Chapter 2

Only ten days remained until the wedding between Edward and me. That day, I went to his residence myself.

The guard at the gate barred my way, informing me that Edward was occupied with a council of high-ranking lords.

I stood outside the palace gates from the first light of dawn until dusk bled across the sky, waiting so long that my legs went entirely numb.

At last, I saw Edward emerge.

But the figure beside him was no high-ranking lord. It was Lillian.

She was wrapped in a cloak of snowy white ermine, which only made her appear more delicate and heartbreakingly lovely.

Edward leaned down to murmur something to her, his face alight with a tender affection I had never once seen him direct at me.

They walked straight past me, and Edward did not spare me so much as a glance.

But Lillian paused when she noticed me.

She cast me a shy, fleeting look, then shrank back against Edward's chest. "Edward, it is Charlotte," she whispered.

Only then did Edward turn his gaze upon me.

When he saw me, his eyes flickered with surprise and irritation. "Why are you here?" he asked.

His tone made it painfully clear he regarded me as an intruder.

My heart clenched so tightly I could scarcely draw breath.

"Edward, have you forgotten what day this is?" I asked, my words laden with meaning.

He frowned, struggling to recall. "Today?"

At that very moment, Lillian gave a soft, delicate cough. "It is growing late. You did promise to take me to the Luminaria Fair. If we linger, the streets will be packed with people."

Edward's eyes brightened with sudden recollection. "Ah, yes, the Luminaria Fair."

He turned to me, his expression apologetic, yet his voice unwavering. "Charlotte, tonight is the Luminaria festival. I have already given Lillian my word that I would escort her to the Luminaria Fair.

"You should return to your place. We shall talk another time."

It seemed our wedding was nothing more than a private affair of mine in his eyes.

I felt ice seep across my skin, as though I had been plunged into a frozen well in the dead of winter.

"Edward Lancaster." For the first time, I addressed him by his full name, my voice quivering. "Have you truly forgotten what day this is?"

"Today is the day we agreed upon, the day we were to be wed!" I all but cried out.

The attendants dropped to their knees at once, their heads bowed low.

Edward's expression darkened in an instant.

For a fleeting moment, guilt flickered in his eyes, but it was swiftly overtaken by anger. "Charlotte! Know your place.

"The wedding can be postponed, but Lillian cannot wait. It is so rare for her to wish to go out."

Nestled against him, Lillian gazed up with a pitiful, guilt-stricken expression, perfectly timed.

She murmured softly, "Edward, it is all my fault. I have made Charlotte angry. Perhaps we should not go after all."

The more she played the part of the meek lamb, the more Edward's heart went out to her.

He gently stroked Lillian's back, soothing her. "This is not your doing. The fault is mine alone."

Then he turned to me, his gaze colder than I had ever seen it. "Charlotte, I never imagined you would behave this way.

"You're jealous and unreasonable. Is this what your father has taught you?"

In that moment, I could almost hear the sound of my heart shattering.

My five years of deep devotion and endless forbearance were all worthless in his eyes.

I watched them walk away together, their silhouettes bathed in the glow of a thousand luminarias, like lovers stepping out of a minstrel's tale.

And I, I was nothing but a complete fool.

In that instant, I understood the truth. Five years of steadfast love weighed nothing against a single tear she shed.

I do not even recall how I made my way back to Sinclair Manor. All I remember is how the night wind cut through me, leaving me frozen to the marrow.

I shut myself in my chamber for three days and three nights, refusing food, drink, and all speech.

My parents paced anxiously outside my door, but their voices could not reach me at all.

Inside my head, only Edward's icy accusation echoed, over and over again. "You're jealous and unreasonable."

I found myself retracing every moment of the five years we had known each other, turning each memory over in my mind.

I remembered the vows he made beneath the apple blossoms.

I remembered his gentle fingers tracing the curve of my brow.

I remembered how he swore he would shelter me for all the days to come.

All those sweet recollections had turned into keen-edged blades, carving into my heart and leaving it bleeding and raw.

At last, the truth settled over me. It was not that he had forgotten. He simply no longer cared.

Once a person's heart has strayed, every promise becomes nothing more than hollow words and pretty lies.

*****

On the fourth day, I finally opened my door. My mother rushed forward and gathered me into her arms, weeping without restraint.

My father stood a short distance away, looking as though he had aged ten years in a single night. "Charlotte, you—"

I offered them both a smile. "Father, Mother, I am quite well now."

My voice was so steady, so utterly devoid of emotion. I was so composed that I found my own voice strange to myself.

So this was what it meant to have one's heart die. There was nothing left to feel.

That afternoon, the Crown Prince's Residence at last sent someone.

It was not Edward who came. Instead, a royal steward arrived, bearing a letter and an assortment of gifts.

The letter was written in Edward's own hand.

He offered his apologies, insisting he regarded Lillian only as a cousin and hoping I would not misunderstand the situation.

He explained that the wedding would be postponed and that once he had settled everything, he would come and make all things plain to me.

He added that I had always held a place in his heart.