Your Regrets Are Late

It was Charelize who was rather flustered because she caught him unconsciously.

“Since you said you help me recover my memory… Would you be willing to… stay here and assist me?”

She was so embarrassed that both her cheeks were burning hot. But now, it seemed like she couldn’t let go of his hand. To be honest, she didn’t want to be left alone again.

“Lize, before you lost your memory, you called me Aren…”

“…”

“I have never been called by that name since my mother died. When you find your memories… Can I hear that again from you?” said Arensis while carefully wrapping Charelize with the blanket next to the bed.

“If you want me to be by your side… I will, Lize.” Arensis smiled brighter than ever. Tears welled up at the corners of his finely folded eyes.

The morning sun, which had just risen, shone dazzlingly. Watching him come to her room before she knew it, Charelize pulled the silver string. Hailey, who was waiting nearby, came in after knocking.

“Your Highness, did you call—”

It was surprising that Arensis was in her room, and both of them looked wet. Seeing it, Hailey hurriedly took the towels from the drawer.

“Hailey, give His Royal Highness the room next to me. Bring a servant to serve him and let him rest.”

“I understand, Your Highness.”

“And… please tell His Grace that I want to see him right now.”

Starting one day, Charelize was reluctant to even have a brief conversation with Duke Marsetta.

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Hailey wondered why Charelize wanted to see him out of the blue, but she replied like that and bowed her head.

“Your Royal Highness, please take a rest for now. I have something to say to the duke.”

“Yes, Lize,” Arensis replied with a bright smile like a blooming flower.

Charelize sighed deeply as she remembered Lari when she saw Arensis’s back as he followed Hailey.

Just… two days. To grieving for you and letting you go in two days. You don’t know how cruel it is as I have spent so much time with you, Lari. If that was what Lari wanted, she couldn’t help it.

Charelize almost drowned in the lake, and it was clear that Lari wouldn’t be able to smile if she continued to grieve and do nothing. She had to bury her in her heart so Lari’s death wouldn’t be in vain. Even if it was something she intentionally dug up and hid, it was right for her to do so now.

“His Grace said Your Highness was welcome to come by any time, but how about talking over breakfast?”

“Breakfast?”

“What should I do, Your Highness?”

Hailey did exactly what Duke Marsetta had suggested about having breakfast together.

“Enough. It’s not something to share over breakfast… Why is he brazenly asking to have breakfast together…” Charelize let out a laugh as if it were absurd. Then she quickly erased her expression and hardened her face.

Charelize changed into a black dress. “What about Marchioness Luxen?”

“She is detained in Helsen Prison, Your Highness. They say her noble trial will be held in two days.”

Then Charelize asked about Iris. She took Lari’s ashes from Rosnia and headed to Duke Marsetta’s office.

“Young Master is here.”

“L-let her go inside now.”

When the knight guarding his office door reported her visit, Duke Marsetta answered right away.

“Charel… No, little Duchess. It’s been… a long time. Are you… okay?”

“We aren’t close enough to ask each other how we are doing, so I’ll talk about the main topic.”

“I heard about what happened at Royal Princess Veloche’s birthday banquet. Is that what you’re holding in your hand the maid who got stabbed in your place? I ordered the butler to tell her family…”

“…Lari is an orphan.”

He shouldn’t have brought up the world ‘family’ if he knew nothing.

“I intend to register Lari on my mother’s family register.”

“What are you talking about? Register her to the family register?”

“Even so, I cannot give her Elioter as her last name, so I have come to ask Your Grace for permission to give her the last name Marsetta.”

Charelize wasn’t yet the owner of Marsetta. Never before had she desperately needed the duke’s position more than today.

Charelize struggled to say her words. She felt as if a heavy stone was clogging her throat. “The Marchioness Luxen’s trial will be held in two days. At best, she will only end in fines. No matter who the dagger was aimed at, it was Lari, a commoner, who died.”

“For the maid’s sacrifice, I will pay the full price—”

Charelize cut off Duke Marsetta with a wry smile. “What price do you think you can give? Lari doesn’t even have a family to receive something on her behalf.  Or do you plan to give the land to someone who is already dead?”

“That’s…”

“Since she’s a commoner, she won’t be able to be awarded a medal.”

“…”

“On the surface, if she becomes a princess of Duke Marsetta, I can punish Marchioness Luxen. No, I will use everything I have to make it happen.”

“Even so, that’s too much.”

“She died while trying to protect me. She was a maid who always refused even if I gave her a title or all kinds of jewelry… She was a maid who put up with it to the end, even if there were unfair things, fearing that what she did would harm me. For me… she’s like my younger sister, no, she is my younger sister.”

Lari was her younger sister. She was part of Charelize’s family. Perhaps to her, Lari was more than just an existence.

“This is the only way to make Marchioness Luxen pay for what she did.”

“…little Duchess.”

“Yes. I know this is a place where I shouldn’t be doing anything privately. Because I’m the heir of Duke Marsetta and daughter of a royal princess.”

Duke Marsetta, who was quietly listening to Charelize’s angry words, was in agony. From the day he brought Lillian, Charelize stopped calling him father. She made no demands. Although they were half-sisters, she didn’t accept Lillian to the end.

But such a child called her exclusive maid as her younger sister without hesitation and asked him to be listed on the family register. Even if that maid became a princess, she would still be an adopted daughter until the end.

It wasn’t that a person who had already died couldn’t exert any influence. But what made him so uncomfortable was probably because of Charelize, who was holding back the tears she wanted to shed right now. For another reason that cannot be explained in words, Duke Marsetta was completely lost.

“I get it. Anyway… sooner or later, you will become the matriarch, so do as you wish.”

By saying Charelize would become a matriarch, it was like he was abdicating the dukedom to her.

“You mean… I’m going to be a duchess?”

Duke Marsetta killed her mother twice. Nevertheless, he pretended not to know anything until the end. She was very displeased by the words that he would live the rest of his life comfortably after becoming the former duke.

Charelize quickly narrowed her brows. “My mother is a royal princess.”

“Why all of a sudden—”

“The words of the person who poisoned the imperial family are well documented in history books, Your Grace.”

Duke Marsetta’s pupils shook greatly.

When Charelize read the letter Lari left, there was something like that. That he regretted it because Lillian couldn’t even follow half of her share, and he apologized on behalf of Lillian. He also held back from telling Lillian, whom he loved so much, that she was his twin brother’s child.

Charelize didn’t want to bring that up yet. But around the time she was anxious and doubtful, she wanted to break the thing she had firmly believed in one by one.

“N-now… what are you… talking about…?” There was a tremble in the voice of Duke Marsetta, who finally spoke.

“I will give you back the pain that my mother suffered.”

“…”

“I haven’t even started yet… Why are you so nervous already?”

After saying that, Charelize left Duke Marsetta’s office. Even without looking back, she could tell what expression he had made.

* * *

Charelize visited Iris, who is detained in Helsen prison.

“Did you care for Lillian?”

Facing her like that, Charelize asked Iris, based on what she had thought so far.

“I risked my life for Lilian and tried to kill Your Highness. Why do you ask such obvious things?”

“No, you didn’t care about Lillian. If you really did, you wouldn’t be doing such a stupid way.”

“I didn’t care about Lillian… Why did Your Highness come to that conclusion?”

“As if it wasn’t enough to get a lot of attention if you’re found out carrying a dagger at the birthday banquet, your one and only blood relative, Lillian, wouldn’t be safe either. If you really cared about Lillian and worried about her safety, you wouldn’t do that, right?”

“Little Duchess… you ask the same question with the duchess. You have great insight. I guess blood can’t fool,” Iris said, smiling innocently like a child. That look reminded Charelize of Lillian.

“What is your real purpose? The real reason for proceeding with the matter so hastily without announcing that you succeeded to the marchioness title.”