When talking about people who generously provided for the party, we cannot leave out Clemente de Bartolini.
After successfully concluding her conversation with Duchess Rubina, she was shaking with excitement.
'...I did it, I did it!'
The gesture was so grand for a lady that the young guard guiding her to the side door of the Queen's palace glanced at her.
Clemente noticed the gaze and licked his lips like a guard.
'Oh, my mouth is watering...?'
While the guards looked forward again in surprise, Countess Bartolini recalled the events of a moment ago.
“Duchess.”
Duchess Rubina answered in a terse, succinct reply. Clemente cried out in excitement.
“...I, thank you so much, thank you!”
“Of course, not free.”
The Duchess squinted her eyes at Clemente de Bartolini, her eyes scanning the prey before her like a snake's, assessing it up and down.
“You should throw a party.”
“P, party...?”
Why the sudden party? Duchess Rubina opened her mouth to the bewildered Countess Bartolini.
“The Princess of Taranto will soon hold a debutante ball.”
“...Ah, that day...!”
Clemente nodded and nodded.
“...another ball...!”
It was different from Deborah, who was so suffocated that her clothes burst. Is this the power of bloodline?
A satisfied smile spread across Rubina's face as she saw Clemente immediately understand even if she only said one word.
“Yeah. I was going to open it myself, but I felt like the West was watching me.”
She continued, caressing the pink sapphire tiara in her hand.
“You have to throw a really fancy, big party for me.”
Rubina was the eldest daughter of Princess Bianca's family, according to the family register.
As Leo III's partner, she was likely to attend as a guest of honor, so it would have been absurd for her not to show up at all at Princess Bianca's debutante ball.
This is because it goes beyond talking about fighting the Duke of Taranto and ends up going against Leo III.
But it was entirely up to Rubina to decide how many balls she would go to that day.
“His Majesty the King doesn’t enjoy parties that late at night these days. He’ll be out soon.”
Rubina smiled vulgarly.
“After that, I’ll come out and show my face at that party, so sell it with my name on it and gather people there.”
The Duchess imagined the ballroom of the Duke of Taranto, where people would all drain away like the tide as soon as the King left. The corners of her mouth naturally turned up to the tips of her ears.
Clemente's eyes also sparkled. This was a perfect plan. Once you attend the ball, you will have all the courtesy you need to show to the host.
The guests could also join in with a light heart, without even thinking about getting into trouble with the Duke of Taranto.
Leaving early is simply because the party wasn't fun, so it's passed over as a problem with the host's hospitality.
“...What? I understand what you are saying...!”
“Clever thing.”
Duchess Rubina smiled with satisfaction again.
“The money you wanted is the money I lent to the Contarini family for ten years. With you as guarantor.”
Duchess Rubina thought she had made a very generous offer, but Clemente de Bartolini froze for a moment at the harshness of the offer.
It was not in the name of the Contarini family alone, but by putting herself forward as a joint guarantor.
A guarantor is obligated to pay the entire amount of money on behalf of the principal debtor at any time if the principal debtor does not pay. This is money he has never even seen.
It was sickening to think that she had incurred a debt of four thousand ducats in her name.
But Clemente took a deep breath and pulled herself together.
Her marriage was at stake. For Clemente, being the mistress of the Count Bartolini household was not only a marriage but also a status, a profession, and the key to belonging to her own class.
The four thousand ducats can be slowly extracted from Ottavio. In any case, the Contarini mansion will still remain.
Moreover, Rubina's next words pleased Clemente.
“And if you do well in this task, you will come and work as my maid starting next month.”
“...Yes...?”
“The position of chief maid was vacant.”
Clemente's eyes lit up.
“If you do your work diligently, I will gradually forgive you the 4,000 ducats, so don’t disappoint me.”
“Thank you... Thank you!...I won’t disappoint...!”
...After successfully completing his interview with Rubina, Clemente decided to move quickly.
The guard who had been startled by her tongue-twisting moments ago must have made up his mind and spoke to her as they almost reached the gate.
“Excuse me, Countess. You have arrived...”
A salute would have been enough, there was no need to say anything. Clemente completely ignored the guards.
“...This, this is not the time for me to be doing this...”
She climbed into the Bartolini family's carriage without looking back.
Meanwhile, the coachman assigned by Count Bartolini carefully observed the mistress's interaction with the young man.
Clemente, lost in thought as she sat in her carriage, decided to take care of her own business. First of all, she had to find out the date of the Duchess of Taranto's debutante ball.
After that, the only thing left to do was to decide on a party theme and gather the guests to invite. This time, Clemente decided to use Countess Baljo again.
'...As a charity project under the pretext of a ball... It's the best... It's safe... If you let it be known in advance that it was ordered by Duchess Rubina...'
The Countess of Baljo had a wide network of connections in high society.
The Count Baljo family was originally prestigious, and she had been doing charity work regularly. In many ways, she was the perfect host.
There was also ample opportunity for her to take on the role of host, which would involve some risk.
She recently heard that Countess Baljo's family is trying to set up a new textile production facility on their estate, but they are clashing with the nearby textile guild over who to hire to work there.
'I'll need the favor of Duchess Rubina...'
This is because conflicts between lords and guilds were usually resolved by the nearby great lord for minor issues in small villages and by the King for major issues.
In this way, the list of families that needed to be gathered steadily grew.
If a prestigious family does not show up at all to the Princess of Taranto's ball, or if they do show up, they only show up for a short time and then move on to the next ball, leaving the debutante ball hall embarrassingly empty, then this is a win for them.
It would be easy to find someone to attend the Princess of Taranto's ball and then follow Duchess Rubina to the next location, but it would be difficult to find someone to boycott the Princess' debutante ball from the start.
But Clemente had to make this ball a success. She counted the people she could never turn down.
She started racking her brain, pulling out a list of her close friends' wives as well as her former love interests.
“That’s right. It’s crossing the line for a mere merchant to report the Count’s family to the royal court. It’s insubordination.”
Although it was strictly speaking the Barons of Castiglione, a fellow noble family, who had accused the Count of Contarini, this did not matter to the magnates.
The discomfort they felt in the bustling streets of San Carlo and the unpleasantness of having to share the best shops with the merchants only burst out through their presence with CEO Caruso and the Camellia couple.
“Isn’t this a moral rebuke to Countess Contarini? She invited me to the party as a favor to tell me not to bother the poor thing.”
“Why are you thinking so deeply about it? What would the Taranto villagers know? It must be Countess Mare who is playing pranks in the middle of everything! Because she is close to her!”
Isabella, who heard the latest news from high society, was very pleased with the way public opinion was flowing.
I'm grateful that I became a victim, even though I was just sitting at home!
“Well, what do the Taranto villagers know? It’s all the Countess de Mare’s doing!”
Countess Contarini gave a passionate speech, with her friend, the young Viscountess Leonati, sitting next to her.
“How could you give Princess Bianca’s invitation to a merchant like Camellia? Everyone will know the truth about that wicked woman!”
“...But there’s Isabella.”
Leticia makes a very reasonable point.
“You got the invitation to the Grand Princess Ball thanks to your sister. Can you really insult her like that?”
"Ah!"
Isabella, who had been laughing at a decibel level that was out of place for the Countess no matter what excuse she gave, pouted her lips as if her anger was still not over yet.
“Where did I get that from because of her? It’s a proper invitation since my husband has a high position!”
After successfully concluding her conversation with Duchess Rubina, she was shaking with excitement.
'...I did it, I did it!'
The gesture was so grand for a lady that the young guard guiding her to the side door of the Queen's palace glanced at her.
Clemente noticed the gaze and licked his lips like a guard.
'Oh, my mouth is watering...?'
While the guards looked forward again in surprise, Countess Bartolini recalled the events of a moment ago.
“Duchess.”
Duchess Rubina answered in a terse, succinct reply. Clemente cried out in excitement.
“...I, thank you so much, thank you!”
“Of course, not free.”
The Duchess squinted her eyes at Clemente de Bartolini, her eyes scanning the prey before her like a snake's, assessing it up and down.
“You should throw a party.”
“P, party...?”
Why the sudden party? Duchess Rubina opened her mouth to the bewildered Countess Bartolini.
“The Princess of Taranto will soon hold a debutante ball.”
“...Ah, that day...!”
Clemente nodded and nodded.
“...another ball...!”
It was different from Deborah, who was so suffocated that her clothes burst. Is this the power of bloodline?
A satisfied smile spread across Rubina's face as she saw Clemente immediately understand even if she only said one word.
“Yeah. I was going to open it myself, but I felt like the West was watching me.”
She continued, caressing the pink sapphire tiara in her hand.
“You have to throw a really fancy, big party for me.”
Rubina was the eldest daughter of Princess Bianca's family, according to the family register.
As Leo III's partner, she was likely to attend as a guest of honor, so it would have been absurd for her not to show up at all at Princess Bianca's debutante ball.
This is because it goes beyond talking about fighting the Duke of Taranto and ends up going against Leo III.
But it was entirely up to Rubina to decide how many balls she would go to that day.
“His Majesty the King doesn’t enjoy parties that late at night these days. He’ll be out soon.”
Rubina smiled vulgarly.
“After that, I’ll come out and show my face at that party, so sell it with my name on it and gather people there.”
The Duchess imagined the ballroom of the Duke of Taranto, where people would all drain away like the tide as soon as the King left. The corners of her mouth naturally turned up to the tips of her ears.
Clemente's eyes also sparkled. This was a perfect plan. Once you attend the ball, you will have all the courtesy you need to show to the host.
The guests could also join in with a light heart, without even thinking about getting into trouble with the Duke of Taranto.
Leaving early is simply because the party wasn't fun, so it's passed over as a problem with the host's hospitality.
“...What? I understand what you are saying...!”
“Clever thing.”
Duchess Rubina smiled with satisfaction again.
“The money you wanted is the money I lent to the Contarini family for ten years. With you as guarantor.”
Duchess Rubina thought she had made a very generous offer, but Clemente de Bartolini froze for a moment at the harshness of the offer.
It was not in the name of the Contarini family alone, but by putting herself forward as a joint guarantor.
A guarantor is obligated to pay the entire amount of money on behalf of the principal debtor at any time if the principal debtor does not pay. This is money he has never even seen.
It was sickening to think that she had incurred a debt of four thousand ducats in her name.
But Clemente took a deep breath and pulled herself together.
Her marriage was at stake. For Clemente, being the mistress of the Count Bartolini household was not only a marriage but also a status, a profession, and the key to belonging to her own class.
The four thousand ducats can be slowly extracted from Ottavio. In any case, the Contarini mansion will still remain.
Moreover, Rubina's next words pleased Clemente.
“And if you do well in this task, you will come and work as my maid starting next month.”
“...Yes...?”
“The position of chief maid was vacant.”
Clemente's eyes lit up.
“If you do your work diligently, I will gradually forgive you the 4,000 ducats, so don’t disappoint me.”
“Thank you... Thank you!...I won’t disappoint...!”
...After successfully completing his interview with Rubina, Clemente decided to move quickly.
The guard who had been startled by her tongue-twisting moments ago must have made up his mind and spoke to her as they almost reached the gate.
“Excuse me, Countess. You have arrived...”
A salute would have been enough, there was no need to say anything. Clemente completely ignored the guards.
“...This, this is not the time for me to be doing this...”
She climbed into the Bartolini family's carriage without looking back.
Meanwhile, the coachman assigned by Count Bartolini carefully observed the mistress's interaction with the young man.
Clemente, lost in thought as she sat in her carriage, decided to take care of her own business. First of all, she had to find out the date of the Duchess of Taranto's debutante ball.
After that, the only thing left to do was to decide on a party theme and gather the guests to invite. This time, Clemente decided to use Countess Baljo again.
'...As a charity project under the pretext of a ball... It's the best... It's safe... If you let it be known in advance that it was ordered by Duchess Rubina...'
The Countess of Baljo had a wide network of connections in high society.
The Count Baljo family was originally prestigious, and she had been doing charity work regularly. In many ways, she was the perfect host.
There was also ample opportunity for her to take on the role of host, which would involve some risk.
She recently heard that Countess Baljo's family is trying to set up a new textile production facility on their estate, but they are clashing with the nearby textile guild over who to hire to work there.
'I'll need the favor of Duchess Rubina...'
This is because conflicts between lords and guilds were usually resolved by the nearby great lord for minor issues in small villages and by the King for major issues.
In this way, the list of families that needed to be gathered steadily grew.
If a prestigious family does not show up at all to the Princess of Taranto's ball, or if they do show up, they only show up for a short time and then move on to the next ball, leaving the debutante ball hall embarrassingly empty, then this is a win for them.
It would be easy to find someone to attend the Princess of Taranto's ball and then follow Duchess Rubina to the next location, but it would be difficult to find someone to boycott the Princess' debutante ball from the start.
But Clemente had to make this ball a success. She counted the people she could never turn down.
She started racking her brain, pulling out a list of her close friends' wives as well as her former love interests.
'...The number of Duchess Rubina, the chief maid...'
There was a greater future for Isabella de Mare—Clemente could never get used to calling her by her maiden name—than burying her.
The Queen's maids had free love affairs with the court nobles in the palace and sometimes even became the King's mistresses and seized power.
Clemente wanted to be free from this boring daily life.
Ariadne's party preparations were progressing smoothly. Preparing for the ball was her specialty and a very familiar routine. She could do it with her eyes closed.
“We are waiting for confirmation from the interior decoration department!”
“The orchestra and clowns have been recruited!”
“Food and beverage is also progressing smoothly. Everything is ready except for the slaughtered meat that needs to arrive on the same day.”
“It’s perfect.”
It had to be perfect. Compared to the past, when she had always successfully held events under tight conditions, this time she had a generous budget and time.
The attendance of the most important guest of honor, Leo III, had been confirmed in advance.
The King was scheduled to arrive early in the evening, when the party was being held, to give a speech. There was nothing that could possibly go wrong.
In the meantime, Ariadne also took advantage of some personal gain. This debutante ball was a party attended by the King himself.
However, the party was held in a place other than the palace.
That means that Princess Bianca's debutante ball was a royal party that could be attended by anyone, even non-nobles who could not pass the official checkpoint at the palace gates.
Of course, there were those, like Ariadne and Isabella, who were illegitimate children of a Cardinal, for whom the official checkpoint at the palace gates became meaningless.
But that was a route that only a very small number of people, privileged enough to have been laundered through the priesthood, could take.
Those who had amassed wealth and respect through ordinary means, such as merchants and scholars of common origin, lived without ever imagining that they might be invited to a ball attended by the King.
Ariadne invited Caruso and his wife, Camellia Vitelli, to the debutante ball.
CEO Caruso, who received this invitation, was so moved that he almost burst into tears. It was a human victory for a man born into a class where he could not make a living without working.
Camellia, who was holding her husband's hand tightly, also began to cry. For Camellia, it must have also meant returning to the world she had been cast out from.
But this invitation did not end with just a positive message for CEO Caruso personally.
It became a new goal and hope for the rising class and merchants of San Carlo.
“Did the CEO Caruso from Bocanegro receive an invitation to a ball attended by His Majesty the King?”
“...This is... This is unprecedented.”
“Have you ever seen His Majesty the King up close since you were born?”
“A sermon? A square? You can’t even see it in a church. The nobles can go inside, but the commoners have to listen to the sermon in the square of the church.”
“But we’re attending the same party!”
The hope that 'we can do it too' spread all at once among the merchant class. And they looked to who had created this opportunity.
The key figure was the young Countess de Mare, who had connections with central politics and religious circles and a great deal of influence in the merchant community.
Now it's out who they need to show off.
Even before the party opened, Ariadne's house was teeming with self-made men and women from San Carlo, visiting with new business opportunities or trying their best to get their face stamped on her.
But this was also the kind of thing that the existing vested interests found most uncomfortable.
“Attending the same party as those merchants!”
The most vehement refusals were from the great lords who had strongholds in the provincial fiefdoms.
Their wealth came from the land. Commerce was something they did not understand.
Naturally, they looked down on those who took money from middlemen who did not even engage in productive activities as immoral, and they simply regarded them as an unpleasant but inevitable part of life that provided them with luxuries.
But those guys have grown louder through the Black Death and now attend the same social events as them.
“Why on earth did Bianca of Taranto send an invitation to that horrible merchant?”
“You mean the family that put Count Contarini in trouble?”
“The new Countess Contarini has done some unseemly things. But Countess Contarini is just a speculative person...”
There was a greater future for Isabella de Mare—Clemente could never get used to calling her by her maiden name—than burying her.
The Queen's maids had free love affairs with the court nobles in the palace and sometimes even became the King's mistresses and seized power.
Clemente wanted to be free from this boring daily life.
***
Ariadne's party preparations were progressing smoothly. Preparing for the ball was her specialty and a very familiar routine. She could do it with her eyes closed.
“We are waiting for confirmation from the interior decoration department!”
“The orchestra and clowns have been recruited!”
“Food and beverage is also progressing smoothly. Everything is ready except for the slaughtered meat that needs to arrive on the same day.”
“It’s perfect.”
It had to be perfect. Compared to the past, when she had always successfully held events under tight conditions, this time she had a generous budget and time.
The attendance of the most important guest of honor, Leo III, had been confirmed in advance.
The King was scheduled to arrive early in the evening, when the party was being held, to give a speech. There was nothing that could possibly go wrong.
In the meantime, Ariadne also took advantage of some personal gain. This debutante ball was a party attended by the King himself.
However, the party was held in a place other than the palace.
That means that Princess Bianca's debutante ball was a royal party that could be attended by anyone, even non-nobles who could not pass the official checkpoint at the palace gates.
Of course, there were those, like Ariadne and Isabella, who were illegitimate children of a Cardinal, for whom the official checkpoint at the palace gates became meaningless.
But that was a route that only a very small number of people, privileged enough to have been laundered through the priesthood, could take.
Those who had amassed wealth and respect through ordinary means, such as merchants and scholars of common origin, lived without ever imagining that they might be invited to a ball attended by the King.
Ariadne invited Caruso and his wife, Camellia Vitelli, to the debutante ball.
CEO Caruso, who received this invitation, was so moved that he almost burst into tears. It was a human victory for a man born into a class where he could not make a living without working.
Camellia, who was holding her husband's hand tightly, also began to cry. For Camellia, it must have also meant returning to the world she had been cast out from.
But this invitation did not end with just a positive message for CEO Caruso personally.
It became a new goal and hope for the rising class and merchants of San Carlo.
“Did the CEO Caruso from Bocanegro receive an invitation to a ball attended by His Majesty the King?”
“...This is... This is unprecedented.”
“Have you ever seen His Majesty the King up close since you were born?”
“A sermon? A square? You can’t even see it in a church. The nobles can go inside, but the commoners have to listen to the sermon in the square of the church.”
“But we’re attending the same party!”
The hope that 'we can do it too' spread all at once among the merchant class. And they looked to who had created this opportunity.
The key figure was the young Countess de Mare, who had connections with central politics and religious circles and a great deal of influence in the merchant community.
Now it's out who they need to show off.
Even before the party opened, Ariadne's house was teeming with self-made men and women from San Carlo, visiting with new business opportunities or trying their best to get their face stamped on her.
But this was also the kind of thing that the existing vested interests found most uncomfortable.
“Attending the same party as those merchants!”
The most vehement refusals were from the great lords who had strongholds in the provincial fiefdoms.
Their wealth came from the land. Commerce was something they did not understand.
Naturally, they looked down on those who took money from middlemen who did not even engage in productive activities as immoral, and they simply regarded them as an unpleasant but inevitable part of life that provided them with luxuries.
But those guys have grown louder through the Black Death and now attend the same social events as them.
“Why on earth did Bianca of Taranto send an invitation to that horrible merchant?”
“You mean the family that put Count Contarini in trouble?”
“The new Countess Contarini has done some unseemly things. But Countess Contarini is just a speculative person...”
“That’s right. It’s crossing the line for a mere merchant to report the Count’s family to the royal court. It’s insubordination.”
Although it was strictly speaking the Barons of Castiglione, a fellow noble family, who had accused the Count of Contarini, this did not matter to the magnates.
The discomfort they felt in the bustling streets of San Carlo and the unpleasantness of having to share the best shops with the merchants only burst out through their presence with CEO Caruso and the Camellia couple.
“Isn’t this a moral rebuke to Countess Contarini? She invited me to the party as a favor to tell me not to bother the poor thing.”
“Why are you thinking so deeply about it? What would the Taranto villagers know? It must be Countess Mare who is playing pranks in the middle of everything! Because she is close to her!”
Isabella, who heard the latest news from high society, was very pleased with the way public opinion was flowing.
I'm grateful that I became a victim, even though I was just sitting at home!
“Well, what do the Taranto villagers know? It’s all the Countess de Mare’s doing!”
Countess Contarini gave a passionate speech, with her friend, the young Viscountess Leonati, sitting next to her.
“How could you give Princess Bianca’s invitation to a merchant like Camellia? Everyone will know the truth about that wicked woman!”
“...But there’s Isabella.”
Leticia makes a very reasonable point.
“You got the invitation to the Grand Princess Ball thanks to your sister. Can you really insult her like that?”
"Ah!"
Isabella, who had been laughing at a decibel level that was out of place for the Countess no matter what excuse she gave, pouted her lips as if her anger was still not over yet.
“Where did I get that from because of her? It’s a proper invitation since my husband has a high position!”
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