Chapter 49 < Status Gap >
Sister, I'm The Queen In This Life
Of course, it was Lucrezia who responded most positively to her daughter's claim of innocence. Isabella made the most of the fact that her mother was listening to her arguments and that no one in her family had seen the scene in question.
"It was my fault for not stopping her. But I really didn't do it!"
Lucrezia felt sorry for her crying eldest daughter and passionately took Isabella's side.
"Your Eminence, since you heard this somewhere, do you trust such a story more than your own daughter's words? Don't you feel sorry for the baby crying?!"
Isabella cried like a baby in Lucrezia's arms. Thanks to Isabella's passionate performance and Lucrezia's support, the atmosphere at dinner was turning into a question of whether we should trust Isabella, who was stretching out in tears, at least once.
Meanwhile, no one in his family could even touch the grand dinner that had been prepared. As the risotto made with seafood stew and truffle was cooling down, Arabella, who was so hungry, secretly reached for the chicken leg dumplings and ended up touching the plate of seafood stew with her arm.
Clink!
The plate of seafood stew was knocked over. Red tomato seafood stew splashed all over Arabella's dress and the white tablecloth.
Cardinal de Mare was annoyed with Arabella.
"You can't do anything! I have no appetite, no appetite! No way!"
He loudly threw his fork and knife on the table and got up from the dinner table, eating only the bread soaked in olive oil.
The atmosphere was shit, Lucrezia screamed at the reluctant Arabella.
"Your father went in because of you! It's my favorite tablecloth, but you ruined it!"
And Lucrezia also took the crying Isabella and went into her inner room. Ariadne consoled the timid Arabella with a simple word, her neck buried between her shoulders like a turtle.
"It's not your fault."
Ariadne nodded and answered Arabella, who was looking at her with wide eyes.
"Really."
Ariadne briefly wiped Arabella, who was covered in tomato soup, with a napkin and gave brief orders to the servants who were looking at the cold food.
"Bring the next dish."
It was a fool's errand to allow such things to affect her heart. The more difficult times were, the more she had to eat well, rest well, and recharge for the future.
"You too, eat all of this and go up. Don't miss the meat that comes out later and chew it thoroughly."
These were the words Ariadne said as she pushed a bowl of food to Arabella. Arabella did as she was told and obediently put the chicken breast dumpling in her mouth and looked at Ariadne while mumbling.
Contrary to what she had told Arabella, Ariadne had not even touched her meal except for some tomatoes in her Caprese salad.
"Ari, don't you eat?"
"I ate lunch late."
Ariadne answered calmly with a straight smile. Her hands were shaking a little, but she was okay.
***
Isabella, who entered her mother's inner room crying, was finally able to open up her heart.
"Mom, do you know what that crazy girl Ariadne said to me?"
"What? What does she say to you?"
Lucrezia, who heard that a rolling stone had touched her jewels, became furious even before the main point could be said.
"What on earth did that damn bitch say?"
"Well, Mom, she said he was going to soak me!"
Lucrezia paused. She was fully motivated to counter whatever Isabella said, but she wondered if she had misheard what she had just heard.
"Soak it?"
"That's right!"
"I'm strong-willed, I'm courageous, etc. I didn't hear something wrong, right?"
Lucrezia asked cautiously.
"That quiet, sullen kid said that swear word?"
Isabella got angry.
"Mom, don't you trust me too? She said she was going to soak me like that. Sh say be careful on the road at night!"
Lucrezia had never seen Ariadne swear. Her second daughter, whom she brought in from outside, didn't say the usual 'damn 'even once. It was something she remembered because it was so unusual for a child who was born from her maid's womb and grew up on a farm attached to her country estate.
'Well, the mother was calm too.'
Isabella became irritated when even her mother did not believe her. Even when she lies, everyone believes her, and now even though she is only telling the truth, her own mother does not believe her!
"Mom, you really don't believe me?! What's wrong with your expression? That damned bitch really did that!"
"No, no, of course, mom believes in you, Isabella. You must have been really upset."
Lucrezia belatedly comforted her beloved eldest daughter, but Isabella had already realized that her mother had no soul.
"Ahh! It's annoying! Damn girl, I won't leave her alone! I hate my mom too!"
***
Isabella was not the only one who had to spend time with her unsatisfactory mother. Alfonso, who returned home to the palace after Ariadne's ball, swallowed his saliva when he heard that Queen Margaret was calling him.
It's coming. The Princess of Gallico and that he should be careful of his behavior. Nevertheless, he attends another girl's debutante ball without his mother's knowledge, and tries to become her debutante partner, but fails to become her partner and almost gets into a fight with the ladies, and the entire scene is witnessed by his mother's closest associate, Count Marquez.
He couldn't even guess what kind of displeasure his mother would make today if she saw it. Is she going to yell at him? Will she shed tears?
Alfonso could tolerate her mother's yelling, but he hated her mother's tears. She had a hard time. His guilt for having made her mother so sad, and was he so wrong? His feelings of rebellion and self-censorship intertwined at the same time were difficult to bear.
Contemplating what awaited him, Prince Alfonso reluctantly entered his mother's palace, following the Queen's attendant who had brought the message.
After a long corridor and a few rooms, he removed the frugal twill drapery and entered her mother's boudoir, where Queen Margaret was waiting for him, seated in her single armchair. Queen Margaret, who gets very cold, was already heating her fireplace. Every time the embers in the fireplace flickered, Queen Marguerite's shadow danced dizzyingly.
"Oh, Mother. Did you call me?"
"Okay, sit down."
Queen Margaret closed the report she was reading, placed it on the nightstand next to her, and looked at her son.
"You went to the debutante ball of Cardinal de Mare's second daughter." "
It's Ariadne. Mother knows her name too."
Queen Margaret frowned at her stubborn son's defiance but corrected the title.
"Okay. Ariadne."
She picked up the report lying on the nightstand and handed it to her son. Prince Alfonso skimmed over its contents.
"It's a report about the Grand Duke of Valoa from Gallico and his daughter."
"Right. Lariesa de Valoa."
"As for your fiancé, we are currently discussing marriage."
In order to preserve the nobility of the lineage, it was customary for royal families to meet royal families from neighboring countries and marry royal families, but church law prohibited marriages within the 6th degree of consanguinity.
Because Queen Margaret was a Princess of the Kingdom of Gallico, Prince Alfonso became a maternal cousin to the current King of the Kingdom of Gallico and his younger sister, the Princess. Naturally, he was unable to marry Princess Auguste of Gallico due to the prohibition of incestuous marriage in church law. So, the girl of the most noble lineage that can currently be presented in the Kingdom of Gallico was Princess Lariesa, the second daughter of the Grand Duke of Valoa and the 8th cousin of the current King Philip IV.
Prince Alfonso placed his unread report on the nightstand next to him. He didn't even want to read it.
"So?"
"A diplomatic envoy from the Kingdom of Gallico is scheduled to visit San Carlo next month. We will discuss specific details about your marriage."
Margaret stared at her son.
"What happened yesterday is in the past, I can bury it. However, while the envoy from the Kingdom of Gallico is here, you must behave absolutely neatly and do not let anyone say that you are close to a certain Lady of a certain house."
A look of regret flashed across Prince Alfonso's face at his mother's firm words.
"Mother, Ariadne is not just a certain Lady from a certain family."
The Queen's face became stern.
"So, you're saying you're going to marry her? There is clearly a gap in status. To be born, to be a Cardinal's child. After all, she is the child of a Cardinal, so even if she is an illegitimate child, it doesn't really matter. At the very least, if it were the Emperor's illegitimate child, it would be possible to marry her even if he had to close his eyes tightly. But that's not it, a Cardinal's illegitimate son and a Prince, that's not it. It is impossible in this life."
Queen Margaret firmly reminded her son of his situation.
"You are not of a status where you can run away at night with a random woman just because you like it. You are the only heir to the throne of the Etruscan Kingdom. Let's end it now before it gets too serious."
When her son seemed hesitant, she pressed him.
"If you drag it out any longer, you will end up causing trouble to the other Lady. The other girl also has a reputation and marriage potential. If you miss the right time to get married because you are obsessed with someone who doesn't even have a chance of happening, you will be making Ariadne a big mistake."
This time, a look of confusion appeared on Alfonso's face. That point was something the Prince had never thought about. Queen Margaret paused for a moment and then added in an angry tone.
"No more escorting to official events and sending and receiving letters. It is a nuisance for the other person to be seen by others when they are together, and it is also a great disrespect to torture their hopes. Behave like a gentleman."
***
One faced his mother's stubborn opposition to Ariadne, but the other had his mother's full support. The problem here was that he couldn't win the woman's heart.
"Ottavio, What method do you use to attract a woman who doesn't like you?"
Ottavio de Contarini looked at Cesare de Como with an expression that made him look at every strange person.
"Why, you, the capital's libertine, are asking me how to seduce women? How should I know what you don't know about women?"
Cesare picked up the match he was playing with and threw it into the trash can.
"I have never seduced a woman. The woman always followed first."
It was an unlucky statement, but it was true. Cesare de Como was the most popular man in San Carlo. Who said young women are shy? She received a flood of love letters and gifts from young ladies on a daily basis.
Cesare has set various records that repeatedly shattered the confidence of Ottavio de Contarini, who was watching everything in real-time from the side. In response to Cesare's question, in which the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, and he goes out of his way to attack Ottavio with facts, Ottavio places his hand on his forehead.
Cesare looked at Ottavio calmly and weakly.
"Why, do you think I saw something I shouldn't have seen?"
Ottavio glared at Cesare as if he were dumbfounded, as he muttered, "What should I do if it's true?" But he soon squeezed out his middle finger for his friend.
"If you're not sure, why not try the basics first? There is no woman who doesn't like flowers. If you just show up with flowers, they might say it's insincere and they don't like it. So send a gift along with flowers."
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