“I killed Queen Marguerite, what do you mean!”
Countess Rubina shouted in surprise.
“Even if the suspicions last time seemed suspicious if the Queen died yesterday... How could I kill Queen Marguerite while I’m stuck here!”
“Do you know Strozzi?”
A look of ‘Oops’ passed over Countess Rubina’s face.
“S-Why Strozzi?”
Cesare lamented. They really know each other. What on earth did this woman do?
“Mother. You really have to tell me everything without hiding anything.”
Countess Rubina nodded nervously.
“Strozzi is a merchant who supplied spices to the Queen’s palace. He’s a long-term business partner who has been doing business with her for over 15 years. He’s never caused any accidents, and he’s trustworthy.”
Countess Rubina also knew that Strozzi was unusually tight-lipped and good at keeping his promises.
“T-That’s right. But?”
“Yesterday, Strozzi entered the Queen’s palace under the pretense of delivering goods, and, strangely enough, it seems he was allowed in. It is presumed that Strozzi killed the Queen’s confidant, Lady Carla, and then poisoned the Queen before running away.”
“What!”
Countess Rubina was startled. She too had her own share of suspicions regarding Strozzi.
“He even boldly left his name in the guestbook. As soon as they discovered that the Queen had died, the palace guards closed the gates and searched thoroughly for Strozzi.”
However, Strozzi, a merchant who had been trading in royalties in San Carlo for over ten years, had already sold off all his assets for a pittance a few weeks ago, and it is said that he left San Carlo leisurely as soon as he left the palace as if mocking the guards’ belated closing of the gates.
“There must be someone behind that guy. He could not have committed such a daring crime alone, and it would be impossible for him to disappear so easily.”
They began searching the entire country to catch him, but the possibility of catching a criminal outside the capital, where security was relatively tight, was low.
“There’s another problem. The Queen was not stabbed to death, but poisoned. The poison was...”
“...It must have been the same arsenic I had.”
Countess Rubina leaned her forehead against the iron bars with a gesture close to resignation.
“That can’t be helped. I bought that arsenic from Strozzi.”
Cesare groaned in agony. He continued.
“The leftovers were put in a cup next to the body, making it easier to detect. That’s not all. There’s more shocking news.”
Count Cesare’s voice was filled with irritation.
“Do you remember the maid? The one who reported you?”
“Yes, that reckless woman.”
“The maid testified that my mother and the merchant Strozzi had a long history of dealing with each other and that my mother loved Strozzi like her own two arms.”
Rubina shook the iron bars, unable to contain her anger.
“That’s not true!”
“I know full well. It’s not true.”
Cesare continued to grumble even in this situation.
“I know best about your excellent tolerance and your close friendships. Strozzi was not your confidant. I’ve never heard his name.”
Countess Rubina enjoyed torturing her son with trivial stories about people around her.
If Cesare didn’t listen to Countess Rubina’s stories of people around her for hours or her complaints and insults against Leo III, she would get angry. Whether he wanted to or not, Count Cesare was very knowledgeable about Countess Rubina’s people around her.
“Let’s have a three-way confrontation! Strozzi is not my confidant!”
“Unfortunately, that’s impossible. The maid bit her tongue and committed suicide in prison after making that statement.”
Cesare added.
“I immediately sent someone to find out about her family. They all moved together without a word last month.”
“What the... What the...”
Count Cesare concluded dryly in front of his mother, who was shaking her head.
“We were set up.”
“I told you from the beginning that I wasn’t the one who killed her! You finally believe me.”
“You’re not a character I can trust, are you?”
“You damn punk! Shut up!”
Cesare ignored the radiant Countess Rubina and touched his forehead.
“Someone planned it all from the beginning, trying to frame my mother.”
“...Who the hell!”
“How could I know? Even if I did, my mother should know. Have you ever held a grudge against anyone?”
Countess Rubina’s expression darkened at those words. She must have had countless petty grudges, but she was proud that she could see people through and through. The only person Countess Rubina openly had a bad relationship with was Queen Marguerite.
“I, I don’t know.”
“You always showed off.”
“You ungrateful bastard! I won’t get anything in return if I raise my son!”
Cesare felt as if his bones were breaking.
“Mother, what will change if you yell at me now?”
“I, I! I may not be good to my mother!”
“The only person who can get you out of here right now is ‘you ungrateful bastard,’ so be quiet.”
He left his mother behind the iron bars and turned around. His cloak fluttered, dust spreading throughout the room.
It was a disheveled appearance, unlike Count Cesare, who always wore luxurious clothes and drank in the splendid salon. Countess Rubina coughed.
She barely stopped coughing and called her son in a pitiful voice.
“Cesare.”
“...Why?”
“You’ll be back soon, right?”
“I don’t know.”
It was a voice full of the fatigue and irritation of a person who wanted to abandon her and run away but couldn’t. The iron door closed behind his shadowy back.
Raphael began.
“I came to tell you this in person, Ariadne.”
It was too sensitive a topic to write down on paper.
“What could it be?”
Julia frowned and glared at her brother.
“Ah.”
Raphael felt the blood rushing to his face cool.
Countess Rubina shouted in surprise.
“Even if the suspicions last time seemed suspicious if the Queen died yesterday... How could I kill Queen Marguerite while I’m stuck here!”
“Do you know Strozzi?”
A look of ‘Oops’ passed over Countess Rubina’s face.
“S-Why Strozzi?”
Cesare lamented. They really know each other. What on earth did this woman do?
“Mother. You really have to tell me everything without hiding anything.”
Countess Rubina nodded nervously.
“Strozzi is a merchant who supplied spices to the Queen’s palace. He’s a long-term business partner who has been doing business with her for over 15 years. He’s never caused any accidents, and he’s trustworthy.”
Countess Rubina also knew that Strozzi was unusually tight-lipped and good at keeping his promises.
“T-That’s right. But?”
“Yesterday, Strozzi entered the Queen’s palace under the pretense of delivering goods, and, strangely enough, it seems he was allowed in. It is presumed that Strozzi killed the Queen’s confidant, Lady Carla, and then poisoned the Queen before running away.”
“What!”
Countess Rubina was startled. She too had her own share of suspicions regarding Strozzi.
“He even boldly left his name in the guestbook. As soon as they discovered that the Queen had died, the palace guards closed the gates and searched thoroughly for Strozzi.”
However, Strozzi, a merchant who had been trading in royalties in San Carlo for over ten years, had already sold off all his assets for a pittance a few weeks ago, and it is said that he left San Carlo leisurely as soon as he left the palace as if mocking the guards’ belated closing of the gates.
“There must be someone behind that guy. He could not have committed such a daring crime alone, and it would be impossible for him to disappear so easily.”
They began searching the entire country to catch him, but the possibility of catching a criminal outside the capital, where security was relatively tight, was low.
“There’s another problem. The Queen was not stabbed to death, but poisoned. The poison was...”
“...It must have been the same arsenic I had.”
Countess Rubina leaned her forehead against the iron bars with a gesture close to resignation.
“That can’t be helped. I bought that arsenic from Strozzi.”
Cesare groaned in agony. He continued.
“The leftovers were put in a cup next to the body, making it easier to detect. That’s not all. There’s more shocking news.”
Count Cesare’s voice was filled with irritation.
“Do you remember the maid? The one who reported you?”
“Yes, that reckless woman.”
“The maid testified that my mother and the merchant Strozzi had a long history of dealing with each other and that my mother loved Strozzi like her own two arms.”
Rubina shook the iron bars, unable to contain her anger.
“That’s not true!”
“I know full well. It’s not true.”
Cesare continued to grumble even in this situation.
“I know best about your excellent tolerance and your close friendships. Strozzi was not your confidant. I’ve never heard his name.”
Countess Rubina enjoyed torturing her son with trivial stories about people around her.
If Cesare didn’t listen to Countess Rubina’s stories of people around her for hours or her complaints and insults against Leo III, she would get angry. Whether he wanted to or not, Count Cesare was very knowledgeable about Countess Rubina’s people around her.
“Let’s have a three-way confrontation! Strozzi is not my confidant!”
“Unfortunately, that’s impossible. The maid bit her tongue and committed suicide in prison after making that statement.”
Cesare added.
“I immediately sent someone to find out about her family. They all moved together without a word last month.”
“What the... What the...”
Count Cesare concluded dryly in front of his mother, who was shaking her head.
“We were set up.”
“I told you from the beginning that I wasn’t the one who killed her! You finally believe me.”
“You’re not a character I can trust, are you?”
“You damn punk! Shut up!”
Cesare ignored the radiant Countess Rubina and touched his forehead.
“Someone planned it all from the beginning, trying to frame my mother.”
“...Who the hell!”
“How could I know? Even if I did, my mother should know. Have you ever held a grudge against anyone?”
Countess Rubina’s expression darkened at those words. She must have had countless petty grudges, but she was proud that she could see people through and through. The only person Countess Rubina openly had a bad relationship with was Queen Marguerite.
“I, I don’t know.”
“You always showed off.”
“You ungrateful bastard! I won’t get anything in return if I raise my son!”
Cesare felt as if his bones were breaking.
“Mother, what will change if you yell at me now?”
“I, I! I may not be good to my mother!”
“The only person who can get you out of here right now is ‘you ungrateful bastard,’ so be quiet.”
He left his mother behind the iron bars and turned around. His cloak fluttered, dust spreading throughout the room.
It was a disheveled appearance, unlike Count Cesare, who always wore luxurious clothes and drank in the splendid salon. Countess Rubina coughed.
She barely stopped coughing and called her son in a pitiful voice.
“Cesare.”
“...Why?”
“You’ll be back soon, right?”
“I don’t know.”
It was a voice full of the fatigue and irritation of a person who wanted to abandon her and run away but couldn’t. The iron door closed behind his shadowy back.
Boom!
Alfonso de Carlo, Queen Marguerite’s only blood relative, stood like a statue in the mortuary chamber of his mother in the ‘Glass Hall’ of Palazzo Carlo.
Queen Marguerite, who had stopped breathing, was as peaceful as if she were asleep, except for her pale complexion and unnaturally stiff skin. She was placed in a beautiful marble coffin, surrounded by white lilies, the symbol of her motherland.
All the wealth and honor of the world surrounded Queen Marguerite. However, her son, Prince Alfonso, knew best. His mother’s life was not happy. Queen Marguerite's life was a pitiful struggle of a Princess burdened by duty.
"May the deceased rest in peace."
"Marquis Cibo. Thank you for coming. Your mother would have been happy to see you."
He had already met nearly a hundred nobles while exchanging greetings that he had not meant to. Today was a day when only the royal relatives, Dukes, and high-ranking nobles were allowed to enter.
Prince Alfonso was to stay until today to meet the mourners, and according to etiquette, he was to be absent tomorrow and the day after.
Those who arrived late or lower-ranking nobles would be greeted by palace officials who were not immediate family members, tomorrow and the day after.
After that, the Queen's coffin was moved to the Saint Ercole Cathedral, where it was visited by the public for 18 days, and on the 21st day after her death, a memorial mass was held, after which it was buried in the royal family's cemetery, the Santuario dei Reale Morti.
Prince Alfonso was put in charge of the entire funeral process. It was the first official duty he had ever been in charge of on his own. His mother’s funeral.
“Your Highness, the funeral staffing chart has been completed. Let’s check it out...”
***
Alfonso de Carlo, Queen Marguerite’s only blood relative, stood like a statue in the mortuary chamber of his mother in the ‘Glass Hall’ of Palazzo Carlo.
Queen Marguerite, who had stopped breathing, was as peaceful as if she were asleep, except for her pale complexion and unnaturally stiff skin. She was placed in a beautiful marble coffin, surrounded by white lilies, the symbol of her motherland.
All the wealth and honor of the world surrounded Queen Marguerite. However, her son, Prince Alfonso, knew best. His mother’s life was not happy. Queen Marguerite's life was a pitiful struggle of a Princess burdened by duty.
"May the deceased rest in peace."
"Marquis Cibo. Thank you for coming. Your mother would have been happy to see you."
He had already met nearly a hundred nobles while exchanging greetings that he had not meant to. Today was a day when only the royal relatives, Dukes, and high-ranking nobles were allowed to enter.
Prince Alfonso was to stay until today to meet the mourners, and according to etiquette, he was to be absent tomorrow and the day after.
Those who arrived late or lower-ranking nobles would be greeted by palace officials who were not immediate family members, tomorrow and the day after.
After that, the Queen's coffin was moved to the Saint Ercole Cathedral, where it was visited by the public for 18 days, and on the 21st day after her death, a memorial mass was held, after which it was buried in the royal family's cemetery, the Santuario dei Reale Morti.
Prince Alfonso was put in charge of the entire funeral process. It was the first official duty he had ever been in charge of on his own. His mother’s funeral.
“Your Highness, the funeral staffing chart has been completed. Let’s check it out...”
“I’ll check it out when the number of visitors has decreased.”
“The payment must be made by the end of the day for the related materials to be ordered. I’ll be back later.”
“The payment must be made by the end of the day for the related materials to be ordered. I’ll be back later.”
He had no time to grieve. Prince Alfonso took a deep breath and greeted the next visitor. The line was extremely long. Prince Alfonso could feel firsthand how many high-ranking nobles there were in San Carlo.
It had been a very long day.
“So that’s what happened...”
Ariadne was able to roughly understand the situation based on the information she had gathered from Cardinal de Mare and the Baldessar siblings. Right now, Julia and Raphael de Baldessar were sitting in Ariadne’s reception room, talking about the situation.
“They say that the assassin of Her Majesty the Queen is nowhere to be found.”
“It’ll be hard to catch him now, bro?”
“Once you leave the city of San Carlo, it’ll be hard unless you’re really lucky.”
Julia couldn’t understand why her brother would come with her to see her friend, but she had no choice but to go out with a sullen mother who was delighted that a person who had been shut in at home would go out.
When she actually brought him here, she was proud to see that her brother, whom she had thought was a useless person, was quite knowledgeable and spoke like a human being, but she was also annoyed by his usual rascal behavior.
“And...”
***
“So that’s what happened...”
Ariadne was able to roughly understand the situation based on the information she had gathered from Cardinal de Mare and the Baldessar siblings. Right now, Julia and Raphael de Baldessar were sitting in Ariadne’s reception room, talking about the situation.
“They say that the assassin of Her Majesty the Queen is nowhere to be found.”
“It’ll be hard to catch him now, bro?”
“Once you leave the city of San Carlo, it’ll be hard unless you’re really lucky.”
Julia couldn’t understand why her brother would come with her to see her friend, but she had no choice but to go out with a sullen mother who was delighted that a person who had been shut in at home would go out.
When she actually brought him here, she was proud to see that her brother, whom she had thought was a useless person, was quite knowledgeable and spoke like a human being, but she was also annoyed by his usual rascal behavior.
“And...”
Raphael began.
“I came to tell you this in person, Ariadne.”
It was too sensitive a topic to write down on paper.
“What could it be?”
Julia frowned and glared at her brother.
No, if you had told me to tell Ariadne, I would have told her secretly. Do you not trust me that much?
Raphael lowered his voice and spoke, unable to imagine his sister’s feelings or not caring at all.
“The assassin, ‘Strozzi’, was not actually originally named ‘Strozzi’, but was an outsider who settled in San Carlo about 15 years ago.”
Ariadne’s eyes lit up.
“Where did he come from?”
“It hasn’t been confirmed yet. The most recent rumor is that he’s from the north. He could be from the Kingdom of Gallico, the Grand Duchy of Sternheim, or a small country nearby. It’s said that he actively hid his origins.”
Raphael lowered his voice and spoke, unable to imagine his sister’s feelings or not caring at all.
“The assassin, ‘Strozzi’, was not actually originally named ‘Strozzi’, but was an outsider who settled in San Carlo about 15 years ago.”
Ariadne’s eyes lit up.
“Where did he come from?”
“It hasn’t been confirmed yet. The most recent rumor is that he’s from the north. He could be from the Kingdom of Gallico, the Grand Duchy of Sternheim, or a small country nearby. It’s said that he actively hid his origins.”
The number of outsiders living in Etruscan was an equal number of Gallico and Aceretian people, and there weren’t many from the Grand Duchy of Sternheim and the Northern Duchy Alliance.
“Probably... He’s most likely from Gallico.”
“If you find out, can you tell me?”
“Of course, Ariadne.”
It would be a good reason to visit the de Mare mansion, so there was no reason for Raphael not to tell him.
“What’s the situation at the palace?”
The Marquis Baldessar was a member of the great noble family, so he was able to visit Queen Marguerite on the first day she was laid to rest in the hall. The Marquis Baldessar himself was originally in charge of administrative and internal affairs, so he was in charge of some of the palace’s work, but now that the Queen has suddenly passed away, all of his work has exploded and shifted to that side.
So instead, the one who officially attended the funeral as the family’s representative was Raphael.
“It’s a sudden situation, so he seems to be out of his mind. His Majesty the King, including the Royal Guard, seems to be busy grasping the situation, and Prince Alfonso is in charge of all the funeral procedures. Countess Rubina is still imprisoned...”
It may sound nice, but it meant that the King was not paying much attention to his wife’s funeral. He didn’t even stay as her husband on the first day of the funeral.
Ariadne’s expression became complicated.
“Probably... He’s most likely from Gallico.”
“If you find out, can you tell me?”
“Of course, Ariadne.”
It would be a good reason to visit the de Mare mansion, so there was no reason for Raphael not to tell him.
“What’s the situation at the palace?”
The Marquis Baldessar was a member of the great noble family, so he was able to visit Queen Marguerite on the first day she was laid to rest in the hall. The Marquis Baldessar himself was originally in charge of administrative and internal affairs, so he was in charge of some of the palace’s work, but now that the Queen has suddenly passed away, all of his work has exploded and shifted to that side.
So instead, the one who officially attended the funeral as the family’s representative was Raphael.
“It’s a sudden situation, so he seems to be out of his mind. His Majesty the King, including the Royal Guard, seems to be busy grasping the situation, and Prince Alfonso is in charge of all the funeral procedures. Countess Rubina is still imprisoned...”
It may sound nice, but it meant that the King was not paying much attention to his wife’s funeral. He didn’t even stay as her husband on the first day of the funeral.
Ariadne’s expression became complicated.
“I really hope the culprit is caught.”
“I agree.”
“Really.”
She was silent for a moment, then looked up at Raphael as if she had something to say. Raphael felt the blood rush to his face in an instant of nervousness. Although he had only known her for a short time, Ariadne was never hesitant when speaking and was always straightforward. What important story was she trying to tell?
“Do you have something to say?”
Raphael asked, desperately praying that his face would not turn red. Damn, albinism. His skin was thin, so his emotions showed through clearly.
Ariadne opened her mouth with difficulty.
“...How is Prince Alfonso?”
“Really.”
She was silent for a moment, then looked up at Raphael as if she had something to say. Raphael felt the blood rush to his face in an instant of nervousness. Although he had only known her for a short time, Ariadne was never hesitant when speaking and was always straightforward. What important story was she trying to tell?
“Do you have something to say?”
Raphael asked, desperately praying that his face would not turn red. Damn, albinism. His skin was thin, so his emotions showed through clearly.
Ariadne opened her mouth with difficulty.
“...How is Prince Alfonso?”
“Ah.”
Raphael felt the blood rushing to his face cool.
Support Novellate!
Comments
Post a Comment