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Brought to you by Valir Scans! To ‌‌support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
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Chapter 20

‌‌‌

"I... well, that is..."

This time it was Armand, not Charlotte, whose entire body went rigid with shock. Charlotte caught the sound of Bianca ‌‌‌and Collin's voices drifting through the brush—no more than three paces away—and promptly dragged Armand deeper into the foliage.

"Hah... hah..."
‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌
After confirming that Bianca and Collin had passed beyond the thicket, Charlotte turned back to face Armand, who remained frozen in place.

"I am His Highness Leopold's lover. We met by chance last summer when Prince Leopold visited London for the English King's birthday celebration."

At Charlotte's composed declaration, Armand's entire frame stiffened.

"His Highness's... lover?"

Armand's expression shifted to one of considerable shock and ‌‌‌disbelief. Clearly, he found her claim utterly implausible. Charlotte wrinkled her nose slightly and began reciting the story she and Leopold had ‌‌rehearsed together.

"His Highness and I met at a gallery exhibiting new paintings. He approached me first, and during his time in London, we spent considerable time together."

Armand's ‌‌‌eyes swept over Charlotte from head to toe, and his jaw dropped in utter disbelief.

"I cannot believe it. A lover unknown even to me, his oldest friend and most trusted confidant? And with a woman like you, no less?"

Charlotte felt a sting to her pride at his rather insulting remark. She was well aware that she possessed no extraordinary beauty, but she had not wished to hear such words from Armand's lips.

The sting of his words, however, eased her guilt over the deception, and she began passionately substantiating her supposed relationship with Leopold.

"Surely a gentleman of His Highness's standing would never divulge intimate moments with his beloved, regardless of how much he trusts ‌‌a confidant?"

At Charlotte's retort, Armand's expression grew even ‌‌more astonished. No matter how cunning he might be, a lady speaking so brazenly of "intimate moments" was enough to catch him off guard.

Yet innocent Charlotte, unaware of the ‌‌true implications of her words, continued, drawing upon descriptions of lovers she had read ‌in novels.

"His Highness and I have spent many nights together—we share a bond of considerable depth and ‌‌‌intimacy, you understand?"

Leopold had instructed Charlotte to tell him about ‌‌their nighttime walks together. But Charlotte reasoned that whether she had taken a walk at night or spent the evening with him, it amounted to the same thing. She continued her account. ‌‌‌

"Would you like me to explain in more detail? During His ‌‌Highness's stay in London, after the sun set ‌‌‌each evening, he would seek me out. He would recite Shakespeare's sonnets to me, or we would spend entire nights conversing about various matters. It was also ‌‌during those times that I learned Armand was His Highness's secret knight."

In that moment, a scene from the previous night surfaced in Charlotte's memory. When she had feared being interrogated by Armand, Leopold had gently brushed her hair back while sitting on the bed.

Charlotte's cheeks flushed crimson as she began speaking ‌‌‌to Armand.

"Once, while I was sitting on the bed with His Highness, he tenderly...."

"Ah, no—that's enough!"

Armand's face suddenly reddened, and he waved both hands in protest. Even as a secret knight, he truly had no need to know about the "intimate moments" Leopold spent with his lover.

Armand spoke urgently.

"You don't need to explain in such detail. Just that passage you recited earlier is enough for me to understand that His ‌‌Highness trusts you. ...I simply, the fact that you are ‌His ‌Highness's lover is truly...."

Armand, still reeling from the shock, gripped his head between both hands.

'Unlike the other Augusta sisters, she's merely an ‌‌ordinary young lady with common brown hair and a face that's only somewhat pretty. His Highness abandoned even his gentlemanly honor ‌‌for such a woman?'

Fortunately, Armand's last shred of chivalry prevented such thoughts from escaping his lips.

Completely drained of strength, Armand ‌‌‌‌could no longer support himself and collapsed onto a nearby tree trunk. Charlotte, seeing that Armand believed her account, finally exhaled a breath of ‌‌relief.

"Phew...." ‌‌

Charlotte ‌‌‌adjusted her disheveled dress. Then she stepped closer to Armand and spoke.

"I... Armand. His Highness said that if I recited that passage, you would realize that I am his lover. This was in preparation for moments ‌‌‌‌like this, when we encounter each other without ‌‌His Highness present."

Once the shock and urgency ‌faded, Charlotte's natural curiosity resurfaced.

"But His Highness never explained how this passage came to be connected with you. Is it simply a ‌‌‌secret code that the two of you agreed ‌‌‌upon?"

Still reeling from the revelation, ‌‌‌‌Armand looked up at Charlotte. There she stood in her yellow-tinted dress, her deep chestnut hair cascading down. Perhaps because he had just heard that she was Leopold's lover, her face—which had seemed merely innocent before—now appeared somewhat wise and mature.

Armand ‌‌spoke slowly.

"...I was born in France but raised in England, yet I was thoroughly ignored by the other noble children. ‌‌It was a time of tension between France and England, after all."

As Armand finally spoke, Charlotte, who had been growing anxious, carefully sat beside him. Armand continued, his composure somewhat restored.

"Because of that, I was excluded from high society, and in gatherings of foolish young nobles, they tormented me under the guise of punishing a Frenchman.... At ‌‌‌that time, I didn't even possess a physique intimidating enough to frighten anyone."

Charlotte felt genuine sympathy upon ‌‌hearing Armand's unexpected childhood story. She knew all too well the sting of being ostracized for being different from others.

"To think you endured such things.... I'm truly sorry, Armand...."

Seeing Charlotte's sincere response, Armand's voice grew notably grave.

"Moreover, whether it was youthful recklessness or not, I couldn't bring myself to tell my parents that I was being bullied by my peers. Rather, I thought that as the sole heir to my house, it would be better if I simply disappeared—that way, I wouldn't tarnish my family's name."

"Ah...."

Charlotte sighed. Then Armand lifted his head and brushed back his lustrous auburn hair.

"Just as I was about to make such a terrible choice, the only person who extended a hand to me was ‌‌His Majesty Leopold." ‌‌

Only then did Charlotte notice that Armand's eyes were ‌‌shining with a soft brown light.

"As you well know, Charlotte, His Majesty Leopold, despite being foreign royalty, commanded the respect of all England's nobility. From childhood, his exceptional brilliance and charisma were renowned throughout all of Europe. Furthermore, at that time, England's own king had volunteered ‌‌to become his godfather."

Armand shook his head slightly, as if he ‌still couldn't believe it even now.

"That such a ‌‌‌‌person would extend his hand to someone like me—I ‌could only regard it as impossible. Our circumstances were far too different."

Suddenly, Armand continued in a warmer voice than before.

"At that moment, His Majesty quoted Shakespeare and said exactly what you just said...." ‌‌

Charlotte watched as Armand recalled his anecdote with Leopold, a gentle smile playing at the corners of his mouth. ‌‌‌‌

Then Armand whispered.

"The greatest joy in life is cultivating friendship ‌‌‌‌‌with another person, and becoming someone who gives strength to one another. So accepting his friendship is a way of bringing joy to his life."

Charlotte felt her heart swell without realizing it. She understood perfectly the profound emotion Armand must have felt upon hearing those words while ‌‌he was being cast aside.

Charlotte recalled Leopold's tender gaze ‌‌as she spoke.
"...That does sound like something Your Highness would say."

Charlotte remembered Leopold's smile, how he had praised her even when her knowledge of etiquette was lacking. And whenever she spoke with uncertainty, even in the midst of his jesting, he would tell her in a serious voice, "I think you're a clever and witty lady."

"Exactly, Miss Charlotte. He possesses the ability to see what others cannot."

Armand spoke ‌‌‌‌‌as he watched Charlotte wear a smile similar to his own.

"So it seems I must trust you for now. It's still astonishing that an ordinary woman like you is the partner His Highness chose...."

Then Armand ‌‌‌‌recovered his mischievous, childlike smile as he spoke.

"Just as the diminutive boy of his ‌‌‌teens became a skilled secret knight ‌‌in bayonet combat, perhaps you too are an ugly duckling destined to become a swan. As always, His Highness must have discovered a beauty ‌‌‌‌that others fail to perceive."

Armand leaned back, his muscular frame on display as if to prove ‌‌his point. His tone had returned to playful and carefree. Charlotte stopped thinking of Leopold and rolled her eyes at Armand's teasing remarks.

Armand spoke with a laugh.

"Very well ‌‌then, I shall share with the ugly duckling lady the latest developments regarding His Highness's search. So if you know anything about His Highness, tell me. Many people long ‌‌‌‌for him, after all."

Despite Armand's playful tone, his expression ‌bore the poignant smile of one who shared in another's sorrow.

---------------
Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
---------------