Ariadne looked up, startled by Alfonso's unexpected reaction.
Alfonso kissed her right on the forehead. She was dumbfounded even as she received the kiss. Ariadne asked cautiously.
“Aren’t you angry?”
Alfonso opened his eyes wide and looked at Ariadne. Ariadne recited her own sins.
“I... I was the one who arbitrarily led the merchants to revolt.”
Her voice was getting quieter and quieter.
“I feel bad about using my head or something... No, I guess I’ve never done this in front of you before...”
Alfonso chuckled.
“You really...”
Ariadne, not knowing why he was laughing, looked up at Alfonso with a puzzled expression.
Then he saw the front teeth of his beloved rabbit, and they were slightly visible under her upper lip, like a lost squirrel.
A squirrel that is usually surprisingly smart, but sometimes completely forgets about the acorns it buried and walks around nearby.
“Why have you never done anything in front of me?”
Ariadne was nervous. She thought Alfonso might have noticed that she had deliberately approached him when they first met.
But what Alfonso brought up was a story from a different time.
“When I killed the Duke of Mireille.”
"Ah."
Alfonso's mood cooled down. Ariadne unconsciously grabbed his arm. Alfonso held her in his arms.
“You saw all the cleanup work.”
“Ah...”
Ariadne discussed with Queen Marguerite the fate of the Duke of Mireille.
It was the aftermath of the absurd demands that the Kingdom of Gallico had made in the wake of the death of the Duke of Mireille. Alfonso continued in a gentle voice.
“It was the same when you sent gold to Yesak.”
Ariadne displayed a talent for handling things that one would never have imagined for a fifteen-year-old girl.
“Since regular communication is not smooth, you send a direct message through a friend, and then create a regular, safe cash transport route through the upper level. Even the palace administrators can't do that. I was amazed. You can tell ten by looking at just one.”
When you delegate work to administrators, first there is a lack of people, then there is a lack of budget, and when you give them people and money, now there is a lack of time.
There were many people who were good at writing reports, but there were few who could make them work.
“And. You led the rebellion without permission. If you didn’t do as you pleased, who would have asked for permission to make them pay back the money they borrowed? His Majesty the King?”
Ariadne couldn't help but laugh when she heard the name Leo III. Surely, no one needed permission to restore what was rightfully hers.
And Leo III was a great man who would tell people not to do something, the more it was right.
But unlike Ariadne, who was able to laugh happily, Alfonso's heart became heavy when he brought up Leo III's name.
Leo III's absurd suggestion to go to Trevero was dismissed.
But then a separate letter he received caused Alfonso great distress. It was from the kingdom of Gallico.
Dear Prince Alfonso,
The Kingdom of Gallico received an invitation this time from His Holiness Pope Louis of Trevero.
I think I will visit, either with His Majesty Philip IV or on my own.
What if we had the meeting that never happened before in Trevero?
...(omitted)... I think it is necessary to definitely conclude the discussion about the marriage vows this time.
The Grand Duke of Valoa, Odes.
Alfonso had to somehow settle the matter of his marriage to the Princess of Lariesa. He had made a promise to himself.
He decided that he would take her only after he had neatly dealt with the paperwork and placed the princess's tiara on Ariadne's head.
Alfonso cursed himself two or three times for making such an absurd promise, but he was a man who kept his promises.
There won't be any progress with Ariadne until he sorts out Lariesa.
So, in other words, he had to meet the Grand Duke Odes to become free.
He was impatient because he couldn't make progress with Ariadne.
He gazed blankly at Ariadne, the epicenter of all this suffering, as his thoughts wandered.
“...”
At his gaze, she innocently tilted her head to the side. Her red cherry lips quivered and whispered words.
“Why? Is there something bothering you?”
Her face looked so bright that Alfonso smiled and nuzzled her cheek.
Ariadne giggled softly, and he gave her a light kiss on the cheek.
He wanted to swallow cherry lips right now, but not yet, not yet. The condition was not met.
He answered flatly, his body moving as if it were a ball of fire.
“No. There isn’t any.”
The last time he crossed the border, it took him almost five years to get back.
He was determined never to leave Ariadne alone again. No, he could not leave San Carlo.
“Nothing’s wrong.”
He spoke as if making a promise and looked at Ariadne gently.
“But is that all you’re worried about? You came up with the idea of using the Inquisition?”
Since it's already over, there's nothing more to worry about.
The Inquisition was used to great effect. Caruso won his case through the monastery, and Count Contarini was kicked out of his home, unable to use his own mansion. That was it.
As expected, Ariadne frowned, a cute wrinkle forming on the bridge of her nose.
“Yeah. That’s not it. It’s just that the aftermath wasn’t handled well.”
Ariadne confided her true concerns to Alfonso.
“I would like to enforce the seizure of the property at the request of CEO Caruso...”
She confided that all her arrangements had come to nothing and that, in fact, something seemed lacking.
“If we enforce it and end it there, the nobles won’t leave CEO Caruso alone. Are you really okay with that?”
It was a valid point. Alfonso nodded.
“It looks dangerous to me, too.”
It wasn't a problem with the upper class or the trading line. The great nobles based on the fiefs actually had little way to economically pressure CEO Caruso.
CEO Caruso went from being a simple inland logistics dealer who sold goods during the Great Plague to a tycoon.
This is because he has solidified his exclusive position in importing not only luxury goods but also various medical devices and daily necessities from overseas.
Unless the nobles were willing to boycott silk and spices together and stay home sick without taking medicine, they could not boycott Caruso's Bocanegro company.
Even if that were to happen, CEO Caruso wouldn't even blink an eye.
If so, the next step the nobles would take was obvious. CEO Caruso might have to worry about threats to his body.
“My order is based in the capital, but I have no official authority to oversee its security.”
No matter how large an army you have, it is difficult to utilize it if you do not have a legal reason to use it.
“The best I can do is to protect you step by step while you are in the capital, but once you leave the capital, you are truly out of my hands. That is the land of the lords.”
The great lord had jurisdiction over his fiefs and their subjects, the same as that of Bianca, the Grand Duchess of Taranto.
If a person suspected of committing a crime wandered within the lord's lands, the lord could always arrest and imprison him.
The problem was that the High Lord could be the one who was suspected of committing the crime. Ariadne frowned.
“They say that local governments are the problem.”
“That’s right. And when something happens, I don’t have the authority to investigate.”
The upper part of Bocanegro made dozens of voyages a year, both inland and offshore.
“If the lord of that land has CEO Caruso imprisoned for any reason while he is out on a business trip, that will be the end of it.”
“You lose your leader in an instant.”
Ariadne was lost in thought.
As she opened her mouth to speak, deep in thought, Alfonso raised his finger to cover her lips.
“Don't talk.”
Ariadne stuck out her lips like a duck and complained in a slurred voice.
“Hey. You know what I’m going to say.”
Alfonso said with a smile that seemed to say that he couldn't stop it.
“You’re the one who planned this, and you’re the one who’s going to be exposed as the CEO Caruso.”
Ariadne's eyes widened. Since when did Alfonso learn mind-reading?
She protested, pushing her lips forward and swatting his fingers away.
“But. Phew.”
Alfonso's fingers smelled like warm bread.
“They can’t touch me like that!”
Ariadne was renowned as the Saint of the Rambouillet Center and the godmother of the poor.
If a high nobleman were caught trying to murder her, he could be hanged on the wall by an angry mob.
“I’m so big they can’t touch me!”
Even though they were talking seriously, Alfonso found Ariadne, who called herself a big shot, cute, and laughed again.
But when Ariadne brought up the topic of 'big shots', she stood there like a statue and repeated.
“Wait a minute. ‘Too big to touch’...”
Alfonso laughed.
“You want to make CEO Caruso raise you to the level of the poor? It’s impossible right now.”
Even if there is a plague, you would be grateful to those who provide relief food. In peacetime, even if you spend all of CEO Caruso's wealth, it is impossible to build up a reputation like Ariadne's.
However, it was not possible to become a big shot by marrying a woman from a high-ranking noble family or royal family.
He is already married, and there is no royal or noble woman who would agree to such a marriage.
“No, no, no.”
Ariadne spun around in her seat as if something had occurred to her.
“CEO Caruso... What if we give CEO Caruso immunity from arrest?”
"What?"
Ariadne returned to Alfonso after telling him her plans.
“I think I’m the type of person who thinks while talking.”
She lay on the bed and whined to Sancha.
“When I think about it alone, things like order and importance are hard to organize, but when I talk to Alfonso, things just fall into place right away!”
Sancha combed Ariadne's hair without answering. She looked a little discouraged.
“Are Alfonso and I a good match?”
It was a completely different feeling from when she was talking to Cesare. When he was in a good mood, Cesare was the type to applaud Ariadne and say, “Well done!”
She was thrilled when she received a shower of compliments, but the discussion was not constructive.
Conversely, Alfonso's answers to Ariadne's questions lead to interesting hypotheses.
Alfonso saw the world through completely different eyes from Ariadne.
While she looked at the hills and imagined how profitable it would be to build a commercial city here, he looked at the same land and thought about the army's advance route and estimated the farmland in peacetime.
“You know, you know what we talked about today?”
Sancha asked back.
“What is it?”
“We will give the territory to CEO Caruso.”
Alfonso kissed her right on the forehead. She was dumbfounded even as she received the kiss. Ariadne asked cautiously.
“Aren’t you angry?”
Alfonso opened his eyes wide and looked at Ariadne. Ariadne recited her own sins.
“I... I was the one who arbitrarily led the merchants to revolt.”
Her voice was getting quieter and quieter.
“I feel bad about using my head or something... No, I guess I’ve never done this in front of you before...”
Alfonso chuckled.
“You really...”
Ariadne, not knowing why he was laughing, looked up at Alfonso with a puzzled expression.
Then he saw the front teeth of his beloved rabbit, and they were slightly visible under her upper lip, like a lost squirrel.
A squirrel that is usually surprisingly smart, but sometimes completely forgets about the acorns it buried and walks around nearby.
“Why have you never done anything in front of me?”
Ariadne was nervous. She thought Alfonso might have noticed that she had deliberately approached him when they first met.
But what Alfonso brought up was a story from a different time.
“When I killed the Duke of Mireille.”
"Ah."
Alfonso's mood cooled down. Ariadne unconsciously grabbed his arm. Alfonso held her in his arms.
“You saw all the cleanup work.”
“Ah...”
Ariadne discussed with Queen Marguerite the fate of the Duke of Mireille.
It was the aftermath of the absurd demands that the Kingdom of Gallico had made in the wake of the death of the Duke of Mireille. Alfonso continued in a gentle voice.
“It was the same when you sent gold to Yesak.”
Ariadne displayed a talent for handling things that one would never have imagined for a fifteen-year-old girl.
“Since regular communication is not smooth, you send a direct message through a friend, and then create a regular, safe cash transport route through the upper level. Even the palace administrators can't do that. I was amazed. You can tell ten by looking at just one.”
When you delegate work to administrators, first there is a lack of people, then there is a lack of budget, and when you give them people and money, now there is a lack of time.
There were many people who were good at writing reports, but there were few who could make them work.
“And. You led the rebellion without permission. If you didn’t do as you pleased, who would have asked for permission to make them pay back the money they borrowed? His Majesty the King?”
Ariadne couldn't help but laugh when she heard the name Leo III. Surely, no one needed permission to restore what was rightfully hers.
And Leo III was a great man who would tell people not to do something, the more it was right.
But unlike Ariadne, who was able to laugh happily, Alfonso's heart became heavy when he brought up Leo III's name.
Leo III's absurd suggestion to go to Trevero was dismissed.
But then a separate letter he received caused Alfonso great distress. It was from the kingdom of Gallico.
Dear Prince Alfonso,
The Kingdom of Gallico received an invitation this time from His Holiness Pope Louis of Trevero.
I think I will visit, either with His Majesty Philip IV or on my own.
What if we had the meeting that never happened before in Trevero?
...(omitted)... I think it is necessary to definitely conclude the discussion about the marriage vows this time.
The Grand Duke of Valoa, Odes.
Alfonso had to somehow settle the matter of his marriage to the Princess of Lariesa. He had made a promise to himself.
He decided that he would take her only after he had neatly dealt with the paperwork and placed the princess's tiara on Ariadne's head.
Alfonso cursed himself two or three times for making such an absurd promise, but he was a man who kept his promises.
There won't be any progress with Ariadne until he sorts out Lariesa.
So, in other words, he had to meet the Grand Duke Odes to become free.
He was impatient because he couldn't make progress with Ariadne.
He gazed blankly at Ariadne, the epicenter of all this suffering, as his thoughts wandered.
“...”
At his gaze, she innocently tilted her head to the side. Her red cherry lips quivered and whispered words.
“Why? Is there something bothering you?”
Her face looked so bright that Alfonso smiled and nuzzled her cheek.
Ariadne giggled softly, and he gave her a light kiss on the cheek.
He wanted to swallow cherry lips right now, but not yet, not yet. The condition was not met.
He answered flatly, his body moving as if it were a ball of fire.
“No. There isn’t any.”
The last time he crossed the border, it took him almost five years to get back.
He was determined never to leave Ariadne alone again. No, he could not leave San Carlo.
“Nothing’s wrong.”
He spoke as if making a promise and looked at Ariadne gently.
“But is that all you’re worried about? You came up with the idea of using the Inquisition?”
Since it's already over, there's nothing more to worry about.
The Inquisition was used to great effect. Caruso won his case through the monastery, and Count Contarini was kicked out of his home, unable to use his own mansion. That was it.
As expected, Ariadne frowned, a cute wrinkle forming on the bridge of her nose.
“Yeah. That’s not it. It’s just that the aftermath wasn’t handled well.”
Ariadne confided her true concerns to Alfonso.
“I would like to enforce the seizure of the property at the request of CEO Caruso...”
She confided that all her arrangements had come to nothing and that, in fact, something seemed lacking.
“If we enforce it and end it there, the nobles won’t leave CEO Caruso alone. Are you really okay with that?”
It was a valid point. Alfonso nodded.
“It looks dangerous to me, too.”
It wasn't a problem with the upper class or the trading line. The great nobles based on the fiefs actually had little way to economically pressure CEO Caruso.
CEO Caruso went from being a simple inland logistics dealer who sold goods during the Great Plague to a tycoon.
This is because he has solidified his exclusive position in importing not only luxury goods but also various medical devices and daily necessities from overseas.
Unless the nobles were willing to boycott silk and spices together and stay home sick without taking medicine, they could not boycott Caruso's Bocanegro company.
Even if that were to happen, CEO Caruso wouldn't even blink an eye.
If so, the next step the nobles would take was obvious. CEO Caruso might have to worry about threats to his body.
“My order is based in the capital, but I have no official authority to oversee its security.”
No matter how large an army you have, it is difficult to utilize it if you do not have a legal reason to use it.
“The best I can do is to protect you step by step while you are in the capital, but once you leave the capital, you are truly out of my hands. That is the land of the lords.”
The great lord had jurisdiction over his fiefs and their subjects, the same as that of Bianca, the Grand Duchess of Taranto.
If a person suspected of committing a crime wandered within the lord's lands, the lord could always arrest and imprison him.
The problem was that the High Lord could be the one who was suspected of committing the crime. Ariadne frowned.
“They say that local governments are the problem.”
“That’s right. And when something happens, I don’t have the authority to investigate.”
The upper part of Bocanegro made dozens of voyages a year, both inland and offshore.
“If the lord of that land has CEO Caruso imprisoned for any reason while he is out on a business trip, that will be the end of it.”
“You lose your leader in an instant.”
Ariadne was lost in thought.
As she opened her mouth to speak, deep in thought, Alfonso raised his finger to cover her lips.
“Don't talk.”
Ariadne stuck out her lips like a duck and complained in a slurred voice.
“Hey. You know what I’m going to say.”
Alfonso said with a smile that seemed to say that he couldn't stop it.
“You’re the one who planned this, and you’re the one who’s going to be exposed as the CEO Caruso.”
Ariadne's eyes widened. Since when did Alfonso learn mind-reading?
She protested, pushing her lips forward and swatting his fingers away.
“But. Phew.”
Alfonso's fingers smelled like warm bread.
“They can’t touch me like that!”
Ariadne was renowned as the Saint of the Rambouillet Center and the godmother of the poor.
If a high nobleman were caught trying to murder her, he could be hanged on the wall by an angry mob.
“I’m so big they can’t touch me!”
Even though they were talking seriously, Alfonso found Ariadne, who called herself a big shot, cute, and laughed again.
But when Ariadne brought up the topic of 'big shots', she stood there like a statue and repeated.
“Wait a minute. ‘Too big to touch’...”
Alfonso laughed.
“You want to make CEO Caruso raise you to the level of the poor? It’s impossible right now.”
Even if there is a plague, you would be grateful to those who provide relief food. In peacetime, even if you spend all of CEO Caruso's wealth, it is impossible to build up a reputation like Ariadne's.
However, it was not possible to become a big shot by marrying a woman from a high-ranking noble family or royal family.
He is already married, and there is no royal or noble woman who would agree to such a marriage.
“No, no, no.”
Ariadne spun around in her seat as if something had occurred to her.
“CEO Caruso... What if we give CEO Caruso immunity from arrest?”
"What?"
***
Ariadne returned to Alfonso after telling him her plans.
“I think I’m the type of person who thinks while talking.”
She lay on the bed and whined to Sancha.
“When I think about it alone, things like order and importance are hard to organize, but when I talk to Alfonso, things just fall into place right away!”
Sancha combed Ariadne's hair without answering. She looked a little discouraged.
“Are Alfonso and I a good match?”
It was a completely different feeling from when she was talking to Cesare. When he was in a good mood, Cesare was the type to applaud Ariadne and say, “Well done!”
She was thrilled when she received a shower of compliments, but the discussion was not constructive.
Conversely, Alfonso's answers to Ariadne's questions lead to interesting hypotheses.
Alfonso saw the world through completely different eyes from Ariadne.
While she looked at the hills and imagined how profitable it would be to build a commercial city here, he looked at the same land and thought about the army's advance route and estimated the farmland in peacetime.
“You know, you know what we talked about today?”
Sancha asked back.
“What is it?”
“We will give the territory to CEO Caruso.”
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