At the unexpected proposal, Ariadne looked at Alfonso with her mouth open.
“If you marry me now...”
It was natural that there was no permission from Leo III, and there was also the issue of intermarriage.
“The situation is complicated, there are issues of succession, permission from parents, relations with the Kingdom of Gallico...”
Alfonso's wet fingers pressed hard against her lips.
"Shhh."
Even though he was fully hydrated, the man's hands were inevitably rough. His thick knuckles met Ariadne's soft lips.
Alfonso's fingers began to stroke the outer surface of Ariadne's lower lip, then squeezed between them, exploring her teeth and the mucous membranes inside her mouth as if they were new landmarks he was getting to know for the first time.
“Uh—yeah...”
He whispered in her ear.
“That’s right. The sound was almost exactly right.”
He, too, was convinced in yesterday's pleasures that Ariadne loved him passionately, more than anyone else in the world.
“In times like this, I just say, ‘Yeah.’”
He and she seemed like they were made for each other.
Even the melody he played for the first time became a very familiar song when he was with her, and at the same time, it became a fireworks display exploding in his head.
Every movement, every gesture was a joy and a delight.
“Ugh... Ugh.”
Ariadne made a lewd noise as Alfonso's hand moved. He lifted her chin.
“That’s not it. Tell me straight.”
Ariadne blushed in embarrassment. Alfonso continued to play with his fingers while holding Ariadne's chin.
He was like a musical genius, the kind of musical prodigy whose skills improve rapidly the more he plays an instrument.
“Ha... Ang...”
Submerged in water, she eventually managed to wrestle Alfonso away.
"But!"
She protested, pushing Alfonso's chest with both hands.
“You want me to answer such an important question right now?”
Then she pointed to her own appearance. All she had on was a wet blanket and a bathtub filled with bath water.
“Like this?”
Alfonso saw Ariadne, soaking wet with water.
Her smooth, dewy skin, her slightly puffy red lips, and even her cute bunny teeth poking out between them were all irresistibly pretty.
Alfonso raised both knees in the bath and held Ariadne in his arms.
“Ahh!”
"So."
He placed both his large hands on her torso and, with the help of his buoyancy, gently floated her into the water.
“You don’t want to marry me?”
His cerulean eyes looked at her with a hint of humor and a great deal of affection. Ariadne tilted her head slightly with an embarrassed smile.
“No, that’s not it...”
“Sleep next to me every day.”
He pressed his lips to the bridge of her nose.
Kiss
“Wake up next to me every day.”
This time, at the tip of the nose. I'll skip over what to do between falling asleep and waking up.
Kiss
“Welcoming the state guest at the seat next to me.”
This time, on the philtrum.
Kiss
There was one more thing he wanted to say, but he kept it to himself.
This time, he kissed Ariadne on the lips without saying a word.
This time, it was a deep kiss, not a kiss, and a moan escaped the woman's lips.
“Ha, ha...”
The two of them were on the same frequency. Whenever he tried something new, she responded with joy.
“You don’t want to be like this with me for the rest of your life?”
He held her in the water. Some time had passed, and the steaming bath water had cooled down to just below body temperature.
“Just think about one thing. Forget about the country, succession, obstacles, and all those complicated things. Just think about the essence.”
Alfonso's wet eyes stared straight at Ariadne. Even in the cooling water, his body was strong.
She, trapped in his arms, also raised her head and met his eyes.
“Please answer only considering whether you want to be with me or not.”
He asked each syllable one by one, completely erasing any playful expression he had had a moment ago.
“Will you marry me?”
Alfonso's expression was full of affection. His chest was firm as he held her, and his embrace was the very essence of solidity.
In the cold water, the only hot thing was his body temperature. It was a life force that would never get cold again. It would burn until the end of the world.
Nothing is eternal. No emotion, including love, or even humans themselves, is eternal.
But there was an inexplicable allure to Alfonso's warmth. A charm. No, a magic that made it possible to convince people of things they thought were absurd.
Ariadne nodded slowly.
“...Yes.”
Alfonso laughed loudly. The water in the bathtub splashed loudly as he hugged her so hard.
The sunlight streaming in through the large windows reflected in all directions on the breaking water droplets, creating a dazzling spectacle.
He whispered in her ear, in an instant rainbow.
“I’ll make you the happiest woman in the world. I promise.”
Raphael de Baldessar, the sub-abbot of the Abbey of Aberruche, tilted his head after his interview with Pope Louis.
“Why on earth did you call me?”
Pope Louis simply peppered Raphael with questions he couldn't quite understand.
At first, it was relatively normal. That is to say, it was within the expected range.
“Did de Mare commit any wrongdoing? Embezzlement? Misappropriation? Did he ever sell his office for money? What did your late abbot say?”
The Pope's eyes sparkled, and he urged Raphael on.
“Tell me. There must be something there.”
“I have not been in the priesthood for long, so I am not...”
Pope Louis smiled like a gentleman, but the words he spoke were not gentle at all.
“Don’t pretend to be innocent.”
The Pope spoke as if he were talking about the menu of the meal he had eaten yesterday.
“I know that you went abroad on an errand to get money in 1123.”
He added.
“Holding a permit from the branch of the Holy See of the Etruscan Kingdom.”
No additional documentation or proof was needed. For someone with this much power, his very testimony was a fact that had to be refuted.
Raphael froze after being hit by an unexpected blow.
When he went on an errand to get Ariadne's money, he used the monasteries built in port cities as stopovers. This was what he had agreed upon with Ariadne.
He made the first delivery himself, but he had to leave the subsequent deliveries to the regular staff of Bocanegro.
Naturally, a safety device was needed to prevent someone from stealing in the middle.
So, they pretended it was a Holy See event and used the clergy of an isolated monastery to double-check the amount.
Pope Ludovico smiled kindly, leaned forward, and asked subtly.
“Tell me. Wasn’t that de Mare’s money laundering trip?”
But San Carlo's 'muso terribile' was not a notoriety earned from playing poker.
To become a beast of terror, you need to have a mouth that opens, but at the same time, you need to have incredibly fast reflexes.
It takes a quick mind to throw in the right swear word at the right time.
The terror-stricken mouth of San Carlo also responded smoothly, without even licking its lips.
“Money laundering? Are you talking about delivering donations?”
Raphael suspected that the reason the Pope appeared like that was because of a complaint from within the Etruscan Curia.
Unless there was some evidence of Cardinal de Mare's embezzlement, it is unlikely that the Pope would have dug into the Cardinal so meticulously.
Raphael had no idea that Ludovico was after Cardinal de Mare personally.
But either way, he had no intention of betraying Ariadne's father and his country's Cardinal in front of the Pope, whom he saw for the first time today.
He had no intention of telling him the real source of the gold.
Raphael stopped the clock and said.
“A very large amount of donations... It was military funds for the temple.”
Pope Louis asked back.
“Temple military funds?”
It was an expression of unexpected surprise. Raphael nodded shamelessly.
“Yes. It was delivered to Prince Alfonso of the Etruscan Kingdom through the Grand Duke of Yuldenburg. If you inquire there, there will be a receipt left.”
The Pope asked with a frown.
“If you wanted to deliver donations to the temple, you could have done so through the official route, via the Etruscan king. Why did you send a special envoy through a back door?”
There were many ways to send it, including through the logistics supply line of the Republic of Porto. Raphael said with an exaggerated expression.
“There was a bit of a problem at Palazzo Carlo at the time.”
It was as if he were revealing a very big secret. Outsiders tend to be overly enthusiastic about conspiracy theories.
“Of course it is right to go through the palace, but there is talk that His Majesty the King’s wife, Duchess Lucrezia, has been playing a trick in the middle. I wonder if Prince Alfonso, the eldest son of the late Queen, will make a great achievement.”
Pope Louis was impressed. He was the second son of a prominent family and fundamentally disliked the idea of those who were not born with blue blood being treated as his guard.
And Prince Alfonso of the Etruscan kingdom was the young man he loved most at the time.
The achievement that he will record in history books and boast about in the afterlife was the Third Crusade.
If it were Prince Alfonso, he would be the sharpest sword of the gods, securing that great victory at the forefront.
“It was widely rumored that the money could not be sent officially from the palace, so it was sent by detour to the Holy See.”
Ludovico's already thick-skinned face became fierce. What? Even if I give you more, you can't send me the hat at full price?
“I am just an errand boy, so I do not know where the money came from, but even if it came from the Etruscan branch of the Holy See, if it was delivered to the temple, wouldn’t it have been used legally?”
Ludovico asked in a subtle voice.
“de Mare…supports the temple?”
“That’s true.”
When lying, especially when lying about something you don't know much about, you should be as firm and confident as possible.
Raphael added a tautological word, but which no one could deny.
“Money follows where the heart leads.”
While Raphael, who had been given permission to return after the above conversation, was pondering the Pope's plan, Pope Louis was sitting alone in his room, experiencing a Copernican shift in thinking.
'I... Why... Did I think of de Mare without her?'
“If you marry me now...”
It was natural that there was no permission from Leo III, and there was also the issue of intermarriage.
“The situation is complicated, there are issues of succession, permission from parents, relations with the Kingdom of Gallico...”
Alfonso's wet fingers pressed hard against her lips.
"Shhh."
Even though he was fully hydrated, the man's hands were inevitably rough. His thick knuckles met Ariadne's soft lips.
Alfonso's fingers began to stroke the outer surface of Ariadne's lower lip, then squeezed between them, exploring her teeth and the mucous membranes inside her mouth as if they were new landmarks he was getting to know for the first time.
“Uh—yeah...”
He whispered in her ear.
“That’s right. The sound was almost exactly right.”
He, too, was convinced in yesterday's pleasures that Ariadne loved him passionately, more than anyone else in the world.
“In times like this, I just say, ‘Yeah.’”
He and she seemed like they were made for each other.
Even the melody he played for the first time became a very familiar song when he was with her, and at the same time, it became a fireworks display exploding in his head.
Every movement, every gesture was a joy and a delight.
“Ugh... Ugh.”
Ariadne made a lewd noise as Alfonso's hand moved. He lifted her chin.
“That’s not it. Tell me straight.”
Ariadne blushed in embarrassment. Alfonso continued to play with his fingers while holding Ariadne's chin.
He was like a musical genius, the kind of musical prodigy whose skills improve rapidly the more he plays an instrument.
“Ha... Ang...”
Submerged in water, she eventually managed to wrestle Alfonso away.
"But!"
She protested, pushing Alfonso's chest with both hands.
“You want me to answer such an important question right now?”
Then she pointed to her own appearance. All she had on was a wet blanket and a bathtub filled with bath water.
“Like this?”
Alfonso saw Ariadne, soaking wet with water.
Her smooth, dewy skin, her slightly puffy red lips, and even her cute bunny teeth poking out between them were all irresistibly pretty.
Alfonso raised both knees in the bath and held Ariadne in his arms.
“Ahh!”
"So."
He placed both his large hands on her torso and, with the help of his buoyancy, gently floated her into the water.
“You don’t want to marry me?”
His cerulean eyes looked at her with a hint of humor and a great deal of affection. Ariadne tilted her head slightly with an embarrassed smile.
“No, that’s not it...”
“Sleep next to me every day.”
He pressed his lips to the bridge of her nose.
Kiss
“Wake up next to me every day.”
This time, at the tip of the nose. I'll skip over what to do between falling asleep and waking up.
Kiss
“Welcoming the state guest at the seat next to me.”
This time, on the philtrum.
Kiss
There was one more thing he wanted to say, but he kept it to himself.
This time, he kissed Ariadne on the lips without saying a word.
This time, it was a deep kiss, not a kiss, and a moan escaped the woman's lips.
“Ha, ha...”
The two of them were on the same frequency. Whenever he tried something new, she responded with joy.
“You don’t want to be like this with me for the rest of your life?”
He held her in the water. Some time had passed, and the steaming bath water had cooled down to just below body temperature.
“Just think about one thing. Forget about the country, succession, obstacles, and all those complicated things. Just think about the essence.”
Alfonso's wet eyes stared straight at Ariadne. Even in the cooling water, his body was strong.
She, trapped in his arms, also raised her head and met his eyes.
“Please answer only considering whether you want to be with me or not.”
He asked each syllable one by one, completely erasing any playful expression he had had a moment ago.
“Will you marry me?”
Alfonso's expression was full of affection. His chest was firm as he held her, and his embrace was the very essence of solidity.
In the cold water, the only hot thing was his body temperature. It was a life force that would never get cold again. It would burn until the end of the world.
Nothing is eternal. No emotion, including love, or even humans themselves, is eternal.
But there was an inexplicable allure to Alfonso's warmth. A charm. No, a magic that made it possible to convince people of things they thought were absurd.
Ariadne nodded slowly.
“...Yes.”
Alfonso laughed loudly. The water in the bathtub splashed loudly as he hugged her so hard.
The sunlight streaming in through the large windows reflected in all directions on the breaking water droplets, creating a dazzling spectacle.
He whispered in her ear, in an instant rainbow.
“I’ll make you the happiest woman in the world. I promise.”
***
Raphael de Baldessar, the sub-abbot of the Abbey of Aberruche, tilted his head after his interview with Pope Louis.
“Why on earth did you call me?”
Pope Louis simply peppered Raphael with questions he couldn't quite understand.
At first, it was relatively normal. That is to say, it was within the expected range.
“Did de Mare commit any wrongdoing? Embezzlement? Misappropriation? Did he ever sell his office for money? What did your late abbot say?”
The Pope's eyes sparkled, and he urged Raphael on.
“Tell me. There must be something there.”
“I have not been in the priesthood for long, so I am not...”
Pope Louis smiled like a gentleman, but the words he spoke were not gentle at all.
“Don’t pretend to be innocent.”
The Pope spoke as if he were talking about the menu of the meal he had eaten yesterday.
“I know that you went abroad on an errand to get money in 1123.”
He added.
“Holding a permit from the branch of the Holy See of the Etruscan Kingdom.”
No additional documentation or proof was needed. For someone with this much power, his very testimony was a fact that had to be refuted.
Raphael froze after being hit by an unexpected blow.
When he went on an errand to get Ariadne's money, he used the monasteries built in port cities as stopovers. This was what he had agreed upon with Ariadne.
He made the first delivery himself, but he had to leave the subsequent deliveries to the regular staff of Bocanegro.
Naturally, a safety device was needed to prevent someone from stealing in the middle.
So, they pretended it was a Holy See event and used the clergy of an isolated monastery to double-check the amount.
Pope Ludovico smiled kindly, leaned forward, and asked subtly.
“Tell me. Wasn’t that de Mare’s money laundering trip?”
But San Carlo's 'muso terribile' was not a notoriety earned from playing poker.
To become a beast of terror, you need to have a mouth that opens, but at the same time, you need to have incredibly fast reflexes.
It takes a quick mind to throw in the right swear word at the right time.
The terror-stricken mouth of San Carlo also responded smoothly, without even licking its lips.
“Money laundering? Are you talking about delivering donations?”
Raphael suspected that the reason the Pope appeared like that was because of a complaint from within the Etruscan Curia.
Unless there was some evidence of Cardinal de Mare's embezzlement, it is unlikely that the Pope would have dug into the Cardinal so meticulously.
Raphael had no idea that Ludovico was after Cardinal de Mare personally.
But either way, he had no intention of betraying Ariadne's father and his country's Cardinal in front of the Pope, whom he saw for the first time today.
He had no intention of telling him the real source of the gold.
Raphael stopped the clock and said.
“A very large amount of donations... It was military funds for the temple.”
Pope Louis asked back.
“Temple military funds?”
It was an expression of unexpected surprise. Raphael nodded shamelessly.
“Yes. It was delivered to Prince Alfonso of the Etruscan Kingdom through the Grand Duke of Yuldenburg. If you inquire there, there will be a receipt left.”
The Pope asked with a frown.
“If you wanted to deliver donations to the temple, you could have done so through the official route, via the Etruscan king. Why did you send a special envoy through a back door?”
There were many ways to send it, including through the logistics supply line of the Republic of Porto. Raphael said with an exaggerated expression.
“There was a bit of a problem at Palazzo Carlo at the time.”
It was as if he were revealing a very big secret. Outsiders tend to be overly enthusiastic about conspiracy theories.
“Of course it is right to go through the palace, but there is talk that His Majesty the King’s wife, Duchess Lucrezia, has been playing a trick in the middle. I wonder if Prince Alfonso, the eldest son of the late Queen, will make a great achievement.”
Pope Louis was impressed. He was the second son of a prominent family and fundamentally disliked the idea of those who were not born with blue blood being treated as his guard.
And Prince Alfonso of the Etruscan kingdom was the young man he loved most at the time.
The achievement that he will record in history books and boast about in the afterlife was the Third Crusade.
If it were Prince Alfonso, he would be the sharpest sword of the gods, securing that great victory at the forefront.
“It was widely rumored that the money could not be sent officially from the palace, so it was sent by detour to the Holy See.”
Ludovico's already thick-skinned face became fierce. What? Even if I give you more, you can't send me the hat at full price?
“I am just an errand boy, so I do not know where the money came from, but even if it came from the Etruscan branch of the Holy See, if it was delivered to the temple, wouldn’t it have been used legally?”
Ludovico asked in a subtle voice.
“de Mare…supports the temple?”
“That’s true.”
When lying, especially when lying about something you don't know much about, you should be as firm and confident as possible.
Raphael added a tautological word, but which no one could deny.
“Money follows where the heart leads.”
While Raphael, who had been given permission to return after the above conversation, was pondering the Pope's plan, Pope Louis was sitting alone in his room, experiencing a Copernican shift in thinking.
'I... Why... Did I think of de Mare without her?'
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