"I'm asking what your real intentions behind getting involved with the Crown Prince are."
The gloomy atmosphere of a man who lost his companion still flowed from the Grand Duke.
He was so handsome that people didn't think he had kids already.
Charlize calmly answered,
"What does that have to do with Your Grace?"
She had not used the title of 'father' as she had stubbornly done during her childhood.
It was 'Your Grace'; a title that drew the line thoroughly.
The Grand Duke's brows formed a frown.
"Aren't you a Ronan?"
"Are there any nobles who think of me as a Ronan?"
There were none.
The nobles who thought of Charlize as a Ronan…
The Grand Duke, who knew about it better than anyone blinked in embarrassment. But Charlize's face remained calm.
The second son, Dante, who was standing beside him, gulped down his saliva and turned his head.
On the other hand, the first son, Akan, was so indifferent to his family that he was not even used to seeing Charlize.
Akan said,
"Why do you say that? Because of you, the Ronan's have become the first family to support the Crown Prince."
Charlize looked at Akan. It had been four years since the fencing competition.
Akan's words were wrong. Everyone knew that the Ronans had not helped Dylan until he became the Crown Prince.
She answered,
"The relatives of the Crown Prince's grandmaster. Of course, it is an achievement. But, it's technically unrelated to the Ronan family."
"It's unrelated?"
"The student I was teaching just became the Crown Prince."
In contrast to the cold-hearted Akan, Charlize was perfectly peaceful.
The Grand Duke restrained Akan, who was trying to speak more:
"Both of you are noisy."
"… I'm sorry, Father."
Akan stepped back, lowering his gaze.
The Grand Duke reproached the silent Charlize.
"Don't stand out. Can you not even accept that wish?"
It was useless. He didn't say it, but that was what the cold eyes said. The Grand Duke clicked his tongue.
"I can't thank you for being stuck as a member of our Ronan family."
Dante, who was listening by his side, flinched.
The Grand Duke was still the same as before. He didn't change one bit.
'Isn't this too much for Charlize?' Dante thought.
He was a little worried, so he looked at Charlize. 'What is this?' She looked as if she were happy.
"Oh, I was going to say that."
An excited voice.
It felt a little fresh.
'Fresh?'
Dante was surprised by his own thoughts.
He noticed an ominous air around Charlize.
His brother and father didn't notice… that Charlize isn't the same kid she used to be.
The pink coral ornament that adorned Charlize's hair glistened gracefully. The corner of her mouth turned up and she smiled with her eyes.
As a child, the princess had always been told that her atmosphere resembled that of the deceased Grand Duchess the most.
She was fascinating like a rose but sharp because she had a hidden thorn. Was there anyone more suitable to be the Crown Prince's grandmaster?
Charlize's dress was lavish.
"I would appreciate it if you expelled me."
Still, in a fresh voice, Charlize smiled convincingly. By asking him to remove her name from the family register.
Even Akan, who was not surprised by most things, looked at Charlize with his eyes wide open.
***
The silence continued for a long time. A second felt like a year.
The Grand Duke and Akan were frozen and said nothing. Charlize was still smiling.
Dante broke the silence.
"Is it because you don't know the difference between living shielded by your family's glory and not?"
Dante was in his own way considering Charlize's best interest. For her sake, he meant to persuade her somehow:
"You're a Ronan too, no matter how. There is no reason to throw away your family when the power of the Grand Duke is so clear. You can just stay still."
"I don't know."
The princess didn't seem to be persuaded at all.
Dante was impatient:
"Of course, you could join another family as a foster daughter. There certainly those who would accept because they aim for the honor of being family with the Crown Prince's grandmaster. However,"
"…"
"What family could be greater than the Ronan's? It would be hard to adjust. It's not a matter to decide so easily."
He was just saying it in a roundabout way, and it was easy to say,
'If you go out of here, who's going to accept you? You will only have a hard time.'
Charlize, who knew his true intentions, smiled and tilted her head:
"Well, I've never enjoyed the Ronan's' privilege."
When Charlize raised her head again, …
"Whether I go somewhere else or not,"
… her eyes were more intense.
"it's better than there anyway."
There… The Grand Duchy.
Dante hesitated for a moment.
Seven years ago, Charlize suddenly fired her maids. No one could stop her because it was so obvious that the maids were harassing Charlize.
'For that child, what kind of place would the Grand Duchy be?' he thought.
"You're here, Grandmaster!"
Then, she heard the maid's bright voice. Charlize took her eyes off Dante and looked at the maids.
The maids who sincerely respected and gently bowed their heads to her. It was so different from the maids at the Grand Duchy, who had pretended not to see Charlize according to the Grand Duke's will.
"Yes."
Unlike in the past, she did not shrink back like a fading rose or raise her thorns to guard herself, so Charlize's laughter was elegant.
"Did you find it?"
He thought she was coarse and intimidating to the employees.
'The problem lies not with Charlize…'
Looking at Akan and the Grand Duke, who seemed to hide their shaking from surprise, Dante clenched his fists.
He hated to admit it, but Charlize seemed noble. Maybe the problem lies… with THE Grand Duke.
The maids, who saw Dante's face falling apart, whispered carefully to Charlize.
"You were having an important conversation…"
"No. Now I've said everything I've got to say anyhow," Charlize answered softly.
The maids greeted the three men with friendly faces at first.
"Grandmaster's family, the Grand Duke of Ronan, and the sons of the Grand Duke."
But the Ronans never greeted anyone.
Charlize turned to the maids without even saying hello as if she knew it would be like this.
"Let's go."
"Yes, grandmaster."
The maids were looking at Charlize with fond eyes.
Charlize also treated them with a very gentle attitude. The eyes of the Grand Duke hardened because of how differently she looked at the maids compared to them.
"It would be good for all of us, so I'd appreciate it if you could expel me as soon as possible."
After Charlize said those last words, she went away as if she had nothing else to do with them.
Yet they stood there as if nailed to the spot.
***
The Emperor gave some advice to Dylan because he was in a good mood.
Things to overcome as the Crown Prince and how to deal with people.
It went in one ear and out the other. Worse than what Master teaches.
When Dylan acted well just like an obedient child, the emperor was satisfied and laughed as he stroked his beard:
"You must be tired. Now go and rest."
"Yes. Thank you for your good words. I'm going to go now. Your Majesty."
Like a gentle, docile beast.
Dylan, who bowed politely, was dismissed by the eyes of the emperor.
But as soon as he moved away from the emperor, Dylan's expression cooled down.
The Crown Prince's heart belonged only to Charlize.
The sun had already fallen, and the sky was sunset red.
Dylan hurried.
As soon as he was finished with the proceedings, he ran to Charlize. Upon his arrival, Charlize was filling out some document.
"Master."
Finally, Dylan could be himself again. It was only possible in front of Charlize.
A relaxed, genuine smile came to mind. He had been distracted by the book opening ceremony earlier.
Because Charlize was so beautiful.
He only saw it a few times, but it stuck to the cornea like an afterimage and dominated the head.
As they faced each other up close like this, Dylan was even more puzzled. Strangely, it felt like his chest was tightening.
"…Yes. Your Highness."
Charlize rose from her seat. Dylan blinked slowly.
Now Dylan was much taller than Charlize. He wanted to be an adult. He was curious how Charlize would feel when she had to look up to Dylan.
'But it's really weird.'
As a man, he looked at Charlize.
"Because you're not the prince anymore. It's a little awkward to call you 'Your Highness' for the first time."
Charlize felt a little awkward.
Dylan came to his senses belatedly.
He didn't care when the nobles called him 'Your Highness', yet Charlize's pronunciation tickled him somewhere.
But.
He was an adult now.
He also had broad shoulders and a strong back due to his improved physique. Even fancy clothes could not hide his properly developed muscles.
Dylan's refreshing glances fell on Charlize.
"No, I thought I was happy to be the Crown Prince for the first time," he said while he slightly blushed up to his ears and lowered his eyes.
"…Yes?"
"It's not awkward. Very well. Do it. No. It's good to hear."
Charlize blinked, then smiled softly.
'He's still the same.'
Dylan was still polite and considerate.
When he became the Crown Prince, he could really talk down now, but Dylan didn't. Charlize never pointed that out.
She realized how low and deep his voice had become.
Dylan said,
"It's been longer than I thought. What were you doing? Wasn't it boring?"
"It's not boring."
Charlize shook her head.
"It's a historical day, so my heart was beating all day. My heart kept pounding."
Dylan's eyes widened as if her words were unexpected.
"My heart was pounding, too. Master."
To Charlize, who said her heart was pounding, he was the Crown Prince who said he felt the same way.
His black hair looked quite noble. It's Dylan's color, but it's the color of the devil, and as it goes with his appearance, there was no angel.
"Actually, I was writing an expulsion application."
Said Charlize, and put her hand on the document. Dylan looks at the papers.
An application for expulsion.
Charlize's request to remove her name from the Ronan family register was sincere. Both the Grand Duke and the two sons of the Grand Duke seemed to be embarrassed and had remained silent.
'It was cumbersome, but it went well.'
Charlize wanted to be free. Of course, she knew that this mindset was not common. The relationship between parents and their children was usually one of filial piety.
"Family is meaningless to me. Is it weird?"
Charlize asked. Dylan was calm as if it wasn't weird.
"It's not weird."
Charlize slowly looked at Dylan.
She finished filling it out while she was thinking about it. The application for expulsion was tricky and complicated.
The precedent itself is rare in the first place. Relationship isolation is not as easy as you think. This is especially true for the nobility to prevent the family genealogy from getting twisted.
But it's not impossible at all.
Dylan did not ask why. He asked about Charlize's thoughts,
"What do you want to do with them?"
"I can't afford to deal with others because I don't have enough time to teach Your Highness."
Charlize said, not knowing how Dylan felt.
He thought about it every time. Charlize was very good at speaking. Even the same words can make shake his heart.
Knowing that it didn't mean much, Dylan's heart was shaken.
"The only person I need is Your Highness."
The moment he heard that, Dylan couldn't stop. A tingle of excitement ran up his spine.