005: Preface ~ The Retired Wizard Picks up a Villainous Girl ④

January 10, 2021 - 3 minutes read - 503 words

Charlotte continued to cry for a while. Quickly, Allen offered her a handkerchief and a cup of tea, which she gratefully accepted. Eventually, she was able to calm down and began her story.

“I mean, it was so sudden” Charlotte

It all started a week ago, at the birthday party of the second Prince Cecil. He was holding it in the royal castle of the Kingdom of Neruz, and his fiancée Charlotte would be invited as guest. The two had met very few times and only exchanged a few words at each meeting.

“I had been engaged for years, but… I rarely met him.” Charlotte

Even during their rare meetings, they never really engage in conversation. He’s always looked at Charlotte with cold eyes, how wasteful. During his birthday party, Prince Cecil called out to her in the middle of the party. In front of the guests and soldiers, he accused her of various things instead of declaring love like a normal person.

“Charlotte Evans! I have investigated your bad deeds! I must break my engagement with you!” Cecil

At that point, the engagement between Cecil and Charlotte was abandoned. It was motivated by a list of evil deeds that Charlotte had no familiarity with and backed by carefully manipulated evidence, so everyone at the party believed Cecil. Her parent’s house didn’t help her, since she was supposedly (truthfully) the daughter of the Duke’s mistress.

Charlotte wasn’t aware, but a bout of infertility compelled the Duke to adopt her originally. Unfortunately, the Duchess managed to gave birth a few years later. After that, while she wasn’t thrown out of the house, she encountered a marked drop in attention. The servants deprioritized her and her clothes were kept to the minimum for appearance purposes. She wasn’t strictly abused, but was ignored.

“I ran away from the house when the lookout took a break…” Charlotte

“I see” Allen

Allen strokes his chin while considering the situation. The most likely situation was that the prince didn’t want to marry a girl who wasn’t regarded highly in her own family. Or the prince had found a better potential fiancée and wanted to rid himself of Charlotte. In the end, it didn’t matter that much what the reason was, Charlotte had found herself in the way of the prince.

“My story will be sure to appear in the newspapers soon, and my pursuers will be along shortly as well. I don’t want to bother you any more, so after a short break, I’ll leave here…” Charlotte

“Slow down” Allen

Allen interrupts Charlotte with his index finger.

“Are you good at cleaning?” Allen

“eh?” Charlotte

“Can I hear your answer?” Allen

Charlotte’s mouth opens and closes a few times without any speech exiting it. Her eyes are pretty wide at this point.

“Well, I think I’m about as good as any other person… why?” Charlotte

“Well, that’s the answer I wanted to hear!” Allen

Allen puts his hands on Charlotte’s shoulders.

“Ok, Charlotte. I’ll hire you!” Allen

“What?!” Charlotte