Countess Marques and Viscountess Cibo looked surprised at Ariadne's sudden prostration, but Queen Margaret was as calm as she was, so they were not disturbed at all.
"Why on earth are you refusing that treasure?"
"Well... Isn't it the family's honor?"
"Yes. This is a treasure worthy of becoming an heirloom."
However, compared to the Viscountess Cibo, who was completely confused, the Countess of Marquez seemed to have caught a hint. Eliminating her presence as much as possible and leaving the two whispering ladies behind, Ariadne made an earnest request to Queen Margaret with her prostate.
"An unworthy treasure harms it owner. I didn't have accessories to match the clothes I'm wearing today, so I wore a flower instead of a hair ointment. I don't even have the ability to keep these extravagant things! Your Majesty the Queen, please have pity on me!"
The corners of Queen Margaret's mouth were firmly shut.
"Ariadne de Mare, I know why you do it."
The Queen looked at Ariadne with pity for her, but the cold expression on her dace did not disappear.
"But this is the order of His Majesty the King. I can't help either."
She got down from the Queen's chair, lifted Ariadne from her knees and placed in Ariadne's hands an ebony jewelry box containing the ' Heart of the Blue Sea.' The Queen's support and the ' Heart of the Blue Sea' would have been the family's honor and the highest honor to some, but to Ariadne now, they were like a threat of life. She was just plain blue.
"Don't say anything like that. The ' Heart of the Blue Sea' is certainly the valuable a treasure for you to possess. However, this is too big for anyone to have anyway. except for His Majesty the King. There will be many people looking for this. Do you want to balance them out? If you are not capable of protecting the ' Heart of the Blue Sea.' alone, have several people aim for the ' Heart of the Blue Sea' at the same time. It's not easy, but there's no other way."
Ariadne bowed her head. Her head was perfectly polite, but with an honest heart, she wanted to exclaim, 'If possible, Her Majesty the Queen herself would do it!'
However, objectively, Queen Margaret was right that she was doing Ariadne a favor that went beyond what she was supposed to do. Strictly speaking, she had no duty to accept Ariadne's refusal to receive the 'Heart of the Blue Sea', which in a way was equivalent to using a group. There was even less, and there was no obligation to share valuable advice. And in fact, in the present situation, unless Leo III changed his mind, he had no recourse beyond Queen Margaret's advice.
Ariadne decided to expect the Queen who had been kind to her to be kind a little more. She lifted her head as pitifully as possible, met Queen's Margaret's blue-grey eyes, and asked earnestly.
"If you insist, Your Majesty. But, is it okay for the girl like me to offer just one request?"
'Please, please say yes!'
The Queen cast her eyelashes thickly and looked down toward the floor for a moment, then looked back at Ariadne squarely with a little curiosity. Ariadne shrewdly judged that what appeared in Queen Margaret's eyes was her faint sign of consent. She jumped up and went straight to the Queen and whispered a few things into her ear. Upon hearing this, Queen Margaret nodded her head once with a thin smile on her lips.
"It's not even a request I won't listen to."
'Done!'
While Ariadne was keeping her bliss hidden from the outside, the Queen added a word.
"Besides, I've already prepared a similar 'gift' for you."
The Queen frowned at Ariadne.
"But, aren't there two request instead of one?"
Ariadne didn't have anything to answer, so she just smiled. Then, the atmosphere in the drawing room, which had been tense, suddenly relaxed. The Countess of Marquez and the Viscountess of Cibo, who were watching from behind with wide eyes, laughed out loud, and the Queen's Gallico ladies-in-waiting followed suit.
"It seems that Her Majesty the Queen treats this young lady to well."
The Countess of Marquez, laughing out loud, complained to the Queen in a half whining tone. The Queen smiled comfortably and lightly reprimanded Countess Marquez.
"You look half fifty years younger than me. You're young and cute, so I'm going to fall in love with you."
"it's like watching Her Majesty's childhood."
"Clever and well-behaved really are the same thing."
The Queen's Gallico ladies-in-waiting laughed and added. The Queen replied with a smile.
"After hearing the story, I think it is. This child should be different from me."
At that word from the Queen, the atmosphere in the living room, where everyone was laughing cheerfully, sank once more.
***
Ariadne returned with the Queen's bounty. The ebony wood jewelry box containing the 'Heart of the Blue Sea' was as tall as Ariadne's forearm, and its width and depth were only slightly shorter than Ariadne's arms stretched out, making it too large for Ariadne, who is tall for her age.
However, this item was too expensive to entrust to others. In the end, Ariadne was able to return home with the 'Heart of the Blue Sea' as if she was carrying a chest rather than a jewelry box.
"Ariadne, open it!"
Arabella was eager to take a look at the most expensive, biggest and best new thing in the house today. 'Heart of the Blue Sea was a legendary jewel that had been rumored throughout the Kingdom years ago, and if she could see it just once, she would be able to brag about it to her friends. On the other hands, Lucrezia and Isabella were interested in the more realistic part. If it was something like 'Heart of the Blue Sea', it wasn't something they could have just by looking at it. But what if it was a small accessory or a gold coin given by the Queen?
"What are you doing by opening a big box? A thief!"
Lucrezia scolded Arabella. Ariadne agreed with this a hundred times.
"Show me Her Majesty's jewelry box that you got today."
Isabella clung to Ariadne and pretended to be friendly. It was a particularly close physical distance than usual. Before Ariadne could speak her inconveniently, Isabella swiftly carried Her Majesty's trinket box with her slender white arms and set it on the nearby table.
Kung!
It wasn't heavy as the ebony box dedicated to the 'Heart of the Blue Sea', but the 3-tiered Her Majesty's accessory box was also quite heavy. Isabella rolled her eyes and she quickly tossed the lid open.
'Ah, it's dazzling!'
As soon as Isabella opened the lid, the reflected light squinted her eyes. All sort of fine jewelry ranging from five parts to one carat were filling the velvet-lined box.
"This is so pretty!"
Isabella snatched the most notable topaz earring from the top shelf of the trinket box. The earrings were cushion-cut 1 carat yellow topaz and inserted into a frame inlaid with golden twigs. The main topaz was yellow, but the small decorations neatly set into the branches were sparkling amethysts.
"Mom, don't these look very similar to my eye color?"
"It looks like it was made for you, Isabella!"
Isabella went beyond trying on an earring and tried to remove the earring she was wearing and put it on her ear.
"Ariadne, give this to me. It suits me so much. If I can't get it in my ear, the earrings will be sad too. Gold should look good with blonde hair."
Isabella, who had been whining about the earrings not coming off easily, gave up on taking it off without looking, and took a closer look at the earring in annoyance.
"Why don't you share this with me!"
A very small intaglio was engraved very delicately on the earring. Ariadne calmly refused Isabella, who became angry with her.
"Sister, I really want to give it to you, but unfortunately I can't."
"What?"
Isabella glared at Ariadne with her left eyebrow raised. 'How dare you?' It was the same attitude, Suddenly, the atmosphere calmed down and the air became chilly. Isabella threatened Ariadne with her voice suppressed.
"Did you say no because you don't want to give it?"
"It's really not like that."
Ariadne smiled mildly and took the earring that Isabella had been struggling with and took it off. When she removed the earrings, the full intaglio became visible.
From MDB, to ARI.
It was the initial of the first letter of 'Margaret de Brian', the maiden name of Queen Margaret, and the first three letter of Ariadne's name. It was unusual to have only a first name without a last name.
"Because it was a gift from Her Majesty the Queen, Her Majesty engraved initials on all the accessories and handed them down. So.... If the ownership of these trinkets changes for reasons other tan inheritance, you will be punished for contempt of royalty."
Ariadne kindly explained it as if it was really difficult.
"I cannot give it to others."
And she drove a wedge into Isabella, who could have picked up the trinket in another wat, even if Ariadne didn't give it voluntarily.
"If you steal it, you will be severely punished."
Ariadne grabbed the other earrings from Isabella's hand and snatched it away. Isabella was helpless and had her golden earrings taken from her hand. Ariadne put the two earrings together and put them back in their original places in the jewelry box. Ariadne closed the lid of the jewelry box with a snap.
"I ask for your understanding, sister."
Isabelle was staring at Ariadne with her violet eyes wide open, still unpredictable. But Ariadne didn't mind, picked up her trinket box, turned her body around, and walked briskly toward her room.
'Besides, I've already prepared a similar 'gift' for you.'
This was a thoughtful 'gift' prepared for Ariadne by Queen Margaret, and Isabella didn't even notice what was the most serious. Ariadne quietly held the silk ribbon the color of zelkova leaf in her hand, which she had pulled from her hair and put into her bosom.
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