Curtis caught up with Charlotte as she was silently treading down the corridor. Due to their difference in height and strides, he didn’t need much time to catch up.

Not minding Curtis’ presence, Charlotte merely kept moving.

She had failed to protect Juliet.

Frederick had a point.

Malcolm went berserk, attacking the knights, Quentin, and even Juliet herself. He had lost all reasons.

This had happened several times in the past. People who met Juliet would suddenly undergo drastic changes, even going against their true natures. They’d go to extreme measures just to get Juliet, sometimes not even hesitating to harm her.

It hadn’t happened in years, so Charlotte completely let her guard down.

Even if she had knowledge of prior events, there was no way she could’ve predicted that Malcolm would go on a rampage.

Looking back, she didn’t even consider the possibility of Malcolm hiding any illegal magic weapons. She should’ve asked Ethelbert and Brandon to keep an eye on Malcolm. A group of ten non-magicians would never be a match against a single magic weapon.

But Charlotte didn’t do that.

She was being naïve in thinking that Malcolm wouldn’t act rash. Actually, she also had her own reasons.

Charlotte had guessed that Malcolm would try to get in touch with Juliet. He might use the excuse of comforting her about the fire. Ever since he saved her, Juliet trusted Malcolm, so she most likely wouldn’t refuse to see him.

Quentin, who knew Malcolm, could’ve stopped him. He could’ve prevented the two from getting close. Since Quentin liked Juliet, it was easy to imagine him taking action. In fact, that was one of Frederick’s desires.

She used that fact as a pretext to assign Quentin his role.

Whether he succeeded in preventing Juliet from meeting Malcolm, the “watchman”  would stay in contact with Juliet and keep an eye on Malcolm. Charlotte simply didn’t want Ethelbert or Brandon to be in that position for a very selfish reason.

The more people interacted with Juliet, the more enamored they became for some reason. There were almost no exceptions, albeit neither Ethelbert nor Brandon showed signs of it at the moment. Nevertheless, Charlotte feared that it might eventually happen.

She wanted to minimize their interaction with Juliet as much as possible. That was all.

Thus, it was only natural for her to be blamed. Anyone who heard her reasoning would’ve done the same. As such, she resigned herself to be punished for a simple error of judgment, but…

She gently touched her stinging cheek.

The heat and pain showed no sign of subsiding.

Charlotte didn’t know how detailed the information sent by the messenger had been, or by Juliet and the knights who had arrived earlier.

She had provoked Malcolm, so her being attacked by the magical weapon was only natural. She carried it out precisely because she was confident that Ethelbert and the others would protect her.

But she failed to anticipate something.

The approaching, sharp gust of wind had a faint glow, one that was almost transparent. A direct hit would’ve been enough to blow a person’s head off. That magic weapon had the power to make that possible.

“Your Highness.”

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