“What do you mean by ulterior motives?”

Jieselgrante’s informal speech came out unhesitatingly. It was an extremely immediate reaction.

Before becoming Jieselgrante, she had been the Imperial Princess, and even white-haired nobility would bow their heads before her.

Such was the life of the First Imperial Princess of the Empire. One who never needed to bow her head to anyone.

But now she was in Jieselgrante’s form.

‘Ah…’

Hearing her unfamiliar voice, she quickly opened her mouth again.

“What do you mean by ulterior motives?”

“…It’s as if you’ve become a completely different person.”

As expected, Cabelased pointed out that exact part.

“I’ve come back from the dead. Given a new life, I thought I’d try being a new person.”

She calmly said while watching Cabelased’s expression.

“Then have you decided to put away that insipid act now?”

Jieselgrante’s brow furrowed slightly as she looked at Cabelased.

‘An act?’

“Or is it that you’ve achieved your original goal with this?”

‘Achieved… my goal?’

Incomprehensible words continued to come out of his mouth.

But she couldn’t ask what he meant by that.

All she knew was that the owner of this body, Jieselgrante, had pretended to die just to get the attention of this man before her.

‘…Is that it?’

Trinity, who had been quietly looking at his face, belatedly realized.

‘Lindsey said Jieselgrante made an extreme choice just to get this man’s attention once.’

And now that Cabelased had personally appeared before her.

As he said earlier, Jieselgrante’s goal had been achieved in a sense.

Though the person actually facing him was Trinity, so her efforts had been in vain.

“I understand.”

She nodded slightly and continued speaking.

“You must not have liked the commotion that made such a busy person come all this way.”

“…”

“From now on, I’ll conduct myself so that Duke Cardia won’t have to pay any more attention to me.”

Whenever the Emperor visited her due to unwanted commotion, Trinity always gave a formulaic response.

That she would behave well so as not to waste the time and energy the busy Emperor should be devoting to state affairs.

As she uttered those all too familiar words, Trinity was reminded of her memories in the Imperial Palace.

A brief moment of rest given during the rigorous successor training.

Even that precious rest would not have been possible if the Viscount Flarino, in charge of military studies, hadn’t urgently returned to his mansion.

Trinity dismissed her maids and entered her bedroom, intending to catch her breath.

Just as she was about to bend her knees to sit on the sofa, it happened.

There was a stomping sound in the corridor, then the door suddenly burst open, and the Emperor, with a furious expression, barged into the bedroom.

“What are you dissatisfied with now!”

The Emperor thundered angrily.

“Your Majesty. Please don’t be so angry.”

The Empress, glancing at Trinity, began to pretend to restrain the Emperor.

It wasn’t just yesterday or today that the Emperor would suddenly visit and shout at Trinity.

And every time, the Empress was always by the Emperor’s side.

Like an actor performing a well-scripted play, the Empress uttered lines about not being too harsh on Trinity.

“She’s at a sensitive age. This mother is so worried that she might go astray if pushed too hard.”

When she was younger, Trinity believed the Empress truly cared for her.

That even though she hadn’t given birth to her, as the Empress of the Empire, she treated all children equally, whether her own or others’.

Her father, the Emperor, wanted a perfect successor, and he was merciless if she deviated even slightly from his ideal standards.

So Trinity devoted herself day and night to her successor training to meet the Emperor’s high ideals.

During the day, she studied imperial studies and learned swordsmanship to train her body.

At night, she gave up sleep to review the day’s studies.

There were several times when she had trouble after getting a nosebleed on precious books, and perhaps due to chronic lack of sleep, her mind was often foggy and dazed.

‘Just a little more, if I do a little more and become a little more perfect, then… I’ll be able to satisfy Father.’

But one day she realized.

That no matter what she did, she could never satisfy the Emperor. That the Emperor had been under the Empress’s control from the beginning.

“What’s wrong with causing some trouble? As long as she’s healthy. Isn’t that much better than having a clear head like the daughter of Duke Amaterasu?”

When she was young, she thought the Empress’s excuses to the Emperor were to protect Trinity.

But as she gradually grew older, she finally realized the Empress’s true intentions.

That Trinity was immature and lacking in qualities. That she was an infinitely inadequate child to become Emperor.

It was to constantly remind the Emperor of this. To prevent Trinity, who was first in line for succession, from inheriting the throne.

It was problematic from the start that the Empress compared her to Duke Amaterasu’s daughter.

An ordinary mother wouldn’t have compared her child to Jieselgrante, who was rumored to have a clear head.

“I’ve searched the entire empire to select the best teachers and assigned them to you. And yet…”

As the Emperor raged, the Empress gave Trinity a meaningful look.

It meant to hurry and apologize to the Emperor.

Trinity took a deep breath in and out, then lowered her gaze.

Soon, the answer the Empress wanted came out of her mouth.

“Please forgive my inadequacy, Your Majesty… I will try harder from now on.”

The Emperor heaved a great sigh and glared at Trinity with narrowed eyes as he spoke.

“Never forget that everyone is watching your every action, word, expression, and gaze. Do you understand?”

“Yes. I understand well, Your Imperial Majesty.”

The Empress gently wrapped her arm around Trinity’s shoulders and carefully interjected.

“Your Majesty is being too harsh. Don’t you think there’s a need to soothe her gently sometimes?”

“You tend to be too soft only on Trinity.”

The Emperor immediately retorted to the Empress’s words.

Indeed, the Empress was only soft towards Trinity.

It was a clearly different attitude from her son, Prince Joshua, whom she disciplined with strict standards.

“Is that so?”

The Empress paused briefly, looking at the Emperor, then moved towards the window as she continued speaking.

“But at least she has proper decorum, doesn’t she? And above all, Trinity is your daughter… Isn’t that reason enough to look at her fondly…”

The Empress, who had pulled back the curtains by the window, seemed to discover something as she lowered her gaze to the floor.

“…Why is this here…”

She was visibly startled. Naturally, Trinity and the Emperor’s gazes followed the Empress’s.

An empty liquor bottle was rolling under the long curtain in front of the window.

Trinity was old enough to legally drink alcohol according to imperial law.

But the timing was the problem. This happened to be a time when she should be purifying her body and mind by visiting the temple.

“Haah…”

The Emperor, heaving a grand sigh, glared at Trinity and raised his voice.

“One month! For the next month, don’t even think about taking a single step outside the palace, and reflect on your actions. I wonder if you have any thoughts at all…”

Grumbling, the Emperor turned his body abruptly. Then, without looking back, he left the bedroom.

Trinity quietly watched the Emperor’s retreating figure.

“…”

“Sigh… I’ll tell the maids to make sure they clean up well so it doesn’t catch His Majesty’s eye in the future. I’m sorry I didn’t pay attention, Tri.”

The Empress looked down at Trinity with the gaze of a mother looking at her alcohol-addicted daughter.

“…Thank you for your consideration, Mother.”

“What’s this between us…”

Trinity thought while slightly bowing her head.

She hadn’t taken a single sip of alcohol, yet she pondered the reason why that empty liquor bottle was rolling around there.

It was truly a remarkable coincidence.

Just as she was given a break, the Emperor and Empress barged in, and an empty liquor bottle was rolling around in her bedroom during a time when alcohol was forbidden…

Could all of this really be called a coincidence?

“You say you’ll conduct yourself so I won’t have to pay attention to you…”

Cabelased’s low, resonant voice broke Trinity’s reverie.

“…You’re certainly different from usual today, Lady. Well, I suppose it’s not an incomprehensible situation…”

Despite his words, Cabelased looked at her with an expression that showed he didn’t understand at all.

“You saw it clearly. The fact that I opened my eyes again right after receiving a death sentence.”

She meant that even if there were some differences from usual, she hoped for understanding.

“…”

“I’m grateful in advance for Your Grace’s boundless consideration.”

She spoke politely while gesturing towards the exit with her eyes.

It was a request for him to leave.

“I’ll come again when the Lady has recovered.”

Trinity swallowed a sigh, relieved that Cabelased had enough tact to quickly understand the meaning of her words.

She followed his broad shoulders with her eyes as he moved away.

But Cabelased, who had been walking towards the bedroom door, suddenly stopped.

“…?”

And slowly turned to look at Trinity.

“Do you have something more to say?”

“That proposal you made to me then… I’m curious if it’s still valid.”