<Episode 547> Birds Hear Day Words, Mice Hear Night Words
There was no time to worry about the promised audience or anything else. Baroness Giordini rushed over and told exactly what she had seen to the Marchioness de Ceppinelli, the very person who had sent her to Isabella.
"I mean, I told you, Count Di Pascal actually knelt before Countess Contarini and begged her!"
"What?"
The Marchioness de Ceppinelli was so shocked that she grabbed Baroness Giordini by the shoulder, shook her, and pressed her for answers.
"Anetta, tell me in detail. Hurry!"
"Oh my, my head is throbbing, Marchioness!"
Even physically thrashing Baroness Giordini around yielded no further information. That was because that was all she had seen. Nevertheless, the Baroness did her best to describe the situation at the time.
"He cried while shouting, "Isabella!"
"Good heavens."
"Countess Contarini left alone, leaving the weeping Count Di Pascal behind, and the maid supported the Count and tidied up the room."
The Marchioness de Ceppineli's head was spinning.
"Were the two of you in a relationship?!"
She didn't even consider the sound hypothesis that Isabella and Andrea might have had feelings for each other when they were both single.
'Why did she reject Count Di Pascal? Is it because she's having an affair with a Moor...?'
She could not even imagine that Isabella had rejected her former lover to maintain her fidelity to Leo III. How could that be?
This flight of impure thoughts was half due to the Marchioness being steeped in high society, and half due to the reputation of Isabella as a great woman. The Marchioness Cappinelli earnestly pleaded with Baroness Giordini for now.
"What you saw is a secret, absolutely a secret!"
"Ah, yes. Absolutely!"
"Go back right away".
Marchioness Ceppinelli wanted to hurry and send Baroness Giordini out of the winter palace.
"No, leave Taranto entirely for the time being and return to your own territory. Understand?"
"What? You mean I have to go all the way around?"
"You should have just followed orders without a word! Prostrate yourself in the estate and don't show up until you are called!"
It was an absurd request, but the Marchioness Ceppinelli was the wife of her husband's client. Baroness Giordini repeatedly apologized for offending the Marchioness and left the former Grand Duchess Rubina's quarters. Left alone, the Marchioness Ceppinelli bit her lip and pondered.
"What should I do about this?"
It was information she held alone. If it were revealed that Countess Contarini, the King's official mistress, was having an affair with Count Di Pascal, the fallout would be enormous
"It is obvious that Countess Contarini will fly away."
The King's mistress did not strictly bear the obligation of fidelity to the King. It is self-evident that such a clause was absent from the contract, given that he only took married women as mistresses.
Since children born to mistresses had no right of succession and were officially recorded as the children of her husband, in principle, the royal family had no right to interfere with who the mistress slept with.
However, Isabella was a 'chastity' mistress. Regardless of what she had done with her husband, Count Ottavio Contarini, she was, at least, in her relationship with the King. If it were revealed that the King's official mistress, with whom he had not slept, was having an affair with a young and handsome Count who was not even her original husband, Leo III would not spare her life, no matter what excuse she came up with.
"Count Di Pascal could be executed, too."
It was none of Isabella's business whether she lived or died, but Count Andrea Di Pascal was in a difficult position. He was also on very close terms with her husband, the Marquis of Ceppinelli.
Although there was a slight age difference, their estates were close enough that the three of them, including the Marquis of Guatieri, would hang out together, go hunting, conduct business together, and share the profits. Trying to get rid of Di Pascal could potentially entangle her husband as well.
The Marchioness assessed that while there was not a shred of romance left in their relationship, the couple shared the family's wealth and status and had children together. It was a jackpot piece of information that could put her husband in danger, and it was too wasteful to just hand it over to Rubina without any promise of reciprocity.
"Try making a deal with Countess Contarini herself... You want me to accept that I'll keep quiet?"
Not long ago, the Marchioness de Ceppinelli had asked to attend a breakfast meeting with the Countess de Contarini, but was declined. Although the Marchioness pretended to be unaffected, her pride was deeply wounded. Being invited to a social gathering was the very definition of a noblewoman's existence. The very fact that there was a gathering that rejected her was a disgrace to the family.
"But, is switching now a wise move?"
Rubina knew better than anyone that she was suddenly being treated like a kite with its string cut in high society. However, high society was a place where who was successful was constantly shifting, just as trends changed with the seasons.
"Will Countess Contarini last long?"
After all, the old was better than the new. Rubina was a woman who had survived for nearly 30 years in high society-no, it was worse than that, where tempests blew from time to time, and amidst the fickle nature of Leo III, who tossed and turned like boiling lava, even if she were faltering briefly now. Moreover, she was meticulous in managing her surroundings. While Isabella was dragging out scandals like this less than half a year after becoming the King's official mistress, the former Grand Duchess Rubina had at least never been the subject of gossip regarding men.
"And it's not like the former Grand Duchess doesn't have any cards left."
Marchioness Ceppinelli, who assisted the late Grand Duchess Rubina right by her side, knew very well that the marriage between Grand Duke Cesare and Princess Julia Helena was not entirely out of the question, as others said.
"Wait, let's see the trend."
She made up her mind. It would not be too late to decide whether to leave Rubina and switch allegiances after seeing if Grand Duke Cesare's management of the Principality of Manchike fell through completely. If Rubiria's son succeeded in marrying the monarch's daughter, she would then reveal this incident to completely destroy Isabella and rise to the ranks of a founding father of the new Rubina era. However, her mouth was itching to speak.
"I want to speak. I want to speak."
She slapped her lips with two fingers.
"You damn mouth! You damn snout!"
Sending Baroness Giordini out to the central region was a very good move. If even she is itching to speak, how could the Baroness possibly hold back?
Please, let's keep our mouths shut. Stay closed, stay closed well, my mouth.
***
On the day Isabella met with Count Di Pascal, the order given by Leo III, who remained in the office, to Lord Delpiano was not merely to bring Isabella's dress by cutting in line.
"Yes?"
"Isn't that genius?"
That very day, he conveyed to Lord Delpiano the idea Isabella had tipped him off to dig up dead laws and collect fines. Isabella proposed the idea, Leo III authorized it, and the concrete implementation had to be carried out by the eternally suffering Lord Delpiano. He had endured the ordeal of opening the old code of laws, selecting and sorting through those that were likely to provoke the least resistance, and implementing them on a trial basis.
"Your Majesty, 120 ducats have been raised from Fort Mancini and 50 ducats from Fort Jeronimo as fines."
Upon hearing the amount, Leo III could not hide his beaming smile.
"That's the amount collected over the past week, right?"
"Yes, Your Majesty."
The King held the power to prosecute and judge in the royal territories, including the capital, San Carlo. However, the various domains ruled by feudal lords enjoyed autonomy. This was also true in the case of trials. Therefore, Leo III sought the public roads to which his commands extended. The paved roads built throughout the country during the Ratan Empire were under the direct control of the King.
"On what charge was it confiscated?"
Lord Delpiano's expression contorted mercilessly.
"I humbly beg your pardon, but at Mancini Fort, a fine was levied on a non-noble for wearing satin clothes, and at Geronimo Fort, a fine was levied on a passing shepherd for the crime of riding a goat, Your Majesty."
"Hahaha, hahahaha!"
Leo III smiled with great satisfaction
"Our ancestors were truly wise; they came up with all sorts of bizarre charges."
Lord Delpianosa could only bow his head. Truly, if Leo III had personally seen the expression on his face when he issued that order to his subordinate, he would never have been able to force through such an act. There was a relay station approximately every ten miglios along the public roads. These facilities were built to provide fodder for horses and simple food and drink when paved roads passed through areas without villages. Because they were managed by five or six soldiers in shifts, they were called by grandiose names like "Fortress," but in reality, they were similar to inns. It was a chore to send someone to each of those inns individually to issue the order to "collect fines from those riding goats."
"Right, has anything else come in from elsewhere?"
"A messenger is still on his way down from a place far to the north, so I think we will only know once we receive it."
What Leo III wanted to know was the total sum. Lord Delpiano cautiously handed over the estimate. Leo III was not the type of superior to punish his subordinates later for having a wrong prediction. However, this was not because he was generous, but purely because he could not remember the numbers he had heard.
"The frequency of getting caught up there is likely similar, so if you add it all up, wouldn't it easily amount to 1,000 ducats a month?"
"Hahaha, hahaha!"
Leo III was going crazy wanting to see his lucky charm, Isabella.
"The father was clever, and the daughter is just as smart as him! Rubina, no, Marguerite too! They've never been this ingenious!"
Lord Delpiano, who valued keeping his neck attached to his body above all else and had been holding back his words until then, finally could not hold back and spoke a word.
"Your Majesty, if this policy continues, won't there be a backlash from the people?"
"Backlash?"
Leo III looked at Sir Delpiano with a look that said he was hearing something ridiculous.
"To think that a non-noble would go around wearing satin clothes, this is a law intended to enforce excellent customs that prohibit extravagance! How dare you oppose this?"
It was impossible to understand what the decree prohibiting goat riding was intended to prevent. Neither Lord Delpiano nor Leo III knew. Perhaps even the ancestors who created the law themselves might not have known. However, the current Leo III could defend anything. I mean, cash is coming in!
"These days, even in academia, people claim to be rediscovering the old, excavating and studying the ancient books of the Ratan Empire, no, not content with that, they are even digging up the texts of ancient Philoa. And yet you say you will not follow them simply because they are ancient laws?"
He swung his fist in the air.
"Bring him before me! Let's hear that sophistry he has to say!"
Ten years ago, Leo III was quite menacing when he swung his fist. But now, he looked frail, as if his bones might break. His slender forearms resembled those of a chicken suffering from osteoporosis.
Lord Delpiano kept his mouth shut for the time being, partly out of pity.
"Send this month's worth of gold coins to the Orte Forest. Oh, and what happened to Isabella's dress?"
"I have conveyed His Majesty's order to complete it as soon as possible."
"No, not that! I'm asking if it came finished!"
Lord Delpiano, looking astonished at the thought that he had to take care of even that, quickly hid his expression.
"...It would be most accurate to ask Countess Contarini about that."
"That's right, that's a good idea."
This gives him an excuse to speak to Isabella one more time. A wide smile spread across Leo III's face at the thought of seeing Isabella again. Almost simultaneously with Leo III receiving the joyful news from the north, Prince Alfonso met a troublesome envoy from the north.
"An envoy dispatched from Trevero sends his greetings to His Highness Prince Alfonso of the Etruscan Kingdom!"
Two officials dispatched from the Holy See visited San Carlo, carrying a personal letter from the Pope written on antique parchment.
"The Holy City desires the dispatch of troops from the Etruscan Kingdom as soon as possible!"
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