ITIF Chapter 48

I’m in Love with the Duke

Giselle Grante merely blinked her eyes in bewilderment.

“…….”

He could have pretended not to know and left this place, but Kavelaseth chose to remain here.

And once he decided to get involved in this matter, he would inevitably displease Joshua.

Even knowing this, she couldn’t understand why he had decided to help her, but one thing was certain.

She must not let this opportunity slip away.

She squeezed out the most desperate voice she could muster and called to Kavelaseth.

“Oh, Kavel…….”

As Kavelaseth took a step closer, Giselle Grante struggled to extend her arm and gently cupped his cheek. In that moment, Kavelaseth’s broad, solid shoulders trembled slightly.

But she paid no mind and continued speaking.

“I’ve truly waited so long. There were many times I thought you had grown tired of me and soaked my pillow with tears.”

“…….”

“But it’s alright. Because you’ve come to find me like this. Even though I’m unwillingly held in another man’s arms…….”

Giselle Grante’s eyes filled with tears, looking pitiful as she lowered her gaze, then immediately lifted her head to look straight into Kavelaseth’s eyes and said:

“Still, I love you, Kavel! Even if you only pay attention to me when I’m held in another man’s arms…….”

As slight force entered Giselle Grante’s hand gripping Kavelaseth’s cheek, his eyes widened a little.

Soon his red eyes began to shake violently.

But she brought her face close to his—just close enough that their breaths could intertwine.

When she was close enough that Giselle Grante’s reflection could be seen in his red eyes, she tilted her head slightly at an angle.

“……!”

At that moment, a scoff came from above their heads.

“Ha…… I really can’t believe this.”

Only then did Joshua release Giselle Grante’s body, which he had been restraining oppressively, and step back.

Joshua had always lived the life of a protagonist.

For him, Kavelaseth, who had suddenly appeared without warning and stolen his pleasure, could not be welcome.

Moreover, hadn’t he been completely pushed to the background since his appearance?

The fact that he had been ignored made him feel sickeningly unpleasant.

“So, you two have had that kind of…… relationship from before?”

That kind of relationship? Suppressing the urge to ask back what kind of relationship that meant, Giselle Grante looked back at Joshua with tearful eyes.

And she nodded.

Given Joshua’s proud personality, he would surely feel unbearable humiliation at being used as a tool to provoke Kavelaseth’s jealousy.

“Exactly as Your Highness the Crown Prince has said.”

“……!”

Joshua’s pupils dilated greatly.

Joshua, who had been looking at her and Kavelaseth with trembling eyes as if he couldn’t believe it, soon wore a meaningful expression.

‘What is he thinking?’

Just as Giselle Grante was trying to gauge his intentions, Joshua positioned himself behind her back again.

“Fine. I’ll respect your preferences too.”

For some reason, he seemed intent on continuing the act he was about to stop. And that too, in front of Kavelaseth.

Horrified, Giselle Grante struggled to escape from his hands.

“Th-this is…….”

But Joshua subdued her more roughly than before. He seemed to have no qualms about continuing the act.

“It wouldn’t be exciting if you just stayed still.”

Joshua looked at Kavelaseth with eyes seeking agreement.

Kavelaseth muttered something in a barely audible voice. It seemed like he said something about being tired.

“Ha…….”

Kavelaseth sighed and ran his hand over his gaunt face.

It seemed Giselle Grante wasn’t the only one flustered by Joshua’s sudden change in reaction.

‘Surely he’s not going to leave……’

Giselle Grante tried to suppress her rising anxiety and grab onto Kavelaseth’s sleeve.

But just then, he turned around. Giselle Grante’s outstretched hand grasped only air.

Kavelaseth began walking toward the terrace entrance.

Perhaps he was disgusted with Joshua, who wouldn’t give up easily.

“…….”

It seemed he was about to leave the terrace.

Though he and Joshua would eventually cross swords, there was no need to hasten that time.

So he must have judged that there was no need to sour relations with Joshua from now.

As Kavelaseth, who was her only hope for help, was about to leave, Giselle Grante didn’t hesitate any longer and grasped the terrace railing.

At that moment.

“Stop this! Th-this is troublesome if you continue!”

Kavelaseth shouted while roughly loosening his well-tied cravat.

“……?”

Giselle Grante stopped her movement and turned her head toward Kavelaseth.

It wasn’t just she who was surprised by his sudden and strange behavior—Joshua approached Kavelaseth with a furrowed brow.

“……Duke? Duke Cardia? What are you doing right now?”

Ignoring Joshua, who grabbed his collar asking what his scheme was, Kavelaseth shouted once more.

“Where are you touching right now? Stop this!”

At that moment, someone’s voice could be heard from the direction of the banquet hall.

“I think I just heard some noise from over there, did you hear it too?”

“I heard it too! It sounded like someone saying to stop, asking where they were touching?”

Soon the sound of multiple footsteps began approaching the terrace.

“There was just some noise from inside there. You lords heard it too, didn’t you?”

“…….”

The knights guarding the terrace entrance tried to hastily control the situation, but it was already too late.

The nobles who had gathered after hearing the earlier commotion pushed past the knights and attempted to enter the terrace.

“……!”

Finally, the nobles who entered the terrace side stood with their mouths agape.

In their eyes appeared Crown Prince Joshua, gripping Kavelaseth’s collar and breathing heavily.

Moreover, the chest area of Kavelaseth’s shirt and his cravat were in tatters, as if they had been forcibly torn off with great force.

It gave off a strange atmosphere, too peculiar to be dismissed as merely a childish quarrel between young men.

At this moment, two assumptions were deleted from people’s minds.

That Kavelaseth was strong enough that even decent knights would fear him. That both in height and build, Kavelaseth was superior to Joshua.

It was probably because of Kavelaseth’s doe-like eyes that seemed injured and pleading for help.

His moist gaze and the way he tried not to show, to hide his swollen chest muscles exposed before everyone, stimulated their protective instincts.

Naturally, the eyes of the nobles looking toward the terrace became much more fierce.

What was unfolding before their eyes was nothing more or less than the sordid scene of a person in power using their authority to forcibly undress and molest a handsome man.

****

“I never imagined I’d receive a love confession so suddenly, without any romance or anything.”

“…….”

Giselle Grante wanted to firmly shut Kavelaseth’s chattering mouth.

But she refrained because he had been hurt trying to help her, and would also be at the center of social scandal for some time. In her place.

Just before the nobles burst into the terrace, there had been some scuffling between Joshua and Kavelaseth.

It seemed Kavelaseth had been injured near his neck during the process of Joshua grabbing his collar.

Giselle Grante pressed down firmly on Kavelaseth’s wounded neck with gauze soaked in disinfectant.

Though the stinging wound must have hurt, Kavelaseth didn’t even blink and only stared at Giselle Grante’s lips.

She had no choice but to speak.

“Please keep pressing down until the bleeding stops.”

Then she immediately rummaged through the box.

Though it had been quite a while since she had used a medicine box, she found the ointment with considerable familiarity.

Giselle Grante scooped up a generous amount of ointment with her ring finger and carefully spread it over Kavelaseth’s scratched wound.

“Lady…….”

“Yes, please speak.”

“I asked to confirm. Fortunately, it seems the Lady’s ears are perfectly fine and can hear my words well.”

It was a rebuke for not answering his earlier question.

Having no choice, instead of continuing to avoid the topic, Giselle Grante spoke like a sigh.

“I never imagined you’d be there.”

“If you had known in advance that I was there? Does that mean your confession would have been different then?”

Giselle Grante swallowed the sigh that was about to burst out.

Before coming to this small supply room that had been Trinity’s secret place, Giselle Grante had been in a dangerous situation.

With no one appropriate to ask for help, and even if there were people, in a situation where they wouldn’t help her at the risk of displeasing the Crown Prince, the method she chose was to jump down from the terrace railing.

It was a dizzying moment where she could have shattered bones or even lost her life if things went wrong.

It was then that Kavelaseth suddenly appeared before her.

She had been on the verge of being assaulted by the Crown Prince, and Kavelaseth did not pretend not to notice.

Moreover, the method of repelling the Crown Prince was somewhat shocking, but in retrospect, it could be considered quite a wise choice.

If Kavelaseth, unable to tolerate injustice, had inflicted harm on the Crown Prince’s body, he could have been charged with harming a member of the royal family, and furthermore, even treason.

The Empress would initially be angry that Joshua was severely hurt, but later she would realize it had actually been a good thing.

Wouldn’t it have given her the opportunity to hold that proud and arrogant Duke Cardia in her grasp and manipulate him as she pleased?

No, she surely would have done exactly that.

Using flaws or mistakes as pretexts to control and manipulate opponents as desired was a commonly used method in the imperial palace.

And if it was the Kavelaseth she knew, he certainly would not comply with this.

In the worst case, there could have been war between the imperial family and Duke Cardia, and in the next worst case, the imperial family could have dismissed Kavelaseth from his ducal position.