Chapter 23
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Chapter 23
Fate.
That enchanting word, spoken in Leopold's unhurried voice, quickened my heartbeat.
"Is that truly the reason, Your Highness? Why I'm able to see you...?"
My eyes gleamed with shy delight. Leopold thought my pupils resembled the elegant moonlight he'd glimpsed before sleep—that perfect orb hanging in the darkness. Only when gazing at the full moon, only when meeting Charlotte's eyes, could he escape the chains of the past and abandon his schemes for the future. Her light illuminated nothing but this present moment for him.
Yet instead of voicing this truth, Leopold replied with a slightly mischievous smile.
"Perhaps it's a curse with a ghost, or friendship with a prince—but all of it is some form of fate, after all."
"No, that's not what I meant at all! Not a curse or friendship, or—or that kind of fate...!"
I protested with a disgruntled expression. Leopold raised one eyebrow and turned to face me, as if asking, "If not that, then what fate binds you and me together?"
"What I mean is, perhaps I..."
I stopped mid-sentence. Now that I thought about it, the only fate I could imagine besides friendship or misfortune with a ghost was the fate of lovers. Startled by my own careless words, I was shocked at myself.
"Your Highness, I—well, now that I think about it, autumn really does seem to be in full bloom, doesn't it?"
My tone was awkward to anyone's ears, but with my face flushed crimson, I abruptly changed the subject.
"Soon this forest will be filled with mist, and the sky will be covered with gray clouds. That's what autumn in England is like, after all. Even that could be considered the fate that autumn possesses, couldn't it? Ha, ha..."
I glanced nervously around and laughed. Leopold lowered his raised eyebrow and responded to my new topic.
"True enough. Fortunately, the sky is clear tonight."
I exhaled with relief.
"Yes, Your Highness Leopold. Clear nights like this are rare indeed. Oh! Look here. On a night like this, we could see the entire Brentwood forest from atop this great tree."
Charlotte pointed at a tall tree standing a few paces away from them and spoke.
"I've never climbed a tree before. I'd like to try scaling this one—would it be acceptable, Your Highness?"
Charlotte embraced the tall tree and grunted as she asked. Leopold, observing that she had already placed her foot on the trunk, answered with an amused tone.
"It seems you've already made up your mind to climb it anyway."
"Hehe, you're right. I was just asking to see if I could get your help, Your Highness."
Charlotte answered cheerfully, sticking out her tongue. Leopold laughed heartily and then helped her climb the tree.
Shortly after, Charlotte managed to settle herself on a small branch.
"Wow! I was right, wasn't I? I can see all of Brentwood from here."
Charlotte's eyes sparkled as she gazed down at the distant village, the Augusta Family Grounds, and the forest path she had walked with Leopold.
"Do you see that brush down there? That's where I spoke with Armand Rochefort today. When I told him I was your lover."
Charlotte spoke to Leopold, who had settled beside her. Leopold extended his long arms behind her back, holding her steady so she wouldn't fall. Charlotte felt the warmth of his embrace around her waist as she spoke.
"The fortunate thing is that Armand Rochefort ultimately believed I was your lover. At first, he doubted me, saying it made no sense, but...."
Charlotte decided not to tell Leopold how Armand had scrutinized her from head to toe, saying she was "a woman like you." She didn't want to remind him of the fact that she wasn't suited to someone as noble as he.
"Then when I mentioned that we've spent several nights together, he finally believed me. He said I didn't need to say anything more—honestly, what a strange whim."
Charlotte shrugged as she spoke. In that moment, she felt Leopold stiffen. Leopold asked in a low voice.
"...What?"
"Oh, didn't you say so, Your Highness? That I could tell Armand Rochefort everything truthfully except for our first meeting? So that's what I told him. Since we take night walks together almost every day, it's correct to say we spend nights together, isn't it?"
Charlotte blinked her eyes innocently and looked at Leopold. Leopold let out a hollow laugh and spoke to her.
"Spending nights together, Charlotte. When Armand hears that, he will naturally misunderstand...."
Leopold shrugged his broad shoulders as he spoke, then paused. He suddenly remembered that most English ladies knew nothing whatsoever about physical intimacy or its expressions until the moment they faced their wedding night.
'I appear to be on the verge of being reproached by the philandering Armand for lacking gentlemanly conduct.'
Leopold, unlike Charlotte, recalled Armand—who understood all too well what it meant for lovers to spend the night together. Leopold was ordinarily consumed by his work and showed no interest whatsoever in the ladies who approached him. Thus, Armand must have received quite a shock upon learning that Leopold had spent the night with a lady without so much as a marriage proposal.
Charlotte urged Leopold forward.
"I beg your pardon? What misunderstanding does Armand have?"
Leopold gazed at Charlotte, who sat perched upon a branch with her body leaning far forward. Her innocent eyes made her resemble a young fawn stretching its neck out of pure curiosity. Leopold found himself exhaling another hollow laugh despite himself.
"Ah... no, Charlotte. That is a matter for another time, or rather, let us not speak of it at all."
In England's high society, a lady risked being branded as immodest merely for showing the slightest hint of knowledge regarding matters between men and women. Leopold attempted to soothe Charlotte, whose face flushed so easily, but she refused to relent so readily.
"But surely one does not simply abandon a conversation mid-sentence. The two things that frustrate me most in this world are shortbread eaten without tea, and when someone leaves off speaking without finishing their thought."
As Charlotte leaned further forward to press Leopold, an ominous sound emanated from the branch that bore their combined weight.
"Charlotte, wait—"
Leopold wrapped his arm around Charlotte's waist and drew her toward me. Yet because of the subject matter at hand, he could not embrace her firmly. His fingertips burned as though they had touched flame where they made contact with her.
Charlotte shifted her body further back as she spoke.
"Then please, tell me. Why does it cause such misunderstanding that Your Highness and I spent the night together...?"
In that instant, with a sharp crack, the branch upon which they sat bent dramatically.
"Your Highness, wha—"
"Charlotte!"
Crack.
With a final cry, the branch snapped with a dull sound. Of course, Leopold and Charlotte, who had been sitting upon it, plummeted to the ground. Fortunately, the moment their bodies lost the support of the branch beneath them, Leopold caught Charlotte in his arms with lightning-swift speed, cradling her securely against his chest.
"Ah..."
Leopold exhaled deeply, holding Charlotte close. Considering that this was Charlotte's first time climbing a tree, it was a mercy that they had been sitting on a branch that was not particularly high. Leopold felt the cold, soft earth against his back and shoulders.
Nestled in Leopold's arms like a carefully wrapped gift, Charlotte suddenly jerked her head up.
"Good heavens! Your Highness! Are you all right?"
Charlotte let out a sharp cry and looked down at Leopold. At the sound, a few birds that had been sleeping in the forest fluttered their wings and took flight.
"Charlotte, I'm fortunate that I exist only as a spiritual form right now...."
Leopold, who had absorbed the full impact of her fall, spoke in measured tones. Save for his slightly disheveled hair, he remained as noble and composed as ever, as though nothing had happened at all.
"If you had a physical body, you would have been charged with injuring the prince...."
He chuckled and muttered something under his breath. Only then did Charlotte, who had been utterly shocked, let out a deep sigh of relief.
"Oh... I'm terribly sorry! I should have remained still...."
Even as Charlotte apologized, she found herself falling back into Leopold's firm embrace. The sweet scent of sandalwood tickled the tip of her nose—a fragrance that allowed her racing heart, quickened by the shock of the fall, to find its natural rhythm once more.
Charlotte closed her eyes tightly and spoke.
"Yet it's truly remarkable. Your Highness appears as a phantom to everyone else, invisible to all, and yet you can embrace me like this and shield me with your entire being...."
I gazed at Leopold's broad frame enfolding me and whispered softly. My entire body was curled up snugly within his firm embrace.
"Then to me, Your Highness is no different from someone with a physical body? I can feel the warmth of your skin like this...."
Charlotte suddenly reached out and traced the arm that held her. Beneath his shirt, she felt the heat and firm muscle of his arm. As though enchanted, her fingertips glided along his long arm, across the broader muscles of his shoulder, and along the sharply defined line of his collarbone.
Charlotte's dreamy eyes met Leopold's face. Leopold, too, was gazing down at her in his arms. Charlotte murmured in a daze.
"And I can feel the softness of your lips, the sensation of your firm shoulders, the warmth of your embrace...."
Her gaze traced the masculine line of his jaw and came to rest upon Leopold's lips—soft and delicate, tinged with a rosy hue like fine French porcelain.
"Everything feels so vivid...."
Charlotte's fingers moved of their own accord toward Leopold's lips. She felt their softness, their gentle yielding beneath her touch. A sudden desire overwhelmed her—to draw closer to his smooth lips, illuminated by moonlight.
'Ah, how soft and beautiful...'
In that moment, my gaze collided with Leopold's eyes, burning with a warm greenish-gray light. His pupils, which ordinarily appeared endlessly clear and transparent, now held a dark luminescence like a spring sky laden with storm clouds as he regarded me.
Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org