Chapter 50 - < Owner Of The Red Rose >
Sister, I'm The Queen In This Life
A gorgeous bouquet of red roses was delivered to Cardinal de Mare's residence. It was in a dress. The dress was sent from the Collezioni wardrobe and arrived in Gabon before it arrived. It was written that it could be completed by basting it according to the size of the recipient.
Isabella, who found a hundred red roses, thought that it was definitely a gift for her. Isabella often received gifts from anonymous and named gentlemen. Today was another uneventful day, and the gifts from the gentleman arriving at Cardinal de Mare's residence were always for Isabella, so it was a reasonable guess.
Isabella rustled the fan in her hand and looked into the roses.
"Oh my, it's so pretty! You have noble tastes too! Which gentleman sent you this?"
When Isabella asked the obvious question, the servant in charge of mail gave a cautious answer, feeling an ominous premonition.
"This is a gift from Count Cesare de Como."
Isabella opened her eyes wide.
"Count Cesare? Oh my, why did he send me a gift? There was no particular point of contact."
"That is......."
"Put the roses in my room. I need to try the dress on now. Would you mind making a reservation for Gabon at Collezionie?"
Isabella, who was in a good mood, gave instructions to her servant for the first time in a long time in a request form rather than a command form. But that good feeling was quickly shattered and collapsed.
The servant in charge of receiving the mail closed his eyes tightly and shouted.
"I'm so sorry to ask you this, My Lady. This is a gift from the second Lady."
"What?!"
Pop!
Isabella broke the fan in her hand.
***
The actual owner of the rose gift that shattered Isabella's refreshing morning was not at all happy to receive it.
"You sent this to me?"
"Yes, second Lady."
He was a servant dedicated to receiving mail who had barely escaped Isabella's evil ways and successfully delivered mail to Ariadne. But despite his efforts, this difficult-to-deliver gift did not make Ariadne happy at all.
"Red rose, Ariadne, right?"
"Yes, second Lady. Here is your letter."
It was Count Cesare's letterhead decorated with silver leaf. When I opened the envelope sealed with red wax, she found a note written in very good cursive.
"From your debutante partner. It was an honor to dance the first waltz with you. Enclosed is an item suitable for a beauty resembling a red rose. - Count Cesare.
Ariadne laughed out loud because she was so dumbfounded.
"The lily of the valley resembles you. It seems like you are obedient and only aware of me."
This was what Cesare said as he picked a lily from the valley in the forest outside San Carlo and put it in her ear. Small white flowers. A flower with its head bowed. Flowers that bloom in the fields are picked for free. It feels like it was just yesterday that people were treated like that, but does treatment change this much just because the situation has changed?
Ariadne was angry. In this life, Cesare's anger ignored the fact that he had not yet done anything. Red roses were of the highest quality, carefully grown in flower gardens. They gathered a hundred pine trees and made a bouquet that was so heavy that it was difficult for a woman to lift it on her own. A bouquet of flowers cost 50 florins (about 500,000 won), which was more than enough.
'If you had paid even half as much attention to this in my past life, I would have lived my whole life serving you.'
In fact, she even criticized Cesare for investing too little. In the past life, all that Cesare gave her was lilies of the valley that bloomed in the field, but Ariadne served Cesare faithfully until the end.
Ariadne muttered that she had made an investment that was just right for its value and looked at another gift sent by Count Cesare.
"What is that again?"
"It's a dress. I heard it was sent from the Collezione clothing store."
A mail servant removed the cloth covering the costumed mannequin. A banquet dress made of blood-red crimson silk was revealed. As expected, not a single stitch was sloppy, in keeping with the reputation of the Collezioni clothing room. It was a masterpiece that was carefully and thoroughly worked on so that the patterns of each lace were visible as much as possible every time it was moved. The chest of the crimson silk dress was made of three layers. There was a thick outer layer of silk, a thin layer of silk overlapping like a tulip bud, and a layer of translucent organza arranged to cover the skin.
According to this design, even if the stitching of the clothes burst, the remaining two layers would cover it. It was a carefully considered design to ensure that no breast exposure accidents ever occur.
"I paid attention."
But that was it and this was this.
"Send it back."
"Yes?"
The mail servant looked at Ariadne with a devastated face. But Ariadne was adamant.
"I have nothing to do with him. I can't accept something this expensive. Besides, I have an appointment with Lazione's dressmaker, so I can't wear dresses made elsewhere for the time being. Explain it well to Count Cesare, and send the flowers and dress back."
"But My Lady! Roses are fresh flowers, so if you send them back, they will wither."
The servant added hastily.
"It's the same thing as sending out trash."
The servant explained at length why it was rude. On the outside, it was an education in etiquette, but on the inside, it was a plea:
'Please don't make me go back to the Count de Como with flowers. It was a public humiliation for a gentleman to have the flowers he sent rejected. The Count de Como had a foul temper and the Count's servants were famous for being rough, and if they failed to do harm to their master, they would usually take out their anger on the servant who was the messenger.'
Ariadne pondered for a moment about what to do with the items, taking into account the practical difficulties the servant had not been able to tell her openly, but still went ahead and did it.
"Okay, then just send the dress back. The dress can be sent directly to Collezione's dressing room, so there will be less burden on you, right? Put the roses outside."
"Isn't it the Lady's room?"
"Okay, put it somewhere out of my sight."
And Ariadne had more important business to attend to today. It was no time to worry about gifts from Cesare.
"Is the carriage ready?"
"Yes, Miss. Should I tell the coachman that you are coming down now?"
"Good."
Today was the day of the ladies' tea party invited by Julia de Baldesar. She was just as nervous as the day she went to the Cathedral of San Ercole to greet the Apostle of Acereto. Ariadne secretly wiped the sweat from her palms on her dress.
***
"It is an honor to visit the Marquis de Baldessar, Lady de Mare."
Marquis's servant bowed politely to her. Ariadne received the greeting with a smile that made her attempt to appear elegant.
"Please go inside, Lady de Mare. Lady Julia is waiting in the drawing room."
Ariadne's title today was not 'Little Lady de Mare'. Isabella was not invited, because she was the only Lady de Mare. Ariadne was wearing a modest light green going-out dress, and on her head was a net head covering studded with green topaz the size of half a little fingernail. She looked well-groomed, taking care not to let anyone hear that the only member of the de Mare family was unsophisticated.
When Ariadne, wearing her green dress, entered the drawing room of the House of Baldesar, the eyes of the girls who had gathered before her all turned to Ariadne. Some looked favorably, some were curious, and some looked up and down as if evaluating.
As if to block that gaze with her body, today's host, Julia de Baldesar, jumped up from her seat and approached Ariadne.
"Lady de Mare!"
Julia held Ariadne's hand.
"I'm glad you came. I was waiting."
Ariadne responded to Julia's favor with a bright smile.
"Thank you for inviting me."
"Lady de Mare, there are some unfamiliar faces, right? Let me introduce you."
Today, four or five young ladies gathered at Julia de Baldesar's tea party. The Lady of Count Rinaldi, a brown-haired woman with a sense of justice, the Lady of Count Dellatorre, who had a prosperous estate in the northern Etruscan region, and the Lady of Viscount Elba, whose father was a famous lawyer, were relatively unfamiliar faces.
"No, Lady Julia."
Ariadne smiled brightly and returned Julia's favor.
"Lady Cornelia..."
First, Ariadne looked at the Lady of Count Rinaldi and offered to shake her hand.
"And I saw Lasy Gabriele once at the Debutante Ball."
The second person to greet me was Gabriele Dellatorre. The two ladies seemed proud of the fact that Ariadne, the most talked-about person in San Carlo, whom they had only met once, remembered their names.
It was her first time meeting the last one, the Lady of Viscount Elba, so she had a friendly chat with Julia's help. There was also a somewhat unexpectedly familiar face there. It was Camellia de Castiglione.
"It is a pleasure to see you again, Lady de Mare."
Camellia was Isabella's friend, to be specific, but she was good at bickering and being sociable, so she had a wide grasp on everything. Above all, she was the type of person who was good at gossiping, so she was always invited to other girls' parties. She had a crush on Julia and Isabella, but she didn't seem to have any intention of cutting everyone off just because she was close to Isabella.
Ariadne held back her sorrowful heart. Of course, it's worth it. She is only invited here for the first time today.
"Nice to meet you, Lady Cammelia de Castiglione."
Ariadne did not show any signs of displeasure and greeted Camellia with a smiling face. The girls' social world was just beginning.
***
At a gathering of many teenage girls, the topic of men was an inevitable topic.
"I heard that Gabriele was talking about marriage this time!"
Lady Dellatorre smiled and spoke
humbly.
"Marriage talk is just a suggestion. I have to go to find out whether it works or not."
"But I heard that the man is the eldest son of the Marquis of Montefeltro."
The Marquis of Montefeltro was a very old, prestigious family and old nobleman with a large estate in central Etruscan. In the Etruscan world, where primogeniture was the rule, marrying the eldest son of the Marquis of Montefeltro meant becoming the Marchioness of Montefeltro if there were no problems.
"Gabrielle's family, the Count Delatorre family, is also a great noble family in the north, so it will be a blessed union between the old noble families."
Among the girls except Ariadne, Julia, who had the sharpest political insight, predicted the degree of possibility of success. If the level and interests of the families were aligned, marriage talks usually led to marriage.
"I'm so jealous."
Felicite, the daughter of the Viscountess of Elba, cast innocent envy at Gabriele. Her father's inherited fiefdom was nothing special, but he moved to the capital and rose to prominence through his talent. If we were to be honest, he was closer to a court noble than a feudal lord. Naturally, she had an admiration for the old nobility. It was the dream of most daughters of new nobles to marry an old nobleman who owned a large estate and become his mistress at the pinnacle of the existing ruling order. But Gabriele Dellatorre smiled bitterly.
"Well. It would be a kind of happiness to rule a magnificent territory, but will I be happy forever with just that."
Petruccio, the eldest son of the Marquis of Montefeltro, had a widowed wife. He was already in his 30s and had an eldest son who was less than ten years old and a second daughter who was still young.
Petruchio de Montefeltro, known for his serious and thoughtful personality, was the perfect man to marry, but it seemed a bit odd to be a choice that perfectly suited the happiness that a girl in her late teens dreamed of.
It was a story that Julia de Baldesar could fully agree with. Does a man really have to be of high status? Why not just get along well with someone who is good-looking and kind? But she soon sighed and told a story that caught both her and Gabrielle.
"Love is just a fleeting joy that passes for a moment."
It was an uncharacteristic story told in a teenager's assertive tone. But Julia, who tried to speak next, became speechless. Instead of the burning fever of love, her mother talked about the tranquility of everyday life and the happiness that blooms in a happy family, but such calm stories did not resonate at all with Julia, who was still at a boiling age.
Fortunately, Felicite did the talking for Ariadne.
"Still, if you become a Marchioness and enter the ball in San Carlo, won't you feel it? Everyone will only look at Lady. I hope so, Gabriele!"
"I know, right. I'm so jealous that things are going smoothly."
This time it was Camellia who sighed.
"Why, Camellia? Camellia has a fiancé, Sir Ottavio, so what are you worried about?"
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