Jieselgrante’s lips moved slightly.

It was true that she was greatly shocked by confirming the facts.

It could be said to be the biggest shock since learning she had been murdered by those closest to her.

The truth faced through Cabelased’s words hurt more than when she had vaguely estimated it would be so.

Though brief, it was enough to cause difficulty breathing.

Judging her reaction to be unusual, Cabelased immediately picked her up and brought her here to lie down.

Then the head physician of the Cardia ducal family came to examine her physical condition.

The physician shook his head saying he didn’t know the reason, and added: Could it be from extreme stress?

If Cabelased was the legitimate bloodline of the Empress Dowager and Emperor, Trinity’s existence was completely denied, so such a reaction was not unreasonable.

Unpleasant thoughts swirled in her mind.

‘I don’t want to think about it.’

She squeezed her eyes shut, wanting to turn away from reality.

Just then, the bed mattress tilted slightly to one side.

“…?”

As she turned her head in confusion, a large, warm hand covered her forehead.

“It doesn’t seem like you have a fever, but are you still not feeling well?”

Looking up, she saw Cabelased looking down at her with a worried expression.

As their eyes met, he continued in a slightly subdued voice.

“Your complexion doesn’t look too bad.”

His steady gaze clung to her face.

“…”

She turned her head slightly away from Cabelased.

“You didn’t seem scared at all when I warned you?”

As it seemed like he was criticizing that it was all bluster, Jieselgrante glared at Cabelased with a sidelong glance.

When their eyes met again, Cabelased chuckled.

“That’s a relief.”

“…A relief?”

“That you seem to have enough energy left to react.”

“…”

She kept her mouth tightly shut like a clam and lowered her gaze.

Soon, the conversations she had just had with Cabelased floated around in her mind.

At her words that the mark on his chest proved he was of divine descent, Cabelased seemed a bit surprised before calmly nodding.

Saying that Jieselgrante’s guess was probably correct.

From that reaction, she could tell that until then, Cabelased hadn’t been certain what the mark on his body meant.

‘Well.’

Though he was the Emperor’s first legitimate child, Cabelased would not have entered the imperial palace’s secret archives.

“Was it… because of the prophecy? The reason they had to switch the children?”

“Probably so.”

Cabelased nodded slightly at her question.

With this, Cabelased once again succeeded in completely erasing Trinity’s reason for existence.

“Then…”

She almost blurted out, what was I, Princess Trinity?

But she barely managed to swallow those words.

Having lived in the imperial palace until her death, she actually knew the reason without having to ask.

Even if she had been the Empress Dowager, she would have tried to protect her child by any means necessary.

It was a precious child she had carried for ten full months.

There was no way she could have just watched her child die at her husband’s hands because of a mere prophecy when she should have been doting on and cherishing the child.

‘But… then what about the child who would be used and discarded like a substitute to protect Cabelased?’

Once again, such doubts kept swirling in her mind.

She couldn’t confront them now about how they could do this to her. There was no one left to confront either.

The Empress Dowager had long since died, and the previous Duke Cardia who would have helped her carry out the plan had also passed away long ago.

Though her very life was denied, the reality was that there was no one left to resent.

Anger with nowhere to go bubbled up inside her.

But if she were to reveal such emotions as they were, she would need to explain the reason.

It was clear that even if she said a person’s contents had changed, no one would believe her.

In the end, Jieselgrante pushed the rising emotions into some corner of her mind for the time being.

Cabelased, who had been waiting for her next words after she suddenly stopped speaking and pressed her lips shut, spoke first.

“…I intend to reclaim the place where I originally belonged.”

From the secret of his birth to his plans for the future.

Every word Cabelased uttered was weighty.

As she had never imagined he would reveal the secrets he had been hiding from her, Jieselgrante was quite taken aback.

But without showing it, she just looked at his face.

Guessing what he wanted from her by bringing up that story.

“It’s interesting indeed.”

Cabelased let out a snort of laughter, and naturally Jieselgrante’s eyes widened a bit.

‘Why is he laughing?’

Perhaps her thoughts showed on her face.

Cabelased opened his mouth again.

“Seeing that you’re not surprised, it seems you were already expecting this, young lady.”

“…”

Jieselgrante gave no reply.

Cabelased didn’t seem to have expected an answer either as he got up.

Once again, the bed mattress rippled slightly.

“From today, you’ll stay here. I’ll have everything you need prepared. If you need anything else, tell the butler.”

Jieselgrante turned her head slightly towards Cabelased.

He had already turned towards the door as if about to leave the bedroom.

Jieselgrante threw a question at his broad back.

“What do you mean I’ll stay here from today? What are you saying?”

“Have you already forgotten?”

“…?”

“Or have your memories disappeared again like before…”

Realizing he was talking about how her soul had changed, losing her previous memories and acting like a different person, she promptly replied.

“No. My memories are clearer than ever.”

It was true that she had been momentarily confused at the thought that her entire life had been denied, but that didn’t mean she had forgotten the content of their conversation.

Staring at her with an inscrutable expression, Cabelased soon opened his mouth.

“…I’ll say it one last time. I hope you remember it clearly this time.”

Cabelased’s face slowly tilted towards her face as she lay on her side in bed.

As his face came close enough for his breath to touch her cheek, Jieselgrante stiffened with tension.

‘…What is he trying to do?’

Jieselgrante’s eyes widened more than ever at his sudden action.

But Cabelased paid no mind and came close, whispering low in her ear.

“Do you remember I said that the moment you heard my secret, things between you and I would become completely different from before?”

“That, I remember.”

Jieselgrante replied, barely suppressing her tension.

At that, Cabelased’s lips, which had been pressed into a straight line, curved into a gentle arc.

“I’m glad you remember. Then, as soon as day breaks, I’ll formally submit a marriage proposal to the Amaterasu ducal family.”

“…!”

Jieselgrante looked at Cabelased in shock.

As she looked up at him with an expression that said it made no sense, Cabelased’s lips pressed back into a straight line.

Soon his straight brows furrowed slightly.

“Suddenly, what…”

As she asked back with a dazed expression, Cabelased gently cupped her cheek and continued.

“That’s what it means. Hearing my secret. Jieselgrante.”

“…”

Even long after Cabelased had left the bedroom, Jieselgrante’s parted lips showed no signs of closing.

‘A marriage proposal? Did I… just receive a proposal? From that Cabelased?’

It was simply unbelievable.

It was absurd enough to receive a proposal so halfheartedly, but Cabelased hadn’t even asked for her consent, and of course, she hadn’t given permission.

‘Does this… make any sense?’

Faced with an unbelievable reality one after another, Jieselgrante kept repeating the same words and blinking rapidly.

The fact that Cabelased was the Empire’s rightful prince was not even written in the diary.

She made one assumption.

That perhaps it was still an unrevealed secret even in the future Jieselgrante had seen.

‘Ah… Is that it?’

After repeatedly thinking about it, Jieselgrante succeeded in figuring out part of Cabelased’s intentions.

‘Is it because I already found out? The fact that Cabelased is the Emperor’s son and has the mark of divine descent…’

But that alone couldn’t explain the reason for the sudden proposal.

That was because if he had judged it would hinder his goals, Cabelased had many ways to silence her besides proposing.

He could even eliminate her if he was really anxious.

It was odd that he had told her about the secret in the first place.

Unlike the future written in the diary, at this point, the Amaterasu ducal family was still maintaining a good relationship with Cabelased.

Perhaps the future had changed somewhat as she didn’t end up forming a relationship with Joshua.

Pausing his steps towards the hallway, Cabelased turned to look back at the bedroom where Jieselgrante was.

‘…Is she doing this on purpose?’

He even thought she might be trying to captivate people by acting innocent.

He had clearly warned her before revealing his secret.

That if she learned his secret, there would be risks involved, and changes would follow.

Especially that the relationship between the two of them, him and Jieselgrante, would change greatly.

But now what was this reaction?

Didn’t it seem like she had belatedly realized she had been forced to buy an expensive item and was feeling wronged!

Jieselgrante’s reaction greatly upset Cabelased’s mood. Extremely so.

Along with his mood souring, deep furrows formed between his straight brows.

‘When did she ever cling to me saying she liked me? Now she’s jumping up and down…’

Wasn’t this something she should be happy about?

Cabelased found it simply absurd.