Chapter 7 Cinderella's Worries

  In the dark forest, I grope my way, unable to distinguish between coming and going. In the darkness, it seems as if there are lurking monsters waiting for travelers who have lost their way in the eerie gloom to fall into their trap.

  Charlotte took a step forward, but it was extremely difficult. She couldn't see the road she had taken to get there when she turned back, so she steeled herself and continued on. Gradually, sparse moonlight filtered through the gaps, forming weak rays of light. With this faint light, walking wasn't as hard as before. However, having some light made the forest even more terrifying than complete darkness. Under the dim yellow moonlight, the tree shadows were dense and heavy, and the twisted, swaying branches made people afraid to look closely, fearing what they might see.

  Charlotte walked faster and faster, holding her breath for fear of startling the inhabitants here. She was afraid that she might encounter wild beasts, and Charlotte's legs were soft with fear. She was just a weak little girl who usually liked to read books, and although she was a bit proud, she hadn't done anything evil, had she? Why did God put her in this terrible forest? Now her family should be looking for her everywhere, and the soldiers of the Duke of Windsor knew where she got lost. They should be able to find me, right? But what if I've been walking in the dark for so long and getting farther and farther away from the grassland?

  Stupid Winsa! How come you still can't find me? If you don't come soon, I'll be eaten by the monster and then he'll regret it!

  As soon as she's scared, she starts thinking wildly, this should be Miss Charlotte's unique way of relieving stress.

  In the dense forest below, the sparse woods that were bustling with activity during the day became quiet. A horseshoe broke the silence of the night, and the Duke of Windsor held a torch to light the way on his left side, while the soldiers behind him also held torches, looking like a fire dragon from afar. After being ordered, everyone divided into four teams, with Windsor and the masked man leading one team towards the direction where Charlotte was resting under a big tree, Lucas and his servant leading another team in the opposite direction, and the remaining soldiers splitting into two paths to search for the remaining two directions. From the direction, only the Duke of Windsor went the right way, while everyone else would not find Charlotte even if they searched until dawn.

  No matter how anxious and frantic the people searching for her were, Charlotte could only rely on her own strength at this moment. A fork in the road ahead had stopped Charlotte in her tracks - she didn't remember there being a fork when she came, but now there were clearly two paths, and she was definitely going the wrong way, this absolutely wasn't the way back. One path was dark to the end, while the other had a faint glow at its terminus, with firelight! Could it be that Father and Windsor had come searching? Charlotte excitedly ran towards the brighter direction, shouting loudly as she went.

  "Dad! Dad, I'm over here! Come quickly! Hurry up!"

  Charlotte didn't know that from the moment she stepped onto this path, her fate had already been altered. Her life was destined to head towards a dazzling ending, just like this road, although it's filled with thorns and obstacles, but the end of the road must be radiant glory.

  That sparkled brightly, but no one responded to Charlotte. The flame was still there without any signs of movement. Charlotte sensed something unusual and hastily stopped in her tracks, holding her breath, not daring to make another move. She carefully looked towards the light source and found that what she thought was a torch was just a half-human-high grass that emitted an orange-red glow at night, like a lit torch. It turned out to be a phosphorescent plant. Charlotte let out a sigh of relief. Since these grasses were so lovely and lit up the way for her to go home, she might as well accept it gladly.

  The Duke of Windsor did not think that Rochester would be so cruel to Charlotte, the palace's secret agent reported that there was a portrait of Charlotte in Rochester's bedroom, which was very lifelike. Every day, Rochester would stare at Charlotte's portrait for a long time before going to court to discuss politics. Windsor judged from this that Charlotte must have been special in the prince's heart, so what happened this time?

  It was hoped that it would only be a simple disappearance, if the king had moved his hand, then Charlotte this time was afraid, Windsor did not dare to think back, he regretted being so careless, his subordinates said that the prince's palace was in charge of the move, and he ignored Charlotte, Windsor blamed himself for Charlotte's disappearance, his heart full of guilt, he was even more anxious to find Charlotte.

  "Charlotte! Miss Charlotte! Where are you, Charlotte?"

  The Duke of Windsor shouted Charlotte's name loudly, regardless of the danger, and no one dared to stop him. It was clear that the Duke of Windsor was like a balloon on the verge of bursting, and no one dared to be the spark that would set it off. Mr. Lucas was inspired, also disregarding the danger, and followed the Duke's lead in shouting Charlotte's name.

  As night fell, Lydia sat at the dinner table waiting for her husband and daughter to share a meal together, the last time they would dine at Golden Manor. Lydia had chosen the location in the center of the garden, in the conservatory, where she wanted to enjoy an alfresco dinner with her family.

  Through the glass roof, you can see the deep blue sky with stars twinkling, a crescent moon quietly guarding people, the room is filled with fragrance of flowers, white candles burning quietly, and the quiet flower house only has the sound of leaves rustling.

  Lydia's face was heavy, and she asked the maid Charlotte every minute if they were back, and each time the answer was no. A candle burned out, and the maid came up to replace it with a new one. This maid had just been transferred to serve her master, and for the first time saw her master in a bad mood, feeling nervous, her hands shaking non-stop, unable to light the candle for half a day, Lydia couldn't help but scold her.

  "Haven't eaten yet? Go down!"

  Lydia's eyes were wide and round, scolding loudly was very intimidating, even Mr. Lucas was afraid of her like this, let alone the servants serving here. Cinderella deeply buried her head, Kitty was also startled by her mother's voice, but she was used to it, and had never been truly scared of her mother's scolding, after all, she was her own flesh and blood. Kitty wasn't very afraid of Lydia in her heart, seeing Cinderella's timid appearance, Kitty wanted to bully her again.

  "They're too stupid, Cinderella. You're much smarter than they are. Why don't you light the candle for them, kind one?"

  Cinderella looked up at Lydia, who seemed to have heard nothing and wouldn't even give her a glance. Cinderella knew that Lydia had never interfered with her own affairs, just like Charlotte; her mother had always been so proud, she didn't deign to mistreat herself, nor was she ashamed of being hypocritical, but instead used the way of letting go of herself to show off to her deceased mother. This kind of Lydia made Cinderella very sad, and she could only make herself look pitiful every day to remind her father that Lydia was her stepmother, fearing that in Lydia's deliberate downplaying, her busy father would forget about her, forget about her mother. Sometimes she even felt grateful to Katie, it was because she kept causing trouble, Cinderella had a sense of existence with her father, although he wouldn't help her, as long as there was a little bit of concern, Cinderella felt that enduring any bullying was worth it.

  "Hurry up! Stop dawdling, or Father and the Duke of Windsor will be back soon. If you make a bad impression on the Duke, you'll have to apologize yourself, don't drag us into it."

  Katy couldn't stand Cinderella's downtrodden appearance, and harsh words slipped out. Cinderella was used to Katy's malicious words, but she still shook her head and refused to light the candles. It was okay to order her around in private, but making her do servant's work in front of everyone was clearly not treating her as the mistress of the house, and she absolutely wouldn't do it.

  Katie is furious.

  "Cinderella, how dare you ignore me? Don't forget who's the real mistress of this house!"

  Cinderella's eyes flashed with a hint of pain at her words, she was right, the mistress of Lucas' household had long since ceased to be a mother.

  "Katie, we are both daughters of Father, even if you're the elder sister, you can't order me around."

  Cinderella was so angry that she was about to slap her sister, but just as her hand was about to come down, a pair of white and slender jade hands grasped her wrist.

  "Stop it! Charlotte hasn't come back yet, and it's so late. What a mood for fighting! Sit properly."

  Katy listened to her mother's words, looking embarrassed and quickly sat down. Cinderella frowned, it seemed that Charlotte and the others had encountered some trouble, hoping that Father was not in danger.