People inevitably gather together.
While Cardinal de Mare was meeting Pope Louis, who had returned from his inspection of the Rambouillet Relief home, Luisa, the wife of the butler Niccolo, was hurrying to meet Isabella.
Her husband, Nicolo, had warned her never to meet outsiders, and that included Isabella, but Louisa had no intention of listening to him.
'Damn human.'
Louisa was Lucrezia's confidant and the younger sister of Giada, the former head maid.
Giada and Louisa are from Taranto and were introduced to the de Mare family by an acquaintance in the countryside.
'If it weren't for my parents, you would never have been able to rise to the position of butler in the de Mare family.'
The sisters took full advantage of the fact that they were from the same neighborhood as their landlady and had been in this house from the very beginning, and rose through the ranks within the de Mare family.
It was also through his marriage to Louisa that Niccolo first caught the eye of Cardinal de Mare, thereby gaining the status of an insider.
Then one day, her older sister, Giada, mysteriously disappeared while working for Madame Lucrezia.
The last person to see her was the Cardinal's daughter, Ariadne, a wretch born outside the city walls.
Although it was reasonable to question her, the Cardinal buried the matter without saying a word.
'How dare you bury my sister's death by sticking up for the Cardinal, when you wouldn't have gotten anywhere near him without her!'
While Cardinal de Mare was meeting Pope Louis, who had returned from his inspection of the Rambouillet Relief home, Luisa, the wife of the butler Niccolo, was hurrying to meet Isabella.
Her husband, Nicolo, had warned her never to meet outsiders, and that included Isabella, but Louisa had no intention of listening to him.
'Damn human.'
Louisa was Lucrezia's confidant and the younger sister of Giada, the former head maid.
Giada and Louisa are from Taranto and were introduced to the de Mare family by an acquaintance in the countryside.
'If it weren't for my parents, you would never have been able to rise to the position of butler in the de Mare family.'
The sisters took full advantage of the fact that they were from the same neighborhood as their landlady and had been in this house from the very beginning, and rose through the ranks within the de Mare family.
It was also through his marriage to Louisa that Niccolo first caught the eye of Cardinal de Mare, thereby gaining the status of an insider.
Then one day, her older sister, Giada, mysteriously disappeared while working for Madame Lucrezia.
The last person to see her was the Cardinal's daughter, Ariadne, a wretch born outside the city walls.
Although it was reasonable to question her, the Cardinal buried the matter without saying a word.
'How dare you bury my sister's death by sticking up for the Cardinal, when you wouldn't have gotten anywhere near him without her!'
Louisa wanted to make it clear how her sister died.
Niccolo made his position clear to Louisa, who insisted that she would have to ask the second daughter to find out where the maid had gone.
“Say a word to the second young lady about that, I won’t let you off easy! Do you think this is only my position? If you turn around then, I won’t be able to help you either.”
The butler couple had no children, but they lived as decent business partners even after their love died down.
Nicolo devoted his abilities to his career, and Louisa showered her affection on her family. It wasn't bad.
But everything fell apart with the death of the maid, Giada.
All Louisa could give to Niccolo was the escort of Madame Lucrezia on her back.
However, Madame Lucrezia, the personification of that power, was kicked out of the house for practicing black magic.
Niccolo no longer loved Louisa. Louisa had no money, no support, nothing.
She simply had no resources left to persuade her husband.
In the end, the villain who had harmed her sister was never found, and time passed without a trace.
Now, Giada's death is just another thing that happened in the past. At least, that's what her husband certainly thought.
“Execution? Why are you bringing up the past again? No, and besides. You’ve lived long enough. If someone heard this, they’d think a young kid who just had her coming-of-age ceremony died.”
'You heartless bastard! I would never let my sister die like that!'
To make matters worse, she had seen a handkerchief a few days ago. It was her husband's handkerchief. It was in the little maid's belongings.
Since he was a man in his 50s and a girl in her teens, it is possible that he gave them the handkerchief, telling them to use it for its original purpose.
The maid may have been a thief, but Louisa was too indignant to need an explanation.
A handkerchief was just a last rag on a camel's back.
She was willing to do anything to harm Niccolo.
As Louisa walked, squirming with anger, a tall male shadow appeared in front of her.
“Who is this?”
Long, rough, and twisted.
“Isn’t that Aunt Louisa?”
“Hey, Master Ippolito?”
Louisa stammered as if she had seen a ghost.
As Louisa was Niccolo's wife, she knew that Ippolito was not the Cardinal's heir, and that was the child Lucrezia conceived before marriage.
However, the time she served him as her master was very long.
She called Ippolito by a title that was familiar to her, without her knowledge. And language defined the relationship.
Ippolito chuckled, not missing Aunt Louisa's friendly attitude.
“Ma’am, I need help.”
“I, I can do for you...”
Ippolito cut off Louisa as she was about to say that there was nothing she could do.
“I’m going to burn all those fucking motherfuckers.”
Louisa flinched. Her skin felt hot from his malice. But wait a minute. If de Mare falls, won’t the butler Niccolo also fall with him?
Ippolito put the finishing touches on it.
“Do you know how to burn de Mare? I’ll burn all the bastards who hung there and protected me, and all the little bastards who ignored me.”
Ippolito was now threatening to leave his conversation partner's job and husband alone. It was stupid.
But what's meant to be is meant to be. The foolish words spoken without any calculation set Aunt Louisa's heart on fire, which was already writhing in revenge.
“It’s simple.”
Words were thrown out one after another like bait to catch fish.
“Once everything is over, I will take good care of you, ma’am.”
Although the bait was crude, the fish were already ready for the water.
“...What should I do?”
***
Isabella sat in her drawing room at Count Bartolini's and looked at her watch.
“Why aren’t you here yet?”
It was more than an hour past the appointed time.
“What are you ignoring me for? If you don’t like it, you should just say you won’t come. How can that make sense?!”
“...”
The one who was bearing the brunt of Isabella's irritation was Agosto. These days, Agosto was the only one by Isabella's side.
“This little DiPascal is just a talker! He showed off to me as much as he could! He said he’d let us meet!”
Isabella, who was still furious, wrote a note of anger on Clemente's stationery set in the living room.
"Don't ever contact me again you useless piece of shit"
Isabella threw at Agosto something that was more like a note than a letter, more like a doodle than a note.
“Take it to DiPascal's mansion right now!”
Agosto glanced over the contents. Isabella's scolding flew at him.
“Don’t be a jerk and go right now! Tell him exactly what happened to me today!”
He nodded his head in agreement without saying a word and walked out of the reception room, his movements more leisurely than usual.
He had just gotten over the hostess's irritation, but there was a faint smile on his lips.
Of all the men who hung around Isabella, Count DiPascal was the most detestable. He was the unluckiest and... He seemed closest to success.
The thought of delivering this note to such a DiPascal made him laugh.
Besides Agosto, there was another person who felt good about this incident.
It was Countess Clemente de Bartolini who was about to enter her own drawing room when her place was taken away by the military.
When Clemente realized that there was someone in the drawing room she was about to enter and hurriedly closed the door again, Isabella was inside, showing off her annoyance without anyone to listen to her.
“Dipascal, you bastard! Seriously! Evil!”
There was a sound of objects rolling.
“I said I like it! I said I like it!”
Just hearing this far gave her a rough idea of the situation. A big smile appeared on Clemente’s lips. It was a laugh of joy.
'Even you, who flies and longs, can't help it, Isabella.'
Andrea DiPascal was a man who couldn't be stopped. At least not to Clemente.
Clemente simply crawled home after a one-night stand with another man.
After her exciting adventure, she finally finds herself sleeping next to her elderly husband.
But Count DiPascal was sincere. He was the first man to make Clemente feel sincere.
“...Don’t go home today.”
It was an overnight stay that could have destroyed his perfect alibi.
He didn't tell his wife in advance that he would be sleeping outside, and he didn't have any friends to pretend to be. He said in disbelief.
“Clemente. You have a lot too.”
He asked in a distant voice.
“Honey, can you throw it all away? That? All of it?”
At first glance, it seemed like he was giving Clemente a choice. But in reality, it was a declaration that he would not give up anything for Clemente.
As Clemente began to cling to him, the man became dramatically more businesslike.
Immediately after she requested an overnight stay, the man began to avoid contact, and the heat cooled down rapidly. That was the end of their secret affair.
'DiPascal did everything for me, so it wasn't funny that he didn't even hold my hand. Isabella, you should try to shed some tears and snot.'
She didn't care that she was kicked out of her own living room. Clemente was in a great mood today. She felt like she could stretch out and sleep well today.
***
“We have to give up the port of Pisarino. There is a document that he took a picture of.”
Cardinal de Mare spoke with Pope Louis in the Cardinal's study inside the Basilica of Saint Ercole.
His second daughter, Ariadne, was also sitting next to him.
It was highly unusual for a priest to bring his child before the Pope, as the child of the priest was considered evidence of sin.
But he wasn't taking his daughter to the Pope today to receive the sacraments or anything like that. Ariadne was now a player in a political game.
“Would you give it up? I haven’t gotten what I wanted.”
Pope Louis threw a joke.
“He would rather lead an army and invade Trevero than give up the port. That’s why I fled to San Carlo. I didn’t want to die.”
He winked at Ariadne.
“Prince Alfonso will protect me.”
Ariadne felt the creeps run down her spine several times today because of the Pope.
It hadn't even been half a day since she had been anxious, wondering if he knew about her return, and now she was starting to shiver again, wondering if he knew about her secret marriage.
But this was not the time. The Pope had no time. She carefully assessed the situation.
“Looking at how quiet you’ve been, I wonder if your health is deteriorating again. This kind of thing can’t be managed freely from below unless the leader makes the decision.”
“Hmm. I think so too. A dirty nature can only be controlled by a collapsing body. I know because I’ve been there.”
Cardinal de Mare asked.
“Can’t you even stamp a port transfer document without the permission of your superiors? Do you have to force them to do it?”
“The last resort is to bring an army to Philip, who refuses to give up, and hold a sword to his throat.”
For Trevero, who did not have his own military force, this was either impossible or a very expensive option that required hiring condottieri.
“It would be great if we could end it with threats.”
Today, the Pope decided to give away all his cards. He lowered his voice and whispered meaningfully.
“That guy Philip has an absolute weakness.”
Cardinal de Mare and Ariadne looked at each other. Could it be?
Pope Louis looked at Cardinal de Mare and Ariadne with an expression of mischievous anticipation that they would be surprised.
“King Philip IV of Gallico is a sinner before God, having had an inappropriate relationship with his kinswoman, Princess Auguste. He is a sinner who could be excommunicated if all this is made public.”
Support Novellate!
Comments
Post a Comment