Chapter 2. Engagement to the Happily Ever After (2)
Of course, I faced problems since I still found it difficult to distinguish between a dream and reality. But either way, it was by no means an easy task to ever get a chance of meeting my favorite character, so I should be really thankful. Being able to see the real thing in the flesh would be something that was only possible inside the novel itself. Even if that were the case, just by thinking about it made my thought process move faster than before. So, I immediately began organizing my thoughts.
1. Although the details were unknown, I somehow became Charlotte Reinout, the female protagonist of Held a Flower.
2. For that aforementioned reason, the male side character (my favorite guy) called me Milady.
Upon clearing up my confusion, I realized that they were actually the obvious truths. As I sat myself upwards in an unhurried manner, I looked around once more. Obviously, I craved even just for a little more information. The room, lit by the morning sunlight outside, was decorated in an elegant yet modest way. This was Charlotte’s room; the room she had tidied up to simplicity after her fiancé’s betrayal and the death of everyone in her family. Originally, her room used to be a little fancier than this.
“It looks exactly the way it was described.”
I couldn’t help but express wonder and awe from my past indigence. It was incredible to think that everything I laid my eyes on had perfectly mirrored the descriptions in the book.
“Milady, Doctor Hans has arrived.”
Hans? Who was Hans again– ah, that must be the doctor in charge. Silently, I nodded along. Trailing behind Lancelot was an old man who looked awfully similar to Santa Claus.
“Good morning, Miss Charlotte.”
“Good morning, Hans.”
Hans gave a benignant smile in response to my greeting. Walking over to my side, Hans took a seat on a stool before he began examining me to an extent that it felt uncomfortable.
Mhm, how much longer am I supposed to stay like this?
At that very second as I thought about that, Hans stopped his examinations. Running his fingers through his white beard with one hand, he began to scribble away on a notepad with the other.
“Hmm. Your face is not as pale as before and apart from your voice which is still a little croaky, you are the same as usual.”
“Since she keeps talking about her dreams, I assume that she must have experienced nightmares. Perhaps it’s because she has been overworking recently that she’s fatigued.”
“Hahaha, that is sheer coincidence. Miss Charlotte is actually healthy.”
At those words, Lancelot couldn’t hide his awkwardness. It seemed that by thinking it over now, he had realized that his suggestion was a bit over the top. But being me who had watched everything, I can somewhat understand where he was coming from. It must’ve been surprising for him to suddenly have his mistress wake up and address him differently while mumbling nonsense. Being clueless, Hans laughed wholeheartedly at what he deemed to be a cute reaction from the young man.
“Miss Charlotte, you’re blessed to have such a thoughtful butler.”
“Doctor Hans…!” Lancelot couldn't help but stammer in response to the doctor's compliment.
“Haha, shall I begin my diagnosis so I can ease Mr Lancelot’s worry?”
I nodded. In the novel, Hans only ever appeared as a man who delivered messages from Charlotte’s parents and brothers. But to think that he was such an audacious person, it was both refreshing and interesting for me. Hans checked my pulse from my wrist and measured my temperature with an item that looked to be a thermometer. After taking a few other tests, he gave a bright grin.
“You must have had a good night’s sleep yesterday. You’re much better than you were from a week ago. In the meantime, please refrain from moving around so much and take a moment to get some rest. That way you will be able to fulfill your ambitions.” After giving his advice in a soft voice, Hans packed all his items into a bag. He then left after telling us to call him if anything happened. For someone his age, he was extraordinarily speedy in making his leave.
“I apologize for causing such a commotion so early in the morning, Milady.”
Lancelot couldn’t lift his head; his shame had soared over the roof. I merely shrugged in response.
“It’s alright. Things like that happen from time to time.”
And I clearly understand about anything that you do. I swallowed back those words, unable to let them leave my mouth. Even then from what happened onwards, Lancelot was unable to put away his feelings of guilt. Honestly, it was interesting to watch him; his actions resembled that of a puppy being wary of their owner. Being able to see my favorite character make such expressions, which I only knew from the descriptions in the book, it was rather exciting.
In an attempt to lessen his burden, I masked my dark thoughts and changed the topic.
“I’m a little hungry now. Lancelot, could I ask you to prepare me a light meal?” At my words, Lancelot’s clouded expression lit up. His face was shining to the point that it was hard to look straight at him. Of course, he hadn’t realized it and nodded slightly.
“I will prepare it for you at once.” After offering a smile as beautiful as a picture, Lancelot left the room.
I was alone once more. The silence, which had been previously pushed back into a corner, began to slowly lurk around the entirety of the room. To start off, I wanted to check if this was really a dream or reality through my own direct actions. I’ve always disliked being pinched, so I decided to slap myself instead. Seeing no point in controlling my strength, I swung my hand with all the power I could muster.
“Ow!” A stinging pain came at the same time as the sound of my slapping. In the mirror, the person that Lancelot had left behind was a beautiful lady with one red cheek.
“So, it’s actually real.” My voice was surprisingly calm. It had only been a few minutes ago when I was all like “Who am I? Where am I?”, it seemed that I had adapted a lot faster than I had initially thought. The most surprising thing was my way of thinking. It would only be normal to hurry up and want to go home after understanding the situation, but I didn’t feel like that in the slightest.
And I knew exactly why. My reality wasn’t a place I particularly wanted to return to. Around the time I began to mature, my parents got divorced. My brother, who was six years older than me, left home with me who had only been receiving neglect and abuse. From them on, nothing particularly amazing happened. The world was harsh and nothing was fun at all. I was able to struggle through such trials thanks to my brother, but we had no real attachment to one another since we both live busy lives. During my time of hardship, my only stream of oasis was reading webnovels. Held A Flower, in particular, became the vitality of my life. Seeing the innocent butler, Lancelot, made me envious of Charlotte all the time. I had never once received the love she took for granted. For that reason, I believed this was my big opportunity.
Whenever I read Held A Flower, I often had one thought in mind; I wished Lancelot, who only had eyes for Charlotte, would become even just a little happier. But even at the end, the author never spared him a shred of happiness. The ending to Held A Flower was heartbreaking. Charlotte gathered all the power she had to attack the man who was once her lover and the reason for her losses: Duke Vestia. But the emperor supported the duke. The two of them, along with the families who once supported her, cornered her with accusations of treason. It resulted in Charlotte losing her life in the hands of the very man she loved. When Lancelot found out, he was determined to avenge his lady and used the magic, that he had been hiding all along, to slaughter everyone who had sided with the Duke. And once he was alone, he ended his own life to be with the lady of his life.
“No matter how many times I think about it, it’s such a crappy ending!” My facial expression twisted in annoyance. A story of pity? I enjoy that much. An impoverished finale? I’ll read it, so long as it says so in the blurb of the webnovel. But the author of Held A Flower didn’t write a single keyword which hinted to an ending like this in the blurb. It wasn’t obvious at all until they had finished writing the story.
“I was fooled, I was definitely fooled by the author.” I’d love to buy a pair of eyes which had never once read Held A Flower before! ...Or so I’d shout out if it were my way, but it was already far too late. I already finished reading the webnovel and not only that, but I also fell in love with the most unfortunate character as I read it over and over again. However, the opportunity to resolve this misfortune was now laid out right in front of my eyes; this was my new reality.
“You can’t miss a chance like this, Seo Urie.” I mumbled to myself. Alright, this indeed was a golden opportunity. It was undoubtedly true that God had blessed me with this, perhaps they were deeply moved by my feelings of pity for Lancelot! To be honest, the reason didn’t even matter. I had no intentions of simply ending this after seeing my favorite character’s face in this reality. The character I possessed was none other than Charlotte. This was something I can only do now or never. And my main objective was to watch over Lancelot live a happy life.
“Milady’s happiness is my happiness, too.” It was a sentence Lancelot said extremely often throughout the novel. But from what I can see here, it shouldn’t be just like that; Lancelot deserved to become happy and have his own way. That feeling only grew knowing how it ended for him when he only ever looked out for Charlotte’s happiness. For Lancelot to be happy, he must live first. Happiness had no meaning to it for the dead after all.
“I need to make sure Lancelot lives.” The determination which left my lips heightened once more.
“Who exactly are you trying to make sure that gets to live?”
“Gah!” I couldn’t help but scream from how surprised I was. How did the timing manage to be so perfect?
“Are you alright?”
“Yes, I’m fine.” Trying to calm my racing heart, I looked at Lancelot. The beauty of his face, which lacked even a drop of imperfection, attacked my heart in a different way. Feeling that looking at him would be dangerous, I dropped my stare. And there was yet another ambush when I locked my gaze on it; I mumbled while looking at the cart Lancelot had wheeled in.
“I thought I had asked for something light.” It would have been safe to say a full course meal was prepared on the cart, considering the immense amount of food it was loaded with. No matter how you look at it, there was no way it would pass off as a light meal. I was wondering why he was taking so long, was it because of this? Despite the incredible amount of food, Lancelot replied in an indifferent manner.
“You’ve just said that you are feeling much better now, so is it not a good time to have a proper intake of nutrients?”
Just exactly how bad was Charlotte’s health?! If I thought about the things that she went through during her life up until now, it was safe to say that she had fought through it all with a brave spirit. When her fiancé’s betrayal and the destruction of her family had happened all at once in just one morning, I knew exactly what she was thinking as she watched the Reinout estate burn to the ground due to having read the novel multiple times. It wouldn’t be surprising if she had ended her life there and then, but this was this and that was that. Even if I was aware of that, I still can’t possibly eat all of these dishes that was laid out before me. So, I apologetically mumbled to Lancelot.
“Lancelot, I appreciate your concern but this is way too much. I think maybe an eighth of this will do, so I’d appreciate it if you clear away everything except for the chicken, salad, and soup.” It seemed that Lancelot had taken a great deal of shock from my words. I stared at his surprised eyes for a long while. Thankfully, my growing curiosity was resolved in an instant as Lancelot spoke.
“Milady. I know you’ve been ill as of late, but haven’t you been eating this much up until now? Are you sure that you will be alright with eating only those dishes?” Exactly what sort of person was Charlotte when she could eat so much on a daily basis? The mental image of an innocent and longing Charlotte shattered to pieces. It hadn’t even been a day since I’ve become her.
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Bonnie: Charlotte is a glutton, it's a simple as that. And dayum, I wish I were in MC's shoes. I bet I could eat all the dishes if given the opportunity to do so.
Clyde: I need someone like Lancelot. I need food... that's all.