Since Ariadne was officially a child raised in the countryside until she was 15, the Latin and arithmetic lessons she was taught were really simple. She was sitting in the middle of a boring class thinking about her future career.
‘What should I do to avoid being engaged to Cesare and survive?’
The first thing she had in mind was marrying another man. But Ariadne shook her head.
‘There’s no way I'll make her marry me gently.’
Ariadne was a child brought up from the farm to save Isabella from Count Cesare’s proposal. She was useless to raise from her nature if Cesare would not marry her.
‘Are you going to make money and run away? In the Republic of Porto to the north, regardless of title, gold coins are king.’
However, the money came from farmland, and Ariadne, an untitled girl, could neither create nor call the basic fund. It was an era when commerce was not sufficiently developed, and only noble men who had land and serfs could have money and power.
‘... There won’t be a happy ending where he loves me.’
The sweet kind of life where she gets engaged to Cesare, and Cesare cares for her, marries her, and is crowned queen. Ariadne shook her head. She wasn't that naive. And above all,
‘I’ll make you pay for your sins.’
Betrayal, once committed, cannot be forgiven without paying for blood. Cesare de Como, who piled up sweet promises for 14 years and finally abandoned Ariadne for her beautiful sister. Isabella de Mare, who treats Ariadne as an accessory only for herself from beginning to end without regard for her family or even her conscience as a human being, and then even takes her life when she becomes a threat to her. In addition, a father should protect and take care of his children, but for the children he had with Lucrezua, Cardinal de Mare treated Ariadne only as a chess piece on the chessboard.
“I won’t let you go.”
“Ariadne, focus.”
At the promise that came out of her mouth inadvertently, Giovanni with a strawberry nose scolded her by hitting the desk with a wooden stick.
“If you’re stupid, you have to work hard.”
This was a very unfortunate statement. Ariadne, as the de facto wife of the Regent in her previous life, wrote various official documents in Latin, and the learning materials brought by Giovanni were very basic.
“What does this word mean?”
“It means founder, author.”
Giovanni’s brow narrowed.
“What is this word?”
“It means job, duty.”
When Ariadne got the answer right, Giovanni looked upset. Ariadne glanced at Giovanni and asked a question plainly.
“Teacher, should ‘divitiae’ be used as a feminine noun? Is there no way to refer to it neutrally?”
“Don’t make unnecessary chatter and memorize words. ‘Wealth, property, treasure’ is always feminine. Stupid thing.”
The subdivision of the divitiae was the divitiis. Mr. Giovanni was a man who had memorized only Latin words, and he must have been blinded by the structure of his sentences. Ariadne decided to take a look at the interest.
“Teacher, will you continue teaching when the sisters return in a month?”
Mr. Giovanni was taken aback.
“I will teach for a month. When that period is over, I’ll take the money I earned and play around in San Carlo and then go back.”
‘He’s not from here.’
There was a faint Southern accent in his accent.
“Looks like you make a lot of money. If you teach the Cardinal’s daughters, you’ll have a high reputation, and the titor’s salary will be quite big.”
It was just a simple dance, but Giovanni immediately began to boast with excitement. There was no doubt that he was not the one who was usually held high esteem
“When I go back to my hometown, this will become my resume and some work will come in. If you go out, you’ll get a treat.It's worth going to Cortizan in Karampan.”
Ariadne frowned at Giovanni’s smirk. After all, he was not a great man who lived his life right. Karampan was the name of an entertainment district, and Cortizan was a high-class courtesan. Even 10 ducatos was not a big deal for a night with Karampan Courtesan. Despite being the daughter of Cardinals, she was not paid for a beginner Latin teacher.
“Teacher, you are great. It’s awesome.”
Ariadne suppressed her disgust, pretended no to understand, and looked up at Mr. Giovanni with a look of innocent respect. Her young shell was very useful. If an adult had made such a face, she would have been criticized for being pretentious.
***
Dinner at Cardinal de Mare’s residence was not like any other. Isabella, whose ankle has not healed, ate separately in her room, Arabella is on prohibition, and Ippolito, the eldest son of this family, is studying abroad. Cardinal de Mare had no children left at the table. Lucrezia usually kept her seat, but today she said she was sick and had dinner separately. In other words, it was a perfect solo opportunity. It’s rattling. Only the sound of dishes echoed, and the dinner table was silent. Cardinal de Mare had little interest in Ariadne. Ariadne spoke first.
“Your Excellency Cardinal, thank you for appointing such a great teacher.”
Cardinal de Mare replied indifferently.
“Yes, are you doing well in your studies?”
“Ego Haveo, Per Fax Universalis.”
Ariadne, who recited it out of the blue, smiled proudly.
“It’s a Latin sentence my teacher taught me. I memorized it. Did you do well?”
Cardinal de Mare’s expression frowned.
“Who teaches you such crappy latin? Did you memorize it correctly?”
“No, I memorized it really well. Ego, haveo…”
“Then the teacher must be strange.”
“No! Teacher Giovanni is a famous person. He said she spent 10 ducatos because mother was bringing Mr. Giovanni.”
“What? in one year?”
“He only teaches for a month. He says he will die in the south next month.”
“What? What’s the guy’s name?”
“His name is Giovanni. He didn’t tell me his last name.”
Cardinal de Mare was a clever man. Excessive private tutoring expenses set for an illegitimate daughter that could have been a waste of money for ordinary Lucrezia, poor skills of the teacher, and the origin of the teacher as a person from Lucrezia’s hometown. Cardinal de Mare’s face turned red as he caught a glimpse of the situation.”
“Lucrezia!!!”
***
If you tell me openly like this, the medicine will run out, but once or twice would be possible. Ariadne grinned, thinking that if she had returned to being a child at the age of five, she could have been drinking all year around. The house has been completely turned upside down. The old mistress, Cardinal de Mare, ran into Lucrezia and begged her to hand over the household account book, and Lucrezia’s household account book indeed had ‘education fee - 10 ducato’ written on it.
‘I took the amount as a guess, but I guessed it right.’
“It makes sense to spend 10 ducatos a month for the education of Ariadne, not a son, not a daughter, and not even Isabella!”
“I was looking for a good teacher..”
“A good teacher can’t even pronounce latin pronunciation properly! Who studied there!”
Lucrezia was dumbfounded and couldn’t answer.
“Not even from San Carlo, but who the hell brought a Latin teacher from the countryside and not from the capital! Who the hell is he! A southerner, huh?”
Giovanni’s hometown was the southern Taranto estate east of Lucrezia, and his surname was Rossi, Lucrezia’s maiden name. In other words, he was Lucrezia’s family. Lucrezia wanted to give money to her family, but Cardinal de Mare was watching with his eyes wide open, so she invited an unqualified person to be a private tutor and set an unusually high salary.
“Are you out of your mind? Unbelievable!”
“Yeah… I was wrong, I will make sure this never happens again.”
“I will not leave you alone!”
‘Lucrezia ‘s parents were extremely poor fallen nobles, probably.’
I remember that all the members of her family were clinging to Lucrezia, who had been repaired after being sold as a concubine of a priest.
‘If you look closely at that household account book, you'll see a lot of amazing things.’
Lucrezia’s situation was not a situation where she could stop sending money to her parents just because she was caught once. All her family members were clustered around her like clusters of grapes, looking only at her. It was a structure that had no choice but to continue to happen.
‘If I've done this much, I'd like you to take care of yourself and leave me alone.’
Ariande wanted to negotiate with Lucrezia openly. Unfortunately, however, the de Mare family and their children were not such pleasant people to deal with.
‘I put the washed clothes in the closet. Change and go to dinner.”
The red-haired maid Maletta looked after Ardiane for about three days after Arabella’s probation, and then went back to normal. When she first saw her, she didn’t recognize her, but Ariadne and Maletta were old friends. Isabella’s closest maid, red-haired Maletta, was a great woman who, in her previous life, had followed Isabella to her palace, had an accident with her married, and had served as the mistress.
“Do you have a lot of work?”
“yes.”
The maid’s voice was gruff. Thinking Ariadne would give her one more chance, she pretended to be naive and asked Maletta.
“Can’t you help me get changed?”
It was a natural thing to do as the lady’s maid. But Maletta didn’t notice the opportunity she threw, and she turned around, fanning her tantrum.
“You’re not even a kid, so can’t you do that alone? You wouldn’t have been alone on the farm all the time!”
‘Farm?’
Ariadne’s patience snapped.
‘This maid looked at me very easily.’
Maletta was a maid who looked exactly like her original master. If you look easy once, you can’t get out of control. It was a lesson her past life taught Ariadne. Something flew into the back of Maletta’s head as she grumbled that she was already pretending to be a young lady.
Puck!
“Oh my god!”
What was stuck in the back of Maletta’s head with a dull sound was the Holy Book that Ariadne always carried. Maletta wrapped her arms around the back of her head and turned to see Ariadne with a cold expression.
“You should know up and down, who the hell do you trust and be so self-indulgent?”
Ariadne was tall for a 15 year old, and her eyes were uncharacteristically cold and overbearing. But Maletta had something to say and a corner to believe in.
“Hey. if you were born to a maid, aren’t you in the same situation as us?”
“Pardon?”
“Honestly, your father is also a self-made priest. Strictly speaking, priests are not nobles, so the young lady is not even born of nobles.”
Ariadne gazed intently as Maletta, the maid who had come out. She thought she would see wherever she went.
“Okay, go ahead.”
Maletta continues, sticking out her plump and sensual breast.
“Strictly speaking, if I catch the Cardinal’s eyes tomorrow, isn’t my son or daughter the same as you?
Maletta raised her voice.
“Miss Isabella and Lady Arabella are supposed to do it because Madame Lucrezia is a noble, but Lady Ariadne wants to be equal to both of them, so there is no up and down!”
Slap!
Stars flew in front of Maletta’s eyes. Ariadne had slapped Maletta. She didn't have to listen any further.
“Then, does that mean that my father is of a lowly descent and not noble?”
Ariadne spoke coldly.
“This is your punishment for insulting my father.”
Ariadne slapped Maletta on the other side before Maletta could come to her senses.
Slap!
Ariadne sternly told Maletta, who had been slapped on the left cheek while clutching her right cheek.
“This is your punishment for your jealousy.”
Ariadne picked up the fallen Holy Book and slapped Maletta with it one last time.
Puck!
“Ah!”
When the thick book hit, it wasn’t a high-pitched squeak, but a dull skull-crackling sound. Maletta stumbled back a step and then collapsed.
“Besides, do you dare to dream of stealing the husband of your hostess and entering her place? This is punishment for a servant in the house who dares to gossip about the private lives of her superiors without knowing the fraction.”
Maletta hugged her swollen cheek, gritted her teeth, and glared at ARiadne. Looking down at Maletta, who collapsed on the floor. Ariadne kindly added a word.
“the words you uttered today would have been shocking if others had heard them. Watch your tongue.”
To the trembling Maletta, Ariadne issued a conglaturaly order.
“Get out.”
When she pointed to the door, Maletta hurriedly ran out of Ariadne’s room. Only then did Ariadne, who was left alone, grit her teeth.
‘The essential difference between you and me is not in lineage.’
What Maletta said was also true. Ariadne could only escort Ariadne thanks to her father, who now enjoys authority in the capital, but if you strictly follow her class system, she was no different from a commoner. But, as Maletta said, it wasn’t a matter of how pretty someone could seduce a certain man. Life wasn't that simple. Ariadne had already realized for herself what a miserable end to a life that was fortunately placed on by a proud man in her previous life could end up.
‘The real difference between you and me is how much you can endure after setting a goal.’
Ariadne’s jaw muscles were greatly strained. She didn’t want to live like Maleetta. I want to protect my dignity with my own hands. A life that is not violated, not attacked, respected. A life where my lifeline isn't hanging from a single man.
‘This time, in order not to be trampled on, I will stand on top. damned maid, damn house, i’m going to clean it all up.’
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