## Chapter 27 – Charlotte. Continuing # 1
Even on the way to Charlotte’s room, Number 25’s legs gave out, and she ended up piggybacking him there.
“Ugh, what a sight.”
Charlotte said this, but she carefully laid Number 25 down on the bed, and then sat down beside him.
Number 25 lay on the bed, muttering to himself. The alcohol had already coursed through his body, preventing him from thinking straight.
“I’m sorry… I’m sorry…”
At the sound of his apology, Charlotte bit her lip tightly and frowned.
It was painful. It felt like her heart was being torn apart.
She was the one who should be apologizing to him, but instead, she was receiving apologies from the person she had hurt.
It was disgusting and unbearable.
She wanted to shatter herself into pieces, so she could no longer fail to offer a proper apology.
Like thorns on a rose, to prevent anyone from approaching her weak self.
So she wouldn’t have to be hurt, or hurt anyone else.
To make Number 25 completely give up on her.
Harsh words, contrary to Charlotte’s will, kept coming out of her mouth.
“Why do you keep doing things that you need to apologize for? Why do you keep making things difficult for me? It’s hard for me when you’re around. I’m trash, so you should just ignore me and spend fun time with the Demon Lord, so why do you keep clinging to me!”
Even after finishing her words, Charlotte regretted them again. Was that too harsh? But Number 25, lying on the bed and trying to calm his throbbing head, couldn’t possibly understand her words.
Charlotte gave a self-deprecating, exhausted smile and repeated to herself.
“No, it’s not your fault. I’m the weird one. Yeah, I’m the crazy one.”
She always teased Asel for being a simpleton, but those words were actually directed at herself.
One thousand five hundred years.
That was how long Charlotte had lived.
She had certainly been a vibrant young girl once. But that freshness had been worn away by time and the environment, long ago.
She had lived for so long, yet she had never liked a single man.
She simply thought.
Ah, I’m just this kind of person. Someone who never had affection to begin with, with a heart like a parched land.
This is my portrait.
But that thought had recently shattered like glass.
Seeing a slave that the Demon Lord had brought from the slave market, rain began to fall on her dry heart.
Having never liked anyone before, the way to express her feelings was twisted by strange knowledge she had seen in books and heard from her friends.
So much time had passed, and she finally thought she had met someone who could soothe her heart, but she didn’t know how to express her feelings and ended up hurting him.
It was the worst.
It would be better for Number 25 and Asel to make sure there was no room for a woman like her in Number 25’s heart.
And so, Charlotte was trapped in a prison of her own making, blocking out all contact from others.
Number 25 belatedly grabbed his head, which felt like it was about to break, and barely managed to get up from the bed.
He felt like the world was spinning, and he couldn’t even stand properly.
Without realizing it, Number 25 leaned his head against Charlotte’s trembling body and took slow breaths to suppress his nausea.
Charlotte put aside her negative thoughts for a moment and checked on Number 25, who was leaning on her.
For the smell of alcohol to be this strong, it couldn’t have been just one bottle.
“Who the hell fed him alcohol? I have a guess, but…”
Number 25 answered with a gag.
“Ugh…!”
Charlotte gently stroked his back and clicked her tongue.
“Tsk, I can’t live like this.”
Another wave of nausea, but Number 25 knew instinctively.
This time, it wasn’t just a gag, it was real.
But this was Charlotte’s room, and throwing up would be the end of him.
He knew it in his head, but unfortunately, Number 25’s body didn’t seem to want to hold it in.
His throat was instantly filled with stomach acid, alcohol, and the food he had hurriedly eaten in the morning.
He bent over, trying to throw up what was inside, when Charlotte’s white hand appeared right in front of him.
The vomit, already overflowing to the entrance, couldn’t be stopped by personal will.
Number 25 forcefully threw up what was inside him onto her hand.
Seeing Charlotte’s hand dirtied with his vomit, Number 25 felt like he was sobering up. How could he do this to Charlotte’s hand? He deserved to die a hundred times over.
But Charlotte didn’t say anything and just stood there, letting him empty everything out until he was finished.
Fortunately, the vomit was quite small compared to the amount he had eaten, so Charlotte’s hand was able to catch it all.
After throwing up, his head cleared a little, and he could understand more clearly what he had done. Number 25 immediately bowed his head to her and apologized loudly.
“I-I’m sorry!”
“I told you not to say sorry!”
For some reason, Charlotte frowned and shouted, and Number 25 flinched and moved slightly away from her.
“I’m not good enough to hear those words from you.”
Leaving behind only incomprehensible words, Charlotte slowly and carefully got up, trying not to let the vomit on her hand spill.
“I’ll go wash my hands, so wait here for a moment.”
Heading straight to the bathroom to wash her hands, Charlotte suddenly felt that her reflection in the mirror was pathetic.
Hollow eyes, a smile that had disappeared somewhere, and hair that was dry and rough from not getting enough sleep.
She hated the way she looked. She couldn’t believe she had stood in front of Number 25 looking so ugly.
Charlotte reflexively shattered the mirror in the bathroom. Shards of glass pierced her hand, causing blood to flow, but the pain in her mind far surpassed the pain in her body.
A nearby maid heard the noise and rushed to the bathroom in surprise.
She looked back and forth between Charlotte, who was dripping blood from her hand, and the mirror, and raised her voice.
“Maid Chief!?”
Charlotte shook her hand and said nonchalantly.
“It’s nothing.”
As if to prove it, Charlotte’s hand was healing at a rapid pace. Charlotte told the maid to clean up the broken mirror and headed back to the room where Number 25 was waiting.
Waiting for Charlotte when she returned to the room was Number 25, who was sitting still and tense. The red flush of intoxication had not yet disappeared from his face, but he was in a state where he could have a conversation.
“Sit.”
At Charlotte’s words, Number 25 cautiously sat back down on the bed.
She nervously shook her head and sat down at a slight distance from Number 25.
She was about to weaken at the sight of Number 25’s tearful face, but she had to shake it off. It was time to resume her forgotten role as the head maid. Charlotte closed her eyes tightly and began to utter words she didn’t mean.
“Why do you keep following me around? Do you want an apology for what happened yesterday?”
“That’s not it.”
“Then what is it?”
“I just… I wanted to talk to Charlotte again like we used to…”
“Talk like we used to? Do you think I have time to chat with you leisurely? Would those words go in if you break the remaining horn?”
With each word she uttered, it felt like her heart was being cut out.
She didn’t want to say these things, she just wanted to honestly say she loved him like the Demon Lord.
She hated her identity, her status, for the first time.
Number 25 looked shocked by Charlotte’s words. His hands were trembling, and his gaze was already directed at the floor.
Just a little more, if she showed a little more thorns, Number 25 would completely lose interest in her with fear and dread.
Yes, that’s all that matters.
Charlotte clenched her teeth and said the words she had repeated dozens of times in her mind, but never wanted to say out loud.
“I’m not the one who saved you from that shitty world. You should give all your heart to Asel, so why do you care about someone like me? Why do you give me hope? I’m the one who touched your body without permission, right? I’m the worst trash, right? Then just say it honestly! Say that you’re the worst, that you’re trash, that you’re the person I hate the most!”
Charlotte, having spewed out all the false emotions inside her, even felt relieved.
Yes, it was a relationship that could never be, that could never be realized anyway. Number 25 was out of reach from the beginning.
The moment she thought he was within reach, he disappeared like a dream.
She had finally realized that she could never reach him, even if she wanted affection.
Number 25 silently grabbed Charlotte’s hand, who was breathing heavily.
She thought she felt a slight tremor from his hand.
But it was Charlotte’s hand that was trembling.
Number 25 quietly opened his mouth with a calmer expression than ever before.
“It’s true that the Demon Lord gave me light for the first time. But Charlotte was also the first person to show me kindness.”
Charlotte shook her head, looking straight into his eyes.
Stop it.
Don’t say any more.
I finally sorted it out, right? I said all the things you would hate, right?
But if you say those words, I will…
“So I like Charlotte as much as I like the Demon Lord.”
With those words, all the false sandcastles she had built up until now began to crumble.
Charlotte dropped her head and muttered in a calmer voice.
“I see… that’s your true feelings. You’re saying you like even someone like me. You like me, who hurt you…”
Number 25 carefully touched the broken horn and smiled slightly.
“But I still don’t like being hurt. I like the kind Charlotte more.”
Okay, let’s be honest now.
Hiding your feelings is exhausting.
When Charlotte snapped her fingers, a small lamp next to the bed emitted a soft blue flame.
Small lights began to float like stars in the room, which was darkened by the blinds.
Number 25 opened his mouth at the dreamy sight he had only seen in dreams and looked at the floating lights.
“Just for today.”
After finishing her words, Charlotte took off her clothes.
As her naked body was revealed, the room was filled with a sweet fragrance.
Charlotte lay naked on the bed, gave a soft smile, and opened her arms and lifted her waist slightly as if to say, “Come here.”
A posture to easily accept Number 25.
Number 25 slowly approached her arms, and Charlotte gently hugged him.
The soft, tender body of a woman. A sweet fragrance that enveloped his nose.
A languid satisfaction mixed with a moderate amount of alcohol dominated Number 25’s body.
Charlotte whispered in Number 25’s ear, who was in her arms.
“Just for today. It may be a one-night dream, but I’ll be the kind Charlotte you want…”
