Sister I am the Queen in This Life [Novel] Chapter 163

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Translator: Harry Potta
Chapter: 163
Chapter Title: Farewell (2)
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Ariadne awoke to the brilliant sunlight stinging her eyes. She frowned slightly.

It was a little later than usual. It seemed Sancha had let her sleep in, thinking her sick lady needed the rest.

But the air in the room felt slightly different. She surveyed her surroundings. The same canopy, the same curtains. The curtains…?

A powerful gust of wind swept in through the wide-open window. The curtains, which should have been drawn, were pulled aside.

Frowning, Ariadne shot up in bed to inspect the window. Just then, a sheet of parchment slipped from her pillow.

‘What’s this?’

Someone had been in her room.

Tense, Ariadne picked up the parchment first. As she did, another sheet of paper tucked beneath the pillow came into view.

She placed the second sheet on her lap and hastily read the first.

As Ariadne read the letter, which felt both long and short, her eyes widened.

‘…Fool, what a fool!’

Tears began to well in her eyes.

‘He’s going to Gallico?’

No, his going to Gallico wasn’t the issue. It was important, but that wasn’t what stirred her emotions.

‘You fool. How can you worry about others when it’s only been a few days since you lost your mother?’

Tears began to stream endlessly from Ariadne’s eyes. She remembered the day she lost her own mother. Young Ariadne had locked herself in her room, believing she was the most pitiful creature on the face of the earth.

Even after being driven from the grand mansion to the farm, she had clung to that thought, putting up walls and lashing out at those around her for a long time.

She was nearly starved to death for it and was forced to change her ways, but she remembered the loss of her mother and the self-pity that had consumed her childhood.

But this golden prince pitied those around him more than he pitied himself.

‘You ridiculously kind fool…’

If there was a bigger softie than Ariadne, it was undoubtedly Alfonso.

‘…I want to see him.’

She wanted to stroke his golden hair and tell him. That he didn’t need to be a shoulder for her to lean on. That he was enough just as he was.

She wanted to hold his hand tightly. To tell him she would be his support. That she would be the shoulder he could lean on. That she… wanted to be his strength.

Ariadne wiped the tears from her eyes. This was no time to be idle. The letter clearly stated, ‘departing tomorrow morning.’

She quickly unfolded the second parchment. As expected, it was a note from Princess Lariesa.

Ariadne ran barefoot to the study, placed the second parchment inside her safe, and locked it securely. Then she called for Sancha in a loud voice. There was no time to run to the pull cord in her bedroom.

“Sancha!”

Recognizing Ariadne’s voice, Sancha rushed into the room like the wind.

“You’re awake?”

“A carriage—no, prepare a horse for me!”

“What?”

“Now!”

Overwhelmed by Ariadne’s intensity, Sancha dashed downstairs. Meanwhile, Ariadne went to her wardrobe, grabbed the first outer garment she could find, threw it on over her nightgown, and shoved her feet into her shoes.

Without waiting for Sancha to report back, Ariadne ran downstairs. Seeing her brown horse waiting at the front door, she swiftly placed her foot in the stirrup and mounted.

“My lady!”

Leaving behind Sancha’s horrified shriek at the sight of her improperly dressed lady, Ariadne spurred her horse on.

“Hiyah!”

***

She knew only that he was scheduled to depart sometime this morning; she had no idea when, from where, or with how large an entourage.

But if one were departing from San Carlo for Gallico, the point of departure would naturally be the city’s North Gate.

Riding like the wind, Ariadne reached the northern wall, only to be blocked by the North Gate as it was closing.

“Open the gate!”

Ariadne cried out like a madwoman to the soldier who was turning the pulley to close the massive gate.

The soldier was startled by Ariadne, who had charged forward without slowing, stopping just inches away. He was doubly surprised by the fine material of her cloak and the glossy sheen of her horse’s coat, but he held his ground and blocked her path. Discipline, after all, was especially strict today.

“Due to state affairs, the gate is closed to the public until noon. Please use the West or East Gate.”

“By state affairs, do you mean His Highness the Prince’s procession?”

He hesitated to answer, but after seeing Ariadne’s attire, he nodded. She seemed to be a high-ranking noble, and she already knew what was happening anyway.

“That’s right. They’ve already passed through the North Gate.”

“They just left?!”

“Can’t you see the gate is closing?”

Ariadne felt her breath catch in her throat and lowered her head. But she refused to give up. She immediately pulled a gold ducat from within her cloak and handed it to the soldier.

“Sir… is there anything you can do?”

The soldier quickly pocketed the coin, but after glancing around, he replied in a troubled voice.

“There are too many officials around… I can’t open the gate.”

*Then why did you take the coin?* Ariadne suppressed her surging anger and looked around.

“Then could I at least go up on the wall?”

*I just want to see his back as he leaves.*

The soldier glanced around and then nodded.

“Just the wall…”

Ariadne didn’t wait for the soldier to finish and leaped off her horse. She ran up the stairs leading to the northern wall in a single dash.

She was out of breath and her chest ached, but she couldn’t miss this moment. She lost a shoe when she missed a step, but she paid it no mind and kept running barefoot.

Ariadne reached the top of the north wall just as she felt her lungs would burst. Every breath was a searing pain. Her vision swam with yellow spots, but through it she saw, below the wall, a procession of three carriages and some sixty horsemen moving slowly forward in a single file.

Clinging to an embrasure in the stone wall, she shouted with all her might.

“Alfonso—!!!!”

But cruelly, the slow-moving procession of carriages and horses continued forward without stopping.

Ariadne suppressed the urge to cry and shouted again with all her strength.

“Alfon-so—!!!!!”

The procession didn’t stop, but there was a slight change. A white horse in the middle of the group pulled aside and slowed down. Its rider wore full plate armor with a blue surcoat over it.

He turned his horse around and removed his helmet. A cascade of brilliant golden hair spilled out.

Tears burst from Ariadne’s eyes. It was Alfonso!

He was too far away to see clearly, but a wide smile spread across Alfonso’s face. It was a smile of pure joy, the kind that belonged to an honest and gentle man, revealing a line of perfect white teeth. Holding his helmet, Prince Alfonso shouted loudly.

“Stay healthy and wait for me—!!”

He omitted her name for fear his retinue would hear, and because of the distance, the words reached Ariadne broken and faint. But their hearts had already connected.

“Yes, yes!”

Though she wasn’t sure he could hear her reply, Ariadne nodded frantically from atop the rampart. Alfonso cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted again.

“Don’t skip your meals!”

A smile spread across Ariadne’s tear-streaked face. She, too, shouted with all her might.

“Travel safely—!”

He was too far to see clearly, but it seemed Alfonso’s smile widened a little more. The golden-haired prince raised his right arm high and waved.

It was just like that time at the Marquis Cibo’s salon, when he had waved to her from the middle of a crowd. Unconsciously, Ariadne smiled through her tears.

Alfonso’s party was moving farther away, and he had to rejoin them. He waved for a while longer before turning his white horse around. With a face somewhere between laughing and crying, Ariadne continued to wave at Alfonso’s back.

The prince grew smaller and smaller, eventually disappearing over the ridges and hills until he was just a tiny dot, but she did not stop leaning against the wall and seeing him off.

He would return safely. As long as there was love, everything would be all right.

It was a wish unlike any she had ever had in her life. Not for revenge, not for anger, but a wish for everything to be all right, for everyone to be happy. She held that wish deep in her heart.

***

Count Cesare, his eyes bloodshot, scoured the foreign quarter, Campo de Spezia. He couldn’t bring himself to leave the task to his subordinates alone. He met with everyone he could—people who worked at the spice merchant Strozzi’s house, Strozzi’s business partners, anyone who knew him—digging for information about the queen’s assassin.

He paid ample silver to those who were afraid to speak, and if that wasn’t enough, he melted their resolve with the promise of Count Cesare’s backing.

Finally, a crucial testimony emerged. It came from the mouth of a woman who had lived at Strozzi’s house as half-mistress, half-maid.

“Er… Mr. Strozzi didn’t like to talk about his origins, but the food he ate and the wine he enjoyed were all from Gallico… and sometimes, people from Gallico would visit the house.”

There was no need to even take out a gold coin. The woman, who seemed to have fallen for Cesare’s handsome face and a pittance of change, sang like a canary.

“On the days the Gallicans came, no one in the house was allowed near the annex… me included… I don’t know what they talked about, but maybe I’d remember if I had a little more time to think.”

She looked up at Cesare, her face full of expectation. Cesare, with a smooth expression, feigned ignorance of her hopes. He’d seen more than enough women like her to be tired of them.

“What did they look like?”

“They looked distinguished. Their clothes were like a noble’s, and they couldn’t speak our language at all.”

“When was the last time those Gallicans came?”

“About a month ago.”

The date fit. After meeting with them, the spice merchant Strozzi began to sell off all his assets and prepare to leave Etruscan.

Cesare took a gold ducat from his coat, kissed it, and then handed it to the woman.

“Try to remember everything you can. I might be back soon to ask you more questions.”

The gold coin was one thing, but the thought of Cesare returning to see her made the woman blush as she accepted it with both hands. Count Cesare had intended to send the king’s soldiers to collect her testimony, but if the woman was under this delusion, all the better. She would cooperate more readily.

“When will you be back?”

“Soon.”

With a dismissive wave of his hand, Cesare left her residence. He now held something, however insufficient, that could save his mother.

Rubina hadn’t been a good mother, but she was the only family Cesare had. He leaped onto his dark chestnut steed, which he had left in the alley.

“Let’s go. Hiyah!”

The crisp sound of hard horseshoes striking the flat stone-paved roads of San Carlo rang out.

***

“Cesare? An audience?”

Leo III frowned. The chamberlain reported as meekly as possible.

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Annoying him now would be asking for a fiery scolding.

“Shall I tell him to leave?”

Leo III was about to say, ‘Yes, that would be best,’ when he was startled to see Cesare striding into the audience chamber.

“Ce-Cesare!”

Count Cesare spread his arms wide with a suave smile and exclaimed.

“Our beloved King!”

Leo III hadn’t wanted to see Cesare, fearing a confrontation over Rubina’s imprisonment. But when his son approached so affably, with no hint of accusation, the king’s anger subsided, and he replied in a softer tone.

After all, though he had imprisoned Rubina in a fit of rage, the emerging evidence was pointing further and further away from her, and he felt a little guilty.

“Count Cesare. You look well. Tell me, have you been keeping well?”