In a garden located in one part of the Cardia ducal residence, filled with lush greenery.

Sitting in a chair matching the elegant white table, Jieselgrante was savoring fragrant tea.

At that moment, Cabelased walked towards her.

She thought he might have some business, but he just stood there silently gazing at her without sitting down.

His gaze lingering on her face felt somewhat hot, making her start to feel a bit tense.

“Why… are you staring like that?”

Jieselgrante asked, slightly lowering her head to hide her cheeks that were involuntarily turning red.

Cabelased, still staring intently at her, opened his lips as if to say something.

“So this is where you were.”

Count Friston’s voice, which happened to be heard just then, drowned out whatever he was about to say.

She was about to ask him what he was going to say but soon gave up.

It was because Count Friston came running with his eyebrows fluttering, as if he had some urgent news to deliver.

“What’s the matter?”

“It seems to have had an effect.”

Neither Cabelased nor she asked what effect Count Friston was referring to.

Because ever since the Bladnik Duke’s daughter became the Empress’s lady-in-waiting, it had become easy to hear about the Empress’s next moves.

Of course, in this case, even without the Bladnik Duke’s daughter providing information, it was quite predictable.

Baron Cypress, that man is still alive after all.

“How much?”

Cabelased asked, deliberately sitting next to her instead of taking the chair opposite Jieselgrante.

Jieselgrante offered the seat across from her to Count Friston.

“Then, if you’ll excuse me.”

After taking a seat, Count Friston continued.

“Although I’m a bit surprised by how quickly the response came, faster than expected, it seems they won’t let this go easily, judging by how they’ve summoned Marquis Antares with the Imperial Knight Commander at the forefront.”

Jieselgrante’s blue eyes widened slightly at Count Friston’s words.

And for good reason. The Imperial Knights were the Emperor’s closest confidants and didn’t move easily.

For them to be ordered to summon Marquis Antares meant that the Emperor considered this matter extremely important.

“How is the securing of witnesses and evidence going?”

“We’ve prepared thoroughly for that part. So you can rest assured.”

Saying so, Cabelased gazed at her with a steady look.

Her cheeks naturally flushed slightly due to the heat of his gaze on her profile.

Ahem.

Count Friston cleared his throat, as if to cut through the pink atmosphere flowing between the two. Then he said:

“Due to the tight security, it took time to obtain internal information, but we had been investigating House Antares even before the young lady gave us a hint.”

“…”

“Of course, it was a bit challenging to figure out which direction to dig into. But how did you know? That House Antares was making a profit from the salt business, I mean.”

She hadn’t exactly predicted it accurately either. She had simply not ignored the news that was coming in.

“Count Frederick’s contribution was significant in this matter.”

As soon as Count Frederick’s name left her lips, Cabelased’s gaze turned cold.

On the other hand, Count Friston showed interest in her words.

“Do you mean Count Frederick was the one who set up this situation?”

“…That’s not the case.”

Count Frederick, who had recently visited his territory, informed her that salt prices had risen significantly lately.

Salt prices had always fluctuated up and down, and it didn’t seem like Count Frederick had perceived it as a major issue when he mentioned it to her.

But she immediately began to look into the changes in salt prices across the empire.

Through the data she obtained over several years, she discovered that salt prices only rose in specific regions and periods.

And it coincided with the times when the nobles of the Phaesith Empire paid taxes to the imperial family twice a year, in the first and second halves.

Of course, it could have been a coincidence.

But she had learned that when coincidences repeat, they become inevitable.

So she urged Cabelased to dig into the salt-related business.

Because it was House Antares that had virtually monopolized this salt market.

And Cabelased moved at her single word.

He gave orders to his subordinates spread across various regions, and now they had these results.

After hearing Jieselgrante’s full explanation, Count Friston looked at her with admiring eyes and said:

“Oh, I see… Actually, I was a bit puzzled. When Duke Cardia suddenly told us to look into the salt price fluctuations across the empire. And for several years, at that.”

“Were you dissatisfied with my orders?”

At Cabelased’s words, Count Friston shook his head and offered an excuse.

“Not at all. It’s just that this was the first time you asked us to look into a situation without any prior explanation, and it was different from before…”

“So, you mean you were dissatisfied?”

As Cabelased raised one eyebrow askew, Count Friston waved his hands somewhat violently and said:

“No! Really…”

Once again, Count Friston offered an excuse, and Cabelased, who had been listening to his words while nodding his head, opened his mouth.

“So…”

“Yes?”

“Were you dissatisfied with my orders?”

“…I was delighted. To the point where I was looking forward to what the next order would be…”

Even though he could have deflected the question appropriately, Count Friston took Cabelased’s teasing at face value and poured out another excuse.

With this, she understood the nature of their relationship.

Jieselgrante covered her eyes with one hand and slightly lowered her head.

Only after barely swallowing the laughter that was about to burst out did she speak.

“Um, I have a question.”

“What is it?”

Only then did Cabelased turn his head towards her.

The look in his eyes and his voice were much gentler and kinder than when he was dealing with Count Friston just moments ago.

“How did you convey to the Emperor the fact that House Antares was making a profit by adjusting salt prices?”

“I’m not quite sure about that part either. Duke Cardia just said he would handle it well, so how did you do it?”

At Count Friston’s question, Cabelased smiled slightly.

And he said:

“Well.”

“…”

Count Friston got up from his seat with his mouth tightly shut.

“Well, since I’ve conveyed what I needed to, I’ll return to my office.”

Then he walked away towards the mansion without looking back.

‘He seems to be quite upset.’

Jieselgrante thought as she gazed at Count Friston’s retreating figure.

Suddenly, Cabelased’s face entered her field of vision.

Jieselgrante leaned back slightly in surprise.

“What’s the matter?”

“I’ll tell you.”

As if doing her a favor, Cabelased explained about the events at the imperial palace.

He said he had slipped in House Antares’ weakness into the documents of Baron Cypress that would be delivered to the Emperor.

“You weren’t caught, were you?”

“After watching the natural acting of a certain beautiful young lady a few times, my acting skills have naturally improved.”

Jieselgrante lowered her gaze slightly.

‘A certain beautiful young lady…’

At first, she pondered who the beautiful young lady Cabelased mentioned could be, and a little later, she realized he was referring to her.

Memories of events like Joshua’s crown prince appointment ceremony and Baroness Oppenheimer’s trial started to come back one by one.

How she had pretended to know nothing when Cabelased asked about the truth then.

Feeling uncertain about which part she should react to, Jieselgrante opened her mouth.

“…I have one more question.”

Cabelased nodded slightly as if telling her to go ahead.

“What were you saying earlier? I couldn’t hear because of Count Friston’s voice.”

Cabelased, who had been looking down for a moment as if recalling, soon met her eyes and whispered softly.

“Beautiful.”

“Pardon?”

As Jieselgrante tilted her head, Cabelased added in an even lower voice.

“That’s what I said, that I was looking because you’re beautiful.”

There probably wasn’t a woman in the world who would dislike being called beautiful.

Especially when the compliment came from the lips of the empire’s most handsome man.

Naturally, Jieselgrante’s cheeks turned bright red.

‘Come to think of it, I’ve been feeling ticklish in my solar plexus lately.’

Jieselgrante resisted the urge to scratch her solar plexus vigorously.

‘Who could it be? Who did it?’

The Empress kept glancing at the maids in her office while chewing on the soft flesh inside her mouth.

The maids were busy with their own tasks, unaware that the Empress was looking at them.

The Empress’s gaze lingered longer on the Bladnik Duke’s daughter.

Feeling the gaze, the Bladnik Duke’s daughter looked up and asked:

“Is there perhaps something you need me to do?”

The Empress said with a faint smile:

“The tea has gone cold while I was occupied with other matters and neglected it.”

“Ah, I’ll prepare a fresh one for you.”

She could have complained about having to run tea errands despite being a duke’s daughter.

But the Bladnik Duke’s daughter didn’t object to the Empress’s words and quickly got up to walk towards the teapot.

‘Seeing how she’s bowing and scraping, it seems she’s quite eager for the position of Crown Princess.’

Thinking this, the Empress rolled her eyes. Her gaze fell on Marchioness Ratse.

Unlike before, the Empress’s gaze towards Marchioness Ratse was not entirely kind.