Chapter 13: Son-in-law

The sight of Charlotte through the crack in the door.

Her knees drawn up to her chest, shoulders hunched, her face slightly buried as she gazes into the void—her appearance looks pitiful.

On the way here, what concerned me the most wasn’t the wounds from the war, nor the future, but Charlotte’s safety and well-being.

Though she seemed to try not to show it, to Yujin, who knew her inner struggles, it often seemed like she was suppressing something.

She also appeared listless at times.

It seemed she hadn’t been able to easily shake off the shock of recent events.

Perhaps that’s why.

Charlotte had stubbornly insisted on staying here.

From what I heard, she said, “There’s someone I must meet,” and kept vigil in the sickroom.

‘The mark of a hero.’

If you look at it in fragments, receiving such power might seem like a great thing.

But for the person involved, it can sometimes feel like a curse.

Whenever there’s a gap, her senses become heightened, making her overly sensitive, and it makes her forget her emotions and unique humanity.

 “I’ve reached a point where I can kill someone with my own hands and feel nothing.”

Her words, spoken with hollow eyes, still linger in my memory.

She wasn’t like this before.

She wasn’t this way.

Yujin couldn’t even begin to imagine how much she must have suffered from the changes in her daily life after becoming a hero.

In a way, it was also admirable.

Even as her spirit was gradually worn down, the fact that she had endured without showing much of it until now showed that Charlotte’s patience was far beyond that of an ordinary person.

Yujin brushed his bangs back briefly.

At any rate, when Charlotte is like this, I need to be by her side.

In this life, to ensure she doesn’t change.

With that, I opened the door and entered.

I had made a whole batch of her favorite apple pie.

As I stepped inside, Charlotte, who had been clutching her chest, turned her gaze toward me.

“What are you doing here alone?”

“I…”

“I…”

As I entered with a bright smile, Charlotte’s face, clearly flustered, quickly turned bright red.

“What was I doing…? It’s just… every time I see your face, my heart gets so noisy, so I was just… trying to sort out my thoughts.”

“Well, you’re not in pain or anything, are you?”

“…It’s not exactly pain… um, well. There’s no physical discomfort.”

Suddenly, a plate was placed in front of her, and Charlotte tilted her head, wondering what it was.

On the table was a freshly baked apple pie, still warm from the oven, with golden, crispy crust and sweet apple filling oozing out, releasing a subtle fragrance.

She picked up a silver fork and lightly pierced the crust. 

The crispy crust broke apart softly, revealing sticky caramel and cinnamon-spiced apple slices inside.

“This is…”

At that moment, a noticeable flush began to spread across Charlotte’s face, which had been slightly skeptical.

Realizing it herself, she quickly tried to control her expression.

I smiled and handed her the fork.

“Go ahead, eat it. I made it myself.”

“Really?”

I already knew why she loved this.

Despite her demeanor, she’s just in her early twenties. She has a sweet tooth.

“Well… I won’t refuse.”

Charlotte immediately began eating the apple pie in front of me.

Even the way she eats is beautiful.

From her unusually long eyelashes,

to the way she casually tucks a stray strand of hair behind her ear,

revealing her elegant neckline—it’s captivating.

After a moment, Charlotte, who I thought was wiping her mouth, slowly opened her eyes.

“You keep staring… Do you have something to say?

I’m not sharing this. It’s a rare chance to be with you… and besides, it’s… really delicious.”

Charlotte whispered.

Perhaps feeling a pang of guilt, she slid a piece of the pie toward me.

As I accepted the pie, our eyes met.

“…Even in the morning, your eyes are beautiful.”

“…”

“Actually… they’re so beautiful that I couldn’t help but keep looking.”

I added, “Enough to lose myself.”

At that, Charlotte’s face flushed bright red.

It was as if her breath had caught.

Her emotions stirred, and she quickly set down her fork.

“What are you talking about…”

“I’m sorry for staring while you were eating. But I just couldn’t understand.”

I stepped closer and placed my hand near her eyes.

“Why do people dislike this? It’s so beautiful that I can’t help but stare.”

“…”

Charlotte stared at me with wide eyes, like a deer caught in headlights.

I could almost feel the frantic beating of her heart, so close was the distance between us.

Her gaze was a mix of complex emotions.

It wasn’t hard to guess why I had brought the apple pie.

“More lies. My eyes are cursed—”

“…Were you lonely?”

But in my next words, Charlotte’s eyes wavered again.

Loneliness, solitude, melancholy—these were emotions she had become all too familiar with.

A lump formed in her throat.

Breaking the silence, I reached out first.

But unlike before, my hand was warm as it clasped Charlotte’s cold one.

There was no hesitation as our hands intertwined.

“…Ah.”

Charlotte’s face flushed hotly.

Startled by the soft, warm touch, she quickly pulled her hand away.

It seemed she was still wary of these unfamiliar, new emotions.

Then, flustered, she began to make excuses.

“Ah…! I… it’s not that I dislike it… it’s just…”

At that moment, I spoke up.

“I asked because I thought you might be lonely.”

“…”

///

Charlotte silently continued eating the apple pie.

The softness in his gaze and the light questions seemed to slowly heal her wounds.

An awkward silence lingered for a while.

Charlotte was still trying to calm her wildly beating heart.

It was louder than ever before.

The sensation of him holding her hand and locking eyes with her was vivid.

The warmth still lingered.

It would take dozens of lines to fully describe the emotions she was feeling.

Since the war began, Charlotte had avoided contact with others to an extreme degree, but there was one exception.

In fact, she had refused to leave the sickroom, waiting for him, and tried to go out whenever she could.

By any measure, it was special treatment.

Charlotte glanced at Yujin, who was sitting right beside her.

A man from the Ehrenheit family.

Some people say this about the Ehrenheits:

“The Ehrenheits are full of artificial humans, aren’t they? In the end, they’re no different from the dark-hearted family heads.”

She had heard such rumors.

Certainly… people say that the Ehrenheit family is emotionless, like monsters.

But he was different.

Kind, gentle… and considerate of others—that’s what she saw in him.

And… he was kind.

Even if it was special treatment.

Before she knew it, Charlotte was staring blankly at Yujin.

‘Could it be… that this man likes me?’

“Hey, Yujin… there’s something I’ve been wanting to ask. Can I… ask you one thing?”

“Of course. Anything.”

“…What do you think of heroes?”

Yujin tilted his head.

It was an unexpected question.

“Of course… if you have a negative view of heroes, that’s fine. But… what I want to talk about is the mark.”

Charlotte placed a hand on her chest.

“I was born with the mark of a hero. Believe it or not… but I wanted to tell you this much.”

“I believe you. Whatever you say, I’ll believe.”

“You don’t have to believe me so much…”

“You can keep talking.”

“…What I want to say is this. After the hero’s mark awakened… I began to feel a repulsion toward emotions. As my senses became more sensitive… I naturally became more sensitive to emotions too.”

Yujin nodded as if he understood her pain.

“Of course… most of the emotions I received were unpleasant ones. It’s definitely painful and exhausting to acutely feel such discomfort…”

Charlotte trailed off, as if recalling someone, then set down her fork and looked Yujin in the eye.

“But if I could feel this emotion with the first person who truly mattered to me… if I could share this feeling… I think it would be nice.”

She fidgeted with her fork, then suddenly grabbed Yujin’s hand and smiled softly.

“If I could share it with you… truly.”

As if she had mustered up the courage.

Her gaze met his.

It was a simple story.

The emotions she had hated—she didn’t even want to talk about them. 

But if there was someone she liked… She wanted to share them.

And that person was the man right in front of her.

As they talked, their gaze shifted elsewhere.

Yujin also looked toward the opening door.

“Glad to see you’re alive.”

“Let me introduce myself. I’m the eldest son of the Ravenscourt family, the same as Charlotte. My name is Kyle. Nice to meet you. I heard you saved our Charlotte.”

This time, a cold gaze returned.

Charlotte narrowed her eyes slightly, focusing on the apple pie in front of her.

She wished the unwelcome guest would quickly disappear.

Honestly, she wanted to be here alone with Yujin.

If it weren’t for the apple pie, she would have shown her discomfort, but it was clear that things would turn sour if she did.

Yujin, facing the unwelcome guest, had no choice but to stand up and greet him.

“Ehrenheit… Yujin.”

Perhaps sensing the awkwardness, his expression stiffened.

Noticing Yujin’s change in expression, Charlotte opened her eyes slightly and glared at Kyle.

After a brief pause, Kyle smiled and spoke.

“Yujin, right… you’re the commoner son-in-law, aren’t you?”

“I heard you left the family. So this is where you ended up?”