My Charlotte Hates Me

Chapter 59: Summer Vacation

In a week's time, we said goodbye to our graduating class. Arielle and I packed our things and decided to go home before meeting again and taking a ship towards Nariel together. I heard that the Duke was very understanding of Arielle and did not punish her for the Prince having lost interest in Arielle. Rather, he seemed a bit sorry for putting Arielle in that engagement in the first place. Nonetheless, he approved of our trip to Nariel. Once there, we witnessed fantastic sites of intricate bridges and several connecting waterways.

"Let's go on a gondola ride together, Char," Arielle suggested.

"Eh...Aren't couples usually riding those together. I think it is a bit strange for two girls to ride together," I said shyly.

"It will be more fun riding with you," Arielle said.

I feel guilty when I think that I am enjoying being with Arielle, while my memories with Eli were slowly diminishing with time. Having repeated this life over and over again, I feel as though my memories were slowly being rewritten with new memories along with the memories I was making with every life.

Greedy as I am, I want to etch it all into my soul...Arielle's presence, her smile, and her beloved son from our previous life. The chances of him being born from now on were slim to none now, and I hated myself for wanting to enjoy my remaining time with Arielle as I knew that all of this effort was meaningless. In the end, Arielle will die and I will follow after her in an attempt to extend her life, resulting in this endless cycle of misery.

I soon heard a familiar honey like voice filled with laughter. I followed the trail of the voice with my eyes and saw nearly an exact replica of Eli walking alongside classmates in similar school uniforms. I blinked several times to confirm whether or not the scene was real.

I leapt from the gondola on my own and ended up tripping and twisting my ankle. Despite the pain, I tried to force myself to stand upwards in attempt to chase Eli's lookalike only to fall on my hands and face yet again.

"Charlotte! Are you alright?" Arielle asked as she helped me sit upright.

"...Eli is...Eli was..."

I looked up again and saw that he was no longer there and fell incredibly depressed after having lost my chance to gaze upon the stranger's face whom resembled Arielle's child so much.

"Eli?"

"I misspoke...Let's get out of here," I said as I tried to stand up on my own. Unable to put weight on my leg, I lost my balance and began to fall until Arielle caught me by my arm. "Thank you..."

"Just lean on me," Arielle said as she slipped her arm around my back.

"Sorry about this," I apologized.

"It's fine. Let's find you somewhere you can rest," Arielle said with a smile.

The closest place she had chosen was a large library under the name Exurbia Library. The Head Librarian was kind enough to lend us a private study room and some medical supplies and ointment for my injuries.

Arielle helped clean the wounds on my hands and apply ointment before wrapping them in bandages.

"It seems that you scratched your thigh as well," Arielle said as she slipped her hands under my skirt.

"Wh-What are you doing?" I asked nervously as I pushed her hands away.

"I need to clean the wounds on your legs and check for other injuries. It would be bad if anything got infected. Also, your pantyhose has gotten terribly ripped up when you fell and need to be disposed of," Arielle said nonchalantly.

"...There is no reason for you to do it. I can do it myself," I said defensively.

"You injured your hands as well. Please let me help you, Charlotte," Arielle said with sincere puppy dog like eyes.

I found my heart thumping out of my chest when I saw her pleading eyes. I quickly agreed to Arielle's ridiculous request just so that she would stop giving me a look that was bad for my heart.

"I will try to be as gentle and not look as much as possible," Arielle said as she ran her hands underneath my skirt.

It was a bit of a strange feeling having Arielle's smooth hands trace the sides of my legs carefully. It almost tickled from how careful she was being. Even though I was terribly embarrassed, I did not particularly hate the fact that Arielle was touching me in an intimate place that not any other person than myself had touched. Rather, all of the places she touched seemed to linger a bit of her heat, making my body get warmer and warmer with each waking moment.

"A-Are you done yet?" I asked.

"Just a little more...I got it! I will pull them down slowly, so please tell me if you are uncomfortable, and I will stop," Arielle said as she slowly began peeling my pantyhose away.

I shivered slightly as she slowly began peeling away at my pantyhose.

"...I am back!" the Head Librarian said as she came back with more bandages. She soon saw the scene of Arielle in the middle of removing my pantyhose and decided to put the fresh bandages by the door and quickly removed herself from the room. "You two are quite close..."

"No! It is not...what it looks like," I said tiredly.

"And done!" Arielle said as she successfully peeled my pantyhose without invigorating my other cuts and scratches.

...Why is this person so unproblematic?

"...Thank you for everything," I said to Arielle after she finished applying my bandages.

"You are very much welcome," Arielle said with a bright smile. "How is your ankle? Do you think you can walk on it?"

It does not hurt that bad after the numbing agent, maybe I can walk on it?

I tried getting up from my seat only to be met with a terrible wrenching pain in my ankle.

"...The numbing agent only masks the pain while I am stationary," I said.

"How about I get you a book before I call for reinforcements?" Arielle asked.

"That would be lovely," I said.

Arielle helped me out of the private room and only walked short distances away from me just in case I needed her help to move around. I assured her that I was fine where I was at and had her roam the library freely on her own.

"I thought it was an unusual hair color...It turns out that it is just you, Lady Charlotte Castile," a familiar voice said.

A man wearing a uniform similar to that of the Head Librarian came up to me from behind. That person was Garett.

"It is glasses...What are you doing here?" I asked.

"I happen to work here. Of all places, why are you here?" Garett asked.

"Charlotte, I found an interesting book that you might like," Arielle said as she came back with a few books in hand.

"...You two always come as a pair," Garett said with a disappointing expression.

"Is this your summer job, Garett?" Arielle asked.

"No, it is my real job," Garett said.

"I thought your real job was being His Highness' Advisor?" I asked.

"...Right, I quit," Garett said.

"Quit?" Arielle said with a blank expression.

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