“You aren’t the only one who doesn’t see me. That man, the others, and even Juliet, who supposedly cares about me. Everyone is the same.”

“…Her Highness Juliet loves you from the bottom of her heart.”

“Are you stupid?” Charlotte interjected almost reflexively.

Quentin was more saddened by Juliet’s feelings being denied than his being mocked. It couldn’t be because he was confronted with the truth that he was oblivious to.

They’d been engaged for quite a long time. During that period, Quentin’s eyes had become cloudy to reality.

If he was that blind, surely, he couldn’t see the truth. However, a seed of distrust had sprouted within Quentin.

Through this one-sided conversation, Charlotte could quickly sense the change in Quentin’s demeanor.

“Quite recently, I was learning swordsmanship for self-defense. Then, she came to me to ask if I was safe. I explained that it was a refreshing and fun change of pace. However, I ended up getting injured severely, so she went to consult that man. I was forced to stop the next day. She laughed, saying, ‘Good for you!’ She even dictates my own hobbies. The same happened with horse riding.”

‘What a relief! A princess doesn’t need to learn swordsmanship or equestrianism!’ were Juliet’s words back then.

Charlotte laughed condescendingly at Quentin, as if she were about to scoff at any moment. It wasn’t just laughter, she was plain ridiculing him.

Feeling uncomfortable wouldn’t have been unusual, yet Quentin didn’t have the energy to feel any emotions.

“She just wants to feel superior. She knows she’s inferior to me, so she wants to show me that even though she’s weak, she’s so free and everyone cares about her, and that she’s special too!”

“…There’s no way that’s true.”

“She’s unaware of it, so it’s troublesome. Those around her comfort her, saying she doesn’t need to compare herself to me. At the same time, she also knows that she can be spoiled. But of course, she’ll never reach me that way. And yet, she’s full of envy. She’s doing poorly because she doesn’t put in the effort, yet she feels inferior and jealous, so she shows me things that I don’t have, and unconsciously looks down on me. She feels sorry for me, pities me, thinking, ‘Poor Sister, you’re so busy with work.’”

Even though all Juliet did was play around and shirk her responsibilities, it wasn’t a problem because Charlotte was there—and she knew it.

“Above all, you feel sorry for yourself. You sympathized with her because you saw yourself in her, right? Quentin Sargent.”

Quentin Sargent. The reason she used his full name here was to emphasize his position in his family. His father was the prime minister and also the right-hand man of the national hero.

“You used to have quite the complex about it, didn’t you? You were always being compared to your father and siblings. But when she told you that you were you, that you were different from your family, it saved your heart, and that’s what made you attracted to her.”

“…Did you…?”

“I wasn’t trying to eavesdrop. I just happened to be passing by.”

She really did see that scene by chance. The moment when the man who’d just become her fiancé fell in love—not to her, but her despicable sister.

“She’s never said anything like that to me. She always says things like, ‘Older Sister, you’re amazing, you’re really different from me.’ That’s it. She’d praise me, saying I was a great successor, but it really wasn’t about me. She only said it because I carried out my duties as the crown princess.”

It’s a line I’m all too familiar with.

“That girl is surprisingly vile, you know?”

Charlotte had been exposed to her unconscious malice for a long time.

“All of you, who exacerbated it, are equally as vile.”

When she accused clearly again, Quentin lowered his eyes. Despite that, it seemed that he was slightly willing to accept her gaze.

“Working in a harsh environment with no hope of receiving fair compensation. I doubt there are many who’d desire such an environment—least of all me.”

Usually, great responsibility came with great reward, hence why there was merit in enduring it. However, Charlotte wasn’t rewarded.

She couldn’t continue living while sacrificing her wellbeing.

“His oh-so-convenient tool has a mind of her own and is rebelling against him. That man must’ve been very angry!”

Charlotte was still smiling as usual, yet Quentin’s expression twisted in pain. His reaction made Charlotte feel even better. She could feel that her revenge had been successful.

“That girl cries over the slightest inconvenience, and everyone rushes to ease her pain, letting her live comfortably—while I have long forgotten how to shed tears.”

Charlotte couldn’t remember that feeling. If she cried, she’d be scolded and called pathetic, so she held back her tears, and before she knew it, she couldn’t cry at all. Even when she was sad, no tears would come out.

“I’m long past the stage of being jealous of that child. I also don’t need something as worthless as your love. I just don’t want to be forced to endure any more, for the sake of that child or the country. But you all just kept forcing things on me.”

She’d long reached her limit, yet she suppressed it—and in the end, she exploded.

“For a long time, I’ve hated that child, that man, you, everyone else—everything about this kingdom. I hate it so much that ‘hate’ isn’t even an adequate word.”

“Your Highness…”

Unable to say anything anymore, Quentin bit his lips.

“‘Charlotte the Rebel’ is a masterpiece that you’ve all crafted together for thirteen years, so rejoice!”

Charlotte tilted her head as she spoke, her long hair flowing smoothly. Quentin showed no signs of speaking, probably because he had nothing to say.

Charlotte sighed. “How boring.”

Thirteen years. The first thing that would come to mind for most people was the death of the queen.

The major event that caused that man’s love to be drawn solely to her sister. The turning point that accelerated Charlotte’s path to misfortune.

On that day, when the queen died at a young age, Charlotte’s life was ruined.

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