The 'Heart of the Blue Sea' was a vivid ultramarine blue sapphire weighing 30 carats found in the Taranto estate. The size is large, but at the same time, the bright and deep color is very rare, so the value is outstanding. The circumstances of its discovery were also mysterious.
According to the first discoverer of the Heart of the Blue Sea, a group of dolphins appeared on the shore and left the sapphire and disappeared. Since Taranto did not have a sapphire mine known as a seaside estate, word of mouth stimulated the possessive desire of many luxury people. The Duke of Taranto at the time the Heart of the Blue Sea was discovered presented this jewel to King Leo III, and since then, this jewel has been sleeping in the palace safe.
"Uh huh. It's because you don't know what. This is like eating a pheasant and eating an egg."
Leo III beckoned the secretary to come closer and whispered in his ear, even though the secretary and the two of them were alone in the carriage.
"If you give this to the daughter of Cardinal de Mare, won't you bring it back when she get married?"
"Yes?"
"Heart of the Blue Sea is the jewel that Cardinal de Mare coveted. If I give it to the Cardinal's second daughter now, she'll think it's hers and she'll love it. But since the owner is definitely his daughter, can he take it away?"
"No, then who are you going to marry? Are you talking about Prince Alfonso?"
Leo III was furious.
"Why are you so careless! Where are you taking Alfonso! Alfonso's spouse should be a Princess of a country, or at least a Princess of a duchy!"
"I am sorry."
"Of course it's Cesare."
Leo III was proud as if he had a good idea.
"I plan ti provide Cesare a fief in a nice place and make a Cardinal artisan so that he can live well with a warm heart and a full stomach. The Cardinal's second daughter is also a bastard herself and is smart and intelligent. Cesare has a quick temper and needs a calm hostess."
He was so meticulous in planning his son's future that he was ready to name all of his grandchildren.
"Besides, Rubina wanted the Heart of the Blue Sea so badly."
"I am familiar with it."
The secretary swallowed the word behind his back. 'Isn't that why you asked if you would really give it to that girl?'
"I couldn't give it to her because of the Queen's notice. She got a lot of resentment. If the Cardinal's second daughter takes this with her when she marries Cesare, isn't it the same as Rubina's in the end?"
'That's... A woman heart's wouldn't be like that...'
What kind of a mother-in-law would be happy if her younger daughter-in-law had the precious jewel she had been longing for forever? Due to the nature of Countess Rubina, she was lucky if she wasn't barged in and taken by force. The secretary had a lot to say. It seems that the King instigating unnecessary fights between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, or that if His Majesty had known woman a little better, he wouldn't have had such a bad relationship with Her Majesty Queen Margaret, and Countess Rubina looked at His Majesty's face.
It's amazing that he haven't scratched it yet. But he had already exhausted today. If he was going to listen to what he said, he wouldn't have come this far. The secretary gave up further objections.
"You are wise, Your Majesty!"
***
"Ariadne, where did you get that idea?"
The first thing that greeted Ariadne after defeating the Apostle of Aseretto was the questioning of Cardinal de Mare. Even though Ariadne gave her big review in the palace of Saint Ercole, mentioning 'her father's learning', what she receiver was accepted and it seemed that source confirmation. She had no choice but to do so. Ariadne's performance today was too outstanding for a fifteen-year-old girl writing alone in her house. Ariadne took pains to choose her words.
"as a pastime, I read father's book in the house."
The passages in the Book of Holy Worship that Ariadne argued with the Apostle of Aseretto in Cathedral of San Ercole were exactly the same as the passaged of the Holy Scriptures that the best theologians of the Ventral Continent had at the Council of Trevero, defining the Aseretto School as heresy. Cardinal de Mare was able to figure this out only after reading the document summarizing the conclusions of the Council of Trevero that the Heretic Judge had brought along with the papal edict.
"You figures this out on your own?"
Otside, Cardinal de Mare's theological knowledge was wide and deep, and even his younger daughter, whom he raised, was praising his excellent theological knowledge, but Cardinal de Mare knew best that this was not true. The conclusions of the Vouncil of Trevero were drawn as a result of discussions by those who had mastered the system of the Holy Books, displaying their creativity and collective intelligence.
Cardinal de Mare would not have known if he had mobilized the priests under his command and led them to a long-term group project, but he did not have the confidence to sit down at his desk and draw these conclusions by himself. It was something a 15-year-old could have figured out on her own after two months of theological study. Ariadne decided to show off her knowledge here. It was a section that had to be broken through at once even with a bluff.
"I was more impressed by Wycliffe's <Thoughts on the Nature of Sains> and Pelagian's <Collection of Letters Studying Trinitas>.
Although it will become widely known later, it was actually the writings that were the basis for drawing the conclusions of the Council of Trevero. After a year or two, they were books that would become must-read books that would be memorized throughout the Central Continent as essential education for children, but now they were rare enough to have copies at the Cardinal's house.
"You read all of them?"
"Wycliffe delved into the structure of sentences, and the part that proved that the Son and the Father were one was the most interesting."
To the suspicious Cardinal de Mare, Ariadne made an exaggerated display of knowledge of the books to which she had indeed named.
'I just knew, or if you say you saw the future, I'm done.'
What Ariadne wanted most of all to avoid was being called a 'saint'. She was a problem even if she didn't have a public official from the Temple, and even id she did, it was a problem.
If she was called saint without canonization by the pope, it was perfect for her to be taken away but the Heretic Judge. However, it was not pleasant to be officially canonized. Pope Ludovico was a terrible person, and it was historically very common for a person who was recognized as a saint to be suddenly declared a heretic and taken to the stake.
You might think that it would be okay if Cardinal de mare blocked it inside, but Cardinal de Mare already had a record of selling his own daughter in his previous life. The daughter who was honored as a saint would be good hand to use. She had no idea of the inner working of the power relations within the Holy Office, and even less did she trust her father. Ariadne wanted to make the most of her familiar board, the aristocratic world of San Carlo.
Cardinal de Mare looked suspicious. But even when Ariadne was bombarded with theological questions based on the most recent documents of the Council of Trevero. which she may not yet have had access to, Ariadne answered as accurately as if she had memorized the answer. Whether she asked for the doctrine, for the evidence, or for the latest question and answer, her answer were a perfect as of they were taken by a machine.
In the end, despite numerous doubts, he had no choice but to agree that his second daughter was indeed a theological genius and had reached the same conclusion as the theologians at the Council of Trevero on her own. He was doubtful, but if this was true, he could not help but recommend it to her daughter, since it was truly a talent that would only come out once in a thousand years.
"I am studying theology with the priests at the temple. Will you participate too?"
Ariadne jumped up and refused.
"No, Father! I am ashamed that I am too lightly educated for that. Studying at home, I will ask father about things I don't know from time to time, so please allow me to do that."
The base could not be revealed. And Ariadne's talent, if he had to put it into question, was in bookkeeping and administrative work, never in theological studies. But Cardinal e Mare, despite what he had seen with his own eyes and hears with his ears, partly because he thought Ariadne could not really have any talent, and the other half because he thought that theology was not a woman's business, and that Ariadne's desperate refusal was a girlish thing. He thought it was down shy, so he doesn't recommend it more. It was heaven help.
***
The story of the genius girl if San Carlo, with some exaggeration, spread throughout the Etruscan Kingdom.
'What are you saying, she kicked out the heresy by herself form San Ercole Cathedral!"
'She must have high faith.'
'As expected... She's a child of Cardinal, eve if it's a little different from birth.'
Surprisingly, the person who reacted most sensitively to this was the King's mistress, Countess Rubina.
"Cesare, listen to me."
Countess Rubina grabbed her son and sat him down, singing Ariadne's praises to the courtiers.
"You are the one who will be King. as a spouse, it is helpful to meet someone with high moral character."
Cesare snorted.
"Mother, calm down. How can I become king when Alfonso is occupying his seat like that?"
"Again, being crooked again! Your father loves you!"
"Did he love me so much that he gave me the title of court noble without even a fief? Just as a Count!"
Bang!
Cesare set the glass of wine, which had he begun drinking just afternoon, on the table.
"Mother, wake up! Had father even thought of putting me in the throne, he would have made it official that I was of royal blood, not leaving me as Count de Como. Even if lightning strikes that damned castle right now and Alfonso and father die at the same time..."
He made the sign of the cross, as if he had any conscience, and continued his words.
"It is not me, the 12-year Bianca of Taranto, who has the right to inherit the Etruscan throne. Do you understand?"
Cesare quickly finished the remaining wine and growled wildly at his mother.
"Then stop talking nonsense. I'll choose my spouse."
Novellatte's Note:
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