Miss Charlotte’s Case Journal - Chapter 10

Charlotte hurriedly wrapped her arm around Lucy’s trembling shoulders as she stumbled out of the bathroom, her face deathly pale.

“I’m fine… I was just a little startled.”

Lucy was a diligent student. Even when Charlotte told her to rest, she refused, insisting she couldn’t skip class. In the end, Charlotte carried both their books in one arm and supported Lucy with the other.

As they walked down the hallway, everyone who saw them first flinched, then stopped with worried faces to ask about Lucy.

“I’m all right. I think I’m just a little tired. Thank you for your concern.”

At her words, they left after saying things like, “If that’s the case…” or “Don’t push yourself too hard.” But Charlotte, who still held Lucy’s arm, could clearly feel it—the trembling that was growing stronger and stronger.

Lucy’s body was shaking so violently that Charlotte’s own arm, which supported her, began to tremble too. Lucy’s strength seemed to drain away completely, and her weight fell heavily on Charlotte’s arm. Wait, this is… too much. Charlotte grit her teeth and tried to endure it, but she couldn’t hold out for long. Lucy’s body slipped from her grasp and began to collapse to the floor.

Thud.

“Careful.”

Someone caught Lucy by the shoulder from behind. Charlotte whipped around, and the moment she saw who it was, she let out a loud sigh of relief.

“David!”

“Hey there.”

David chuckled lightly as he helped Lucy to her feet. But his smile faded quickly, replaced by the same concern everyone else had shown.

“Lucy, what’s wrong with your face? Are you sick?”

But Lucy’s answer was different.

“Just… a little….”

Lucy turned and buried herself in David’s chest. He naturally wrapped his arm around her back and patted her gently. Then he pressed a light kiss on the top of her head.

Charlotte’s face twisted instantly. “Could you not act all lovey-dovey right in front of me?”

For a moment, all the guilt and worry she’d felt for Lucy vanished. Are they trying to rub it in my face? Her irritation spiked until she was practically boiling. Charlotte spun around as if she were about to storm off.

“Wait, Charlotte…!”

Lucy quickly grabbed her arm. Now that’s more like it. That’s my friend. Seeing exactly the reaction she’d expected, Charlotte grinned and stopped walking.

“Why not just let her go?”

David teased, pulling Lucy closer. Charlotte, her irritation boiling over, snatched Lucy from his embrace. She shot David a look full of disgust.

“Let’s go, Lucy. Don’t hang around with guys like that.”

Grabbing Lucy’s arm, Charlotte marched forward. Lucy glanced between the two of them helplessly, making small noises of protest.

David just laughed under his breath, caught up to them, and threw his arms over both their shoulders. Charlotte let out a strangled noise of protest at the sudden weight.

This jerk. She quickly checked on Lucy, but Lucy didn’t seem bothered at all. Of course not, David had kept his arm loose around Lucy and was leaning all his weight on Charlotte instead. It was good that he was careful with the delicate Lucy, but that only made Charlotte more furious. She dug her fingers into his side with all her strength.

“Ow! Hey, that hurts, you brat!”

“Brat?! Did you just call me a brat?!”

“Yeah, I did, you brat! How can someone this violent even call herself a lady?!”

“Mind your own business! Lucy, dump this guy right now! You can’t date someone who talks to women like that! I’ll introduce you to someone better!”

“Oh, please. Do you even know any decent guys?”

“Do you want to die, you little—?!”

Charlotte and David shouted at each other like two people who refused to lose. Wow, seriously, how could I kill this jerk in a way everyone would say he deserved it? Charlotte’s eyes flashed as she darted around, searching for something she could use as a weapon.

Just as the two of them looked ready to tear each other apart, Lucy stepped between them. Both Charlotte and David flinched and took a step back.

“Are you really going to introduce me to another guy?”

Charlotte’s face lit up instantly. “Yes! Just say the word! I’ll find you someone a hundred, no, a thousand times better than him!”

“L-Lucy! You’re joking, right? Right?” David, his face pale as death, grabbed Lucy’s arm.

Lucy smiled softly and turned to Charlotte. “Then introduce me to your brother.”

Charlotte’s expression instantly mirrored David’s. She cried out in horror, “Lucy, you’re kidding… right?”

Lucy tilted her head innocently. “I’m not kidding. Both of your brothers are really handsome.”

Charlotte screamed, “No way! Those creatures are below human!”

“Lucy, are you seriously thinking of meeting another man?!”

“If he’s a good man, of course I should. Don’t you think so?”

At Lucy’s words, the two exchanged glances. In David’s eyes, confusion, anger, and deep despair flickered all at once. Charlotte looked at him for a while before thinking, He’s better than those pathetic brothers of mine, at least. Once she came to that conclusion, she felt strangely relieved.

“Just… just keep seeing David, Lucy. That’s better.”

“Really?”

Lucy linked arms with David as if nothing had happened, smiling brightly at both of them.

Ah, you sly little thing. You did this on purpose. Charlotte chuckled under her breath as she walked up to them. David, realizing that Lucy hadn’t been serious, finally let out a sigh of relief.

The three of them joked and laughed together as they headed to class.

After class ended, Charlotte and Lucy slipped away from David and went to the academy’s garden. They found the beech tree where Toby had been buried and sat under its shade.

A cool breeze swept between them, stirring Lucy’s red hair. Just being here seemed to bring back her sadness.

Charlotte said nothing. She simply held Lucy’s hand and gently patted it before pulling it closer, resting it on the patch of ground where Toby was buried. Tears welled in Lucy’s eyes. The two of them stayed there for a long time, in a quiet and peaceful moment of mourning.

When they finally left the garden and started heading back to the dormitory, they had to walk along the school’s outer wall, passing by the back gate. Just as they were about to walk past—

“E-excuse me, miss!”

“Huh?”

Startled by the sudden voice of a young boy, Charlotte looked around. A child at the academy? Then she spotted him: a small boy gripping the iron bars of the back gate with both hands.

“Were you calling us?”

Lucy bent down slightly to meet his eyes and asked kindly. The boy pressed his lips together tightly, then nodded.

He was dressed in ragged, worn-out clothes, so dirty and stained that his face was smudged with something dark. He looked like a street orphan.

Thinking he might be there to beg, Charlotte reached into her pocket, but Lucy took a handkerchief from her chest pocket first and began wiping the boy’s face. Though the iron bars kept her from cleaning him properly, his features slowly began to emerge from beneath the grime.

“What’s wrong?”

Lucy’s voice was gentle. The boy mumbled something, head hanging low, but his voice was so quiet they couldn’t make out a word.

Charlotte frowned. “What did you say?”

“…sorry.”

“Huh?”

“I’m… sorry.”

The boy suddenly lifted his head. His eyes brimmed with tears as he shouted, “I’m sorry! I really am! I was just so hungry. I’m really, really sorry!”

“….”

“I didn’t know it was someone’s dog….”

Only then did the two of them realize who the boy was. He was one of the children from the group that had eaten Toby.

Charlotte couldn’t say a word. The truth was, she still hadn’t gotten over her anger. She had only gone back because Lucy had stopped her, but she still believed those children had been wrong and deserved to be punished for what they’d done.

…But this was different. Things weren’t the same as that night. Now she was calm, and the person in front of her wasn’t children but a child. Compared to the memory of that alley lit only by the dim glow of a bonfire, this boy was much thinner, frailer, and smaller.

Charlotte’s lips twisted into a bitter line. Right. This little thing hadn’t committed such a great sin. The real fault lay with the people who’d failed to take proper care of Toby.

Charlotte glanced at Lucy. She, too, looked uncertain and conflicted.

Charlotte motioned for the boy to step away from the gate, then pushed it open with all her strength. The gate was heavy and stiff, creaking as it opened only slightly, but just enough for the small boy to squeeze through.

Even with the gate open, the boy hesitated, shifting nervously from foot to foot. He had, in fact, been scolded harshly by the guards at the academy’s front gate and chased away.

He had come here on impulse, desperate to apologize, but the guards had told him that this was no place for someone like him, that he wasn’t even allowed to stand there. They had driven him off completely. Unsure what else to do, the boy had wandered to the back gate instead.

Unlike the main entrance, the back gate wasn’t guarded as strictly. There wasn’t even a stationed guard. Though it was locked from the inside, he could see through the iron bars and watch people come and go. No one told him to leave. No one scolded him or chased him away.

From the very next day after the incident, the boy had come here every single day, waiting for the owner of the dog to appear. He should’ve been begging for food or searching for a safe alley to sleep in at night, but instead, he stayed by the academy’s back gate. He hadn’t eaten even a piece of moldy bread, and at night, he shivered violently in the cold wind. Naturally, his condition had only grown worse.

And yet, the boy couldn’t stop waiting for the dog’s owner. He was an uneducated orphan, a beggar who had grown up on the streets, but even he had his own sense of right and wrong. Even if he hadn’t meant to, he had still stolen something, and that was a fact he couldn’t just ignore.

“Come in.”

Lucy gestured kindly toward the boy. He hesitated for a moment, then slowly stepped closer to them.

Up close, he looked even smaller and thinner. Charlotte and Lucy met each other’s eyes in silent understanding. With just one glance, they both decided how to treat him.

Lucy took out her handkerchief again and gently wiped the boy’s face clean. Charlotte quickly rummaged through her pockets for something edible. A sandwich would’ve been ideal, but all she found were three slightly melted chocolates.

Charlotte carefully unwrapped one and placed it in the boy’s mouth. He blinked in surprise at the taste, his eyes widening as he experienced chocolate for the first time in his life. Somehow, the sight was so endearing that Charlotte smiled faintly and pressed the remaining two chocolates into his small hands.