…


  On the dimly-lit observatory, Charlotte Sorofya stared wordlessly at the twinkling stars above. There was no one in her vicinity, not even Grace. It was a little uncomfortable as she was already accustomed to being constantly accompanied by her maids.

  Having planned beforehand for today to be the momentous day, Grace had arranged for the other servants to move onto another carriage lest they interrupted their couple time. She couldn’t have imagined that Charlotte had other plans for doing so.

  Placed on the table was a transparent crystalline bottle filled with bluish-purple serum that flickered under the weak candlelight. The condensed mana it harnessed rippled against the walls of the bottle.

  Charlotte stared at the serum in a dilemma.

  She had mentally prepared herself for this beforehand, but despite her usual charismatic decisiveness, she found herself hesitating when it came to the moment for it. Agony flashed across her eyes, but as she stared at the bluish-purple serum, her gaze slowly grew firm.

  “Rather than silently disappearing without leaving a trace, I might as well…” she murmured under her breath.

  With shaky hands, she reached for the bottle and picked it up. Before she could uncork it, a familiar voice suddenly echoed behind her.

  “What are you doing, Charlotte?”


  “!”


  Charlotte’s body jolted upon hearing Roel’s voice. Mustering all of her inner composure, she tried to stand up as naturally as she could and turned to look at him with a smile, hiding the serum behind her back.

  “Darling, what brings you here?”


  “I couldn’t find you when I woke up, so I came here to take a look.”


  “I see. You should have slept a little longer.”


  “…”


  Charlotte was completely flustered inside. Despite the facade of normalcy, her voice was quivering ever so slightly and her smile had never been so stiff before. Roel narrowed his eyes as he eyed the hands Charlotte was hiding behind her back.

  Knowing better than to agitate her, Roel didn’t immediately ask her what she was hiding. He directed his eyes back onto her and revealed a worried frown.

  “You’re still in a feeble state. You shouldn’t have come here in just your nightgown.”


  “I’m not feeling cold, so…”


  “That still won’t do. It’s better to err on the safe side.”


  With a sigh, Roel walked over to Charlotte’s side while taking off his coat to drape it on her. Feeling his warmth through the coat, Charlotte’s expression softened.

  The moment she let her guard down, Roel sent a small pulse of mana that gushed past Charlotte’s hand like a sudden gale, swiping away her serum and delivering it into his hand.

  “D-darling?”


  Charlotte was appalled upon discovering that her serum had been taken away. On the other hand, Roel narrowed his eyes upon the sight of the serum, and his face swiftly turned livid.

  “What’s this?”


  “I-it’s medicine for women. It’s my first time today, so…”


  “But its color and the mana emanating from it suggests that it contains toxins?”


  “N-no! It might seem that way, but it’s harmless…”


  “If that’s the case, there shouldn’t be a problem if I drink it, right?”


  “What?”


  Much to Charlotte’s shock, Roel uncorked the bottle and prepared to pour the serum into his mouth. Before the bluish-purple fluid could touch his lips, Charlotte had already charged forward to grab his arm.

  “You can’t, darling! You can’t drink it!”


  “Charlotte…”


  “Darling, I’ll listen to you, so hurry up and throw it away!”


  Charlotte was so frightened that her body was trembling. She snatched the serum from his hand and smashed it on the ground. Crystal shards scattered around while the serum seeped into the mat. Only when the serum completely vanished from sight did she heave a sigh of relief.

  She then dived into Roel’s arms and started sobbing.

  In the time to come, Charlotte confessed everything about the serum

  The truth was that when Charlotte’s health report came out, the Rosaian medical team hadn’t been completely helpless about her condition. While they were unable to lift the curse, they did have several alternative measures she could choose from.

  Most of these alternative measures were designed to allow her to cope with her responsibilities, but there were only two measures that she thought were worth considering.

  The first measure involved prolonging her life as long as possible by delaying the aggravation of the curse. The proposed method was for her to encase her up using Jewel Magic, placing her in a state of stasis. She would go into hibernation in a space filled with jewels and Golden Soul, reminiscent of amber.

  It was estimated that this measure could prolong her lifespan by a couple of years, thus buying more time for the investigation of the Six Calamities. The downside was that if they couldn’t lift the curse within the allotted time, she would end a lonely death inside a jeweled coffin.

  The second measure was to extend her lifespan by a year through the use of serum, but a serum harnessing such potency was bound to come at a price—her life. Anyone who consumed the serum, regardless of the severity of their condition, was doomed to die in a year’s time.

  Terminally ill national leaders usually consumed this serum to make final arrangements regarding their succession, but Charlotte had a different thought in mind when she learned about its effects.

  Isn’t a year’s time enough for me to bear a child?

  The notion of bearing an offspring was extremely enticing to Charlotte, whose days were already numbered. She had weighed the pros and cons and spent a long time considering it, and she eventually decided to go with it.

  “The search for the Six Calamities is hopeless. So much manpower and resources have been devoted into finding Shrouding Fog, but there hasn’t been any results even after a year has passed,” Charlotte muttered despondently.

  Tears streamed down her eyes.

  “If I can’t stay by your side, I hope to at least have our child accompany you. It’ll be the proof that I have once existed in this world…”


  “…”


  Charlotte’s repressed feelings finally erupted. She tightly hugged Roel and cried.

  Roel’s eyes also glistened with tears. How could he bear to watch her leave him? From the very start, that had never been an option for him at all. He took a moment to calm himself down before he spoke with a hoarse voice.

  “I understand your feelings, but Charlotte, you have misunderstood something.”


  “What?”


  “We won’t be separated. We’ll be able to stay together, but not through the serum but this…”


  Roel raised his closed hand and unfurled it. Pale yellow light flooded from within, and it took several moments before the light finally faded to reveal the item inside.

  It was a pair of beautiful crystal rings.