Ariadne sensed that she had overestimated Duchess Rubina the moment she appeared on the scene.
'You weren't just trying to press the button?'
Duchess Rubina was officially the King's collateral relative, while Prince Alfonso was the King's only direct descendant. As he was not the Crown Prince, he did not have the Crown Prince's ceremonial rank or the right to automatically assume the regency in the event of the King's death. However, Alfonso was an only son, and an only son with military power. Time was on his side. No one could push him aside, either in power or in name.
Of course, it was still Leo III's time, and no one could win the pillow fight. But it was an open secret that Duchess Rubina had fallen out of favor and was in a different bed with Leo III.
'Or maybe there is something else you believe in?'
However, no matter how much Ariadne racked her brain, it did not seem like there would be any new recourse for Rubina or the Duchess. There was no way Duke Cesare could suddenly become trustworthy enough to stand up to Prince Alfonso, and there was no way Leo III would be in love with her. Ariadne was perplexed.
'Seriously, are you trying to fight the legitimate Prince here?'
Alfonso also doubted his eyes when he saw that Duchess Rubina had blocked his path.
He opened the carriage door and jumped out.
"Ha!"
It was only a matter of time before the Prince rushed right up to Duchess Rubina.
“Madame de Como.”
Rubina gasped as the towering shadow of the young Prince loomed over her in the blink of an eye. With two knights on either side and two maids behind her, the Duchess herself carried a peacock feather fan, adding whalebone to the collar and hem of her dress to enhance her silhouette and majesty, but it was no use.
The party, including two knights in full plate mail, was woefully overwhelmed by the overwhelming presence of Prince Alfonso, who was wearing only ball attire.
“Prince...!”
Rubina took a half step back in embarrassment. Her entire group backed away together, hesitating to keep their distance from their master.
“Wow, the Prince should be polite!”
She hated being approached, and she couldn't stand it even more when people called her 'Madame de Como'.
“And titles!”
She regained her composure and added angrily, but Prince Alfonso snickered.
“Rubina Tullia.”
Duchess Rubina's face turned pale and then red. That was the name she had before she became Countess de Como.
An extremely ordinary name that has no noble title or the scent of a local leader.
No, it would have been better if Tullia had just been an ordinary surname. 'Tullia' was not a surname, but a woman's name. And it was a very fancy name, one that no ordinary woman would use as her own name. A commoner woman who worked in the entertainment industry would give birth to a child whose father she did not know, and would use the mother's name as her daughter's surname.
It was an insult. Not just an insult, but a humiliating insult that was close to the essence of a fight. Duchess Rubina spat it out, trembling.
“...Prince Alfonso. How dare you.”
“How dare you?”
Alfonso laughed without a word.
“Dare. That’s what I have to say.”
Prince Alfonso walked towards Duchess Rubina with steady steps. The Duchess, possessed by evil, refused to be pushed away and stood her ground despite the knights' and maids' attempts to dissuade her.
Thanks to that, the Prince was able to get right up to the old Duchess's nose. He got so close that it was almost blasphemous, and looked straight at Duchess Rubina and said:
“I have shown you the utmost respect so far.”
He spat it out as if he were chewing.
“As my father’s woman.”
Prince Alfonso's sight brought into view a middle-aged woman with red hair. Her hair, once as fiery red as her son's, was now streaked with gray.
The aged, faded ugliness was less threatening and more repulsive than he remembered. Why on earth did his mother have such a hard time with such a woman?
“After my mother passed away, you really didn’t know your place.”
“What? Watch your words, Prince!”
Prince Alfonso didn't even blink at Duchess Rubina's protests. He wasn't listening to her in the first place.
“Let’s take that as the position you hold as the King’s woman. But do you really think you are the Queen of this country?”
“Alfonso de Carlo!”
It was impolite to refer to the royal family of a country by their surname. The monarchs and lineage of the royal family of a country were usually called by the territory they ruled, not by their family name, as in Philip of Gallico.
Naming a land was a symbol of authority, meaning that there was only one person on that land who could be referred to by that name. However, Prince Alfonso did not care and just smiled.
“I am Alfonso de Carlo. What are you?”
At the mention of 'you', Duchess Rubina's face turned bright red like a tomato about to explode.
“Watch your tongue, Prince!”
Alfonso thought that this courtly game was too childish. Those who rotted away in San Carlo, immersed in luxurious comfort, did not know what was truly important. Authority was won with blood, sweat, victory, and sacrifice, not with such ridiculous titles.
Duchess Rubina trembled and retorted, unable to imagine what the Prince was thinking.
“I am Rubina de Carlo, the sister-in-law of His Majesty the Holy King Leo III!”
Alfonso laughed.
“Ha, hahahaha.”
This laughter was contagious. Ariadne also laughed along, and the guards and the guards who were huddled in the corner also couldn't stop their laughter. Just before the laughter spread to the guards, Rubina shouted.
“How rude!!!”
The knights came to their senses, and the guards straightened their posture in surprise.
“I am the mistress of this palace! After Her Majesty the Queen passed away.”
Duchess Rubina's eyes, which had been glaring like those of a victor, looked Prince Alfonso up and down with a spiteful expression. Alfonso's face hardened at the mention of his dead mother.
“His Majesty the King personally entrusted me with the seal ring of this palace.”
Duchess Rubina held up her right hand in the air. There was a thick gold ring set with rubies and emeralds on her index finger. She stroked it with her thumb proudly.
The palace seal ring was a ring owned by the person who ruled the palace. It was a separate ring from the Queen's seal, which was used to announce diplomatic documents or the Queen's edicts to the general public, but it was considered a ring that displayed the Queen's dignity as it was worn by the Queens of the time from generation to generation. The receipt and disbursement of the palace budget was made only with the seal of the ring, and those within the palace had to show obedience to the seal ring.
Alfonso's eyes narrowed as he stared at the ring.
'If things were to go according to plan, that ring would belong to Ariadne.'
His wife, Princess Ariadne, Rubina Tullia, was originally only Leo III's mistress and was not a member of the royal family.
Ariadne de Mare was his sworn wife before the gods, his true Princess, and the only female direct royal of this royal family.
Duchess Rubina misinterpreted the Prince's persistent gaze as mere jealousy of the palace's signet ring. She licked her lips and relished her victory.
“Not only that? I am the eldest and most mature of the women in this royal household, and it is my responsibility to properly guide the young ones of the royal household!”
Just before this Thanksgiving Ball, Leo III had casually asked Prince Alfonso, "Would you consider attending this ball without a partner?"
Alfonso flatly ignored the offer, as he considered it a dirty trick from Leo III, who had a history of lusting after Ariadne.
But in Duchess Rubina's view, Prince Alfonso should have listened to Leo III's advice. She glared at Prince Alfonso, who, in her opinion, was in charge of one of the 'young ones'.
“Prince! I am doing this to guide you!”
At this point, Prince Alfonso couldn't hold back his laughter.
“Ha, ha, hahahahahahahaha!”
This time, the contagiousness of laughter conquered everyone in the room. It was impossible to hear without laughing that the Duchess, who was publicly known to all in the court as a woman who was impure before the King's mistress and the gods, was 'guiding' the Prince, who was renowned as a hero of the holy war.
The groom, the guard captain, and the guards all laughed heartily. Even the guard knight couldn't hold back his laughter. Even Rubina's maid Deborah had to bite her lip to keep herself from bursting out in laughter. The only one who kept a straight face was Rubina herself.
“Who is guiding whom?”
Prince Alfonso looked at the trembling Duchess Rubina with a pitiful and pitiful look.
“Rubina Tullia. Someone who can only cry.”
"You!"
Duchess Rubina raised her voice, but Prince Alfonso had no intention of giving up the floor.
“It was brave of you to come up with the excuse of Ippolito de Mare with that small head of yours.”
The Prince's voice rose a notch. Suddenly, Duchess Rubina felt a sense of pressure and took a step back without realizing it.
“Ippolito de Mare is no longer a member of the de Mare family. When you announced his expulsion from the family, no one raised an objection, and now you are demanding responsibility from the de Mare family?!”
As the voice grew louder, even the guards lowered their heads. They thought that their helmets would protect them from the gaze of others, but unfortunately, their helmets and armors clashed against their necks, making a rattling sound. Now that it was clear that the guards could not help Rubina, Prince Alfonso growled at Duchess Rubina.
“No matter what excuses you come up with here today, I’m going to the ball and my partner is going with me.”
Rubina, who never gives up, shouted angrily.
“Whoever wants to go! You can never go!”
The Prince looked down at the Duchess coldly.
“If you want to stop me, you’ll have to be that good knight to stop me.”
The Prince looked around. As soon as his gaze met, two guardsmen began to make a clanking sound in sequence. It was a sound that made his legs tingle, and he backed away.
Alfonso glared at them without saying a word, as if he could blow away two heavily armed knights with the blunt sword at his waist at any moment.
The first one to escape was the knight on the right.
'I, I am not the Duchess's escort!'
His job was to keep order within the palace. His job was to patrol the palace to prevent fights. It was not part of his job to confront the royal family with a sword and become a part of the fight. If one side ran away, the other side would be helpless. There was no way he could fight an opponent that two people couldn't defeat alone.
“Ugh!”
As the second knight slipped away, Duchess Rubina realized that everything was wrong. But she couldn't just let it go like this. She climbed up and shouted as she took the medicine.
“Prince, you might want to distance yourself from that woman!”
Duchess Rubina's ferocious demeanor made even her closest maids step back from her. She screamed.
“I did all this today for you, Prince!”
A mocking expression appeared on Alfonso's face. He didn't ask Rubina for details. But Rubina shouted as if she was going to slap him in the ear that wasn't listening.
“I worked hard to establish the face of the Etruscan kingdom out of consideration for you, Prince Alfonso, and you ruined it all!”
The veins on the nape of the Duchess' neck stood out as she screamed.
“If our country gets smeared in the face, it will be all your fault!”
Alfonso, who had not been listening, finally looked closely at Rubina, who was screaming at the words, "If you tarnish the face of the country, it's all your fault."
“...Rubina.”
'You weren't just trying to press the button?'
Duchess Rubina was officially the King's collateral relative, while Prince Alfonso was the King's only direct descendant. As he was not the Crown Prince, he did not have the Crown Prince's ceremonial rank or the right to automatically assume the regency in the event of the King's death. However, Alfonso was an only son, and an only son with military power. Time was on his side. No one could push him aside, either in power or in name.
Of course, it was still Leo III's time, and no one could win the pillow fight. But it was an open secret that Duchess Rubina had fallen out of favor and was in a different bed with Leo III.
'Or maybe there is something else you believe in?'
However, no matter how much Ariadne racked her brain, it did not seem like there would be any new recourse for Rubina or the Duchess. There was no way Duke Cesare could suddenly become trustworthy enough to stand up to Prince Alfonso, and there was no way Leo III would be in love with her. Ariadne was perplexed.
'Seriously, are you trying to fight the legitimate Prince here?'
Alfonso also doubted his eyes when he saw that Duchess Rubina had blocked his path.
He opened the carriage door and jumped out.
"Ha!"
It was only a matter of time before the Prince rushed right up to Duchess Rubina.
“Madame de Como.”
Rubina gasped as the towering shadow of the young Prince loomed over her in the blink of an eye. With two knights on either side and two maids behind her, the Duchess herself carried a peacock feather fan, adding whalebone to the collar and hem of her dress to enhance her silhouette and majesty, but it was no use.
The party, including two knights in full plate mail, was woefully overwhelmed by the overwhelming presence of Prince Alfonso, who was wearing only ball attire.
“Prince...!”
Rubina took a half step back in embarrassment. Her entire group backed away together, hesitating to keep their distance from their master.
“Wow, the Prince should be polite!”
She hated being approached, and she couldn't stand it even more when people called her 'Madame de Como'.
“And titles!”
She regained her composure and added angrily, but Prince Alfonso snickered.
“Rubina Tullia.”
Duchess Rubina's face turned pale and then red. That was the name she had before she became Countess de Como.
An extremely ordinary name that has no noble title or the scent of a local leader.
No, it would have been better if Tullia had just been an ordinary surname. 'Tullia' was not a surname, but a woman's name. And it was a very fancy name, one that no ordinary woman would use as her own name. A commoner woman who worked in the entertainment industry would give birth to a child whose father she did not know, and would use the mother's name as her daughter's surname.
It was an insult. Not just an insult, but a humiliating insult that was close to the essence of a fight. Duchess Rubina spat it out, trembling.
“...Prince Alfonso. How dare you.”
“How dare you?”
Alfonso laughed without a word.
“Dare. That’s what I have to say.”
Prince Alfonso walked towards Duchess Rubina with steady steps. The Duchess, possessed by evil, refused to be pushed away and stood her ground despite the knights' and maids' attempts to dissuade her.
Thanks to that, the Prince was able to get right up to the old Duchess's nose. He got so close that it was almost blasphemous, and looked straight at Duchess Rubina and said:
“I have shown you the utmost respect so far.”
He spat it out as if he were chewing.
“As my father’s woman.”
Prince Alfonso's sight brought into view a middle-aged woman with red hair. Her hair, once as fiery red as her son's, was now streaked with gray.
The aged, faded ugliness was less threatening and more repulsive than he remembered. Why on earth did his mother have such a hard time with such a woman?
“After my mother passed away, you really didn’t know your place.”
“What? Watch your words, Prince!”
Prince Alfonso didn't even blink at Duchess Rubina's protests. He wasn't listening to her in the first place.
“Let’s take that as the position you hold as the King’s woman. But do you really think you are the Queen of this country?”
“Alfonso de Carlo!”
It was impolite to refer to the royal family of a country by their surname. The monarchs and lineage of the royal family of a country were usually called by the territory they ruled, not by their family name, as in Philip of Gallico.
Naming a land was a symbol of authority, meaning that there was only one person on that land who could be referred to by that name. However, Prince Alfonso did not care and just smiled.
“I am Alfonso de Carlo. What are you?”
At the mention of 'you', Duchess Rubina's face turned bright red like a tomato about to explode.
“Watch your tongue, Prince!”
Alfonso thought that this courtly game was too childish. Those who rotted away in San Carlo, immersed in luxurious comfort, did not know what was truly important. Authority was won with blood, sweat, victory, and sacrifice, not with such ridiculous titles.
Duchess Rubina trembled and retorted, unable to imagine what the Prince was thinking.
“I am Rubina de Carlo, the sister-in-law of His Majesty the Holy King Leo III!”
Alfonso laughed.
“Ha, hahahaha.”
This laughter was contagious. Ariadne also laughed along, and the guards and the guards who were huddled in the corner also couldn't stop their laughter. Just before the laughter spread to the guards, Rubina shouted.
“How rude!!!”
The knights came to their senses, and the guards straightened their posture in surprise.
“I am the mistress of this palace! After Her Majesty the Queen passed away.”
Duchess Rubina's eyes, which had been glaring like those of a victor, looked Prince Alfonso up and down with a spiteful expression. Alfonso's face hardened at the mention of his dead mother.
“His Majesty the King personally entrusted me with the seal ring of this palace.”
Duchess Rubina held up her right hand in the air. There was a thick gold ring set with rubies and emeralds on her index finger. She stroked it with her thumb proudly.
The palace seal ring was a ring owned by the person who ruled the palace. It was a separate ring from the Queen's seal, which was used to announce diplomatic documents or the Queen's edicts to the general public, but it was considered a ring that displayed the Queen's dignity as it was worn by the Queens of the time from generation to generation. The receipt and disbursement of the palace budget was made only with the seal of the ring, and those within the palace had to show obedience to the seal ring.
Alfonso's eyes narrowed as he stared at the ring.
'If things were to go according to plan, that ring would belong to Ariadne.'
His wife, Princess Ariadne, Rubina Tullia, was originally only Leo III's mistress and was not a member of the royal family.
Ariadne de Mare was his sworn wife before the gods, his true Princess, and the only female direct royal of this royal family.
Duchess Rubina misinterpreted the Prince's persistent gaze as mere jealousy of the palace's signet ring. She licked her lips and relished her victory.
“Not only that? I am the eldest and most mature of the women in this royal household, and it is my responsibility to properly guide the young ones of the royal household!”
Just before this Thanksgiving Ball, Leo III had casually asked Prince Alfonso, "Would you consider attending this ball without a partner?"
Alfonso flatly ignored the offer, as he considered it a dirty trick from Leo III, who had a history of lusting after Ariadne.
But in Duchess Rubina's view, Prince Alfonso should have listened to Leo III's advice. She glared at Prince Alfonso, who, in her opinion, was in charge of one of the 'young ones'.
“Prince! I am doing this to guide you!”
At this point, Prince Alfonso couldn't hold back his laughter.
“Ha, ha, hahahahahahahaha!”
This time, the contagiousness of laughter conquered everyone in the room. It was impossible to hear without laughing that the Duchess, who was publicly known to all in the court as a woman who was impure before the King's mistress and the gods, was 'guiding' the Prince, who was renowned as a hero of the holy war.
The groom, the guard captain, and the guards all laughed heartily. Even the guard knight couldn't hold back his laughter. Even Rubina's maid Deborah had to bite her lip to keep herself from bursting out in laughter. The only one who kept a straight face was Rubina herself.
“Who is guiding whom?”
Prince Alfonso looked at the trembling Duchess Rubina with a pitiful and pitiful look.
“Rubina Tullia. Someone who can only cry.”
"You!"
Duchess Rubina raised her voice, but Prince Alfonso had no intention of giving up the floor.
“It was brave of you to come up with the excuse of Ippolito de Mare with that small head of yours.”
The Prince's voice rose a notch. Suddenly, Duchess Rubina felt a sense of pressure and took a step back without realizing it.
“Ippolito de Mare is no longer a member of the de Mare family. When you announced his expulsion from the family, no one raised an objection, and now you are demanding responsibility from the de Mare family?!”
As the voice grew louder, even the guards lowered their heads. They thought that their helmets would protect them from the gaze of others, but unfortunately, their helmets and armors clashed against their necks, making a rattling sound. Now that it was clear that the guards could not help Rubina, Prince Alfonso growled at Duchess Rubina.
“No matter what excuses you come up with here today, I’m going to the ball and my partner is going with me.”
Rubina, who never gives up, shouted angrily.
“Whoever wants to go! You can never go!”
The Prince looked down at the Duchess coldly.
“If you want to stop me, you’ll have to be that good knight to stop me.”
The Prince looked around. As soon as his gaze met, two guardsmen began to make a clanking sound in sequence. It was a sound that made his legs tingle, and he backed away.
Alfonso glared at them without saying a word, as if he could blow away two heavily armed knights with the blunt sword at his waist at any moment.
The first one to escape was the knight on the right.
'I, I am not the Duchess's escort!'
His job was to keep order within the palace. His job was to patrol the palace to prevent fights. It was not part of his job to confront the royal family with a sword and become a part of the fight. If one side ran away, the other side would be helpless. There was no way he could fight an opponent that two people couldn't defeat alone.
“Ugh!”
As the second knight slipped away, Duchess Rubina realized that everything was wrong. But she couldn't just let it go like this. She climbed up and shouted as she took the medicine.
“Prince, you might want to distance yourself from that woman!”
Duchess Rubina's ferocious demeanor made even her closest maids step back from her. She screamed.
“I did all this today for you, Prince!”
A mocking expression appeared on Alfonso's face. He didn't ask Rubina for details. But Rubina shouted as if she was going to slap him in the ear that wasn't listening.
“I worked hard to establish the face of the Etruscan kingdom out of consideration for you, Prince Alfonso, and you ruined it all!”
The veins on the nape of the Duchess' neck stood out as she screamed.
“If our country gets smeared in the face, it will be all your fault!”
Alfonso, who had not been listening, finally looked closely at Rubina, who was screaming at the words, "If you tarnish the face of the country, it's all your fault."
“...Rubina.”
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