Ariadne followed Cardinal de Mare into his quarters. The Cardinal’s study was accessible by opening another door from the reception room.
It was an unknown door that she had never opened before.
When the Cardinal pushed open the heavy oak door, a beautiful study decorated with white marble and gold appeared inside. It was an artistic space with carefully selected furniture and decorations with refined taste.
‘This is...!’
Ariadne swallowed her saliva at the grandeur of Cardinal de Mare’s study that she had never seen before. Entering a space that she had not been permitted to enter felt special.
The huge antique furniture in bronze was elaborately carved, and on top of it were piles of new and old documents. The wooden bookshelves built into the wall were filled with various rare theological books.
The administrative papers were clearly recently tampered with, but the theological books were neatly placed on the shelves. There was a slight trace of dusting on them, indicating that they had not been looked at for a long time.
“Sit down.”
The cardinal sat down at the large desk in the center of his study and pointed Ariadne to the small chair in front of him. Ariadne bowed her head and sat down on the small green velvet chair.
“I don’t think you were just a chatterbox to Her Majesty the Queen. What happened?”
If she didn’t throw a bone here, Cardinal de Mare wouldn’t let go of his teeth. Ariadne lightly calculated how much she should tell her father. It wasn’t difficult.
“As you have probably heard, the Duke of Mireille was found dead in the Palazzo Carlo.”
When the Cardinal pushed open the heavy oak door, a beautiful study decorated with white marble and gold appeared inside. It was an artistic space with carefully selected furniture and decorations with refined taste.
‘This is...!’
Ariadne swallowed her saliva at the grandeur of Cardinal de Mare’s study that she had never seen before. Entering a space that she had not been permitted to enter felt special.
The huge antique furniture in bronze was elaborately carved, and on top of it were piles of new and old documents. The wooden bookshelves built into the wall were filled with various rare theological books.
The administrative papers were clearly recently tampered with, but the theological books were neatly placed on the shelves. There was a slight trace of dusting on them, indicating that they had not been looked at for a long time.
“Sit down.”
The cardinal sat down at the large desk in the center of his study and pointed Ariadne to the small chair in front of him. Ariadne bowed her head and sat down on the small green velvet chair.
“I don’t think you were just a chatterbox to Her Majesty the Queen. What happened?”
If she didn’t throw a bone here, Cardinal de Mare wouldn’t let go of his teeth. Ariadne lightly calculated how much she should tell her father. It wasn’t difficult.
“As you have probably heard, the Duke of Mireille was found dead in the Palazzo Carlo.”
“Yes.”
Cardinal de Mare had already mobilized his various connections to find out. Rumors were circulating within the palace that this was related to Prince Alfonso, but they could not confirm it at all.
“Is it really Prince Alfonso’s doing?”
Cardinal de Mare asked directly in front of his second daughter without bothering to save face. They are family. Family should be mutually beneficial.
However, Ariadne answered without blinking an eye.
“No.”
She had no duty to this ‘father’. She was still suspicious. The reason why Isabella in her previous life was able to become the wife of the regent Cesare, who would soon ascend to the throne.
At the time, she thought that Cesare, who was deeply in love with Isabella, had put Isabella in the highest position, but after returning, the more she thought about it, the more she felt something was wrong. The Cesare de Como she knew was a man who would not move unless there was an obvious benefit.
If he wanted Isabella de Mare, he could hide her somewhere and make her his mistress. At the time, Cesare had the power to do so.
But Cesare insisted on giving Isabella the position of Queen. To the widow of Prince Alfonso, whom he hated the most in the world.
No matter how hard Cesare tried to suppress it, it was a decision that was bound to be talked about in society. It was obvious that he would be the subject of dirty jokes from women and ridicule from men as a cuckold.
Cardinal de Mare had already mobilized his various connections to find out. Rumors were circulating within the palace that this was related to Prince Alfonso, but they could not confirm it at all.
“Is it really Prince Alfonso’s doing?”
Cardinal de Mare asked directly in front of his second daughter without bothering to save face. They are family. Family should be mutually beneficial.
However, Ariadne answered without blinking an eye.
“No.”
She had no duty to this ‘father’. She was still suspicious. The reason why Isabella in her previous life was able to become the wife of the regent Cesare, who would soon ascend to the throne.
At the time, she thought that Cesare, who was deeply in love with Isabella, had put Isabella in the highest position, but after returning, the more she thought about it, the more she felt something was wrong. The Cesare de Como she knew was a man who would not move unless there was an obvious benefit.
If he wanted Isabella de Mare, he could hide her somewhere and make her his mistress. At the time, Cesare had the power to do so.
But Cesare insisted on giving Isabella the position of Queen. To the widow of Prince Alfonso, whom he hated the most in the world.
No matter how hard Cesare tried to suppress it, it was a decision that was bound to be talked about in society. It was obvious that he would be the subject of dirty jokes from women and ridicule from men as a cuckold.
'I have to assume that Cardinal de Mare was involved.'
Cardinal de Mare must have exchanged Isabella for some favor. What did he receive? Was I not even his daughter?
Unfortunately, she will not hear a clear answer from Cardinal de Mare in this life. He probably doesn't know. But he is a person who will do that.
Ariadne did not trust her father. She had no duty to him.
So she told her father the 'official' version of the story that Queen Marguerite was telling. If she just threw it out there, the old cardinal wouldn’t believe it, so she just mixed in some secret stories that weren’t known to the outside world to make it more believable.
“But the situation was complicated. There was confusion regarding the command relationship.”
“Huh?”
“The one who directly killed Duke Mireille was revealed to be Sir Elko, a knight under Prince Alfonso. The place where Duke Mireille’s body was found was also a barn under the supervision of the palace.”
It has been said that a good lie is created when 90% truth is mixed with 10% falsehood. She passed on the information about the place where Duke Mireille was found, which was unknown to the outside world, to Cardinal de Mare.
“That’s why there seems to be a rumor going around that the murder of Duke Mireille was done under the orders of Prince Alfonso. Her Majesty Queen Marguerite wanted to block it.”
It was a reasonable story. She omitted the story about the crazy clown.
If Leo III had kept his mouth shut so that the clown's story would not have reached Cardinal de Mare's ears, that would have been the best, and even if Cardinal de Mare had known about the clown's testimony, the clown's testimony would have been nothing more than a 'rumor' in the end.
It would have been enough to bury it by not emphasizing it as much as possible and to attack its credibility when it came to the forefront and kill it.
“The Duke of Mireille was found dressed in Palazzo Carlo’s coachman’s uniform. The carriage was in a state of disrepair in an area where the Gallico delegation was not allowed, and the real coachman was under the influence of anesthetics and wearing only his underwear. Her Majesty the Queen wanted to use this fact to the best of her ability to make the incident unrelated to Prince Alfonso, and I advised her on this.”
“You?”
Cardinal de Mare asked Ariadne, looking perplexed. No matter how famous she was as a theological prodigy, his second daughter was still a fifteen-year-old girl. In his opinion, Ariadne’s intelligence was acquired from books. His second daughter had no time to be exposed to politics or intrigue.
But Ariadne was not at all embarrassed and answered.
“Yes. It was fortunate. Her Majesty the Queen Marguerite knew that this could be related to anti-Gallico sentiments and wanted to hear the opinion of a native Etruscan.”
She should also add the natural reason for her involvement in this situation. Excuses are easy to make.
“Her Majesty’s confidant, Madame Carla, is a skilled courtier, but she is a Gallican and therefore has difficulty understanding the minds of Etruscans. Her Majesty the Queen relies on Countess Marquez, whose husband was deeply involved in the practical aspects of the marriage agreement with the Kingdom of Gallico, so it was not appropriate to call her in and hear her opinion.”
Ariadne decided to take things a step further. What could drive Cardinal de Mare was ‘greed.’ The desire for the de Mare family as a noble family that would last forever and ever.
“Father. This is my chance to rise to become Her Majesty the Queen’s confidant.”
The Queen would die this month, so it was a lost cause. But what if Ariadne really saved Her Majesty the Queen’s life?
“I will bring the de Mare name to the forefront.”
The royal family kept noblewomen who suited their tastes as their close maids. Those who entered that inner circle had many privileges.
Not only would they arrange a good marriage—of course, this side was after the lord’s son—but they could also get good business opportunities, appointments to positions, and if they were to please the King and Queen, they could even be awarded titles that Cardinal de Mare dreamed of.
“Yes, yes. Be careful not to get caught, and serve Her Majesty well by Her Majesty’s side.”
Cardinal de Mare did not forget to say these words of advice.
“If there is a good opportunity, make sure to share it with your brother or sister. We are family. We rise and fall together.”
Ariadne bit the tip of her tongue, wanting to ask, “Why didn’t that good family talk apply to me in my past life, Father?” and lowered her head.
“Is there any reason for that?”
Cardinal de Mare nodded at Ariadne’s gentle answer.
“If you need support at home, don’t hesitate to tell me.”
It was the story she had been waiting for.
“So, father.”
Ariadne casually brought up something that was strictly unrelated.
“The wheat harvest season is coming up soon. I want to buy a lot of wheat this time.”
“Wheat? Why wheat all of a sudden?”
The wheat that was sown in the fall was harvested from May to June. Ariadne was determined to finally succeed in buying wheat this time, which she had failed to do last time due to Lucrezia’s interference. If she had bought it then, she would have had to buy old wheat, but if she had done it now, she would have been able to plow through the new wheat during the peak of the harvest, so now was better.
“The Rambouillet Relief Center, which Her Majesty the Queen oversees, runs out of food every winter and has a hard time. They survive the winter on turnips that they produce themselves, but if the poor die at that time, it would be a loss for the palace, so it is a huge worry every year.”
“Oh...”
“If I save up wheat this summer and donate it to the Rambouillet Relief Center in the winter, wouldn’t it be a great help in becoming a close associate of Her Majesty the Queen?”
Of course, Ariadne had no intention of donating for free. If the Black Death broke out, the following year’s crops would fail.
Ariadne planned to be the only person in the entire Etruscan kingdom with food in 1124.
“How much do you think it would cost?”
In fact, Ariadne wanted to save up at least 100,000 ducats (about 100 billion won) worth of wheat. That would be enough to feed the entire San Carlo for a year. Ariadne knew for sure that the price of wheat would skyrocket. This was like swimming with your feet on the ground.
However, Cardinal de Mare, who didn’t know the situation, would never approve of such a large sum. In fact, it wasn’t an amount that the de Mare family could procure on their own, unless they used the budget of the Holy See.
“...Well, about 20,000 ducats (about 20 billion won)?”
She named the best compromise and looked at Cardinal de Mare. Cardinal de Mare looked at Ariadne with an expression on his face that made her eyes look like they were going to pop out.
“What? 20,000 ducats?”
From Cardinal de Mare’s perspective, spending 20,000 ducats to catch the Queen’s eye was an absurd amount of money. Grain for refugee relief. It wasn’t money, it was just an expense.
“That makes sense...”
At this point, Cardinal de Mare coughed. He had no emotional bond with his second daughter, whom he had only brought home when she was fifteen. They were not close enough to talk comfortably.
The reason Cardinal de Mare had been so unhesitating in front of Ariadne was simply because he was the first and his illegitimate daughter was the second.
But now Ariadne was likely to marry the King’s son—whoever that was—and was on the verge of becoming the Queen’s closest confidant. Cardinal de Mare coughed and chose his words.
“...You are a great flag bearer.”
But 20,000 ducats was an absurd amount of money. It would take the entire annual budget of the de Mare family, and it would be difficult to raise the funds without mortgaging all of their assets.
The mansion and the Bergamo farm were owned by the Holy See, so they were not properties that the cardinal could personally dispose of.
“However, no matter how much you want to please Her Majesty the Queen, there must be a limit. Grace must be shared.”
Cardinal de Mare collected his thoughts, quoting the old saying, “Commit evil all at once, but bestow grace little by little.”
“1,000 ducats (about 1 billion won) is the upper limit I can think of.”
He called out the amount that he could give as generously as possible.
“It is neither possible nor desirable to spend more on relief. If the poor are fed for free, they will continue to want more and more. How are you going to afford it next year?”
Ariadne simply bowed her head.
“Yes, father.”
But Ariadne was the kind of person who saw hope in half a glass of water.
'For now, I've secured the budget of 1,000 ducats.'
She planned to somehow fill up the remaining 19,000 ducats.
Ariadne left Cardinal de Mare's study and immediately called Giuseppe.
"Giuseppe."
"Yes, my lady."
He got straight to the point without any unnecessary formalities like how you've been. She liked that part.
"Take one or two of your men and look for a warehouse on the outskirts where we can store grain. It would be best if it were in the city of San Carlo, but the Bergamo farm would be fine."
She added.
"I'd like a location where we can guard it with our own personnel in case of an emergency."
"Yes, my lady. How big is it, and what is the budget?"
"For now, the goal is 200,000 cantaros (about 20,000 tons). For the annual warehouse rental fee, 500 ducats (about 500 million won) will be enough. If there are not enough guards, the cost includes hiring and training.”
Even Giuseppe’s eyes widened at the enormous scale.
“Is it possible?”
“Yes, my lady.”
Giuseppe never said no to what he was told. It was even more to his liking.
Countess Rubina couldn’t understand the situation outside these days at all.
“There’s definitely something...”
According to the gossip, Prince Alfonso had an accident, and Leo III was covering it up. However, she couldn’t go any deeper than that. The clown who had witnessed the scene was executed right away without any chance to dig further. The King’s confidants didn’t open their mouths to Countess Rubina easily. She tried to get Leo III himself to talk, but he got very angry and didn’t see Countess Rubina for ten days.
“Is this the time?”
Countess Rubina picked up a small porcelain bottle with jade decorations on the outside, opened and closed the lid, and sniffed it.
She fiddled with the jade-decorated porcelain bottle for a while, then shook her head.
“...No. Let’s not act rashly, Rubina.”
Click.
Finally, she closed the cap on the vial and put it deep in the drawer, putting it away.
She had been living alone for nearly a quarter of a century. She was tired of waiting. She could wait a long time until a better opportunity came.
Cardinal de Mare must have exchanged Isabella for some favor. What did he receive? Was I not even his daughter?
Unfortunately, she will not hear a clear answer from Cardinal de Mare in this life. He probably doesn't know. But he is a person who will do that.
Ariadne did not trust her father. She had no duty to him.
So she told her father the 'official' version of the story that Queen Marguerite was telling. If she just threw it out there, the old cardinal wouldn’t believe it, so she just mixed in some secret stories that weren’t known to the outside world to make it more believable.
“But the situation was complicated. There was confusion regarding the command relationship.”
“Huh?”
“The one who directly killed Duke Mireille was revealed to be Sir Elko, a knight under Prince Alfonso. The place where Duke Mireille’s body was found was also a barn under the supervision of the palace.”
It has been said that a good lie is created when 90% truth is mixed with 10% falsehood. She passed on the information about the place where Duke Mireille was found, which was unknown to the outside world, to Cardinal de Mare.
“That’s why there seems to be a rumor going around that the murder of Duke Mireille was done under the orders of Prince Alfonso. Her Majesty Queen Marguerite wanted to block it.”
It was a reasonable story. She omitted the story about the crazy clown.
If Leo III had kept his mouth shut so that the clown's story would not have reached Cardinal de Mare's ears, that would have been the best, and even if Cardinal de Mare had known about the clown's testimony, the clown's testimony would have been nothing more than a 'rumor' in the end.
It would have been enough to bury it by not emphasizing it as much as possible and to attack its credibility when it came to the forefront and kill it.
“The Duke of Mireille was found dressed in Palazzo Carlo’s coachman’s uniform. The carriage was in a state of disrepair in an area where the Gallico delegation was not allowed, and the real coachman was under the influence of anesthetics and wearing only his underwear. Her Majesty the Queen wanted to use this fact to the best of her ability to make the incident unrelated to Prince Alfonso, and I advised her on this.”
“You?”
Cardinal de Mare asked Ariadne, looking perplexed. No matter how famous she was as a theological prodigy, his second daughter was still a fifteen-year-old girl. In his opinion, Ariadne’s intelligence was acquired from books. His second daughter had no time to be exposed to politics or intrigue.
But Ariadne was not at all embarrassed and answered.
“Yes. It was fortunate. Her Majesty the Queen Marguerite knew that this could be related to anti-Gallico sentiments and wanted to hear the opinion of a native Etruscan.”
She should also add the natural reason for her involvement in this situation. Excuses are easy to make.
“Her Majesty’s confidant, Madame Carla, is a skilled courtier, but she is a Gallican and therefore has difficulty understanding the minds of Etruscans. Her Majesty the Queen relies on Countess Marquez, whose husband was deeply involved in the practical aspects of the marriage agreement with the Kingdom of Gallico, so it was not appropriate to call her in and hear her opinion.”
Ariadne decided to take things a step further. What could drive Cardinal de Mare was ‘greed.’ The desire for the de Mare family as a noble family that would last forever and ever.
“Father. This is my chance to rise to become Her Majesty the Queen’s confidant.”
The Queen would die this month, so it was a lost cause. But what if Ariadne really saved Her Majesty the Queen’s life?
“I will bring the de Mare name to the forefront.”
The royal family kept noblewomen who suited their tastes as their close maids. Those who entered that inner circle had many privileges.
Not only would they arrange a good marriage—of course, this side was after the lord’s son—but they could also get good business opportunities, appointments to positions, and if they were to please the King and Queen, they could even be awarded titles that Cardinal de Mare dreamed of.
“Yes, yes. Be careful not to get caught, and serve Her Majesty well by Her Majesty’s side.”
Cardinal de Mare did not forget to say these words of advice.
“If there is a good opportunity, make sure to share it with your brother or sister. We are family. We rise and fall together.”
Ariadne bit the tip of her tongue, wanting to ask, “Why didn’t that good family talk apply to me in my past life, Father?” and lowered her head.
“Is there any reason for that?”
Cardinal de Mare nodded at Ariadne’s gentle answer.
“If you need support at home, don’t hesitate to tell me.”
It was the story she had been waiting for.
“So, father.”
Ariadne casually brought up something that was strictly unrelated.
“The wheat harvest season is coming up soon. I want to buy a lot of wheat this time.”
“Wheat? Why wheat all of a sudden?”
The wheat that was sown in the fall was harvested from May to June. Ariadne was determined to finally succeed in buying wheat this time, which she had failed to do last time due to Lucrezia’s interference. If she had bought it then, she would have had to buy old wheat, but if she had done it now, she would have been able to plow through the new wheat during the peak of the harvest, so now was better.
“The Rambouillet Relief Center, which Her Majesty the Queen oversees, runs out of food every winter and has a hard time. They survive the winter on turnips that they produce themselves, but if the poor die at that time, it would be a loss for the palace, so it is a huge worry every year.”
“Oh...”
“If I save up wheat this summer and donate it to the Rambouillet Relief Center in the winter, wouldn’t it be a great help in becoming a close associate of Her Majesty the Queen?”
Of course, Ariadne had no intention of donating for free. If the Black Death broke out, the following year’s crops would fail.
Ariadne planned to be the only person in the entire Etruscan kingdom with food in 1124.
“How much do you think it would cost?”
In fact, Ariadne wanted to save up at least 100,000 ducats (about 100 billion won) worth of wheat. That would be enough to feed the entire San Carlo for a year. Ariadne knew for sure that the price of wheat would skyrocket. This was like swimming with your feet on the ground.
However, Cardinal de Mare, who didn’t know the situation, would never approve of such a large sum. In fact, it wasn’t an amount that the de Mare family could procure on their own, unless they used the budget of the Holy See.
“...Well, about 20,000 ducats (about 20 billion won)?”
She named the best compromise and looked at Cardinal de Mare. Cardinal de Mare looked at Ariadne with an expression on his face that made her eyes look like they were going to pop out.
“What? 20,000 ducats?”
From Cardinal de Mare’s perspective, spending 20,000 ducats to catch the Queen’s eye was an absurd amount of money. Grain for refugee relief. It wasn’t money, it was just an expense.
“That makes sense...”
At this point, Cardinal de Mare coughed. He had no emotional bond with his second daughter, whom he had only brought home when she was fifteen. They were not close enough to talk comfortably.
The reason Cardinal de Mare had been so unhesitating in front of Ariadne was simply because he was the first and his illegitimate daughter was the second.
But now Ariadne was likely to marry the King’s son—whoever that was—and was on the verge of becoming the Queen’s closest confidant. Cardinal de Mare coughed and chose his words.
“...You are a great flag bearer.”
But 20,000 ducats was an absurd amount of money. It would take the entire annual budget of the de Mare family, and it would be difficult to raise the funds without mortgaging all of their assets.
The mansion and the Bergamo farm were owned by the Holy See, so they were not properties that the cardinal could personally dispose of.
“However, no matter how much you want to please Her Majesty the Queen, there must be a limit. Grace must be shared.”
Cardinal de Mare collected his thoughts, quoting the old saying, “Commit evil all at once, but bestow grace little by little.”
“1,000 ducats (about 1 billion won) is the upper limit I can think of.”
He called out the amount that he could give as generously as possible.
“It is neither possible nor desirable to spend more on relief. If the poor are fed for free, they will continue to want more and more. How are you going to afford it next year?”
Ariadne simply bowed her head.
“Yes, father.”
But Ariadne was the kind of person who saw hope in half a glass of water.
'For now, I've secured the budget of 1,000 ducats.'
She planned to somehow fill up the remaining 19,000 ducats.
Ariadne left Cardinal de Mare's study and immediately called Giuseppe.
"Giuseppe."
"Yes, my lady."
He got straight to the point without any unnecessary formalities like how you've been. She liked that part.
"Take one or two of your men and look for a warehouse on the outskirts where we can store grain. It would be best if it were in the city of San Carlo, but the Bergamo farm would be fine."
She added.
"I'd like a location where we can guard it with our own personnel in case of an emergency."
"Yes, my lady. How big is it, and what is the budget?"
"For now, the goal is 200,000 cantaros (about 20,000 tons). For the annual warehouse rental fee, 500 ducats (about 500 million won) will be enough. If there are not enough guards, the cost includes hiring and training.”
Even Giuseppe’s eyes widened at the enormous scale.
“Is it possible?”
“Yes, my lady.”
Giuseppe never said no to what he was told. It was even more to his liking.
***
Countess Rubina couldn’t understand the situation outside these days at all.
“There’s definitely something...”
According to the gossip, Prince Alfonso had an accident, and Leo III was covering it up. However, she couldn’t go any deeper than that. The clown who had witnessed the scene was executed right away without any chance to dig further. The King’s confidants didn’t open their mouths to Countess Rubina easily. She tried to get Leo III himself to talk, but he got very angry and didn’t see Countess Rubina for ten days.
“Is this the time?”
Countess Rubina picked up a small porcelain bottle with jade decorations on the outside, opened and closed the lid, and sniffed it.
She fiddled with the jade-decorated porcelain bottle for a while, then shook her head.
“...No. Let’s not act rashly, Rubina.”
Click.
Finally, she closed the cap on the vial and put it deep in the drawer, putting it away.
She had been living alone for nearly a quarter of a century. She was tired of waiting. She could wait a long time until a better opportunity came.
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