Chapter 59 - Lucrezia's Injustice
Sister, I'm The Queen In This Life
Cardinal de Mare glanced towards Zanobi.
"Today, at the hunting ground, in front of His Majesty the King, all of San Carlo, and even foreigners, I heard that you favored your own nephew, Zanobi, over Ariadne, who should be my child and yours, and my thoughts began to grow."
Cardinal de Mare flung his hands in the air theatrically.
"Isn't that just a story that other people might think of? 'Cardinal de Mare is a complete idiot.' My wife is a woman whose family life is more important than the Cardinal's family, and I have cherished you without leaving any other mistresses"
Lucrezia was trembling from exhaustion. Isabella was so frightened that she cried out as if she was holding her breath, and only Zanobi was so deep in his misfortune that he couldn't tell what she was talking about.
"I plan to cut off all aid to the de Rossi family from now on."
Cardinal de Mare looked at Lucrezia with deep green eyes
"What is this guy talking about? Now you're thinking, I couldn't send money to my parents' house anyway."
Lucrezia flinched as if she had hit the nail on the head and looked at the floor again.
"I knew you were sending me to the de Rossi family for playing a prank. If I tried to dig into it one by one, it would only end up looking funny, so I just thought it was cute and passed on it. But it's over now. For these ungrateful creatures, not even one ducato, or even one florin, is worth my money"
Cardinal de Mare turned to Ariadne. Ariadne, who was enjoying being out of the spotlight, was startled and quickly lowered her head.
"Father."
"Ariadne."
He looked at his second daughter for a moment and then finished speaking to Lucrezia.
"Ariadne will be examining your ledger from now on. After you carefully fill out the household account book, take it to Ariadne once a week and have her inspect it."
Lucrezia's expression distorted. This was not only humiliating, but it also made it difficult for Lucrezia to wield her power as the unrivaled housewife in this family. If Ariadne noticed anything unusual about her spending, she would immediately report it to Cardinal de Mare. Nowadays, she cannot spend money as she wishes, and she can only do so If she has a legitimate cause.
"Ariadne. As for your mother, if you see anything suspicious in the ledger, check it out and bring it to me. I cannot bear even a single potato or cabbage going to the Rossi family."
He guessed for a moment and then added.
"Probably at least 20 ducato (about 20 million won) per month is going to de Rossi. Get that much per month. I have to stop it."
Ariadne bowed her head politely but forcefully.
"Yes, father,"
Cardinal de Mare spoke to Zanobi, who was kneeling in a corner with his limbs bound.
"You must tell this story to your parents, grandfather, and grandmother without leaving out a single word. This is what happened because you fired a crossbow at Cardinal de Mare's daughter without even knowing what to do. The reason the de Rossi family all starved to death was because of Zanobi de Rossi."
While Zanobi was shaking his limbs, Cardinal de Mare motioned to butler Nicolo.
"Go out."
"Yes, Your Eminence!"
The men rushed out, dragging Zanobi away. The plan was to drag him to the north cellar, where the prisoners in the house were kept and cut off the tendons of his limbs. Zanobi was dragged like a dog and a pig to the northern basement.
The servants of the Demare family, whom he thought was beneath him, approached him with a glint in their eyes and a large knife used for slaughtering livestock.
"Oh, no! Don't come any closer!"
Even when Cardinal de Mare told him to cut off the tendons of his limbs, Zanobi thought, 'No way, he'll cut them off.' But when he saw the butcher knife, he finally came to a sense of reality.
But no matter how desperately he screamed, there was no answer. Overwhelming force attacked him, and the butcher knife tore his shoulder tendon and Achilles tendon, in that order.
“Aaaah!”
It was the moment when a person who clumsily tried to use personal violence succumbed to the violence of the group. The oppression of a stronger man ended his future.
***
After Zanobi was dragged out, a howling sound like a pig being cut off was heard from the basement four times at regular intervals. When Lucrezia heard her nephew's screams, she turned blue and was unable to say anything. Cardinal de Mare spoke to her affectionately and indifferently.
"Honey. I think it's a good excuse to be free from leeches."
And he quickly left Lucrezia's drawing room. Cardinal de Mare's non-consolation seemed to be of no consolation to her at all. Lucrezia couldn't believe this and wrapped her arms around her knees, shaking her body like an aspen.
Ariadne thought she had done all she had to do and that there was no need for her to sit any longer, so she nodded and stood up to leave the room. At that time, the screamed in a tearing voice as if Lucrezia was possessed.
"You! A haunted bitch! Nothing has been going well since you came!"
If she had been a ghost in her past life, Ariadne would have been possessed by a ghost. Lucrezia always had an animal sense that instinctively approached the truth.
Ariadne answered expressionlessly.
"Mother. The ledger inspection will begin next week. It will take some time to get ready, so I'll see you on Friday."
"Aaaaaah! You stand there! Tear to death bitch!"
Despite Lucrezia's orders, Ariadne did not hesitate. Without hesitation, she held her head high and left Lucrezia's drawing room.
Isabella sat next to her mother and glared at Ariadne as she trembled, but there was nothing that Lucrezia and Isabella could do at this moment. Ariadne was smiling faintly. She no longer had to ask Lucrezia's permission to leave her room, and she no longer had to fear that Lucrezia would beat her up.
Freedom, this was the exquisitely sweet taste of bitter power.
***
Ariadne came up to her room and lay down on the bed without even changing her clothes. She had changed and washed her hunting dress, which she had worn during the day, but she was still in her indoor dress, as she had been receiving a favor from Cardinal de Mare
"Miss! You need to change clothes, wash your face, and sleep!"
Ariadne stretched out on the bed and waved her hand to make Sancha sit next to her.
"My father asked me to check Lucrezia's household account."
"Oh my, Lady! It went so well! Now try swinging the blade! Take a taste!"
Ariadne shook her head.
"I learned something big today."
"What is it?"
"No matter how insignificant he seems, he has a shot. The lesson is that you never know when people might do something crazy, so you have to keep hiding what you have, and it's important to not be noticed."
Ariadne thought she was completely safe, so she provoked Zanobi. But Zanobi had a savage strength that Ariadne did not have. He thought that violence could not be used unless social norms and laws were strictly enforced, but being a brainless and impatient idiot, he wielded what he had despite the threat of punishment. Social pressure was ultimately secondary. When conflict exploded, the most primitive solution was physical force.
Sancha tilted her head.
"But then when do you wield power?"
There was some truth in Sancha's words. On the surface, Ariadne's attitude in her past life - always being kind, always being polite, always being considerate of the other person's position - and the direction she decided to take now was not much different on the surface.
"Collect it. Enough to kill the opponent with one blow."
Ariadne did not think that Lucrezia could stop sending money to the de Rossi family. If she was going to quit, she would have quit a long time ago.
Build it up, build it up, and then explode it together when it's crucial. And then there was Isabella's iron hook incident. One day Isabella will have her own tail stepped on. She won't let go.
And based on today's lesson, Ariadne would become a stronger and more dangerous person. A person who does not make mistakes can withstand unexpected dangers with quick wits, and will never be crushed by others again.
"I'm tired. Let's just sleep."
Ariadne is one step closer to the safety she longed for. She had a long, sweet sleep that day for the first time in a long time.
***
Lucrezia fiercely resisted Ariadne's examination of the household account, but Cardinal de Mare was stubborn. After Ariadne complained twice about her mother's non-cooperation, Cardinal Demare asked Lucrezia if she could only spend her money if she signed jointly with Ariadne. She cried, begged, and got angry, but nothing worked, so Lucrezia eventually had no choice but to hand over her accounting ledger to Ariadne.
The condition of the ledger was miserable. Money was leaking here and there. There were cases where the same item was purchased multiple times across multiple spending items, and there were many cases where new items were purchased even though they were still in stock.
Ariadne took her ledger and went through the warehouse, selecting a random sample of a few items and comparing the ledger's blatant misrepresentation, and she reported to Cardinal de Marre that she had guessed exactly 20 ducatos that month. Some of the accounts were false accounts to steal kickbacks, but some were cases where the money was truly wasted.
Lucrezia was woefully lacking in talent in this field. She bought and repurchased whatever items she had, and she was not good at throwing things away. It was a style that brought joy from the purchase itself.
Thanks to this, the de Mare family's warehouse was filled with things like expired eggs, rotten potatoes, mottled silk, and moldy linens. Ariadne clicked her tongue and caught only a few cases of the inventory.
"Lady, but in fact, the purchase of Madame Lucrezia's perfume on August 16th is the same case as the bulk purchase of hay and false accounting on August 3rd, because she wrote down that she bought it but did not buy It, except that the items are different. Why are you looking at that and only telling this one thing to His Eminence the Cardinal?"
Sancha asked with bright green eyes. Sancha had lost all of his writing, and these days he was learning how to read and write ledgers from Ariadne.
"When driving a rat, you have to leave a corner for it to run away from, otherwise you will get bitten."
Ariadne smiled and answered Sancha's question. Ariadne deliberately did not touch Lucrezia's personal expenses, such as grooming supplies or medicine. It was time to set the mouse trap.
In the afternoon she called butler Niccolo to her own study.
"Lady, I heard you were looking for me."
The butler Niccolo, confused as to why he had been summoned, greeted Ariadne. Ariadne said to Nicolo with a smile.
"I called you because I have a favor to ask you. It wasn't a very honorable thing to do, so the only person I could ask for was you."
Nicolo's face showed both anticipation and caution. Not to mention it had a delicious smell, like there was going to be a kickback. But the position of butler in the De Mare family was a good job. He had no intention of doing something dangerous and cutting off his livelihood.
"Of course, you know that I value you highly and follow you with all my heart, but my loyalty to His Eminence the Cardinal is strong!"
"It is also for the Cardinal. My father won't blame you."
She took out one ducato gold coin and placed it on the desk right in front of where Nicolo sat.
"It's no big deal. Just tell Lady Lucrezia's close maid that 'Lazione Dressmaker' is good at giving rebates."
"Yes?"
For Niccolo, there was no particular risk.
"Is that really okay?"
"I think your words are the most trustworthy. So, I am giving you money to borrow your word. I don't think the amount is small."
Nicolo immediately snatched the gold coin that Ariadne had placed on the desk into his pocket.
"Just trust me, My Lady!"
One thing that Nicolo didn't know was that, like getting your clothes wet in a light rain, even if it starts off as an insignificant thing if it is repeated, you will soon be unable to get out of it. One chess piece is in place.
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