“Are you still sleeping?”

A young noblewoman who had just come of age cautiously opened the door to the princess’s bedroom.

“……”

However, there was no response, and the bedroom remained silent.

“……Your Highness?”

She tilted her head, hesitating for a moment before stepping inside.

Trinity, the First Imperial Princess of the Empire, generally had a set sleep schedule and was an early riser.

So today was the first time since the daughter of Count Greykin became the First Imperial Princess Trinity’s lady-in-waiting that she hadn’t risen by the time the sun was high in the sky.

The Count’s daughter pulled back the canopy draped over the bed and looked down at Princess Trinity lying face down, murmuring softly.

“She must have been very tired……”

Though she couldn’t recall anything particularly strenuous from yesterday, she briefly debated whether it would be better to wake Trinity or just leave her be.

“……?”

Then she realized something was strange.

That there was only one set of breathing sounds in the quiet, silent bedroom.

“……”

The Count’s daughter held her breath for a moment and leaned her face close to Princess Trinity.

Though she thought it couldn’t be, her heart inexplicably began to race.

She rolled up her voluminous lace sleeve. Then she placed her fingers on Trinity’s long, pale neck.

“……!”

The Count’s daughter inhaled sharply and stumbled backwards. Trinity’s body… was cold.

At that moment, the sound of several people’s footsteps began approaching. It seemed to be Trinity’s other ladies-in-waiting.

“Good morning, Your Highness.”

One of the maids who entered the room went to the window and drew back the curtains. The bedroom immediately brightened.

“The weather is especially clear and beautiful today. How about going on a picnic by the lake, it’s been a while……”

The maid who had been chattering as she approached the bed saw the frozen Count’s daughter and asked with a puzzled expression.

“My lady? What’s wrong?”

“Did something happen?”

The other maids also approached the Count’s daughter and asked.

“Her, Her Highness……”

Seeing her cover her mouth and tremble, the maids’ eyes widened.

“What’s wrong……”

A quick-witted maid approached the bed where the Count’s daughter’s gaze was fixed. And she called out to Princess Trinity.

“Your Highness, Your Highness….. Your Highness……?”

But there was no response.

“Her, Her Highness seems very tired. Mo, move aside please.”

Another maid smiled forcedly as she quickly pulled back the thick blanket.

“……!”

At that moment, shock spread across the maids’ faces.

There was blood all over the cream-colored sheets. And that blood was flowing from Princess Trinity’s body.

“Oh, oh my……”

“No… How could this……”

Just as the shocked maids began to slowly back away from the bed.

“Her Majesty the Empress is coming!”

A servant who burst into the bedroom announced the Empress’s arrival.

“……”

The maids’ faces immediately turned pale.

Their duty was to attend to Princess Trinity.

They had no idea what punishment would be meted out if the Empress found out that Princess Trinity had met with misfortune during the night.

“Wh-what should we do now? If Her Majesty the Empress sees this……”

A maid with a gentle expression looked at the other maids with a tearful face. But they too were at a loss, pacing back and forth anxiously.

At that moment, the Empress entered the bedroom accompanied by her attendants.

“We, we greet Her Majesty the Empress……”

“……We greet Her Majesty the Empress.”

The princess’s maids nervously paid their respects. None dared to be the first to announce the princess’s death.

“……”

The Empress acknowledged their greetings with a slight nod of her head as she walked into the bedroom.

“Sleepyhead? The sun is high in the sky. Don’t you think it’s time to get up? ……Princess Trinity?”

The Empress’s expression suddenly hardened as she approached the bed, speaking playfully.

The Empress staggered, shocked to see the princess dead and covered in blood.

“Yo-Your Majesty!”

The maids quickly moved to support the Empress.

Placing a hand on her chest and taking deep breaths to calm her startled heart, the Empress soon commanded in a stern voice.

“……Call the imperial physician. Don’t just stand there!”

“Yes, yes!”

A maid who had dashed out of the bedroom soon returned with the imperial physician.

“My, my deepest apologies, Your Majesty. She has lost too much blood. It was discovered too late, there is nothing that can be done……”

The imperial physician shook his head with a grim expression.

The bedroom fell into sorrow at Princess Trinity’s death.

“How could such a thing happen……”

The Empress buried her face in her trembling hands.

Everyone was too absorbed in grief to notice the Empress’s expression, but the Count’s daughter saw it clearly.

The corners of the Empress’s mouth twitching upwards. That she had buried her face in her hands not to hide tears, but to conceal the joy welling up from within.

“……”

But that was only for a moment.

The Empress began to wail as she embraced the dead Princess Trinity.

“My, my daughter Trinity……”

“Your Highness……”

The maids’ voices also began to fill with tears.

And so, Princess Trinity, First Imperial Princess of the Facis Empire, met such a meaningless death just one week before her investiture as Crown Princess.

“Is… is that truly the case?”

Duke Amaterasu barely parted his trembling lips. The doctor sighed and lowered his gaze.

“I’m sorry, Your Grace……”

Duke Amaterasu, wiping his gaunt face once, looked down at his daughter Jieselgrante lying on the bed.

Though her face was pale and bloodless, her red lips still seemed to hold some warmth.

“If I had known she would leave so soon……”

The Duke’s body suddenly swayed as he covered his face and sobbed.

The doctor supported him and said,

“I think Your Grace needs to rest.”

Duke Amaterasu normally had high blood pressure.

If he continued to keep the dead daughter before his eyes like this, he too might collapse.

Mikhail, the Duke’s son and Jieselgrante’s older brother, wiped his gaunt face and nodded.

The doctor supported Duke Amaterasu out of the bedroom first, and Mikhail followed, wiping away tears.

When they went out into the hallway, there was a familiar man standing there besides the servants.

“……Cabel?”

“Mikhail……”

“Cabel….. Jiesel, my little sister Jiesel……”

Mikhail’s voice filled with tears.

Unable to finish his words, Cabelased patted Mikhail’s shoulder to comfort him as he sobbed.

After being unable to suppress his emotions for a while and sniffling, Mikhail wiped his wet cheeks and said,

“Oh my, look at me……”

Mikhail looked at the single flower in Cabelased’s hand and continued speaking.

“That flower was a gift for our Jiesel….. wasn’t it?”

“……”

Cabelased nodded slightly with a bitter smile.

The flower Mikhail mentioned was a small token Cabelased had prepared so as not to come empty-handed to visit the sick Jieselgrante, without causing misunderstanding.

Recently, there had been talk of an engagement for Cabelased with a noblewoman, and upon hearing this news, Jieselgrante had tied a silk cloth around her slender neck as if making a threat.

Fortunately, a maid discovered her quickly so she didn’t die, but since that day, news had reached Cabelased’s ears that she had taken to her bed.

As Jieselgrante’s obsession with him deepened, his relationship with Mikhail had become a bit awkward, but Mikhail was still the only person he kept in touch with after graduating from the academy, so he couldn’t keep ignoring him.

“Then would you like to give it to her directly? If she knew you came to visit….. Jiesel would have been so happy.”

Mikhail’s attempt to appear calm while hiding his grief was quite pitiful.

Without any particular reply, Cabelased just slightly raised the corners of his mouth as he turned towards the bedroom.

“Young Master Mikhail……”

The butler, who had been watching Mikhail with worried eyes, handed him a glass of water.

Cabelased headed towards the bedroom, leaving behind the gloomy atmosphere that had settled in the hallway.

“……”

The bedroom, situated in a particularly sunny location, was warm. But there was a somewhat lonely atmosphere.

Cabelased quietly looked down at the woman lying still as if dead, no, as if still alive.

A face as pale as the white bed sheets.

In contrast, her abundant golden hair was as warm as the afternoon sun. The small face nestled within it was truly beautiful.

She was so pure and charming that she would not lose even to Princess Trinity, who was called the greatest beauty in the Empire.

If only rumors hadn’t spread about her mind being somewhat unclear and transparent, she would have undoubtedly been a beauty anyone would covet.

Though it was a meaningless thought about someone who had already passed away.

‘This will be the end of our relationship.’

Cabelased closed his eyes and sincerely prayed for Jieselgrante’s peace.

After letting out a small sigh, he approached the bed.

And just as he leaned over to place the single flower at her bedside.

“……?”

Jieselgrante’s thick eyelashes, which had been tightly closed, fluttered.

Cabelased blinked his eyes several times in disbelief.

‘……Rigor mortis?’

There was no other way to explain the current situation.

As Cabelased was about to straighten up with a puzzled expression.

“……”

Jieselgrante’s closed eyelids slowly opened.

Her blue eyes were clearly gazing at Cabelased, too definite to be mere rigor mortis.

“What on earth……”

Before he could finish assessing the situation, she tried to sit up.

“Wait, don’t move!”

A harsh warning burst out, but Jieselgrante furrowed her brow and tried to raise herself.

But as Cabelased had feared, she could only sway unsteadily, unable to properly control her body.

Cabelased firmly grasped Jieselgrante’s frail shoulders.

“……?”

Jieselgrante blinked blankly, half-embraced by him.

“Jieselgrante, are you aware? You’ve been lying in bed continuously since that day.”

The man’s voice falling over her head was cold.

She didn’t know when ‘that day’ the man was referring to was, but her body wasn’t responding well.

“What were you thinking, suddenly moving like this?”

“Jieselgrante? What on earth are you… talking about……”

Her voice, which had started out irritated, grew progressively quieter towards the end.

‘Why is my voice… like this?’

Translation complete. 100% of original text translated.