Chapter 73 - The Price Of Turning A Blind Eye To The Truth
Sister, I'm The Queen In This Life
As soon as Ariadne saw the marquise-cut red ruby, she nodded to Sancha, who was standing in the doorway of Isabella's room. Sancha immediately understood what her daughter wanted and ran to Ariadne's study a month later.
"What is this again?"
It was a question similar to Cardinal de Mare's lament upon discovering the red ruby. It was a voice that had half given up on which house Young Lord's name would come out. But this time it was Ariadne, not Isabella, who answered the question.
"There is a rumor going around in social circles that the red ruby that was missing from the Marquis de Campa's bracelet belongs to Isabella de Mare."
Cardinal de Mare was startled and immediately looked at Isabella's face. Cardinal de Mare had heard that there were rumors that his eldest daughter was the Marquis de Campa's mistress, but he had not heard these latest details. Oh my God.
Physical evidence has emerged. This time, Isabella was unable to control her expression and glared at the red ruby with her distorted face. It was Arabella who immediately became the object of her resentment.
"Hey! Why are you touching other people's things so carelessly?"
Isabella ran to the dressing table and stabbed Arabella without permission.
"Ouch!"
"Why are you looking through other people's things? Yes?!"
Arabella screamed after being hit hard on the shoulder, and Isabella's angry voice covered her. Isabella's soprano tone was drowned out by the roar of Cardinal de Mare, who was sick of it all.
"Don't bother your little sister! Stop!"
The Cardinal shouted and glared at Isabella menacingly.
"Say it! Is this really the Marquis de Campa's item?"
Isabella was in a dilemma, If she said no, she was lying, and if she said yes, she had nothing to say. Whichever side she chose, lying was a must. And she, Isabella, was not one to be afraid of lies.
'One way or another, it's a mixed bag.'
"It's a ridiculous frame-up!"
Ariadne raised the corners of her mouth and smiled at Isabella's firm denial. How can humans be so short-sighted? Sancha took the object out of Ariadne's jewelry box and handed it to the young lady. It was a green topaz bracelet with a Fleur-de-Lys pattern. Ariadne, who was handed the bracelet, raised her voice and spoke.
"Father, this is the bracelet of the Marquis de Campa."
This unfortunate bracelet, which could have been given a nicer name, such as 'Count Cesare's bracelet' or 'The bracelet of the Lady who seduced both the King's sons at the same time', now bore the name 'Marquis de Campa's bracelet'.
While the dark green topaz of marquise cut, each half a carat in size, formed a cluster with a rich shine, the golden orchid case where the centerpiece was to be placed was empty, with the eggs missing. Ariadne calmly picked up the red ruby on the silver tray and put it into the eggshell.
Sweet.
The red ruby fit perfectly into the vertical golden orchid-like Cinderella's glass slipper.
Ariadne looked at Isabella triumphantly
"You swear to the Heavenly God?"
While the audience was quiet, Cardinal de Mare walked up to Isabella and slapped her firmly.
"Evil!"
Slap!
A star spun before Isabella's eyes. It was the first slap she had ever received, she swore, in her life. Who would have dared to touch the noble Isabella de Mare, Cardinal de Mare's forbidden leaf?
"Did you sell your oath to the Heavenly God so easily anywhere?"
Cardinal de Mare shouted at Isabella in a hushed voice.
"Have you been selling smiles, doing favors, and being nice to just any man? Did I teach you that?"
Isabella's pupils widened as she realized that her father really thought she was the Marquis de Campa's mistress. This was a truly unacceptable false accusation.
"No! It's a misunderstanding! This is a terrible misunderstanding!"
Isabella screamed while lashing out, wearing only a robe over her 'breast cover'.
"I swear to heaven that I never did anything like that with the Marquis de Campa!”
Slap!
A star flashed before Isabella's eyes once more. This time it was Lucrezia who was just watching from behind.
"You... Are you tarnishing your mother's face like this? How can I walk with my head held high!"
Lucrezia began to sob.
"How did I raise my daughter? How did I raise you with so much love? You have become the plaything of a scoundrel like the Marquis of Campa!"
"Oh no, mom!"
Isabella's mouth began to burst with frustration and tears began to burst from her eyes, she screamed, crying her strings.
"When I arrived, the Marquis de Campa was already stuck with that woman! I was just watching!"
However, Cardinal de Mare pointed out astutely. Here was physical evidence that could not be moved.
"Then why on earth is that damn ruby in your possession!"
If you look at the actual truth, there was no relationship between the 'Marquis de Campa's Bracelet' and the Marquis de Campa. If I were to give it a name, it would be 'the bracelet that Isabella secretly picked up'.
However, since Count Cesare lied in front of everyone and made up a plausible story about why the 'Marquis de Campa's Bracelet' was with the Marquis of Campa, people began to think that this bracelet was really an item that the Marquis of Campa had won in a gamble.
"This ruby..."
Isabella thought for a moment about whether to tell the truth this time. But for that to happen, there were too many painful truths and her own evil deeds that she had to admit.
'In fact, Count Cesare voluntarily suffered infamy to save Ariadne!
It was very difficult for Isabella to admit that Count Cesare sacrificed himself to save Ariadne. The married wife originally belonged to Isabella. If his father found out that his interests had moved on, he would be right. What if an engagement with different parties proceeds smoothly?
And more than anything, she didn't want to be confirmed by saying it out loud.
'This bracelet did not belong to the Marquis de Campa, but I secretly picked it up next to an abandoned fountain.'
She could never admit to the fact that she had picked up Ariadne's bracelet, saying it was a windfall. Furthermore...
'Why did it come out next to the Marquis de Campa? I threw it at the scene to make Ariadne look like the Marquis de Campa's mistress.'
There was no doubt that if she told that story, her father would kill her. She may not really be killed, but she may be thrown into a convent, a destination for noble Ladies who have had accidents.
Isabella had already been warned by her father once during the debutante ball and once during the hunting competition. Three times is the limit for Cardinal de Mare. She could never be caught.
"The Marquis of Campa's mistress took out only the ruby and gave it to me in my hand. Please keep it a secret."
Isabella, determined to hold on to the end, ran away again, wiping away the welling tears.
"Really, I am not the Marquis de Campa's mistress or anything! Such an ugly, pot-bellied man! I really don't!"
There was another part that Isabella overlooked. Cardinal de Mare stared at Isabella with a puzzled expression.
"Does that make sense? That woman was so dexterous that she took only the jewels from her bracelet and placed them in her hands?"
The ruby had fallen out of the house when Isabella was playing with her hands.
Isabella, who had suddenly become an invincible person by her father's standards, cursed Collegioni for making her things look shabby.
"Also, while she's busy running away if she's going to bribe you, she'll give you the whole bracelet. Are you going to stand there and say you're crazy, take out the ruby, put it in your hand, and then leave?"
But insisting was what Isabella did best.
"I don't know! She only gave me jewelry and left, so how do I know what she's really like!"
The real point among Cardinal de Mare's logical points was further behind.
"And then, you know that the Marquis de Campa's mistress is someone else, and even though your younger sister is in a pinch, you just keep your mouth shut because you're so greedy for jewels?"
Isabella closed her mouth in surprise.
"So-and-so is the Marquis de Campa's mistress. Was it that hard to say that I saw her running away? Or is the concept of friendship so weak?"
'Oh right. Even if we proceed with this version of the story, it would still be the same as becoming an older sister without friendship with Ariadne.'
Isabella gritted her teeth on the inside but kept talking with her mouth. Words flowing out of her mouth instinctively came out of her mouth. It was the tip of her tongue, not her brain, that was telling her what to say.
"I didn't see her face! If I saw who it was, of course I told them!"
Countess Bartolini was renowned for her faithfulness and service. She was a wife who often volunteered at the orphanage attached to the Imperial Palace of San Ercole. Isabella thought that if she mentioned Countess Bartolini's name, her father would think she was lying. And, some secrets are more valuable if she keeps them to herself.
"If you don't know who that woman is, I'll give you a ruby to keep your mouth shut because she's crazy! I guess she thought I saw it! It was so crazy that we both lost our minds!"
Isabella's room was a mess. Cardinal de Mare with red blood, Isabella running wild, and the room filled with various precious jewels and accessories that Isabella had received from men and (according to Isabella's claims) a woman. There was nothing peaceful and sane.
Cardinal de Mare, exhausted, touched his forehead.
"I gave my child a bad education."
Lucrezia looked up in surprise. Cardinal de Mare lowered his voice even further and lamented. The hoarse, gurgling voice made it seem like he was truly exhausted.
"Isabella, Isabella. It's a big disappointment. I have no idea where to start teaching."
Cardinal de Mare shook his head softly and sentenced Isabella, who stood proudly in front of her father, wearing only a robe over her breast cover, as if asking what I had done wrong.
"I will trust you that you are not the Marquis de Campa's mistress. I have to believe in my child, who else will?"
Ariadne, who was listening from behind, wrinkled the bridge of her nose. But Cardinal de Mare, who could not find this, continued his words.
"But San Carlo won't think that way. And honestly, your story is so suspicious that I don't have the courage to take a hard no."
Isabella's eyes widened. No, she can just expose Countess Bartolini as the mistress, but she couldn't say anything because just a minute ago she had said something like 'she doesn't know who she is, she hasn't seen her face', so Isabella just insisted.
"Dad! No, I can fix everything!"
Isabella planned to spread the rumor secretly to her friends. 'The Marquis de Campa's mistress is actually Countess Bartolini. Because that was real, once she spread the word, evidence would come out.
Just throwing a fuse into the social world was enough. However, Cardinal de Mare had no intention of letting his eldest daughter, a spoiled brat, into social circles any longer.
"Be quiet! What more are you going to do here!"
Right now, that child has no concept or common sense whatsoever. If she still does things like that even though she has concepts and common sense, her conscience has sunk to the ground.
Among the two hypotheses: 1) no concept, and 2) no conscience, Cardinal de Mare chose hypothesis 1, which at least made his daughter less trash. Accidents caused by lack of concepts are better than accidents caused by malice in the sense that humans are less evil, but if approached in the sense that they cannot be corrected depending on one's perspective, they could actually be worse.
Although Cardinal Demare was a clergyman, he was a natural rationalist, and rather than judging whether an action was good or bad, he considered whether it was correctable or not. He didn't have it easy.
He chose not to release his unintelligent eldest daughter among the others until she had been re-educated.
"Luckily, the entire social circle of the San Carlo court will soon be moving to the southern Winter Palace. Don't even think about going along there, but stay at home and don't move anything until everyone goes down to Taranto."
"Dad!"
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