The decision was made a long time ago, so the execution was swift. Ariadne was imprisoned in the west tower of Castel de Carlo in her nightgown. As I was sitting on the cold stone floor with only straw spread, the events of the past passed by like a kaleidoscope. Cesare was tricky, but he was a refreshing man like a summer breeze. They had a pretty pleasant 14 years. Cesare was spontaneous. He used to visit Cardinal de Mare’s house and often go for a walk with Ariadne on his horse. He picked a lily of the valley in the forest and gave it to Ariadne.
“I think you are obedient and only know me.”
Wildflowers with nowhere else to turn were looking at the floor with their heads down. But then she thought that was the best compliment. The music of the coronation ceremony of His Majesty the King and his wife could be heard from afar. The music was all chosen and prepared by Ariadne. She thought it would be her coronation ceremony. She thought it was the day when the dedication and love of the past 14 years were reciprocated. Ariadne’s thoughts were broken by a sonorous voice.
“A lily of the valley that blooms outside is never treated as valued as a rose grown in a greenhouse.”
At the top of the western tower, the newly crowned Queen, Isabella, appeared. Her flaxen hair was up in a bun and lavishly adorned with her pearls. Above it was a veil of laces as delicate as a dandelion spore. The white silk dress over her body overlapped like a tulip, cozily complementing her slender frame. It was obvious at first glance that she had put a lot of effort into it, but it was the first dress Ariadne had ever seen. It was clear to Isabella that she knew the day ahead and had her dress tailored in advance. Ariadne has a lot to ask. Since when? Why the hell? If Isabella wanted Cesare, Isabella said from the beginning that she would be betrothed, and that she did not like it. Why come now? Ariadne looked up at Isabella with her questioning expression. her sister, Isabella, raised her little chin and looked down at Ariadne. As soon as she made eye contact with Ariadne, she drove Ariadne away.
“How dare you do that to my husband?”
Ariadne habitually bowed her head and apologized. It was a response she had been accustomed to for many years.
“...I’m sorry if it’s about Prince Alfonso. I have nothing to say.”
But that’s not the answer Isabella wanted.
“I’m talking about Cesare, you idiot! How dare you leave me to become Queen?”
‘What?”
Isabella mercilessly shot at Ariadne, who was surprised.
“I am the noblest woman in this country. At this point, you shouldn't have to step down from the role of the Regent’s fiancee. Do I have to suffer like this because of a bug like you?”
Isabella continued by waving her fan over Ariadne, who was in chaos.
“My father said so, the daughter who will raise the name of de Mare is me. You just had to fill a spot for a while. Too cheeky.”
Here Isabella’s pretty face distorted a little.
“Because of you, there is too much mud in my name, such as being a widow, having had children, etc. How will you take responsibility?
Ariadne answered Isabella without realizing it, to the belated absurdity.
“Is that why you’re angry? Prince’s Alfonso…Doesn’t it matter?”
Ariadne always repeated her promise to not rebel against Isabella, but the words come out first.
“He was good to you. Don't you love him?”
“Love?”
Isabella smiled brightly.
“All men are good to me. If I have to repay everyone for the feeling, then do I have to love everyone like a prostitute?”
Isabella, who gave the reason why Alfonso had to die as if she was complaining with her elaborate features, was as beautiful as the devil.
“Alfonso did not give me the title of noblest woman. That’s enough reason for him to die.”
Ariadne became contemplative and asked back.
“Cesare… Sister, do you love Cesare?”
Cesare was the most precious thing to Ariadne. He was of a higher value than herself. Even if Cesare hurt her, she worshiped and protected Cesare. But Isabella stared at Ariadne with her eyes full of laughter, as if she heard a very funny story.
“This is my cute and foolish little sister. Life is a series equivalent of exchange. Cesare made me his Queen. In return, he can have me now. What we did was a fair deal.”
Isabella looked like her fairy purple eyes would make her giggle at any moment.
“Alfonso just couldn’t bring me a price worthy of my ransom. So, cancel the contract. There is no love in it.”
Isabella’s smile grew even wider. She was smiling, but her smile was one, and she had a bright smile like a rose made of artificial flowers.
“Instead of love, there is longing.”
It was a dry, splendid smile like a rose made of artificial flowers,smiling but lacking in laughter.
“Before Alfonso died, Cesare came to me and begged me. Since he got engaged to you, he hasn’t forgotten me once.”
“What?”
Embarrassed, Ariadne stuttered. Isabella replied eloquently.
“I also appeared in his dreams. Even while holding you, he held you while thinking of me.”
Ariadne stared at her sister, Isabella, frozen. Isabella followed her with the graceful grace of her chirping lark.
“They say you’re too big to hug a man. Your hair is black and looks like a raven.”
Isabella’s pretty eyes flashed with malice.
“They thought your breasts were so big and sagging that they thought that they looked like cows.”
In front of speechless Ariadne, Isabella stroked her fine, flaxen hair.
“Men say that women feel like they need to be protected only when they are small and fit inside their bosom. Man says my hair is a noble blonde, like an angel from the Holy Book.”
The small, delicate amethyst angel smiled wickedly. Isabella asked Ariadne by pushing her small face with perfect features in front of Ariadne’s nose.
“Have you ever been the object of such hungering craving for anyone?”
Ariadne was out of breath and no words came out. Cesare's attitude has changed since he ascended to the throne, the engagement ring he never wore, his passion gradually cooling off, and the wedding date postponed. Isabella affirmed with a beautiful face glowing with victory.
“This is the difference between you and me. Even if you risk your life and devote your life to a man, nothing comes back.”
Isabella gave advice to her honest sister. Whether her sister, who would soon die of her death, would have a chance to take advantage of that advice was another matter, though.
“They don’t know how to be thankful. Don’t trust men.”
Isabella pursued her full lips.
“Cesare must be going crazy wanting me right now. But after a year, after three years, eventually he will get tired of me.”
It was a challenge that even 33 year old Isabella, a peerless beauty, could not overcome.
“Men are so strange. They hate me when they get angry even after doing something that would get him scolded.”
Isabella continued, putting her fingers through her flowing flaxen hair and twirling them around.
“If i think about it, i will think of my faithful younger sister who worked under me for 14 years but never made a sound.”
“... Loyalty?”
“I don’t like hindsight. My dad taught me it’s safe to cleanly eliminate all possibilities. Aren’t you my beloved sister?
Isabella raised her hand, and the Moorish knight who haunted her like a shadow raised his sword.
“I will go out. Now I have to attend the coronation parade.”
The coronation ceremony belonged to Ariadne.
“Don’t make her suffer, Agusto. After all, she is my dear sister.”
Isabella trembled with hatred to the end. Behind Isabella’s small back as she turned away, the Moorish knight holding his swords straight. His left eye glowed ominously red. The red haze in his left eye turned more and more crimson, as if turning the power of a lamp. But Ariadne was busy staring at Isabella's back with her eyes wide open, so she couldn’t see the Moorish’s eyes closely. It was so unfair that she couldn’t even say a word back! A Moorish half-moon sword passed over Ariadne’s open eyes.
Zrassh.
A burning pain in her neck, fountains of blood warmed her face, and darkness. Ariadne could rest forever, but she still had much to do in the world. She couldn’t keep her eyes closed.
‘Golden Rule.’
A faint sobbing sound was heard in Ariadne’s ears.
‘The karma committed is paid for and the good done is returned. That's the golden rule.”’
I want to. I wish it was like that. Why can’t the world be like that?
‘Can you do it?’
Ariadne nodded absently. I’ll do it. I could. I must say that I must do it. It occurred to her that the owner of the voice seemed to be laughing at her, or that another voice was pitying her, but her hazy heaviness ran through her body and crawled to the extremities of her body. Ariadne lost her consciousness.
***
“Oh my god!”
Ariadne opened her eyes, prepared for the pain of being burned, but there was no pain. Instead, she saw the ceiling of an old wooden house with bare rafters. It was the farm where she lived as a child.
‘What happened?’
Ariadne’s body was strangely light. She raised both hands. A lean arm and two small hands were visible. The tight skin belonged to a child. Less than five minutes after hearing her worst comments about her body, she casually looked down at her torso. Fortunately, she was still growing, a skinny girl with a flat chest, small chest pain and narrow shoulders.
‘Oh my god.’
Ariadne jumped off the bed and ran to the old mirror. A girl of about fifteen was standing inside the bumpy cheap mirror. She was very skinny because of her height, but her limbs were beautifully long. Her black hair, which reached her waist, swayed. Her dark green eyes stared at herself in the mirror. She was her past self. Except for two things. Ariadne raised her hand and touched under the left eye. She had her tear spots that were bright red. It was not there in the first place, and then there was the last knuckle of her elongated ring finger of her left hand, which sparkled. Her finger was cut for Cesare. As if by magic, her intact fingers were in place. But her last knuckles, which she didn’t have, were a little redder than the rest of her hands. A red blush was hovering over the last knuckle of her ring finger. Ariadne’s admiration for herself was disturbed by an uninvited guest.
Knock!
“Ariadne! You useless thing!”
The skinny old woman screamed and opened Ariadne’s door.
“The sun has risen in midheaven, but you are still lazy!”
The old woman waved the broom in her hand carelessly and hit Ariadne’s head and nape at random.
“You can't even schedule a good wake-up time! Do you know how many people are starving right now because of you?”
Ariadne didn’t know, but in fact she was on duty today, so it had nothing to do with the meal. But even if she had been able to explain, she wouldn't have looked after Jeanne Galeacho. Beating up her young maids was a hobby of Grandma Jeanne Galeacho, and she particularly enjoyed teasing Ariadne. She was of noble blood, and it always thrilled her grumpy old woman that she was rolling on the dirty floor just like me, or worse than me. Ariadne raised her arm and covered her face. Grandma’s broom hit her arms and face sequentially, making her hot and painful. The past was repeating itself again. A spring day at the age of 15, the day Ariadne was thrown into a social world full of wild beasts with no one to take care of her. Today was the day Ariadne was summoned to the Cardinal’s residence in the castle of San Carlo.
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