Chapter 70
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Translator: Wjin
Chapter: 70
Chapter Title: Let's Get Engaged
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"Let's get engaged, Charlotte."
Charlotte was so flustered by Joseph's calm declaration that she tried to pull him to his feet, but he wouldn't budge an inch.
After a brief contest of wills, Charlotte had no choice but to speak up as Joseph stubbornly held his position.
"...W-what are you doing? Why this all of a sudden?"
"What do you mean, what am I doing? Don't like it?"
"It's not that I don't like it. It's just so sudden. Engagement? What engagement?"
Joseph peered into Charlotte's eyes with his quiet black ones, then murmured softly.
"I've been thinking about it for a while. How could I make you believe I'd stay by your side forever."
"...Ah, that... W-what are you talking about? Of course I believe you."
"Only halfway?"
"Huh...?"
Charlotte flinched and looked at Joseph.
He wasn't wrong.
She did believe him, but since he was still so young... she figured he might leave to find his own path someday.
Having lived one full life already, her conclusion was that people were ultimately alone.
Essentially, humans were... well...
Joseph watched patiently as Charlotte struggled for a response, then spoke again.
"What if we became family?"
"...Family?"
Charlotte rolled the unfamiliar word around in her mouth.
She already had a family.
She had a dad and brothers.
But like any family, they weren't the ones she'd chosen, nor had they chosen her.
She'd never even imagined a family formed through marriage.
'Family.'
Charlotte rolled the word around in her mouth again, slowly.
Honestly, leaving aside the shock, when she thought about it calmly, becoming family with Joseph didn't sound bad at all.
No, it sounded good.
'...It's not like he's actually proposing marriage or anything. It's more like... a declaration. In front of everyone, saying I'm precious to him, and he's precious to me.'
Once she framed it that way, it felt joyful, grateful, wonderful.
It carried a weight worlds apart from the careless talk of engagement from someone like Prince Ricardo.
Sensing her momentum soften, Joseph placed the flower crown on her hand.
"These flowers are Everfalls, the national flower of Cheiker Kingdom, grown only in the High Priest's garden."
"...Everfalls?"
"Flowers that never wilt. So I thought it would be perfect to give you this crown and tell you."
Joseph's boyish voice and his gentle words of comfort made Charlotte cover her face with both hands without thinking.
By the time she realized her eyes were stinging red, it was too late. Tears rolled down her cheeks.
"...Hic."
'...Is it because I'm in this nine-year-old body? Why have I been so teary lately?'
Even as she tried to rationalize it objectively, the tears showed no sign of stopping.
She was grateful.
Family.
She was thankful that Joseph had noticed the emptiness in her heart for things she'd never had, and even more so that he didn't dismiss it as pathetic but promised steadfastly to fill it.
No one had ever spoken to her like that before.
Just hearing it made the hole somewhere deep in her chest feel completely filled.
Charlotte nodded quickly, and the audience, who had been holding their breath, erupted in raucous whistles and applause.
Only after her nod did Joseph rise, pulling her into a tight embrace.
She kept wiping her damp eyes with her fingers and whispered to him.
"Hey, Joseph."
"Yeah?"
"Thank you."
Joseph nodded first, but then shook his head, his hair still soft and gentle even after all the matches.
"I told you to find a way to tone down that gratitude a bit."
"Yeah. But still. Thank you."
"...You really didn't get what I meant at all."
Joseph shook his head again and pulled a handkerchief from his pocket.
The first time they'd met, it had been filthy with dirt, but this one was quite clean.
Charlotte took it and dabbed her eyes. Then, fiddling with it, she suddenly buried her face in Joseph's chest and burst into loud sobs.
She'd tried not to, but she couldn't help it.
The reverse scale, they called it.
From the tale in Han Feizi: among the countless scales on a dragon's body, one alone was its vital spot, and the dragon would kill anyone who touched that sensitive scale.
"Hic, sniff, hic..."
The sobs wouldn't stop, making her wonder if "family"—the word Joseph had used—was her reverse scale.
It hit right at the core.
A part of her she hadn't even realized existed.
And perhaps, deep down, something she'd truly wanted without knowing it.
Joseph's speech had been amplified for all to hear, so his confession to Charlotte and her response rang out to the entire audience.
At first, they were stunned by the absurd pairing of Joseph and Charlotte, but after hearing the whole exchange, no one dared speak rashly.
How could a conversation between a twelve-year-old and a nine-year-old feel so heartfelt?
More than a few had reddened eyes.
Lo... long live!
A small voice broke the silence, and the hesitant crowd joined in one by one, cheering again.
Blessings upon Lady Charlotte and Lord Joseph for their shining future!
Long live! Long live!
The Emperor listened to the roaring cheers as he gazed at Joseph and Charlotte standing before him.
He'd simply thought them admirable and impressive.
But now he saw Joseph was more than that.
The boy had a sly, political cunning about him.
'...Charlotte Setia, huh.'
Not a bad choice.
No, too perfect a choice—that was the problem.
The Emperor chuckled and clapped.
He was honestly looking forward to what came next.
Charlotte walked slowly offstage with Joseph amid the pouring applause.
The crowd chanted their names fervently until the two were out of sight.
As she reached the door, Charlotte suddenly felt like she'd glimpsed something in the stands and turned back.
'...Huh?'
Sky-blue hair.
A girl with vivid sky-blue hair.
Just like black or platinum hair in certain bloodlines, it was a unique color passed down in that lineage—sky-blue being one of them.
And not from this country, but the neighboring Serres Kingdom's royalty.
As Charlotte scanned the stands more closely for what she'd seen, someone suddenly hugged her tight.
"Charlotte!"
"...D-Dad?"
"I'm so proud of you, so impressed. I never imagined you'd bring such glory to our house."
Charlotte looked up at Jerome in surprise, then back at the stands, but the crowd was rising one by one, making it impossible to spot anyone.
'...It wasn't a mistake.'
As Charlotte tilted her head, Jerome scooped her up in his arms.
"...Dad?"
His sudden show of affection flustered Charlotte, and Jerome seemed a bit embarrassed too—his ears were red as he shook her up and down excitedly.
Suddenly, with Jerome holding her, she thought of Joseph.
Looking down from her perch, Joseph gazed back with a perfectly calm face.
For some reason, seeing him like this felt embarrassing.
He had a dad and a mom too.
It was like she was flaunting her happiness in front of him.
'...What do we do? Wanna head back together?'
She mouthed the words, and Joseph met her eyes, flashing a wide grin.
Charlotte's eyes widened in shock, freezing in place.
She hadn't seen Joseph smile that many times before.
And every time, it stunned her with its beauty.
But this smile was angelic—if angels existed, surely they'd look this happy and radiant.
'Is it because he won the tournament?' she wondered, just as Joseph nodded toward the top of her head.
She reached up instinctively and touched something soft.
Velvety flower petals.
'...What.'
Joseph was smiling like that because he'd proposed to her, and she'd accepted.
'Is it that great? I'm... I'm the great part.'
Charlotte thought Joseph acted differently from how he seemed sometimes, and her chest tickled as she looked away.