“This, this is...?”
That tiara was a gift that Ottavio had given to Isabella a long time ago.
The pink sapphire sparkled and reflected light depending on the angle at which the gray dog tilted its head.
Although it was given before they started dating, it was expensive, like a wedding gift, and Ottavio thought it was proof of their love that had borne fruit despite her having other partners.
'That might not be Tiara...'
However, part of the initials engraved on the side of Tiara's leg was visible.
To. de Mare.
Ottavio fell into despair.
Even when the Contarini family urgently needed money and asked her to bring it, Isabella stubbornly refused to give up the tiara, saying, "I want to make it look like I'm doing well for my father."
But why is it in the hands of the Duchess Rubina? Has his lovely wife been lying to him all along?
Isabella couldn't help but be shocked. That tiara had disappeared at some point.
She couldn't bring herself to tell Ottavio that she had been careless in the care of her belongings, so she lied and said that it was at her parents' house and that she didn't have the face to see her father. So why was it at the palace?
It was Duchess Rubina who answered Ottavio's question.
“I went to my son’s house to play and there was this rolling around on the floor.”
Of course, Rubina didn't say anything about telling the truth.
In fact, the tiara displayed in the pawnshop was bought by Clemente de Bartolini and presented to Duchess Rubina, but Rubina made it appear as if the tiara had been in Cesare's possession.
“It’s such a pretty tiara that it would be a shame to just leave it in storage.”
The person in question happened to be present at the time. Ottavio turned to Cesare with an expression that demanded an explanation.
But Cesare merely shrugged his shoulders. He spoke slowly.
“Did we have something like that at home?”
He was only stating the truth. Cesare had never seen the tiara. Naturally, he had no way of knowing whether it was in the house.
But Ottavio did not hear the words straight away.
Cesare's indifferent expression and nonchalant gestures were driving him crazy.
Ottavio had been having a physical conversation with Cesare in the hallway a few days ago and thought he had done a good job of shaking things off like a man.
This is because he believed that generosity was the essence of masculinity and that he and Cesare were definitely such men.
But the fact that Cesare had that tiara drove Ottavio crazy.
That pink sapphire tiara was a symbol of Ottavio's submission to Isabella.
Although he wrapped it up with nice words like it was a token of his love, he ended up buying expensive jewelry, as expensive as a wedding gift, for a woman he wasn't even dating, just to win Isabella's favor.
It was something only a fool would do. Ottavio knew it very well.
If Ottavio wanted to have Isabella, he had to buy her jewels and offer them up in marriage, but Cesare dated Isabella for free, and even accepted the jewels he had bought for her!
Ottavio glared at Isabella with burning eyes.
He was so angry that he forgot for a moment that there were so many powerful people right in front of him. It was instinct to look at Isabella instead of Cesare.
"You!"
Isabella kicked Ottavio in the shin under the table.
“Be quiet! Where is the safety here?”
Ottavio was furious.
“You dare kick your husband now?!”
“Hmm, hum!”
The scuffle between the two was suddenly stopped by Leo III's cough.
When Ottavio and Isabella froze and turned to look at Leo III, it was Leo III who was embarrassed instead.
Because he let out an exclamation of admiration after seeing Isabella's bust.
Isabella's chest cover, which she had brought out today with a full set of secret techniques, had no effect on Cesare, who knew everything, but it worked perfectly on Leo III, who knew nothing.
'She's so skinny...! How come I didn't know about it until now? Seeing her little sister like that, I guess blood is thicker than water.'
Leo III, who was admiring Isabella with such thoughts, was tongue-tied when he saw the object of his admiration and the woman's husband looking at him at the same time.
He bought some time by coughing for a moment.
“Hmm, hmm! I guess you can’t concentrate well.”
When you're feeling confused, the best thing to do is to pretend your story is someone else's story.
When Ottavio and Isabella heard Leo III's remark, they were startled and began to reflect on themselves, wondering if they had been lacking concentration.
To others, it looked like they had immediately stopped fighting and were quietly observing the situation.
But there was one person who could not be fooled in this way. It was Duchess Rubina.
She had an eerie sense of what the man she had been sleeping on for over twenty years was thinking. Anger flared in Duchess Rubina's eyes.
'That... That cute thing?'
It was instinctive to direct one's anger at Isabella rather than Leo III.
Isabella's life was not easy either.
Leo III's non-mediation brought a brief peace, but it was a peace that could not last.
As soon as Ottavio got into the carriage, he started fighting like crazy with Isabella.
“Why is it in his hands!”
"I don't know either!"
“If you don’t know, who will?”
Ottavio was furious and grumbled.
“You said you had nothing to do with Duke Cesare! Then why is that in his hand?”
Isabella frowned and looked up at the sky. But there was only the carriage roof. It was like her life. Ottavio even mentioned the child's name.
“Is Giovanna really my child?!”
Isabella exploded here.
"Hey!"
She swung her finger in an unspecified direction where the child was lying.
“If Duke Cesare was the child’s father, would the child’s face have looked like that?”
Giovanna was Ottavio's daughter, a spitting image of him.
But Ottavio, who was already looking at everything through the lens of suspicion, didn't see any of that. Instead, he just got angry.
“What’s wrong with you!”
And then he started making ridiculous excuses.
“I'm more manly and better than Duke Cesare, you parasitic little wretch!”
That tiara was a gift that Ottavio had given to Isabella a long time ago.
The pink sapphire sparkled and reflected light depending on the angle at which the gray dog tilted its head.
Although it was given before they started dating, it was expensive, like a wedding gift, and Ottavio thought it was proof of their love that had borne fruit despite her having other partners.
'That might not be Tiara...'
However, part of the initials engraved on the side of Tiara's leg was visible.
To. de Mare.
Ottavio fell into despair.
Even when the Contarini family urgently needed money and asked her to bring it, Isabella stubbornly refused to give up the tiara, saying, "I want to make it look like I'm doing well for my father."
But why is it in the hands of the Duchess Rubina? Has his lovely wife been lying to him all along?
Isabella couldn't help but be shocked. That tiara had disappeared at some point.
She couldn't bring herself to tell Ottavio that she had been careless in the care of her belongings, so she lied and said that it was at her parents' house and that she didn't have the face to see her father. So why was it at the palace?
It was Duchess Rubina who answered Ottavio's question.
“I went to my son’s house to play and there was this rolling around on the floor.”
Of course, Rubina didn't say anything about telling the truth.
In fact, the tiara displayed in the pawnshop was bought by Clemente de Bartolini and presented to Duchess Rubina, but Rubina made it appear as if the tiara had been in Cesare's possession.
“It’s such a pretty tiara that it would be a shame to just leave it in storage.”
The person in question happened to be present at the time. Ottavio turned to Cesare with an expression that demanded an explanation.
But Cesare merely shrugged his shoulders. He spoke slowly.
“Did we have something like that at home?”
He was only stating the truth. Cesare had never seen the tiara. Naturally, he had no way of knowing whether it was in the house.
But Ottavio did not hear the words straight away.
Cesare's indifferent expression and nonchalant gestures were driving him crazy.
Ottavio had been having a physical conversation with Cesare in the hallway a few days ago and thought he had done a good job of shaking things off like a man.
This is because he believed that generosity was the essence of masculinity and that he and Cesare were definitely such men.
But the fact that Cesare had that tiara drove Ottavio crazy.
That pink sapphire tiara was a symbol of Ottavio's submission to Isabella.
Although he wrapped it up with nice words like it was a token of his love, he ended up buying expensive jewelry, as expensive as a wedding gift, for a woman he wasn't even dating, just to win Isabella's favor.
It was something only a fool would do. Ottavio knew it very well.
If Ottavio wanted to have Isabella, he had to buy her jewels and offer them up in marriage, but Cesare dated Isabella for free, and even accepted the jewels he had bought for her!
Ottavio glared at Isabella with burning eyes.
He was so angry that he forgot for a moment that there were so many powerful people right in front of him. It was instinct to look at Isabella instead of Cesare.
"You!"
Isabella kicked Ottavio in the shin under the table.
“Be quiet! Where is the safety here?”
Ottavio was furious.
“You dare kick your husband now?!”
“Hmm, hum!”
The scuffle between the two was suddenly stopped by Leo III's cough.
When Ottavio and Isabella froze and turned to look at Leo III, it was Leo III who was embarrassed instead.
Because he let out an exclamation of admiration after seeing Isabella's bust.
Isabella's chest cover, which she had brought out today with a full set of secret techniques, had no effect on Cesare, who knew everything, but it worked perfectly on Leo III, who knew nothing.
'She's so skinny...! How come I didn't know about it until now? Seeing her little sister like that, I guess blood is thicker than water.'
Leo III, who was admiring Isabella with such thoughts, was tongue-tied when he saw the object of his admiration and the woman's husband looking at him at the same time.
He bought some time by coughing for a moment.
“Hmm, hmm! I guess you can’t concentrate well.”
When you're feeling confused, the best thing to do is to pretend your story is someone else's story.
When Ottavio and Isabella heard Leo III's remark, they were startled and began to reflect on themselves, wondering if they had been lacking concentration.
To others, it looked like they had immediately stopped fighting and were quietly observing the situation.
But there was one person who could not be fooled in this way. It was Duchess Rubina.
She had an eerie sense of what the man she had been sleeping on for over twenty years was thinking. Anger flared in Duchess Rubina's eyes.
'That... That cute thing?'
It was instinctive to direct one's anger at Isabella rather than Leo III.
Isabella's life was not easy either.
***
Leo III's non-mediation brought a brief peace, but it was a peace that could not last.
As soon as Ottavio got into the carriage, he started fighting like crazy with Isabella.
“Why is it in his hands!”
"I don't know either!"
“If you don’t know, who will?”
Ottavio was furious and grumbled.
“You said you had nothing to do with Duke Cesare! Then why is that in his hand?”
Isabella frowned and looked up at the sky. But there was only the carriage roof. It was like her life. Ottavio even mentioned the child's name.
“Is Giovanna really my child?!”
Isabella exploded here.
"Hey!"
She swung her finger in an unspecified direction where the child was lying.
“If Duke Cesare was the child’s father, would the child’s face have looked like that?”
Giovanna was Ottavio's daughter, a spitting image of him.
But Ottavio, who was already looking at everything through the lens of suspicion, didn't see any of that. Instead, he just got angry.
“What’s wrong with you!”
And then he started making ridiculous excuses.
“I'm more manly and better than Duke Cesare, you parasitic little wretch!”
It was a hope to hold on to even a thread.
He wish his wife had taken his side. He wished she had told him that he was better than Duke Cesare. But Isabella's reaction was extremely rational and cold.
“You’ve finally gone crazy.”
Ottavio exploded with emotional anger.
“So you think Duke Cesare is better than me, right?!”
Isabella couldn't understand why Ottavio was suddenly obsessed with strange things and talking nonsense. She shouted confidently.
“Of course it would have eyes!”
"Hey!"
The mood suddenly became worse. They were on the verge of grabbing each other's hair.
Ottavio, who was leaning on the carriage seat, clenched his fists and trembled, then barely managed to put them down.
“My fist is crying, ahh!”
Isabella, sitting across from Ottavio in the carriage, put her face right in front of his and shouted.
“Coward! Hit me, hit me, hit me!”
Ottavio, who had been bowing his head, suddenly raised it. His eyes were unfocused.
Isabella, who had been bragging about hitting her, felt intimidated when Ottavio, who was a head taller than her, looked at her with his crazy eyes.
But instead of striking Isabella, Ottavio grabbed her right hand. He forcibly pulled the ring off her index finger.
“I can’t leave this to you.”
The Contarini family coat of arms was shining gold, he added.
“I can’t tell if it’s my baby or someone else’s.”
Isabella screamed.
"Hey!"
To receive or disburse money in the Contarini household, this ring had to be stamped on documents like a seal.
To take this away from Isabella would mean turning her into a vegetable.
“Yes, that’s your child!”
But Ottavio heard nothing, for the sight of Isabella's pale face gave him a sense of triumph.
“Isabella de Contarini, live straight.”
Isabella was now a Contarini. She was part of the Contarini family. The power of life and death was in his hands.
But Isabella was no easy feat.
“You crazy bastard! Yeah, go ahead and steal the damn house seal anyway!”
Isabella screamed loudly when her ring was stolen.
“8000 Ducato? You’re going broke, you piece of shit!”
Her momentum was so great that she could defeat five Ottavios with her bare hands.
“All the usurers of San Carlo will come and lie down in this house, and if they take that ring, it will only be worth the weight of the copper that went into it!”
“It’s pure silver with gold plating!”
“You idiot who can’t even grasp the main point!”
Despite the arguing couple trying to get the carriage to leave, the carriage followed the set route to the Contarini mansion.
The entrance to the Contarini mansion was reached by a small road branching off from the main road that curved around the hill. As soon as they entered the road, Isabella's prophecy came true.
The loan sharks were sitting on the street, one after another.
The usury business was prohibited by the Yesak religion and only the Remu people could engage in it. Everyone sitting on the street was wearing a Remu people's unique palm-sized belt.
I've never seen so many Remuins anywhere else except at the Remu Church, so it was quite a sight.
“Count Contarini! Give me back my money!”
“You take responsibility and pay!”
“If you borrowed money in the name of the Contarini family, then the Contarini family should take the debt and die!”
He wondered if he would be able to enter the house because there were so many loan sharks there.
Ottavio gaped. The price of one wrong marriage was too high.
He looked at Isabella again. That woman's mouth was full of words.
Isabella said something like that, and that was why he was out of luck and the moneylenders came to his house. That must have been it.
***
Ariadne was reading "The Prince" with Bianca.
“‘How you should live’ and ‘how you do live’ are very different.”
After reading this far, Bianca tilted her head and asked Ariadne a question.
“Sister, I don’t really understand.”
When Bianca found out that Alfonso and Ariadne were dating, she started calling her 'sister' despite Ariadne's strong objections.
It was a kind of dam, but for the timid Bianca, it was a real show of courage.
And Bianca was still very satisfied. She had been looking forward to a pleasant social life in the capital, but her studies had increased, which was a bit disappointing.
“The Holy Spirit Church says, ‘Live by the teachings.’ That’s what it means to be a good believer.”
Ariadne looked at Bianca intently. There was a reason why she had chosen this book and had Bianca read it.
“Bianca, what’s the title of the book?”
“It’s ‘The Prince.’”
“That’s right. This isn’t a methodology that works for everyone.”
It is a methodology that applies only to those who have the responsibility to lead their people, who have blood on their hands, who have gone beyond morality, and who take shortcuts by walking where there is no path.
Bianca was puzzled by Ariadne's answer and asked back.
“But doesn’t that mean that some people are more special than others? Yesak’s Gon says that all people are equal before the gods...”
Ariadne simply smiled. It was true that the monarch's family tolerated behavior that diverged from the general moral code.
But to think of it as simply 'special' is to see less than half of it.
It was a responsibility and loneliness. It was a job that got blood on your hands.
If there is a hell, they would go down there and burn alone. Even if there was no hell, they were in a position where they had to make condemned decisions alone without anyone to understand.
Bianca was a person with a lot. If Bianca doesn't want to leave her fate in the hands of others, she will eventually have to walk this path.
"Miss."
Just as Ariadne was about to say something more to Bianca, their cozy time was interrupted by Sancha.
“What’s going on, Sancha? I told you not to come in.”
“A guest has arrived.”
“What kind of guest?”
Ariadne had the whole afternoon free. No one was supposed to come to see her.
“The Marchioness of Montefeltro...”
It was Gabriele. Sancha looked at Ariadne.
“It’s true that she came without a prior appointment. Should I send her back?”
Ariadne groaned in thought.
“No. Take her to the next room.”
Gabriele owed her something. Ariadne was a person who always repaid her debt.
And Ariadne did not regret meeting Gabriele today, because Gabriele was a friend who never came empty-handed.
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