Chapter 44
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Chapter 44
Despite the Gallery's frigid air, Charlotte felt as though her entire body was ablaze. She had never courted anyone before, but this was the first time she had confessed her love to someone her heart truly desired.
"...."
After her bold confession, Charlotte bowed her head deeply and began fidgeting with her gloves again. Just as she often failed to consider what came after when she dreamed and planned things like receiving dance invitations from gentlemen, she had little idea what would happen now that her confession was complete.
'Why isn't he responding at all?'
After she uttered those final words, it felt as though centuries had passed. Without even knowing what answer she hoped to receive, her heart began to race faster with each passing moment.
In that instant, Leopold's subdued voice shattered the silence.
"Charlotte, do you understand that I could disappear at any moment?"
At his cold words, Charlotte's shoulders flinched.
"Moreover, it's already been nearly two months since I vanished."
Leopold continued speaking in a calm voice, as though he were merely commenting on the weather. Charlotte's gaze traced the line of his jaw before meeting his eyes. The pupils that had grown turbid as he watched Philip and Charlotte dance were gradually regaining their clarity, now gleaming with a serene green.
"Every night, I awaken in profound darkness. When I speak of profound darkness, Charlotte...it is not the warm darkness beneath the moonlight that we often share."
Leopold slowly closed his eyes. Each morning, the moment sunlight touched his body, he sank gradually into a darkness he had never witnessed in life. A darkness as black as pitch. A place with no wind, no moonlight, nothing at all. Into a thick darkness so impenetrable it was impossible to tell if it was void or illusion.
"...Standing motionless in that darkness where I cannot even see my own two legs or two hands, waiting through hours that feel like centuries...."
Leopold's sincere voice echoed against the Gallery's white walls.
"At some point, I hear your voice."
At his words, Charlotte's eyes widened. Leopold too opened his eyes again, offering a faint smile. That smile, half-concealed by the darkness, was beautiful yet carried an air of profound loneliness.
"The moment I hear your voice, the darkness that enveloped me grows thin as a lie, layer by layer. The void I had been staring at becomes my eyelids, and when I push those eyelids open...you are always there. That is how I have been able to find my way to you every single night."
Charlotte let out a small gasp of realization.
'So when His Highness said he wanted to keep one secret to himself—that he could always reveal himself wherever I was—he meant....'
If his words were true, then such a method had never existed in the first place. Instead, he was saying that his soul's awakening from darkness was only possible because of her existence.
"But with each passing day, it becomes harder for me to open my eyes in the darkness, searching for your voice. Which means, if what you've always told me is true—that I'm alive somewhere—then...."
Leopold's gaze met Charlotte's astonished eyes. With dignified composure, he took a step closer to her. As his fragrance drew near, Charlotte felt the air around them shimmer and tingle with an almost pleasant tremor.
But Leopold's next words froze that exhilarating atmosphere in an instant.
"It means the body that has been keeping my soul tethered all this time is now dying."
"...."
A gray light, like the walls of the Gallery, flickered across Charlotte's hazel eyes. Her face, caught in the moonlight, appeared deathly pale.
"I know, Charlotte. That I'm confusing you."
Leopold exhaled a sigh tinged with self-deprecating, cold laughter similar to before.
"Even though I understand my own circumstances better than anyone, when I saw you dancing with another man, and you were so beautiful.... I felt a petty jealousy."
Leopold fell silent for a moment, gazing at Charlotte quietly. In that stillness, she could read the sorrow and faint trembling woven into his slanted smile.
"But Charlotte, you.... You deserve to love someone who can share in your midday passion, your evening tenderness, and even your dawn sorrow."
Leopold spoke in a voice both gentle and resolute. Despite the warmth in his eyes, Charlotte felt a cold ache spreading through her chest. His words came from a place of care for her, spoken in that distinctive tone of Leopold's—warm and dignified, which she adored. Yet somehow, she didn't want to hear what he was saying.
"So what Your Highness is trying to say is...."
Charlotte spoke haltingly.
"That since Your Highness cannot remain by my side forever, I shouldn't have given you my heart in the first place?"
Charlotte's voice trembled more than she intended. She could have anticipated that his feelings might not match hers, but she never expected to hear that her heart was wrong.
"You told me before. That no matter what happens, you have no choice but to remember me.... But I too—no matter what form you take, I have no choice but to long for you, don't I?"
When Charlotte spoke in a voice tinged with plaintive reproach, Leopold's hand moved slowly toward her cheek.
"Charlotte, I simply wish that you would not be hurt."
Yet Leopold's hand froze in the air before it could reach her cheek.
"I know you feel compassion for my circumstances. I know you enjoy spending time with me. But you must spend more time with those who belong to your world. Otherwise...."
Charlotte felt her chest tighten as though seized by invisible hands. Then, as if Leopold understood every corner of her heart, he continued in a tender voice.
"Charlotte, I... I fear that as the boundary of death between us becomes clearer, you will suffer."
"...."
Charlotte gazed quietly into Leopold's clear eyes. Despite his warm expression, he was urging her to confront reality with piercing clarity. Her heart growing increasingly confused, she asked urgently.
"Then, what of Your Highness's feelings? Did you not appear here because you wished to see me?"
Leopold's eyes wavered for a moment, then he answered with a faint smile.
"...Charlotte, you are to me...."
His voice grew softer still, as if to soothe Charlotte's mounting emotions. At that moment, a familiar voice rang out cheerfully from the Gallery entrance.
"Miss Charlotte? Are you here?"
As Charlotte turned her head, her eyes met those of Philip Oslo, who was walking toward her and Leopold from the side. Philip strode toward Charlotte with long steps.
"Are you well? You disappeared so suddenly after the dance ended that I wondered if I had committed some rudeness. Perhaps my question startled you...."
Philip, unaware of Leopold's presence, spoke with flushed cheeks. Then, turning to face Philip alongside Charlotte, Leopold whispered softly to her.
"Charlotte, you should return now."
"...."
Charlotte stood in silence, unable to respond. Her heart still raced from Leopold's words.
Anxious at Charlotte's silence, Philip hastened to speak.
"Ah, Miss Charlotte. If you're concerned about your reputation being compromised by us being alone together, there's no need to worry. The second part of the Ball has already begun, so everyone will be coming to the Gallery shortly."
Leopold surveyed Philip, who wore an embarrassed expression, before whispering to Charlotte once more.
"I will simply vanish once dawn breaks, but this man can remain by your side for a lifetime and protect you and your family."
At that moment, as if he had heard Leopold's words, Philip spoke with a bashful expression.
"I, that is... would you return to the Ballroom with me, Miss Charlotte? There's still the final dance of the first part remaining..."
"..."
Charlotte remained silent, her eyes beginning to fill with bewilderment and uncertainty.
"Charlotte, do not waste your precious heart and light on a friendship with an invisible specter..."
Leopold extended his hand to Charlotte in a slow, deliberate motion. Charlotte grasped his hand with a sorrowful expression and spoke.
"It's not a waste, Leopold... ah."
But Charlotte had to stop herself. To Philip's eyes, she would appear as nothing more than a woman reaching into empty air, speaking to herself. Indeed, Philip's expression toward Charlotte shifted to one of slight confusion.
"Pardon? Miss Charlotte, what did you just say...?"
Philip took a step closer to Charlotte. He seemed to have mistaken her extended hand as acceptance of his invitation to return to the Ball.
Leopold lowered his soft eyelids and stepped back further, placing himself between Philip and Charlotte.
And he whispered tenderly near Charlotte's ear.
"Go with him, Charlotte."
His warm and sweet breath—perceptible only to her—tickled the nape of her neck. Unlike his smile, Leopold's voice had grown dark and subdued. For a moment, Charlotte thought she felt the soft lips that had once touched her forehead—those lips warm as spring earth—brush against her cheek.
"...Ah."
Philip's hand was now nearly touching Charlotte's. As Leopold, who had been holding her hand, slowly began to fade, her hand descended gradually through empty air toward Philip's.
The moment Charlotte's hand touched Philip's, another man appeared at the entrance of the Gallery. It was Harrison, with his red hair and golden-tinged eyes, who had come searching for Philip.
"Ah!"
Charlotte suddenly cried out and collapsed. The subtle sandalwood fragrance Leopold had left behind faded, replaced by the sharp, metallic stench of blood that assaulted her senses. Worse still, multiple male voices erupted in loud shouts near her ears.
"No, Miss Charlotte!"
Philip caught Charlotte as she crumpled into his arms, then shouted toward Harrison at the Gallery entrance.
"Harrison, come quickly, hurry! Here, Miss Augusta has collapsed!"
'No, this can't be happening....'
Charlotte lifted her head, trying to shake off the mysterious shouts ringing in her ears. Yet instead of Leopold's longed-for warm, gentle grayish-green eyes, she found herself staring into Philip's cold blue gaze—sharp and crystalline as ice water.
'Your Highness....'
And then the world began to spin before her eyes.
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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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