But Countess Rubina was no an easygoing person. If her son was ferocious as a wolf, the countess was like a great lake descending a mountain. She hit the wine glass her son and set down roughly on her table with the blade of her hand and blew it off the table.
Clink!
The glass fell on the marble floor and shattered with a loud bang. She stepped on the wreckage of the glass, stood up, and slammed her son in the face.
"The guy who borrowed my boat dares to shout at his mother."
They were so close that the downy hairs touched each other, so he could feel their body temperature and the sound of their breathing. At her motionless Cesare, Countess Rubina slashed roughly.
"You will be the King. Don't say you can't. If it doesn't work, it should be done, stupid!"
Countess Rubina, who stood up, started circling around the drawing room, tapping her shoes.
"There is a story that His Majesty will bestow the 'Heart of the Blue Sea' on that child. 'Heart of the Blue Sea'! Do you know why this mother wanted it?"
"I know, I know. Mother's astrologer..."
"Stop your sarcastic tone!"
Countess Rubina turned to her son with great anger.
"They said that the one with 'Heart of the Blue Sea' would become the king."
Her eyes were filled with conviction, as if possesses by something.
"I was the one who prophesied that I would become the King's wife and that you would be the son. Therefore..."
Approaching her son, she pressed her fingers against his chest. Cesare's upper body was pushed behind by the force.
"It's all for you. Bring me the 'Heart of the Blue Sea'."
***
The King's bounty was supposed to be delivered to the Queen at the palace. As it is a gift from the King, in principle, it should be given by the King, but due to the schedule of King Leo III, who had an urgent meeting, Queen Margaret decided to give it instead. Lurezia, who had been severely humiliated by Queen Margaret last time, had to hear an additional voice from Cardinal de Mare about Aridne's who's defeat the Apostle of Aseretto.
"All San Carlo saw it. The kid has nothing to wear, so she's laggy!"
"Honey, I gave her everything I had to give her! I even gave her gold earrings!"
"Why is the title like that? You've painted my face and now I can hear 'Honey' and 'You'? No, so, are you saying that the things you put in Ariadne right now were proud to be seen by others?"
The two talked tensely. It must have been quite unfair from Lucrezia's point of view, but in the end, Cardinal de Mare even asked to open Ariadne's closet, so they all went up to the attic on the third floor and opened his second daughter's shabby wardrobe, and Lucrezia confessed her mistake in front of the Cardinal. She had no choice but to admit it.
There were only three sets of clothes hanging in Ariadne's closet. One cream-colored outwear worn to the Queen's Mass, one black outwear worn in the San Ercole Cathedral, and the last one was an indoor dress that could be not worn outside. Except fir the shoes she wore on the farm, she only had a pair of children's shoes with round toes. Ariadne wore these shoes in the backyard, at the Mass, and in the palace.
"Oh, my head!"
When he opened the closet, Cardinal de Mare touched his forehead and Lucrezia become dumb from drinking honey. If I answered here, there was no doubt that the question of how to spend living expenses would come up.
"I don't know where the hell you spend your money. Ariadne almost met the Queen twice in the same dress. At any time, no matter who looks into this child's life, don't let anyone say that Ariadne can't eat or wear proper dress in our house."
This is how Ariadne come across a luxurious newspaper called the dressmaker for the first time after returning.
***
"You're young, but your limbs are really long."
Behind the street of high-end clothing stores along the Tiber River, the high-quality dressmaker Lucrezia traded was well hidden. The Lazione dressmaker's price is good compared to the workmanship, so Lucrezia used it when dressing up Arabella's growing clothes. Today, Madame Marini of Lazione's dressmaker came to de Cardinal de Mare's residence to take Ariadne's measurements and discuss how to match her summer and autumn outfits.
"It will grow up soon. Not just the height, but also chest pain and other places."
Madame Marini winked at Ariadne. Ariadne frowned a little.
"Shall we dig some decolette? I know you haven't debuted yet, but your body will be soon be like a young lady. It was too big now to fit like a child."
Ordinarily, a mother would sit down and give meticulous instructions on how to fit an adolescent girl's clothes, but Ariadne was alone with Sancha. After being severely scolded by Cardinal de Mare for Ariadne's wardrobe problem, Lucrezia said that even if she were present, Lucrezia would be upset, and ordered as many kinds of summer outings as possible at the Lazione dressmaker's shop for 5 ducato. She asked to make autumn streetwear, and left the whole volume without even looking at it. so, instead of her mother making a fuss about what to do with her still child's decolette, Ariadne herself had to dissuade her dressmaker.
"Nothing like that. Raise the collar as much as possible and don't dig deep around the neckline."
After returning, Ariadne was a bit dissatisfied with Lucrezia's various scolding, but the only part where Ariadne and Lucrezia's interest coincided was eating. Lucrezia did not properly feed Ariadne when Cardinal de Mare was out a sight. But Ariadne had no complaints about it.
"They say you're too big to hug a man. Your breast are so big and saggy that they thought you were a cow."
Before returning, Ariadne was tall and slender with skeleton. But she always seemed to have got her physique and carried her own body around, She didn't want to look gigantic next to Cesare, who was tall and slim.
Ariadne in this life desperately ate less. She never wanted to grow up. She wanted to be small and delicate, like the diminutive Isabella that could fit into Cesare's arms. And it was disgusting to see her body exposed. Ariadne hoped that she would never let other people's eyes glance at her.
"I hope it doesn't stand out too much. Don't stick to it or make it exposed, but cover it up as much as possible by holding it wide enough."
Madame Marini didn't seem to understand Ariadne's spell.
"Yeah? No, I understand what the young lady is worried about."
As she took Ariadne's measurements, she loosened the draped cloth and showed it to Ariadne in front of the mirror.
"Basically you have volume. There will be more in the future. But if you wear the top abundantly. Look at this, on the contrary, it looks richer, doesn't it?"
Conversely, she held the draped fabric tightly behind her back to show off her silhouette.
"If you wear it close like this, it will make you look slimmer while keeping your contours tight. The same goes for wanting the ribcage to go unnoticed. It is better to press if firmly with a thicker cloth so that the contours of the breast are not noticeable."
Looking at it with her own eyes, the expert's story was indeed accurate. It was embarrassing to insist on any longer. Ariadne decided to adjust her dress as Madame Marini advised her, but to put her cotton cloth around her breasts and press the volume around her breasts once more.
***
In the end, what Ariadne had in her hands was a bright light green street dress, a lovely yellow street dress, and an elegant white dress. The shoemaker decided to send the shoes right away. In addition, a few sundry indoor clothes added, and the rest were to be prepared until fall, On her way to an audience with Her Majesty today, she wore a white dress. made in Etruscan Kingdom, thick satin fabric with a subtle sheen in neatly cut to create an elegant feel with less exposure. It didn't look like the clothes of a young lady at all.
"Oh my God, no one will notice, Lady!"
It was Sancha's exclamation as she styled Ariadne's hair. Ariadne frowned and smiled.
"Is it that bad?"
"It wasn't without that aspect."
Ariadne hit Sancha on the shoulder. Sancha stuck out his tongue.
"Ah, a compliment! It's pretty!"
Sancha sighed a little in regret as she braided Ariadne's hair and put it up in a half-up.
"But, My Lady is also this young so it would be nice to decorate it in a more cute and fancy shape."
Ariadne was disgusted.
"I don't like that. Don't even think about trying."
Sancha gave Ariadne a sinister smile. Since the only accessories she had were Lucrezia's gold earrings and silver cross necklace, Sancha found a fresh flower and put it in Ariadne's hair. It was a white lisianthus in season. She made a small bouquet with the same flowers, tied it with a ribbon, and wore it around her wrist, so it was a very suitable outfit without accessories.
"Come on, let's go see the Queen."
***
Cardinal de Mare took her to the palace, but Ariadne alone entered the audience with the Queen. It was inappropriate for Cardinal de Mare to enter, partly because the Queen's audience was to be held in a small parlor reserved only for women, and partly because Cardinal de Mare had other appointment at the palace. But above all, Cardinal de Mare lacked the will to take care of his second daughter.
"Don't cause trouble and stay calm."
It was Cardinal de Mare's request to drop Ariadne off at the entrance of the Queen's palace. Araidne was dumbfounded and laughed.
"It's fine, father."
Does her father think that she is a walking powder keg? However, children often have times when their parents know their character better than they do themselves. Ariadne was to wait in the waiting room at the front of palace until it was time for Her Majesty's audience. However, when he looked at herself reflected in the glass mirror decorated on the wall, she found that she had no ornaments that she wore fresh flower abundantly, but the lisianthus was not a large flower, so there was a limit to its splendor.
'They must be growing peonies in the backyard of the Queen's palace.'
It was white from head to toe, so adding a single pink peony would make it much lively and stand out. There was more than an hour and a half left before Her Majesty's audience. Ariadne knew the Queen's palace like looking into the palm of her hand. Once inside the palace, there were no guards to block the entry and exit, and the time was more than enough to make a quick trip to the garden. Ariadne lifted her skirt slightly, look around like a squirrel, and then sneaked out of the waiting room.
***
The quickest way to the backyard of the Queen's Palace was to walk along the Central Corridor, but through the abandoned fountains one could enter the backyard unnoticed. Ariadne moved swiftly across the abandoned fountain toward the backyard. This was originally the most remote place. The chance of encountering a person is the lowest here.
"Ariadne?"
However, probability and reality are different.
"Who?"
There was only one person at the Palaggio Carlo who could call her by name, Prince Alfonso. But Ariadne looked around and saw no one nearby.
"Here, upstairs."
Through the backlight, the silhoutee of a man sitting on a zelkova tree was reflected.
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