Cardinal de Mare noticed the disarray in the house a little too late.
"What's the matter?"
In response to the Cardinal's question, butler Nicolo chose his words carefully.
“Well... the Duke of Pisano left a little while ago.”
“Did the story go well?”
He personally brought a guy he didn't like into the house to persuade his daughter. And he was a handsome man as if he had been sculpted, but he looked like he had been dipped in oil and then taken out.
However picky she may be, it seems unlikely that he would have been unable to convince his sixteen-year-old daughter in the end.
“That is... It seems that the young lady has declared the engagement broken off and sent him back.”
“What?”
The Cardinal grabbed the back of his neck. There is nothing to be proud of. What are you going to do if you come now and say you want to break off the engagement?
His eldest daughter had already been banished to a convent. The child the cardinal had chosen to send to the royal court was his second daughter, Ariadne.
But the fact that he personally rejected the marriage because she did not like it was an act that completely shattered the grand picture drawn by the Cardinal.
“Tell that kid to come up to my study! Now!”
“You called.”
Ariadne looked at Cardinal de Mare with swollen eyes.
“Sit down.”
There was warm tea on the tea table.
It was not Cardinal de Mare who ordered it to be prepared, but it was probably the butler Nicolo's reserve, for her father was never a very scrupulous man.
She sat silently, holding her teacup. Her expression was obscured when she brought it to her lips. She didn't feel like talking.
But Cardinal de Mare seemed to think he had much to say to Ariadne. He asked her directly.
“Why on earth is that happening?”
“What is it?”
“Why did you say you should break off the engagement?”
At this point, she burst into tears. She had been boiling with anger since she had been called into the Cardinal's study.
A very small spark was enough to make Ariadne angry at this point.
“Why did I say I should break off the engagement?”
Ariadne raised her voice.
“Do you really want to see Father's daughter marry the man who slept with her older sister?”
She pronounced the word 'father' with emphasis.
But the Cardinal seemed either completely oblivious to this or completely unaware of what his daughter was thinking.
“I understand that it might have been uncomfortable and embarrassing for you.”
The Cardinal continued speaking in a somewhat affectionate tone, which in itself showed that he did not understand at all.
“But I sent your sister to the Convent of Saint Angelo as a token of my affection for you. Isn’t that enough?”
Ariadne's lips twitched with anger. The Cardinal continued his explanation.
“Marriage into the royal family is a great honor, and it is beneficial to the family in many ways. Although the Duke of Pisano is not a legitimate Prince, he is recognized as a collateral branch of the royal family, and if by any chance something happens to Prince Alfonso in the war, would His Majesty the King ever give the throne to Princess Bianca of Taranto? He would surely try to give it to the Duke of Pisano. Then...”
“For what?”
She cut her father off sharply.
“For the family?”
His daughter's voice was full of cynicism, but Cardinal de Mare did not deny it. If only he could intermarry with the royal family, he would be less worried about Ippolito's marriage.
Moreover, if he goes one step further and becomes the King's father-in-law, even more things are possible, such as aiming for the position of Pope.
“It’s for you too.”
This was also true.
“The position of the most noble lady in the kingdom is not just a dream. This kind of opportunity comes only once in a lifetime.”
But the Cardinal overlooked the fact that a few days earlier, his eldest daughter had also vented her anger at him in similarly angry terms.
“That’s not my family!”
Instead of exploding in anger like her sister, Ariadne turned to her father and asked him.
“Are people of high social status happy?”
The Cardinal returned the most obvious generalization to his daughter.
“The chances of being happy are higher if you are of low status.”
Ariadne chuckled.
“I looked into the future.”
She's tried it all. She's been close to becoming the most noble woman in the land.
Until now, she thought she would be happy if she just got to that place. But today, she just realized that even if she had that place, she would have been unhappy her whole life.
“Even if the Duke of Pisano were to ascend to the throne tomorrow, I would not want that marriage.”
“Stop talking nonsense!”
Cardinal de Mare, growing frustrated, raised his voice.
“Naive, do you think marriage is made up of romance and love?”
He thought his daughter was a reckless 16-year-old girl.
“Marriage is to solidify your status, accumulate wealth, and pass on to your future children a fine lineage and a land to rule!”
But his daughter was a middle-aged woman who had been through a lot, seen death, and returned home.
“Please don’t sell me the medicine, Father. You know best that I don’t need it at all.”
Ariadne smiled wryly and looked straight at Cardinal de Mare.
“I am the Countess of de Mare, and although I have no lands, I am one of the first nouveau riche in all of Etruscan history.”
She spoke slowly.
“What my father says is that I have the title, the security, the wealth to support my children, all that you have insisted on.”
Ariadne asked cynically.
“Why should I, someone like me, get married?”
“You fool! Do you know how hard it is to live your whole life as an unmarried woman?”
The Cardinal did not realize how much of his decision to send his daughter to the Duke of Pisano was for the sake of his daughter and how much was for the sake of his family.
They just came together as one and thought it was 'good for everyone'.
“Aren’t you telling me to sacrifice myself for the family right now?”
So Cardinal de Mare confronted her without a moment's hesitation and shouted at her.
“It’s good for you too!”
“I don’t like it!”
“Shut up and get going!”
Cardinal de Mare nervously tossed his teacup aside.
“I will contact the Duke of Pisano. Let’s pretend the engagement never happened and hold the wedding ceremony quickly. That’s enough of pushing! Listen to your father!”
And Cardinal de Mare was once again faced with a question similar to the familiar cry he had heard a few days earlier.
“Are you my father?”
The Cardinal blinked. Isabella had asked a similar question a few days ago.
“Did you ever see me as your child?”
He took them for granted. So he fed them, clothed them, and raised them. Why on earth do these children ask him these questions?
Ariadne cried out sharply.
“What kind of father pushes his child into a future where he sees nothing but tears and hardship?”
“Is becoming the Queen of a kingdom a future filled with nothing but tears and hardship?”
She asked her father, who was more like her than anyone else on this earth, but with whom she could not communicate, in a state of rage.
“Have you ever loved me?”
“No, have you ever seen him as a person?”
The Cardinal blinked and pondered. What on earth is the love between parents and children?
He thought he had given them everything they needed, but why do these kids keep asking him this question?
Ariadne snorted and unilaterally cut off her father's worries.
“No, I’m the fool who asked. What about love? You threw me out to the Bergamo farm like I was thrown into a spare parts warehouse, and then brought me back when you were needed. How could you possibly love me?”
“It couldn’t be helped!”
From the Cardinal's point of view, it was sincere. Lucrezia was eyeing Ariadne's mother.
The Cardinal suspected that the attempt had been successful and that Ariadne's mother had died.
Who will be the next target after Ariadne's mother dies? It was obvious as day that it would be Ariadne.
“I sent it for you!”
“And you’re pushing for this marriage for me too!”
Ariadne answered with a big laugh.
“Do you know how horrible that farm was?”
The abuse and embezzlement of Granny Gian Galeazzo, the daily routine of doing the same dirty work as the other maids, the days when she washed bed sheets with her bare hands at the stream and drew water from the well in a jug even on days when it felt like her fingers would fall off.
“I will never go back to that past!”
Also, to sit next to Cesare.
Ariadne declared.
“I will send a formal notice of the breakup of the engagement to the palace in the name of Countess de Mare. Father, please be aware of this!”
Cardinal de Mare was really upset this time.
“You punk! Have you forgotten that marriage is the decision of the head of the household, the father?!”
In the Central Continent, marriage was a family affair. No marriage could take place without the permission of the head of the family, the only exception being a royal decree.
Or, after running away in the middle of the night, the child is born and is recognized belatedly.
Ariadne smiled.
“Why would someone who knows do that?”
Her cold, sunken green eyes were just like her father's.
“His Majesty Leo III was not pleased with this engagement from the beginning. Do you think it is likely that His Majesty, either as the head of one of the houses or as the King, will accept the break-off of the engagement?”
Cardinal de Mare opened his mouth, speechless.
“I am the Countess of De Mare, and I am also legally entitled to the de Mare family. I can dissolve my engagement myself.”
“Do you think that will work?”
“Of course, there may be arguments. But what I am asking for is an end to the engagement. Not marriage.”
Her lips curved into a curve.
“Matters related to birth, aging, illness, and death are under the jurisdiction of the Holy Nation, so they go to the church court. For example, a dispute over the validity or invalidity of a marriage is like that.”
The eyes were not smiling.
“But engagements are a family affair, a political or economic matter. They go to the royal court.”
The judges of the royal court are appointed by the King.
“What will be the conclusion of that verdict?”
Of course, it will be as the King likes. The engagement will be dissolved, and there is no use arguing about it.
It was a perfect inversion. And it was coming from his own daughter. Cardinal de Mare's clenched fists trembled.
“You... Why on earth are you doing this?”
“To live.”
Her father still couldn't communicate with her.
“Is this because you have a supporter who believes in you?”
"Yes?"
Her father brought her heart, which simply wanted to live, back into the realm of politics, economics, marriage, and strife.
“You will have to get married someday, and unless you want to live your whole life as an engaged couple, you will need my permission. What are you counting on to do this? Are you counting on the child Baldessar?”
Cardinal de Mare's eyes flashed. Ariadne answered in wonder.
“Raphael? Why are we talking about Raphael here?”
The Cardinal gritted his teeth. If Ariadne was not going to marry into the royal family, she had to stay in the family as long as possible.
Ariadne grumbled bitterly, not knowing whether she had noticed her father's intentions or not.
“No, I don’t necessarily need my father’s permission to get married. I could have just received His Majesty the King’s royal decree or run away with the child.”
The Cardinal was furious again.
“Hey, this is impudent!”
“Anyway, I don’t have anyone to believe in, so I’ll think about tomorrow tomorrow.”
Seriously, life today is too hard to think about the distant future.
She snickered and warned Cardinal de Mare.
“Father, don’t think of anything unnecessary. You can’t abandon me.”
Ariadne added.
“Father, I am the only child left.”
It was a meaningful statement.
“I will get up.”
She got up from her seat without asking her father's permission.
The Cardinal was first appalled by the arrogant attitude of his second daughter, and secondly by his inability to control her.
But at least he was smart enough not to yell right away.
Boom!
The door to the study that Ariadne had closed rang. The Cardinal decided to rack his brain.
Ariadne, who had the title, was to remain in the household, at least until Ippolito's son was born, and preferably for life.
The strong don't have to use their brains. Now, the cardinal who was suddenly pushed to the position of the weak has to use his brains.
And he was pretty good at using his head.
"What's the matter?"
In response to the Cardinal's question, butler Nicolo chose his words carefully.
“Well... the Duke of Pisano left a little while ago.”
“Did the story go well?”
He personally brought a guy he didn't like into the house to persuade his daughter. And he was a handsome man as if he had been sculpted, but he looked like he had been dipped in oil and then taken out.
However picky she may be, it seems unlikely that he would have been unable to convince his sixteen-year-old daughter in the end.
“That is... It seems that the young lady has declared the engagement broken off and sent him back.”
“What?”
The Cardinal grabbed the back of his neck. There is nothing to be proud of. What are you going to do if you come now and say you want to break off the engagement?
His eldest daughter had already been banished to a convent. The child the cardinal had chosen to send to the royal court was his second daughter, Ariadne.
But the fact that he personally rejected the marriage because she did not like it was an act that completely shattered the grand picture drawn by the Cardinal.
“Tell that kid to come up to my study! Now!”
***
“You called.”
Ariadne looked at Cardinal de Mare with swollen eyes.
“Sit down.”
There was warm tea on the tea table.
It was not Cardinal de Mare who ordered it to be prepared, but it was probably the butler Nicolo's reserve, for her father was never a very scrupulous man.
She sat silently, holding her teacup. Her expression was obscured when she brought it to her lips. She didn't feel like talking.
But Cardinal de Mare seemed to think he had much to say to Ariadne. He asked her directly.
“Why on earth is that happening?”
“What is it?”
“Why did you say you should break off the engagement?”
At this point, she burst into tears. She had been boiling with anger since she had been called into the Cardinal's study.
A very small spark was enough to make Ariadne angry at this point.
“Why did I say I should break off the engagement?”
Ariadne raised her voice.
“Do you really want to see Father's daughter marry the man who slept with her older sister?”
She pronounced the word 'father' with emphasis.
But the Cardinal seemed either completely oblivious to this or completely unaware of what his daughter was thinking.
“I understand that it might have been uncomfortable and embarrassing for you.”
The Cardinal continued speaking in a somewhat affectionate tone, which in itself showed that he did not understand at all.
“But I sent your sister to the Convent of Saint Angelo as a token of my affection for you. Isn’t that enough?”
Ariadne's lips twitched with anger. The Cardinal continued his explanation.
“Marriage into the royal family is a great honor, and it is beneficial to the family in many ways. Although the Duke of Pisano is not a legitimate Prince, he is recognized as a collateral branch of the royal family, and if by any chance something happens to Prince Alfonso in the war, would His Majesty the King ever give the throne to Princess Bianca of Taranto? He would surely try to give it to the Duke of Pisano. Then...”
“For what?”
She cut her father off sharply.
“For the family?”
His daughter's voice was full of cynicism, but Cardinal de Mare did not deny it. If only he could intermarry with the royal family, he would be less worried about Ippolito's marriage.
Moreover, if he goes one step further and becomes the King's father-in-law, even more things are possible, such as aiming for the position of Pope.
“It’s for you too.”
This was also true.
“The position of the most noble lady in the kingdom is not just a dream. This kind of opportunity comes only once in a lifetime.”
But the Cardinal overlooked the fact that a few days earlier, his eldest daughter had also vented her anger at him in similarly angry terms.
“That’s not my family!”
Instead of exploding in anger like her sister, Ariadne turned to her father and asked him.
“Are people of high social status happy?”
The Cardinal returned the most obvious generalization to his daughter.
“The chances of being happy are higher if you are of low status.”
Ariadne chuckled.
“I looked into the future.”
She's tried it all. She's been close to becoming the most noble woman in the land.
Until now, she thought she would be happy if she just got to that place. But today, she just realized that even if she had that place, she would have been unhappy her whole life.
“Even if the Duke of Pisano were to ascend to the throne tomorrow, I would not want that marriage.”
“Stop talking nonsense!”
Cardinal de Mare, growing frustrated, raised his voice.
“Naive, do you think marriage is made up of romance and love?”
He thought his daughter was a reckless 16-year-old girl.
“Marriage is to solidify your status, accumulate wealth, and pass on to your future children a fine lineage and a land to rule!”
But his daughter was a middle-aged woman who had been through a lot, seen death, and returned home.
“Please don’t sell me the medicine, Father. You know best that I don’t need it at all.”
Ariadne smiled wryly and looked straight at Cardinal de Mare.
“I am the Countess of de Mare, and although I have no lands, I am one of the first nouveau riche in all of Etruscan history.”
She spoke slowly.
“What my father says is that I have the title, the security, the wealth to support my children, all that you have insisted on.”
Ariadne asked cynically.
“Why should I, someone like me, get married?”
“You fool! Do you know how hard it is to live your whole life as an unmarried woman?”
The Cardinal did not realize how much of his decision to send his daughter to the Duke of Pisano was for the sake of his daughter and how much was for the sake of his family.
They just came together as one and thought it was 'good for everyone'.
“Aren’t you telling me to sacrifice myself for the family right now?”
So Cardinal de Mare confronted her without a moment's hesitation and shouted at her.
“It’s good for you too!”
“I don’t like it!”
“Shut up and get going!”
Cardinal de Mare nervously tossed his teacup aside.
“I will contact the Duke of Pisano. Let’s pretend the engagement never happened and hold the wedding ceremony quickly. That’s enough of pushing! Listen to your father!”
And Cardinal de Mare was once again faced with a question similar to the familiar cry he had heard a few days earlier.
“Are you my father?”
The Cardinal blinked. Isabella had asked a similar question a few days ago.
“Did you ever see me as your child?”
He took them for granted. So he fed them, clothed them, and raised them. Why on earth do these children ask him these questions?
Ariadne cried out sharply.
“What kind of father pushes his child into a future where he sees nothing but tears and hardship?”
“Is becoming the Queen of a kingdom a future filled with nothing but tears and hardship?”
She asked her father, who was more like her than anyone else on this earth, but with whom she could not communicate, in a state of rage.
“Have you ever loved me?”
“No, have you ever seen him as a person?”
The Cardinal blinked and pondered. What on earth is the love between parents and children?
He thought he had given them everything they needed, but why do these kids keep asking him this question?
Ariadne snorted and unilaterally cut off her father's worries.
“No, I’m the fool who asked. What about love? You threw me out to the Bergamo farm like I was thrown into a spare parts warehouse, and then brought me back when you were needed. How could you possibly love me?”
“It couldn’t be helped!”
From the Cardinal's point of view, it was sincere. Lucrezia was eyeing Ariadne's mother.
The Cardinal suspected that the attempt had been successful and that Ariadne's mother had died.
Who will be the next target after Ariadne's mother dies? It was obvious as day that it would be Ariadne.
“I sent it for you!”
“And you’re pushing for this marriage for me too!”
Ariadne answered with a big laugh.
“Do you know how horrible that farm was?”
The abuse and embezzlement of Granny Gian Galeazzo, the daily routine of doing the same dirty work as the other maids, the days when she washed bed sheets with her bare hands at the stream and drew water from the well in a jug even on days when it felt like her fingers would fall off.
“I will never go back to that past!”
Also, to sit next to Cesare.
Ariadne declared.
“I will send a formal notice of the breakup of the engagement to the palace in the name of Countess de Mare. Father, please be aware of this!”
Cardinal de Mare was really upset this time.
“You punk! Have you forgotten that marriage is the decision of the head of the household, the father?!”
In the Central Continent, marriage was a family affair. No marriage could take place without the permission of the head of the family, the only exception being a royal decree.
Or, after running away in the middle of the night, the child is born and is recognized belatedly.
Ariadne smiled.
“Why would someone who knows do that?”
Her cold, sunken green eyes were just like her father's.
“His Majesty Leo III was not pleased with this engagement from the beginning. Do you think it is likely that His Majesty, either as the head of one of the houses or as the King, will accept the break-off of the engagement?”
Cardinal de Mare opened his mouth, speechless.
“I am the Countess of De Mare, and I am also legally entitled to the de Mare family. I can dissolve my engagement myself.”
“Do you think that will work?”
“Of course, there may be arguments. But what I am asking for is an end to the engagement. Not marriage.”
Her lips curved into a curve.
“Matters related to birth, aging, illness, and death are under the jurisdiction of the Holy Nation, so they go to the church court. For example, a dispute over the validity or invalidity of a marriage is like that.”
The eyes were not smiling.
“But engagements are a family affair, a political or economic matter. They go to the royal court.”
The judges of the royal court are appointed by the King.
“What will be the conclusion of that verdict?”
Of course, it will be as the King likes. The engagement will be dissolved, and there is no use arguing about it.
It was a perfect inversion. And it was coming from his own daughter. Cardinal de Mare's clenched fists trembled.
“You... Why on earth are you doing this?”
“To live.”
Her father still couldn't communicate with her.
“Is this because you have a supporter who believes in you?”
"Yes?"
Her father brought her heart, which simply wanted to live, back into the realm of politics, economics, marriage, and strife.
“You will have to get married someday, and unless you want to live your whole life as an engaged couple, you will need my permission. What are you counting on to do this? Are you counting on the child Baldessar?”
Cardinal de Mare's eyes flashed. Ariadne answered in wonder.
“Raphael? Why are we talking about Raphael here?”
The Cardinal gritted his teeth. If Ariadne was not going to marry into the royal family, she had to stay in the family as long as possible.
Ariadne grumbled bitterly, not knowing whether she had noticed her father's intentions or not.
“No, I don’t necessarily need my father’s permission to get married. I could have just received His Majesty the King’s royal decree or run away with the child.”
The Cardinal was furious again.
“Hey, this is impudent!”
“Anyway, I don’t have anyone to believe in, so I’ll think about tomorrow tomorrow.”
Seriously, life today is too hard to think about the distant future.
She snickered and warned Cardinal de Mare.
“Father, don’t think of anything unnecessary. You can’t abandon me.”
Ariadne added.
“Father, I am the only child left.”
It was a meaningful statement.
“I will get up.”
She got up from her seat without asking her father's permission.
The Cardinal was first appalled by the arrogant attitude of his second daughter, and secondly by his inability to control her.
But at least he was smart enough not to yell right away.
Boom!
The door to the study that Ariadne had closed rang. The Cardinal decided to rack his brain.
Ariadne, who had the title, was to remain in the household, at least until Ippolito's son was born, and preferably for life.
The strong don't have to use their brains. Now, the cardinal who was suddenly pushed to the position of the weak has to use his brains.
And he was pretty good at using his head.
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