“What? Camellia fell?”
Ariadne jumped up from her seat. Sancha spoke cautiously.
“It wasn’t just a collapse, it was a miscarriage...”
Ariadne put her hand on her forehead without saying a word. Her temples were starting to hurt. Isabella started to do the same thing again.
She felt like she had a duty to stop it. She should have done something about it sooner.
She pondered how Camellia's life had turned out in her past life.
She married Ottavio and became Countess Contarini... Did she have children? Did they all grow up healthy?
But nothing will change if you worry about the past. Ariadne asked a question about the present.
“Is Camellia okay?”
A lot was going on here. Sancha was now close to being soulmates with Ariadne. She knew right away what Ariadne was asking.
“Her health itself is not good, but I think there will be no problems with her next pregnancy. She seems calmer than I thought.”
Camellia was also a woman with a burning ambition. Rather than crying over the baby she lost, she would rather build up her strength while waiting for the next baby.
“That’s fortunate.”
Ariadne nodded. She doesn’t think CEO Caruso was too upset that another baby was possible. She asked lightly.
“Is everything okay, CEO Caruso?”
It was a question asking if he was taking good care of his wife. But Sancha's expression darkened.
“Uh... On the contrary, they say that CEO Caruso lost his mind. It’s not like him... The Vitelli family was turned upside down...”
For Caruso, the child in Camellia's womb was not his first child. He had a daughter, Petruchia, from his previous marriage.
But what Ariadne didn't think about was that CEO Caruso always felt sorry for Camellia.
To him, his young wife was a woman who had lived a life without anything to be envious of, but who had given up many things because of him.
However, Isabella's group pressed his buttons precisely by declaring to Camellia in front of CEO Caruso, "You are not a noble, so you cannot join our group."
“I won’t let that happen!”
When Ariadne visited the Vitelli family to visit him, Caruso cried out in resentment.
“I will not leave alone the people who killed my child and the women who made my wife shed tears of blood!”
He bit his lip. It was swollen and puffy, as if he had done it too many times.
“I will seek revenge even if it means selling my soul!”
Ariadne, who had stopped by to offer comfort but was unexpectedly confronted with a will to take revenge, opened her eyes wide.
“Just a moment.”
She stopped CEO Caruso.
“Do you really want revenge?”
"Yes!"
“Even if it causes some disruption to business?”
“It doesn’t matter what!”
Ariadne waved her hand, thinking that she would later advise Camellia and Petruchia to put some of the property aside.
“Put your soul in.”
Even without going to Hell or the Inquisitor, there were plenty of ways for VEO Caruso to take revenge on the nobles.
“The bonds are enough for the CEO to take revenge on Count Contarini.”
“Huh? Sell the bonds?”
CEO Caruso understood only half of Ariadne's lines.
“...Are you asking me to hand over the money Camellia owes me from the Contarini family to the person who will carry out my revenge?”
The moneylenders who lent money to ordinary people sold the bad debts that were becoming too difficult to collect to even more vicious businessmen, who were often gangsters.
The gangsters used the pretext of buying cheap bonds to intimidate poor people who could not repay them.
Go and sell your body. If you don't have a body to sell, sell your children. He threatened to take every last grain of wheat.
However, this was only for the poor and was not a method that could be used on nobles like Count Contarini.
Even if you send thugs, they will be chased out by Count Contarini's private soldiers at his gate, or even if he doesn't have private soldiers, by the King's security force!
“Yes.”
“For those who purchase bad debts...?”
“No, no.”
Ariadne laughed.
"Maybe later."
At those words, CEO Caruso's ears perked up.
“Shouldn’t CEO Caruso first have the court confirm that there is a bond?”
CEO Caruso answered sullenly.
“The King of that court is Ottavio de Contarini, his son. How can I get my debt confirmed in court?”
To CEO Caruso, Ottavio was just an incomprehensible guy who had abandoned the lucky Camellia and taken in the trashy Isabella de Contarini.
There was no great ill will. If that guy hadn't made such a stupid choice, CEO Caruso would never have met Camellia.
But this time, Camellia was injured by Isabella's wild hand due to Ottavio's actions, or rather, Ottavio's randomness.
He couldn't forgive Ottavio. CEO Caruso couldn't hide his anger and grumbled.
“I won’t leave that son of a bitch alone!”
“Sell bonds.”
Was this Ariadne's intention to buy the bonds on his behalf and proceed with the trial to collect the money from the Contarini family? CEO Caruso was puzzled.
But if Ottavio himself is the judge, who else would be able to do that?
CEO Caruso wondered if this meant selling the debt to Duke Cesare, Duchess Rubina, or Prince Alfonso and asking them to collect it on his behalf.
Those three could twist Ottavio's wrist and give him the money.
However, CEO Caruso had no connection with any of them, and the same was true for Camellia's maternal family, the Castiglione family.
There was no way those three would do that for him.
This is because it means that the Contarini family will be completely cut off for the sake of CEO Caruso and the Castiglione family.
“Who for? Who on earth would buy this?”
Yes, this was a bond that could not be liquidated as long as Ottavio was sitting on it.
Ariadne said with a smile.
“Sell it to the Yesak Church.”
“!”
CEO Caruso's mouth fell open as if he had been hit by a hammer.
“Ah, Countess!”
And soon his face lit up.
“You are a genius!”
In the Central Continent, the Church of Jesus operated a religious court separate from the secular court administered by the King.
Originally, it was a court created to manage records of marriages, births, deaths, etc., and to dispute the authenticity of those records, but the function of a heresy trial was added.
Then, during the reign of Pope Louis XIV, the continental law was changed so that even if one party to a civil lawsuit, such as a monastery, was a clergyman, they had to be tried by the Inquisition.
Although it was in the name of being faithful to the maxim, "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to the Father the things that are the Father's," this authority was ultimately a victory for Pope Louis over secular monarchs.
To be precise, it was not all the monarchs, but it was a feat achieved by twisting the wrists of Leo III and similar monarchs who had organized and sent a crusade and refused to contribute to the crusade in any way, including by joining the army.
“If you sell it to a branch of the religious order in the capital, they might not want to buy it because they have various vested interests involved.”
Without going far, Cardinal de Mare's daughter is the mistress of the Contarini family.
“The bonds are transferred to a local church, or even to a church located overseas.”
“Is there a church you would recommend?”
“Well, I guess it would be better to avoid the parish of San Carlo where my father is, right?”
The story was that he should find out for himself. But this alone was enough.
“Thank you, thank you, Countess!”
And CEO Caruso's hands were quick.
“Why should I, a judge of the permanent court of the palace, appear before the Inquisition?”
“As long as you don’t try to embezzle church money, there won’t be any problems.”
“Why is that church money?”
“The Barons of Castiglione sold their debts to the Contarini family to the Abbey of Aberluce. Now the money is a debt that must be repaid to the Church.”
Several sturdy priests from the Inquisition menacingly surrounded Ottavio and forced him into a carriage.
“I’m not going!”
“Is it okay if I get excommunicated?”
Only after hearing those words did Ottavio become quiet.
The Inquisition was a traveling court housed in a converted, shabby carriage.
Inside the carriage, which looked as if it would collapse at any moment, were piled up like a mountain of preciously decorated canon law books and parchments containing past judgments.
As a sturdy white-robed priest stood guard and a large, plump crowd watched in a large circle, the Inquisitor asked the abbot of the Abbey of Aberluce, who was bowing his head:
“How did this happen?”
“Your Honor.”
The abbot of Aberruche was a hunched old man in his eighties.
The abbot, who looked like a country grandfather, spoke slowly as if he were telling a tale from the old days.
“Once upon a time, there was a bad man in the world. He used his handsome face and high status to deceive a young lady into thinking he would marry her. The girl’s father, a Baron, was so happy that his daughter had found a good man that he lent a large sum of money to her prospective in-laws. He thought that his daughter would take the money as a dowry anyway.”
The inquisitor was a skinny, stocky man in his fifties who wore a monocle.
He listened to the story without showing any interest in this old-fashioned storytelling.
“That scoundrel of the world met a younger, more attractive woman and dumped the young lady who was in prime condition. He broke off the engagement on his own. However, in preparation for such a time, the contract included a penalty. The woman’s father was wise.”
The inquisitor read the parchment in his hand and discovered that part.
“Hmm. That’s true. The deposit is quite a lot.”
Here, the lawyer hired by Ottavio protested loudly on behalf of the clueless Ottavio.
“Your Honor! It is unheard of to charge such a large sum of money for breaking an engagement. 4,000 ducats? This is an absurd contract. The custom is for 400 ducats! On the contrary, such a large sum proves that my client had no intention of breaking the engagement in the first place! How much must he have loved her to have written such a thing?”
"Hmm."
“Your Honor.”
The abbot of Aberruce asked for the floor. He looked at Ottavio's lawyer and asked:
“You insist that it’s a strange contract, but how can you borrow a large sum of money as a dowry from a woman you’re not even married to?”
Ottavio's lawyer was momentarily speechless.
It was certainly something a marriage swindler would do. The abbot took advantage of the opportunity to add a word.
“8000 Ducato, 8000 Ducato!”
At that amount, the onlookers started talking amongst themselves.
“8000 Ducato, 8000 Ducato!”
“Will three generations be able to enjoy that?”
“You’re not going to give me back that money? Are you crazy?”
The lawyer, who had come to his senses, seemed to think that further argument with the old man would only result in loss. He ignored both the old man and the onlookers and appealed to the religious judge.
“A compensation of 4,000 ducats is an absurd amount! Furthermore, 4,000 ducats of the principal amount have already been paid! The judge may, by his own authority, reduce the compensation to a reasonable amount of 400 ducats! The total amount is 4,500 ducats!”
“You've paid me 4000 ducatos in reparations, but you haven't touched the principal! You owe me 8000 ducatos, and you're selling them somewhere!”
“Hmm.”
Ottavio, hearing all this, was going crazy. 4,500 Ducats? 8,000 Ducats? Either way, it was a foregone conclusion! Why was my idiot lawyer trying to lower the amount? The limit I could afford was 1,200 Ducats!
He motioned to the lawyer standing in the front row.
But the lawyer was so absorbed in his own defense that he couldn't hear Ottavio's voice. After trying for a while, Ottavio finally decided to yell.
“Not guilty! Not guilty!”
Most of the onlookers did not understand the sound, but those who could read the words looked at Ottavio with astonishment.
“Isn’t this civil?”
“Right? Because I’m asking for damages.”
“What kind of innocence is there in civil cases? Innocence is in criminal cases!”
“Count Contarini is a judge at the royal court? How can he not know anything?”
“Are you saying we almost entrusted our case to such an ignorant person?”
“Your Majesty the King, the Yong-in-sul just fell to the ground!”
Ariadne had also heard the rumor and came to watch the trial. She clicked her tongue as she rode in a plain black carriage with the curtains drawn.
'Idiot, idiot...'
Ottavio was an idiot, and Ottavio's lawyer was an idiot.
'The lawyer... It would have been a hundred times better to extend the payment date rather than reduce the amount.'
It would have been better for everyone if he had offered to pay off 8,000 in installments of 500 per year for 16 years, rather than asking to reduce 8,000 to 4,500.
It was a compromise that Ottavio could afford; the monastery would receive the full amount, and the judge could show off his wisdom, so it was a compromise that he could comfortably accept.
But Ottavio's lawyer wasn't that smart.
Of course, he was much smarter than Ottavio himself, but he wasn't enough to solve this problem.
“I will pass sentence!”
Silence fell in the square.
There was a raw excitement in anticipation of the rare spectacle of a high-ranking official falling, and a despairing resignation that there was no way such a high-ranking nobleman would be judged unfavorably.
“Count Contarini must return 12,000 ducats of gold to the Abbey of Aberruce!”
“?!”
Ottavio was surprised, his lawyer was surprised, and the abbot of Aberruce was surprised.
“Oh, no, what I charged was 8000 Ducati...”
“Are there any complaints?”
“No complaints!”
Ottavio cried.
“I will appeal, I will appeal!”
“The ecclesiastical court is a single-trial system.”
Ottavio cried out again.
“Then I will request a retrial, a retrial!”
At this point, the inquisitor realized that Ottavio knew nothing and was just reciting things he had heard somewhere before, so he gestured to the black-robed monks.
“Get that guy out.”
The sturdy detectives rushed in, and Ottavio was quickly grabbed by his limbs and carried away.
“Ugh..."
No one knew exactly where the 12,000 Ducato figure came from, but one thing was certain.
The fact was that Count Contarini was bankrupt.
Ariadne jumped up from her seat. Sancha spoke cautiously.
“It wasn’t just a collapse, it was a miscarriage...”
Ariadne put her hand on her forehead without saying a word. Her temples were starting to hurt. Isabella started to do the same thing again.
She felt like she had a duty to stop it. She should have done something about it sooner.
She pondered how Camellia's life had turned out in her past life.
She married Ottavio and became Countess Contarini... Did she have children? Did they all grow up healthy?
But nothing will change if you worry about the past. Ariadne asked a question about the present.
“Is Camellia okay?”
A lot was going on here. Sancha was now close to being soulmates with Ariadne. She knew right away what Ariadne was asking.
“Her health itself is not good, but I think there will be no problems with her next pregnancy. She seems calmer than I thought.”
Camellia was also a woman with a burning ambition. Rather than crying over the baby she lost, she would rather build up her strength while waiting for the next baby.
“That’s fortunate.”
Ariadne nodded. She doesn’t think CEO Caruso was too upset that another baby was possible. She asked lightly.
“Is everything okay, CEO Caruso?”
It was a question asking if he was taking good care of his wife. But Sancha's expression darkened.
“Uh... On the contrary, they say that CEO Caruso lost his mind. It’s not like him... The Vitelli family was turned upside down...”
For Caruso, the child in Camellia's womb was not his first child. He had a daughter, Petruchia, from his previous marriage.
But what Ariadne didn't think about was that CEO Caruso always felt sorry for Camellia.
To him, his young wife was a woman who had lived a life without anything to be envious of, but who had given up many things because of him.
However, Isabella's group pressed his buttons precisely by declaring to Camellia in front of CEO Caruso, "You are not a noble, so you cannot join our group."
“I won’t let that happen!”
When Ariadne visited the Vitelli family to visit him, Caruso cried out in resentment.
“I will not leave alone the people who killed my child and the women who made my wife shed tears of blood!”
He bit his lip. It was swollen and puffy, as if he had done it too many times.
“I will seek revenge even if it means selling my soul!”
Ariadne, who had stopped by to offer comfort but was unexpectedly confronted with a will to take revenge, opened her eyes wide.
“Just a moment.”
She stopped CEO Caruso.
“Do you really want revenge?”
"Yes!"
“Even if it causes some disruption to business?”
“It doesn’t matter what!”
Ariadne waved her hand, thinking that she would later advise Camellia and Petruchia to put some of the property aside.
“Put your soul in.”
Even without going to Hell or the Inquisitor, there were plenty of ways for VEO Caruso to take revenge on the nobles.
“The bonds are enough for the CEO to take revenge on Count Contarini.”
“Huh? Sell the bonds?”
CEO Caruso understood only half of Ariadne's lines.
“...Are you asking me to hand over the money Camellia owes me from the Contarini family to the person who will carry out my revenge?”
The moneylenders who lent money to ordinary people sold the bad debts that were becoming too difficult to collect to even more vicious businessmen, who were often gangsters.
The gangsters used the pretext of buying cheap bonds to intimidate poor people who could not repay them.
Go and sell your body. If you don't have a body to sell, sell your children. He threatened to take every last grain of wheat.
However, this was only for the poor and was not a method that could be used on nobles like Count Contarini.
Even if you send thugs, they will be chased out by Count Contarini's private soldiers at his gate, or even if he doesn't have private soldiers, by the King's security force!
“Yes.”
“For those who purchase bad debts...?”
“No, no.”
Ariadne laughed.
"Maybe later."
At those words, CEO Caruso's ears perked up.
“Shouldn’t CEO Caruso first have the court confirm that there is a bond?”
CEO Caruso answered sullenly.
“The King of that court is Ottavio de Contarini, his son. How can I get my debt confirmed in court?”
To CEO Caruso, Ottavio was just an incomprehensible guy who had abandoned the lucky Camellia and taken in the trashy Isabella de Contarini.
There was no great ill will. If that guy hadn't made such a stupid choice, CEO Caruso would never have met Camellia.
But this time, Camellia was injured by Isabella's wild hand due to Ottavio's actions, or rather, Ottavio's randomness.
He couldn't forgive Ottavio. CEO Caruso couldn't hide his anger and grumbled.
“I won’t leave that son of a bitch alone!”
“Sell bonds.”
Was this Ariadne's intention to buy the bonds on his behalf and proceed with the trial to collect the money from the Contarini family? CEO Caruso was puzzled.
But if Ottavio himself is the judge, who else would be able to do that?
CEO Caruso wondered if this meant selling the debt to Duke Cesare, Duchess Rubina, or Prince Alfonso and asking them to collect it on his behalf.
Those three could twist Ottavio's wrist and give him the money.
However, CEO Caruso had no connection with any of them, and the same was true for Camellia's maternal family, the Castiglione family.
There was no way those three would do that for him.
This is because it means that the Contarini family will be completely cut off for the sake of CEO Caruso and the Castiglione family.
“Who for? Who on earth would buy this?”
Yes, this was a bond that could not be liquidated as long as Ottavio was sitting on it.
Ariadne said with a smile.
“Sell it to the Yesak Church.”
“!”
CEO Caruso's mouth fell open as if he had been hit by a hammer.
“Ah, Countess!”
And soon his face lit up.
“You are a genius!”
In the Central Continent, the Church of Jesus operated a religious court separate from the secular court administered by the King.
Originally, it was a court created to manage records of marriages, births, deaths, etc., and to dispute the authenticity of those records, but the function of a heresy trial was added.
Then, during the reign of Pope Louis XIV, the continental law was changed so that even if one party to a civil lawsuit, such as a monastery, was a clergyman, they had to be tried by the Inquisition.
Although it was in the name of being faithful to the maxim, "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to the Father the things that are the Father's," this authority was ultimately a victory for Pope Louis over secular monarchs.
To be precise, it was not all the monarchs, but it was a feat achieved by twisting the wrists of Leo III and similar monarchs who had organized and sent a crusade and refused to contribute to the crusade in any way, including by joining the army.
“If you sell it to a branch of the religious order in the capital, they might not want to buy it because they have various vested interests involved.”
Without going far, Cardinal de Mare's daughter is the mistress of the Contarini family.
“The bonds are transferred to a local church, or even to a church located overseas.”
“Is there a church you would recommend?”
“Well, I guess it would be better to avoid the parish of San Carlo where my father is, right?”
The story was that he should find out for himself. But this alone was enough.
“Thank you, thank you, Countess!”
***
And CEO Caruso's hands were quick.
“Why should I, a judge of the permanent court of the palace, appear before the Inquisition?”
“As long as you don’t try to embezzle church money, there won’t be any problems.”
“Why is that church money?”
“The Barons of Castiglione sold their debts to the Contarini family to the Abbey of Aberluce. Now the money is a debt that must be repaid to the Church.”
Several sturdy priests from the Inquisition menacingly surrounded Ottavio and forced him into a carriage.
“I’m not going!”
“Is it okay if I get excommunicated?”
Only after hearing those words did Ottavio become quiet.
The Inquisition was a traveling court housed in a converted, shabby carriage.
Inside the carriage, which looked as if it would collapse at any moment, were piled up like a mountain of preciously decorated canon law books and parchments containing past judgments.
As a sturdy white-robed priest stood guard and a large, plump crowd watched in a large circle, the Inquisitor asked the abbot of the Abbey of Aberluce, who was bowing his head:
“How did this happen?”
“Your Honor.”
The abbot of Aberruche was a hunched old man in his eighties.
The abbot, who looked like a country grandfather, spoke slowly as if he were telling a tale from the old days.
“Once upon a time, there was a bad man in the world. He used his handsome face and high status to deceive a young lady into thinking he would marry her. The girl’s father, a Baron, was so happy that his daughter had found a good man that he lent a large sum of money to her prospective in-laws. He thought that his daughter would take the money as a dowry anyway.”
The inquisitor was a skinny, stocky man in his fifties who wore a monocle.
He listened to the story without showing any interest in this old-fashioned storytelling.
“That scoundrel of the world met a younger, more attractive woman and dumped the young lady who was in prime condition. He broke off the engagement on his own. However, in preparation for such a time, the contract included a penalty. The woman’s father was wise.”
The inquisitor read the parchment in his hand and discovered that part.
“Hmm. That’s true. The deposit is quite a lot.”
Here, the lawyer hired by Ottavio protested loudly on behalf of the clueless Ottavio.
“Your Honor! It is unheard of to charge such a large sum of money for breaking an engagement. 4,000 ducats? This is an absurd contract. The custom is for 400 ducats! On the contrary, such a large sum proves that my client had no intention of breaking the engagement in the first place! How much must he have loved her to have written such a thing?”
"Hmm."
“Your Honor.”
The abbot of Aberruce asked for the floor. He looked at Ottavio's lawyer and asked:
“You insist that it’s a strange contract, but how can you borrow a large sum of money as a dowry from a woman you’re not even married to?”
Ottavio's lawyer was momentarily speechless.
It was certainly something a marriage swindler would do. The abbot took advantage of the opportunity to add a word.
“8000 Ducato, 8000 Ducato!”
At that amount, the onlookers started talking amongst themselves.
“8000 Ducato, 8000 Ducato!”
“Will three generations be able to enjoy that?”
“You’re not going to give me back that money? Are you crazy?”
The lawyer, who had come to his senses, seemed to think that further argument with the old man would only result in loss. He ignored both the old man and the onlookers and appealed to the religious judge.
“A compensation of 4,000 ducats is an absurd amount! Furthermore, 4,000 ducats of the principal amount have already been paid! The judge may, by his own authority, reduce the compensation to a reasonable amount of 400 ducats! The total amount is 4,500 ducats!”
“You've paid me 4000 ducatos in reparations, but you haven't touched the principal! You owe me 8000 ducatos, and you're selling them somewhere!”
“Hmm.”
Ottavio, hearing all this, was going crazy. 4,500 Ducats? 8,000 Ducats? Either way, it was a foregone conclusion! Why was my idiot lawyer trying to lower the amount? The limit I could afford was 1,200 Ducats!
He motioned to the lawyer standing in the front row.
But the lawyer was so absorbed in his own defense that he couldn't hear Ottavio's voice. After trying for a while, Ottavio finally decided to yell.
“Not guilty! Not guilty!”
Most of the onlookers did not understand the sound, but those who could read the words looked at Ottavio with astonishment.
“Isn’t this civil?”
“Right? Because I’m asking for damages.”
“What kind of innocence is there in civil cases? Innocence is in criminal cases!”
“Count Contarini is a judge at the royal court? How can he not know anything?”
“Are you saying we almost entrusted our case to such an ignorant person?”
“Your Majesty the King, the Yong-in-sul just fell to the ground!”
Ariadne had also heard the rumor and came to watch the trial. She clicked her tongue as she rode in a plain black carriage with the curtains drawn.
'Idiot, idiot...'
Ottavio was an idiot, and Ottavio's lawyer was an idiot.
'The lawyer... It would have been a hundred times better to extend the payment date rather than reduce the amount.'
It would have been better for everyone if he had offered to pay off 8,000 in installments of 500 per year for 16 years, rather than asking to reduce 8,000 to 4,500.
It was a compromise that Ottavio could afford; the monastery would receive the full amount, and the judge could show off his wisdom, so it was a compromise that he could comfortably accept.
But Ottavio's lawyer wasn't that smart.
Of course, he was much smarter than Ottavio himself, but he wasn't enough to solve this problem.
“I will pass sentence!”
Silence fell in the square.
There was a raw excitement in anticipation of the rare spectacle of a high-ranking official falling, and a despairing resignation that there was no way such a high-ranking nobleman would be judged unfavorably.
“Count Contarini must return 12,000 ducats of gold to the Abbey of Aberruce!”
“?!”
Ottavio was surprised, his lawyer was surprised, and the abbot of Aberruce was surprised.
“Oh, no, what I charged was 8000 Ducati...”
“Are there any complaints?”
“No complaints!”
Ottavio cried.
“I will appeal, I will appeal!”
“The ecclesiastical court is a single-trial system.”
Ottavio cried out again.
“Then I will request a retrial, a retrial!”
At this point, the inquisitor realized that Ottavio knew nothing and was just reciting things he had heard somewhere before, so he gestured to the black-robed monks.
“Get that guy out.”
The sturdy detectives rushed in, and Ottavio was quickly grabbed by his limbs and carried away.
“Ugh..."
No one knew exactly where the 12,000 Ducato figure came from, but one thing was certain.
The fact was that Count Contarini was bankrupt.
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