Chapter 17
‘No way. Charlotte Daphsine Afros, get a grip.’
Charlotte poured cold water on her own thoughts. That Grand Duke could not be her husband.
Yes, this world was the world of a novel, so miracles could happen anytime.
But miracles never came easily to Charlotte. If she wished and wished for him to truly be Noctum, God would give her the exact opposite.
Just as it had always, always been.
Besides, when she fell into this world, she immediately remembered her entire life. But this world’s Noctum did not.
He had lived a completely different life, and when he looked at her, he didn’t even blink.
So… it must not be him.
‘No. Even if it were, nothing would change.’
Charlotte was someone who must not dream of Noctum Afros.
Her fate, if tangled with his, ended in tragedy where one of them had to die.
Either she would die, or he would.
In her last life, he died in her place. Charlotte never wanted to repeat that.
And she didn’t want to die either. Her life now was practically living on, carrying her dead husband’s life forward.
So she wouldn’t throw that life into an obvious, tragic ending.
The best choice here was to avoid him and quietly return to the countryside.
Until the original story ended—or maybe for the rest of her life.
If she never saw him again and only missed him alone until she closed her eyes, that would be her best, most peaceful end.
She stepped out of Noctum’s arms and lowered her head.
Her heart, which had been in turmoil, settled at that decision.
Noctum, who had no idea what she was thinking, glanced at Charlotte slipping out of his grasp and sighed inwardly.
He had probably overreacted.
To smooth over the awkwardness, he opened his mouth.
Luckily, he had something to talk about. He took Charlotte’s handkerchief from his pocket.
“This. You dropped it last time.”
“…Pardon? Ah…”
Charlotte turned her head without thinking, then let out a small gasp at the familiar handkerchief.
She’d been looking for it. She must have dropped it.
She hesitated and accepted the handkerchief he offered. Their fingers brushed for a moment.
“…”
“…”
Neither spoke, but the back of Noctum’s neck and Charlotte’s ears flushed red again.
Charlotte quickly pulled back and tucked the handkerchief into her sleeve pocket.
Noctum glanced at her and grumbled lightly.
“Well… no ‘thank you’?”
“O-oh, thank you, Your Grace. Thanks to you, I found it.”
“Hm. Seems there’s a lot to thank me for today. You’re not planning to settle it with words only, are you?”
“…What?”
What was that supposed to mean? Not understanding at all, Charlotte finally lifted her head from staring at the ground.
At the same time, her eyes met Noctum’s head-on—violet eyes more beautiful than the finest amethyst.
The displeasure that had been there the first time was completely gone.
Under that shining gaze, Charlotte’s green eyes wavered helplessly. She felt short of breath for no reason.
“Umm…”
She must not get involved with this man any further. She opened her mouth to say she would send a separate gift.
But Noctum spoke first, blocking her words.
“The ducal house sponsors a famous restaurant in the capital. You can repay me with that.”
“…What?”
Why was His Grace deciding this?
Charlotte’s face showed dismay at his high-handed tone.
Regardless, Noctum only looked at her with a shameless expression, even raising an eyebrow as if to ask, “Is that not okay, too?”
“It’s not impossible. I’ll send a word. You can go with your fiancée.”
“…The thank-you should be from you, Lady.”
“That doesn’t mean I should go with you. Don’t worry about it. I’ll reserve the entire place. You and Lady Goldstein can just enjoy yourselves.”
She could already imagine his reaction, but Charlotte drew a clear line first.
‘No. I absolutely can’t let this go further.’
The moment Noctum brought up a “thank-you,” a red warning light flashed in her head.
If she got any closer to the Grand Duke now, something irreversible would happen.
“No, Lady—”
“There, I can see my carriage. Thank you for escorting me this far. Please accept my thanks properly later. I’ll send a letter to the grand duke’s residence about the details soon. Then, excuse me.”
Noctum tried to say more, but this time Charlotte cut him off.
She slipped out from under the umbrella and ran to her carriage. The rain still poured, but her robe had dried and could block that short dash.
The coachman stared hard at Noctum under the umbrella for a few seconds before the carriage finally pulled away.
Noctum stood there blankly until the carriage turned into a dot and disappeared.
“…Damn this engagement.”
He muttered a small, vague curse.
***
Meanwhile, when Charlotte reached the duke’s mansion, she went not to her room but first to the duke’s office.
In her previous life she had never once gone there first, but this life was a little different.
Whenever she wanted to make trouble, she went to the duke.
Maybe that’s why—when the servants heard she was heading to the office, their faces all went pale.
Every time she came out of a talk with the duke, her nerves were at their limit.
Even the knight guarding the office gasped when he saw her.
Charlotte had no intention of correcting their misunderstanding. Ignoring their worried looks, she went straight in.
“Tsk. What is it now?”
The duke asked without looking at her, his face full of displeasure.
She was used to that level of coldness. Calmly, she spoke.
“I need to give a thank-you gift. Please reserve the entire Amor Restaurant for one day on any date.”
Thud!
At her flat “notice,” the duke slammed his pen down and looked up, his face dark with anger.
“I knew you were out of control, but now you’re reaching there? Do you even know what day’s sales there are? If you did, you wouldn’t say such things!”
“You haven’t even asked for whom. Please calm down.”
“Calm down? What are you doing, thanking the Emperor? Or the Grand Duke?”
“Right on the mark. Grand Duke Afros. I need to thank him, Your Excellency.”
Even at his harsh words, Charlotte didn’t twitch an eyebrow and answered in a dry tone. It was like her former wild-child self—and yet subtly different.
The duke studied her calm face and swallowed a low groan.
‘Changed tactics, has she? I really don’t like it.’
It was hard to think of her as his daughter. Now she looked more like a living doll.
In short, something felt off. Clicking his tongue, he spoke again—voice back to its usual, collected tone rather than yelling.
“Ahem. Explain. Why are you suddenly thanking the Grand Duke?”
“He helped me a little on the road today and returned my handkerchief. He asked for a meal at the restaurant as thanks. I have nothing better to offer. I told him to go with his fiancée.”
“Ha… foolish girl.”
He scolded her immediately.
Charlotte had expected that. In fact, she knew all too well he would say exactly this.
‘Next he’ll say: You should have flirted and seduced him—’
“You should have flirted and seduced him! And you hand it over to that fiancée like an idiot? I’ve never seen anyone think so poorly!”
Right. There it is.
The duke hadn’t changed. How could anyone be so transparent?
Charlotte swallowed the laugh bubbling up.
“Is that so? But, Your Excellency, I’m leaving soon, am I not? What good would seducing him do?”
“You—!”
He was struck speechless for a moment. She had a point. And at this stage, her leaving was better for him.
There was no way the Grand Duke would truly fall for Charlotte, and if there was even a chance, he needed to get rid of her quickly.
‘I will never hand my title to that girl.’
“…Fine. Since you have a fiancée, that’s best. Well done. If you went with him yourself, there would only be more strange rumors.”
“Yes. Exactly.”
It was a whiplash-fast change of stance, but Charlotte simply nodded.
The embarrassment was entirely the duke’s. After a few awkward coughs, he issued a dismissal.
“Fine. I’ll inform the restaurant. Tell me the date when it’s set. If there’s nothing else, you may go.”
“Yes, Your Excellency.”
She bowed lightly, turned, and left the office.
On the days she’d come before, the office had been filled with angry shouting—but today, it was truly quiet.
The duke wondered whether this was a good sign or a bad one, then suddenly realized something.
“Since when did that child start calling me ‘Your Excellency’?”
No matter how much he showed he disliked it, Charlotte had always used the word “father” as if to defy him.
But not today. For some reason, that pricked at the little conscience he had.
And then—knock, knock—the sound at the office door neatly wiped that feeling away.
