ITIF Chapter 20

The Rising Sun

In the brief moment when the Empress was recalling the past and mentioned Countess Tarel’s salon, Count Fernando’s daughter’s face turned bright red, then immediately went pale white.

“…….”

Tension suddenly filled the table where the young ladies were gathered.

Marchioness Latse glanced back toward the Empress.

When their eyes met, the Empress nodded as if to say that was enough.

“I hope you’ll always be careful with that mouth of yours, Lady Fernando.”

Only after adding a slight threat did Marchioness Latse turn her back on Count Fernando’s daughter, who had begun to whimper.

“Well, speaking of that, I heard that Duke Amaterasu’s daughter has recently started showing her face in social circles. Have you all heard?”

Someone among the young ladies broke the silence and spoke up.

Her voice came out slightly trembling, suggesting she too was thoroughly frightened.

“Yes, I heard that too…….”

Soon another young lady courageously chimed in with the brave speaker’s words.

Marchioness Latse slightly raised the corners of her red lips.

She anticipated that about two would survive this year’s debutante season.

Marchioness Latse returned with triumphant steps and sat beside the Empress again.

“Speaking of which, she was born into such an enviably high position. It’s truly unfortunate, isn’t it?”

She then brought up the topic that had emerged from the young ladies’ table. Countess Minster then picked up on Marchioness Latse’s words.

“……Are you referring to Duke Amaterasu’s daughter?”

“Yes. I heard she was bedridden and wouldn’t take a single step outside her bedroom, but now that she’s apparently recovered her health somewhat, she’s been staying in the capital recently.”

“I’ve heard that news too. I heard she even frequents that particular salon…….”

Countess Minster trailed off, watching the Empress’s reaction.

And for good reason.

Social circles were battlefields without swords, and who one associated with was an extremely important factor.

The company one kept directly reflected one’s reputation.

And any high-ranking noble with their wits about them would never visit the salon of such a lowly woman as Countess Tarel.

Though she was called a countess, she was ultimately the Emperor’s mistress.

“It’s unfortunate. If Duchess Amaterasu were still alive, she would have firmly warned her. She would have told her to carefully consider who to associate with.”

“Exactly. Since Duke Amaterasu and Young Duke Mikhail both stay away from social circles…….”

Though they spoke as if sympathizing with Duke Amaterasu’s daughter, the faces of the Empress’s ladies-in-waiting, Marchioness Latse and Countess Minster, were full of smiles.

The fact that Duke Amaterasu’s daughter had no experienced advisors to counsel her about the dangers of social circles was a joy to them.

Normally, when a young lady from a family as powerful as the Amaterasu Duchy remained unmarried, only second-best options would remain for their daughters.

The Amaterasu Duchy would have picked and chosen the best bridegrooms first.

But fortunately, God was on their side.

While He had gifted Duke Amaterasu’s daughter with a good family and beautiful looks, He had not given her a sharp mind.

Moreover, seeing that she frequented Countess Tarel’s salon—the number one place young noble ladies should absolutely never associate with—Duke Amaterasu’s daughter was clearly hopeless.

Noble marriages were business transactions, and her transgressions were something all noble ladies could welcome.

“……What shall we do, Your Majesty the Empress?”

They had already obtained the list of nobles who frequented Countess Tarel’s salon.

Most of them belonged to families too insignificant to be of help to Crown Prince Joshua.

That’s why they had been left to while away their time among themselves, being unable to belong to the inner circle.

But having someone from the Amaterasu Duchy frequenting that place was a different matter.

“There’s nothing for it. An experienced noble lady should be there to guide her, but Duke Amaterasu’s daughter has no such lady available. How about sending an invitation to the Amaterasu Duchy soon? What do you think?”

Marchioness Latse and Countess Minster nodded in complete agreement with the Empress’s words.

“Wise thinking, Your Majesty the Empress.”

“Ah, that earlier… was it Count Fernando’s daughter?”

The Empress asked, quietly setting her teacup down on the table.

“Yes, Your Majesty the Empress. Shall I remove her from the next invitation list?”

Countess Minster picked up the quill pen from the table as she spoke.

“Please do so.”

As the Empress nodded, Countess Minster struck through Count Fernando’s daughter’s name written on the parchment with the quill pen.

With this, she thought they had dealt with one Crown Princess candidate.

****

Since her first attendance, Countess Tarel’s gaze toward Giselle Grante visiting the salon had definitely softened.

She still seemed wary, as if uncertain when Giselle might do something foolish, but she certainly welcomed her.

Forming connections with someone from a powerful family like the Amaterasu Duchy was not easy, and thanks to Giselle Grante’s excellent eloquence, those attending the salon were delighted.

This quickly became gossip, contributing greatly to the considerable increase in nobles hoping to be invited to Countess Tarel’s salon.

“You’ll all be attending the upcoming imperial event, won’t you?”

“Come to think of it, His Highness the Crown Prince’s investiture ceremony is coming soon.”

One noble lady eagerly took the bait that Giselle Grante had casually thrown out.

“Have you all decided on the dresses and jewelry you’ll wear that day?”

Soon an invisible war of nerves broke out among the noble ladies.

The same dress, the same shoes, the same jewelry—nothing could make them look more ridiculous than wearing identical items at an official function.

So the noble ladies tried to find out where each other’s dressmakers and jewelers were, while not carelessly revealing their own cards.

Giselle Grante observed this scene throughout, then found an opportunity to casually throw out a remark.

“The Crown Prince’s investiture ceremony isn’t an end, but a beginning.”

At Giselle Grante’s words, Countess Tarel slightly frowned and asked back.

“What do you mean by that? A beginning?”

“There’s only one sun in the sky, but there’s not just one sun rising in the Empire, is there?”

“……!”

Countess Tarel immediately understood the meaning of Duke Amaterasu’s daughter’s words.

The sun in the sky meant the Emperor, and the rising sun meant the Emperor’s sons—that is, the princes.

But the Empress had only one son, Joshua.

If Countess Tarel’s interpretation was correct, Duke Amaterasu’s daughter was now comparing her son Philipo, the Emperor’s illegitimate child, to a rising sun of the Empire.

“But…….”

Countess Tarel couldn’t continue her words and let out a sigh.

The Empress’s position was too solid to put Philipo forward as the next Emperor.

“If there had been at least an Imperial Consort, power would have been somewhat dispersed, but the current Empress holds absolute power in her hands.”

Because of this, Countess Tarel found it difficult even to enter the imperial palace except when granted an audience with the Emperor.

‘And in such circumstances, a rising sun…….’

It seemed like a story too distant for Countess Tarel.

“Recently, His Majesty the Emperor lost a child who was the apple of his eye. So wouldn’t filling that empty place be Countess Tarel’s proper duty?”

“…….”

“Who else could comfort His Majesty the Emperor’s heart, which must be greatly grieved?”

“…….”

“His Highness Prince Philipo is quite skilled at chess, isn’t he?”

“Hi-His Highness?”

“Since Young Master Philipo is His Majesty the Emperor’s son, I thought it was naturally right to address him as His Highness, but perhaps I was getting a bit ahead of myself……?”

That single phrase Giselle Grante uttered stimulated the ambitions of Countess Tarel, who had been thoroughly cowed by the Empress’s restraint.

‘Our Philipo as a Prince, His Highness…… really?’

People called Countess Tarel’s son Philipo the Emperor’s illegitimate child.

So she too couldn’t proudly present Philipo in public.

She worried that people might say hurtful things to Philipo.

Others also called Philipo “Young Master Tarel,” not recognizing him as a member of the imperial family.

But “Prince” was different.

‘That’s right! Philipo is also clearly His Majesty the Emperor’s son!’

Countess Tarel’s eyes suddenly flashed.

“…….”

Giselle Grante captured that moment.

Even without speaking aloud, she could see what the woman was thinking right now.

Actually, the laws of the Phasis Empire prevented mistresses’ sons from having succession rights, but such things weren’t important to Giselle Grante.

If only she could disrupt the upcoming Crown Prince investiture ceremony. If only she could drag the Empress’s heightened mood down into the mud.

****

“What? What kind of nonsense is that!”

When an unusually harsh voice burst from the Empress’s mouth, the previously harmonious atmosphere in the Empress’s office fell silent.

“I-I apologize, Your Majesty the Empress. I thought it best to inform you quickly so you could take action without delay…….”

The attendant who had reported that Philipo, Countess Tarel’s son and the Emperor’s illegitimate child, had come to the palace to have an audience with the Emperor, kept bowing while watching the Empress’s expression.

“Y-Your Majesty the Empress. Wouldn’t it be best to hurry to His Majesty the Emperor?”

“Yes, Your Majesty the Empress! I think it would be right to deal with this quickly.”

The Empress’s ladies-in-waiting, Marchioness Latse and Countess Minster, joined voices in unison.

“Haah…….”

The Empress took a deep breath that greatly expanded her chest, then looked at the attendant with her usual cold, calculating eyes.

“If he’s having a private audience, he must be in the audience chamber. Is that so?”

“Th-that is…… since he came during His Majesty the Emperor’s rest time.”

This meant the two were together in the Emperor’s private reception room, not the audience chamber.

“I must go there. Right now.”