Roel raised the question with a calm voice, but his eyes were meticulously keeping a lookout for every single one of Charlotte’s subtle reactions. He noticed how her body had unnaturally stiffened for a brief instant upon hearing his question.

  Grace was both Charlotte’s personal maid and bodyguard, responsible for attending to Charlotte’s every need and ensuring her safety.

  As an Origin Level 3 transcendent adept in close-quarter combat, she made up for Charlotte’s weakness in frontal attacks. With one specializing in aggression and the other in support, the two of them made a fearsome combo that was more than enough to deter most aggressors.

  Besides, it was only normal for Charlotte to bring her close confidant with her on long journeys.

  “Grace has some matters to attend to…”


  “She isn’t with you even though you’re traveling? What could be more important than your safety?”


  “…”


  Those words rendered Charlotte speechless. She couldn’t agree with Roel here, for it would have been making light of Grace’s dedication to her duties. She couldn’t trample on everything Grace had done for her even if it was just a lie.

  That would have been the worst insult to Grace.

  “Grace… is feeling unwell. I ordered her to take a rest.”


  “Oh? Grace is resting right now?”


  “She is. All the traveling must have gotten to her. Even a high transcendent would find it hard to cope with our hectic schedule.”


  “I see… May I ask what’s with this cup of tea then? I was fairly certain that it was brewed by Grace, judging by the aroma.”


  “!”


  This is bad. Darling is too sharp!

  As Roel slowly unraveled her lies through his sharp observation, Charlotte began to panic. His narrowed golden eyes showed that he was ready to pounce at any gaps in her statement. She took a deep breath and forced herself to stand firm.

  “She left right before you came. She was feeling light-headed, so I had to take care of her first before meeting you. Sorry to have kept you waiting.”


  “I understand.”


  Roel nodded as he casually scanned Charlotte from head to toe. A frown formed on his forehead, making Charlotte’s heart skip a beat. She realized that he might be onto something and hurriedly tried to change the topic, but she was a second too late.

  “What about you, Charlotte? Are you feeling well?”


  “Of course. I have to say that the last few months have been exhausting, but it’s not too much for me to take.”


  “…”


  It was fortunate that Charlotte was already prepared for that question, which was why she was able to answer without a hitch. Relieved that she had handled the question well, she casually reached for her teacup.

  At the same time, she raised her head to look at Roel, only to be surprised by his darkened expression.

  W-what’s going on?

  Charlotte panicked. It was as if her answer was off the mark, but that shouldn’t have been the case. Unsure about what was going on, she directed a questioning look at Roel, but the latter wasn’t saying a word at all.

  The silence loomed on and Charlotte’s nervousness intensified. The graceful demeanor she had been maintaining all this while began to collapse. Taking her reaction into sight, Roel finally opened his mouth.

  “Charlotte… how well do you think I know you?”


  “Ah?”


  It was such an abrupt question that Charlotte was taken by surprise. She stared at the black-haired man before her and thought about the days they had spent together. Moments later, she nodded.

  “I’d say that darling knows me quite well. May I ask what’s with the sudden question?”


  “Nothing much. I was just curious to know what you think about me. I can’t help but feel that you are underestimating my feelings for you.”


  “Underestimating?”


  Charlotte tilted her head in confusion. Roel responded with an affirmative nod.

  “That’s right. I know that we haven’t met for a year now. I’d understand if you think that I have neglecting you and that I don’t care about you, but the truth is that I know you much better than you think I do.

  “You’re fond of floral tea blends steeped at 70-degrees. You can’t keep your hands away from strawberry-flavored desserts and macarons. You tend to wake up early in the morning. You feel uneasy if you don’t spend some time looking through your work documents before sleeping…”


  Much to Charlotte’s astonishment, Roel calmly listed out the little habits she had in her daily life. Joy and tenderness swiftly blossomed in her heart. It didn’t take long for her widened eyes and opened mouth to curl into irrepressible smiles.

  It was uncommon for humans to pay that much attention to their relationships, and this held even truer for someone as independent as Charlotte. Her confident demeanor often left others subconsciously thinking that she didn’t need care and concern. Even her own father, Bruce Sorofya, had never paid that much attention to her before.

  The time that Roel and her could be together had been excruciatingly limited, but Roel was still able to have such a thorough understanding of her. That could only mean one thing—he cared for her so much that he paid attention to every little detail about her.

  There was nothing in the world that was sweeter to Charlotte than knowing that she was being cherished by the man she loved, but knowing that she couldn’t allow Roel to know about her affliction, she exerted every last bit of self-restraint she had to keep herself from falling into his honey trap.

  While feeling moved, her brain had already started to process the significance of Roel’s words.

  “Darling, I didn’t think that you care so deeply about me. I am deeply moved by your sentiments. However, I don’t understand the intent behind your words.”


  “What I’m trying to say is that you don’t have to bother lying to me.”


  “Lying? I-I don’t understand what you’re saying…”


  “You don’t understand? Alright, I’ll put it in clearer terms.”


  Roel looked at Charlotte’s stiffened face and exhaled deeply.

  “It doesn’t show when it comes to others, but you have a tendency to get nervous whenever yo lie to me. That induces your hands to restlessly fidget around… such as how you’re touching the rim of your teacup now.”


  “!”


  Charlotte’s eyes fell upon her thumb, which had been subconsciously tracing the rim of the teacup for a while now, and her body froze up. Her first instinct was to put down the teacup and refute Roel’s words, but she gave up on that halfway through.

  She realized that the skepticism in Roel’s eyes had been replaced with certainty.

  It was clear as day that her lie had already been exposed. Roel would never leave the carriage now unless he got to the bottom of things.

  “Charlotte, can you tell me what happened now?”


  “…”


  Charlotte cursed her own uselessness.

  Unable to suppress his worry anymore, Roel stood up and approached Charlotte, hoping to hold her hand. Such a level of intimacy was something the two of them had long grown accustomed to, but astonishingly, Charlotte immediately shot to her feet and retreated a step.

  This unprecedented rejection shocked Roel.

  “Charlotte?”


  “That’s not it, darling. I’m begging you, please don’t touch me. Allow me to explain the situation first…”


  Fearing that Roel would misunderstand the situation, Charlotte eventually decided to reveal the truth after some hesitation. As he listened to her story, Roel’s face slowly turned livid.