Charti is a grown ass woman - I actually find it surprising that she acts this way around Cal. It’s not like she is a young innocent teen. If I were Caleden I’d also feel very encouraged and hopeful. After all the crown prince already has Irene. Remember that we, the readers, are privy to everyone’s thoughts but the characters are not.
It’s interesting how some of you are mad/pissed that crown prince hasn’t kicked Irene to the curb but you want to justify this girl playing with Caleden like this? It’s OBVIOUS he’s into her. If she continues to mess with him like this, it’ll just ruin her in my eyes (and I’ll prob drop this tbh). Because ugh it’s gross, especially when he looks and acts like a sweet pup. lol what? her priority IS her “love” story - why else would she lower herself with stupid bitch fights insulting Irene, etc and play coy with crown prince whenever she can?

I'm actually more mad at Cal than Charti - I mean, Charti has limited experience, and is dense asf (which I can relate to on a personal level) But Cal knows the situation, as much as he thinks he "loves" Charti, he's not taking her situation in his eye at all - his "harmless" flirtations can wreck her life.
Though I think this is just the author pandering to the whole Second Male Lead dynamic, and trying to paint Charti as a "villainous" woman. Like how she dresses Irene in standard white lotus garb.