ITIF Chapter 97

Angry People

Kavelaseth was quite pleased with Giselle Grante’s contradictory behavior—seeming as if she would reject him at any moment yet unable to push him away, ultimately accepting him in the end.

In fact, Kavelaseth had also recently heard about the rumors spreading among the commoners.

It seemed the news had reached Giselle Grante while they were searching for the culprit through a sting operation.

So Kavelaseth knew well enough that she hadn’t asked that question out of jealousy toward Marquis Berilston’s daughter.

Nevertheless, there was a reason he deliberately portrayed her as an embodiment of jealousy.

He enjoyed her reactions.

It was like throwing a stone into a calm and peaceful lake.

Perhaps he wanted to leave a mark, like the ripples spreading across the water’s surface, even if just for a moment.

He wanted to carve an impression into the heart of Giselle Grante, who was always detached and composed.

Just like right now.

As the kiss lengthened, her squirming stopped.

Giselle Grante’s small, delicate body nestled in his arms was soft, supple, and warm.

Kavelaseth buried his nose in Giselle Grante’s nape and inhaled deeply.

He intended to calm his rising excitement.

But the sweet scent of her body filled his lungs completely, only producing the opposite effect.

Unable to help it, Kavelaseth released Giselle Grante from his embrace.

Then, staring blankly at her moistly wet lips, he slowly traced them with his thumb.

Her red lips, slightly swollen and plump, looked somehow pitiful.

‘Was that… too much?’

While he was thinking such thoughts, Giselle Grante was also lost in thought.

But her thoughts flowed in a slightly different direction.

Giselle Grante blamed herself for being unable to suppress her momentary impulses.

Once could be called a mistake.

But could something repeated twice, three times, really be dismissed as a mistake?

At this point, she was beginning to feel a little frightened.

“…….”

Giselle Grante tried to lean her upper body back to separate their bodies that were pressed together as one.

However, Kavelaseth’s firm and strong arms only continued to hold her in place.

“Let go of me now, please.”

Once more, Giselle Grante twisted her waist to escape from his embrace.

Still, Kavelaseth seemed to have no intention of letting her go.

****

After dinner, Giselle Grante turned her steps toward the main building after a short walk in the garden.

Just as she was about to enter the building, she ran into Count Preston, who was walking this way.

When she greeted him with a nod, Count Preston spoke to her.

“My lady, do you have a moment?”

“Yes. But is something wrong?”

“There’s an urgent matter I need to report to His Grace, and it involves Lady Amaterasu.”

Giselle Grante didn’t answer immediately and hesitated for a moment.

Perhaps because of what happened during the day, she felt a little embarrassed to see Kavelaseth’s face.

But staying in the same mansion, she couldn’t avoid him forever.

“……All right.”

Giselle Grante reluctantly walked with Count Preston to the office where Kavelaseth was.

Wondering what matter could be related to her.

And when they arrived at the office, she faced Kavelaseth, who was as composed as if nothing had happened.

No, if anything, he even seemed to be in a bad mood.

It became clear that she alone had been agonizing over how to face him, remembering what happened during the day.

She felt deflated in an instant.

“I have an urgent report.”

Count Preston spoke as they entered the office.

Kavelaseth, who had put down the documents he was holding on the desk, stood up from his seat.

Then he approached Giselle Grante and Count Preston.

His gait, somewhat slower than usual, felt somehow threatening, making her a little tense.

“I should at least hear why the two of you came to find me together.”

Saying this, Kavelaseth gestured toward the sofa with his eyes.

Understanding that he meant they should sit and talk, Count Preston sat on the sofa to the left of the head seat.

Giselle Grante moved toward the sofa on the right side of the head seat, opposite Count Preston.

Kavelaseth naturally sat beside her, with the head seat between them.

“…….”

Count Preston, who had been repeatedly glancing at the head seat, cleared his throat with a cough and opened his mouth.

“I believe I’ve identified the source of the rumor that’s been the talk among commoners recently.”

“The rumor that I was the one who instigated the broken engagement between Marquis Berilston’s daughter and Duke Cardia?”

Count Preston nodded slightly while gauging her reaction, his lips pursed.

Then he sought her consent with his eyes, as if asking whether he could continue.

When Giselle Grante nodded, Count Preston continued speaking.

“Let me first address the fact that the news of an engagement between Marquis Berilston’s daughter and Duke Cardia is a baseless rumor.”

Count Preston glanced at Kavelaseth and spoke again.

“Anyway. Focusing on the fact that the rumor spread among commoners rather than centered on nobles, I was able to find a certain individual during my investigation.”

“Who was it?”

“It was none other than the daughter of Count Minster!”

Count Preston looked back and forth between Kavelaseth and Giselle Grante as if to say, isn’t that surprising?

In fact, for Giselle Grante, it wasn’t particularly surprising since she had expected it to some extent, and it seemed the same was true for Kavelaseth.

“You seem to have expected it?”

When Giselle Grante asked, Kavelaseth turned his head slightly toward her.

“Judging by your reaction, it seems you had the same thought as me, my lady.”

“I did think that the person spreading the rumor wouldn’t be a noble currently active in high society. Though I didn’t anticipate who might be behind it.”

Count Preston belatedly nodded and joined in agreeing with their words.

“I actually expected that part as well.”

It didn’t feel very credible.

When Giselle Grante looked at him with such an expression, Count Preston hastily changed the subject.

“So what do we do now? Even if we bring in Countess Minster’s daughter, it seems difficult to contain a rumor that’s already spread……”

Count Preston furrowed his brow and sought their opinions, and Giselle Grante immediately spoke up.

“I have a good idea.”

****

“Is that really true? From what I heard, Lady Amaterasu was supposed to be a fool……”

A middle-aged lady expressed doubt.

“I’m telling you it’s true! Are you saying I’m lying right now?”

When Countess Minster’s daughter firmly rebutted, the middle-aged lady looked around at others and said,

“No, I’m not saying the young lady is lying……”

Another lady nearby interjected and added,

“You should side with the right person. After luring away someone else’s fiancé, is it fine as long as she marries into a good family?”

“Why are you taking it out on me?”

The two middle-aged ladies who couldn’t agree began to raise their voices as if they would fight at any moment.

‘This isn’t good…….’

Countess Minster’s daughter hurriedly mediated between them and led the conversation back to the original topic.

“Anyway! She’s a very cunning woman. She absolutely shouldn’t become the mistress of a great house like the Cardia duchy.”

As soon as Countess Minster’s daughter finished speaking, the people gathered began to add their own comments one by one.

“I heard she looks innocent……”

“It seems we shouldn’t be fooled by appearances……”

“You know, there’s that inn owner’s daughter on 3rd Street, didn’t she cause a scene pulling hair after seducing a young man who had a girlfriend working at the blacksmith’s……”

The topic quickly shifted elsewhere, but this was satisfactory enough.

The small spark she had ignited would soon catch onto dry kindling and begin to blaze.

With a smile spreading across her face, Countess Minster’s daughter moved toward where people were gathering.

Then she noticed a group of people moving.

Just as she was about to approach them, someone in the crowd shouted.

“There she is!”

Then the person next to them pointed at Countess Minster’s daughter.

“That’s right, it’s her! The daughter of Count Minster.”

She was wearing a shabby dress.

She wore no accessories at all, and while her behavior and manner of speech might reveal noble bearing, at least in outward appearance she was no different from a commoner.

‘But how did they figure out my identity so quickly?’

Though questions arose, sensing their ominous atmosphere, Countess Minster’s daughter slowly backed away.

And soon she discovered some quite familiar faces among the people charging at her like bulls.

A crotchety-looking elderly lady and a middle-aged man with a protruding belly.

They were nobles with familiar faces.

They were all people who had given gold coins to Countess Minster in exchange for investment information about Semper bulbs.

“……!”

Countess Minster’s daughter ran forward at full speed without looking back.

‘How did they even know I was here?’

Such thoughts burrowed into her mind, but that wasn’t what mattered right now.

She couldn’t even imagine what would happen if she was caught by them.

She, more than anyone, knew well the cruelty of angry nobles.

****

Pressing a fluffy towel onto Giselle Grante’s wet blonde hair, Lindsey asked,

“But why would she go around spreading such false rumors?”

“She must have been trying to damage my reputation.”

Olla, who was taking perfumed oil from a drawer, also added a comment.

“What does that person gain from damaging your reputation? I don’t really understand.”

“Right! It’s not like she could marry Duke Cardia by doing that.”

“Well. I’m not sure either.”

Though she said that, she seemed to somewhat understand the psychology of Countess Minster’s daughter.