Chapter 17
‘W-What should I do about this?’
Rohan always bragged in the hunting grounds about how magnificently he hunted, but in truth he had never properly shot even a single squirrel.
He had even less experience hitting another person.
And yet the first person he had ever struck was Charlotte Noha!
He swore before God—he had never intended this.
“I-It’s fi—”
“Looks like it’s your first time hitting someone, Rohan Alois.”
Just as Rohan stammered, trying to make excuses, Charlotte—who had been silent the whole time—finally spoke.
Her calm voice was just as cynical and composed as before.
If someone had heard only her voice, they would never guess that she was the one who had just been suddenly slapped.
But things were different for Rohan, who was meeting Charlotte’s gaze directly.
Her changed tone, and her terribly cold green eyes, felt as if they were choking him.
In his mind, desperately trying to escape the situation, the most plausible excuse he could think of popped out.
“I-I mean… This is your fault! You—you seduced me first…! You toyed with me!”
“…Toyed with you?”
“I-I heard about it! You seduced Sir Dietrich too, asking him to support you, then kicked him away and humiliated him! Y-You wicked—”
“Enough with the ‘wicked villainess’ nonsense. I’m getting tired of hearing it.”
Charlotte replied cynically as she slowly removed her gloves.
“Dietrich… Hearing your story reminds me of him. The one who tampered with the shoes I’d just bought.”
At that time, Dietrich had deliberately created a situation where Charlotte needed support, then clung to her while pretending to be kind, boasting everywhere that the two of them had a special relationship.
And when Charlotte rejected him, his face turned bright red with humiliation as he shouted—
—You toyed with me!
Exactly like the man standing before her now.
How were people like this always so similar?
Charlotte let out a short, mocking laugh before speaking.
“There’s a technique to hitting someone. Swinging your hand wildly is something you do in a chaotic brawl.”
Well, not that you’d know.
Smiling faintly, Charlotte slowly walked toward Rohan.
Then she raised her hand and continued.
“If you’re going to use your palm, you should take off your glove. It’s better to remove metal too. Especially rings—if they hit someone’s cheekbone wrong, it hurts more than you’d think.”
Like this.
Her voice had barely finished speaking when—
Smack!
A flash of pain exploded, and Rohan’s head snapped to the side.
“W-What the—”
“If my hand had been a little higher just now, the ring on my ring finger would have hit your cheekbone.”
Smack!
“Lady Noha—!”
Smack!
“You crazy—”
Thud!
“AAAGH!”
Rohan, who had tried to charge at Charlotte, collapsed to the ground clutching his shin after being kicked.
H-How is she this strong?!
Rohan hadn’t simply stood there and taken three slaps without resistance.
He had grabbed Charlotte’s wrist and tried to shove her away.
Even after collapsing while clutching his shin, he tried several times to get back up.
But every time he did, a well-aimed kick would strike him and force him back to his knees.
“P-Please… I was wrong… I’m sorry… Lady Noha… P-Please stop….”
Rohan, now completely disheveled, crawled across the floor as the tip of Charlotte’s shoe lightly tapped his cheek.
“Rohan Alois. You had such spirit when you slapped me. And yet after only a few hits you’re already like this?”
“I-It was a mistake. Please forgive me just this once….”
“A mistake. A mistake, you say.”
Slapping her, calling her a wicked woman who toyed with him—was that really a mistake?
Why did people like this always say the same things?
Charlotte looked down at Rohan with cynical eyes as she remembered the incident with Dietrich.
When he said he would kill himself if she refused to see him, she had kindly shoved the barrel of a gun into his mouth.
He had trembled and cried like a pathetic coward.
—I did it in the heat of the moment. I-It was a mistake! It will never happen again!
Back then Charlotte had generously accepted his “mistake.”
She had beaten him half to death, but hadn’t thought it necessary to actually pull the trigger.
But afterward Dietrich went around spreading rumors that Charlotte had seduced him and then kicked him aside.
Rohan Alois will probably do the same.
How troublesome. Maybe she should just kill him.
Her life wasn’t long anyway—whatever happened next hardly mattered.
His death had nothing to do with Alfonso either, so it should be fine.
Today Charlotte was in such a foul mood that she could accept either fortune or misfortune the same way.
And in her possession she always carried a poisoned needle capable of killing someone.
What should she do?
Charlotte’s silence grew long as her hand slipped into her coat.
However, the poisoned needle never pierced Rohan’s neck.
Because at that moment—
“Stop. Lady Noha.”
The door burst open, and someone she least wanted to see stepped into the lounge.
Alfonso Linus Eduard.
At the sight of that cold, all-too-familiar face, Charlotte’s brow furrowed reflexively.
This is exactly why I tried to leave quickly.
But before Charlotte could speak, Rohan—who had been crawling on the floor—lit up and shouted.
“D-Duke Eduard! Perfect timing! I—”
“I already know that you committed violence against Lady Noha. So shut your mouth.”
Rohan had clearly believed Alfonso would come to rescue his pitiful self.
Unfortunately for him, Alfonso’s reaction was colder than ice—sharp even.
Naturally so.
The moment Alfonso realized who was speaking in this room—and who had been slapped—he felt a mix of shock and contempt.
“Even from hearing a little outside, the situation was obvious. I never thought there would truly be someone insane enough to slap another person simply because their confession was rejected. It seems you were never taught the meaning of shame.”
“Y-Your Grace… I… well….”
Rohan awkwardly stood up, stammering as he searched for an excuse.
It was all that wicked woman’s fault for seducing his innocent self.
But Alfonso was fiercely scolding him only about his “mistake.”
If it had been someone else, Rohan might have protested his innocence.
But his opponent was Alfonso.
The Emperor’s cousin and right hand.
The master of the great House Eduard.
Someone like Rohan—who didn’t even hold a title yet—couldn’t dare argue with such a man.
Overwhelmed by that presence, Rohan fumbled uselessly for excuses until Alfonso frowned slightly and warned him.
“You wouldn’t want Lady Alois to learn of this incident. If I hear even the slightest rumor about today, remember that I will not remain silent as a witness.”
There was no need for him to add that Rohan should leave immediately.
Rohan’s face turned bright red with rage and humiliation, and he stormed out of the room.
And so only Alfonso and Charlotte remained in the lounge.
The silence was broken by Alfonso.
“Charlotte Noha. You’ve been avoiding me all this time. Was it because you were busy dealing with someone like that?”
His expression looked slightly displeased… perhaps even frustrated.
Either way, it was a familiar expression to Charlotte.
So familiar and dear that just seeing it made her feel like crying.
This is why I didn’t want to meet him again.
She knew she should run away immediately.
Yet her feet refused to move.
Not just her feet—even her gaze could not look away.
Charlotte had always been a rational person, but whenever it came to Alfonso, she inevitably lost that rationality.
At last she spoke with difficulty.
“…If you heard what happened back then, you should know that my family’s orders are absolute.”
“Then was avoiding my proposal also your family’s order?”
Proposal.
At that word, Charlotte unconsciously clenched and unclenched her fists.
“That… was my own decision. I told you I love someone else.”
“I know. And that person certainly isn’t that idiot who slaps your face.”
Alfonso’s words were unusually rough for him.
‘Idiot’?
Since when did he speak like that?
While Charlotte blinked in surprise, something touched her swollen cheek.
Alfonso had taken out a neatly folded handkerchief from his pocket and gently pressed it against her cheek.
Their distance grew closer, their eyes meeting.
“Charlotte Noha. I came today to propose to you again.”
“…Even knowing I love someone else?”
“I know. That’s precisely why I’m proposing.”
Charlotte looked confused, unable to understand.
Then Alfonso showed an unfamiliar expression.
He smiled faintly.
“Please marry me—for one year.”
“A contract marriage.”
