ITIF Chapter 39

Love Apart, Marriage Apart

“Ha…”

A small, hollow laugh escaped from Count Frederick’s lips.

Even so, the expression of Lady Amaterasu remained as haughty as ever as she looked at him.

‘Was she not just spouting nonsense after all?’

Naturally, Count Frederick’s gaze toward Lady Amaterasu also sharpened.

“Let’s say I did strike it rich with this opportunity, as you suggest, my lady. Then what exactly do you want from me in return for such valuable information? I don’t think you’d be satisfied with just information about the Princess Trinity incident.”

As Count Frederick’s question ended, a faint smile appeared on Lady Amaterasu’s face.

She then stood on her tiptoes to match his height and whispered softly.

“Swear your loyalty to me. Then you won’t need to hover around the imperial palace trying to forge connections with the current imperial family.”

****

Perhaps it was because he had rested briefly in the carriage.

Mikhail’s steps toward the Duke Amaterasu’s estate appeared normal, just like any other time.

Though that didn’t mean he could completely hide the faint smell of alcohol that lingered about him.

“Welcome back, young master. Duke Cardia.”

The butler, who had been conversing with the servants in front of the estate, bowed deeply to the two men.

“It seems you’ve been drinking.”

When Mikhail nodded, the butler continued.

“His Grace has not yet returned home, and the young lady is in the garden.”

While Mikhail and the butler exchanged brief words, Kavelaseth turned his head toward the garden visible in the distance.

The butler was right.

Someone was standing in the garden at the far end of the estate.

‘I can ask her directly.’

He had been wanting to have a conversation about Semper’s bulb anyway.

Without delay, Kavelaseth turned toward the garden where Lady Amaterasu was.

At that moment, Mikhail, who was climbing the steps to enter the estate, stumbled, and the butler quickly supported him.

“Are you alright, young master?”

Kavelaseth glanced at this scene briefly before heading toward the garden.

As he approached Lady Amaterasu, he could hear the sound of conversation.

‘She’s not alone, it seems.’

At first, he thought she was talking with an estate employee.

But at the continued serious tone of a man’s voice, one of Kavelaseth’s eyebrows shot up.

“…What do you want from me, my lady?”

The man’s voice was even quite familiar.

‘Who was it?’

While Kavelaseth pondered briefly, Lady Amaterasu stood on her tiptoes and matched the man’s height.

Though some light had been lit, the garden after sunset was rather dark.

Kavelaseth couldn’t see exactly what the two were doing from his position, but they appeared to be in quite intimate contact.

For a moment, the corner of Kavelaseth’s mouth twisted upward.

‘Did Lady Amaterasu have a hidden lover?’

The situation was so absurd that only a hollow laugh came out.

The nobles of the empire commonly chose political marriages for the prosperity of their families.

This was how they had strengthened and solidified their vast wealth and absolute power from generation to generation.

Of course, there were occasionally cases where people formed happy families with their beloved lovers, but these were so few they could be counted on one’s fingers.

So much so that among the nobility, the joke “love apart, marriage apart” was prevalent.

However, Kavelaseth belonged to the rather normal-thinking side, and he had no intention whatsoever of turning a blind eye to his wife’s hidden lover.

Of course, it had already been quite some time since he had rejected Lady Amaterasu’s marriage proposal, but her having a separate lover was an entirely different matter.

It would mean that Lady Amaterasu had deceived Kavelaseth. It was tantamount to looking down on him.

‘And yet, she had begged and pleaded for marriage, saying she loved me…’

Recalling Lady Amaterasu confessing her love while obviously keeping a separate lover, his teeth ground at her shameless behavior.

And now that he knew this fact, he had no intention of pretending not to know.

‘I should at least see what kind of fellow this is.’

It was just as Kavelaseth was thinking this and about to approach them.

“Where did Kavel go?”

“Indeed. He was here just a moment ago, but where could he have disappeared to so quickly…”

The voices of Mikhail and the butler looking for Kavelaseth could be heard from afar.

Kavelaseth reflexively turned his head toward where Mikhail and the butler were.

They stood at the entrance steps leading into the estate, looking around.

Instead of letting them know he was here, he quickly turned his head back to where Lady Amaterasu had been.

But perhaps because of the voices they had just heard, the two people had already left.

‘Is she hiding her lover’s existence from Mikhail too?’

Such a thought naturally occurred to him.

If Mikhail knew about Lady Amaterasu’s hidden lover and was helping to conceal it, it would be enough to destroy the trust between him and Mikhail.

After staring briefly at the spot where Lady Amaterasu had been until just moments before, Kavelaseth turned around.

As he walked toward the estate entrance, Mikhail soon spotted him and asked.

“Kavel, where on earth did you go?”

Kavelaseth stared directly at Mikhail’s face and pondered briefly.

Whether to ask Mikhail if there was a man his sister was seeing.

But he soon gave up.

Having a deep conversation with a drunkard would only be a loss for him.

Mikhail led Kavelaseth inside the estate, saying.

“There’s something that came in as a gift recently, you know? You’ll be shocked when you try it! So Kavel, you’ll stay a bit longer before leaving, right?”

Kavelaseth’s brow furrowed deeply.

It was because of Mikhail, who reeked of alcohol even in his manner of speaking.

Having observed Mikhail for quite a long time, it was rare for him to be so unreasonable.

For instance, when his mother, Duchess Amaterasu, died, and when Giselle Grante became the laughingstock of the capital’s social circles.

It seemed he had suffered quite a bit of emotional damage at today’s academy alumni gathering.

‘…Just for today.’

Tolerating Mikhail’s selfish behavior too.

With that resolution, Kavelaseth, who had been led by Mikhail, filled his glass to the brim with alcohol.

With the intention of getting him drunk quickly so he could put him to sleep soon.

Fortunately, after a few drinks, Mikhail quickly passed out, and only then could Kavelaseth escape from Duke Amaterasu’s estate.

As he walked toward his carriage, a carriage leisurely exiting through the massive iron gates came into his view.

From the crest on the carriage, Kavelaseth immediately identified who had been having a secret meeting with Lady Amaterasu.

‘So it was Count Frederick. The person Lady Amaterasu was meeting.’

Kavelaseth briefly followed the departing carriage with his eyes.

Then he boarded the carriage heading to the Cardia ducal house.

****

Giselle Grante looked through her bedroom window at the carriage leaving Duke Amaterasu’s estate.

Just as she was about to turn around, she saw another carriage heading toward the estate’s iron gates.

“…?”

Giselle Grante reflected on the situation from earlier.

As before, she had planned to use Count Frederick as a hidden card.

So she had informed him about information related to Semper’s bulb.

Originally, the massive wealth that should have been taken by the Count Minster’s house would be transferred to Count Frederick through Giselle’s own intervention.

While discussing this with Count Frederick, she had heard Mikhail’s voice returning home.

He seemed to be looking for Kavelaseth.

‘Surely Duke Cardia wasn’t there at that moment?’

Giselle Grante began to consider possible scenarios while nervously biting her innocent lips.

‘What if Duke Cardia had been there?’

If so, how much of her conversation with Count Frederick had he heard, from where to where?

‘I’d prefer to keep Count Frederick’s existence secret if possible.’

Just as when she lived as a princess, she needed someone who would move secretly without revealing outwardly that they were on her side.

Only then could they faithfully play the role of a hidden card to turn the tables at crucial moments.

Count Frederick hadn’t yet answered Giselle Grante’s proposal.

But somehow she had a feeling he would accept.

“Miss, are you not sleeping yet?”

Lindsey asked as she walked into the bedroom, holding firewood for the fireplace.

“Yes. I have something to think about.”

Giselle Grante watched Lindsey throw dry logs into the fireplace and poke around inside with a poker, then asked.

“Lindsey, could you check if brother Mikhail is awake?”

“Yes. I’ll do that.”

Lindsey, who had left the bedroom, returned not long after.

“It seems he’s sleeping deeply. They say he drank quite a lot tonight for some reason. What should we do?”

“I’ll have to talk with him when he wakes up tomorrow. Good night, Lindsey.”

“Have a good night’s sleep too, miss.”

****

The next morning.

Giselle Grante prepared hot tea with honey and went to Mikhail’s bedroom.

Having just woken up, Mikhail’s short blonde hair was disheveled and unkempt.

“Oh, Giselle? What brings you here so early in the morning…?”

Mikhail looked puzzled as he stared at Giselle Grante and the tray she was holding.

She set the tray she was carrying on the nightstand beside Mikhail’s bed and said.

“I heard you drank a bit… quite a lot yesterday.”

“…Huh? Oh. But what’s that?”

“It’s tea with honey. They say it’s good for hangovers.”

For a moment, Mikhail’s eyes and mouth opened wide in disbelief.

“You, you prepared this for me? This early in the morning?”

Toward Mikhail’s question, Giselle Grante smiled brightly.

Mikhail urgently drew in a breath with a gasp, then clutched his shirt at the chest.