So at first, I thought it was Duke Amaterasu’s instruction, but from what I observed, it didn’t seem to be the case.

Rather, it seemed correct to view it as Jieselgrante’s own intention. Pretending to be stupid.

‘I’m worried about Jiesel. I wonder if she won’t be able to get married at this rate… Cabel, if that happens, could you maybe…’

If I hadn’t heard Mikhail, who rarely drinks, mumbling like drunk talk on a day when he was intoxicated, I probably wouldn’t have known even that much.

It was truly unexpected that she, at this point, revealed her true self not only to me but to others as well.

“…”

Even thinking about it slowly, it was difficult to pinpoint a single reason for her sudden change, but I seemed to clearly understand the difference between the previous Jieselgrante and the current Jieselgrante.

It was the emotion in her eyes when she looked at him.

Previously, Jieselgrante’s gaze towards him contained desperation.

Such a burdensome gaze, as if seeking salvation from him.

But recently, the first thing that could be read in Jieselgrante’s eyes towards him was displeasure.

An expression of strong antipathy, you could say.

It was different from expressing anger when the person you have a crush on doesn’t reciprocate your feelings for a long time.

Cabelased’s long, straight fingers slowly brushed his lower lip.

‘Whatever it is, it’s as if the core has completely changed…’

Cabelased’s straight brows furrowed noticeably.

There’s nothing as interesting as discovering the unknown, but also nothing as irritating.

As soon as Jieselgrante came out of the guest room, Lindsey exclaimed.

“Miss! Nothing… happened, right?”

Jieselgrante lightly scanned Lindsey and the guard knights waiting for her in front of the door.

They were all looking at her with slightly anxious expressions.

“Nothing? What kind of thing?”

Jieselgrante alternately looked at the guest room doors on the left and right. Contemplating which would be the better choice.

Lindsey, watching her reaction, stammered.

“Well, did Duke Cardia speak to you… a bit roughly?”

At that, the expressions of the guard knights immediately turned grim.

They seemed certain that Cabelased had said something insulting to her.

‘Interesting.’

She knew important facts through Jieselgrante’s diary.

But the diary didn’t contain detailed information, and seeing their reactions, she could roughly guess how Jieselgrante had been treated by Cabelased so far.

A snicker escaped through Jieselgrante’s teeth.

“…Miss?”

She looked at Lindsey and the guard knights and said with a face full of confidence.

“Don’t worry. From now on, I’ll make sure Duke Cardia doesn’t treat me carelessly.”

Then Lindsey looked at her with an expression that seemed to ask if that was possible.

Instead of explaining the reason, Jieselgrante turned towards the guest room on the left.

“Where are you going, Miss?”

Soon, a puzzled voice of a guard knight flew from behind her, but she paid no attention and moved her steps.

And only after opening the guest room door did she say to them.

“Let’s go in.”

“Pardon?”

“What do you mean?”

Leaving Lindsey and the guard knights asking with faces that didn’t understand what was going on, Jieselgrante walked into the guest room.

“If we’re going to leave early tomorrow, we need to rest comfortably.”

“Wow! Miss, you’re really amazing!”

Lindsey couldn’t stop expressing her admiration and surprise.

“What is?”

“You got permission from Duke Cardia to use this guest room! Maybe…”

“…?”

“Could it be that Duke Cardia has feelings for you too?”

Lindsey, who was carefully combing down Jieselgrante’s hair, hesitantly brought up the subject. To that question, she immediately replied.

“That’s unlikely.”

“Why? Look! In the past, he would have left with a cold attitude as soon as he saw your face, but…”

At this point, she became a bit curious. What exactly was the previous relationship between Cabelased and Jieselgrante like.

“Lindsey.”

“Yes, Miss.”

“How did it seem to you? Did Duke Cardia treat me very harshly?”

“…Pardon?”

Lindsey, who had been chattering well until just now, lowered her gaze with a troubled expression.

Well, it didn’t matter much now. The past relationship between Cabelased and Jieselgrante.

‘No.’

Soon, she remembered the distant future that Jieselgrante had seen.

Her future where she might die by Cabelased’s hand after becoming Prince Joshua’s companion.

‘Maybe I should stop being so stiff and treat him well…’

But she had no intention whatsoever of bowing down to Cabelased.

In her previous life, she had only encountered Cabelased a few times, but she disliked him for no reason.

Despite having an outwardly appealing shell that could captivate at first sight.

Cabelased outwardly acted with courtesy, but she could feel that he subtly despised Trinity.

‘Right, that’s how it was. That impure and arrogant gaze!’

Since there were few people who could keep their heads up straight in front of her, it was somewhat new to see someone showing an arrogant attitude.

“It’s all done, Miss. Wow! Your hair is so glossy and shiny.”

Lindsey even hummed a tune, seemingly quite pleased with the flowing sheen of her hair.

“Are you going to sleep now?”

“Yes.”

“Miss, have sweet dreams.”

“You too, Lindsey.”

Lindsey smiled, biting her lip, and left the bedroom.

But having sat still all day in the running carriage, her body felt stiff and it didn’t seem like she would fall asleep right away.

‘The moon is especially bright today.’

Jieselgrante draped a thick shawl over her shoulders and went out to the balcony.

“Beautiful…”

A spontaneous exclamation burst from her lips as she looked up at the black night sky.

Countless stars twinkled in the sky as if they might pour down at any moment.

Jieselgrante couldn’t take her eyes off the sight for a while, more beautiful and wondrous than any work of art in the imperial palace.

“Was there such a thing before? Leisurely enjoying the beauty given by nature while looking up at the night sky…”

She tried to recall what it was like in her previous life, but couldn’t remember well.

At night, she would usually fall into sleep as if fainting as soon as she lay on the bed, and in the morning, she would start the day barely opening her eyelids that wouldn’t open easily due to lack of sleep.

So there was no way she had the leisure to look up at the sky idly.

“Yes. Maybe it turned out well. Because that position didn’t suit me.”

Jieselgrante repeated those words several times.

Because if she didn’t, the current reality where her efforts to become the Emperor had been in vain was too miserable.

As soon as she started to lament her situation, her eyes quickly became hot.

Just as she was quietly sniffling at the tears that welled up suddenly.

“Ah, cold!”

Something cold touched her cheek. It couldn’t have been tears.

She hurriedly caressed her cheek.

Starting with the first snowflake that melted like water, snowflakes began to fall one by one from the black night sky.

“Wow…”

A low exclamation escaped from her mouth.

Jieselgrante turned her head to the side while watching the heavy snow that began to pour down.

And soon her eyes widened.

“…!”

Cabelased was standing on the balcony next to hers.

Her heart pounded rapidly, startled.

‘When, when exactly did he get there?’

She hadn’t heard any particular sound since she entered the balcony.

That meant Cabelased had been there even before she entered the balcony.

‘Then he must have seen everything… me talking to myself and feeling sorry for myself?’

She glared at Cabelased with a reddened face.

“Since when have you been there?”

“Beautiful.”

“…?”

Her heart sank at the single word Cabelased tossed out.

But soon she realized it was what she had said herself while looking up at the sky earlier.

“Since the Lady said that?”

Jieselgrante bit the soft flesh inside her mouth.

As she had expected, it seemed Cabelased had indeed been there from the beginning.

‘I, I didn’t say anything strange, did I?’

She had to make sure.

Jieselgrante recalled all her actions from the moment she entered the balcony.

Fortunately, she didn’t remember saying anything special.

Except for tearing up a little while being sentimental…

“But why were you there without making any sound?”

“Was there a need to?”

Cabelased took a step closer to her. On the other hand, Jieselgrante suppressed the urge to step back and just stood still, looking at him.

Then, staring right back at her, Cabelased opened his mouth.

“By the way… is it a habit?”

“…?”

“Not keeping your word once you’ve said it.”

Jieselgrante glared at Cabelased, who was picking a fight with increasingly sharp eyes.

‘I’ll be careful not to catch your eye from now on.’

Soon, she remembered what she had said to Cabelased just a few hours ago.

“This was a force majeure. If I had known you were on the balcony first, I would never! have come out here.”

“Ah…”

Cabelased nodded his head with a completely unresponsive expression, and veins bulged on Jieselgrante’s tightly clenched fist.

‘Let’s just not engage. Yes. Don’t engage.’

No matter what, she currently couldn’t hold the upper hand in her relationship with Cabelased.

She was no longer the future Emperor, and even because of the misdeeds the previous Jieselgrante had committed, she would probably never be in a position above Cabelased for the rest of her life.

Rather, if she thought about the future, she should be careful not to offend him.

But she didn’t want to lower herself in front of him. Though she wasn’t sure why.

Nevertheless, Jieselgrante said with a forced smile on her lips.

“Then have a good night. I’ll be going now.”

It was true that Cabelased currently held the upper hand, so if she didn’t want to grovel in front of him, the best strategy was to stay out of his sight as much as possible.

She didn’t want to beg for her life to change the future that was coming.