Chapter 70 - The Collateral Of False Love
Sister, I'm The Queen In This Life
Cesare walked briskly into the center of the crowd. He approached the wife of the first noble couple who discovered it, who had unintentionally become the leader in uncovering the identity of the secret seeker and snatched the Colegione bracelet she was carrying.
"This is my bracelet. Please return it."
The noble wife lost the bracelet due to Cesare's strength. She looked at Cesare in bewilderment.
"This is a woman's bracelet. How does it become yours?"
Cesare responded with a grin.
"I bought it to give to a woman, but she didn't accept it, so it ended up being mine."
Cesare held the green topaz bracelet he had taken from the noblewoman high in the air.
"Everyone! This bracelet belongs to Count Cesare."
The moonlight and the torch shined on it at the same time, making the green jewel shine, revealing the empty tooth where the red ruby had fallen out.
"Lady de Mare's mask, necklace, and bracelet are items made as a set."
Cesare grinned.
"Certainly, you have reason to think the bracelet is hers. These three are the original set."
In order to appease the public, he first secretly sent them a message saying. You did nothing wrong. The angry public took on a life of its own and tended to listen to no one. It was important to start on friendly terms.
"How do I know that? I am the one who gave the mask to the Second Lady de Mare.”
Cesare stood right next to Ariadne and took off his mask. He took off his mask and held it high up so everyone could see the inside of his mask.
"Do you see it? What's inside this mask?"
The mask worn by Cesare had a barely noticeable fleur-de-lys pattern on the outside. This is because it was patterned small and densely packed. But on the inside of the mask was a large Fleur-de-Lys symbol, identical to Ariadne's. Even the color combination of red ruby and green topaz was the same. Standing right next to it, they could clearly see that the patterns on the two masks were identical.
"I was going to meet her at the ball and give her a mask and a set of bracelets. She was a surprise. But.."
Cesare lowered his head theatrically.
"It's arrogant too! The girl who had somehow accepted the mask as a gift said she wouldn't accept it as soon as she found out that it was a set of mine."
Enjoying the crowd's attention focused on him, he shrugged his shoulders and continued.
"You cannot take off your mask during the masquerade ball, so I will return the mask when the ball is over. You cannot receive the bracelet. If you are seen together at the masquerade ball, you may be misunderstood, so please do not come within 5 2.5 meters. It's just so cold and cruel!"
Cesare shook his head.
"But if you get discouraged and quit there, you're not even a man! I got down on my knees and gave her a chance."
He paused for a moment and then continued.
"Marry me."
Someone in the audience couldn't control themselves and screamed, 'Aaaah!' Cesare glanced toward the source of the sound with his half-moon eyes and greeted his fan. After completing his fan service, he returned his gaze to the crowd and shook his head tragically.
"But it was a clean kick! Don't even dream."
Cesare raised both hands in the air and shrugged them off.
"And as luck would have it, Prince Alfonso de Carlo saw this embarrassing situation."
Cesare smiled sadly and tapped Alfonso on the shoulder.
"You look like a rat, hiding in the grass."
Alfonso gritted his teeth and smiled at Cesare. He whispered softly to Count Cesare through gritted teeth.
"You did that rat-like thing."
"Let's have some fun too, Prince. What is your attitude towards the person you save?"
Cesare grinned sheepishly.
"Smile, show your teeth."
Prince Alfonso clenched his fist, but could not bear to swing it. Cesare cheerfully returned to his original position and continued performing for the audience, leaving Alfonso alone.
"The Prince made a noise in the grass, and our noble girl found him. He then asked me to help him because a strange man was making a bet on him. The damsel in distress was escorted by the Prince, and she left me alone."
People started chattering again.
"What, then is it true that she was with the Prince?"
Cesare did not miss the crowd's murmurings.
"It is true that she were not with Prince Alfonso 'the whole time' at the ball. Because in the beginning, she was with me. But her ex continued to escort her from the very beginning of the play. Her alibi is watertight."
"But then why is the bracelet here?"
Count Cesare had all the right explanations for that too.
"I was so angry that I went to hang out with my trouble-making friends, but they were all hiding in a small room in the corner of the palace and gambling. Hey, that gentleman too."
Cesare pointed with the tip of his chin at the Marquis de Campa, who was sprawled out on the floor, snoring under his cloak.
The Marquis of Campa no longer had people to hang out with in the capital. It doesn't matter who anyone is at the gambling table, except for those who say that they only bet the right amount of money.
"I had no cash to place a bet, so I left the bracelet with a friend and borrowed the gambling money as collateral. After a while, I won a lot of money and tried to repay the money I borrowed from my friend and collect the bracelet, but I found out that the friend also didn't have enough money for gambling, so he entrusted the bracelet to someone else and received cash! It's extremely irresponsible to use someone else's collateral."
Cesare waved his bracelet.
"I wondered where it went, and it seems that it ended up in the Marquis de Campa."
He pointed at the Marquis de Campa with the tip of his chin.
"Please tell the Marquis of Campa when he sobers up. I will send someone tomorrow morning to repay the gambling money! borrowed as collateral, and this bracelet was taken by Count Cesare."
It was a perfect alibi. Count Cesare was a great man who could give a huge gift to a woman, and he was also a great man who could use that gift as collateral to gamble. The way he came to associate with the Marquis de Campa was also natural.
"So please stop criticizing the Lady who should have been the owner of the bracelet. She turned down my advances so resolutely, how could she have fooled around with a man like the Marquis of Campa?"
Cesare spoke with a handsome face and a sneer towards the Marquis de Campa.
"I'm going to give my failed courtship another try, so would you all please leave the room?"
He walked up to Ariadne and held out his hand.
"Miss, let's go."
This time Ariadne also took Cesare's outstretched hand.
***
Ariadne, barely able to escape the crowd and regain her composure, took off his mask and wiped the sweat from her face. Not only her masked face but her entire body was covered in sweat.
"Thank you, Count de Como. I had no idea things would get this messy."
"Cesare. If you're grateful, call me Cesare."
Ariadne smiled bitterly. It was a name so familiar that she could pronounce it until the end, even unconsciously, by putting the starting syllable on the tip of her tongue.
"Count Cesare. Let's say, Count Cesare. I can't give in anymore."
"Hey, I'm firm. It hasn't even been 10 minutes since I saved you, despite all the stigma."
"Stigma? What stigma?"
"I was a gambler, or I was dumped by a woman."
Cesare frowned slightly.
"Or that the girl was taken away by the Prince."
Ariadne laughed a little.
"It's all true, right?"
It's true that he's a gambler, and it's also true that he was dumped by a woman. In particular, the part about being a gambler is a well-known fact. Even if the Count doesn't say it, everyone knows.
"The only part about losing the woman to the Prince is slightly different from the truth."
Cesare smiled at an odd point.
"Hey, girl, do you know that I gamble?"
"Is there anyone in the capital who doesn't know that?"
"No, no, this means I was interested! Last time, you also found out that I was wearing a club. Aren't you more interested in me than anyone else?"
Cesare observed Ariadne closely as if suspicious. He brought his face right in front of Ariadne's face and stopped only at the point where he felt her breath.
"Miss, actually, you're only reading the "Cesare de Como' section of the 'San Carlo Information Magazine' or something like that, aren't you?"
Ariadne burst out laughing and shouted loudly.
"That can't be possible!"
"They say a strong negative is a positive."
"No!"
Ariadne, who had been arguing with Cesare for a while, eventually spoke to him. The voice was much softer.
"Thank you for today."
There was regret in the corner of her eyes.
"From my point of view, there would have been no need for you to come forward."
"Right after I got dumped, huh?"
Cesare answered with a sly smile.
"Oh my! There is no need to be thankful. I did it to impress the Young Lady. So, please don't return the gift I gave you, don't lose it, but keep it."
He paused for a moment, then added a word.
"That sister at home would turn on the lights and search. She also takes good care of herself at home."
She smiled.
"Is that noticeable in men's eyes?"
"This Count Cesare is not just any man. He's not like those fools who get fooled."
'Lie. You were truly deceived, properly.'
"It's a couple items for me, so I should keep it. Just take this mask and bracelet back."
"Uh-huh!"
There were subtle scratches on the surface of the ice cap of Ariadne's heart. Because he thought that Cesare had stepped up for her, her heart softened a little. But when Cesare stood in front of her, he felt a slightly different kind of pleasure from her love.
'Alfonso de Carlo, I have the favor of the woman you like.'
After Cesare left, the person who became happiest was Grand Duchess Lariesa.
"Excuse me... Was it all a misunderstanding?"
In the first place, the person who most wanted to believe in Prince Alfonso was Lariesa. She wanted to be immersed in a fairy tale where the Golden Prince was a prince just for her. To do so, reality could be reassembled.
"That's right..."
Prince Alfonso, who could neither confirm nor deny, just laughed. If you check his horoscope for today, it says, 'If you are a Gemini born in 1105, don't leave your bed! It was sure to say 'It's dangerous outside the blanket!'
"It seems like the camaraderie between half-brothers is very good in the Etruscan palace. We probably didn't even have half a penny to spare. As for what happened in Montpellier..."
Lariesa's mindless chatter continued endlessly. Alfonso touched his forehead.
Contrary to the happy Lariesa, the most unhappy person at this moment was Isabella de Mare. She almost made it. Count Cesare rolled in from nowhere and threw his body to block it. Isabella's excitement doubles over that the person who interfered with her was none other than Count Cesare, whom she wanted.
"Aish!"
Isabella kicked the stones scattered on the floor. It was an unconscious imitation of what Cesare did at the fountain. However, Cesare was a skilled horseman and Isabella did not have the abdominal and thigh muscles. She fell down with a loud thud.
"Ouch...!"
A red ruby rolled out of Isabella's fallen bag. It was the same ruby that was embedded in the Fleur-de-Lis bracelet in question.
"Isabella, are you okay?"
Camellia de Castiglione found Isabella who had fallen and asked how she was doing. Holding out her hand to help Isabella up, Camellia caught the ruby that had fallen from Isabella's bag with her bright eyes.
"Oh my, what is that?"
Camellia asked with her eyes fixed on the red ruby.
"You're carrying around a polished stone that hasn't even been set up. Do you think it's a valuable item?"
Isabella growled fiercely.
"Camellia, stop worrying about unnecessary things."
She didn't have the energy to waste on a trivial great person like Camellia right now. But Camellia was not one to miss this opportunity. She had always been pushed, pushed, and ridiculed by Isabella, but now that Isabella was acting so funny was the perfect opportunity to hit her.
"No need to worry, I'm just taking a close look at my injured friend."
Camellia smiled wryly with a pretty face.
"The Grand Duchess Lariesa has appeared to Prince Alfonso, and Count Cesare has been taken away by your younger sister, so our Miss Isabella... What should I do? There are no men left?"
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