The person chasing her now will report to someone about where she’s going and who she’s meeting.
If that happens, they’ll find out that she has a connection with Baron Cypress, and further, with Count Frederick.
Wandering aimlessly through the shopping district and bustling areas, before she knew it, the sun began to set.
By the time the sky had turned pitch black, Jieselgrante boarded a carriage heading to Duke Amaterasu’s mansion.
The road leading to Duke Amaterasu’s mansion was quiet.
Naturally, it wasn’t difficult to notice that besides her carriage, there was another horse following from afar.
She ordered the carriage to stop just as they were nearing Duke Amaterasu’s mansion.
When the carriage, which was expected to enter Duke Amaterasu’s mansion, stopped before that, the person following her also seemed momentarily confused and slowed down their horse.
As the distance between the horse and carriage narrowed, Jieselgrante slowly opened the carriage window and called out to the pursuer who was about to pass by the side of the carriage.
“If you don’t mind, could you help me?”
The other person, seemingly flustered, hesitated for a moment before replying.
“What’s the matter?”
“It seems the carriage wheel is broken.”
“Ah, I see. That must be troublesome for you…”
“Could you go to the mansion up ahead and call someone who can help?”
“…I’ll do that.”
“How kind of you…”
Jieselgrante watched the man move away with a faint smile.
‘Walking into the tiger’s den on his own feet.’
The person who had been following Jieselgrante for some time was caught by Duke Amaterasu’s knights before even reaching the iron gates of the mansion.
[This is the timeline separator]“How did it go? Did he open up easily?”
Jieselgrante asked, looking at Duke Amaterasu and Mikhail coming out of the interrogation room.
She learned today for the first time that this place was used as an interrogation room, no, a torture chamber.
If it weren’t for the bloodstains on Duke Amaterasu and Mikhail’s knuckles.
Noticing Jieselgrante’s gaze on his shirt sleeve, Duke Amaterasu quickly adjusted his rolled-up sleeves and said,
“Well, it wasn’t easy to make him talk… Anyway, there won’t be any more strange men following you, Jiesel. So don’t be afraid.”
Duke Amaterasu spoke reassuringly, and Mikhail added a word.
“That’s right, Jiesel. We’ll take care of everything, so you don’t have to worry about anything.”
“…”
There were many things she wanted to ask, like whose orders led to her being followed, and how much had been reported.
But instead of asking such things, Jieselgrante showed a bright smile.
“Thank you, Father, Elder Brother. Thanks to you both, I can now go out without worry.”
“…”
After staring at her face for a moment, Duke Amaterasu and Mikhail rolled up their carefully adjusted shirt sleeves again and re-entered the interrogation room.
Soon, rough curses followed by a man’s screams were heard from beyond the door.
As much as it was used for interrogation, or rather torture, the soundproofing seemed to have been taken care of, making the man’s screams sound as if they were coming from afar.
Turning around and walking down the corridor, Jieselgrante tilted her head.
‘That means they anticipated such things would happen from when the mansion was built…’
The people of the Amaterasu ducal family were mainly known for their love of books, peace, and gentle personalities through generations.
Having actually experienced it as Amaterasu herself, she could realize how wrong the public perception was.
[This is the timeline separator]After the Emperor’s ban on going out, Joshua was killing time boringly in the imperial palace.
That doesn’t mean he wasn’t doing anything, though.
He spent time with a bedroom maid. For the sake of the future crown princess.
“Your Highness the Crown Prince, ah… hnngh…”
It was around the time when the moans in the bedroom started to rise again.
That’s when the voice of Court Count Anwaz was heard from beyond the bedroom door.
“Your Highness the Crown Prince.”
Joshua calmly shouted.
“Come in.”
Court Count Anwaz, who was opening the bedroom door to enter, startled and stepped back.
But Joshua paid no mind to his reaction.
“I came to report something, should I come back later?”
“If you have something to say, say it quickly and leave.”
“Yes, yes…”
Court Count Anwaz, not knowing where to fix his gaze and rolling his eyes, quickly began his report.
It was about the matter of following Duke Amaterasu’s daughter.
After listening to her eccentric behavior for a while, Joshua raised his hand as if to say that was enough.
“The more I hear, the more she seems like a crazy woman.”
As if his interest had waned, Joshua released the bedroom maid he was holding and got up from the bed.
Court Count Anwaz hurriedly spread out a silk robe that was on the sofa.
Joshua soon slipped his arms into the silk robe.
Wearing only the thin silk robe over his naked body, Joshua approached the table and poured strong liquor into a crystal glass.
Already struggling with a shortage of manpower recently, Court Count Anwaz seized the opportunity to ask for Joshua’s opinion.
Hoping to stop the surveillance on Duke Amaterasu’s daughter.
“Then, regarding the surveillance on Duke Amaterasu’s daughter, would it be better to continue?”
Gently swirling the crystal glass with ice in it, Joshua said,
“That’s enough.”
Then he took a sip of the drink in the glass.
But before Court Count Anwaz’s face could brighten, Joshua immediately spoke.
“Follow Duke Cardia instead.”
Biting the soft flesh inside his mouth, Court Count Anwaz asked again.
“…Yes. What aspects should we focus on learning about?”
“Everything… Whether it’s women or debts, anything that could be a flaw.”
Court Count Anwaz secretly sighed and answered.
“Understood.”
And he had to leave the bedroom without even breaking even.
[This is the timeline separator]While walking in the garden after a meal, Jieselgrante noticed Mikhail sitting on a bench leisurely reading a book and moved towards him.
“Elder Brother?”
He seemed deeply immersed in the book, not even noticing her presence.
‘Would I be disturbing him if I spoke?’
Thinking she might be bothering the focused Mikhail, Jieselgrante was about to turn and continue on her way, but she changed her mind and poked Mikhail’s shoulder.
“Ah! You startled me… Jiesel?”
Mikhail looked at her, surprised.
Was he embarrassed about being so absorbed in the book just moments ago?
“I’m sorry. You didn’t respond when I called…”
As she apologized with a troubled expression, Mikhail blushed slightly and offered the seat next to him.
“…Want to sit?”
Jieselgrante sat next to Mikhail and glanced at the cover of the book he had been reading until just now.
Feeling her gaze, Mikhail quickly flipped the book over.
‘Politics and Theology in Mythology…’
It was pointless since she had already read the title of the book.
“Out for a walk?”
Jieselgrante nodded at Mikhail’s question.
“These days, everywhere I go, people are talking about His Highness the Crown Prince… You’ve heard too, right, Elder Brother?”
Although Mikhail had seemed uninterested in gossip until now, he immediately nodded as it was a topic closely related to his friend Cabelased.
“Yes. It’s understandable…”
“I don’t understand the complicated parts, but as one of the empire’s citizens, I wonder if the current Crown Prince is suitable as the next Emperor.”
Mikhail turned his head sharply towards her and asked back.
“You mean you doubt the Crown Prince’s qualifications?”
“Yes. I know that a monarch should not be swayed by emotions. But the Crown Prince’s actions recently were quite impulsive. If someone so emotional and spontaneous becomes Emperor, he might become an even worse tyrant than the current Emperor…”
Jieselgrante, who had been elaborately expressing her opinion, closed her mouth at that point. And she observed Mikhail’s expression.
‘I thought he would show some reaction if I said this much.’
But contrary to expectations, instead of adding his own opinion, Mikhail just slightly furrowed his brow as if lost in thought.
“…Elder Brother?”
“I’m a bit surprised.”
“…About what?”
It was almost comical to ask, as Mikhail’s expression now clearly revealed his inner thoughts.
‘When did our Jiesel become so smart?’
He seemed to be thinking something along those lines.
‘It’ll be difficult to have a serious conversation like this…’
Thinking this, Jieselgrante turned her gaze to the well-manicured greenery of the garden, as if cut with a ruler.
‘It would be good if I could know how far the plan for usurping the throne has progressed…’
But neither Duke Amaterasu nor Mikhail uttered a word about the crucial plan that could determine the fate of the ducal family.
‘Did they make some kind of non-disclosure agreement?’
Otherwise, there seemed to be no need to keep it secret from her.
Unable to do anything else, she spent time chatting with Mikhail about various trivial matters, without being able to bring up what she really wanted to discuss.
Hoping that Mikhail would inadvertently let slip details of the plan, she focused the conversation topics on the current imperial family and Cabelased, but Mikhail skillfully avoided it.
“By the way, Jiesel, how are things with Cabel these days?”
No way?
‘He doesn’t still think I like Cabelased, does he? Come to think of it…’
Only then did she realize that since the change of the body’s owner, she had never revealed to anyone other than Cabelased that her feelings towards him had changed.
As she blinked blankly, Mikhail quickly added,
“You don’t need to worry about that Baroness Berilston who came to the imperial ball with Cabel. There are rumors about engagement talks, but he said it was just to attend the partner participation meeting.”
It was something she hadn’t been concerned about at all, but instead of saying that, Jieselgrante just nodded.
After observing her for a moment, Mikhail spoke brightly, as if trying to change the atmosphere.
“Ah, that’s right! It’ll soon be Cabel’s birthday.”
“Duke Cardia’s birthday is coming up?”
“It’s on the Empire’s Founding Day. Jiesel, did you not know?”
Mikhail looked at Jieselgrante with a surprised expression.
‘The Empire’s Founding Day is Duke Cardia’s birthday? If so, there’s no way I wouldn’t know…’
The Empire’s Founding Day, which was Cabelased’s birthday, was also Trinity’s birthday.
__________
Turns Out He’s Been Secretly in Love with Me (Female-dominant)
One-line summary: He acts like he doesn’t like her but is actually playing hard to get.
Synopsis:
Xu Muzhou like her. He has liked her for a very long time, and through repeated schemes, he finally closed the distance with her.
But this is still far from enough.
He wants to be the one who stands out among her many suitors, to fight for her attention, and to make her take the initiative to pursue him.
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