ITIF Chapter 113

No Longer Welcome Now

“I thought Your Majesty was aware of this.”

“……?”

“When I was young, I once broke out in a full-body rash from drinking water at the Imperial Palace. Have you forgotten already?”

At Kavelaseth’s response, one of the Emperor’s eyebrows rose sharply. He clearly had no recollection of such an incident.

“Did that happen?”

The chamberlain standing a bit away answered.

“It was more than ten years ago, but yes, such an incident did occur, Your Majesty.”

“……I see.”

The Emperor nodded slightly with his chin resting on the sofa table.

“When you reach my age, you’ll learn that you forget many things.”

Giselle Grante inwardly sneered at the Emperor.

Kavelaseth had nearly died from that past incident.

Since it wasn’t something that should be made public, the late Duke Cardia had kept it hidden at the time.

However, he couldn’t silence everyone in the Imperial Palace, so she had heard about it as well.

“So you can’t touch anything from the Imperial Palace, is that it?”

“That’s correct.”

Kavelaseth answered immediately without a moment’s hesitation.

Giselle Grante couldn’t hide her puzzlement at his demeanor.

Perhaps it was because she had never seen anyone act so boldly before the Emperor.

Even the Empress always became like a criminal in the Emperor’s presence.

“Wise.”

The Emperor also didn’t seem to mind Kavelaseth’s stiff attitude much.

This situation was far too unfamiliar to her.

“Yes, one must protect oneself…….”

The Emperor, who had been nodding with his lower lip jutting out, suddenly looked at Giselle Grante.

“……Isn’t that right?”

She couldn’t immediately nod in agreement.

Though somewhat roundabout, she understood the underlying meaning of what the Emperor was saying.

‘One must protect oneself……’

This was like pointing out that the former Kavelaseth had failed to protect his own body.

“I have some questions about that.”

Giselle Grante spoke in a calm voice.

“You have questions?”

The Emperor looked at her with narrowed eyes.

It was an overbearing gaze that made one’s neck shrink instinctively. Something she felt she would never get used to in her entire life…….

“When a guest visits an estate, it’s proper etiquette to serve them something. And if they fall ill from eating that food, it can be seen as negligence on the part of the estate owner.”

“…….”

The Emperor’s gaze toward her turned sharp. However, she continued.

“Of course, I think it’s very difficult for an owner to monitor every single movement in a grand estate. However, at the very least, I believe one should investigate why it happened and what negligence occurred.”

The Emperor nodded slightly as if telling her to continue.

“After that, it would be appropriate to provide suitable compensation. Something as small as a word or an apology would be fine.”

After saying this, Giselle Grante smiled brightly at the Emperor. Somehow, she even felt a bit relieved.

‘Why couldn’t I say this sooner? If I had lived as an Imperial Princess expressing my opinions freely, it would have been better……’

Of course, she knew.

Why she couldn’t speak her thoughts to the Emperor. It was because she was afraid.

Afraid of falling out of the Emperor’s favor or being deposed as a princess. Afraid of her future after being pushed out of the succession competition.

That’s why she had wanted the Emperor’s recognition. She had strived to have her abilities acknowledged.

Despite countless efforts, she had never received the Emperor’s recognition in the end.

But now she no longer needed the Emperor’s recognition.

Because she had realized that wanting someone’s recognition meant handing over the power to manipulate you at will into their hands.

‘Though it’s too late now……’

Just as Giselle Grante was waiting self-deprecatingly for the Emperor’s criticism to come—

“……?”

Suddenly the Emperor burst into laughter.

Not only Giselle Grante and Kavelaseth, but even the chamberlain standing far away widened his eyes.

“……Your, Your Majesty?”

The chamberlain called to the Emperor with a worried expression, but the Emperor seemed to have no intention of stopping his laughter once it started.

“Right. You’re the daughter of Duke Amaterasu, was it?”

“That’s correct.”

When Kavelaseth nodded somewhat irritably, the Emperor continued.

“Interesting. You won’t have time to be bored or idle in life.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

Kavelaseth spoke bluntly, but the Emperor, his face still not cleared of laughter, asked:

“I heard it was you who exposed the disgrace of the Marquis Antares family?”

The Emperor’s sharp gaze, seeming to see through everything, turned to Giselle Grante.

Since Kavelaseth had already told her about this, Giselle Grante simply nodded slightly.

“It’s audacious beyond measure, thinking about it again.”

“…….”

“Why did you think to dig into something that everyone in the world was ‘unaware’ of?”

The Emperor emphasized a particular word forcefully.

He was saying that everyone wasn’t truly unaware but had pretended not to know while turning a blind eye, yet she had taken it upon herself to expose it.

It meant that many people who didn’t want to displease the Antares family, the Empress, and even Prince Joshua who might become the Empire’s next emperor, had kept their mouths shut.

Perhaps even the Emperor.

“Some may have blocked their eyes, mouths, and ears.”

The Emperor snorted quietly.

Since she couldn’t tell whether that laugh was in disagreement with her words or had some other meaning, Giselle Grante closed her mouth.

Then the Emperor arrogantly tilted his chin as if telling her to continue.

“Of course, I wasn’t naive enough to think all the Empire’s nobility would be clean before the Imperial Family. Just…….”

Giselle Grante paused briefly, then added with an innocent face and a bright smile:

“……There is such a thing as limits.”

“Interesting indeed. You mean they crossed the line……. is that it?”

Giselle Grante didn’t answer the Emperor’s question, only showing a faint smile.

The boundary of lines that shouldn’t be crossed—the Emperor should be the one to set that.

Not her. So if she nodded now, it would mean falling for the Emperor’s provocation.

Just as the Emperor was about to press her with one raised eyebrow for not answering immediately—

Knock knock.

A knocking sound echoed. The tense atmosphere that had been circulating in the reception room eased somewhat because of it.

“I’ll go see what it is, Your Majesty.”

The chamberlain tactfully stepped forward, and the Emperor nodded slightly in permission. Then he picked up the wine glass he hadn’t touched at all.

The chamberlain who had gone to check the situation outside returned and whispered quietly in the Emperor’s ear.

The Emperor, who had slightly lowered his gaze, took a deep breath in and out.

From that, Giselle Grante surmised that troublesome news had been delivered to the Emperor.

“Let’s leave it at this for today.”

At the Emperor’s dismissal, both Giselle Grante and Kavelaseth stood up without delay.

“The next place we’ll meet will be at the wedding.”

Kavelaseth’s stride toward the door stopped abruptly.

Giselle Grante, who had reflexively turned her head toward him, had to bite the soft flesh inside her mouth. Because she felt like laughing.

He had exactly the expression of someone who wanted to say:

‘Who invited you?’

Giselle Grante glanced back to check the Emperor’s expression.

Contrary to her concern that he might be displeased, the Emperor wasn’t even looking this way.

“I’ll guide you.”

As they left the reception room, the attendant in the corridor extended his hand forward.

The Imperial Palace was vast. So nobles who didn’t visit the Imperial Palace frequently would often get lost.

Of course, she didn’t particularly need guidance.

Just as Giselle Grante was about to say it was fine, Kavelaseth waved his hand dismissively first.

“Well then, we’ll see you again.”

The attendant who had stepped forward reluctantly gave them a parting glance.

Giselle Grante and Kavelaseth walked forward.

She had actually been a bit worried about the Emperor’s summons. But she soon realized it had been needless concern.

And the reason she could calmly state her thoughts without trembling in fear before the Emperor was because of Kavelaseth’s large, warm hand that had been adding warmth to hers from the moment they entered the reception room.

“…….”

The attendant watched the receding figures of Duke Cardia and Lady Amaterasu for a while, then shrugged and turned in the opposite direction.

Seeing the two of them walking through the Imperial Palace holding hands tightly, he thought the rumors of a political marriage seemed far from the truth.

****

“So! You’re saying the two of them are in the reception room with His Majesty the Emperor?”

At the Empress’s sharp interrogation, the attendant awkwardly bowed his head.

“……Y-yes, that’s what I heard, Your Majesty the Empress.”

“For what reason on earth……!”

She couldn’t understand why Duke Cardia and Lady Amaterasu had come to the Imperial Palace holding hands, or what the Emperor’s intention was in calling them not to the audience hall but to his private room.

Nothing made sense.

In truth, the Empress’s patience had long since run out.

The Empress had already gone to the Emperor several times to request the release of the captured Marquis Antares.

But she had been rejected every time. From the chamberlain, she only received excuses that the Emperor was very busy with state affairs.

Her clenched fists trembled, but the Empress closed her eyes tightly and suppressed her rising anger.

She wanted to chase after him immediately and vent her frustration, but she knew the Emperor’s temperament better than anyone in the world.

So she also knew very well that the more emotional she became, the more she would lose.

‘Fine. Keep doing that……..We’ll see who loses. Though it’ll be too late when you regret it……’

When she opened her eyes, all unpleasant feelings had completely disappeared.

She had something to rely on.