<Episode 561> Sticky Gravity
However, life has inertia, and humans spend their entire lives fighting against that force that returns them to their starting point.
Cesare's seemingly insignificant first step was unbelievably refreshing. He slept soundly that night and felt light enough to fly.
Yet, the bond between parent and child is not severed by a single deliberate act of turning away. This was especially true for Rubina, whose persistence was unrivaled.
For one thing, Rubina was bewildered by Cesare, who had left her behind.
"Th-th-that!"
It was the first time Cesare had rebelled in this manner. Of course, this devoted son, who was like a torch, had often left Rubina behind and gone off alone.
However, those were always situations where he would impulsively run out because he was angry or unable to control his emotions and could no longer bear it.
Today was the first time Cesare had turned around and walked away on his own two feet while not in a state of anger or losing his reason.
Rubina considered catching Cesare and tormenting him, but decided it would be better to leave him alone for now.
She was afraid of what kind of novel resistance Cesare might show in this state she was seeing for the first time, but even if her son refused to cooperate, Rubina could achieve whatever she wanted. It was an inconvenient and roundabout path, but she had no choice but to trust that she would succeed and get it over with.
After all, she was Rubina Tulia, a woman whose willpower and luck went hand in hand.
***
Standed up by her son, Rubina nimbly descended the winding, narrow path, crossed the long plain, and returned to Guatieri's second villa.
Approaching the largest room in the villa without hesitation, she asked Princess Julia Helena if she had time for a brief tea conversation.
"Your Highness, former Grand Duchess!"
The Princess, who had been anxiously waiting, rushed out as if she were flying. She was seething with rage upon hearing that Isabella had canceled the order for her dress.
On top of that, the news that Rubina had gone straight to meet Cesare without even saying goodbye and that the two had left together added fuel to the fire. She was on the verge of exploding.
"How could you treat me so poorly?!"
"Oh my, how could I do such a thing, Princess?"
Rubina warmly comforted Julia Helena with the very tongue that had just been spewing curses at her son.
"I just wanted to take a walk alone with my son for the first time in a while, but I unintentionally ended up being rude to the Princess. I am sorry, I really didn't mean to."
She sat affectionately beside Julia Helena and shared various matters of the Winter Palace society. Things like the current status of the noble families belatedly joining Taranto, or the story that Countess Contarini's Moorish slave was carrying a crescent sword inside the palace.
"Good heavens, utterly insolent...!"
"She's so arrogant."
"Isn't there anyone stopping Countess Contarini?"
Rubina glanced around nervously and wickedly inserted an irrelevant topic.
"I think it was a mistake to assign the Princess to this lodging."
Rubina bowed her head as if feigning despondency.
"If you had stayed at the Winter Palace, you would have become close with the people of the Etruscan Kingdom as well."
It was a way of subtly shifting the blame to Julia Helena for the humiliation she suffered, such as having her dress order canceled, by saying that she was not sociable enough.
"If that had been the case, Countess Contarini wouldn't have attempted such absurd behavior against the Princess."
As soon as the topic of dresses came up, Julia Helena's face turned red. The young Princess failed to realize that the shrewd former Grand Duchess was. Trying to pin the blame for her current predicament on her.
Instead, she shouted back in anger.
"Weren't the Etruscans a rational, civilized nation! In what decent country on earth would they completely cancel someone else's dress for the sake of the King's mistress!"
"Oh, it wasn't always like that. That woman came in and blinded His Majesty, the wise ruler."
Certainly, Rubina never had to cancel Queen Marguerite's dress order. Unlike those who act stuck-up, Rubina Tulia pleased the King even without a dress.
It is always unpleasant to see a younger colleague who takes for granted the benefits one has never enjoyed.
'The enemy of my enemy is my friend.'
Even if she was just someone to use. And thankfully, Princess Julia Helena was fully prepared to gather whatever she had and fight the great evil Countess Contarini.
"How on earth am I supposed to screw that damn woman over!"
Julia Helena was ready to join a gathering where people would pick up shovels and dig gardens right now if it meant she could make friends and defeat Isabella.
"Isn't there another social gathering at the Winter Palace?"
No, it was Isabella, a native of the Etruscan kingdom, rather than herself, who had many friends in high society.
Having made such a rational mistake, Julia Helena wanted to resolve the matter simply, without the need to beat around the bush like at a social gathering.
"Do you want me to call you here and start protesting out of the blue?!"
"Shh, shh, Princess. You're too excited right now."
"You wouldn't be able to fail to show up if I called, right?!"
Rubina thought that Isabella might actually accept Princess Julia Helena's invitation and not show up.
Rubina stroked the Princess's hair, feigning kindness. The Princess flinched and trembled at the thought of an older woman she wasn't even close to touching her hair. This was the emotional distance between them.
"I actually thought that if the Princess didn't have to stay with Countess Contarini, I wouldn't have to see all this mess."
Regardless of the emotional distance Julia Helena displayed physically, Rubina kindly continued to speak only what she wanted to say. There was a reason why the distance wasn't narrowing.
"I never imagined she would go this far."
Of course. The series of events surrounding the dress was not Isabella's doing. It was the work of Leo III, blinded by his greed, and the overly loyal Marchioness de Montefeltro.
Perhaps the person on this earth who most desperately wants that dress never to be completed is Countess Contarini herself.
However, the Princess did not need to know the details. Rubina lowered her voice and whispered.
"A Countess Isabella Contarini must be jealous of the Princess."
"...!"
"Young, pretty, the well-raised daughter of a monarch, inheriting the finest bloodline in the Central Continent..."
Julia Helena was so glad that Rubina understood that she almost cried. Every single word was exactly what Julia Helena had so desperately wanted to hear.
"Besides, Countess Contarini still has feelings for Grand Duke Cesare."
"Yes?
It was the moment Julia Helena's conviction turned into reality. Rubina spoke to the Princess as if stating an obvious fact.
"She wanted to marry Cesare a long time ago, but she failed."
"Ha."
My intuition wasn't wrong. The reason that the blonde woman was scurrying around and keeping me in check in front of Grand Duke Cesare that day was that she genuinely still had romantic feelings for him!
"So, the Princess currently being considered as a marriage partner for Cesare must be a thorn in her side that she hates."
"So!!"
Julia Helena muttered like a machine gun.
"So you're clinging on so pathetically after your engagement broke off, right? Good heavens, if you still had lingering feelings, you shouldn't have at least taken the position of the Grand Duke's father's mistress. What kind of..."
Rubina clapped her hands in agreement.
"That's right. I couldn't have allowed it, even if dirt got in my eyes. She's a woman with no shame and no common sense."
Rubina, having turned off her brain and chiming in on every word Julia Helena spoke, felt as though some words were mixed up.
The Princess had clearly said 'the engagement was broken off'. But for an engagement to be broken off, shouldn't the engagement have to happen in the first place?
Isabella hadn't even come close to getting engaged to Cesare. However, Rubina decided to let it slide, 'Unable to get engaged', and 'the engagement was broken off'.
Well, weren't they similar expressions in that neither the engagement nor the marriage worked out?
"It was terrible. I'm glad I objected."
She did not really have an opportunity to support or oppose Isabella. Before she could even speak, Cesare publicly declared that he would not take responsibility for Isabella, and everything quickly fell apart.
However, to show that she held Julia Helena in high regard, Rubina acted as if she hated Isabella.
"You have no idea how happy I am that a tribute girl came instead of ending up with a woman like that."
Up until now, Rubina had avoided mentioning Cesare's past to the Princess as much as possible.
She was worried that it would tarnish her son's market value. However, it was now a do-or-die situation. In fact, if the Princess had been a sane person calculating the odds, she shouldn't have been sitting at this poker game. A normal person would have gotten up and gone home long ago.
So, Rubina decided to add some spice to this game, where everyone was already slightly out of their minds. She instilled a competitive spirit in Julia Helena, whose hatred for Isabella had reached its peak.
"Let's start step by step, on a small scale."
"Are you suggesting we rally our forces?!"
Rubina answered nonchalantly to the Princess, who had already finished the march of a hundred thousand troops in her mind.
"Ah, no, a seaside picnic."
Former Grand Duchess Rubina smiled, her eyes crinkling. It was certainly a pretty smile, but a sinister aura was lurking within it.
"Go on a seaside picnic with Grand Duke Cesare."
She hurriedly glanced at Irene and added.
"Of course, Viscount Panamere and I will be accompanying you, too."
A fine unmarried lady should not be alone with a stranger in a secluded place without a chaperone. It is a choice between two options: accompany a chaperone even to the restroom, or socialize in a place with many eyes watching.
"If you were to go boating with Grand Duke Cesare, just the two of you. Countess Contarini would lose her mind..."
"I'll do it!"
Julia Helena screamed before Rubina could even finish speaking
***
Of all the innate talents Rubina Tulia possessed, the one her son Cesare did not inherit was undoubtedly her ability to execute.
Striking while the iron is hot, she gathered her son, her prospective daughter-in-law, and the prospective daughter-in-law's attendants who no longer even hid their dissatisfied expressions on the very next day at the coast of Taranto.
"A walk by the winter sea, it's chilly."
Viscount Irene Panamere glared at Rubina. Fortunately, since swimming in the sea was not a common practice in this era, neither the Viscount nor the Princess had escaped the disaster of coming to the winter sea in swimsuits.
However, this 'picnic' was just as bizarre. Strolling along the winter seashore was not a standard recreational activity in any country. This was because it was boring, cold, and there was nothing to do.
"Viscountess Panamere is honest. You can't hide your expression."
Rubina answered with a crooked smile. She did not like that bouncing young, lowly thing, but she could be generous just for today.
"It's a boat ride. We have to see the dolphins."
She led the party to the dock. A sailing ship with an unusually tall mast and hull was standing there, waiting for them.
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