Chapter 5

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—September of Charlotte’s (game) fifteenth year—\n

Lucas had been admitted to the Royal Academy of Ravitz.\n

The academy was a boarding school, so he would have to live apart from his family.\n

Charlotte, who didn’t want to be separated from her brother, was lonely and cried for a while.\n

She was sad and cried, but Lucas gently calmed her.\n

He promised her that he would come back often during the holidays.\n

Charlotte reluctantly agreed and then fell in love at first sight with her cousin Christopher. He had grown even more handsome and was addressing the new students at Lucas’s entrance ceremony, which her parents had forced her to attend.\n

Her father, who had renounced his right to the throne and his position as a member of the royal family, was reluctant to allow his daughter to become a member of the royal family as the Crown Princess.\n

He fully understood the responsibilities of a royal family member and wanted Charlotte to have a more ordinary happiness.\n

Overcome by Charlotte’s repeated pleas and enthusiasm, her father finally arranged her engagement to Christopher.\n

Because of her position as a Duke’s daughter, Charlotte had been educated to be a queen, but after the engagement, she took an even more active role in the education of a queen.\n

***\n

—Six months later, in April—\n

Charlotte’s beloved brother Lucas was no longer with her.\n

But she still had her loving parents who lavished their love on her, and her kind servants. There was also the queen’s education.\n

Every day Charlotte was happy and full of joy.\n

On that day, Charlotte was at her desk in her room, writing a letter to her brother.\n

But then, she heard the sound of someone running around.\n

…What could be wrong?\n

The door of Charlotte’s room was opened roughly without knocking.\n

“Miss! Please run away!!”\n

The one who jumped in was Michael, an old butler who always had a smile on his face.\n

Michael was drenched in sweat and had an unusually grim look on his face.\n

“Running away…Michael, are you okay!?”\n

Charlotte grabbed her handkerchief and rushed over to Michael.\n

“It’s the Stampede! There is a horde of demon beasts coming from the back of the house!…Hurry! Get to the Master’s study!”\n

Michael pulled on Charlotte’s hand, who looked at him in surprise and began to tremble, and started running.\n

Michael and Charlotte, struggling to move their tangled legs, ran towards her father’s study.\n

When they finally reached the study, they opened the door only to find her father holding her mother in his arms, tears streaming down his face.\n

“Charlotte—”\n

My father opened an arm and called out for Charlotte. My mother was in the other arm.\n

Charlotte jumped into one of her father’s arms, and while being hugged by her mother, was also hugged by her father.\n

“Neither the Knight Order nor the mages will make it in time.”\n

The familiar voice of her father echoing above her head was calm.\n

“I’ll stay here and buy as much time as I can, so Charlotte, you have to run.”\n

“No! Father…can’t we run away together?”\n

Charlotte shook her head as she clung tightly to her father’s clothes.\n

“Michael, take care of the rest.”\n

“Master…”\n

Michael nodded with a sad look and a small tremble.\n

“Charlotte. Your mother will always love you. Please tell Lucas the same. I’m sure you will…”\n

She kissed Charlotte’s forehead and smiled through her tears as she said her final goodbyes.\n

“Please be happy. I’m sorry I couldn’t be there to see you get married.”\n

She hugged me tightly and dropped a final kiss on my cheek.\n

“No–! Father! Mother!”\n

Michael’s hands, strong even in his old age, pulled Charlotte away from her parents, who clung to them, not wanting to leave.\n

“May God bless you, Master…”\n

In a trembling voice, while trying not to shed tears, Michael bowed his head to her fathers and then pushed Charlotte towards a hidden passage in the shadow of a bookcase.\n

Both parents were smiling as the door closed behind them.\n

“No!! Michael, let me go!! I’m going back to my father and mother!!”\n

“You can’t, Miss! Do you intend to trample on your parents’ feelings!?”\n

Michael’s tearful voice dragged me along as I continued to walk down the narrow passage.\n

Along the way, I could hear the terrifying screams of the demon beasts and the distressed cries of the fleeing servants.\n

“—Ah!! Everyone!!!”\n

The screams of my gentle maids were mixed in among them.\n

“We have to save Marianna…we have to save everyone…!”\n

“…No! No!!”\n

Why—\n

Why…why like this…\n

She couldn’t do anything…\n

Even though everyone is so kind…\n

Why couldn’t she help them?\n

Why!? Why did she have to go through this!?\n

Helplessly, Charlotte could only follow Michael, wiping away her unstoppable tears with one hand.\n

She continued to feel sorry for herself, for not being able to do anything about it.\n

How long had she walked?\n

In front of her, she saw a door with a light shining through.\n

Michael stopped in front of the door.\n

“Young lady. Please listen carefully. I am going to go out here and get help. You are to never leave this place on your own.”\n

“No…I can’t stand it! Don’t go Michael! Don’t leave me alone…”\n

Charlotte clung desperately to Michael’s arm.\n

“I have to let the outside world know about this.”\n

“It doesn’t have to be Michael…!”\n

“It’s okay. I won’t die. That’s the promise I made to your Father.”\n

“Michael—”\n

“Don’t worry. I’m not going to die. I won’t leave the Miss alone. So please don’t cry.”\n

Michael’s large, wrinkled hands wiped the tears from Charlotte’s large eyes.\n

“I will definitely call for help and return. So be safe.”\n

Michael left her with a smile and went to the other side of the door where she could hear the screams of the demon beasts.\n

“Michael!!”\n

Charlotte continued reaching for the closing door.\n

She sat there dumbfounded, continuing to stare only at the door.\n

She was sure that her mother and father would come for her, that Michael would come for her…\n

***\n

…How much time and passed?\n

The light outside the door seemed to dim and then brighten again, but she wasn’t sure.\n

I’m not hungry, and I’m not sleepy.\n

I don’t know if I’m alive or dead…\n

I don’t care if I die…I can go to the people who are kind to me.\n

Charlotte smiled as the door in front of her opened with a loud squeak.\n

The light was so bright that she couldn’t keep her eyes open.\n

Narrowing her eyes, Charlotte kept looking at the door.\n

“Charlotte!!!”\n

At the same time as she heard a familiar voice, and she felt a warmth that tightened her whole body.\n

“—Thank God you’re okay!”\n

A voice mixed with tears. He reached out his hands to Charlotte and hugged her tightly, and she hugged him back even tighter.\n

“…Big broth…is it….huh?”\n

“Yes! I’m so sorry I left you alone…It’s okay now…”\n

“Oh, brother—!!”\n

Charlotte cried while clinging to her brother. She kept crying so much that her large eyes seemed to be melting.\n

She kept crying for quite a while.\n

“Charl…?”\n

She lost consciousness while being wrapped up in the warmth of her beloved brother.\n

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~\n

T/N: I know it’s a dream, but this story sure took a darker turn (╥﹏╥)\n

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