I Accidentally Saved The Male Lead’s Brother

 

“Are you asking about the ring size?”

Carcel’s pupils trembled as if struck by an earthquake at Charlotte’s question about how the ring fit so perfectly.

It was a quiet night, with Theo asleep, and the two were alone in the drawing room.

During the day, Theo rarely left Charlotte’s side, and Carcel was too busy for private conversations. They had no choice but to meet at this late hour.

The only differences from the previous night were that they were in the drawing room instead of Charlotte’s room, and they were dressed in indoor clothes instead of pajamas.

Considering they were engaged, this level of decorum was hardly questionable.

“Yes. Honestly, I hadn’t given it much thought before, but when I spoke to the jeweler today, I realized it was curious. How did you get the size so perfectly?”

It wasn’t a particularly tricky question, yet Carcel couldn’t answer immediately. He avoided Charlotte’s gaze, looking like a child caught misbehaving.

“Carcel?”

When Charlotte pressed him, he finally admitted, almost in confession:

“Well… actually, Chase asked your personal maid about it.”

“My maid? You mean Emma?”

“Yes.”

‘Emma, you didn’t tell me anything about this!’

That meant Emma knew Carcel was planning to give her a ring and kept it secret.

Charlotte was impressed by Emma’s restraint, knowing how much it must have tickled her to keep quiet.

“Why hesitate, though? You could have just said that.”

“I worried you might think I’d been prying into your affairs.”

Charlotte shook her head quickly. Prying? That thought hadn’t crossed her mind. If anything, she found it endearing to imagine Carcel instructing Chase.

“As I’ve said before, I don’t consider that prying at all, so you don’t need to worry. In fact, it’s quite charming.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

Charlotte moved her chair closer to Carcel, narrowing the distance between them.

“By the way, don’t you have anything you’re curious about today?”

“Hmm…”

Carcel pondered for a while, but his question turned out to be rather mundane.

“What did you do today?”

“The usual. I played in the garden with Theo. Oh, and the tomatoes used in today’s pasta were picked by Theo and me.”

Charlotte boasted before lowering her voice like sharing a secret.

“Oh, and I stopped Theo from digging up potatoes today.”

She chuckled, recalling Theo’s sulky expression and his drawn-out “Why?” when she stopped him. Carcel looked puzzled.

“Why did you stop him?”

Charlotte usually respected Theo’s wishes unless something was dangerous, so Carcel was genuinely curious.

“You mentioned that you don’t like potatoes. If he had dug them up, we would have had potato dishes two days in a row.”

There was no need for that, but Carcel didn’t voice the thought. He suddenly found her thoughtfulness rather touching.

Disliking potatoes was such a trivial thing. Carcel hadn’t thought much about it when he mentioned it to Charlotte, nor did he have any strong aversion to eating them.

Yet, knowing Charlotte valued even that trivial detail made him happy.

“Thank you for being considerate.”

Charlotte shrugged as if it were nothing.

“It’s only natural. More importantly, don’t you have any other questions? You can probably guess what I did during the day by now. Isn’t there anything you’re genuinely curious about?”

“Hmm.”

Carcel fell into thought again, this time quicker to speak up. He seemed to have a question but had been hesitant to ask.

“Before meeting me, how did you spend your time in the Rania territory? I hear winters there are milder than here.”

“Oh, that’s right.”

Charlotte reflected on the past three years she’d spent in the Rania estate.

“I mentioned we have a harvest festival in the fall, didn’t I?”

“Yes.”

“As an agricultural estate, it gets very quiet in the winter. There aren’t many people like in the capital or various industries like in the Heinst territory.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. So I’d usually stay indoors during winter, sitting by the fireplace and spending time with Mother embroidering or knitting. The estate folk prepared for the next planting season, while Father went out every day to check on them.”

It was a stark contrast to her life in Korea, but Charlotte cherished the tranquility.

“And during the year-end, I’d prepare treats for the estate children with my brothers when they visited. Of course, we couldn’t do it last year because of the drought.”

Charlotte’s mood darkened as she recalled last winter. Seeing starving children wasn’t just heartbreaking for Baron Rania but for his entire family.

Even Jake, who rushed back upon hearing the news, sobbed quietly, and Isaac, who rarely cried even as a child, had red-rimmed eyes.

Her brothers even used their savings to help, but it wasn’t enough. Those were tough times.

“But now I know agriculture is too risky, so we’re exploring other businesses. With the budget we have now, it should be possible.”

“What kind of business are you planning?”

“The people in our estate are skilled in embroidery and weaving fabric. I’m thinking of specializing in that.”

Charlotte’s excitement spilled out as she spoke, while Carcel listened intently.

“Before, we couldn’t afford high-quality threads, but now we can use better materials to produce fine fabric for sale in the capital. Eventually, we might even sell clothes.”

Charlotte stopped abruptly, feeling a little shy about her enthusiasm.

“Well, it’s just a plan for now. I’m not sure if it’s feasible yet.”

“If anyone can make it happen, it’s you.”

Charlotte smiled at Carcel’s unwavering confidence.

“Thank you. I have so much to be grateful to you for.”

“I haven’t done much…”

“Not much? I’m very thankful to you. Especially for the reward you offered in our contract—it’s allowed the people in my estate to live prosperously.”

Charlotte spoke sincerely. Though her contributions to Carcel outweighed his to her, she still valued what he’d done.

“About that contract…”

Carcel flipped his hand, tightly holding hers. Charlotte waited for him to continue, but he said nothing more.

“What about the contract?”

“It’s nothing.”

Perhaps worried she might press him further, Carcel quickly changed the subject.

“You mentioned preparing treats for children every year-end. May I handle it this year?”

“Really?”

Her voice rose in excitement.

“I was struggling to decide what to do this year. We used to buy simple treats from nearby estates, but I wanted to prepare something special this time. The children will love it if you help. Thank you.”

Intertwining her fingers with his, Charlotte clasped his hand tightly. Carcel momentarily stiffened before returning her grip.

“For you, it’s the least I can do.”

Charlotte, now embarrassed, deflected the conversation.

“Now, it’s your turn to tell me something. It feels like I’m the only one talking.”

In truth, she was right. Their “conversations” were mostly her talking while Carcel listened.

“About what?”

“Your life before we met. For instance, did you spend summers playing by the sea in the Heinst territory?”

Carcel reminisced for a moment.

“Yes. I was too busy with studies and swordsmanship in my teens to visit the beach often, but I played there a lot as a child.”

“That sounds wonderful! It’s beautiful even in winter—how much prettier must it be in summer?”

“Yes. Riding horses on the sandy beach was especially delightful. Father would place me in front of him, but then I would always end up arguing with…”

Carcel trailed off, his voice unusually animated but then mumbled with a distant look.

“That’s strange. I was alone, so who was I arguing with?”

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