Chapter 560 - Useless Guy

<Episode 560> Useless Guy

If Julia Helena were to marry Cesare, she would at least be able to live with the man she wanted for the rest of her life.

In Rubina's eyes, the truly unfortunate one was herself, destined to serve a capricious man like Leo III for the rest of her life, only to be cast aside in her old age

"You've seen how high society has been lately, haven't you?"

Her son remained silent. She was furious.

"That cheeky Isabella, she really turned Mom into an old hag in the back room!"

Rubina poured out how sorrowful, sad, and resentful she was, and why she did not deserve such treatment. She also did not leave out the usual line for times like this: 'Do you know how much I raised you?'

Cesare was already starting to feel suffocated and breathless.

"The other day, when Mom hosted a breakfast meeting, not a single person showed up, saying everyone was going to Countess Contarini's gathering!"

Cesare thought, 'Just how badly must she have treated the people around her?'

He was somewhat cynical, but it was a huge mistake to view this as him humorously distancing himself.

What he was doing now was merely a momentary distraction to avoid panicking. For his mother was, above all, relentless, Rubina had no intention of letting Cesare go. 

She had appeared before her son like a knight on a white horse and begged him to save her. In fact, there is an element of coincidence in Sleeping Beauty being rescued by a Prince on a white horse. 

All conditions had to align; he happened to be passing by, the Princess was exceptionally beautiful, and they were of equal standing, or the Princess came from a more distinguished family. 

In other words, a Princess could not simply demand salvation from just any Prince like a debt collector. However, it was inevitable that the son had to save his mother. 

Her life, hardships, and toil were infused into her son. 

This was the price Cesare naturally owed Rubina for giving birth to him and raising him. At least, that was what his mother insisted...

"It has been a long time since His Majesty sought me out, and the Marquis Guatieri, who lent me this house, is also trying to sever ties with me!"

It was a blatant lie, but ironically, it was a more complete truth than anything Rubina said today.

"At this rate, we're going to be kicked out hand in hand!"

"..."

"You and me, the two of us!"

When Cesare still didn't answer, she scratched once more.

"Can you endure a life barely hanging on on the Pisano estate?!"

In Cesare's opinion, it wasn't a bad option. It would be stifling. It would be boring. His life would be miserable every single day. 

But it was the same in San Carlo. 

Rubina did not give up, even as she watched her son remain unmoved. She knew very well what kind of provocation worked best on her son

"Then, when Prince Alfonso ascends the throne."

At these words, Cesare wavered for just a brief moment. Rubina did not miss that opportunity.

"He will not forgive us and will try to kill us."

Cesare found himself in a checkmate situation. 

To assert his desire, that is, to remain unmarried and continue living as he is now, he was driven into a position where he had to preach about the virtues and mercy of Alfonso de Carlo, the man he hated most in the world. 

Rubina narrowed her eyes and glared at Cesare, who was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

"Don't you dare say a word to me that Alfonso will show us lenience."

She hadn't said it, thinking she would witness the precious scene of Cesare defending Alfonso.

She had simply picked out the most impactful remark she could make. She was a woman who could say anything to her son.

"I tormented his mother my whole life. How much the Little Prince must have suffered from his mother's lamentations?"

Rubina also knew what she had done.

"I don't know about anything else, but that bastard's mother's dying wish must be to tear me to shreds and kill me."

However, Rubina ultimately failed to understand Queen Marguerite. 

Thus, her commentary deviated from the truth and ended up as a clumsy echo ringing somewhere in the void. Yet, Rubina herself was unaware of her own error

"Besides, we have come too far to ask for forgiveness."

She declared confidently

"While the Prince was away at Yesak, you became the Commander in Chief of the Etruscan Kingdom. That means you are a big shot."

Cesare answered with a bewildered expression, dumbfounded.

"It's been ages since that position was given up."

He saved Ariadne from her fate of becoming his father's second wife, only to be abandoned by her. No, she was taken from him. 

Cesare believed that Leo III would never forget the humiliation of that day. He could not understand either his mother's confidence or her obsession with the throne.

"Fame is eternal! Back then, you became the Commander-in-Chief who saved the kingdom by defeating the Montpellier Heavy Knights of the Kingdom of Gallico!"

Rubina screamed at the top of her lungs.

"It was the emergence of a new leader who filled, like a comet, the void left by the Prince who abandoned the aging King and the country to go abroad for religious games!"

Whenever this happened, Cesare was momentarily confused, wondering if his mother actually loved him. Unless he was blinded by love, he couldn't have come up with such an interpretation while sober. It was an incredible interpretation made possible only by her being his biological mother.

"Mother, the Montpellier Heavy Knight Division has retreated due to an epidemic."

"This is all the result of the operation you carried out! You scattered plague-infected corpses among the enemy! Do you care whether the weapon used to drive them away was a sword or a disease?"

It was a remark that unintentionally advanced the concept of weapons of war by about five hundred years. If you spout a thousand words of nonsense, you are bound to find a couple of correct ones among them. Cesare corrected his mother.

"That was all Ariadne's doing."

"Who cares?! Nobody knows! They only know that you were the commander-in-chief when the Kingdom of Gallico withdrew!"

A bluish madness shone in Rubina's wine-colored eyes.

"You are a Grand Duke with a claim to the succession to this country, and a national hero who saved the kingdom while the Prince was away! You are now too big a figure for the Prince to simply let live!"

Treason, change of kingship, overthrow of the capital. Several terrifying words crossed his mind. But Cesare countered.

"Don't you know yourself, Mother, that I don't want a single one of those things?

The man, who possessed every title and credentials most suitable for the ringleader of a rebellion, actually had no intention of instigating one.

However, Rubina smiled spitefully. Whether she knew or not didn't matter.

Others could not know Cesare's true intentions. And in fact, it did not matter even if others did. 

Even if the whole world, including Alfonso, knew Cesare's true intentions, it was meaningless.

"Sadly, my son, to others, we are bound by fate."

This was because Rubina's ambition for the throne was evident everywhere. As long as Rubina was alive and exerted influence over her son, Grand Duke Cesare would challenge for supreme power.

"And let's be honest. Will Alfonso forgive you?"

For the first time in a very long while, a rebellious spark flew in Cesare's eyes. Alfonso and forgiveness. It was a combination of two words he detested terribly.

"What is there to forgive or not forgive?"

He swore to God that he had never prepared for treason. He might have pondered it for a moment, but it was no different from the childhood fantasy of wishing his mother were Queen Marguerite instead of Rubina. 

He had never raised a private army, formed his own faction, or stockpiled strategic weapons and supplies. He had never disparaged him to Leo III behind Alfonso's back, nor had he ever gathered opinions that the Prince was unfit to be the heir. 

Yet, Rubina's unpleasant laughter refused to leave her eyes.

"I thought my son was just stupid, but he has no conscience either."

Rubina took a refreshing step toward Cesare. 

She could not walk quickly on the narrow path, dodging stones, gravel, and branches. She stumbled after misstepping on a rather large stone.

However, her piercing gaze remained unwavering, fixed menacingly on her son's face.

"Think carefully. You make excuses that you didn't want anything. But among the things you wanted to die for, there is one that the Prince cannot give up."

Rubina stood on tiptoe and whispered into the ear of Cesare, who had now grown much taller than her.

"Ariadne de Carlo."

Cesare clutched his chest involuntarily as a stabbing pain shot through his heart. Rubina must have called Ariana by her husband's surname just to torment her son. 

However, while de Carlo was Alfonso's surname, it was also Cesare's.

Suddenly, a lump formed in his throat, a perfect image of everything in its place flashed through his mind for a moment before vanishing like a mirage.

Ariadne de Carlo. She who would have sat beside him, resting her head on his shoulder as if she were happy, brightening his days with her characteristic smile. 

She who would have become his legal wife and walked the journey toward the end of his life forever with him.

"Alfonso knows the way you look at that woman."

Rubina whispered quickly with conviction.

"I may not know politics, but I know men very well. Alfonso won't let you live."

Cesare took a deep breath. What color hair would the child born to a red-haired father and a black-haired mother have? 

His subconscious chose reddish-brown. It was red hair that was close to black, about two shades darker than his own red hair. 

A child with dark reddish-brown hair giggled and vanished along with the illusion.

"...No matter what Mother says."

As the sound of the child's laughter faded, he slowly spat out one word after another.

"I will not touch Princess Manchike."

It was obvious what his mother was plotting. Marquis Manchike did not want the Princess to marry Cesare. 

Rubina intended to have Cesare assault her before Marquis Sinadenos could spirit her away. After all, having lost her virginity, Princess Manchike could no longer function as a proper commodity in the marriage market. 

Rubina retorted fiercely

"Even if you can clearly see the future where Alfonso kills you?"

Cesare weighed the future his mother so desperately desired. The Grand Duke Cesare married Princess Julia Helena of Manchike.

The Grand Duke would win the War of Succession and behead the defeated Prince Alfonso. For Cesare to win, the contributions of his wife's family were essential. Contributors are bound to receive their due share. 

After the victory, a large portion would have to be set aside for his wife's family. It was obvious he would become a half-king. 

Princess Julia Helena had a feisty temperament at first glance. As a victorious general, he would not be granted the freedom to take in Ariadne, the widow of a defeated commander. 

A future where Alfonso and Ariadne behead him, or conversely, a future where he cuts off Ariadne's head and offers it to Julia Helena. 

Cesare smiled faintly.

"Mother, to me, they are all the same."

No, actually, the choices you gave me are all shit. Every single choice you've given me my whole life has been like that. 

I'd rather die than kill Arı with my own hands and offer her to another woman.

Rubina spat this out through her teeth as she faced her son's stubbornness.

"You useless bastard."

It seemed as though this sound was now becoming ingrained in him. Cesare took a large step back. The distance between him and Rubina widened to the point where their bodies could not touch. 

He changed direction, leaving his mother behind, and began walking back the way he had come up. 

It was the first time in his life that he had chosen a direction of his own accord.

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