My Charlotte Hates Me

Chapter 21: That Day Never Came

I found out not much later that His Majesty had passed away leaving Arielle on the throne by herself.

Arielle could only hold onto the stress of standing alone on the throne by herself because she thought that her husband would recover one day. I heard from others that she would faithfully stay by his side everyday and speak to him about her worries as if he could hear her speaking to him. She had held on to much hope that he would recover from his coma and wake up one day. Only she alone believed that he would return to her side soon. That day unfortunately never came for either of them.

Disappointingly, the power of love failed once again...

I stayed with Arielle throughout the entire funeral service. The scene was so similar to Arielle's funeral in my past life that it sickened me to my stomach. It was as if I had His Majesty die in Arielle's place just so that she could live.

"I am so glad that you are here for me, Char," Arielle said as she held my hand after the funeral for her husband. "You are always there for me in my most difficult times! It is like you are my Knight in shining armor."

If only...at times like these, I realize how especially useless I am.

"If I am your Knight, then are you my Princess?" I asked jokingly.

"Haha...I am no longer a Princess Consort but just a Queen now," Arielle replied with a little less vigor.

Even during a time of mourning, Arielle does not have any time to let her feelings show. She had been badgered by her so called retainers to perform various duties as Queen...It was more like her retainers had been quiet about taking on the shared work meant for His Majesty but now no longer wanted to help as much and began shoving all of their work onto Arielle without giving her a chance to refuse.

Unfortunately for them, Arielle was trained harshly since she was young to become even King if needed be. She was even more hardworking than His Majesty ever was, earning the distaste of other Nobles wanting to use the weakened Queen in His Majesty's absence.

"From funeral plans to after parties and even housing arrangements for guests for the funeral...It is like the world is trying to ruin me at my lowest moments," Arielle said to me after laughing softly.

Even if Arielle was perfect as a ruler, she was still human. She needed time to sleep, eat, and grieve...but all those greedy Nobles wanted was to ruin her.

All I can do now is watch her quietly by her side and offer her my support as I always have with these short afternoon tea sessions in her office.

Even if she tried to cover up the bags under her eyes with makeup, her slightly puffy pink eyes and worn down nails revealed just how tired she really was.

"Arielle, Eli has grown up very well. He looks exactly like His Majesty and has your smile. Do you want to see him some time soon?" I asked.

Maybe she will refuse like always...

"...I would like that," Arielle replied softly.

"Come again?" I said in surprise.

"I appreciate everything that you have been doing for me, Char. I thought that I had to have everything perfect before bringing Eli back to this place," Arielle said.

"I will bring him the next time I come here. Then, we can all share tea together," I said.

"...I would like that very much," Arielle said with a stiff smile.

I later went out to brew some tea for us in the kitchen.

"Please allow us to brew tea, Lady Castile!" Head Royal Maid Sera said in a fluster.

Apparently it is very odd for young aristocratic ladies to brew their own tea.

"It is fine. Her Majesty especially requested that I brew tea for her," I said as I quickly went along with my business.

It is not like anyone here can tell me what I can or cannot do...

Power is pretty nice!

My hands were full, so I thought of asking Arielle to open the door for me.

"Arielle, I am back with some tea and snacks," I said.

I waited for a response but received none and then noticed that the door was slightly cropped open.

I was sure that I closed it properly before leaving...

I place the tea set down and walked in anyways and saw that Arielle had been pushed onto her coffee table with both her wrists pinned down and her mouth covered by a man on top of her.

"...Ah, this is not what it looks like," the man said nervously.

I quickly closed the door and grabbed a nearby vase and slammed it down onto the man's head and quickly pulled Arielle out from underneath him.

"Are you alright?" I asked her.

"...Yes, thank you, Char," Arielle said in a shaky voice. "W-We should call someone over soon."

"Wait...this person is a Noble," I said as I noticed his clothing. "What kind of person would boldly attack their Queen? He is courting death!"

"Yes, he is Marquis Pillar's son Nevel Pillar...He assaulted me after I refused his advances. He told me that if I refused to make him my Consort, he would spread a rumor that I was disgraced by him to the masses," Arielle said with tears of frustration running down her face.

"That is equivalent to a social death so soon after His Majesty's parting...How dare he!" I said angrily.

"...They...it is they. He is maybe the first but not the last of them," Arielle said after stopping shaking.

She then buried her face into her hands.

"Pardon?" I said.

"I have been told to marry again if I want to keep my position as Queen...What kind of life is this to be continuously tossed around for other people's benefit? All they want is for me to hand off all of this power off to them so that they can benefit from my misery," Arielle said sharply.

It feels as though Arielle is slowly slipping into a dark path...

I quickly went around to Arielle's desk and grabbed the dagger she always placed in the top drawer for emergencies.

"This is the moment," I said as I unsheathed the dagger from its scabbard.

"Moment? What are you talking about, Charlotte?" Arielle asked as she looked up from her hands at me.

"Arielle, you are kind...You have always been kind. Others may find that as a weakness, but I find that part of you to be your strength as well. Your kindness was my only salvation. No matter how many times I repeat this life, you are always there to lend me a helping hand. Maybe that is why I have yet to go mad...because you have always been there for me," I said as I raised the dagger over Nevel Pillar's heart. I looked back at her and smiled dismally. "Even if you do not want it, I will turn you into the cruel tyrant you were meant to be..."

My plan was to 'silence' Nevel Pillar permanently.

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