Chapter 68 - Isabella's Conspiracy
Sister, I'm The Queen In This Life
Isabella shuddered when she saw the woman's face faintly revealed under the moonlight. She was the young Countess Bartolini, renowned for her chastity and faithfulness. Before her marriage, her name was Clemente de Contarini, and she was the eldest sister of Ottavio de Contarini. Judging by her sunken eyes and chapped skin, Countess Bartolini seemed to have had quite a bit to drink. As the unsightly pair were engrossed in their work and progressing further, they were finally discovered by someone other than Isabella.
"Who is there!"
"Oh my gosh!"
The one who screamed was a noble couple who were taking a walk together. They screamed when they spotted the Marquis de Campa and Countess Bartolini.
"....!"
"!"
The men and women on the bench also froze. Countess Bartolini, who was particularly surprised, snatched her own mask with her hand despite her drunkenness and used her strength to push the Marquis de Campa away. She jumped up and started running in the opposite direction of the sound. Coincidentally, that direction was the direction Isabella was standing. The eyes of Countess Bartolini and Isabella, who were wearing light brown dresses, met for a moment. There was a deep sense of disappointment in the woman's eyes. At that moment, an inspiration occurred to Isabella.
'This is it...!'
It was truly a moment when Countess Bartolini and Isabella's eyes met. She even pushed Isabella away and ran away deep into the garden. After being pushed by the lLady, Marquis de Campa fell off the bench with a thud. Crowds of people came rushing in from the direction of the noble couple who had shouted.
"What's going on?"
"How can you do such a thing at a masquerade ball?" ...!"
"No, but isn't that the Marquis of Campa?"
Everyone was shocked at the same point as Isabella.
"Who on earth is the other woman?"
"Did you see the face?"
"She must be crazy!"
Isabella put her hand into her purse. Inside was Ariadne's Fleur-de-Lys bracelet that she had picked up earlier. Isabella took advantage of the crowd and quietly rolled Ariadne's bracelet into the vacant lot. The red ruby remained in the bag, but the green topaz bracelet rolled and came to rest in the grass about 1 meter away from the Marquis de Campa. Isabella shouted loudly.
"Look at that! It's a woman's bracelet!"
Isabella's cry was indeed well-received. People immediately paid attention to the grass that the finger pointed to, and there was a jewel bracelet that was the same color as the grass but sparkled incomparably with the plants. The wife of Baron Daphiani, the noble couple who first noticed the trysts in the garden, quickly ran inside and picked up a green topaz bracelet. The Baroness lifted the bracelet and cried out in excitement.
"I think it's the other woman's belongings!"
People came in groups all at once and looked at the bracelets. The vacant lot became noisy, and people began to gather one after another, soon reaching about 15 people. The Marquis of Campa was literally in a drunken state. He was so drunk that when the woman pushed him and ran away, unable to overcome the strength of his mistress, he fell off the bench, buried his face on the floor, and started snoring.
The pants that he couldn't get out of order was a mess. One of the gentlemen couldn't help but pull the Marquis de Campa's cloak so that it covered his entire torso. Among the people flocking in, there was someone who recognized the bracelet.
"Does this look like Collezioni's miscellaneous items from this season?"
"That's right, that's right, I think I saw it in the catalog too.
"It looks like Fleur-de-Lis."
'Okay, everyone is slowly getting closer to the answer!'
But the speed was much slower than expected. Isabella, who was standing next to her pretending not to know, decided to offer a little more help to the ignorant crowd. While trying to distract her, she added a subtle word of her own.
"Hardly anyone bought it. I also wanted to buy Collezioni's Fleur-de-Lis jewelry, so I made an inquiry, but they said they were no longer selling it because someone had taken the lead."
It seemed that there were several other people besides Isabella who had similar experiences. People began to murmur with cries of "Me too, me too."
"Then all we have to do is find a woman wearing this season's new Collezioni products!"
People's curiosity sparked. If you are that specific, you will definitely be able to find it. Moreover, the woman who ran away was wearing a dark yellow dress. A woman wearing a yellow dress and a new Collezioni product. People started talking loudly about who was wearing the new Collezioni product today.
"I think Count Marquez and his wife came today wearing Fleur-de-Lis decorations!"
"No, it's not the Collezioni miscellaneous item, it's the Alpeto item. The details are missing."
"Wasn't the woman who ran away earlier wearing a dark yellow dress? The Countess Marquez is wearing a red dress today."
The discussion was in full swing. A seal appeared from the direction of the Queen's palace. Ariadne saw people gathered and came to look for the Grand Duchess of Valoa, wondering if she had been found. The woman who appeared lightly stopped In her tracks when she saw that there was a lot of commotion due to the crowd of people.
"Look at that!"
At someone's shout, all the people's eyes turned to Ariadne. Ariadne was wearing a dark golden dress and a volto mask with the Fleur-de-Lys symbol on it. If you look closely at her Volto mask, you will see that she has a gold fleur-de-lys decoration and a green topaz necklace with a fleur-de-lys pattern attached to the mask. Anyone could clearly see that it was an item made as a set with the green topaz bracelet found on the floor. Isabella secretly clenched her fists 'Done!'
'If I can't have it, you can't have it either. Let your reputation get ruined. How dare you cross the prince into your subject!'
Entering the clearing, Ariadne was quite surprised by the people's blatant stares at her. But rather than feeling timid or being too hasty in speaking up, she waited for others to tell her what was going on first.
Among the people who were looking at the woman standing quietly and whispering among themselves, the noblewoman who had first picked up the bracelet put her arms around her. She asked, holding the bracelet out in front of Ariadne.
"Is this bracelet yours?"
As soon as Ariadne saw the bracelet, she realized that it was hers. She knew now where she had lost it, or even that she had lost it, but the material of the shining jewels and the delicate pattern weaving made her bracelet fit. But something was strange. The noblewoman's eyes were shining strangely. If she acknowledged it as hers here, it seemed like another story would come out later.
"Why are you asking that?"
Ariadne answered thoughtfully, being careful not to look down at her wrist.
Fortunately for her, her face was covered by a mask, so her expression was not clearly visible to others. But despite her caution, someone in the crowd shouted, pointing a finger at her.
"Look at the necklace on the mask! It's the same Fleur-de-Lys emblem!"
With that shout, a murmur began.
"I'm sure it's because the necklace is also made of green topaz!"
-"The color of the dress is the same. I took a good look and it was dark gold!"
"I think that woman is the Marquis de Campa's mistress!"
After hearing the story, Ariadne was able to understand what had happened. She also knew the name of the Marquis of Campa. Sprawled out on the floor of this vacant lot was a drunken, elderly man who appeared to be the Marquis of Campa. Although his cloak was roughly covered, it was immediately apparent that his clothes were disheveled. It seemed that a woman who looked similar to her had been enjoying a secret tryst with the Marquis de Campa and ran away after being caught by people.
Ariadne responded by shaking her head.
"I think there is a misunderstanding. I just came to this vacant lot. If I were really the Marquis de Campa's mistress, I would have run away into the garden. Why on earth would I come back?"
Isabella bit the tip of her tongue and resisted the urge to shout,
'Aren't you here to find the precious bracelet?'
She had already received a stern warning from Cardinal de Mare not to harm her sister's reputation outside of her circle. She did it once at the debutante ball and, much to her chagrin, once at the hunting competition. If she gets caught this time, it will be the third time. Cardinal de Mare would not leave Isabella alone for her third time.
Her mouth was Itchy, but Isabella was no mayfly scoundrel. She had to take care to eat well and live well tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, forever and ever.
People were buzzing.
'Someone please say something!'
Isabella became nervous and bit her thumbnail. But she believed in the basic curiosity and laziness of the public. She was delayed for a moment, but once the crowd had asked, they would not let her go until there was solid evidence to the contrary. People don't like to change their minds once they are certain.
With the situation set this far, even Ariadne would not be able to escape without sacrifice.
"Young lady, prove it to me. "
Anyone can provide such circumstantial evidence."
Sure enough, someone made the first distorted proposal. The correct method of defense places the obligation on the person raising the question to prove his or her suspicions. However, this wrong suggestion that someone threw out without malicious intent was caught by people who had not thought much about it.
"If you didn't do it, you can bring evidence."
"That person is suspicious. Why didn't you take off your mask earlier?"
In fact, Ariadne was right not to take off her mask because she planned to run away into the grass if she had to. They were wrapped tightly up to the tips of their fingers so that not a single bit of skin could be seen, so how could anyone know who it was? Ariadne, who was measuring the angle from which she could run away, noticed Isabella, who was standing in the corner biting her nails.
"....!"
"...."
The half-sisters' eyes met in the air. The moment Ariadne saw Isabella, she realized why her bracelet was found there. It's Isabella. It could have fallen from the carriage or been stolen from home, but the bracelet was definitely found here thanks to Isabella's work. Isabella knew Ariadne's outfit and mask today.
'If I run away from here now, Isabella will definitely tell me who I am.'
Isabella looked at Ariadne and smiled meaningfully. She must have been waiting for Ariadne to leave. While the two sisters endured the standoff, people continued to gather. Among them was Isabella's friend, Lady Viscount Leonati, who did not think anything of her. She recognized Isabella at a glance and came to her side. The two whispered and then burst into laughter.
Leticia, daughter of Viscount Leonati, approached the woman in the golden dress wearing the volto mask, triumphant with her face to die for. Then she raised her voice and shouted loudly.
"Second Lady d Mare? It's a coincidence that we met in a place like this!"
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