ITIF Chapter 8

An Unexpected Reunion

A hollow laugh escaped from between Giselle Grante’s lips.

“Ha…”

Was there some invisible, immense force at work? Had that immense force not wanted her to become emperor?

The futile efforts of the past, now turned to bubbles, flashed through her mind.

“How meaningless…”

After blinking vacantly for a while, she thought to herself.

‘Well, it never really suited me anyway.’

In the past, she had often questioned her own qualifications.

Though she was fortunate enough to be born as the emperor’s first child, the empress who should have supported her died shortly after giving birth to her.

The people from the empress’s family gradually stopped appearing in the capital’s social circles.

The emperor was indifferent to Trinity, and Patricia, who had been the late empress’s lady-in-waiting, rose to the position of empress.

Soon after, Empress Patricia gave birth to Prince Joshua.

Princess Trinity suddenly found herself in the position of an unwanted outsider.

Of course, the commoners, who had little to do with political power, raised their voices claiming she was the rightful emperor, but they had no authority to decide the next emperor.

“Truly meaningless…”

Leaning her head against the carriage wall, she spent some time resenting the gods.

****

After traveling for quite some time, the Amaterasu ducal family’s carriage stopped in the center of the shopping district.

Giselle Grante cast her gaze through the carriage window.

As if displaying the prosperity of Count Fortress’s territory, the buildings in the shopping district boasted clean exteriors.

The most eye-catching among them was the building where their carriage had stopped—the building that would serve as today’s lodging.

Its magnificent exterior, as grand as the great mansions in the imperial capital, was enough to capture her attention.

“I’ll check the room situation.”

One of the escort knights approached and reported to her. Giselle Grante quietly nodded.

The youngest-looking among the knights who had come with them jumped down from his horse and entered the building.

While she was watching his retreating figure, Lindsey approached with somewhat awkward steps.

“Miss, are we resting here for today?”

Since they had to arrive at Count Fortress’s territory before sunset, they had been traveling without rest.

It seemed her bottom, abused by the carriage ride, was uncomfortable.

“That’s the plan.”

Giselle Grante glanced around the inside of the carriage and picked up a flat cushion.

Just as she was about to hand it to Lindsey, the knight who had entered the building came running back to the carriage.

But his expression wasn’t very good.

“It seems there’s some kind of problem.”

“I’ll go check what’s wrong and come back.”

Saying this, Lindsey ran toward the group of escort knights.

The escort knights, who had been discussing what to do, soon scattered in all directions.

“What’s the matter?”

Lindsey, who had approached the carriage, spoke with a furrowed brow.

“Unfortunately, the inn just became fully booked. So the knights went to see if there are any vacant rooms elsewhere.”

“…Is that so?”

Giselle Grante glanced up at the sky.

The sky was rapidly darkening. If time continued to pass like this, the surroundings would soon be dyed pitch black.

“Miss, aren’t you thirsty? And aren’t you hungry?”

Lindsey asked various questions like someone caring for a child left by the waterside.

“I’m fine. But rather than that…”

She handed the cushion to Lindsey. Lindsey asked with a puzzled expression.

“Why are you giving me this?”

“To sit on during the journey ahead.”

Lindsey, who had been quietly looking down at the cushion she received, suddenly looked up. Though it was just a small kindness, she looked moved.

“Miss…”

She had always disliked this kind of awkward atmosphere. So she quickly spoke up.

“By the way, Lindsey, is this place usually this crowded?”

“It seems people are flocking to the imperial capital because of Her Imperial Highness the First Princess’s death.”

“I see.”

Though she had sufficiently guessed the reason, she had succeeded in changing the atmosphere as intended.

Just then, the knights who had gone to look for vacant rooms returned one by one.

Judging by how they were shaking their heads, it seemed the situation elsewhere wasn’t much different.

“Miss, what should we do?”

Lindsey asked with a quite serious expression, and she gestured toward the escort knight approaching them.

Understanding her intention, the escort knight opened the carriage door.

Escorted by the escort knight, Giselle Grante stepped down from the carriage and immediately entered the building right in front of her.

An inn attendant who had been hurriedly moving about saw her and stopped.

“I need a room.”

At her words, the attendant bowed his waist.

“I’m sorry, our inn is currently fully booked.”

While repeatedly apologizing, the attendant seemed very busy due to the guests who had suddenly rushed in, constantly glancing toward the lobby.

Just as Giselle Grante was about to speak, Lindsey stepped forward boldly and protested.

“Do you know who this person is? In this tall and wide building, there isn’t a single room you can offer to the young lady! Do you think that makes sense?”

Lindsey’s voice was quite loud. Loud enough to instantly capture the attention of the people in the lobby.

‘…Oh dear, Lindsey is quite hot-tempered.’

Just as Giselle Grante let out a light sigh and took a step forward to calm the excited Lindsey, several men walked down the stairs to Lindsey’s left.

One of them particularly caught her eye. His crisp suit without a single wrinkle fit his body perfectly, subtly revealing his fine physique, and the gold embroidery slightly added only to the cuffs and collar was stylish without being excessive.

Giselle Grante was momentarily captivated by the man.

Just as she wondered what his face looked like, the man came down the last step.

When she finally saw his face, her brow furrowed slightly.

‘…Duke Cardia?’

Meanwhile, the argument between Lindsey and the attendant continued.

“The authority to assign rooms is not mine…”

Lindsey even widened her eyes and questioned the attendant.

“So I’m asking you to call someone with higher authority.”

“…?”

Kavelaseth’s head, which had been turning toward Lindsey and the attendant upon noticing the commotion, stopped.

Right at the point where Giselle Grante was standing.

Kavelaseth stared at her intently. Though he seemed expressionless at first glance, she could immediately tell that a faint crack had appeared in his brow.

‘…Surely not, right?’

Hoping it wasn’t the case, she glanced around the lobby.

Being a high-class inn, the people inside the lobby were also dressed in fine clothing. Surely, there must be nobles among them.

“….”

Giselle Grante quietly bit the soft flesh inside her mouth.

Hoping that other people wouldn’t think she had left the Amaterasu duchy to chase Duke Cardia all the way to this high-class inn in Count Fortress’s territory.

“What’s all this commotion about?”

Kavelaseth walked toward them and asked the attendant and Lindsey.

“I’m sorry, Duke Cardia…”

The attendant quickly apologized for causing the disturbance.

He probably thought Kavelaseth had come down to the first floor because of the commotion.

With Kavelaseth’s appearance, Lindsey forgot about her argument with the attendant and made a fuss.

“Oh, Miss! It’s, it’s Duke Cardia…!”

Giselle Grante hoped Kavelaseth would pretend not to know her and just pass by.

But Kavelaseth thoroughly crushed such hopes of hers.

“Is this a coincidence?”

Kavelaseth’s voice, having somehow approached right in front of her, had sunk low.

Since it was practically the same as asking if she had chased him here, strength entered Giselle Grante’s hand as she gripped the hem of her dress.

The people in the lobby looked on with interested eyes, subtly glancing in their direction.

Despite their piercing gazes constantly moving between the two of them, she managed a bright smile.

“I was urgently traveling to the imperial capital to attend Her Imperial Highness the First Princess’s memorial service. The sun began to set while I was traveling, so I was looking for a place to stay.”

“…”

Kavelaseth made no particular reply, simply gazing at her face with a leisurely expression as if telling her to continue.

“What brings Duke Cardia to this place?”

Giselle Grante knew well enough why Kavelaseth was here.

Just like Duke Amaterasu and herself urgently heading to the imperial capital, he was also here to attend the upcoming imperial palace meeting.

But she deliberately pretended not to know. Not that doing so would diminish the shame created by the karma that the past Giselle Grante had unleashed.

“…Could it really be that?”

“Probably not, right?”

Just then, the people in the lobby murmured among themselves.

Though she couldn’t hear exactly what they were saying, she could guess what they were talking about.

That the Duke Amaterasu’s daughter was shamelessly making excuses after chasing Duke Cardia, or perhaps…

Just as Giselle Grante reached that thought, Kavelaseth opened his mouth.

“As far as I know, this place is already fully booked. If you don’t want to be caught in the night dew, I cautiously suggest you inquire about other inns even now.”

“That’s exactly the predicament I find myself in right now…”

Giselle Grante took a step forward and grasped Kavelaseth’s hand firmly.

One of his eyebrows twitched slightly, but she completely ignored it and continued speaking.

“I actually had something I wanted to discuss with Your Grace… Could we have a conversation in a quiet place?”

Giselle Grante’s voice was a bit loud, and naturally the murmuring in the lobby also grew a bit louder.

Kavelaseth’s lips curled slightly as if displeased by the sudden contact.

However, he didn’t shake off her hand or anything. He simply asked in a cold voice.

“Why should I? How can I trust you when I don’t know what you might do to me?”

“Even so, surely a gentleman wouldn’t ignore a lady in distress, would he?”

“Ha…”

A quiet laugh escaped through Kavelaseth’s teeth.

She tilted her head slightly and whispered quietly so only he could hear.

“I have something urgent to tell you about the proposal you mentioned before.”