Cesare appeared in the drawing room of the Pisano Castle within fifteen minutes, looking disheveled.
Although he said he would dress up in a short time, that was all he could see in Ariadne's eyes.
“What’s wrong with my debutante girl?”
He asked, brushing his messy hair back with his fingers.
“Last time, you chased me away very arrogantly.”
Ariadne responded with a small laugh.
“I heard a rumor that the country was going to perish, so I stopped.”
Cesare frowned. When he had free time, Ariadne was a perfect sparring partner.
The lively words she blurted out each time set his soul on fire.
There wasn't a single socialite he hadn't met, but he had never seen a woman like this.
But she was the worst person to meet when he was not feeling well.
There were times when each and every stabbing word was so painful. He asked with a crumpled face.
“What on earth are the rumors going around?”
It was an important question for Cesare at the time.
Ariadne let out a short sigh. That face. It was a face she knew well.
Whenever Cesare made that kind of expression, things always went badly. Ariadne felt a cold sinking inside her heart.
Irrational anger, illogical tantrums. The past where everything was her fault no matter what she did. She felt like her past life was chasing her, and she just wanted to run away from this place.
But when she suddenly looked down, she saw a brilliantly shining halo of light at the tip of her right hand.
“...”
'You want me to help Cesare, no, to defend Gaeta and expel the Gallico army?'
The halo of lights flashed enthusiastically as if it understood.
Yes. That must be it. The force that brought her back. The one who gave her a second chance to do everything again. She guesses this is her calling.
As Ariadne sat silently lost in thought, Cesare's anxious voice struck her ears.
“...What on earth was the rumor?”
She suddenly came back to reality.
'If it were before, I would have yelled at him right away.'
She thought that it was probably because she was still having a hard time, rather than because the person had been reformed.
Renewing her vow to never get closer.
“Just that. The Gallico Army is not withdrawing from the border area.”
Ariadne calmed herself down by saying something that wouldn't provoke Cesare.
She didn't come here today to talk about a relationship. She came here to talk about work. She just needs to do her work neatly and go back.
“Are you still looking for grain?”
“Ha, I guess you changed your mind?”
He spat out cynically.
“What good is grain if you have it? There are no soldiers to receive it as wages.”
“In times of trouble, if you have food and gold, soldiers will naturally gather.”
She tried to offer him a few words of comfort, but it didn't seem to be of much help. Comforting Cesare wasn't her thing.
She tried to say a few more words, but Cesare still did not respond well, so she gathered up the hem of her clothes.
“If you don’t need it, I’ll be going now.”
“...No, wait a minute.”
As expected, Cesare caught her right away. However, it seemed like he had no idea what to do.
That was Cesare when he was overloaded.
Ariadne sighed, stood up, and pushed his nest-like hair behind his ear.
“What are you so worried about?”
Cesare looked up at Ariadne with a look of surprise.
But what she felt in his watery eyes was not the unpleasant kind of surprise, but a childlike joy that found comfort in an unexpected place.
“...What’s wrong with you, Miss? You know how to be affectionate.”
Ariadne answered without a trace of a smile.
“I want to sell some grain.”
We need to take care of our customers.
But Cesare seemed to have taken it as a joke. He was very pleased and began to tell his story.
“I think I’m going crazy.”
The few days spent in isolation at the Pisano estate were eating away at Cesare.
He poured out his heart to Ariadne like a fish in water.
“So, the problem is that you have to do the impossible with an absurd amount of force.”
"Yes!"
“I think the goal setting was wrong from the beginning?”
“Yes? What does that mean?”
“I don’t think it was the Duke’s idea to chase away the Gallico Heavy Knights with this force.”
"...”
Ariadne was right. Cesare blinked his watery eyes, trying to figure out why he was in this situation.
“...My Mother.”
It was Duchess Rubina who sent Cesare, who had been well hidden in the capital, to the Pisano estate, it was Duchess Rubina who told the entire capital that the Duke of Pisano would be put in charge of the border defense, it was Duchess Rubina who pushed Cesare into the position of commander-in-chief and made him responsible not only for the defense of the Pisano estate but also for the entire border area, and it was also Duchess Rubina who now sent all the noble private soldiers conscripted from all over the country to Cesare and placed the blame on him.
“Actually, those troops were originally supposed to go to Gaeta.”
Ariadne nodded. Gallico's heavy knights were threatening the castle of Gaeta in the Gaeta fiefdom.
The Pisano estate was merely a border area. It was Duchess Rubina's greed that sent all the troops here.
“I can’t just say I won’t accept private soldiers now and send them all to Gaeta. Eventually, I’ll have to do something. What should I do?”
Ariadne asked a slightly different question.
“Why do you feel that you have to fulfill all the responsibilities and obligations that your mother has set for you?”
“Well...”
Well, that's always been the case.
Ariadne's next question flew at Cesare, who was speechless.
“Are you happy when your mother is satisfied?”
“...Just for a little while.”
“That happiness doesn’t last long.”
“Even if I complete it, the next mission is waiting for me right away.”
“When do you feel happy?”
Cesare tried to answer but ended up keeping his mouth shut. The answer that came to his mind was so... pitiful.
'...When I am loved.'
When someone showers him with love without expecting anything in return. When a honey-dripping, ecstatic expression looks at him.
He was embarrassed and washed his face dry. A strange realization came over him.
'I... Is that why I did that?'
The only people who had ever given him unconditional love were the mayfly women he had been dating like crazy.
No one but them gave unconditional love to the King's illegitimate son, Cesare.
People always wanted something from Cesare, including his mother and the King who was ashamed to call him son.
As Cesare's status rose, as he grew from a boy to a young man, and as his appearance grew more handsome, his hunger grew.
Could that woman also be after the position of Count de Como's mistress? Could she be so infatuated with my face that she would ignore me as if she never loved me when I got fat and old?
“...”
'I am happy when I am loved.'
It was such a simple answer, but he couldn't bring himself to say it.
If it were his usual self, he would have taken this opportunity and said something like, 'So, if you want me to be happy, give me some love, young lady,' or even, 'If you love me, wouldn't it be okay to give me at least your lips?'
Isn't this the perfect situation to hit on a woman? Pretending to be weak, and stimulating sympathy and maternal love. It's always a winning move.
But for some reason, saying that, especially in front of Ariadne, felt unbearably shameful.
It must have been because he was truly sincere. His naked sincerity in wanting to be loved.
"...”
Cesare blinked his eyes twice. There were tears in his eyes.
He turned his head slightly to the side, not wanting to be caught, but the beast-like woman sensed the tears gathering in his eyes like a ghost and handed him a handkerchief.
Cesare, who received the handkerchief, burst into tears at that moment.
Was it the result of a combination of the shame of being caught and the relief that there was nothing left to hide?
“Ugh..!”
A grown man crying in front of a woman. This was definitely not something that suited the capital's debaucher, Duke Cesare.
If even a rumor gets out, I'll die.
He held out a handkerchief to wipe away his tears for a long time, and when the first handkerchief became soaked with excitement, Ariadne silently handed him a second handkerchief.
It was only after he finished using the second handkerchief that he finally stopped crying.
He wiped his nose and examined the handkerchief in his hand.
Ari. d. Mare
The first handkerchief she was given was a plain one without any embroidery, but he guessed she only had one to carry around as an extra.
The second handkerchief was an embroidered personal handkerchief that the ladies carried close to their bodies.
Cesare sniffled and joked, his eyes swollen shut. He wanted to break the mood by saying something.
“Hey, are you giving this to me? It’s an honor.”
Handkerchiefs with initials written on them were often given as tokens of affection. Ariadne frowned and held out her hand.
“Give me the handkerchief”
His mood was really starting to get better.
“No, I don’t want to. Once you give it to me, it’s mine.”
She reached forward and tried to snatch the handkerchief away, but Cesare quickly drew back and avoided Ariadne's hand.
They argued for a while, but eventually, Cesare managed to tuck the handkerchief into his trouser pocket with his left hand while holding both of Ariadne's wrists with one hand.
“So, are you still going to take it?”
“...”
Ariadne was blushing and glaring between Cesare's legs.
He seemed embarrassed and angry at the same time. Cesare was so amused by the situation that he almost burst into laughter.
“...Suck it up and send it back.”
I'll burn it when I get back.
“Look at what the young lady is doing!”
Cesare laughed and teased Ariadne.
When her opponent seemed to have regained his spirits, Ariadne sighed and urged Cesare on.
“Let’s talk about work.”
“Work? What’s going on?”
“Are you just going to charge into Gallico’s 16,000-man army with 1,500 private soldiers?”
“...Ah.”
Cesare's face darkened at once.
“And what kind of grain are you going to feed 1,500 soldiers? Do you have any leftover food in the granary?”
There was none. The fields were full of unharvested wheat, but inside the castle, even the rats were starting to starve. This was the current situation in Pisano's territory.
“Open your ears and listen.”
Ariadne sat the tear-stained Duke Cesare down at the drawing room desk and picked up a pen and parchment.
It was hard to imagine Cesare receiving military or administrative training from a woman, especially one younger than himself.
Of course, that didn't happen in this life, and it didn't happen in the last life he didn't know about.
This was also the reason why he did not have a good relationship with his fiancée Ariadne, who was the acting regent.
Ariadne only wanted to help her fiancé, but he thought his woman was being presumptuous.
Why on earth would someone who just loves me try to teach me? It must be because I am lacking, and she is doing this to change me in a way that pleases her.
She's not loving me for who I am.
He didn't know it, but there may have been some hatred projected onto him towards his mother, Countess Rubina.
Later on, he became stubborn and stuck to his ways even when Ariadne was right, and he resisted all suggestions vehemently from the beginning for fear of hearing people say, "See, that's what I told you."
Eventually, he grew to loathe the very idea of talking about policy.
But now he was staring obediently at Ariadne's fingertips.
“Yes, it’s wide open, Ma’am.”
Ariadne glared at Cesare's humor.
Even her glaring gaze looked beautiful. Cesare smiled and looked back at her.
She was the woman he originally wanted. She was the person who shone the brightest like a jewel in the capital.
But was she special in and of herself? No.
If a more beautiful woman than her appeared, if a more lively woman appeared, she was nothing more than a target who could be replaced at any time.
But now, his heart ached inexplicably.
On a whole other level, she started to become special to him.
It was an emotion that Duke Cesare had never felt before in his life.
Although he said he would dress up in a short time, that was all he could see in Ariadne's eyes.
“What’s wrong with my debutante girl?”
He asked, brushing his messy hair back with his fingers.
“Last time, you chased me away very arrogantly.”
Ariadne responded with a small laugh.
“I heard a rumor that the country was going to perish, so I stopped.”
Cesare frowned. When he had free time, Ariadne was a perfect sparring partner.
The lively words she blurted out each time set his soul on fire.
There wasn't a single socialite he hadn't met, but he had never seen a woman like this.
But she was the worst person to meet when he was not feeling well.
There were times when each and every stabbing word was so painful. He asked with a crumpled face.
“What on earth are the rumors going around?”
It was an important question for Cesare at the time.
Ariadne let out a short sigh. That face. It was a face she knew well.
Whenever Cesare made that kind of expression, things always went badly. Ariadne felt a cold sinking inside her heart.
Irrational anger, illogical tantrums. The past where everything was her fault no matter what she did. She felt like her past life was chasing her, and she just wanted to run away from this place.
But when she suddenly looked down, she saw a brilliantly shining halo of light at the tip of her right hand.
“...”
'You want me to help Cesare, no, to defend Gaeta and expel the Gallico army?'
The halo of lights flashed enthusiastically as if it understood.
Yes. That must be it. The force that brought her back. The one who gave her a second chance to do everything again. She guesses this is her calling.
As Ariadne sat silently lost in thought, Cesare's anxious voice struck her ears.
“...What on earth was the rumor?”
She suddenly came back to reality.
'If it were before, I would have yelled at him right away.'
She thought that it was probably because she was still having a hard time, rather than because the person had been reformed.
Renewing her vow to never get closer.
“Just that. The Gallico Army is not withdrawing from the border area.”
Ariadne calmed herself down by saying something that wouldn't provoke Cesare.
She didn't come here today to talk about a relationship. She came here to talk about work. She just needs to do her work neatly and go back.
“Are you still looking for grain?”
“Ha, I guess you changed your mind?”
He spat out cynically.
“What good is grain if you have it? There are no soldiers to receive it as wages.”
“In times of trouble, if you have food and gold, soldiers will naturally gather.”
She tried to offer him a few words of comfort, but it didn't seem to be of much help. Comforting Cesare wasn't her thing.
She tried to say a few more words, but Cesare still did not respond well, so she gathered up the hem of her clothes.
“If you don’t need it, I’ll be going now.”
“...No, wait a minute.”
As expected, Cesare caught her right away. However, it seemed like he had no idea what to do.
That was Cesare when he was overloaded.
Ariadne sighed, stood up, and pushed his nest-like hair behind his ear.
“What are you so worried about?”
Cesare looked up at Ariadne with a look of surprise.
But what she felt in his watery eyes was not the unpleasant kind of surprise, but a childlike joy that found comfort in an unexpected place.
“...What’s wrong with you, Miss? You know how to be affectionate.”
Ariadne answered without a trace of a smile.
“I want to sell some grain.”
We need to take care of our customers.
But Cesare seemed to have taken it as a joke. He was very pleased and began to tell his story.
“I think I’m going crazy.”
The few days spent in isolation at the Pisano estate were eating away at Cesare.
He poured out his heart to Ariadne like a fish in water.
“So, the problem is that you have to do the impossible with an absurd amount of force.”
"Yes!"
“I think the goal setting was wrong from the beginning?”
“Yes? What does that mean?”
“I don’t think it was the Duke’s idea to chase away the Gallico Heavy Knights with this force.”
"...”
Ariadne was right. Cesare blinked his watery eyes, trying to figure out why he was in this situation.
“...My Mother.”
It was Duchess Rubina who sent Cesare, who had been well hidden in the capital, to the Pisano estate, it was Duchess Rubina who told the entire capital that the Duke of Pisano would be put in charge of the border defense, it was Duchess Rubina who pushed Cesare into the position of commander-in-chief and made him responsible not only for the defense of the Pisano estate but also for the entire border area, and it was also Duchess Rubina who now sent all the noble private soldiers conscripted from all over the country to Cesare and placed the blame on him.
“Actually, those troops were originally supposed to go to Gaeta.”
Ariadne nodded. Gallico's heavy knights were threatening the castle of Gaeta in the Gaeta fiefdom.
The Pisano estate was merely a border area. It was Duchess Rubina's greed that sent all the troops here.
“I can’t just say I won’t accept private soldiers now and send them all to Gaeta. Eventually, I’ll have to do something. What should I do?”
Ariadne asked a slightly different question.
“Why do you feel that you have to fulfill all the responsibilities and obligations that your mother has set for you?”
“Well...”
Well, that's always been the case.
Ariadne's next question flew at Cesare, who was speechless.
“Are you happy when your mother is satisfied?”
“...Just for a little while.”
“That happiness doesn’t last long.”
“Even if I complete it, the next mission is waiting for me right away.”
“When do you feel happy?”
Cesare tried to answer but ended up keeping his mouth shut. The answer that came to his mind was so... pitiful.
'...When I am loved.'
When someone showers him with love without expecting anything in return. When a honey-dripping, ecstatic expression looks at him.
He was embarrassed and washed his face dry. A strange realization came over him.
'I... Is that why I did that?'
The only people who had ever given him unconditional love were the mayfly women he had been dating like crazy.
No one but them gave unconditional love to the King's illegitimate son, Cesare.
People always wanted something from Cesare, including his mother and the King who was ashamed to call him son.
As Cesare's status rose, as he grew from a boy to a young man, and as his appearance grew more handsome, his hunger grew.
Could that woman also be after the position of Count de Como's mistress? Could she be so infatuated with my face that she would ignore me as if she never loved me when I got fat and old?
“...”
'I am happy when I am loved.'
It was such a simple answer, but he couldn't bring himself to say it.
If it were his usual self, he would have taken this opportunity and said something like, 'So, if you want me to be happy, give me some love, young lady,' or even, 'If you love me, wouldn't it be okay to give me at least your lips?'
Isn't this the perfect situation to hit on a woman? Pretending to be weak, and stimulating sympathy and maternal love. It's always a winning move.
But for some reason, saying that, especially in front of Ariadne, felt unbearably shameful.
It must have been because he was truly sincere. His naked sincerity in wanting to be loved.
"...”
Cesare blinked his eyes twice. There were tears in his eyes.
He turned his head slightly to the side, not wanting to be caught, but the beast-like woman sensed the tears gathering in his eyes like a ghost and handed him a handkerchief.
Cesare, who received the handkerchief, burst into tears at that moment.
Was it the result of a combination of the shame of being caught and the relief that there was nothing left to hide?
“Ugh..!”
A grown man crying in front of a woman. This was definitely not something that suited the capital's debaucher, Duke Cesare.
If even a rumor gets out, I'll die.
He held out a handkerchief to wipe away his tears for a long time, and when the first handkerchief became soaked with excitement, Ariadne silently handed him a second handkerchief.
It was only after he finished using the second handkerchief that he finally stopped crying.
He wiped his nose and examined the handkerchief in his hand.
Ari. d. Mare
The first handkerchief she was given was a plain one without any embroidery, but he guessed she only had one to carry around as an extra.
The second handkerchief was an embroidered personal handkerchief that the ladies carried close to their bodies.
Cesare sniffled and joked, his eyes swollen shut. He wanted to break the mood by saying something.
“Hey, are you giving this to me? It’s an honor.”
Handkerchiefs with initials written on them were often given as tokens of affection. Ariadne frowned and held out her hand.
“Give me the handkerchief”
His mood was really starting to get better.
“No, I don’t want to. Once you give it to me, it’s mine.”
She reached forward and tried to snatch the handkerchief away, but Cesare quickly drew back and avoided Ariadne's hand.
They argued for a while, but eventually, Cesare managed to tuck the handkerchief into his trouser pocket with his left hand while holding both of Ariadne's wrists with one hand.
“So, are you still going to take it?”
“...”
Ariadne was blushing and glaring between Cesare's legs.
He seemed embarrassed and angry at the same time. Cesare was so amused by the situation that he almost burst into laughter.
“...Suck it up and send it back.”
I'll burn it when I get back.
“Look at what the young lady is doing!”
Cesare laughed and teased Ariadne.
When her opponent seemed to have regained his spirits, Ariadne sighed and urged Cesare on.
“Let’s talk about work.”
“Work? What’s going on?”
“Are you just going to charge into Gallico’s 16,000-man army with 1,500 private soldiers?”
“...Ah.”
Cesare's face darkened at once.
“And what kind of grain are you going to feed 1,500 soldiers? Do you have any leftover food in the granary?”
There was none. The fields were full of unharvested wheat, but inside the castle, even the rats were starting to starve. This was the current situation in Pisano's territory.
“Open your ears and listen.”
Ariadne sat the tear-stained Duke Cesare down at the drawing room desk and picked up a pen and parchment.
It was hard to imagine Cesare receiving military or administrative training from a woman, especially one younger than himself.
Of course, that didn't happen in this life, and it didn't happen in the last life he didn't know about.
This was also the reason why he did not have a good relationship with his fiancée Ariadne, who was the acting regent.
Ariadne only wanted to help her fiancé, but he thought his woman was being presumptuous.
Why on earth would someone who just loves me try to teach me? It must be because I am lacking, and she is doing this to change me in a way that pleases her.
She's not loving me for who I am.
He didn't know it, but there may have been some hatred projected onto him towards his mother, Countess Rubina.
Later on, he became stubborn and stuck to his ways even when Ariadne was right, and he resisted all suggestions vehemently from the beginning for fear of hearing people say, "See, that's what I told you."
Eventually, he grew to loathe the very idea of talking about policy.
But now he was staring obediently at Ariadne's fingertips.
“Yes, it’s wide open, Ma’am.”
Ariadne glared at Cesare's humor.
Even her glaring gaze looked beautiful. Cesare smiled and looked back at her.
She was the woman he originally wanted. She was the person who shone the brightest like a jewel in the capital.
But was she special in and of herself? No.
If a more beautiful woman than her appeared, if a more lively woman appeared, she was nothing more than a target who could be replaced at any time.
But now, his heart ached inexplicably.
On a whole other level, she started to become special to him.
It was an emotion that Duke Cesare had never felt before in his life.
Support Novellate!
Comments
Post a Comment