Sister I am the Queen in This Life [Novel] Chapter 149

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Translator: Harry Potta
Chapter: 149
Chapter Title: Sooner Than Expected
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For the next two or three days, Ariadne was incredibly busy. A great deal of household work had piled up during her stay at the palace. She paid the merchants for household goods, signed contracts for the coming year, demolished and repaired old structures, and paid wages to her staff. She had no time to even think about the palace, but it was the palace that contacted her first.

“Lady Carla!”

Just four days after Ariadne’s return home, the Queen’s confidante, Lady Carla, personally paid a visit to the de Mare grand estate.

“If you had sent word ahead of your visit, I would have prepared a more lavish reception.”

Ariadne offered the pleasantry as she greeted Lady Carla in the mistress’s drawing room, which she now used as her own. Though she said this, the Gaeta rose tea she had hastily brought out was a high-quality product, difficult to find on the market. But Lady Carla answered stiffly, without so much as touching the tea.

“I have not come as a guest, but as a messenger. There is no need for such hospitality.”

She took a letter from her bosom and handed it to Ariadne. Ariadne immediately opened the letter and confirmed its contents. It was an invitation. “To Miss Ariadne de Mare, a small dinner will be hosted at the Queen’s Palace this coming Saturday. I hope you will attend and grace the occasion with your presence. - Queen Marguerite.” Lady Carla spoke in a sullen tone.

“You said you wanted to become a confidante to Her Majesty the Queen, did you not? Her Majesty has gone to some trouble for you. Not many have been invited. Your seat will be placed very close to hers. You should consider it an honor.”

Ariadne, however, was thinking of something entirely different. Queen Marguerite had died by poison at a small banquet held within the palace.

‘It shouldn’t be time yet. Already?’

But with Princess Lariesa’s unexpected return to the Kingdom of Gallico and the failure of the engagement, the finer details of the timeline had more than enough reason to change.

“By any chance, who will be attending?”

Lady Carla huffed, thinking, *How dare a child who doesn't know her place act so picky as to scrutinize the other attendees?*

“Are you trying to vet the guest list now? Are you saying you won’t attend if someone you dislike is present?”

Ariadne denied it with a bitter smile.

“No, of course not.”

It was a common tactic used by the belles of society to torment those they had singled out, but Ariadne had neither the intention nor the luxury for such things. She offered a vague excuse.

“I am asking in case there are any particular remarks I should be careful of, or clothes I shouldn't wear. By any chance, will Countess Rubina also be at this dinner?”

Lady Carla’s expression immediately darkened.

“Well, this time, it couldn’t be helped.”

Queen Marguerite disliked attending the same events as Countess Rubina. While perfectly understandable on a personal level, it was considered a lack of virtue for a queen who had to preside over public duties. Thus, for official events hosted by Leo III or the monthly Grand Mass, Queen Marguerite had no choice but to attend alongside Countess Rubina. However, Countess Rubina was thoroughly excluded from any private gatherings hosted by the Queen.

“This time, with His Majesty Leo III… things became a bit complicated. Her Majesty the Queen invited Countess Rubina as a gesture of reconciliation.”

The relationship between Leo III and Countess Rubina had now spanned over twenty years. While such a long-reigning mistress was impressive in its own right, the bond between them was no longer the tender affair it once was, where their eyes flowed with milk and honey and they wanted to pluck the stars and moon for each other. It was simply that Countess Rubina’s very existence grated on Queen Marguerite, the King was accustomed to her and didn’t love the Queen enough to cast aside the mother of his illegitimate child, and Queen Marguerite’s acknowledgment of Rubina served to preserve the King’s dignity.

“Nothing will happen. That woman is old enough now; she wouldn’t do something so crazy at this point.”

Ariadne bit her tongue to keep from shouting, ‘Yes, she would!’ She had become agitated without realizing it. The Queen Marguerite of her past life had died at a rare gathering where Countess Rubina was present. That was why the Countess had been immediately identified as the prime suspect in the assassination. The attempt is this Saturday!
*Knock, knock.* Just as Ariadne was about to play along with Lady Carla, someone knocked on the door. It was the mail servant.

“What is it, with a guest present?”

Ariadne asked the dedicated mail servant, her voice slightly stern. It was improper for a servant to barge in while an important guest was present.

“It seems an important letter has arrived, my lady.”

The servant handed Ariadne a letter. There were no markings on the envelope. Ariadne realized at once. It was a letter from Alfonso. The thickness of the letter, the quality of the paper—it was all from the Prince’s Palace.

“Later, I’ll check it later. I have a guest right now.”

To prevent Lady Carla from discovering the sender of the new letter, Ariadne tried to place it inconspicuously on the side table. But the mail servant was terribly clueless.

“The person from the Prince’s Palace is waiting downstairs. Will you write a reply immediately?”

At the words ‘Prince’s Palace,’ Lady Carla’s eyebrows shot up. Ariadne sighed deeply inwardly while feigning surprise on the outside.

“What? There was nothing written on the envelope, I had no idea! This is from the Prince’s Palace?”

She had no talent for acting whatsoever. Cold sweat trickled down Ariadne’s back. But cruelly, the servant just looked at her with an expression that seemed to say, *What are you talking about? All the anonymous letters that arrive for you are from the Prince’s Palace.*

‘Shut up, please just shut up!’

Fortunately, as if he had heard her silent plea, the servant held his tongue.

“Shall I tell them there is no reply?”

Ariadne bit her lip tightly and answered.

“Yes.”

But Lady Carla was not one to be easily trifled with.

“…Lady de Mare.”

“Yes?”

“Are you going to accept that letter?”

She said pointedly.

“Do not forget the promise you made to Her Majesty the Queen.”

She was telling her to refuse the letter outright to send a clear message to the Prince. Ariadne briefly considered arguing, ‘Her Majesty the Queen certainly said not to contact him for the time being, but she never told me to break up with her son!’ but quickly abandoned the thought. The assassination attempt on Queen Marguerite was scheduled for this Saturday. In four days, she would be treated like a state guest anyway. If she put up a fight here and the dinner invitation was rescinded, it would be a catastrophe. Ariadne sighed lightly and replied.

“You are right, my lady.”

She handed the letter she had placed on the side table back to the servant.

“Send it back.”

“Yes, my lady.”

Ariadne glanced at Lady Carla, who was still glaring at her, and added another sentence.

“Tell him… that I do not wish to be contacted for the time being.”

“I will do so.”

The servant took the letter and left the drawing room.

‘Alfonso, please wait just a little longer.’

Ariadne swallowed her regret.

* * *

“Lady de Mare… has refused to receive the letter.”

Hearing his attendant’s report, Alfonso couldn’t believe his ears.

“What? Are you sure you delivered it correctly?”

“Yes. It was delivered to her in person, but she refused… The messenger said he asked two or three times for it to be delivered directly to the young lady herself.”

“Did she know it was a letter from me?”

“The messenger said he made it clear that the letter was sent from the Prince’s Palace.”

“Did she have anything else to say?”

“That she does not wish to be contacted for the time being…”

For her to not want contact—the news was like a bolt from the blue. After the subordinate who delivered the report left, Alfonso sank numbly onto his bed.

“It can’t be…”

For the first time in his life, he had bet everything. He had disregarded duty, subordinates, and even his future, seeing only her. Yet what he received in return was a cold rejection.

‘Was it because I wasn’t enough?’

Because he wasn’t dependable? Because he couldn’t protect her perfectly from danger? Because his power base wasn’t solid? Prince Alfonso couldn’t fathom the reason. Ariadne had never actually demanded anything from him. If she had insisted on anything, it was for expressions of affection or for him to keep his distance from Princess Lariesa. She had never desired concessions, power, money, or even jewels. He wanted to run to her right now, to ask what he had done wrong, to plead that he would grant her anything she desired if she would only hold his hand and whisper words of love like before. He would do anything to feel her warmth, to smell her scent, to press his cheek against hers. But Ariadne’s intention was clear.

‘I do not wish for you to contact me.’

If she had been even slightly ambiguous, Alfonso would have stormed the gates of the de Mare estate and staged a protest. But Ariadne, *his* Ariadne, did not want it. Overwhelmed by a despair that felt like the end of the world, he buried his head on his desk and closed his eyes.

* * *

The fateful day dawned. Ariadne awoke at the crack of dawn with a strange sense of excitement.

‘This feels similar to the day of the Apostle of Acereto.’

Back then, too, her hands had trembled because she couldn’t be sure of success. But success comes to those who are prepared. Time was short, but she had made every possible preparation. The Queen Marguerite of her past life had been assassinated with arsenic during a luncheon attended by Countess Rubina.

‘The poison was in… probably the water Her Majesty the Queen was drinking.’

At a formal banquet, everyone eats the same food. Serving something different from the host is an insult to the guests. If the poison had been in the food itself, it wouldn’t have just been Queen Marguerite who was poisoned; every invited guest at the dinner would have suffered the same fate.

‘Only the water Her Majesty drinks is not shared with the guests; only she drinks it.’

Queen Marguerite was extremely sensitive to the cold and always carried and drank lukewarm water with slices of citron. It was something she drank half as medicine, and since it wasn’t objectively tasty, she didn’t serve it to her guests. Other methods, like coating only the Queen’s dinnerware with arsenic, weren’t impossible, but arsenic was most effective when mixed well into a liquid.

‘The first thing to check is the Queen’s water. The second is any stew-like dishes served with the meal.’

Ariadne tightly gripped the concentrated sulfur spring water she had barely managed to acquire by sending Sancha and Giuseppe to search the entire gypsy district. It was a method of detecting arsenic, almost unknown on the central continent, that she had learned of in her past life while physically blocking several assassination attempts against Cesare. When properly refined concentrated sulfur spring water is mixed with a substance containing arsenic, a bright yellow precipitate forms.

‘I can do this.’

*Knock, knock.* A soft knock echoed on the door, and Sancha opened it and entered Ariadne’s room.

“My lady, the carriage is ready.”

She carefully tucked the white porcelain bottle into her clothes and rose from her seat.

“Alright. Let’s go.”