That night, Charlotte saw a dream.

In that dream, she saw a woman’s back. As fire blazed from here and there, the woman walked.

Her skin was bright while her hair was pale gold.

Overall, the woman’s complexion was quite fair.

That, coupled with the fact that she was donning a white dress, gave her a surreal appearance, almost like that of a walking apparition.

Charlotte then realized that woman was herself.

Is this a dream from before I lost my memories?

…What made her heart ache even more was the sight of the battlefield.

Among the billowing smoke, cries rose up along with the clashing of swords and magic from afar. Many soldiers were hunched over along the road, groaning.

“Holy Maiden…”

When Charlotte passed in front of him, a fallen magician reached out for help.

“Please, have mercy… Heal—…”

Upon being beseeched by the magician, Charlotte looked down at him and smiled gently.

The moment she bent down and took his hand, the magician breathed a sigh of relief. However, his face soon contorted into despair.

“Eh…?”

All traces of Charlotte’s smile has vanished from face as she releases the magician’s hand.

“P-please wait…!!”

Even after he called out to her, she didn’t look back.

Over and over again, sorrowful cries were thrown at her back.

“Holy Saint, I beg you to heal me…!! Please, please help, save me—…”

…!

Looking at that scene now, Charlotte felt a pang in her chest.

…Why didn’t you help them?

Despite knowing it was a dream, she still questioned her former self.

Don’t you have the power to do so? Aren’t you the saint? So why don’t you use your power to help them?

“…”

Her former self halted, before chuckling.

“Please remember.”

—!

It wasn’t a misunderstanding.

Charlotte’s light blue eyes were definitely staring at her. Charlotte’s former self was warning her, who had lost her memory.

“—How can the divine power of the saint be abused?”

Charlotte’s eyes fluttered open.

As she sat up on her bed, a quilt slid down her body.

Charlotte glanced at her diary, it was emitting a faint glow in the dimly-lit room.

Upon getting out of bed and opening her diary, she discovered that some of the sealed pages could now be opened.

On the fourth and the fifth pages, Charlotte’s writing could be seen on one side of the spread.

‘—Set me free.’

“…”

The words were written in much smaller letters than the ones on the previous pages.

***

“Ufufu. …Ufufufufufufufufu, ufufufu…!!”

By the lake, Charlotte was laughing the whole time.

Although she wanted to stop, after a few seconds, her cheeks went loose again.

Recalling the memory from that morning, Charlotte fawned over it and planted her face on the bench.

“You look pretty chirpy today, Miss.”

Next to Charlotte sat the old man she had just met the other day.

The old man—who was a gardener of that mansion—wore the blue muffler that he said was the memento of his wife. He smiled as he watched over Charlotte.

“Yes! That should go without saying…!!”

Charlotte swooned after her energetic reply.

“Some very, very wonderful things happened…”

It took place the day after the evening ball.

After Charlotte had recovered from fainting, Oswald visited her room and said to her,

“Starting today, we’ll be eating together in the dining room.”

“Eeeeh—!?”

Charlotte was amazed by the situation.

“W-wait a minute, what brought this up!?”

“Nothing. After seeing the situation with the maids, I couldn’t just ignore it, could I? However, finding replacements immediately after dismissing them is difficult.”

“Dismiss…”

Upon hearing that, Charlotte paled.

The maids were probably just afraid of Charlotte, and never intended to botch their jobs.

Seeing Charlotte’s expression, Oswald sighed.

“…As for the maids, I will write letters of recommendations for all of them.”

“!!”

“To begin with, many aristocrats in this country are facing a shortage of labor. Furthermore, even though they shirked their duties here, I heard that they were originally competent.”

Hearing those words, she was deeply moved.

“Thank you, Lord Oswald…!”

As I thought, Lord Oswald is kinder than anyone else.

After basking in joy for a while, Charlotte reflected on at Oswald’s remarks.

“Uhm, Lord Oswald… I need to clarify something. Uh, what happened, again?”

“Like I said, after disciplining the maids, there was no longer enough hands to prepare the meals. In order to have my butler prepare it for you, starting today, you’ll have to eat with me—Huh?! Why are you tumbling out of bed!?”

She didn’t actually fall, per se.

Charlotte merely knelt on the door and expressed her gratitude.

“Uwaaah… Thank you very much! I offer my prayer towards this fortunate day, towards the life’s splendor, and for being able to live another day—”

“Stop it—! We’re just going to eat together! Don’t rub your forehead against the floor, stand up—!”

“Uugh… I’m sorry, Lord Oswald! I don’t think I can obey that order right now, so please let me maintain this position for a while longer…!”

“I’m telling you to stand up! Let’s go to the dining room!”

“Aah, don’t pry me off the floor…!!”

After such a battle, Charlotte had a meal with Oswald.

The same applied to the day before yesterday’s breakfast, and the day before yesterday’s dinner—

—then, yesterday’s breakfast, and even yesterday’s dinner…

…Who’d have thought that even today’s breakfast would be face-to-face with Oswald.

 …When Lord Oswald opened his mouth to eat… Apparently, he ate a lot. Moreover, the graceful way he used the knife and the fork…

Just remembering that made her chest full.

“Aah… It’s good meeting you today, Grandpa. Ever since Professor Heydemarie’s classes ended, no one is there to listen to the throbbing of my heart…”

“The professor lives in the mansion with the large greenhouse, doesn’t she? Rumor has it that the flowers are blooming splendidly. If possible, I’d like to see them with my own eyes.”

“You can’t? As Grandpa is the one who created this garden, Professor Heydemerie should find you more than welcome to visit…”

After all, the greenhouse itself should be managed by a gardener.

However, the old man shook his head.

“Hahaha. That mansion has a barrier that prohibits men.”

“Oh, dear!”

“The barrier, set up by the former saint—Lady Heydemarie, can’t be dispelled easily.”

Charlotte didn’t find that surprising.

That was probably the reason why there were no men in the mansion. In fact, even the magician who sent Charlotte home was a female.

…For men to be barred from entering, well, it’s a place for the education of ladies…

“But Miss, you must’ve been lonely. If you can’t see your friends much, living in this mansion must be boring.”

When he gently asked her, Charlotte pondered.

As I thought, this grandpa knows that I’m the saint…

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have mentioned the part about her living in that mansion.

However, even though he was aware, he didn’t treat Charlotte coldly. Thus, Charlotte nodded—feeling both happy and remorseful at the same time.

“Indeed. I’m very lonely. Not only that, I’d like to ask both Professor Heydemarie and my friends something…”

“I see. Then, how about asking this old man your question?”

“To Grandpa?”

The old man smiled as he stared at Charlotte.

“Uhm, actually, it’s about the prince…”

---

***T/N: I kinda feel suffocated by the whole ‘noble’s plaything’ vibe we’re getting here…

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