Sister I am the Queen in This Life [Novel] Chapter 138

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Translator: Harry Potta
Chapter: 138
Chapter Title: An Unexpected Hand
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Lady Carla answered, emboldened.

“It is a good plan, is it not, Your Majesty?”

Her logic was, in fact, quite sound.

“Now that Duke Mireille is dead, the Kingdom of Gallico will not stand idly by. It will be the same even if we name someone other than Prince Alfonso as the culprit. If we cannot provide a justifiable reason for killing Duke Mireille, this will inevitably escalate into a diplomatic incident!”

“Hmm.”

“We must let the world know what wicked deed Duke Mireille was attempting. If the victim is a reputable young lady from a good family like Lady de Mare, public opinion will surely turn to condemn the Kingdom of Gallico and Duke Mireille.”

Queen Marguerite kept her eyes closed.

“There is no time, Your Majesty.”

It was then.

“Carla.”

Alfonso's voice, laced with anger, cut in.

“Do you not realize what consequences your proposal will bring?”

Alfonso's clenched fist was trembling.

“Especially you, who is so well-versed in the ways of high society?”

Unable to hide his fury, Alfonso continued.

“That is tantamount to using Ariadne as a shield. All of San Carlo, no, the entire central continent all the way to Montpellier, will tear her to shreds, while we hide behind her reputation!”

Lady Carla looked Alfonso straight in the eye.

“Did I suggest we announce that Duke Mireille was the most shameless scoundrel in the world?”

She glanced at Ariadne.

“I am saying we should announce only the facts as they are.”

Lady Carla exclaimed triumphantly to Prince Alfonso, casting a meaningful sidelong glance at Ariadne, whose shoulder, exposed through her torn partlet, was covered only by the prince's cape.

“If even announcing what happened is a concern, then that young lady should have conducted herself more modestly in the first place!”

“Carla!”

Alfonso shot up from his seat. He presented Lariesa's letter, which he pulled from his coat, to his mother and Lady Carla.

“Carla! Look at this. It's a letter from Grand Duchess Lariesa. After seeing this, do you still think this is a matter of Ariadne's conduct?”

Prince Alfonso handed the Grand Duchess's note to his mother.

Taking the parchment note from her son's hand, Queen Marguerite unfolded it and examined it closely. Frowning for a moment, as if her eyesight were beginning to fail her, she blinked twice. Soon, her eyes began to fill with horror.

“......!”

Without a word, the Queen passed the note to Lady Carla. After receiving it with both hands and reading its contents, Lady Carla, too, was startled.

“No... Good heavens...”

Looking directly at Lady Carla as she wiped the cold sweat beading on her temples, Alfonso bellowed.

“Grand Duchess Lariesa targeted her with intent! It has nothing to do with personal conduct, like being out late or wearing immodest clothing!”

Frustrated by Lady Carla's words, Alfonso thumped his chest.

“Ariadne was a victim with no way to escape!”

A cool voice cut off Prince Alfonso's outburst.

“Then, it is your fault.”

It was a single remark from Queen Marguerite, who had been silent until now. Alfonso turned to look at her in surprise.

“This happened because you rashly left to find your love without settling one marriage proposal.”

Alfonso, who had been speaking so passionately, was suddenly at a loss for words.

Lariesa was not a normal person. But one cannot always deal with only normal people. Even if the other party was abnormal, he had a responsibility to protect Ariadne.

...His mother was right.

Tears welled up in Prince Alfonso's eyes once more.

“Your Majesty is right... It is all my fault.”

He kept his head bowed, staring at the floor for a long while. Fat teardrops fell onto the delicate carpet, staining it.

Composing himself, the prince lifted his head with a resolute expression.

“Which is why I cannot, under any circumstances, push Ariadne to the forefront to bear the lash of public opinion.”

He clenched both fists and cried out.

“...If you are going to announce the facts as they are, then also announce that it was Prince Alfonso who struck off Duke Mireille's head.”

The atmosphere in the room was truly grim. Amidst the agitated Alfonso and Lady Carla, Queen Marguerite maintained a heavy silence. To Ariadne, that silence was as terrifying as the fires of hell.

However, Ariadne felt no resentment toward Queen Marguerite or Lady Carla. She had held no expectations in the first place.

*'Lady Carla is right. I would have done the same in her position.'*

There was no one who could get her out of this situation. If Prince Alfonso dropped the bombshell that he was the one who killed Duke Mireille, he could go down with her.

But that was a path to dying together, not living together.

Finally having made her decision, Ariadne opened her mouth.

“...Lady Carla is right.”

Ariadne's low voice echoed through the 'Queen's drawing room.' Her deep, husky voice was raspy, with a metallic tang.

“It would be best if Prince Alfonso himself does not come to the forefront. Let us say it was one of the prince's trusted men who saved me from Duke Mireille's clutches.”

Lady Carla looked at Ariadne with an expression that seemed to say, 'What's gotten into you?'

“And it would be best to submit Grand Duchess Lariesa's note as well.”

“Submit it to whom?”

Lady Carla asked, unable to contain her curiosity, but her tone was still frosty.

“To His Majesty, Leo III, of course.”

Ariadne replied, her eyes lowered.

“If what happened today becomes public, the marriage alliance will, in all likelihood, be called off. But that is not what His Majesty the King desires.”

Leo III desired the marriage alliance with the Kingdom of Gallico—or, more precisely, the gunpowder formula—more than anyone.

“If Grand Duchess Lariesa's note is made public, all of His Majesty's plans will be ruined. But if it is delivered to him in secret, he will gain another card to play in negotiations with the Kingdom of Gallico.”

She was saying she would sacrifice herself to give Etruscan the upper hand. Realizing what she was implying, Alfonso cried out desperately.

“Ariadne!”

Overcome with emotion, he grabbed Ariadne's shoulders and shook her.

“Then what about you!”

The tips of the Queen's eyebrows shot up. The prince did not notice his mother's expression. He was struggling to swallow the rest of his words.

*'What about you! ...And our future!'*

If the marriage talks with the Kingdom of Gallico continue, and if the negotiations are ultimately successful, the position of crown princess will go to Lariesa.

Ariadne smiled, pretending not to understand Alfonso's unspoken words.

“Your Highness, on the contrary, this is my only way to survive.”

She saw Alfonso flinch at her formal address, but Ariadne feigned ignorance.

“This is the only way to keep my name from being dragged into the spotlight.”

She calmly continued her explanation.

“Our King, who desperately wants the gunpowder formula and needs this marriage alliance to succeed, will demand that the Gallican side not make an issue of Duke Mireille's death. How?”

Ariadne looked directly at Queen Marguerite.

“He could threaten them with the Grand Duchess's note, and that would certainly achieve it. But he cannot use such a valuable bargaining chip on something so trivial.”

Queen Marguerite nodded. She agreed.

“Perhaps he will propose something along the lines of treating the death as an accident in exchange for covering up Duke Mireille's sexual misconduct.”

It was a win-win, a plausible scenario as long as Duke Mireille's faction wasn't too powerful.

She added.

“Grand Duchess Lariesa's letter must be saved for a greater purpose. If he offers to keep her scheme a secret and even agrees to take a woman with such a flaw as his daughter-in-law? That would be a huge gain. Especially for Grand Duke Eudes de Valois. ...It's a carrot large enough to demand the gunpowder formula, despite the Duke's death.”

Ariadne looked from Queen Marguerite to Lady Carla.

“Whether the Kingdom of Gallico accepts His Majesty's proposal will depend entirely on whether Duke Mireille's faction is stronger, or Grand Duke Eudes's.”

At her sharp analysis, Queen Marguerite and Lady Carla let out a low murmur.

If Grand Duke Eudes's faction is stronger, he will try to smooth over Duke Mireille's death to cover up his daughter's scandal. If Mireille's faction is stronger, they will demand a price in blood, no matter the counteroffer.

“Duke Mireille is dead. Having lost their leader, his faction is likely in a state where their ability to respond cohesively is diminished. What are your thoughts, Your Majesty?”

Queen Marguerite nodded at Ariadne's sound reasoning.

“You are correct. Duke Mireille's heir is his only son, born late in his life, and just eleven years old. He is incapable of handling this alone. And since the Duke was not the type to nurture or trust others, there is likely no prominent second-in-command within his faction either.”

“Then the chances of success are high. For the proposal I imagine His Majesty Leo III will make.”

Ariadne feigned a relaxed smile.

“If things proceed as I've laid out, my name won't be brought to the forefront. If we confess everything to His Majesty Leo III, Prince Alfonso will be safe, and so will I.”

That was only half-true. In fact, to be precise, it was a lie.

Ariadne's plan was intricately structured, but it was built on too many assumptions: 'Leo III will act this way,' 'The political situation within Gallico will be like this,' and so on. If even one of them went awry, the entire thing would undoubtedly crumble like a sandcastle.

Moreover, some things, no matter how secret, eventually leak out and become fodder for gossip. A murder and a sex scandal. Everyone's favorite topics. Ariadne knew full well that the secret could not be kept.

But she had an ace up her sleeve.

“Ariadne, then what about us...!”

Alfonso cried out desperately, looking at Ariadne.

If the plan Ariadne had just proposed succeeded, Prince Alfonso and Grand Duchess Lariesa would be married.

Prince Alfonso and Ariadne de Mare could never be together.

Ariadne simply smiled. She could never tell Alfonso the latter part of her plan.

*'Whether this marriage alliance succeeds or not, it will be broken by the assassination attempt on Her Majesty the Queen next month, or by early summer at the latest.'*

She would offer herself as a sacrificial lamb to score points with Leo III, and when the prince's marriage talks fell through due to Queen Marguerite's death, she would be chosen as a candidate for crown princess. Scandals might circulate within San Carlo, but she would have the strong support of the prince himself, who knew the truth of that day.

*'The position of this country's crown princess will ultimately be decided by a contest between the eldest daughter, notorious as the Marquis Campa's mistress, and the second daughter, rumored to have been violated by Duke Mireille.'*

Ariadne let out a hollow laugh. Could it be that in this life, Giulia would become the crown princess?

Ariadne had devised this entire plan after entering the 'Queen's drawing room.' There was only one way for her to survive.

As she sat and listened to Lady Carla's harsh voice preach a 'rational solution' as if it were someone else's, it was like a sudden epiphany; the pieces of the puzzle clicked into place, and the whole picture became clear.

There was only one thing she had not predicted.

“...Child.”

Queen Marguerite looked at Ariadne with her deep, blue-gray eyes.

“Your sentiment is noble. But just as I am Alfonso's mother, I am also the mother of all the people of this nation.”

Queen Marguerite continued.

“I will not throw you to His Majesty the King as a sacrificial lamb.”

Queen Marguerite was looking at Ariadne with a determined expression. Flustered, Ariadne looked back at the Queen.

*'Could it be, that look in her eyes... is pity...?'*