Meow.

“……?”

Meoooow!

Jieselgrante meowed sadly once again.

Like a female cat in heat seducing a male from the window of her bedroom.

“Ha……”

Cabelased let out a hollow laugh as if dumbfounded.

Being even laughed at made her look a bit ridiculous, but Jieselgrante raised her voice a little more.

Meooooow!

Covering his mouth and holding back laughter that was about to burst out, Cabelased said,

“Go in first, Mikhail. It seems a female cat in heat has snuck into the mansion.”

“Ah…… really?”

“Now that I know the identity of what was bothering me, I’ll return soon too.”

Mikhail, who had been looking at Cabelased’s silhouette in the darkness, soon turned around.

And he muttered as if talking to himself.

“Ah, already……”

There was a cat named ‘Catsy’ hired as a mouser in the kitchen of Duke Amaterasu’s residence.

Catsy, who had started to settle in Duke Amaterasu’s residence a few years ago, would make mating calls all night when spring and summer came with longer daylight hours.

While suffering from sleepless nights due to those desperate cries to leave offspring, Mikhail did not chase Catsy far away.

Rather, he encouraged the cat’s mating.

Because only then would that act of crying out loudly all dawn come to an end.

“Already…… it’s that time of year.”

Mikhail walked to the conference hall, stumbling and groaning painfully with his hands covering his ears.

Jieselgrante and Cabelased, who had been watching Mikhail’s retreating figure silently, finally looked at each other only when he had completely disappeared into the conference hall.

“I think an explanation is needed for what you were doing here?”

“Of course. I’ll explain as much as you want. But before that, I was wondering if we could move somewhere else…… is that okay?”

“By all means, if you wish.”

Even after answering, Cabelased’s eyes were full of a gaze as if looking at a strange life form.

Jieselgrante sighed secretly and moved her steps.

His gaze that kept sticking to her face was persistent.

Jieselgrante glanced at Cabelased’s face and meowed fiercely.

Meooow!

It meant ‘Stop staring because it’s embarrassing.’

After moving to a reception room not far from where they had just encountered Cabelased, a time of questioning each other continued.

“What were you doing there at this late hour?”

“I woke up and couldn’t fall back asleep right away. I thought I might as well read a book rather than spend time idly, so I came to the library.”

“……”

Cabelased stared at Jieselgrante with an expressionless face.

For generations, the people of Duke Amaterasu’s family greatly valued books.

Some called the people of Duke Amaterasu’s family wise men or bookworms.

Mikhail’s love for books continued from his academy days until now, and after reading all the books he owned, Mikhail became interested in Duke Amaterasu’s personal library.

Duke Amaterasu also greatly cherished the books he owned, but once Mikhail secretly took out a book from his personal library to read.

Soon that fact was discovered, and Mikhail was severely scolded by Duke Amaterasu.

Mikhail said it was the first time he had been scolded so harshly by Duke Amaterasu, who always seemed benevolent with a faint smile on his face.

‘But she tried to take out a book from the personal library without Duke Amaterasu’s permission at this dawn?’

Cabelased noticed that Jieselgrante was now making a rough excuse.

At the same time, there was a part he didn’t understand.

‘Why would she tell such an obvious lie?’

If Mikhail had been scolded unprecedentedly harshly, Jieselgrante would not be unaware of that fact…

While Cabelased was questioning Jieselgrante’s actions, she also had many thoughts.

‘There were definitely more people besides Cabelased and Mikhail. How many more are in there?’

Since it’s late dawn when everyone is asleep, even small sounds can be heard loudly.

But only muffled murmurs leaked out from inside, and exact conversation sounds couldn’t be heard.

‘They must have paid special attention to soundproofing… Was it used as a conference room?’

She also needed to know who was inside and what conversations had taken place between them. Only then could she devise countermeasures.

Given that today was the important imperial event of the Crown Prince’s investiture ceremony, and that she had induced Filippo to appear there.

‘Instead of doing this here, should I go to the stable?’

If she went to the stable right away and counted the number of horses, she could roughly figure out how many people had visited Duke Amaterasu’s residence at this dawn.

She might even find something like a family crest…

“I have a question for you too.”

“……”

“Why did you come, Duke? Without notice at this late dawn.”

“Hmm……”

Cabelased hummed lowly and crossed his long legs as he sat.

Naturally, Jieselgrante’s gaze moved in that direction.

His muscular thighs, shadowed under the faint light, particularly caught her attention.

“I can certainly answer that question. I didn’t come to see the young lady. So I hope you won’t harbor any unnecessary misunderstandings or expectations from the start.”

Cabelased said with a smile, and Jieselgrante swallowed a sigh that was about to burst out.

His ability to avoid questions was top-notch. To the point of feeling a bit tiring.

‘What should I do?’

Even if she asked more questions, it seemed Cabelased would skillfully dodge them.

She was very curious about the content of the secret talks that Cabelased, Mikhail, and others were having secretly gathered at Duke Amaterasu’s residence late at dawn, but there was no way to force them to open their mouths.

‘It would be better to just return to the bedroom today.’

It was then that Jieselgrante had made her decision. Cabelased spoke as if spitting it out.

“Ah, right. I should pay the admission fee. It was quite enjoyable. The script the young lady wrote, I mean. Although it was short.”

“……?”

Jieselgrante furrowed her brow, not immediately understanding the meaning of what he was saying.

Then Cabelased added an explanation.

“I never imagined that the son of the royal concubine would appear at the investiture ceremony.”

At that moment, Jieselgrante’s eyes looking at him changed sharply.

‘He knows I did it? ……How?’

But her bewilderment was only momentary.

‘There’s no way he could know, he’s just testing me now.’

When Jieselgrante had come to that conclusion, Cabelased opened his mouth again.

“Let me ask one question too.”

“……”

“How did you manipulate the tyrannical emperor to your liking?”

Jieselgrante pretended to be surprised and opened her eyes wide.

“My goodness! If someone heard you, it would be terrible, Duke. How could I possibly do anything to His Majesty the Emperor?”

“That’s what I find curious and wonder about too…. How a young lady who has never directly faced the emperor in her life……”

Cabelased, who had risen from his seat, slowly walked towards Jieselgrante and then leaned on the table in front of her.

And with a slow motion, he bent his upper body to meet her eyes.

The soft light cast shadows on his perfect features.

Jieselgrante did not avoid his red eyes that seemed to see through her, but faced them straight on.

“……How you understood the emperor’s personality and acted accordingly.”

“……”

Until her death, she had followed her father the emperor’s code of conduct and read his autobiography dozens of times.

And she always followed in his footsteps.

She didn’t want to be told that she fell short of the previous emperor when she finally stood in the same position as him someday.

But at some point she realized.

That the emperor she respected and the emperor seen by the world were very different.

She couldn’t have known while staying in the imperial palace, surrounded by people who followed the emperor.

The fact that the emperor was not a wise ruler, but a tyrant. That the emperor was a cold-hearted person who could kill even his own bloodline without hesitation to achieve his goals.

So she knew all too well.

“I’m sorry. I really don’t… understand what you’re saying, Duke?”

But Jieselgrante responded nonchalantly.

Cabelased glanced down at Jieselgrante, who was consistently playing dumb, and soon smiled faintly.

“Well, even if I don’t hear it directly from the young lady’s mouth, I’ll find out gradually if I try to.”

Cabelased turned around. As if to return to where he was originally.

“Ah, as payment for the play I saw thanks to you, I’ll keep this situation secret from Mikhail.”

Only after adding one more word before leaving did Cabelased stride away.

Jieselgrante, who was about to add a word to Cabelased’s retreating back, soon gave up.

She knew well that the people of Duke Amaterasu’s family were sincere about books.

Although Duke Amaterasu showed a rather generous attitude towards her, his daughter, he didn’t seem likely to tolerate entering his personal library without permission.

As long as Cabelased had decided to overlook her poor excuse, there was no need to bring it up and get into trouble.

“It seemed more like a wildcat than a cat…. The cry of a female cat calling for a male to mate……”

Cabelased’s voice, as if muttering, was faintly heard from far away.

Jieselgrante glared at his retreating figure, wrinkling her nose bridge.

But when he completely disappeared from view, shame washed over her.

Jieselgrante rubbed her dry face with her eyes tightly shut.

With this, she had created another new dark history in front of Cabelased.

When Cabelased returned to the conference room, Mikhail asked.

“Cabel, why are you late… Were you perhaps dallying?”

For some reason, Mikhail’s eyes were slightly raised. As if he were jealous.

‘Did he see me with Jieselgrante?’

Cabelased raised one eyebrow without replying.