Charlotte
The day after I proposed to Charlotte, I found myself sitting across from her once more.
“Ahem…”
I cleared my throat and busied myself draining my teacup over and over. It was awkward. More than that—it was mortifyingly embarrassing.
I had done it in the heat of the moment, yes, but ever since then Charlotte’s behavior had turned aggressively forward.
Edward♡
And far too stimulating…
I had nearly lost my mind.
I had lived through multiple lifetimes, yet every single one of them had ended before I turned twenty. There was simply no way I could have had… that kind of experience.
Thump!
…
Yesterday had been far too much.
I had thought my sister Lirith’s constant clinging had built up some sort of immunity, but—
And she was definitely a little bigger, too…
Unlike Lirith, Charlotte was not family. She was unmistakably a woman. Holding myself back had nearly driven me insane.
In that moment yesterday, none of the “fucked-up” things that had happened to me crossed my mind. If anything, I had been the one about to do something thoroughly fucked-up.
I had almost taken the next step right then and there—but there was still a proper order to these things.
Even someone like me, who had died without ever properly dating, knew that much. We might not have time for sweet little dates, but the real thing should at least wait until after the wedding.
I wondered if she could sense the conflict churning inside me.
“~♪”
Charlotte rested her chin in both hands and simply gazed at me, looking thoroughly delighted.
Was she really that happy?
I had known she liked me to some degree, but I never expected her to be this overjoyed.
What I was about to say might douse that joy like a bucket of cold water, yet it still had to be said.
“Princess, I’m sorry, but there’s something I need to tell you. It’s…”
“What? Don’t tell me… No! Edward!”
“Pardon?”
Charlotte shot to her feet without even letting me finish, her face pale with panic.
“Y-You’re not taking it back, are you? I already told you—even if you change your mind, I won’t allow it, Edward!”
Of course I wasn’t. Not even a full day had passed. Why would I withdraw a proposal?
And looking at the devastated expression she wore right now, I doubted I could have done it even if I wanted to.
“What? Of course not, Princess!”
I rushed to deny it before her misunderstanding could spiral any further.
“Haa… As long as it’s not that, it’s fine…”
Charlotte let out a long, shaky breath of pure relief.
Had it really been that hard for her to trust me?
Even yesterday, right after the proposal, she had asked me again and again, pinching her own cheek to make sure it was real—that this was actually happening.
Part of that was probably because I was hard to believe in the first place… but yesterday’s confession had come so completely out of nowhere that I could understand her uncertainty.
“…Yes. But what I’m about to say might disappoint you, Princess…”
That was exactly why I had to tell her—the real reason I had proposed.
I only hoped she wouldn’t take it too hard.
“As long as you don’t say you want to break up, Edward, I can handle anything!”
Was she truly fine with everything short of a breakup?
I offered a quiet word of thanks for the atmosphere she had created, making it easier for me to speak.
“…Thank you.”
I was just about to begin my explanation when—
“Ahem… Then allow me to— Princess?”
Grab!
Charlotte suddenly took both of my hands and began gently stroking them.
I called out to her in surprise.
“Yes?”
She only looked at me as if to ask what the problem was.
“Um, my hands…”
“Ah… Is this not all right? You looked so anxious…”
Ah. So it had shown on my face.
“Ah… This is fine—no, this is actually nice.”
“Thank you!”
What exactly was she thanking me for? I was the one who should be grateful.
Holding her warm hands like this, I finally began.
“…Then I’ll tell you.”
And I laid out, honestly, the entire chain of events that had led me to propose.
.
.
.
Watching Charlotte’s radiant joy, I had wondered—more than once—whether I should simply keep quiet.
It would be a lie to say I never considered it.
But I could not deceive the woman who had accepted my confession. That would be pure deception. Nothing more than exploiting the heart of someone who loved me.
No—even if I confessed everything, I was already using her, wasn’t I?
To stand against Lee Hye-yeong, the one this world called the Hero.
To escape that fucking woman’s obsession.
To survive.
To use Charlotte so that the Imperial Family and House Frigid could join forces.
I had proposed for those reasons far more than out of any pure desire to love her.
It was agonizingly hard to say, but I told her the unvarnished truth.
“…”
She fell silent after hearing me out.
Did she feel betrayed?
How angry would she be?
Would she reject me now, from her side?
Even if she did, there was nothing I could do about it.
I could have lied and said I loved her. But as I said before—that would be deception. And a marriage built on deception would never end well. It might not reach the same horrific death as my previous life, but it still would not be a happy ending.
So I had laid everything bare.
Even if the next words from her lips were rage, rejection, or contempt…
Yet contrary to every fear—
“What… was that all?”
“Pardon?”
Charlotte reacted as if it were nothing of consequence.
That was all?
I was using her.
I wanted to live.
I didn’t want to be murdered.
I had simply run to her for shelter…
Squeeze!
“P-Princess?”
“Edward!”
Charlotte tightened her grip on my hands and called my name.
“Y-Yes!”
Her expression had turned faintly angry, so I answered with the crispness of a soldier snapping to attention.
No—more accurately, she was pouting.
“I’m not an idiot!”
“Yes… of course not.”
Right.
No matter how much she liked me, yesterday’s proposal must have seemed completely out of the blue. I had never once shown her any romantic interest. So if she was angry now that she knew the truth—if she said whatever she wanted—I would accept it.
I understood.
I really had intended to use her.
But instead of anger—
“It’s a little disappointing… but I already expected that your feelings for me… wouldn’t be the same as mine…”
She spoke with a lonely expression, as if she had prepared herself for exactly this.
“I’m sorry…”
I didn’t know the full depth of her feelings, but the truth was that I had never looked at Charlotte—or any woman—as a romantic partner. I had been too busy running away from them. So of course the feelings I held for her were practically nonexistent. They could never match hers.
All I felt was guilt.
“No! You don’t need to apologize!”
No need to apologize…
Instead, she was the one comforting me, worried I might be hurt.
Just the day before yesterday—when that crazy woman had appeared in front of me—I had believed every misfortune in this world was concentrated on me alone.
But maybe I could start thinking a little differently…
That a woman like this could like someone like me…
While I was lost in that thought, Charlotte spoke again.
“Still… if you really didn’t like me at all, you wouldn’t have proposed in the first place, right?”
Of course not.
If pure survival had been the only goal… I hated even thinking about it, but I might have chosen the first method Allen had suggested.
Beg that fucking woman. Fawn over her. Maybe then I could live.
But I would rather die than do that.
“Of course I could never dislike you, Prin—”
I tried to answer instantly so she wouldn’t misunderstand, but—
Tap.
“!?”
A single finger pressed gently against my lips, cutting me off.
“Charlotte.”
Charlotte?
“Would you call me Charlotte? It’s the nickname only my parents use… but I want you to use it too, Edward…”
With faintly flushed cheeks, she made the request and finally withdrew her finger from my lips.
God, I was going to lose it.
Every little action, every word from her was so unbearably cute I thought I might die.
Not even her full name—her nickname.
We weren’t even married yet. Was it really all right for me to casually call the Imperial Princess by her private nickname?
“If you truly feel sorry and grateful… then calling me by my nickname will make us even!”
Even?
How was I supposed to refuse that?
“Th-Then… Charlotte-nim?”
Of course I granted her request.
Perhaps because it was the first time I had ever used a woman’s nickname, my voice trembled slightly—but I still said it.
This was more embarrassing than I expected…
“Ah♡ It’s already wonderful, but please drop the ‘nim’ too!”
“That’s…”
She was still my superior, still the Imperial Princess. Dropping the honorific entirely felt…
“Yes?”
Ah, to hell with it.
I had already fallen for her completely.
“Char…lotte?”
Just as she asked, I called her by the nickname—voice still a little shaky.
And then—
Squeeze!
“Ah♡… Edward, you know…”
Charlotte gripped my hands even tighter, her expression pure rapture.
“I was more afraid it would end as a one-sided love…”
“Like you said, it might still be one-sided right now… but…”
“This is a chance, isn’t it? And at the very least…”
“No one else will be able to lay a hand on you.”
“That person you’re so afraid of… the Hero…”
“I won’t let her touch even a single finger of yours.”
“I swear it.”
“…”
Hearing that unshakable vow, I couldn’t help but feel moved.
So this was a world of reversed gender roles.
As if I had become the princess, and the prince was…
No—more like I had become the prince receiving a vow from the princess…
Anyway, with her beside me, I felt as though we could overcome any hardship.
But before that warmth could even settle—
Charlotte suddenly called my name again.
“Edward…”
Tug!
“P-Princess?!”
W-Wait a second!
I called out to her in pure panic.
Because Charlotte had started undoing the buttons of my shirt.
“Charlotte!”
“Ah—yes. Charlotte…”
“Yes! Edward!”
Whoosh—
“H-Hey, Charlotte…?”
“Can’t we just… stay like this?”
Even the densest person on earth would have understood what she wanted right now.
However—
“Ahem! I feel the same way as you, Charlotte, but…”
“Th-Then!”
Far too fast.
“C-Could we maybe take it a little slower?”
If the Imperial Princess and the second son of a Grand Ducal house jumped the gun this hard, both the Emperor and the Grand Duke might grab their necks and collapse on the spot.
“Aww… Look at me. I was being so inconsiderate toward you… I won’t force anything…”
“Th-Thank you.”
Realizing what I had meant, Charlotte stepped back with clear disappointment.
I was disappointed too.
To be completely honest, I was already in a rather… excited state…
Sssss…
Hm?
I felt something like a chill. Must have been my imagination.
The room was warm enough.
While I was having that thought—
“Besides… even if I wanted to do it right now…”
Charlotte narrowed her eyes slightly as she spoke.
Was something wrong?
Had she taken offense because I turned down a woman’s invitation after all?
“Charlotte?”
Her expression seemed about to darken, so I called her name.
And then—
“Ah, no, it’s nothing! Edward!”
“Yes?”
She shook her head and called my name again.
Then she reached out and closed the distance once more.
And—
Whoosh—
She pulled me into a fierce embrace.
“Ah, this is so wonderful! I love you!”
“Uwah! Hey, did you understand what I just—?”
I had barely calmed down! This was dangerous!
“As long as we don’t go any further, it’s fine, right?”
What kind of logic was that?!
“Edward♡!”
After that, it took me a very long time to free myself from Charlotte’s arms.
…
Nothing… happened.
Really.
Truly.
