After a few hours into their date, the two returned home using teleport. Brandon greeted them with a smile.

“Welcome home.”

Apparently, Brandon had been working on paperwork while pretending that Charlotte and Ethelbert were having a tea party.

“Your Highness the Crown Princess, how was your date? I sure hope my master didn’t behave like anything less than a gentleman toward you.”

“Who do you think I am?”

Next to Ethelbert who was scowling, Charlotte chuckled and defended his honor.

“He escorted me in a very gentlemanly manner. It was my first time experiencing such… I had a lot of fun.”

“I’m glad to hear that.”

Brandon smiled brightly and cast a meaningful look at his master. At that, Ethelbert’s expression turned stern yet dejected for a moment. Then, he sighed as he turned to look at Charlotte.

“Stay still.”

“Okay.”

Upon hearing her reply, Ethelbert snapped his finger. Unlike during the date’s preparations, when he changed her attire, along with the color of her hair and eyes, Charlotte reverted to her original appearance in an instant.

The workings of magic sure baffles me…

She looked in the mirror and checked everything.

Her brown hair and eyes, that blouse, that skirt, those slippers, that ribbon—they were all gone. She was dressed as she was when she arrived at that guesthouse.

That was the original appearance of Charlotte—of Princess Charlotte, who inherited the colors of the royal family of the Kingdom of Lymore.

She was Lotte no longer.

All traces of Lotte had vanished, as if the previous events were nothing but a dream. Charlotte was confronted with the fact that Lotte was, after all, nothing more than an illusion born from magic.

She couldn’t help but be vexed by the two colors more than usual.

No matter what happened to her, she’d still be Charlotte Callista Reevesmore. She couldn’t be anything else. Even if she were to disguise herself, it’d only be for a small moment of time, and in the end, she’d have to return to being the crown princess.

“Thank you for today.”

She curtseyed to Ethelbert.

From the bottom of her heart, she truly enjoyed that day. She didn’t have to think about her role as the princess, and was able to spend her time as just Lotte.

When was the last time she had felt such freedom?

When the clock struck midnight, she became crestfallen. Still, she was grateful to have had such an opportunity.

“Don’t look so miserable.”

Ethelbert reached out to her, softly patting her hair. As Charlotte’s eyes flickered in confusion, he spoke soothingly, in a quieter voice.

“While the colors look similar, yours are lighter overall. Even if they were the exact same colors as King Frederick’s—this hair and those eyes are your colors, not his.”

　◇◇◇

That night, Charlotte sat in front of her dresser in her room.

A familiar reflection was shown in the mirror, bearing colors that alluded to the blood of Frederick that flowed within her veins. She despised gold and jade because they only reminded her of that man.

—And yet he said that they were my colors.

He was telling her not to hate them.

…My colors.

Charlotte had never considered it that way.

Indeed, as he said, Charlotte’s hair and eyes were slightly paler. The difference was so subtle, it could only be noticed from up close.

‘Even if they were the exact same colors as King Frederick’s—’

“…Right. He had a point…”

The colors of the man she abhorred.

‘—are your colors, not his.’

Ethelbert’s words slowly permeated her heart, and she could feel that the hatred she’d been nursing so far was fading away.

There, standing in front of the mirror, the frustration and discomfort that arose became relatively small.

She raised her left hand and stared at her wrist.

‘The clothes you wore today are stored in this magic tool. As it was imbued with cleaning magic, simply storing them away should make them cleaner than washing them. I also included a hooded cape. I’m planning on asking you on another date in the future, but given your personality, you’d probably feel uncomfortable having to prepare new clothes each time? Be sure to wear this. As for how to use it—’

On the way back from the guesthouse, Ethelbert gave her a magic tool without a second thought.

The magic tool came in a form of a bracelet with a blue stone. Moreover, it was a one-of-a-kind item that had been crafted by Ethelbert himself.

Even Charlotte, who didn’t know much about magic tools, knew that it’d fetch an exorbitant price. After all, it had been created by none other than the Imperial Brother.

But the rarity or the astronomical price didn’t matter to her.

When she traced the bracelet with her right hand, a smile naturally found its way to her face.

---

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