Chapter 96

Charlotte swallowed hard.

In the video before her, the second prince, Niklas, with his lustrous long silver hair, told 'Charlotte':

"Ha! Don't be so picky. Finding a man who isn't afraid of you is quite a difficult task, you know?"

His smile, tinged with mockery, carried a hint of insult.

It seemed as if he was only pretending to treat the woman in front of him as an equal, while in reality, he held her in low regard, his insincere feelings clearly visible.

"Oh, this isn't just my selfishness, is it?"

The Charlotte in the video chuckled and narrowed her eyes.

"If I can't marry Ozvalt, it would be convenient for you as well, wouldn't it?"

"...I had a vague feeling about it, my lord Ozvalt."

Ozvalt frowned. Charlotte, with a growing sense of understanding, cautiously spoke.

"If my brothers, who seek the throne, were to try to obstruct my marriage to Lord Ozvalt, then probably, the former me..."

"Hey, Prince Niklas. Could you please prepare it for me?"

The 'Charlotte' in the video stood up and leaned in to look at Prince Niklas's face.

"---A convenient man who would agree to a sham marriage with me."

(As expected...)

The prince in the video smiled, his lips twisting.

"Lord Ozvalt has always been, and still is, an irreplaceable person to me."

"...Charlotte"

"The marriage of a cruel saint to Lord Ozvalt is not allowed. The 'me' of the past thought so, which is why I sealed my memories to escape the subservience magic cast by the king."

The contract magic of a slave makes one unable to disobey the caster's commands.

Charlotte's soul was bound by this magic, which required her to absolutely obey the commands of the royal family of this country.

"Even if I were ordered to marry Lord Ozvalt, I had no way to escape. The former me tried to escape the contract magic on my soul by letting go of the memories closely tied to it... but I must have had another plan, right?"

"..."

"If I noticed and used my brothers' plan to have me marry someone else in advance..."

Clyde's existence did not contradict this idea.

"Lord Clyde was the 'marriage partner' prepared by Prince Niklas... and before I lost my memory, I willingly agreed to marry Lord Clyde..."

"Charlotte"

"!"

Ozvalt's voice clearly interrupted Charlotte's words.

"Your theory is missing an important premise."

"A premise, you say?"

"Do you remember?"

Ozvalt bent down, looking at Charlotte with narrowed eyes.

"Why I am here with you in this dream?"

"!"

At that moment, a sound like shattering glass echoed, and cracks appeared in the video before her.

The scene shattered into pieces, and large fragments scattered around. The fragments showed the image of Prince Niklas with his long silver hair tucked behind his ear and Charlotte.

"The video..."

The scenes in the fragments slowly changed, as if they were bleeding into something different.

"It's a little different from before!!"

"---Indeed, you were shown a fabricated memory."

The video Charlotte had seen before was a fabricated scene created by her pre-memory loss self.

If Ozvalt hadn't been there, Charlotte would have only seen the scene that the former 'Charlotte' intended to show her.

"Wow, amazing, too amazing! As expected, Lord Ozvalt...!! Are you a genius at spotting fakes?! No, maybe a genius at shattering bad dreams!!"

"You're as dramatic as ever. ...I think the genius at shattering bad dreams is you."

"???"

Though she didn't understand, there was no time to ask.

The images in the glass fragments were smaller and less clear, almost easy to miss if one didn't look closely.

The Charlotte in the video slowly spoke.

"---Your Highness"

At this point, there was a significant difference from the previous video.

First, Charlotte was kneeling on the floor.

"Please, will you hear my plea?"

Prince Niklas remained seated in his chair, but his posture was different from before.

A strand of his long silver hair flowed elegantly along his cheek.

His eyes were sharp, with deep red irises, and his gaze was even more intense than before.

The white military uniform he wore had a collar adorned with glittering gold decorations. The red embroidery, used as an accent, matched the color of his eyes, symbolizing his undeniable status as a member of the royal family.

"...Charlotte"

(The atmosphere is completely different from before...!)

Was Niklas's behavior also fabricated by Charlotte?

His deep, resonant voice seemed to etch itself into her eardrums.

"Are you saying I should grant your wish?"

"Regarding the king's words this time, even you must need to take measures for the future."

The kneeling 'Charlotte' slowly opened her eyes.

"---After all, this concerns Lord Ozvalt."

(Lord Ozvalt!?)

Charlotte couldn't help but get excited and almost jumped up on the spot. But Ozvalt held her back, literally keeping her in place.