The Lady Awaits a Broken Engagement

Chapter 1

Prologue

“Greetings. I am Savina, and my father is Liam Roel de Charlot,” said the little girl, managing to introduce herself before the gates even swung closed.

Oliver, the butler to the Charlot household, found himself frozen on the spot. No matter how hard he tried, he was unable to give a proper response. Surely he should have kicked the child out for her insolence, but he could not bring himself to do so after getting a better look at her face.

The girl looked just like Liam, who was the eldest son of the Charlot family. But he was the heir to the family more than a decade ago, and his younger brother Benjamin was now the head of House Charlot.

Liam had once been his father’s trusted son and a respected older brother for Benjamin. However, he ended up abandoning everything he cherished as the beloved heir to the family and leaving. He did this for only one reason: love. In reality, however, it was not so simple.

What Liam did led him to a social downfall. At some point, he had developed feelings for a lowly maid employed at the manor. Despite her status, Liam wanted formal recognition of their love. In response, his father chose to disown him instead. That’s when Liam, without a hint of regret, simply left House Charlot with the maid by his side. His departure had single-handedly left an eternal thorn in his father’s heart.

“I’m sure you think you’re right, and you’ll want validation for your conviction,” Liam had told his father. “But you are wrong. There are some forces in the world that cannot be molded, even with all the money and power that you have. Do you not believe me? Just wait and see. You’ll spend the rest of your life finding out.”

That was thirteen years ago. Liam’s father, the previous duke, had scoffed at him, thinking that he wouldn’t last more than a few years. However, Liam never stepped foot on the estate again.

The news of Liam’s death had only reached his father’s desk last spring, after the passing of eleven winters. Luckily for the duke, he was able to pin all the family’s dishonor on his late estranged son, leaving the family’s name relatively clean.

After all of this, House Charlot continued to thrive. The Charlot Manor resembled an iron fortress, and no one inside knew what the others were thinking. And today, the spring wind had carried the dirty seed of the disgraced son of House Charlot over the walls. It was truly something that nobody could have foreseen.

“You are… Lord Liam’s daughter?” inquired Oliver shakily.

The little girl gave a big nod in response. Then she immediately rummaged through her tattered bag to fish something out, as if she had expected to face a decent amount of skepticism. It was a necklace with a thick chain and a pendant.

Oliver gave a deep, trembling sigh when he saw that the pendant had the emblem of House Charlot on both sides. He immediately understood how the girl had managed to get through the front gates, and why the gatekeeper had asked for him to come here without telling him why—that necklace was the only thing belonging to the previous duchess that Liam had taken with him when he left.

Oliver turned his gaze back to the girl. “Then your mother must be…”

“Her name is Renata,” Savina finished Oliver’s sentence for him, for he was struggling to utter his words.

To Oliver, the girl looked like she couldn’t be more than six or seven years old. However, this young, baby-faced girl didn’t appear intimidated at all, even though she was facing an adult who was much older than herself.

How is this girl so mature? Oliver asked himself. Perhaps she has inherited her father’s superior intellect.

At this point, he was no longer worried about proving the truth behind the girl’s words. He was more conflicted about whom to bring the girl to first: the previous duke or the current one. Thankfully, it was a quick decision. The previous duke was quite elderly and had a frail heart. Therefore, it was probably best to delay having the sickly old man meet the girl.

“All right then, Lady Savina,” said Oliver with more determination. “After me, please.”

Oliver and Savina stepped into the hallway and headed toward the staircase leading up to the second level. It took longer than usual to reach the duke’s office, since the girl’s legs were much shorter than Oliver’s. After a few minutes, the two finally reached their destination.

Standing in front of the door, Oliver gave two curt knocks instead of entering right away.

“You may enter,” came a voice from inside the room.

Hearing this, Oliver gestured for the girl to walk in front of him as they opened the doors and headed inside. The child stood out like a sore thumb inside the room filled with piles of papers. In the middle of the room was Benjamin, the current Duke of House Charlot.

Glancing at Savina, Benjamin asked, “Who’s this?”

“I thought you may wish to speak to her, Your Grace,” responded Oliver, his trembling words betraying his anxiety.

Savina realized that this was probably a cue for her to speak up. She bowed her head respectfully, despite visibly hesitating. Compared to the genial, middle-aged butler, the duke was far more intimidating to approach.

“Hello,” she said.

Benjamin barely acknowledged her words. “Did the servants already post the notice about needing more maids?”

“I’m not here to become a maid,” she responded with a clear voice.

Upon hearing the response, Benjamin raised an eyebrow. Finally, he looked up completely and studied Savina’s face for a moment. Then, looking at Oliver, Benjamin asked, “Is this Liam’s daughter?”

Oliver gave him a heavy nod.

Not this again, Savina sighed to herself. She had been through this same line of questioning three times now, including the encounter with the gatekeeper. It was almost boring. Her toes began to fidget restlessly in her shoes.

“And what is your mother’s name?” continued Benjamin.

“Her name is Renata,” she responded. “She used to work in this mansion as a maid.”

Benjamin’s face suddenly contorted with a cold smile. “I see… I suppose it was true love, after all,” he muttered.

Contrary to her expectations, it appeared that Benjamin was trying to get an answer to another question of his. He was asking if that fiery emotion, the one that had made his brother abandon everything and leave, had remained alight until the day he died.

What kind of answer do I want from this child? Benjamin asked himself. While he wanted to mock his brother and laugh at him, he did not wish to make his death a meaningless one. One thing was for sure: he had never wished to confront his niece—one who looked exactly like his brother—in this room, especially not in his dead brother’s place.

When the silence stretched on, Savina gulped heavily. “I wanted to show you this as well,” she said, walking toward Benjamin. She began to raise the hand that was still clenching the necklace, but the pendant was now covered in cold sweat. After wiping the pendant on her dress, she stood on her toes to place it on top of the desk. Unable to open it and check what was inside, Benjamin stared at the necklace silently for a long time.

After a long while, Benjamin finally parted his lips. “Leave us, Oliver,” he ordered. After the butler’s hurried departure, only Savina and Benjamin were left in the room.

Finally, the duke managed to ask, “What were their lives like? What happened to your mother after Liam’s death?”

Savina’s voice was calm as she responded, “She lived a poor and unhappy life, just like most other widows who must raise a child by themselves.”

Her blunt words shocked Benjamin. However, he managed to mask his emotions well. The silence stretched on.

Savina ended up being the first one to speak, feeling anxious and wanting to get to the point. “My mother is ill,” she said.

Ah. Now, this was something Benjamin had expected. After Liam’s death, Benjamin and his father dismissed the informer who was providing them with news of Liam and his family. After all, they had no interest in keeping tabs on a woman who, in their eyes, had taken a Charlot outside the manor walls and made him face an early death. The family had hoped that the woman would meet the same fate as Liam: death.

As if reading Benjamin’s mind, Savina continued, “I know you probably don’t want to, but will you help my mother?”

“Why should I?”

“Because I am your late brother’s only child,” she replied. She paused for a moment before continuing, “You don’t want to leave a Charlot in some foreign land without any connections, do you? I’ll come to the manor if you help treat my mother. I will cut off all contact with everybody who is currently in my life.”

“Do you realize that you will have to cut off contact with your mother as well?” asked Benjamin icily.

Does this child understand the true extent of her own words? Did that mother of hers tell her to say this nonsense to us? She was a widow, and she was apparently ill as well. It was probably impossible for her to continue caring for the child. Having House Charlot take her daughter and receiving financial assistance was probably the best option for Savina and her mother. Despite knowing this, Benjamin had no desire to give them what they wanted.

“You will never see your mother again for as long as you live,” Benjamin said.

“I know,” Savina responded.

Does she truly understand what I just said? Benjamin asked himself in shock. The girl sounded like she was entirely prepared to never see her mother again.

There was no hesitation or doubt in her eyes as she stared at Benjamin and said, “You won’t even notice that I’m there. I will live quietly, I assure you.”

After a short pause, Benjamin responded with a voice that was a shade rougher than usual. “What is your name?”

“Savina.”

“And your age?”

She began to fidget sheepishly, despite having appeared so mature until that point. “I am eight years old.”

Savina… Savina, Benjamin murmured to himself while gathering his thoughts. She was right. He couldn’t abandon a Charlot somewhere outside the manor. Even though he had tried his best to ignore her existence until this point, now that Liam was gone, House Charlot had a duty to take care of his child.

Finally, Benjamin came to a decision. “All right then, Savina. From this point on, you shall be called Savina Roel de Charlot. Do not ever forget the responsibilities that come with this name.” After a short pause, Benjamin added, “Like your father did.”

Savina flinched slightly.

Ignoring this, Benjamin gave a curt wave of his hand to dismiss his niece. During the entirety of the short meeting, he had never even offered her a chair.

After that day, Savina officially became a part of House Charlot. Three years later, the empress entrusted the troublesome fifth prince to the Charlot Manor. Before his arrival, Savina spent those three years living in a corner room in the main building, just as quietly as she had promised the duke. So quietly, in fact, that some would forget that she even existed.