a long time.
Her eyes searched for someone she missed, but she soon shook her head.
“…There’s no way.”
In this world, that person wouldn’t have been helped by her.
She felt a slight bitterness in her mouth. Although she had adapted well over time, there were moments like this that sparked a strange homesickness.
However, Charlotte shook her head and dismissed the thought. After all, that person had already died in this world.
“This is all regret.”
Even if she were to meet them, this version of Charlotte had lived a different life, so that person would only be cautious, not welcoming.
In her dreams, ‘Charlotte’ never visited places like this.
Sighing, Charlotte dispelled her emotions and resumed walking.
Noctem’s grave was deeper in the field than this.
The tall grass that reached her calves itched at her legs, but she walked silently toward the place where Noctem’s grave lay.
Finally, she arrived at the small, tidy field.
“Long time no see, darling.”
Nothing was present where she stood, but Charlotte acted as if his grave were right in front of her.
“I should clear the grass. It’s gotten too long. It wasn’t like this when I visited in the spring.”
Charlotte placed the bouquet and madeleines before her and began pulling up the grass. Her delicate hands quickly turned red. Despite the itchy and prickling skin, she continued clearing the grass until the area was tidy.
Smiling as she looked at the now neat space, Charlotte sat down and began to carefully trace the barren ground.
“I read the last letter. But I still haven’t found the answer.”
…
“I tried to search for it here, but it’s not easy. It almost feels like you’re hiding it on purpose. Or maybe, that’s exactly it?”
…
“How did you know… I thought if I read that letter, I might go to you. Was that why you sent me here? Is it God’s will that I fulfill my purpose?”
Her face, which had been calm, was quickly filled with tears.
“But Noctem, you know…”
…
“Before, I was so scared of fate… but now that I have a wish, I find myself longing for that fate instead.”
Whether she ended up as the villain, scorned by everyone, or truly branded as a witch and burned at the stake, she now felt she could accept the fate that God gave her.
As long as, in exchange, she could meet you just once more.
Charlotte let out a faint, hollow laugh.
“That wish itself might be too much for me.”
After all, she wasn’t the shining heroine; she was just a passing villain.
She gazed sadly at the empty space before burying her face in her hands. She didn’t want to cry, but tears began to drip onto her hands.
Noctem, she missed him so much.
“I can’t go where you are… What should I do? I said I would come tomorrow.”
She regretted reading the letter and not sleeping instead. It would have been better that way.
“I’m sorry. I love you… I’m sorry, Noctem.”
It was all her fault. Everything, all of it.
Charlotte pressed down the words of apology that were about to burst out of her.
She didn’t want to continue speaking such gloomy words on the anniversary of his death.
She wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes. After that, she started talking about more mundane things.
She answered some of the questions he had written in his letter.
After a while of talking to herself, she stood up, feeling the setting sun.
She gave a small farewell to the empty space before putting on her robe and turning her body around.
But then…
“…!”
Noctem Afros. He was there, in the desolate place where no one should have been.
“H-how…?”
Charlotte squeezed the words out with a choking voice. There was no way he could know about this place. Her eyes trembled violently, and at the same time, a strange hope rose within her.
Could he be her husband, Noctem, just like she had inherited the memories of the villain “Charlotte”?
Like a scene from a novel, could he possibly remember her?
“Why are you calling my name in a place like this?”
However, Charlotte’s hopes quickly vanished.
“Tell me, Princess. Why were you calling my name here?”
Noctem frowned and pressed her. Charlotte looked at his face, and then once again scanned the place where Noctem’s grave had been.
‘Ah…’
After three encounters, Charlotte was now certain.
The footsteps that were impossible to recognize without seeing, the unfamiliar atmosphere, and his sharp tone, his strangely low and rough voice.
Most of all, the cold gaze he had always held from their first meeting.
The eyes of the Noctem she knew no longer held any of the familiar emotions she recognized. At least, not the ‘Noctem’ she knew.
From the moment they met at the wedding, and even after meeting the female lead, Noctem had always looked at Charlotte with the same emotions.
Though he pretended not to notice, Charlotte could feel more sensitively than anyone else the emotions Noctem held for her.
It was love. His infinite affection toward her.
Yes, that was clear.
‘But now…’
Love? A hollow laugh escaped her lips.
She wasn’t sure what emotions filled his eyes, but they were certainly not love.
Maybe she had already noticed but had been denying it up until now. She had hoped that maybe he was the same Noctem, her husband, just unable to remember, but…
‘You are not the Noctem Afros I know.’
Just like Anna wasn’t Anna and Adrian wasn’t Adrian.
You, too, are not my husband, but someone else.
“Your Excellency, it’s not him.”
Charlotte said, struggling to speak. Despite being sure in her heart, it wasn’t easy to say it to his face, someone who looked exactly like her husband.
“What?”
Noctem’s voice returned, full of disbelief.
Charlotte clenched her fists.
“The person I was talking about, Your Excellency, is not you.”
Her response was more certain than before. Noctem chuckled at her answer, but then suddenly became serious.
“Then, are you saying there is another Noctem in this empire besides me?”
“…”
“Someone who a Princess would call ‘darling.’ A ‘Noctem’ who looks like me?”
Charlotte’s expression froze coldly, like a doll, as she watched him smirk.
The various expressions she had worn while looking at the empty space were now taken from her, as if they had been stolen.
“…Just think of it as the ramblings of a mad villainess.”
That was the most understandable thing she could say in that moment. It sounded like the crazy mutterings of a villainess with a mental illness.
But Noctem grimaced even more, roughly pulling up his hair.
“Ha. I see. So that’s it.”
He nodded as though he couldn’t believe it. Then, suddenly—
Noctem sharply tugged at her robe. Her hair, which had been tied up, loosened and flew in the wind.
Their eyes met.
“You should stop with these unpleasant actions now, Princess.”
“…I’m sorry.”
She silently bowed her head toward Noctem.
“I’ll make sure this doesn’t happen again.”
“…”
“I won’t be confused anymore.”
At those words, Charlotte’s heart seemed to drop and be crushed.
Noctem loosened his grip on her robe.
Charlotte glanced at him one last time, fixed her robe, and walked past him.
“I’ll excuse myself first.”
Once again, Noctem couldn’t stop her.
In the wind, the white camellias in the bouquet swayed pitifully.
