ITIF SS 4

Brother Doting on His Sister

“Of course.”

“Giselle, if you say so, then it must be true.”

Just when she thought it was fortunate that Mikhail’s mood had improved, the dance also came to an end.

“I need to rest for a bit.”

“Yes, yes. Father wanted to dance with you too, but dancing four times in a row would be quite tiring. I’ll explain it well to Father.”

“I’ll count on you.”

“Sure, don’t worry. Giselle, aren’t you thirsty? Should I get you something to drink?”

Watching Mikhail’s attentive behavior, a pleasant smile naturally escaped her.

“What is it…?”

At that, Mikhail tilted his head like an idiot. That look was also too adorable.

In truth, if one considered mental age alone, since she had lived as Trinity, she was actually older than Mikhail.

However, having no way of knowing this fact, Mikhail would forever think of her only as a younger sister who needed care.

Unable to ignore such devotion from Mikhail, Giselle Grante deliberately played coy.

“I am rather thirsty from all that dancing.”

“Right? I’ll hurry and get you something to drink. Rest here for a moment.”

Before leaving, Mikhail fanned Giselle Grante’s face with his hand fan, then hurried away on his long legs.

His face was constantly beaming with joy.

‘What’s he so happy about?’

Acting like an errand boy…

Even as she thought it rather silly, the corners of her mouth wouldn’t stop curling upward.

The love and protection from family that most people receive from childhood. Yes. That emotion she had never felt throughout her life as Trinity.

It must be because experiencing it now was so unfamiliar that her chest felt ticklish while a corner of her heart grew warm.

As she thought this, her heart swelled. Her eyes seemed to grow a bit hot as well.

Just as Giselle Grante was dabbing at the tears that had secretly trickled out with her sleeve, Mikhail returned.

“Giselle, I didn’t know what you’d want to drink, so I brought various things.”

On the tray Mikhail was holding lay several types of beverages.

Among them, Giselle Grante chose peach nectar.

“I’ll have this one.”

Sipping her peach nectar, Giselle Grante took her rest.

‘Well, this isn’t so bad either.’

Just as she was thinking this and casually turned her gaze, it happened.

‘Ah…’

Her eyes met with Count Frederick’s.

He didn’t avoid her gaze. But neither did he nod in greeting nor approach her.

He simply stood at a distance, gazing at her for some time before turning away.

‘Hmm…’

Giselle Grante slightly furrowed her brow as she watched Count Frederick’s broad back receding.

‘Why does he keep acting like that?’

His puzzling change in behavior somehow left her feeling displeased. But when she saw Mikhail’s bright smile, her unpleasant mood completely vanished.

‘Right. I should have a proper conversation with Count Frederick sometime.’

Making this resolution, Giselle Grante drained the remaining peach nectar from her cup.

Mikhail, who had been watching her from the side, offered another cup.

“Finished? Then would you like to try this one too?”

****

A few days after the Emperor’s enthronement ceremony, Kavelaseth invited a painter to the imperial palace.

Though Giselle Grante had been staying at the palace even before the enthronement, after the ceremony there had been suggestions to commission a portrait of the Empress.

At the mention that a record for history was needed, Giselle Grante didn’t refuse.

“About the painter we invited today. I heard they’re quite popular among the nobility recently.”

Lady Greykin’s remark was echoed by Lady Howard.

“That’s right. They’re so popular that even offering two or three times the fee, it’s not easy to get an invitation, isn’t it?”

“Is that so?”

Giselle Grante’s head tilted slightly.

“Yes! Lady Blatnik also wanted to commission that painter, but they were so high-nosed that even when she offered several times the fee, they just told her to wait!”

Lady Howard spoke heatedly as if it were her own business.

“Oh, right! Lady Greykin, you know, don’t you? That Lady Blatnik and I are playmates?”

“Ah, yes. I know. But this painter wouldn’t change the order even when offered more money?”

“Exactly! Really…”

Through their conversation, Giselle Grante gained a real sense of the painter’s popularity who had been invited to the palace today.

Moreover, she could tell they were someone who valued principles.

And with good reason—normally, one would prioritize jobs that offered higher fees.

Or they would prioritize invitations from more influential families.

That way, work wouldn’t dry up in the future and popularity would be easier to maintain.

Especially since normally, it would be difficult to refuse a proposal from a famous noble family like the Blatniks.

Lady Blatnik was a famous figure in high society, and if word spread that he’d painted her portrait, the painter’s popularity would increase even more.

While the profession of painter was generally considered the exclusive domain of commoners, occasionally there were nobles who painted as a hobby.

In such cases, if they had even a little skill to back them up, they’d quickly gain fame.

Well, whether that popularity would last was another matter.

In any case, the way this painter conducted themselves was certainly intriguing.

‘I’m a bit curious about what kind of person they’ll be.’

Giselle Grante made her way to the office to meet the painter at the appointed time.

The Empress’s office that Kavelaseth had specially prepared for Giselle Grante was certainly comfortable.

The ceiling bore murals that had been painted since the palace’s construction, and all the furniture and fixtures—desk, bookshelf, sofa—were of the highest quality.

Previously, the Empress’s office had been located in the eastern part of the central palace, while the Emperor’s office was in the west.

Both shared the commonality of being in the central palace, but the imperial palace was vast.

It meant that if one only moved within their own sphere of activity, it would be difficult to see each other’s faces even once a day.

And Kavelaseth found this unacceptable.

So he changed the location of the Empress’s office. That wasn’t all.

He also moved the Emperor’s office.

At first, the noble council opposed this. The Emperor’s and Empress’s offices weren’t simply places for work, they argued.

That’s when Kavelaseth invoked history to persuade the nobles.

[The Emperor’s and Empress’s offices were originally located here. Until one Emperor moved the Empress’s office far to the east. …The reason being to enjoy trysts with his mistress without the Empress’s interference?]

[…]

[Now and in the future, for me there will only be one woman—the Empress. There’s no need to endure inconvenience.]

[…]

[So I’m returning the offices to their original locations. If you have complaints, come see me personally. I’ll carve out time from my busy schedule to listen to your opinions, no matter what.]

To put it elegantly, it was persuasion; in reality, what Kavelaseth had done was closer to intimidation backed by historical facts.

And Giselle Grante had happened to witness that situation.

The sense of intimidation was so intense that even she, who had been in a position of dominance since infancy, felt thoroughly tense—something she hadn’t experienced in a long time.

Perhaps because of that, she felt it anew.

‘This must be what they call Heaven-sent charisma of a monarch.’

With such thoughts, Giselle Grante sat at her office desk.

“Shall I bring the painter here?”

“Please do.”

At Lady Greykin’s question, Giselle Grante nodded and picked up a parchment from the desk.

Since the portrait work would take at least half a day, she thought she’d work on other tasks in between.

She had read about halfway through the parchment’s contents when it happened.

Lady Greykin entered the office with the painter.

But the painter’s face was familiar.

It was the same painter she had sought out before to identify the baby in the previous Empress’s portrait.

“…I look forward to working with you.”

As Giselle Grante greeted him with some surprise, the painter bowed deeply toward her, clearly delighted.

“It is an honor to meet you, Your Majesty the Empress. I was so pleased to hear you would visit again!”

Though she hadn’t officially become Empress yet, since everyone in the palace addressed Giselle Grante as Empress, there seemed no need to correct the title.

After a brief exchange of greetings, the painter looked around the office and asked.

“May I begin work immediately?”

She had already heard he was a very busy person. Since she too couldn’t waste time, she readily nodded.

“Let’s do that.”

The painter looked at her sitting with her back to the large window and asked.

“Shall I proceed with this composition?”

Just as Giselle Grante was about to nod, Lady Greykin offered an opinion.

“Our Empress’s right profile is more beautiful.”

“Ah, is that so? Thank you for your input.”

Pleased, the painter moved the easel.

As she watched this, Lady Greykin winked at Giselle Grante. Just as Giselle Grante smiled slightly, it happened.

This time Lady Howard offered her opinion.

“Honestly, I think Her Majesty’s left profile is more magnificent. To better capture the dignity of the Empress that one can feel in person, from the left…”

Flustered by their conflicting opinions perhaps? The painter glanced at Lady Greykin while slightly dragging the easel to the left.

“…Is that so?”

“No, I mean? The right side…”

Watching this, Lady Greykin offered her opinion again.

“Please listen to me. The left side…”

Lady Howard offered her opinion again.

Somehow, it seemed the portrait work would not go smoothly.