Sister I am the Queen in This Life [Novel] Chapter 158

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Translator: Harry Potta
Chapter: 158
Chapter Title: A Little Subterfuge
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Ariadne had two or three cards she could play at the moment.

‘First, my father.’

Cardinal de Mare was a high-ranking clergyman with access to the palace. He might be able to offer a word or two of counsel to Leo III.

‘But Father is ultimately a representative of the Holy See, an outsider in the de Carlo court.’

Considering his position, which was akin to that of a diplomat, it was uncertain whether his advice on an internal matter—'Do not send the Margrave of Gaeta back to his domain'—would have any real effect.

‘Second, Alfonso.’

Ariadne could advise Prince Alfonso that 'the Margrave of Gaeta must not be sent back to his domain.' But after that, it would be up to Alfonso to persuade Leo III.

‘…But would His Majesty the King listen to Alfonso right now?’

Prince Alfonso had fallen completely out of favor with Leo III for killing Duke Mireille. At this point, Leo III wouldn't take his word for it even if Alfonso claimed to make cheese from cow's milk.

‘Third… Can I even call this a third option?’

The person who had recently emerged as Ariadne's window into central politics was Raphael de Valdesal.

‘If I ask Raphael to speak to Marquis Valdesal, it would surely have some effect.’

Marquis Valdesal was a trusted aide highly favored by Leo III, a member of the Lesser Curia Regis, and currently in charge of domestic affairs.

‘If he were to argue that the Margrave of Gaeta is suspicious and shouldn't be sent back to his domain, His Majesty would surely listen.’

However, what Ariadne knew was an event yet to happen. The Margrave of Gaeta's betrayal had not occurred yet.

If someone were to advise holding a perfectly capable lord in the capital while the enemy was at the border, any sane person would undoubtedly dismiss the advisor.

As Ariadne racked her brain, a certain person suddenly came to mind.

‘That person…!’

Ariadne quickly wrote a letter and summoned the servant in charge of mail.

"You there."

"Yes, my lady."

"Take this letter to the address written here at once. Don't just return; wait until they give you a reply and bring it back."

"Yes, my lady!"

* * *

Fortunately, Ariadne's letter received a positive reply. The proposal she had made in it was also accepted.

「I have an urgent matter to discuss with you. ... (Omitted) ... If it is agreeable, I would like to invite you to my home this very day. If you are uncomfortable with the de Mare estate, I do not mind visiting you instead.」

The other party invited Ariadne to their own residence rather than visit the grand de Mare estate. For that reason, Ariadne was now walking down the corridor of Baron Castiglione's capital residence.

‘Camelia de Castiglione.’

She was the very person who had gotten into a huge fight with Isabella and started the rumor that Isabella was the mistress of the most notorious man in the capital.

‘Inviting me here instead of coming to my house... she must be afraid of my sister.’

Ariadne was completely unaware of just how much Isabella's cursing skills had improved, and how they had driven the delicately raised Camelia into a panic.

The Baron de Castiglione's residence was an old capital mansion purchased and lavishly renovated about twenty years ago. The framework of an old, prestigious family was now covered in the gold, marble, and frescoes of the nouveau riche, creating an overwhelming yet slightly suffocating atmosphere.

‘Just like our house.’

Ariadne had to admit it. The grand de Mare estate had also undergone extensive renovations around the same time, after Cardinal de Mare was assigned to the Etruscan domain.

Although Cardinal de Mare's taste was slightly more refined than Baron Castiglione's, it was fundamentally a luxurious, extravagant building constructed by pouring gold coins into it in the style of the era.

A festival of gold coins, a pathetic display by those who had not yet secured their place in the capital.

Guided into an empty drawing room where the host had not yet arrived, Ariadne sat on a long chair upholstered in splendid velvet fabric and thought.

‘Inferiority. The desire for revenge against those who looked down on me. That's the emotion I'll be prodding today.’

Camelia did not come down to the drawing room for a long time, either because she was primping to greet her sudden guest or because she was trying to start a power play. Ariadne decided to assume the more comfortable option. *She must be getting all dolled up.*

- *Click.*

The drawing room door opened, and the household's majordomo, perhaps wanting to imitate the royal court's etiquette, announced pompously and at length.

"Presenting Lady Camelia!"

Ariadne shook her head inwardly. *That's not how it's done, you fool. For the court style, you have to announce before the door opens, and besides, you don't do that unless it's a formal party.*

However, she betrayed none of her inner thoughts, rising from her seat with a welcoming expression to greet Camelia.

"Camelia!"

"Ariadne."

Camelia, with her pretty face and round cheeks, greeted Ariadne with a radiant smile.

"It's been a while. You've been a stranger. You should have contacted me more often."

"Thank you for so graciously receiving me on such short notice. I know it was rude, but I couldn't help myself."

It was a conversation exchanging barbs hidden beneath gentle demeanors: 'Why are you suddenly showing up and acting friendly after no contact?' and 'If I want to see you, you have no choice but to see me.'

Camelia was in a simple indoor dress, her face almost bare. She hadn't been late because she was dressing up or washing; she had simply delayed her arrival.

‘So it was a power play after all.’

The tea and refreshments were also slow to arrive.

‘She fought with Isabella, not me. What's wrong with her?’

But her purpose today was not to fight with Camelia. The goal was to pit Camelia—or more precisely, Camelia's father—against someone else.

Ariadne asked about her well-being, complimented Camelia, and inquired about how things had been lately. Ariadne's social skills, honed in the royal court of her past life, had truly blossomed in this one.

Camelia, after all, was just a fledgling who had barely turned twenty. Faced with the skills of an experienced noblewoman—the earnest flattery, praise, and feigned interest—her sullenly pursed lips began to loosen.

"This new violet perfume I bought is quite lovely."

"Where did you get it? Your taste is truly remarkable, Camelia. You seem to be two seasons ahead of everyone else."

The current trend sweeping San Carlo was the rose perfume of Gaeta.

Camelia, too, had originally used only Gaeta's rose perfume, specifically the Gaeta Rose concentrate her father imported directly from Gaeta. It was a top-quality product, produced in small quantities.

"My father cut ties with Gaeta, so this violet perfume is imported from Acereto in the south! He'll be bringing in a larger quantity next season. Until then, he told me to wear it often."

"My goodness. Could you spare some for me?"

"If you would, Lady Ariadne, my father would be delighted!"

Ariadne was, by name and in reality, the greatest belle of San Carlo, and everything she wore and used was becoming the biggest hit product in San Carlo—no, in all of Etruscan. An appearance by Ariadne de Mare wearing something was the best promotion possible.

And there was a reason Baron Castiglione was now pushing violet perfume on the market. His trade line with Gaeta had been severed.

‘The Margrave of Gaeta had roared at him to 'get that filthy merchant out of my domain.''

The trouble had started when he suggested commercializing the Gaeta Rose, the crest of the Count of Gaeta.

Baron Castiglione's ahead-of-its-time proposal—to create a logo of the Gaeta Rose and put it on fabrics and engrave it on perfume bottles—sounded to the old aristocrat, the Count of Gaeta, like 'let's sell off our ancestors.'

Furthermore, Baron Castiglione had offered 'ten percent of the profits' in exchange for using the family crest, the Gaeta Rose, which only enraged the Count of Gaeta further.

*How dare he sell our ancestors' face and name, taking ninety percent for himself while we get ten? That filthy swindler!* thought the Count of Gaeta, who then roared curses at Baron Castiglione, telling him to be grateful he wasn't beaten and thrown out before kicking the baron out of the castle.

It was a brutal expulsion, with soldiers grabbing him by the limbs and tossing him outside the moat.

His trade lines were all cut. The distribution rights for the finest Gaeta Rose went to the Boccanegra Company, a commoner merchant guild.

The count's reasoning was that he had dealt with a man with a baron's title thinking he'd be less of a scoundrel, but the man had tried to walk all over him, so he'd rather deal with a groveling commoner merchant instead.

Baron Castiglione gritted his teeth, but there was little a mere baron could do in revenge against the Margrave of Gaeta, a prestigious old family that even held military authority. The wealth and power of the old nobility came from their domains; trade with merchants was merely pocket money to them.

"In what situations and how should I wear the violet perfume? I'm sure Baron Castiglione has a specific promotional method in mind."

"W-well, I'm not sure about that..."

"Perhaps, might I meet the Baron myself and ask him?"

Ariadne cast her bait. *Take it!*

But Camelia hesitated, not giving a ready answer.

"My father has been very busy with public and private affairs lately..."

Ariadne grew impatient. *What's she hesitating for!*

"This is a chance to completely drive Gaeta's rose products from the market. The Baron would be very pleased."

Ariadne decided to play her trump card.

"I have long admired Baron Castiglione's business acumen. Camelia, people like us, new to the capital, must always attract attention by doing new and interesting things. It would be wonderful if I could meet Baron Castiglione, who has done that best in our fathers' generation, and broaden my perspective."

After pondering for a long while, Camelia made her decision.

"...I'm sorry."

Camelia's decision was to refuse Ariadne's request. Her father intensely disliked her meddling in his business affairs.

Camelia wanted to be her father's obedient daughter and had no intention of upsetting him for the sake of Ariadne, with whom she wasn't even very close.

"That might be difficult. Even if it is about Gaeta..."

Just then, a sharp voice rang out from the hallway.

"Gaeta? What about Gaeta?"

- *Slam.*

A middle-aged man with a goatee burst into the drawing room without even knocking.

"Father!"

Camelia's cheeks turned red.

‘Oh, for heaven's sake, how uncultured in front of a guest!’

If it had been anyone else, she would have reprimanded them sternly. But since it was her father, the one who held her purse strings—her lifeline—acting this way, she couldn't bring herself to stop him.

But Baron Castiglione paid her no mind, turning to Ariadne and asking.

"What happened with Gaeta?"

Inwardly, Ariadne smiled in triumph.

‘Hook, line, and sinker.’

* * *

Having conveyed her plan to Baron Castiglione, Ariadne headed home with a sense of satisfaction. She had just finished telling the baron all she knew about the Margrave of Gaeta's weaknesses.

Of course, it wasn't as if she had proof that the Margrave was planning a coup in his basement, or documents showing he'd conspired to hand over his entire domain to Gallico. If she had such concrete evidence, she would have gone straight to Leo III and demanded a royal court be convened.

Ariadne had simply informed him of the facts: that the Margrave of Gaeta was half Gallican, his wife was also from Gallico, and his children were more comfortable speaking Gallican than Etruscan. She had only subtly added one more piece of information to that.

‘His Majesty the King has always questioned the competence of the vassals who govern their domains. Wouldn't he be greatly pleased if you were to suggest that instead of sending the Lord of Gaeta back to his domain alone, a fine central nobleman should accompany him to help the lord make sound judgments?’

Baron Castiglione's rank was too low for him to have unrestricted access to the court.

He could only occasionally observe the King's council from the lowest seat, and only when the full Curia Regis convened on a day when commerce, his area of responsibility, was a major topic.

But he had numerous friends, and he had long since melted the powerful men who could whisper in the king's ear with gold.

‘A scorned merchant burning with vengeance will now do everything in his power to bring down the Margrave of Gaeta.’

Hinting that he could also win the King's favor was the finishing touch. It was natural to desire power once one had money. Baron Castiglione would be seeing nothing else right now.

‘It's a shame I can't be the one to speak up.’

*I could have scored some points with Leo III.*

Ariadne truly wanted to be a member of the Royal Council of Nobles. Having to find someone else to deliver her words, cushioned and roundabout, and then being unable to reap the fruits of her success…

‘Shouldn't positions be given to those who are good at the job?’

Having thought that far, Ariadne shook her head. For every action, there was a reaction.

If the Margrave of Gaeta, seething with rage after this setback, were to look for someone to blame, the blade would be pointed not at Ariadne, but at Baron Castiglione.

*There are advantages to hiding in the shadows,* she thought. She leaned her head sideways against a cushion in her luxurious silver carriage.

* * *

"Indeed!"

Ariadne's prediction was spot on.

"Yes, you are right. We must assign a central official as an advisor to accompany the Margrave of Gaeta on his return!"

It was slightly less frustrating for Ariadne that Baron Castiglione himself couldn't claim the position of 'Leo III's trusted confidant who made a brilliant proposal.'

Count Contarini—the father of Ottavio, Camelia's fiancé—who took on the role at Baron Castiglione's request, received Leo III's adoring gaze.

"Who would be best to send...?"

After a moment of thought, Leo III's eyes twinkled.

"Ah, yes!"

It was the very look he got when he was about to do something outrageous. It seemed the selection was already complete in his mind.