A hollow laugh slipped through Jieselgrante’s lips.

“Ha…”

As if there was some invisible, immense power at work. Perhaps that immense power did not want it? For her to become the Emperor.

The efforts of the past that had now turned to foam flashed through her mind.

“How futile…”

After blankly blinking for a while, she thought to herself.

‘Well, I suppose it never really suited me anyway.’

In the past, she had often questioned her own qualities.

Although she had the fortune of being born as the Emperor’s firstborn, the Empress who could have looked after her passed away right after giving birth to her.

The people from the Empress’s family suddenly stopped appearing in the capital’s social circles one day.

The Emperor was indifferent to Trinity, and Petrisya, who had been the late Empress’s lady-in-waiting, took the position of Empress.

And soon, Empress Petrisya gave birth to Prince Joshua.

Princess Trinity became a mere figurehead overnight.

Of course, the commoners who were not particularly involved in the power dynamics raised their voices, saying that she was the rightful Emperor, but they had no right to decide the next Emperor.

“It’s truly futile…”

Leaning her head against the carriage wall, she resented the gods for some time.

The Amaterasu Duchy’s carriage, which had been traveling for a long time, stopped at the center of the shopping district.

Jieselgrante’s gaze fell beyond the carriage window.

As if to showcase the prosperity of the Fortress County, the buildings in the shopping district boasted neat exteriors.

The most eye-catching among them was the building in front of which their carriage had stopped, which would be today’s lodging.

Its grand exterior, as magnificent as the mansions in the capital, was enough to captivate her gaze.

“I will check the room availability.”

One of the escort knights approached and reported to her. Jieselgrante quietly nodded.

The youngest-looking knight among them leaped off his horse and entered the building.

As she watched his back, Lindsey walked over with a somewhat awkward gait.

“Young Lady, are we resting here for the night?”

They had been traveling non-stop to reach the Fortress County before sunset.

Her bottom seemed uncomfortable from being overworked in the carriage.

“That’s the plan.”

Jieselgrante quickly scanned the inside of the carriage and picked up a flat cushion.

Just as she was about to hand it to Lindsey, the knight who had entered the building came running back to the carriage.

But his expression did not look good.

“It seems there’s some problem.”

“I’ll go and check what’s going on.”

With those words, Lindsey ran towards the group of escort knights.

The escort knights, who had been discussing what to do, soon scattered in all directions.

“What’s the matter?”

Lindsey approached the carriage, her brows furrowed as she spoke.

“Unfortunately, they just became fully booked a little while ago. So the knights went to see if there are any vacant rooms elsewhere.”

“…Is that so?”

Jieselgrante slightly lifted her gaze to look up at the sky.

The sky was rapidly darkening. If a little more time passed like this, the surroundings would soon be dyed pitch black.

“Young Lady, are you thirsty? You’re not feeling unwell, are you?”

Lindsey inquired about this and that, as if caring for a child left by the water.

“I’m fine. More importantly…”

She handed the cushion to Lindsey. Lindsey asked back with a puzzled expression.

“Why are you giving me this?”

“To put down and sit on during the ride ahead.”

Lindsey, who had been quietly looking down at the cushion she received, suddenly raised her head. It was just a simple gesture of kindness, but she looked touched.

“Young Lady…”

She had always disliked this kind of awkward atmosphere. So she quickly opened her mouth.

“By the way, Lindsey, is it always this crowded here?”

“It seems people are flocking to the capital due to the news of Her Imperial Highness’s passing.”

“I see.”

It was a reason she had sufficiently guessed, but she had succeeded in shifting the atmosphere as intended.

At that moment, the knights who had gone to find vacant rooms returned one by one.

Judging by their shaking heads, it seemed the situation was not much different elsewhere.

“Young Lady, what should we do?”

Lindsey asked with a rather serious expression, and she gestured to the escort knight approaching them.

Understanding her intention, the escort knight opened the carriage door.

Escorted by the knight, Jieselgrante got out of the carriage and immediately entered the building in front of her.

The receptionist of the inn, who had been hurrying over, stopped upon seeing her.

“I need a room.”

At her words, the receptionist bowed deeply.

“I apologize, our inn is currently fully booked.”

Even while repeatedly apologizing, the receptionist seemed very busy due to the sudden influx of guests, constantly glancing towards the lobby.

Just as Jieselgrante was about to speak, Lindsey stepped forward boldly and protested.

“Do you even know who this person is? In this tall and wide building, you don’t have a single room to offer the Young Lady! Does that make any sense to you?”

Lindsey’s voice was quite loud. Enough to instantly capture the attention of the people in the lobby.

‘…Oh my, I didn’t know Lindsey had quite the temper.’

Jieselgrante let out a soft sigh and took a step forward to calm the agitated Lindsey.

At that moment, several men walked down the stairs to Lindsey’s left.

One of them, in particular, caught her eye.

His wrinkle-free, crisp suit fit his body perfectly, subtly revealing the contours of his fine physique, and the slight gold embroidery on the cuffs and collar was not excessive, adding a touch of elegance.

Jieselgrante’s gaze was momentarily captivated by the man.

Just as she found herself curious about his face, the man descended the last step.

Her brows slightly furrowed upon finally seeing his face.

‘…The Kardia Duke?’

Meanwhile, the argument between Lindsey and the receptionist continued.

“The authority to assign rooms is not mine…”

Lindsey glared at the receptionist, even widening her eyes.

“That’s why I’m telling you to call someone higher up!”

“…?”

Cabelased, who had sensed the commotion and was about to turn towards Lindsey and the receptionist, stopped in his tracks.

Right at the spot where Jieselgrante was standing.

Cabelased stared intently at her.

At first glance, his expression seemed emotionless, but she could immediately tell that a faint crease had formed between his brows.

‘…It can’t be, right?’

With a hopeful heart that it wasn’t the case, she quickly scanned the inside of the lobby.

As befitting a high-end inn, the people in the lobby were also dressed in fancy attire. Surely, there must be nobles among them.

“…”

Jieselgrante quietly bit the soft flesh inside her mouth.

Hoping that others would not think she had left the Amaterasu Duchy to chase after the Kardia Duke all the way to a luxury inn in the Fortress County.

“What’s the commotion?”

Cabelased walked over. And he asked the receptionist and Lindsey.

“I apologize, Duke Kardia…”

The receptionist quickly apologized for causing the disturbance.

It seemed they thought Cabelased had come down to the first floor because of the commotion.

Forgetting about the argument with the receptionist at Cabelased’s appearance, Lindsey made a fuss.

“Ah, Young Lady. It’s, it’s Duke Kardia…!”

Jieselgrante hoped Cabelased would just pass by her, pretending not to know her.

But Cabelased thoroughly crushed that hope of hers.

“Is this a coincidence?”

Cabelased’s voice was low and deep, having approached her at some point.

It was as good as asking if she had followed him all the way here, so Jieselgrante tightly gripped the fabric of her dress.

Despite the piercing gazes of the people in the lobby, constantly shifting between the two of them, she smiled brightly.

“I was in a hurry to attend Her Imperial Highness’s memorial service, so I had set out for the capital. As the sun began to set, I was looking for a place to stay the night.”

“…”

Cabelased didn’t say anything in response, only gazing at her face with a leisurely expression as if telling her to continue.

“And what brings you here, Duke Kardia?”

She knew the reason why Cabelased was here.

Just as the Amaterasu Duke and herself were urgently heading to the capital, he too was here to attend the upcoming Imperial Palace meeting.

But she deliberately feigned ignorance and played dumb.

Even though it didn’t lessen the shame brought about by the karma shot up by the past Jieselgrante.

“…Could it be for that reason?”

“I suppose it couldn’t be anything else, right?”

At that moment, the people in the lobby whispered among themselves.

She couldn’t hear exactly what they were saying, but she could roughly guess what they were talking about.

That the Amaterasu Duchy’s daughter was shamelessly making excuses despite chasing after the Kardia Duke. Or if not that…

As Jieselgrante’s thoughts reached that point, Cabelased spoke.

“As far as I know, this place should already be fully booked. If you don’t want to be exposed to the night dew, I humbly suggest that you inquire about other inns, even at this late hour.”

“That is precisely the predicament I find myself in at the moment…”

Jieselgrante took a step forward. And she grasped Cabelased’s hand tightly.

One of his eyebrows twitched slightly, but she completely ignored it and continued speaking.

“I had a matter I wished to discuss with you, Duke… Could we perhaps have a conversation in a quiet place?”

Jieselgrante’s voice was a bit loud, and naturally, the whispers in the lobby grew a little louder as well.

Cabelased’s lips curled in displeasure at the sudden contact.

But he did not shake off her hand. He only asked in a cold voice.

“And why should I do that? How can I trust you when I don’t know what you might do to me?”

“Nevertheless, a true gentleman would not ignore a lady in distress. Don’t you agree?”

“Ha…”

A soft chuckle escaped through Cabelased’s teeth.

She tilted her head slightly. And whispered quietly so that only he could hear.

“I have an urgent matter to discuss with you regarding the proposal you mentioned before, Duke.”