ITIF Chapter 107

Even Though It Was Not a Particularly Special Day

“Then I’ll take my leave. Please enjoy your intimate time together, you two.”

Lady Greykin smiled sweetly and bowed to Kavelaseth.

As Giselle Grante watched Lady Greykin hurriedly leave her seat, she could only open and close her mouth.

Kavelaseth strode over and sat down beside her, saying:

“If I’d known you’d be waiting for me, I would have returned to the estate earlier. Even if it meant delegating work to someone else.”

Kavelaseth’s gaze toward her profile was hotter than ever.

Wanting to change the atmosphere that was becoming strange, Giselle Grante hurriedly spoke up.

“I was just… worried that Your Grace might have been exposed to a dangerous situation…”

As she said this, Giselle Grante glanced here and there at Kavelaseth’s body.

Kavelaseth felt pleased at her gaze carefully checking if he was injured anywhere.

“So you mean you were restless with worry that I might be hurt? And because of that, you couldn’t properly enjoy tea time with Lady Greykin?”

“…Pardon?”

Kavelaseth looked alternately at the two teacups on the table and said:

“This teacup is completely empty, but this other teacup is full of tea.”

“…”

“I think it can be interpreted that there was someone who enjoyed their tea without any worries and someone who couldn’t?”

The dessert plates beside the teacups were the same.

The dessert in front of Giselle Grante looked untouched, as if it had just been brought out.

“Ah…”

Though it was a fairly thorough analysis, Giselle Grante’s worries deepened.

Should she tell Kavelaseth, who was arbitrarily misunderstanding, the truth, or should she just leave it as is?

Both she and Lady Greykin had been on their second cups.

The reason she hadn’t touched the dessert was simply that it wasn’t to her taste.

Meanwhile, the butler approached and cleared away the slightly cooled teacup and the empty one.

Then he placed new teacups on the table. He generously poured hot water, steam rising in wisps, into the teacups.

Giselle Grante quietly watched as the tea leaves inside the cup danced in circles, dyeing the water red.

In the meantime, the butler also brought out fresh desserts to accompany the tea.

“Have some. Now that I’ve returned safely, you can relax.”

Since Kavelaseth’s expression as he said this looked quite satisfied, Giselle Grante opened her mouth without bothering to add anything.

“So, how did things go at the Imperial Palace today?”

Setting his teacup down on the table, Kavelaseth answered:

“It seems you were quite concerned. Judging by the fact that you not only deployed additional personnel to the location written on the parchment, but you even sent your personal maid.”

Olla, who had infiltrated the Imperial Palace as a maid following Kavelaseth that day, had also reported similar circumstances.

When she pretended to pick up the dropped parchment and spoke to Marchioness Latse, the marchioness ignored Olla and immediately left.

After that, a fierce-looking knight appeared and questioned Olla about the whole situation.

As if he had been monitoring Marchioness Latse.

Then Olla was dragged somewhere by the knight’s hand and soon came face to face with the Empress.

Although it was a fully anticipated situation, Olla seemed startled by the harsh interrogation that followed, but she appeared to have handled it with composure.

At the same time, she added that she was a little worried she might disappear from the Imperial Palace without anyone knowing.

But fortunately, both the Empress and the knight seemed to have let her go quickly.

Perhaps because they were so enraged by Marchioness Latse’s betrayal that they didn’t feel the need to investigate even the identity of the maid who witnessed it.

Having finished his answer, Kavelaseth whispered softly:

“Now that your curiosity is satisfied, how about more? Worrying about me.”

She gently placed her hand over Kavelaseth’s hand on the table.

Kavelaseth’s dark eyes widened slightly, as if her friendly gesture was unexpected.

Then his eyes soon curved into graceful arcs.

“…Please also tell me what happened after you encountered Marquis Latse.”

She hurriedly spoke to shake off her embarrassment.

“Nothing much. I just dragged out the time a bit so that Young Duke Antares could witness me and Marquis Latse together…”

Turning his palm over and fiddling with her fingers, Kavelaseth continued:

“It was a bit troublesome though.”

“In what way?”

“I tend to be wary of wasting time with unnecessary conversation.”

Since this was something she already knew, Giselle Grante nodded.

“Of course, since I do know how to maintain an uninterrupted conversation with someone, it wasn’t difficult.”

“So what did you talk about with Marquis Latse?”

“I vaguely recalled hearing that Marquis Latse likes the lyre. So all I did was ask questions about the lyre so that Marquis Latse could talk to his heart’s content.”

“Ah…”

Giselle Grante’s mouth fell slightly open. It was something she knew too. That when that topic came up, Marquis Antares became uncharacteristically talkative.

Kavelaseth, who had been fiddling with her small hand, intertwined his fingers between hers and stared intently at her.

“Now I’d like to hear your story too.”

“My story?”

At his sudden words, Giselle Grante tilted her head. Then Kavelaseth continued:

“Such trivial things as how your day was.”

She found it a bit strange that he was curious about such things.

‘Even though he said he’s wary of wasting time with unnecessary conversation.’

Nevertheless, Giselle Grante reflected on how her day had been. Then she slowly opened her mouth.

“There wasn’t anything particularly special…”

****

“You haven’t had a proper rest in a while, so I’m thinking of giving you a vacation this time.”

The Empress said after calling out only Marchioness Latse.

“…A vacation?”

Marchioness Latse’s eyes widened in surprise.

She must have naturally expected to be assigned work in secret from the other ladies-in-waiting.

“I thought you might need to rest and recharge sometimes. It also seemed like you were overwhelmed handling Countess Minster’s vacant position all by yourself…”

“…”

As if moved by the Empress recognizing her hard work, Marchioness Latse’s eyes reddened slightly.

However, having soon made a rational judgment, she raised a question.

“But given the current situation, for me to rest…”

Trailing off, Marchioness Latse gauged the Empress’s reaction.

“Yes. It’s true that the current situation is worse than ever.”

The voice that flowed from the Empress’s mouth was quite calm. But her inner feelings were turbulent more than ever.

A few days ago, thanks to Young Duke Antares, she had caught sight of Duke Cardia and Marquis Latse together.

It was thanks to the piece of parchment that Marchioness Latse had dropped.

“However, that’s exactly why we need to have some leeway. The more anxious we become, the deeper we might sink.”

Marchioness Latse, who had been wearing an expression of incomprehension for a while, nodded slightly.

“I heard that you’ve been wanting to travel to the hot springs in the north for some time…”

The Empress trailed off, observing Marchioness Latse’s expression.

“You remembered! I had been thinking I’d like to visit at least once when I had the time…”

Marchioness Latse rambled on somewhat exaggeratedly.

“I heard that the villa prepared on land near the travel destination was completed recently, so take this opportunity to travel with your family.”

“…..”

“It would be a bit of a detour, but I’d appreciate it if you could briefly stop by the west on your way there.”

“The west…”

When the Empress finished speaking, Marchioness Latse’s eyes widened slightly.

Soon she nodded, her eyes shining as if she had realized something.

The western part of the Empire—that was where the barbarians lived.

The Empress had received help from the barbarian chieftain before.

“Understood. It will be a somewhat roundabout journey, but I’ll be able to enjoy the scenery of the west after a long time. Thank you, Your Majesty the Empress.”

The Empress noticed that Marchioness Latse was greatly mistaken, but decided to leave it be.

Dealing with the western barbarians was very delicate for the Empress as well.

It was one of the things the Empire’s Empress should absolutely not do, and if something went wrong, she could be branded with the disgrace of colluding with enemy nations.

For that reason, she decided to let Marchioness Latse continue believing that she still had the Empress’s trust and was traveling far to carry out a secret mission.

“It would be best to hurry with your departure. Go and prepare to leave.”

“Understood, Your Majesty the Empress.”

After seeing off Marchioness Latse with a bright face, the Empress walked toward her office.

And she happened to encounter a chamberlain who was hurrying toward the office.

“Y-Your Majesty the Empress! This is, this is a disaster!”