Ariadne’s life was hard. When she grew up on a farm, she was beaten and starved. After she entered the palace of San Carlo, she was treated badly and betrayed by cunning ploys. Ariadne took it for granted that she was born to a lowly maid rather than the aristocratic Lucrezia. She was a bastard, but she was lucky in that she was family in the broad sense. At least, she is half the daughter of the noble Cardinal de Mare, and that if she was sincere and kind, she would be rewarded by those who treated her kindly. The reality was the opposite. She felt exploited and deceived if she stayed put. All the reward went to her selfish and vocal people. Grandma Jeanne Galeacho was such a person. When Nicolo, the butler from the castle came, she said that she knew this day would come, and that it was worthwhile to raise Ariadne. While doing so, she took the gold coin from Nicolo. Little Ariadne, who was beaten daily by her grandmother’s broom, was bewildered and angry that day, when her benevolent and just father, or the society of San Carlo, full of virtue, asked her to find and condemn her wrongdoers. Ariadne though she would. What a foolish expectation. It was something she had to protect herself.
‘I won’t stand still again.’
***
“Aigoo, butler! What kind of business did you come to such a shabby place!“
Nicolo, the butler, with a cold expression, said the business.
“I have come to take Miss Ariadne to her nature.”
“Ariadne, that girl… No, miss?”
Grandmother Jeanne Galeacho was greatly perplexed. She had beaten Ariande with a broom this morning, leaving marks on her face, and hadn’t even brought her a nice change of clothes.
“Miss Ariadne is not awake at this hour because she is lazy. She has to wash and dress up a little before she can enter the mansion.”
“Even if she tries to prepare here, it is just cumbersome. I will take her right away.”
Grandma Jeanne rolled her eyes. Then Ariadne appeared in front of Nicolo, the butler.
“I can go right in.”
It was terribly worn and shabby. However, Nicolo, the butler, clearly saw Ariadne’s messed up appearance, but decided to pretend not to know. She dared to take the side of the illegitimate young lady, so she did not have to have an uncomfortable relationship with Grandma Jeanne Galeacho, the powerful woman of the Bergamo farm.
“Hmm. Come in. Grandma Jeanne Galeacho, In the meantime, you have worked hard to take care of Ariadne.”
“Oops! Yes, oh no! No one can misunderstand the loyalty of Jeanne Galeacho!”
Ariadne’s deep blue-green eyes were playful.
“Granny, thank you for your hard work. But from now on, I will have to be indebted to the butler, Nicolo. Wouldn’t you like to give Nicolo the remainder of the 2 Ducatos (about 2 million won) that Madame Lucrezia sent me every month to take good care of me?”
The butler, Nicolo, intended to ignore the stuffy bastard, but it was a different story when money was involved.
“2 Ducato? No, is the lady’s appearance this way after receiving and eating so much? Where did you spend all that money?”
Granda Jeanne Galeacho’s face went pale.
“No, I am framed! Madame Lucrezia never gave me money. It was all because of my own money to feed, clothes, and sleep Miss Ariadne, because she was in such need.”
Ariadne cut off the old woman with a smile on her face.
“Grandma, are you slandering that my parents are incompetent enough to entrust their children to someone below them without compensation?”
Grandma Jeanne Galeacho’s pupil’s trembled anxiously. Ariadne firmly nailed it.
“The lies end here, Grandma. I know you got paid on the 1st of every month.”
Ariadne turned to Nicolo, the butler, and said.
“Butler, if you don’t believe it, search the head of Grandma Galeacho’s bed!”
Two servants followed by the butler Nicolo knelt on the floor of Grandma Jeanne Galeacho, and the other two rushed into Grandma’s room. They soon returned with a purse and her ledger.
“Here you are!”
Indeed, heaps of gold coins were heaps. However, the amount of gold coins was absurdly small to say that she had collected 2 Ducato every month for 15 years.
“Are you going to get away with it?”
“Oh my! You were wrong. Madame Lucrezia gave me money every month. But never did I get 2 Ducatos every month.”
Grandma Jeanne Galeacho cried aloud as she knelt on the floor and groveled servilely.
“Madame Lucrezia only gave me 50 florins (about 500.000 won)! After feeding, clothing and putting Ariadne to sleep, this is the only thing left.”
‘Done.’
Ariadne laughed inwardly.
‘Now that the words have come out of your mouth, you are finished, Jeanne Galeacho.’
I'd rather have used up all 2 ducatos and raised them luxuriously, so i should have said there was nothing left. As long as there is no evidence anyway, the side would have been better in Madame Lucrezia’s eyes.
“At first you said you never got money,but now you say you only get 50 florins!”
Ariadne looked up and down at Grandma Jeanne Galeacho with a cold expression uncharacteristic of a 15 year old.
“As far as i know, Madame Lucrezia certainly gave Grandma 2 ducatos a month.”
Someone embezzled 1 ducato and 50 florins every month. That someone was either Jeanne Galeacho or Madame Lucrezia.
“If you ask Madame Lucrezia how much she gave me money every month, you’ll know who’s the liar. Go to Madame right now and ask!”
A smile came to the lips of the butler, Nicolo. This was land-based swimming. If the embezzler was Granda Jeanne Galeacho, she would bribe the butler, Nicolo, before getting into Madame Lucrezia’s ears. If the embezzler is Madame Lucrezia, she’ll lay the blame on Jeanne Galeacho, and in the meantime, she’ll poke the butler a little bit to keep her nose out. There was no way the spirit could stand up at the words of the little illegitimate young lady, but there was no way that the butler, Nicolo, would just blow away the opportunity to earn a side income.
“Alright. Hey, put Jeanne Galeacho in the warehouse!”
“Oh, it’s unfair! Please save me, Miss!”
Two servants rushed again and dragged Jeanne Galeacho into the pig pen and storage shed for cleaning supplies. Oh my gosh, she could have survived if she had just hung up on Nicolo’s crotch and spent all my money as a bribe. Jeanne Galeacho missed her last chance at herself. According to Ariadne’s memories of a previous life, his father, Cardinal de Mare, had set Ariadne’s cost of living at 2 docatos. However, the Cardinal’s mistress, Lucrezia, who was not satisfied with even that, ate 1 ducato and paid it to Grandma Jeanne Galeacho, who also embezzled 50 florins every month. This incident was a joint venture between the two, and no one was innocent.
‘Lucrezia is not a woman whose father will find out about stealing money.’
If this story reached Lucrezia’s ears, Grandma Jeanne Galeacho would be fortunate to be expelled with her life intact. She would be dead tonight at the latest, or at least be driven out with a broken leg club.
“Come on, Nicolo.”
Ariadne hadn’t been giving engineering lessons to the butler before she knew it. Even in her rags, she proudly took her first step towards her nature. That night, sure enough, two stalwart black figures sneaked into the pighsty-cum-shed where Grandma Jeanne Galeacho was imprisoned. Lucrezia was a cruel woman who lived up to Ariadne’s expectations.
“Evil!”
There was a slight rattling sound from the pig pen, and sharp sound from picking a pig, and the two black figures who had entered with light hands came out carrying a large black bag. Tha black bag was thrown into the Tiber River with stone inside. The next morning, after hearing the news that the sons and her eldest daughter of Grandma Jeanne Galeacho had upset her mother, they hurriedly arrived at the Bergamo farm, where Grandma lives. Jaenne Galeacho had already disappeared. A resentment that hung on her old debt ended up paying her price.
***
The residence of the Cardinal de Carlo was magnificent and splendid. Frugally, which is the foremost of the duties of a priest, was nowhere to be found. The white marble walls and floors were adorned with the finest tapestries and rugs. As she crossed the center of the Cardinal’s residence, dressed in rags and boasting overwhelming luxury, the maids gathered in groups of twos and threes stared at Ariadne. Among the daring group of them, there were also giggling ones.
“What is it, the new maid?”
“The maid outfit is more expensive than that, right?”
Rumors are obvious, but there was no way they didn’t know that Ariadne was the little girl in the house. Either the discipline of the servants of the Cardinal's residence was messed up, or Ariadne was acceptable in the eyes of the adults in the house.
‘It must be the latter.’
The first floor of the Cardinal’s residence was a public space with a guest reception room, living room, small banquet hall, and guest room. The second floor was a relatively private place with a bedroom for the couple, children’s bedroom, and the Cardinal’s study. The butler had Ariadne to the third floor, passing both the first floor where the guest room was and the second floor where the family lived. The third floor was where the servant’s quarters, attic, and warehouse were located.
“This is the Lady’s room.”
What Ariadne was assigned was a room in the third-floor wing that looked like a tutor’s room that was rarely used.
“Be comfortable. I will send the attendant maids up soon.”
As Nicolo, the butler, closed the door and left. Ariadne glanced around. It was a pretty neat room. A couple of silk dresses hung in her closet. One street wear, one indoor wear, and one cotton pajama for the night. A pair of shoes there. It was just an assortment of clothes. Ariadne laughed bitterly. It was her clothes that clearly showed her treatment of her in this household. At least as long as it doesn’t hurt her face. She even regressed, but nothing has changed.
“I’m coming in, Miss.”
The maid burst in without waiting for an answer from the knock.
“Go ahead and change your clothes. The Cardinal called.”
It was strangely, no, openly arrogant and disrespectful.
“I’ll be waiting outside, so come out quickly.”
“Where are you from?”
“What will the Lady know about that?”
Sparks flew from Ariadne’s dark green eyes, which caught the ignorance of the maid’s attitude.
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