A few days ago, Countess Ariadne de Mare asked the same question to CEO Caruso, who was seeking his cooperation for a huge room to feed a great nobleman.
“Can you breathe?”
She looked at CEO Caruso with thoughtful eyes.
“If you touch it but don’t kill it, it won’t stay still.”
Ariadne had a perfectly sensible worry.
No matter what a single merchant did, it was impossible to wipe out the nobles all at once. That was something that neither the King nor the Pope could do.
“The nobles got a good deal in this trial, but they didn’t really lose anything.”
Since the execution had not yet taken place, their mansion, antiques, and family heirlooms were all still safe and sound.
It just has a red tag on it.
“If we give up the enforcement here, the property will return to its original owner, so it’s like we’ve given and received something appropriately. How about we end it here?”
"No."
CEO Caruso's answer was concise.
“I already touched it.”
He shook his head.
“Why would someone who knows the nobility well say such a thing? To them, face is more important than life. The nobility... will never forgive me.”
Ariadne believed that life was above face, and property was above life, but she had no choice but to admit that Caruso's words were true for some of the great nobles.
CEO Caruso continued speaking with a calm expression.
“If I go one step further, there’s a chance I’ll get killed. If I stop here? I’ll just be waiting for retaliation.”
Ariadne asked.
“In the words of the CEO...”
“Yes. I’m already ruined, so I’ll go all the way.”
Ariadne smiled a little, as if embarrassed. CEO Caruso returned the smile with a calm smile.
Ariadne spoke with a slight hesitation.
“When I first told you about selling bonds... You knew this would happen.”
CEO Caruso answered. It was a typical honest answer.
“I didn’t know it when I heard it. I realized it the next day.”
The fact that if he seeks revenge for Camellia, he might end up in tatters.
The fact that all his life's achievements could come crashing down in an instant.
“You knew it, but you kept going without stopping.”
"Yes."
CEO Caruso sharply sharpened this.
“I will not let anyone touch my Camellia, my unborn child. This is a matter of pride as a man.”
Ariadne, however, did not give up hope that she could stop CEO Caruso.
CEO Caruso's statement that he had already crossed the line is correct in principle, but the reaction to someone who slapped him with the palm of his hand and the reaction to someone who beat him with a stick are bound to be different.
She thought that if she could just stop here, the nobles' revenge wouldn't be so fierce.
“Patricia would be upset if she found out.”
It was her trump card. Patricia, Caruso's intelligent daughter born to his deceased ex-wife.
Even though she was a girl, she was made to dress up as a boy and raised as a potential successor.
But for Patricia, it was a difficult decision to accept, as her father was risking her inheritance for the sake of her new mother and unborn brother.
CEO Caruso smiled bitterly after hearing Patricia's story.
“She is a brave child.”
It took him a while before he could answer.
“She seemed upset.”
Having already talked to Patricia, his resolve seemed firm. But Ariadne did not give up and tried again.
“Did you tell her to be patient now that she's next in line for the new mother?”
CEO Caruso smiled bitterly and shook his head.
"No."
He continued his story only after the laughter subsided.
“I thought about it... I decided to send a fleet to Patricia.”
The fleet was embarking on a voyage carrying a significant portion of CEO Caruso's fortune.
“I told them to decide on the destination they wanted to go to and to take care of it themselves. Patricia is the sole leader.”
In a way, it was no different from giving her share of the property in advance to her daughter from her ex-wife.
“I knew it was a risky thing to do. I could go bankrupt because of this. I’m giving it to her as a favor.”
He awkwardly explained to Ariadne, who was surprised by the scale of the affair.
“If my daughter becomes very successful, won’t you take her in when her father is begging and going broke in San Carlo? Hahahahahaha.”
It was a wise traffic control measure. It also prevented Patricia from feeling sorry for Camellia and Camellia's younger sister.
Ariadne let out a small sigh of envy.
“If only our father had paid half as much attention to the traffic control between his children as you do.”
CEO Caruso smiled trustingly.
“The Countess is five times more intelligent than my daughter, so everything will be fine in the end.”
Ariadne asked back.
“Are you only thinking about my side, sir?”
There will be a power struggle between the children, but if Ariadne is praised for her intelligence, doesn't that mean that Isabella and Ippolito are certain to lose?
CEO Caruso laughed out loud.
“Isn’t it obvious whose side I’m on?”
He added.
“Please, have mercy on me. I have this kind of feeling when I have children.”
Ariadne smiled back, but did not answer. Instead, she changed the subject.
“I will take care of the work that the CEO has asked me to do.”
CEO Caruso bowed his head without asking any further questions.
He observed Ariadne de Mare, now Countess of De Mare, a brilliant heroine who had achieved nothing.
There was no need to ask her in detail what to do. She would do it perfectly.
“I can only be moved.”
Cardinal de Mare was in a state of confusion.
Although the enforcement of seizures against noble families was prohibited for the time being, it was impossible to stop it forever.
Cardinal de Mare's mailbox was on fire.
Most of them were appeals, or rather petitions, from the great nobles, asking him, as the head of the Etruscan kingdom's religious community, to somehow resolve the issue.
However, there was considerable indignation over how a single abbot could do such a thing while managing his subordinates.
The letters were written in a harsh tone, mostly from people who had little connection with him and whose faces he would never meet again.
“Those rotten bastards... Doing useless things...”
The Cardinal had no choice but to curse the abbots. He had to resolve this situation somehow.
Cardinal de Mare had summoned the priors of the four monasteries involved in the accident to San Carlo to deal with the aftermath.
Normally, the abbot would just give instructions through the bishop, and it would be a level where they wouldn't even have to meet face to face, but this time it was a little different.
The Cardinal intended to persuade the abbots to lift the seizure in exchange for an amount less than the amount owed by the debtor noble family.
It was called a request, not a request, no, it was actually a threat. Without any force, how could he have made them follow the order to throw away more than ten thousand ducats in thin air?
And it was best to make threats face-to-face. So the abbots of the four monasteries had to come up to San Carlo without hesitation.
In the ordinary course of his life, he would have come up without complaining. However, things in this world do not go as planned.
“Why aren’t you coming up?”
Of the monasteries of Aberruche, San Perzini, Manassero, and Padini, the latter three were raised obediently to the capital.
However, the abbot of the Abbey of Aberruche, who had brought the suit on behalf of the Contarini family and had the largest amount of debt to collect, refused to budge.
Cardinal de Mare picked up the letter containing the complaint from the Abbey of Aberruche and crumpled it up.
“If you have an accident like this, you should come. Your tongue is long, it’s long!”
The reason why it didn't come up was well explained. It was reasonable. But it was an excuse he couldn't accept.
The current abbot of Aberruche is 89 years old and is not in good health, so we ask for your generous understanding. The Aberruche abbey will faithfully carry out all written assignments...(omitted).
- Aberruche Monastery
"The entire investigation team and the acting deputy director are here."
“If you’re the vice-chairman, then you’re the vice-chairman. What’s the point of acting as vice-chairman? And is acting vice-chairman your own name? Why aren’t you hiding behind the investigators and signing?”
The present Cardinal de Mare was dissatisfied with everything. Nothing was going well in his public or private life.
The eldest daughter got married to a good family and cut off all contact with her father, pretending not to know him.
If she could live well like that, that would be fine, but the rope she's holding onto is rotten, so if he doesn't save her here and now, she'll become a worthless person and live in her sister-in-law's house for the rest of her life.
The youngest daughter looked gentle on the outside, but inside, she was a cold wind blowing.
It was a child who looked exactly like him. There was no way the Cardinal could not see her intentions.
And his son. His long-awaited eldest son. This guy was the one who was causing him the most trouble these days.
Since his mother's death, Ippolito, who had been acting like a bum, has become a reclusive loner in addition to a bum.
“And that little punk stuck in the corner of the house...”
The Cardinal also knew that his son had not become a wreck because of his love for his deceased mother.
What he didn't know was the real reason his son was stuck at home.
His son, a social runaway, was always buying friends with money, so when his mother stopped giving him extra money, no one would play with him.
Cardinal de Mare could not even imagine the reason, since his allowance was by no means small.
“I said I would feel better if you just left the house, but...”
But then it really happened. One day, his son disappeared from home and never came back.
'Surely you didn't go out after hearing me talking to myself...'
His feelings were complicated. The people below said that he came back home briefly with a bruised and disheveled face, but then packed his bags and went out again.
'What on earth happened to make it like that? Did he get hit somewhere?'
As a Cardinal who had no idea what had happened to his son and how he ended up like that, he couldn't help but be worried.
However, the news that followed these worries made Cardinal de Mare's mind not only complicated but also turned upside down.
“Your Eminence, we are in trouble!”
“What’s going on? Stop making a fuss and speak calmly!”
Cardinal de Mare, who was feeling uneasy, gave a long speech, something he usually did not do, to the assistant priest who came running in.
“All priests should always keep their voices low, their demeanor slow and steady, and they should continue to meditate. You are about to be ordained as a priest, so what good is it for you to run around so frivolously?”
“That, that, Your Eminence, that’s not it.”
The assistant priest held out a parchment that looked like it had come a long way.
“A summons has arrived from Trevero!”
Cardinal de Mare quickly snatched it up with wide eyes and read it quickly.
If there was nothing particularly wrong with it and the news came down so suddenly, it is not good news, no matter how you look at it.
“...!”
As he read each line, Cardinal de Mare's pupils dilated.
“If you don’t respond to the summons to Trevero, you will be subject to the Inquisition...?”
After reading the letter to the end, Cardinal fe Mare clutched the letter tightly in his fist and shouted more recklessly than anyone else.
“Maximum ripple?! Are you finally crazy?!
He observed Ariadne de Mare, now Countess of De Mare, a brilliant heroine who had achieved nothing.
There was no need to ask her in detail what to do. She would do it perfectly.
“I can only be moved.”
***
Cardinal de Mare was in a state of confusion.
Although the enforcement of seizures against noble families was prohibited for the time being, it was impossible to stop it forever.
Cardinal de Mare's mailbox was on fire.
Most of them were appeals, or rather petitions, from the great nobles, asking him, as the head of the Etruscan kingdom's religious community, to somehow resolve the issue.
However, there was considerable indignation over how a single abbot could do such a thing while managing his subordinates.
The letters were written in a harsh tone, mostly from people who had little connection with him and whose faces he would never meet again.
“Those rotten bastards... Doing useless things...”
The Cardinal had no choice but to curse the abbots. He had to resolve this situation somehow.
Cardinal de Mare had summoned the priors of the four monasteries involved in the accident to San Carlo to deal with the aftermath.
Normally, the abbot would just give instructions through the bishop, and it would be a level where they wouldn't even have to meet face to face, but this time it was a little different.
The Cardinal intended to persuade the abbots to lift the seizure in exchange for an amount less than the amount owed by the debtor noble family.
It was called a request, not a request, no, it was actually a threat. Without any force, how could he have made them follow the order to throw away more than ten thousand ducats in thin air?
And it was best to make threats face-to-face. So the abbots of the four monasteries had to come up to San Carlo without hesitation.
In the ordinary course of his life, he would have come up without complaining. However, things in this world do not go as planned.
“Why aren’t you coming up?”
Of the monasteries of Aberruche, San Perzini, Manassero, and Padini, the latter three were raised obediently to the capital.
However, the abbot of the Abbey of Aberruche, who had brought the suit on behalf of the Contarini family and had the largest amount of debt to collect, refused to budge.
Cardinal de Mare picked up the letter containing the complaint from the Abbey of Aberruche and crumpled it up.
“If you have an accident like this, you should come. Your tongue is long, it’s long!”
The reason why it didn't come up was well explained. It was reasonable. But it was an excuse he couldn't accept.
The current abbot of Aberruche is 89 years old and is not in good health, so we ask for your generous understanding. The Aberruche abbey will faithfully carry out all written assignments...(omitted).
- Aberruche Monastery
"The entire investigation team and the acting deputy director are here."
“If you’re the vice-chairman, then you’re the vice-chairman. What’s the point of acting as vice-chairman? And is acting vice-chairman your own name? Why aren’t you hiding behind the investigators and signing?”
The present Cardinal de Mare was dissatisfied with everything. Nothing was going well in his public or private life.
The eldest daughter got married to a good family and cut off all contact with her father, pretending not to know him.
If she could live well like that, that would be fine, but the rope she's holding onto is rotten, so if he doesn't save her here and now, she'll become a worthless person and live in her sister-in-law's house for the rest of her life.
The youngest daughter looked gentle on the outside, but inside, she was a cold wind blowing.
It was a child who looked exactly like him. There was no way the Cardinal could not see her intentions.
And his son. His long-awaited eldest son. This guy was the one who was causing him the most trouble these days.
Since his mother's death, Ippolito, who had been acting like a bum, has become a reclusive loner in addition to a bum.
“And that little punk stuck in the corner of the house...”
The Cardinal also knew that his son had not become a wreck because of his love for his deceased mother.
What he didn't know was the real reason his son was stuck at home.
His son, a social runaway, was always buying friends with money, so when his mother stopped giving him extra money, no one would play with him.
Cardinal de Mare could not even imagine the reason, since his allowance was by no means small.
“I said I would feel better if you just left the house, but...”
But then it really happened. One day, his son disappeared from home and never came back.
'Surely you didn't go out after hearing me talking to myself...'
His feelings were complicated. The people below said that he came back home briefly with a bruised and disheveled face, but then packed his bags and went out again.
'What on earth happened to make it like that? Did he get hit somewhere?'
As a Cardinal who had no idea what had happened to his son and how he ended up like that, he couldn't help but be worried.
However, the news that followed these worries made Cardinal de Mare's mind not only complicated but also turned upside down.
“Your Eminence, we are in trouble!”
“What’s going on? Stop making a fuss and speak calmly!”
Cardinal de Mare, who was feeling uneasy, gave a long speech, something he usually did not do, to the assistant priest who came running in.
“All priests should always keep their voices low, their demeanor slow and steady, and they should continue to meditate. You are about to be ordained as a priest, so what good is it for you to run around so frivolously?”
“That, that, Your Eminence, that’s not it.”
The assistant priest held out a parchment that looked like it had come a long way.
“A summons has arrived from Trevero!”
Cardinal de Mare quickly snatched it up with wide eyes and read it quickly.
If there was nothing particularly wrong with it and the news came down so suddenly, it is not good news, no matter how you look at it.
“...!”
As he read each line, Cardinal de Mare's pupils dilated.
“If you don’t respond to the summons to Trevero, you will be subject to the Inquisition...?”
After reading the letter to the end, Cardinal fe Mare clutched the letter tightly in his fist and shouted more recklessly than anyone else.
“Maximum ripple?! Are you finally crazy?!
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