ETDO Chapter 30

Startled, I quickly closed my eyes, pretending to be asleep.

After a few seconds of silence, when I heard no further sounds, I opened my eyes again. Arthur was lying on his side, his bare back towards me. I breathed a sigh of relief.

Looking at his back, I was afraid that this might be Arthur’s reaction if he ever found out the truth about Ethan and me. If he abandoned me, could I let him go?

I loved Arthur. That much was certain. Then what about Ethan? I wasn’t sure yet.

Putting aside the question of whether it was even reasonable to develop similar feelings for someone who looked exactly like the man I loved, I wasn’t even sure if those feelings were love.

And even if someone could assure me that it was love, it wouldn’t change the fact that it was still a problem.

Just as I was about to turn away, I noticed three small moles clustered on his right shoulder. They were tiny, barely noticeable, but they were beautifully arranged, like delicate brushstrokes. They seemed so… Arthur. I smiled.

‘Even his moles are beautiful…’

I was hopeless, seeing everything about Arthur in a positive light. Like husband, like wife. I pressed my naked body against his back and wrapped my arms around his firm chest.

─── ⋆⋅☼⋅⋆ ───

Charlotte walked briskly down the long corridor, her heels clicking against the polished floor. Despite her outwardly confident demeanor, with her head held high and a haughty expression on her face, she was nervously nibbling on the inside of her cheek.

It was a habit she had whenever she felt anxious. Trying to remain calm so no one would notice, she fixed her gaze on the back of the servant walking ahead of her.

After passing through the winding corridors of the Imperial Palace, they arrived at a large greenhouse. The servant bowed deeply and said respectfully,

“His Highness is waiting for you inside.”

She nodded and entered the greenhouse without hesitation.

The air was thick and humid, a peculiar scent unique to enclosed spaces where the natural flow of air was restricted. The smells of soil, flowers, plants, compost, and moisture were all mingled together.

Despite the stifling, unpleasant air, she walked on in silence. Although rare and exotic flowers were blooming everywhere, she didn’t spare them a glance.

A blond man, dressed casually, sat on a wide bench in the distance, his legs crossed. He didn’t turn around even as she approached. Charlotte bowed deeply and spoke first.

“I was told you wished to see me, Your Highness.”

The Crown Prince continued to gaze at a large hydrangea bush, its blue and white blossoms a striking contrast. A slow voice emanated from him, his back still turned.

“As a child of one of the Empire’s few great noble families, what do you think is the most appropriate way to show loyalty to the Empire and the Imperial family?”

“What?”

Her eyes widened. It was a completely unexpected question. He had interrupted her plans to leave the capital and clear her head, summoning her here for this riddle-like question?

“Well, I believe it is to diligently fulfill the duties expected of us by the Imperial family.”

A low chuckle escaped the Crown Prince’s lips. He asked again, his voice cheerful,

“Excellent. Then do you believe you are currently fulfilling those duties diligently?”

Charlotte was about to answer casually, but seeing his gleaming blue eyes, she unknowingly closed her mouth. A shiver ran down her spine, a sense of foreboding washing over her.

She recalled the Crown Prince’s gaze when he had asked her a similar question a long time ago. If she remembered correctly, it was when she had first visited the Imperial Place with Ethan shortly after their engagement.

It was an informal gathering of only the children of a few great noble families of the Empire, including the Crown Prince, the Beaufort twins, and herself. They were all around the same age, so such gatherings were common.

It was a bright spring day, with sunlight pouring down on the lush green lawn. They were relaxing in the Crown Prince’s large garden after their first fox hunt of the year, a favorite pastime of the Crown Prince.

Back then, the Crown Prince had asked his servant a similar, cryptic question. She couldn’t remember the exact details. In any case, for some reason, the Crown Prince had suddenly started whipping the servant mercilessly with his riding crop.

A horrifying scream escaped the poor servant, who was lying prostrate on the ground, trembling in fear, and blood splattered. The servant was almost unconscious when the beating finally stopped, only because Ethan had snatched the whip from the Crown Prince’s hand, unable to watch any longer.

No one dared to intervene as the Crown Prince, enraged by some perceived slight, flew into a rage after asking such a trivial question. He had seemed like a demon in human form.

Most members of the Imperial Family had the same striking features: brilliant gold-blond hair and bright blue eyes. Regardless of gender, they were all exceptionally beautiful, and people often assumed their personalities were as radiant as their appearances.

In fact, until that day, Charlotte had also believed that the common belief was true. If she hadn’t witnessed it with her own eyes, she would have thought it was a groundless accusation or a lie when she later heard about the Crown Prince’s madness.

His indifferent manner as he wiped the blood splatter from his cheek with a handkerchief, his blue eyes gazing at the blood-soaked servant without a flicker of emotion, as if he had merely crushed an insect, his indifference to the horrified expressions of those around him as if there were no other amusing pastime in the world.

The immense cruelty and violence hidden beneath his beautiful and gentle face had left a lasting impression on her. 

Why would a mere fifteen-year-old boy do such a thing?

She hadn’t understood the Crown Prince’s actions at the time, but as she grew older, she realized it had been a warning.

In front of the gathered children of the great noble families, the Crown Prince had wanted to assert his dominance, to remind them who their future ruler would be.

It was only a few years after William, the original Crown Prince, had died in an accident. 

The Emperor, who always valued character and competence above all else, hadn’t been pleased that his second son, who was a dissolute and violent young man, would become the Crown Prince instead of his firstborn. However, the Emperor had no other choice.

The incident was so deeply ingrained in her memory that she still couldn’t forget it. Feeling a cold sweat running down her back, Charlotte Wellington widened her eyes, trying to focus. She mustn’t forget who she was dealing with.

“Yes, I believe I am…”

“No! You’re not, Lady Wellington!”

The Crown Prince suddenly stood up, interrupting her before she could finish her answer. Charlotte was startled and swallowed hard. The image of the blood-soaked, trembling servant flashed before her eyes.

But contrary to his harsh words, the Crown Prince’s face wore a sweet smile, completely at odds with his tone. The jarring dissonance made her bite her lip.

“Your first duty is to be loyal to His Majesty the Emperor, and your second is to be loyal to me, the future Emperor. Yet you are now brazenly attempting to abandon that duty.”

“What? Your Highness, I would never…!”

As the startled Charlotte cried out in alarm, the Crown Prince calmly raised his hand. Silencing her with an elegant gesture, he spoke quietly,

“Of course, you haven’t. Not yet. But if you break off your engagement with Ethan and run away, it will amount to the same thing.”

Charlotte’s heart skipped a beat.

She had been severely reprimanded by her father, Duke Wellington, for openly arguing with Ethan at the party, where many eyes were watching. Her father had been furious, accusing her of not understanding the significance of their alliance with the Beaufort family.

How could she not know? She had spent more than ten years of her life focused solely on one man. If there was one thing she desired most in this world, it was Ethan. She wanted to possess Ethan himself, not just for the sake of their families, but for herself.

But lately, Ethan’s erratic behavior had been giving her a headache. She had been planning to leave the capital for a while to clear her head and gain some distance from the situation. 

But running away?!

“Duke Wellington is a man of great loyalty to the Imperial family and the Empire. But he is a figure of the fading old generation. In the future, his daughter and son-in-law will serve me. The union of the two most prestigious and influential families in the Empire is not something to be taken lightly.”

The Crown Prince turned to her, a bright smile on his face. He looked perfectly beautiful as if he were a painted portrait, but a shiver ran down Charlotte’s spine.

“This is, so to speak, an unofficial test of your loyalty.”

She trembled involuntarily. His paranoia seemed to be acting up again. As he always had, the Crown Prince was suspicious and wary of everyone around him. According to what Ethan had told her a long time ago, the Crown Prince firmly believed that everyone, regardless of who they were, was trying to deceive him.

“And in that sense, your first mission, Lady Wellington, is to marry Ethan.”