ITIF Chapter 7

Journey to the Imperial Capital

 

Long after Duke Amaterasu had departed for the imperial capital, Lindsey stayed close to Trinity’s side, reluctant to leave her alone.

 

Lindsey’s behavior was understandable.

 

She had narrowly escaped death today, and not long ago, she had wrapped a silk cloth around her neck in an attempt to summon Kavelaseth.

 

Indeed, the reason Giselle Grante had caused such an extreme commotion was precisely to summon Kavelaseth.

 

She believed it was the only way to protect the Amaterasu ducal house in the coming storm.

 

Currently, the Amaterasu ducal house supported Kavelaseth as the next emperor.

 

He too had succession rights to the throne.

 

Of course, this was after excluding Trinity, who held first place in the succession order, and Prince Joshua, who held second place, among several others.

 

Nevertheless, the reason the Amaterasu ducal house and several other influential families supported someone outside the imperial family was largely due to Trinity’s father, the current emperor of the Phasis Empire.

 

He was a tyrant. Having experienced him closely, Trinity could agree with this assessment.

 

The reason she had invested time preparing to become emperor from an early age also stemmed from the emperor’s tyrannical rule.

 

However, in the future that Giselle Grante had seen, Kavelaseth condemned the Amaterasu ducal house.

 

Though it was never Giselle Grante’s own will, it was because she had been Joshua’s betrothed.

 

For Duke Amaterasu, it was no different from having his daughter held hostage by the imperial family, but Kavelaseth regarded this as betrayal.

 

Even Mikhail, the young Duke Amaterasu who had maintained a long friendship with him, received no mercy.

 

He was that merciless a man.

 

Therefore, Giselle Grante had made an extreme choice to summon Kavelaseth to the Amaterasu ducal residence.

 

Of course, he too would have visited the Amaterasu ducal residence after various calculations.

 

Now that Giselle Grante was not engaged to Prince Joshua, the bond between the Amaterasu ducal house and Kavelaseth remained strong.

 

So paying a sick visit to Giselle Grante, who had made an extreme choice because of him, wouldn’t have been too difficult.

 

If that could save face for Duke Amaterasu, who had a daughter.

 

“It must have been wonderful to meet and converse directly with Duke Cardia after so long.”

 

Lindsey smiled brightly as she gently scrubbed Trinity’s shoulders with a foam-rich sponge.

 

“Indeed.”

 

She showed a faint smile and lowered her gaze, fidgeting with a dried rose petal floating on the bathwater.

 

“But what did you discuss? He didn’t come out immediately and stayed for quite a while.”

 

Lindsey made quite a fuss, and naturally, the memory of her private meeting with Kavelaseth came to mind.

 

[That proposal you made to me then… I wonder if it’s still valid.]

 

Asking if it was still valid meant he was considering accepting Giselle Grante’s proposal.

 

‘Would joining hands with Duke Cardia, as Giselle Grante wished, really be a good choice?’

 

Trinity’s brow furrowed slightly as she became lost in thought.

 

Seeing this, Lindsey hastily poured out words.

 

“Oh no. I must have asked too presumptuous a question…”

 

“…?”

 

Before she could give an answer, Lindsey quickly changed the subject.

 

“Then Prince Joshua will become the next emperor now, won’t he?”

 

Unfortunately, the name of her half-brother Joshua that Lindsey brought up made her feel even more uncomfortable.

 

It reminded her once again of her own death.

 

‘To think I died at the hands of Baron Oppenheimer’s daughter…’

 

Baron Oppenheimer’s daughter was among the more assertive and stubborn of the maids.

 

If one were planning to assassinate the princess, it would have been somewhat easier to use other maids besides her…

 

Giselle Grante’s brow furrowed distinctly. Seeing her reaction, Lindsey pressed her lips shut and focused on her work.

 

“Miss, could you please lift your arm slightly?”

 

****

 

Before entering her bedroom, Trinity deliberately acted cheerful.

 

Otherwise, it seemed Lindsey would hardly leave her side.

 

“Good night, Lindsey. Sweet dreams.”

 

Lying in bed, she spoke in a drowsy tone, rubbing her sleepy eyes.

 

That way, Lindsey could leave the bedroom with peace of mind.

 

“You have sweet dreams too, Miss.”

 

Fortunately, Lindsey left the bedroom without much suspicion.

 

After Lindsey left the bedroom and she had remained still with her eyes closed for a while, she soon sat up.

 

And she carefully drew the curtains. To prevent the bedroom’s light from leaking outside.

 

With a small light lit on the table, she took out Giselle Grante’s diary.

 

And she reopened the parts she had skimmed over and read them slowly.

 

“Princess Trinity, killed by maid Baron Oppenheimer’s daughter before the investiture ceremony… It’s exactly the same as reality.”

 

The same situation that had occurred today. She began to think that what was written in the diary might not just be Giselle Grante’s excessive delusion.

 

That would make sense. If Giselle Grante didn’t have the ability to see the future, there was no way to explain the diary’s contents.

 

“But is this really… possible?”

 

Even assuming that Giselle Grante had been deliberately pretending to be stupid all this time.

 

Trinity closed the diary with a snap.

 

Soon, a long sigh escaped from her lips.

 

“Haah…”

 

According to the diary, she now had nowhere to return. Princess Trinity had truly died.

 

After briefly reflecting on her own death, she shifted her thinking.

 

‘No, perhaps this might actually be for the best.’

 

The fool of the Amaterasu ducal house.

 

Giselle Grante, who held a status high enough to aspire to the position of next empress, but was evaluated as never being able to rise to high positions due to her lack of ability.

 

People simply enjoyed gossiping about her stupid brain behind her back and feeling subtly superior. In such a situation, who would suspect and be wary of Giselle Grante’s actions right now?

 

Trinity thus soon accepted reality.

 

She would live as Giselle Grante, daughter of Duke Amaterasu, from now on.

 

And she would uncover the identity of those who had turned her flesh-cutting efforts to become emperor into nothing, and drain their blood to death.

 

****

 

As soon as the sun rose the next day, Giselle Grante hurried to prepare for an outing. This was to attend the upcoming memorial service for her past self, Princess Trinity.

 

As she was about to board the carriage with the escort of her guard knight for departure, Lindsey asked with a worried expression.

 

“Miss, are you really… going to be alright?”

 

Giselle Grante glanced at the guard knight and put the foot she had placed on the carriage step back on the ground.

 

And she turned toward Lindsey.

 

“What are you worried about?”

 

“Of course, in my eyes, you’re nothing but elegant and wonderful, Miss. But somehow…”

 

Lindsey tried to speak but stopped and let out a light sigh.

 

After being greatly ridiculed in high society, Giselle Grante had not appeared in the capital’s social circles for some time, using the excuse that it was difficult to mingle with nobles.

 

“Are you worried I’ll become a laughingstock again?”

 

“Oh, no. It’s not that…”

 

Lindsey shook her head vigorously with surprised eyes.

 

This made it somewhat more certain. That Giselle Grante had quite a meticulous personality.

 

The fact that even Lindsey, who served her most closely, didn’t know her true nature testified to her thorough character.

 

“Let them laugh if they want to.”

 

Giselle Grante’s red lips curved confidently.

 

“…Pardon?”

 

Lindsey blinked with her lips slightly parted.

 

“That’s the kind of mindset I have.”

 

“Ah… yes.”

 

Lindsey’s eyes rolled around. She seemed not to understand her meaning well.

 

Perhaps she thought the foolish young lady had picked up some cool words somewhere and was imitating them.

 

“Thank you for worrying about me, Lindsey.”

 

Saying this, Giselle Grante extended her hand toward the guard knight.

 

Taking the guard knight’s hand, she elegantly boarded the carriage.

 

“…?”

 

Lindsey’s lips parted slightly as she quietly watched this scene.

 

Giselle Grante’s profile as she sat with her back straight, chin slightly raised, gazing straight ahead, reminded her of the late Duchess Amaterasu.

 

The Duchess Amaterasu had been a person who served as a role model even within the capital’s social circles.

 

She was a master who was kind to her employees but never merely soft.

 

Everyone regretted that such a person had left this world so early.

 

If the Duchess Amaterasu had been alive, following her example, the daughter of Duke Amaterasu would have grown up intelligent and wise as well.

 

While Lindsey was briefly recalling the dear late Duchess Amaterasu, Giselle Grante’s gentle voice rang out.

 

“Let’s depart.”

 

Only then did Lindsey hurriedly board the luggage carriage.

 

Soon the carriage glided out of the magnificent and grand mansion.

 

Giselle Grante looked at the receding Amaterasu ducal residence and thought.

 

‘It would be better to change my reputation gradually, wouldn’t it?’

 

Changing entrenched perceptions would not be easy.

 

But whether easy or difficult, she would eventually have to make people’s evaluation of Giselle Grante different from what it was now.

 

Even if she were to uncover the truth behind Princess Trinity’s assassination and present the perpetrator and evidence, if the person who revealed that case was the current Giselle Grante, it wouldn’t be trustworthy.

 

In the Phasis Empire, there was a saying that when a person suddenly changes, it means their time to die has come.

 

This meant that a person’s innate temperament doesn’t change, and it was not easy to change prejudices once rooted in people’s minds.

 

This was especially true for the worse.

 

Wasn’t her reputation during her time as princess the same?

 

When she devoted herself to studying imperial studies day and night, the nickname that stuck to her was “bookworm of the palace.”

 

And when she dedicated herself to swordsmanship and archery, she gained the reputation of having improper conduct.

 

Like, with such a strong personality, which nobleman would want to marry her?

 

When she belatedly realized that all of this was the empress’s interference, she changed her approach.

 

She decided to act like a wastrel.

 

Thanks to this, Trinity’s reputation plummeted to the point where it couldn’t get any worse.

 

But there were definite advantages to this as well.

 

When she showed herself frequenting parties and balls, only indulging in revelry, the empress’s interference became lax.

 

Of course, it also became the catalyst for the emperor’s attention to completely shift from her to First Prince Joshua.

 

Taking advantage of the gap when the empress’s surveillance became lax, Trinity persuaded influential nobles.

 

She told them that if Trinity, who had no interest in governance whatsoever, ascended to the throne, they would be able to manipulate her like a puppet.

 

The nobles welcomed this and willingly lent her their strength.

 

They said the next emperor should be Princess Trinity as planned.

 

‘I was just waiting for the investiture ceremony to come, having gained that opportunity…’