My Charlotte Hates Me

Chapter 19: Broken Ties

Of course His Majesty is not the culprit behind Arielle's assassination attempt. I just want to see if His Majesty is willing to go that far to protect the true culprit. That is why I am going this far to test him.

"Lady Castile, what are you insinuating? Our Former King wants to murder my daughter? For what reason?" Duke Maddox asked me. He soon turned back to His Majesty. "Please deny it as well. There would be no reason for you to take my daughter's life. She is my daughter as well as the daughter of that person..."

"...Lady Castile...you truly live up to your name as one of the kingdom's most brilliant minds," His Majesty said. "If you are the one to arrest me, I will accept any punishment. Please make it so that I will receive punishment for trying to assassinate my daughter-in-law."

You would go that far to protect that person?

"Your Majesty...how could you? My daughter is the last living remnant of my wife. You of all people must have also..."

Duke Maddox seemed on the verge of tears after believing that his friend and the person whom he had sworn loyalty to had betrayed him.

"...I'm sorry, Triston," His Majesty said.

"...Guards! Please come arrest our Former King!" Duke Maddox ordered.

The guards that had come in were reluctant to act as they had all once sworn loyalty to this person before.

As if sensing their reluctance, His Majesty said, "If you two hadn't caught me, I would have been able to kill the Queen..."

The guards then handcuffed His Majesty and escorted him away to the castle dungeon.

The mysterious actions of our Former King, our current King was in a coma, and the true culprit behind the incident...

When Arielle heard the news, she rushed out to find His Majesty to get the truth under the matter but was denied access by the Duke.

"...You are acting like a fool, Your Majesty," I said to him after visiting him a day after yesterday's events.

"After having been thrown in prison, you continue to call me with a respectful title? Please call me informally like the sinner I am," His Majesty said.

"The only sin you are truly guilty of is being a fool," I said as I gripped my hands.

"...What will happen to my accomplices?" His Majesty asked.

"Accomplices? What accomplices? Your Majesty had not ordered anyone to do anything!" I said angrily. "Why are you still covering for that person!"

"...It was me. It was all my fault. I cannot stand handing over my throne to my own son, so I decided to kill him along with his wife whom is possibly carrying our next King," His Majesty said monotonously.

There was not even a hint of acting in his voice. Everything he is saying is baseless and ridiculous. They were just like the prattling of a mad man whose words are almost always incoherent.

"...Why take the fall? Is that person really worth it? However, the truth will be out soon, and that person will not be spared!" I said resolutely.

"...Lady Castile, I do not mind spending the rest of my life in prison, but please spare that person...She is a pitiful person," His Majesty said.

"Your Majesty, I have no pity for someone who tried to kill our Queen..."

"It really is my fault! Had it not been for me, she would not have gone so far," His Majesty said.

"Even if she is your wife, I cannot forgive her...she has to atone for her sins," I said.

"As long as she does not die, I am willing to pay any price," His Majesty said.

"Your Majesty, your sin as a fool is too great..."

The bitter aftertaste in my mouth could not be rid despite the amount of alcohol I knowingly shoved down my throat. I had never once acquired a specific taste for alcohol before now. At least, it helped me sleep with the horrible decisions I had made for myself.

That hopeless devotion to protect a maddening wife, I could never hope to understand that person's complex feelings to protect an attempted murderer. However, I could sympathize with his feelings to protect someone he loved to a fault...

In a few days, news came out as our Former King and Queen had both retired to the countryside, when in reality, our Former King had been imprisoned in a tower and his wife the Former Queen had been sent to a monastery in the far outskirts of the kingdom to live out her days in solitude.

Her motives continue to remain unclear even to this day...

Arielle had often tried to seek His Majesty out to find out the truth but was denied entry every single time. Nonetheless, she tried to see him everyday and would leave him letters whenever she was free.

It took some time, but things were finally calming down with Arielle as our King's proxy. Since that day, His Majesty was unable to open his eyes. Even the Doctors had no hope in his recovery. If that was not the most terrible news to come by, Arielle was also found to be pregnant. Despite the joyous news, it was a busy time for Arielle as she had to take over her husband's duties while taking care of her growing child.

The pregnancy took a great toll on her health, so much as to say it looked like the tumor growing in her was killing her. I pondered endlessly if I should kill the growth in her womb to preserve my friend's life. However, when I think about her husband's state and the state of the kingdom, at least one of them had to survive...If the child does not survive, neither will Arielle.

I continued staying by Arielle's side for the entirety of her pregnancy and even stayed by her side during birth in place of her husband who was not able to.

I thought my strenuous efforts were finally rewarded when I was handed Arielle's baby from her arms for the very first time. Instead of Arielle constantly losing her life to this world, she had finally beaten the fate given to her and even gave birth to a healthy young boy. In that moment, I could not help but cry as I thanked the young boy for being born as he marked a new beginning for Arielle.

"I think I was born for this moment...to see this person born to this world," I said through my incessant tears.

"...You are exaggerating. If anything, you were born to become Charlotte Vera Castile...the greatest woman and friend I will ever come to know," Arielle said with a bright smile on her face. "I hope that you will be this child's Godmother as well."

"I will accept this title gratefully," I said as I kneeled before Arielle's bed.

"You are too stiff, Char!" Arielle said teasingly.

"It has been a really long journey," I said in tears.

"...I always had this feeling that you of all people would stay by my side the longest. That feeling actually came true," Arielle said with a slightly melancholic tone.

"...I will continue to be by your side, along with your newly born child as well," I said.

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