Chapter 6 The Shackles of Obligation
701 Words
His heart had ached too much to bind her with a contract of indentured servitude, all because of those haunting eyes.
Charlotte finally understood why, after Lotty broke off her engagement, Joshua stopped calling her Lottie. Perhaps he simply didn't want to provoke Lotty further.
Should she thank Lotty for that?
His love—deep and unwavering—had spared her from selling herself to bury her dying mother and had granted her three years of unexpected peace.
How utterly ridiculous.
Returning to the stables, Charlotte noticed the medicine Joshua had brought for her injured back still lying on the haystack, untouched and gathering dust. Clutching the white porcelain bottle, the tears she had held back finally poured out.
Half-dazed, she smeared the ointment across her back without caring whether it was applied evenly. Then she collapsed onto the hay and drifted into a restless sleep.
The pain in her abdomen forced her to curl into a tight ball, yet the burning wounds across her back made her stretch again and again. Her sleep was tortured, cold sweat soaking her forehead. The clothes that had dried in yesterday's wind were soon damp again.
For the first time since her mother died, Charlotte dreamed of her.
In the dream, gentle fingers brushed across her forehead, filled with worry. Her mother's soft sighs blended with reality until Charlotte could no longer tell dream from waking.
Her lips trembled as she murmured weakly.
"Mother… it hurts so much. I miss you."
"Take me with you, Mother. I want to go home."
"I want to go home…"
But her mother's figure gradually faded.
Charlotte reached out desperately, yet the figure drifted farther and farther away until she jolted awake.
"Mother!"
A shadow stood beside her.
Not her mother.
Joshua.
His expression was somber as he handed her a banknote.
"Use this for medicine. I can't make you my concubine. But since you've been defiled by me, I'll have Princess Lotty find you a respectable husband."
For the first time, Charlotte interrupted him.
"Your Highness, that won't be necessary."
She turned away, falling silent.
Four more days.
Just four more days, and the three-year agreement would end. She would leave this estate forever, and their lives would never cross again.
Joshua's eyes hardened.
"Ingrate."
After he left, Jane soon bustled in.
"You there! Princess Lotty needs ink and brushes. Prince Joshua is offering prayers."
Charlotte rose slowly in her ragged clothes. Jane recoiled immediately, covering her nose with a handkerchief.
"What a stench! Are you trying to suffocate us?"
Moments later, buckets of water were brought in.
"Wash yourself. And deal with those wounds."
A bucket of icy chili water was dumped over Charlotte's head.
The burning liquid struck the wounds on her back like fire. She trembled violently and looked up at Jane, only to be kicked hard in the stomach.
More buckets followed, the spicy water stinging her eyes until she could barely see.
"How dare a lowly servant look at me like that?"
"Who do you think you are, throwing yourself at Prince Joshua?"
"I should sell you to a trafficker. Hmph!"
As Lotty's personal maid, Jane wielded authority through her mistress's favor and used it freely—especially when carrying out Lotty's grudges.
After changing into clean clothes, Charlotte stood silently outside the study, teeth clenched.
Inside, Lotty was copying scriptures with a gentle smile.
"Come, grind the ink. I want to pray for Joshua's health and for our family to prosper."
As Charlotte ground the ink, she couldn't help thinking that if God truly watched over people, she would never have met Joshua on the day her mother died.
If God had truly blessed her, she would have been freed before Lotty ever appeared.
But if heaven turned a blind eye, how could it tell the difference between sincere prayers and words written with malice?
How could it grant blessings to empty devotion?
Footsteps suddenly sounded behind her.
Without warning, Lotty leapt up from the desk, grabbed Charlotte's ink-stained hand, and shoved it toward the brazier beside them.
Startled, Charlotte jerked her hand away.
Then she saw Lotty grit her teeth—and plunge her own hand directly into the flames.
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