The Prince did not hide his contempt for the Duchess.
“No matter what I do, won’t it be less shameful than having the palace seal ring on your hand?”
Alfonso gestured toward the central aisle, behind Rubina, as if she didn't exist.
And now, in this space and time, Rubina was as good as an invisible person. The two knights of the royal guard who had initially stood aside from the central road where the carriage was going to enter to protect Rubina, as well as the guard captain and ten guards who had initially blocked the carriage’s path, all moved aside to either side in an instant, opening up the way, like the Red Sea parting at Moses’ hand.
Alfonso grabbed the door of his carriage and stepped onto the step.
“Don’t get too worked up, Rubina. The only thing that’s the same color is your hair and your signet ring gem. There’s no need to turn your face red.”
“Prince Alfonso...! How dare you...!”
But Alfonso wasn't listening. He had already boarded the carriage long ago. The carriage's heavy oak door slammed shut.
Boom!
"Let's go!"
The Prince's coachman also whipped the four horses without looking back.
“Hey!”
Hehehee!
Four white horses as white as snow lifted their forelegs into the air and began to run fiercely.
The Prince's carriage carrying the real Princess moved forward briskly, leaving behind the trembling Duchess.
***
30 minutes ago.
Isabella, who faced the same ordeal, had no Prince to save her.
“...Therefore, Countess Contarini cannot enter.”
“What the heck is this nonsense...!”
When Isabella was about to literally taunt the captain, Ottavio stopped her.
“Oh, really?”
It was a very generous and generous expression.
“It is the duty of a noble to obey the laws of the palace. It must be followed.”
Isabella looked back at her husband, her eyes about to pop out.
“Hey, you....”
Ottavio became serious.
“Madam. Are you saying that you will be disloyal to His Majesty the King now?”
It was a surefire formula to wave the loyalty card to His Majesty the King at the palace. Even Isabella was momentarily speechless and had difficulty choosing her words. Taking advantage of the gap, Ottavio made a generous offer to Isabella.
“Will my wife use the carriage?”
“?!”
“The palace is far from here, but I can walk there, but my lady must have a way to get back home.”
If someone had seen just this line, the tone and expression would have been enough to call him a pitiful husband. Ottavio quickly jumped out of the carriage before Isabella could burst out of the lion's mouth. His steps were light and brisk, like a flea leaving its host.
“Yes, that’s it!”
As Count Ottavio Contarini got out of the carriage, the captain and the guards, who had no more hesitation, formed a circle around the Contarini family's carriage.
“I request a turn here. Turn your head and get out immediately!”
Isabella tried to say something more.
“What authority do you have now....”
But the Contarini servant, or, to be precise, a borrowed Bartolini, obeyed the guard's orders faithfully.
“Let’s go, you punk. Let’s go.”
As the carriage started to move, Isabella panicked and ordered her coachman.
“Stop, stop the carriage!”
But Isabella's coachman acted as if he could not hear her. He pulled the bridle of the two-horse carriage he was driving to the right and turned the carriage.
“Hey!”
The coachman quickly cracked his whip while Isabella was still holding onto the window frame and sticking her head out of the carriage.
“Hey!”
Hehehee!
“Ugh!”
The Contarini family's carriage began to run at a tremendous speed, even though Isabella was outside up to her waist. It was in the exact opposite direction from where the Prince's carriage would be running a little later.
***
Bbambap bbambap bbambap pbabababam!
A seven-beat royal fanfare sounded in time with the ceremonial order of Prince Alfonso.
“His Highness Prince Alfonso, bring back Countess Ariadne de Mare!”
The royal official's call to announce the Prince's arrival followed. The overwhelming volume of the fanfare automatically silenced the nobles attending the ball, but that did not stop them from quickly murmuring among themselves.
“Prince Alfonso seems to be sincere to Countess de Mare. He doesn’t care at all that Cardinal de Mare has become a dog.”
“Oh my... so romantic.”
“Countess, if your son were to marry like that, would you allow it?”
“That’s not it.”
Even after the Cardinal fell from power, there was much talk about Prince Alfonso's behavior in openly showing his affection for Ariadne. Some people looked beyond the immediate love affair to the future.
“Do you have any plans for how to handle the succession? It’s a textbook case of a marriage between nobles and commoners, so the Prince’s children only end up becoming Counts.”
“There’s no way there could be such a thing as a blessing. There’s no way to do anything objectively.”
“Originally, men don’t care about what’s going on when they see something. But even if the Prince pushes for it to happen, he’ll probably regret it when he comes to his senses after he turns 40.”
Those who were a little quicker to catch on to the news whispered amongst themselves with darkened faces. There were fewer of them, and they were close to Lord Delpiano and Duchess Rubina.
“...Today... It’ll be okay...”
“...Ignore His Majesty’s words...”
“You knew that and did that...?”
The gossip and commotion stopped with the appearance of the man the ladies loved.
“Oh, look over there. It’s Duke Cesare!”
Cesare, who was not given royal fanfare due to the order of precedence, entered the party hall in his usual free-spirited manner. Although he was clearly dressed up, he looked decadent as if a screw was missing somewhere. Cesare walked so quickly that the palace official called his name a moment late.
“His Excellency Duke Cesare de Carlo of the Pisano Estate!”
There was no one next to Cesare, who appeared with such a commotion.
“I guess Duke Cesare came without a partner!”
“If it were like before, he would have changed women every other day. You really have to live a long life to see this.”
The Count Cesare of the past, who used to chat sociably with women like a butterfly fluttering through a field of flowers, was no more.
“Recently, he's been taking care of Duchess Rubina as a filial son.”
“It was always Duke Cesare who brought along women who did not fit his status, but today Prince Alfonso took on that role.”
“Hahaha! I guess there’s always one troublemaker in the house. When one grows up, the other one starts causing trouble.”
After returning to the capital from his seclusion in his fiefdom, Cesare, the Duke of Pisano, rarely attended social events, and when he did, he would usually just sit on a sofa in the corner with a shit-eating face and leave.
Today, too, he found a chair in the corner and sat down on it. He probably intended to just greet Leo III and Duchess Rubina when they entered and then leave.
Fortunately for Cesare, Leo III and Duchess Rubina entered the ball quickly, amid the King's 21-beat royal fanfare and after a lengthy procession of courtly names.
“Hail, His Majesty Leo III, worthy monarch by the gods, ruler of the Etruscan peninsula and its islands, defender of the faith, son of the Etruscan kingdom!”
Everyone in the ballroom stood up and bowed to the King. The men got up on one knee and the other on the floor, and the women bowed both knees. It was a spectacular sight to see over a thousand people bowing their heads at the same time.
Leo III looked around with a faint smile on his lips. It was an overwhelming sight, but one becomes accustomed to it after seeing it every day.
'Count Manfredi... Count Morosini...'
The King glanced around to see who had come and who had not. Among those who paid their respects to the King were the heir to the throne, the young Prince, and his beautiful partner.
Leo III grimaced as soon as he saw the two.
Duchess Rubina was impeccable in appearance and had a perfect smile. It had been less than an hour since her mishap with Prince Alfonso, but her bearing was perfect.
It was only Duke Cesare who realized that the Duchess was in a bad mood because she had put on a mask so well. She smiled like a picture next to Leo III. This is the kind of thing that a government needs to do to remain in power for a long time.
And the Duchess of Rubina could smile like this not simply out of patience or to please Leo III: she knew something that Prince Alfonso did not.
'She'll be coming in soon.'
When ‘she’ shows up, he's not going to be happy to see another woman next to the prince, who's supposed to be his partner.
If they complain that the prince is rude, Leo III will be furious with Prince Alfonso for ignoring his own advice to come alone and attending the ball with Countess Ariadne de Mare as his partner.
Rubina just had to shed some tears and say that she did her best to stop the Prince. This was a flower party.
As expected, a nine-beat fanfare suddenly rang out.
As expected, a nine-beat fanfare suddenly rang out.
Bambabam bambababam, bambam, bam!
This is the entrance song when a foreign guest arrives. Since it was the first time anyone had heard that a foreign guest was coming, the nobles looked around to find someone who knew the story.
The only people in this space with calm expressions were Leo III, Duchess Rubina, and their followers, including Lord Delpiano.
Soon, the names of the court officials were called out one after another.
“Her Highness Princess Julia Helena of Manchike enters!”
A young lady with a small stature and round face entered the banquet hall quietly.
Julia Helena stood out. Her olive skin and brown hair were exotic, as befitting a southerner, and her green-and-brown eyes reminded them of a fine-bred cat.
Unable to bear the cold wind coming down from the Prinoy Mountains, she went straight to Leo III, escorted by her courtiers, wearing a raccoon fur coat even indoors. Then she bowed perfectly to him.
“Sun of the Etruscan kingdom, Julia Helena Palaiologina Sinadena brings you the goodwill of the Manchike realm.”
The young Princess greeted the King in her pure Etruscan language, without even an accent. All the nobles of San Carlo who were present stared at their new idol, holding their breath.
Someone muttered.
"Ah."
This was the event that Duchess Rubina had been waiting for.
This is the entrance song when a foreign guest arrives. Since it was the first time anyone had heard that a foreign guest was coming, the nobles looked around to find someone who knew the story.
The only people in this space with calm expressions were Leo III, Duchess Rubina, and their followers, including Lord Delpiano.
Soon, the names of the court officials were called out one after another.
“Her Highness Princess Julia Helena of Manchike enters!”
A young lady with a small stature and round face entered the banquet hall quietly.
Julia Helena stood out. Her olive skin and brown hair were exotic, as befitting a southerner, and her green-and-brown eyes reminded them of a fine-bred cat.
Unable to bear the cold wind coming down from the Prinoy Mountains, she went straight to Leo III, escorted by her courtiers, wearing a raccoon fur coat even indoors. Then she bowed perfectly to him.
“Sun of the Etruscan kingdom, Julia Helena Palaiologina Sinadena brings you the goodwill of the Manchike realm.”
The young Princess greeted the King in her pure Etruscan language, without even an accent. All the nobles of San Carlo who were present stared at their new idol, holding their breath.
Someone muttered.
"Ah."
This was the event that Duchess Rubina had been waiting for.
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