# 403
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403
“Father, how could you leave me alone…!”
It was Asuka who ran into Archduke Farnese’s residence, huffing and puffing.
However, Archduke Farnese greeted him calmly.
“Asuka, you’re finally here. “I was planning on calling you soon.”
“…yes?”
Asuka was taken aback by the Archduke’s reaction.
“You have to attend the dinner today, so get ready. “This is an important occasion before His Majesty the Emperor, so please refrain from acting.”
“…Weren’t you going to go without me?”
Asuka’s eyes narrowed. I began to wonder if this was how he would react after hearing that he was going to cause trouble.
However, Archduke Farnese answered without wavering.
“I thought so. “I thought it would be uncomfortable for you to attend.”
“You just decide what you want without even asking? “Actually, I’m not embarrassed, am I?”
Of course, Asuka hates uncomfortable positions, and so far, it has been rare for Archduke Farnese to ask Asuka anything in detail. So it’s a cavil.
Archduke Farnese did not respond to his cavil.
“But Grand Duke Rinosa was curious about you. He asked if I would attend the dinner together. “I said I would probably attend.”
“Rinosa… Archduke?”
Asuka’s expression twitched as she flinched. My mind was spinning.
When you hear that someone who might become your father-in-law is looking for you, anticipation naturally rises. His mood automatically eased.
“The Grand Duke Rinosa and his wife will join us for dinner. “I need to leave a good impression on them.”
“That’s right.”
The crown prince was skilled in social skills appropriate to his status to the point where he could leave a good impression on anyone at any time. The problem was Asuka.
“Get ready.”
As soon as Archduke Farnese finished speaking, Asuka came out of the room without saying a word. Although he had been running around with great enthusiasm, his attitude seemed to have completely changed.
However, Asuka, who was just about to take a step, suddenly recognized something and stopped.
‘huh? But speaking of the Grand Duchess of Linosa and her husband….’
Isn’t there also a woman who betrayed Helmut, the Grand Duchess of Linosa? The person I’ve been swearing at so much is Charlotte’s mother. I can’t believe I got to meet her.
Asuka frowned with mixed feelings. I didn’t know what face to face.
‘You’ll find out when you get there.’
As if he had made up his mind, his steps soon began to move again.
The incident, which could have been a huge commotion, ended easily with that.
*
“Charlotte, your complexion is not good. Are you tired? “I heard that you went through a lot of trouble preparing for the martial arts event.”
“I am okay.”
Charlotte slightly lowered her head and averted her gaze at the sound of friendly words. This was before leaving for the dinner venue.
While the Grand Duke was away for a while to receive news from Linosa, the mother and daughter gathered together and naturally had a chat.
It was a time that Charlotte wanted to avoid.
Charlotte felt uncomfortable with her mother, Marguerite.
Even though several years have passed, I cannot forget my last conversation with her.
Her mother was an ice-cold shield, and Charlotte had to turn around when she hit that shield.
At that moment, something violently collided and shattered inside Charlotte. Those broken fragments created scars inside me.
A tingling pain rose from the unhealed wound.
Is it disappointment or despair? If it was a transformation of affection, there would be no affection left for Charlotte in its original form.
In any case, it is a feeling that has been worn away thanks to Magritte’s favoritism.
Marguerite still had an elegant and calm smile. This is a face I have admired for a long time.
No matter how they broke up, it didn’t seem at all difficult for her to talk to her daughter whom she hadn’t seen in a long time.
“It seems like you’ve been doing well so far.”
“yes.”
“Once I graduate from the academy, there will be a lot of work to do at Linosa. “It seems like the knight commander is secretly looking forward to your return.”
If Charlotte returns to Linosa, she will take on the work of the Knights.
Greta Academy’s excellent grades in the swordsmanship department prove her qualifications.
Even if she were to join the Black Wing Knights, she would be recognized as an excellent young knight.
“We don’t know what will happen yet.”
Charlotte gave an ambiguous answer about what would happen next.
Because her family suffered karma, Charlotte’s choices could not be free.
Charlotte will continue to make choices for Helmut. That was her redemption and repayment of grace.
“Do you still hate me?”
Magritte eventually asked in a soft tone. I heard Charlotte’s gaze. Gentle blue eyes that seem to embrace you.
But Charlotte knows how heartless it can be.
The same goes for himself, not Helmut, to his mother. It wasn’t a sore finger or a finger that couldn’t be cut off.
“I have taken you away from my arms since childhood for so long. “Greta Academy is a great place.”
“….”
“Now that I think about it, I don’t know if it was right to send you to Greta Academy.”
If they had been together the whole time, wouldn’t the mother and daughter have become so conflicted? Wouldn’t we have understood each other better? Magritte reflected on it carefully.
Michael, who grew up in Linosa, understood Magritte very well.
When she was young, Charlotte was a somewhat stubborn daughter, but the relationship between mother and daughter was amicable.
Charlotte’s expression hardened in an instant.
“No, mother. “Even if I didn’t go to Greta Academy, I’m still Charlotte.”
Charlotte exhaled stiffly. Firm tone of voice. She was expressing without hiding that it was not what widened the gap between them and that her mother’s choice was the problem.
“Yes, you are very different from me.”
Marguerite smiled as if nothing had happened. As if he understood Charlotte.
The sword does not bend. Charlotte was a sword.
But Magritte was silky. I lived flexibly and with the flow. Any method is acceptable as long as the silk called Linosa is not torn.
That is why Magritte was confident.
“I simply fulfilled the duty that lay upon me in the best way possible. “Someday you will find out why I did that.”
A sword cannot be wrapped in silk, but silk can be wrapped in a sword. Magritte did not blame Charlotte.
Marguerite has played the role of Grand Duchess of Linosa so well that no one, not even the Grand Duke of Linosa, can deny it.
Her life fit perfectly with Rinosa’s. That was proof that Magritte was right.
Even Charlotte, who resembles the Archduke, will understand one day.
It was a little sad to be hated by his daughter, but Magritte was able to embrace even that. Because the gap is not important to her.
Charlotte shook her head. She felt sad too.
“A mother’s betrayal is never the best. “That wasn’t a choice.”
“There are some things in this world that cannot be helped.”
There are no words that are as helpless and easy to avoid responsibility as saying that there is nothing we can do about it.
“I could have let you run away.”
“So, are you telling us to steal someone with dark power and confront the temple while the Grand Duke is away?”
“Yes because it was the right thing to do. “If that were the case, I would have been willing to take my mother’s side.”
In response to Charlotte’s rebuttal, Marguerite said regretfully.
“You were young at the time and it wouldn’t have been of much help. Charlotte… let’s stop.”
Marguerite calmed his expression and winked toward the door. After some time, the Archduke appeared before them.
The air in the room was surprisingly calm, as if there had never been a sharp atmosphere.
They soon departed for the banquet venue where they would have dinner together under the pretense of being part of Grand Duke Rinosa’s party.
*
At the banquet hall where the emperor, the crown prince, Grand Duke Rinosa, and the Grand Duke Farnese gathered together, Asuka felt an extreme discomfort that she had never felt in a while. If you make a mistake, you will be sent to etiquette training.
‘Did you say you were attending for no reason?’
Still, it was fortunate that I was able to act in a non-standard way.
To the surprise of the crown prince, who said her persona had changed, Asuka, dressed in her neatest clothes recently, was finally able to meet her for the first time.
Grand Duchess Linosa occasionally sets the mood with her sophisticated speaking style.
She, whose relationship was bound to be awkward, spoke kindly to Asuka.
“I heard a lot of stories. “You said you were our Charlotte’s senior at the academy?”
“Oh yeah. “I am one year your senior.”
Asuka answered in a stiff tone and frowned as if it was strange.
Magritte, like Michael, was a noble lady who looked so beautiful and kind that it was hard to believe that she had abandoned herself.
People tend to be tempted by what they see. Simple Asuka felt dazed when she saw her.
‘What are you saying, Helmut’s mother? ‘It’s different from what I thought.’
Asuka, who imagined a cold witch with a poisonous face, could not make a good connection between the woman in her imagination and the Grand Duchess Rinosa in front of her.
Even though he seemed nice, I thought he would feel somewhat hypocritical, but that wasn’t the case either.
Rather, the mean and cold Area suited his imagination better.
The Grand Duchess asked him with a smile, as he looked awkward.
“Am I a stranger? “Well, me and Charlotte don’t look much alike.”
“Ah, but she looks so young and beautiful… I was surprised.”
I didn’t say this to impress, but the words came out honestly as I felt them.
“Oh my, it’s been a while since I’ve heard such a direct compliment. thank you.”
Seeing Grand Duchess Rinosa smiling brightly, Asuka glanced at Charlotte sitting next to her.
For some reason, his face is stiff. I barely touched my food.
‘I don’t feel like anything. ‘I said I don’t have a good relationship with my mother.’
Without missing a beat, the crown prince spoke to her affectionately, even calling her name.
“Charlotte, let’s get some food. “I must have suffered a lot from overexerting myself.”
“I’m enjoying it to the fullest.”
“Doesn’t the food suit your taste?”
It was Asuka who lashed out at the prince who kept flirting with her.
“I’m not feeling well, so don’t bother me. “Really without notice.”
“Asuka.”
The crown prince and Asuka exchanged sharp glances. Charlotte looked embarrassed and tried to stop them, but the Grand Duchess Linosa smiled at the sight and the Emperor and the Grand Duke had a formal conversation among themselves.
No matter what each person’s true intentions and hidden circumstances were, the banquet where representatives of the Empire and Rinosa came together was held in a harmonious and successful manner.
And those who exist far from the lights of the banquet.
