Cesare gaped in amazement at Alfonso's insensibility.
After winning everything he competed against, he says he wants to "talk" in front of everyone. Is Alfonso trying to humiliate him by enjoying his victory in front of the person involved?
Cesare didn't answer, but Alfonso approached him despite the lack of response. His movements were leisurely.
“The Duke of Pisano.”
Alfonso's white horse followed at an elegant trot right alongside Cesare's black horse.
Cesare's black horse, Leopoldo, not knowing his master's speed, paced to the beat of Alfonso's white horse.
Alfonso's white horse was a hand's length taller than Leopoldo's, and Alfonso was half a head taller than Cesare.
A diagonal shadow fell across Cesare's face. He shrugged his shoulders in instinctive awe.
“I heard you volunteered for the Trevero route.”
A very natural attitude. An everyday attitude and speech that doesn't show any signs of tension.
Everything was different for Cesare, who was now contemplating whether he should address Alfonso in a higher or lower title.
Cesare suddenly felt something surge up in him and spat out sharply.
“Are you here to tease me now?”
The reason he started to act politely was that he was pushed out of the situation. But even though he was pushed out of the situation, his anger didn't subside.
“I heard that you have been given the King’s trust and will be traveling abroad with my former fiancée.”
Cesare called Ariadne "my former fiancée" because he felt he would go crazy if he didn't do that.
“You came here to tell me that my life is perfect and yours is a mess, right, brother?”
“Duke Cesare.”
Even calling him his brother was part of a fight. Alfonso let out a light sigh. His breath was ragged from exhaustion.
“The world doesn’t necessarily match the picture you draw.”
Alfonso also had a rough idea of what Cesare was thinking at the moment. It was not easy to not know when he was so openly displaying hostility.
He must have felt that Leo III, who loved Alfonso very much, had pushed him out and given unfair advantages to his heir. This is not true.
It was a truly meaningless waste of energy to envy others just by looking at their appearance. The world that Cesare imagined was nowhere to be found.
“Do it in moderation.”
He couldn't go into more detail, and he wasn't in a position to do so.
But Alfonso's slow speech read as weariness and lethargy to Cesare, and this fueled his anger.
Cesare's blue eyes glowed like the burning ice sometimes found in the permafrost.
“If you came here just to show off and hold me back, I’ll be going now.”
He added one more word, feeling a little offended.
“The incompetence of the aides who left the lord alone until he was this bored shines through.”
Alfonso also knew that Cesare was venting his anger. Such comments did not offend him at all.
But there was another reason why Alfonso summoned Cesare.
This story had to be told before the trembling Duke Cesare turned his horse and rode off.
“I heard you volunteered for this trip to Trevero.”
One of Cesare's eyebrows rose.
“Is there a problem?”
He shouted at the pack.
“You got what you wanted anyway, so it doesn’t matter, right?”
Alfonso did not think so. What he wanted was something a little different from the trivial things, like getting the post of envoy to Trevero.
It was much thicker and simpler than that.
But he didn't see how to convey this clearly, so he decided to start with the immediate matter, in chronological order.
“I will go to Trevero this time and meet with Archduke Odes.”
He didn't bother to add things like "don't go around talking outside". That was meaningless to him.
“I’m trying to finalize the marriage proposal with Princess Lariesa.”
Cesare looked at Alfonso with clear eyes. His pupils shook with an uneasy foreboding, and the world became clear and meaningless at the same time.
Countless sentences flashed in his eyes, but his mouth remained shut.
Alfonso half guessed and half had no idea what Cesare was going to say.
But he had no intention of giving Cesare a say anyway.
“Once that’s over, I plan to formally propose to Ariadne and get engaged.”
Thud.
Cesare thought he heard thunder somewhere, but the sky was clear, the air was dry, and there was no loud noise anywhere.
He looked around, but all he could hear were small, fragmented noises, like people talking and shouting.
He struggled to find the words. There was so much he wanted to say, but this was all he could get out of his mouth.
“His Majesty the King will not let you do as you please.”
“I’ll take care of that.”
Alfonso hung up firmly.
“It’s not your problem to worry about.”
Cesare took a deep breath. He filled his lungs with air, but his breathing was labored. The air was so humid that water droplets seemed to float in the air.
“What I’m trying to say is.”
Alfonso chose his words slowly.
“You and Ari are finished. There’s no use lingering around.”
At these words, Cesare finally became furious.
“Why did you decide that?”
Alfonso thought, That's right. It's not for him to decide; it's for Ariadne to decide.
However, Ariadne's conclusion would be the same as Alfonso's: he had 100% faith in her on that point.
But Alfonso could not bear to leave Cesare without warning him.
“It’s to ease your burden.”
This is a blatant lie. It is because Cesare de Como did not want to see the swindlers hanging around Ariadne de Mare.
After winning everything he competed against, he says he wants to "talk" in front of everyone. Is Alfonso trying to humiliate him by enjoying his victory in front of the person involved?
Cesare didn't answer, but Alfonso approached him despite the lack of response. His movements were leisurely.
“The Duke of Pisano.”
Alfonso's white horse followed at an elegant trot right alongside Cesare's black horse.
Cesare's black horse, Leopoldo, not knowing his master's speed, paced to the beat of Alfonso's white horse.
Alfonso's white horse was a hand's length taller than Leopoldo's, and Alfonso was half a head taller than Cesare.
A diagonal shadow fell across Cesare's face. He shrugged his shoulders in instinctive awe.
“I heard you volunteered for the Trevero route.”
A very natural attitude. An everyday attitude and speech that doesn't show any signs of tension.
Everything was different for Cesare, who was now contemplating whether he should address Alfonso in a higher or lower title.
Cesare suddenly felt something surge up in him and spat out sharply.
“Are you here to tease me now?”
The reason he started to act politely was that he was pushed out of the situation. But even though he was pushed out of the situation, his anger didn't subside.
“I heard that you have been given the King’s trust and will be traveling abroad with my former fiancée.”
Cesare called Ariadne "my former fiancée" because he felt he would go crazy if he didn't do that.
“You came here to tell me that my life is perfect and yours is a mess, right, brother?”
“Duke Cesare.”
Even calling him his brother was part of a fight. Alfonso let out a light sigh. His breath was ragged from exhaustion.
“The world doesn’t necessarily match the picture you draw.”
Alfonso also had a rough idea of what Cesare was thinking at the moment. It was not easy to not know when he was so openly displaying hostility.
He must have felt that Leo III, who loved Alfonso very much, had pushed him out and given unfair advantages to his heir. This is not true.
It was a truly meaningless waste of energy to envy others just by looking at their appearance. The world that Cesare imagined was nowhere to be found.
“Do it in moderation.”
He couldn't go into more detail, and he wasn't in a position to do so.
But Alfonso's slow speech read as weariness and lethargy to Cesare, and this fueled his anger.
Cesare's blue eyes glowed like the burning ice sometimes found in the permafrost.
“If you came here just to show off and hold me back, I’ll be going now.”
He added one more word, feeling a little offended.
“The incompetence of the aides who left the lord alone until he was this bored shines through.”
Alfonso also knew that Cesare was venting his anger. Such comments did not offend him at all.
But there was another reason why Alfonso summoned Cesare.
This story had to be told before the trembling Duke Cesare turned his horse and rode off.
“I heard you volunteered for this trip to Trevero.”
One of Cesare's eyebrows rose.
“Is there a problem?”
He shouted at the pack.
“You got what you wanted anyway, so it doesn’t matter, right?”
Alfonso did not think so. What he wanted was something a little different from the trivial things, like getting the post of envoy to Trevero.
It was much thicker and simpler than that.
But he didn't see how to convey this clearly, so he decided to start with the immediate matter, in chronological order.
“I will go to Trevero this time and meet with Archduke Odes.”
He didn't bother to add things like "don't go around talking outside". That was meaningless to him.
“I’m trying to finalize the marriage proposal with Princess Lariesa.”
Cesare looked at Alfonso with clear eyes. His pupils shook with an uneasy foreboding, and the world became clear and meaningless at the same time.
Countless sentences flashed in his eyes, but his mouth remained shut.
Alfonso half guessed and half had no idea what Cesare was going to say.
But he had no intention of giving Cesare a say anyway.
“Once that’s over, I plan to formally propose to Ariadne and get engaged.”
Thud.
Cesare thought he heard thunder somewhere, but the sky was clear, the air was dry, and there was no loud noise anywhere.
He looked around, but all he could hear were small, fragmented noises, like people talking and shouting.
He struggled to find the words. There was so much he wanted to say, but this was all he could get out of his mouth.
“His Majesty the King will not let you do as you please.”
“I’ll take care of that.”
Alfonso hung up firmly.
“It’s not your problem to worry about.”
Cesare took a deep breath. He filled his lungs with air, but his breathing was labored. The air was so humid that water droplets seemed to float in the air.
“What I’m trying to say is.”
Alfonso chose his words slowly.
“You and Ari are finished. There’s no use lingering around.”
At these words, Cesare finally became furious.
“Why did you decide that?”
Alfonso thought, That's right. It's not for him to decide; it's for Ariadne to decide.
However, Ariadne's conclusion would be the same as Alfonso's: he had 100% faith in her on that point.
But Alfonso could not bear to leave Cesare without warning him.
“It’s to ease your burden.”
This is a blatant lie. It is because Cesare de Como did not want to see the swindlers hanging around Ariadne de Mare.
“We are getting married.”
Cesare screamed.
“Whoever wants it!”
“I will make it so.”
Alfonso spoke quietly, without raising his voice, but his eyebrows were inevitably furrowed.
He looked at Cesare patiently, his forehead wrinkled deeply.
“Now that it’s out of your hands, let it go as it should be.”
“That’s not for you to decide. I’ll do as I please!”
“I volunteered for the Trevero trip because I felt I had to try something.”
Today, Alfonso stopped and said a great deal. It was out of character for him.
“To establish my position, build my power, and gain His Majesty the King’s approval to become a husband worthy of my bride.”
Instead of shouting, "Don't pass it on so easily," Cesare simply gritted his teeth and glared at Alfonso.
“Ari doesn’t care about you. She doesn’t care about your grades.”
Alfonso's turquoise eyes met Cesare's aquamarine ones.
“It’s no use trying. Stop doing useless things and stop here.”
Alfonso's business ended here. He had nothing more to say to Cesare. Alfonso put strength into his spurs.
The Prince's white horse galloped ahead, leaving a soft neigh.
Cesare, left alone in the crowd, glared at Alfonso's back with bloodshot eyes.
“...Whoever wants.”
His eyes were blazing.
Alfonso might have been right. Ever since Duke Cesare returned to the capital, Ariadne had kept a perfect distance from him.
There was an elegant line between avoiding him and being awkward, but also not being conscious of it.
“I don’t think Alfonso knows.”
Cesare's eyes flashed red. The blood vessels in his sclera had burst.
“There are two ways to get a woman.”
One way to get her consent. The two of them walked hand in hand, looking at the same place, as if the doctor had agreed.
The other was a more concise, traditional, and violent approach.
“No matter how much you believe in that woman.”
Locked in a dungeon, with all her weight supported by a single rope, wouldn't Ariadne de Mare be able to do anything?
It would be icing on the cake if Alfonso de Carlo's head were rolling around on the stone floor of that dungeon.
Cesare's perception of the world began to grow in a more distorted direction.
***
"The autonomous city of Unaisola is a national treasure where many people of the Etruscan kingdom gather to demonstrate their craftsmanship and produce rare works of art, elaborate ships, and advanced navigational tools. To use it more highly, I have made it a special district that only obeys my commands, and I call it the 'Free City.'"
“Is this even possible―!”
Clang!
The Marquis de Guatieri was so angry that he destroyed all the furniture in the house.
Not only the Marchioness, but also the butler, the servants, and the maids were all trembling and unable to dare come forward.
“What kind of bastard suggested something like this to the King!?”
He never dreamed that Prince Alfonso would be the one involved.
“Right now, right now, tell that Castiglione kid to come running here!!”
“Yes, Your Grace!”
The Baron of Castiglione, who had once been his vassal, was now a sort of boss among the capital's merchants.
After the Bocanegro Trading Company and he became connected, the business world was united without division, and it seemed that many followers had increased and that they were becoming more powerful.
If they could get rid of that Castiglione guy, they would be able to find out who was behind this, the Marquis' calculation.
However, the Marquis soon had to face his vassal, who returned empty-handed. It was something he had never expected.
“Where did that guy go, and you come back alone!”
“I am sorry, Your Excellency, the Marquis...”
The vassal didn't even make eye contact with him and lowered his head to the floor. What had happened?
Something happened, but you couldn't report it to me.
The Marquis Guatieri shouted, unable to control his temper.
“What happened? Report it straight away!”
The vassal could not bring himself to say anything and kept looking at the marquis. The more the vassal acted like that, the more the marquis became angry and stubborn.
“Recite every word that kid said, without missing a single word!”
“Your Excellency, the Marquis...”
“Right now!”
After thinking it over for a while, the servant, feeling that he could not leave without saying anything, closed his eyes tightly, swallowed, and shouted.
“He said, ‘Guatieri, you little shit, you still think I'm your vassal.’”
The Marquis Guatieri felt something hot rising up along his neck and the back of his head.
“Ugh!”
He fell backward, clutching his head. The powerful pulse in his veins and the strength leaving his hands were at odds with each other.
The Marchioness came running in in surprise.
"Honey!"
The people who went were also in confusion.
“Your Excellency, the Marquis!”
“Your Excellency!”
The Marchioness Guatieri cried out in confusion.
“Call the doctor, call the doctor!”
Even in the midst of all this, the Marquis Guatieri was still angry and kept shouting.
“Ahhh! Aahhh! Aaaahhh!”
In his 40 years of life, he has never had a day as frustrating as today.
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