Chapter 167

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Translator: Harry Potta
Chapter: 167
Chapter Title: Spite
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Count Cesare went down to the dungeon where Countess Rubina was imprisoned. By order of Leo III, Countess Rubina had been moved to the largest and most luxurious cell in the dungeon.

But it was still a dungeon. Not a single ray of sunlight entered, the stone walls were damp and musty, and the bone-chilling cold could not be dispelled even by a fox fur coat.

*Creeak.*

"Cesare?"

Countess Rubina, who had no visitors left but her son, immediately brightened at the sound of his approach and called out.

"...Yes, it's me."

Count Cesare answered slowly. His aquamarine eyes were heavy.

"How are things? Did His Majesty the King say he would release me?"

"..."

He silently pressed his forehead against the iron bars of the cell. The cold iron soothed his flushed face.

"Cesare? Son, say something! Cesare!"

Count Cesare simply stood there in silence. After a moment, he pulled his face away, straightened his posture, and looked at his mother.

Countess Rubina felt an indescribable, chilling aura emanating from her son.

"I'll be going. Please take care of your health for the time being."

He turned sharply and walked away.

"Son, Cesare! Where are you going, Cesare!"

* * *

Lariesa, half relieved and half worried, questioned her companion.

"Is it true that no one is preparing for a wedding?"

"Yes. Besides those who were already preparing to marry their fiancés, no one else is, Your Highness."

Worried about Lariesa's poor social skills, the Grand Duke and Duchess had hired the daughter of a lower nobleman as a companion for her after Suzanne's death.

Princess Lariesa was not the type to make friends easily, neither in San Carlo nor in Montpellier. Despite her high status making her an advantageous acquaintance, most of the young noble ladies tended to avoid the princess.

The few who did tolerate her and stick around were only after the scraps she could offer, and the companion before her was exactly that type of person.

"Are you sure you looked into it properly? Lady Besançon and Lady de la Ruire really showed no signs of anything?"

Lariesa listed the names of her potential rivals—those with distant royal blood or, failing that, from high-ranking families. The companion shook her head.

"I naturally investigated those two first. In fact, Lady Besançon, the duke's daughter, seems likely to be betrothed to the House of Angers soon. As for Lady de la Ruire, the marquis's daughter, she's been complaining to the high heavens lately about her age and still not having found a match. She's furious that Lady Besançon is getting married before her."

Even though Lariesa had been the one to mention Lady Besançon and Lady de la Ruire first, she grew irritated when her companion said she had investigated them first.

*'Does she think those two are on my level? The houses of Besançon and de la Ruire can't even hold a candle to the great House of Valois.'*

"What is with that getup of yours?"

"Pardon?"

"How can you expect to hear any proper news when you visit high noble houses in such a tacky outfit? It's not as if my parents don't pay you enough, is it?"

"Ah..."

There was nothing wrong with the companion's attire. But that didn't matter. Seeing the companion's face darken, Lariesa's mood lifted, and she dismissed her.

"You may leave."

"Yes..."

Left alone, Lariesa was lost in thought. If it wasn't Besançon or de la Ruire, the only one left was Princess Auguste.

However, she was Prince Alfonso's cousin, so according to the Holy See's law forbidding marriage within the sixth degree of kinship, she could not marry the prince.

*'...A special dispensation from the Pope.'*

However, it was possible with a special dispensation from the Pope. Lariesa herself had almost received one. King Philippe IV had planned to adopt Lariesa as his own daughter, make her a princess, and then send her to the Kingdom of Etruscan.

*'I need to go to the royal palace.'*

If I see how Princess Auguste is doing, I might find something out. Her father had told her mother to restrict Lariesa's outings, but her mother was lenient without measure, and there were plenty of excuses to visit the palace.

Besides, Princess Auguste had given Lariesa a special hint when she was leaving for Etruscan.

*'Be sure to visit Montpellier Palace with your 'Golden Prince'.'*

At the time, she had thought it was just a polite pleasantry, something like, "If your marriage is a success, bring your husband to see me." But thinking back on it now, it seemed suspicious.

*'Sister Auguste.'*

She could not yield Prince Alfonso to anyone. Princess Lariesa clenched her fists, ready for a fight.

* * *

Ariadne arranged a meeting with the Boccanegra Company. To be precise, she unilaterally set a date and stormed in.

"There are many of us."

"Mm-hm."

She answered Giuseppe perfunctorily. She brought Giuseppe as her escort, along with thirty guards she had trained over time. Her presence was less like that of a cardinal's daughter and more like the boss of a gang of villains.

The Boccanegra Company could only watch, wide-eyed, as some thirty able-bodied men pushed into their courtyard, took up positions, and stood there imposingly.

"Welcome, Lady de Mare."

A handsome page came out to greet Ariadne and her party. He was a boy who looked to be around twelve or thirteen years old.

"Mm."

At Ariadne's affirmation, the boy bowed his head and spoke.

"Master Caruso, the head of the Boccanegra Company, is waiting for you inside."

When Ariadne gave no reply, the boy bowed courteously.

"I will show you the way."

Ariadne did have some semblance of conscience, so she left the thirty guards in the central courtyard of the Boccanegra Company's building and entered the director's office with only Giuseppe.

The company building, which she observed under the boy's attentive guidance, was a surprisingly modest space. This remained true even when they stood before Director Caruso's office. The director's office lay beyond a simple plastered white wall and a dark brown oak door.

Ariadne tilted her head at the unexpected sight. In her past life, Director Caruso had been a man overflowing with gold.

*Knock, knock.*

The page knocked on the door and announced in a clear voice.

"Lady de Mare has arrived."

His voice was exceptionally clear and pleasant.

"Offer our guest some refreshments."

Hearing the reply, the boy opened the door without hesitation.

*Creeak.*

Inside was an office flooded with brilliant sunlight. Bright and spacious, it didn't look at all like the office of a tobacco smuggler. It was clean but frugal.

There were no antiques or luxurious furnishings; instead, it was filled with sturdy, well-worn desks and chairs.

Ariadne's attire was the complete opposite. Though she didn't typically enjoy dressing lavishly, today she was dressed well enough to rival anyone at a grand ball.

Her deep rose silk dress, tailored at the Collezioni dress shop where she was now a regular, was exquisitely luxurious, studded with matching garnets in a dense lattice pattern.

Her hair was braided and piled high like a noblewoman's rather than a young lady's, and atop it sat a topaz tiara, a gift from the late Queen Marguerite. Around her neck, she wore a large red ruby necklace.

"Welcome."

Director Caruso rose from his seat to greet Ariadne. Ariadne, feigning a relaxed smile, walked into the room and responded to his welcome.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Director Caruso."

Although the appointment had been made on extremely short notice, she offered no thanks for him clearing his schedule. It was a battle of dominance. Despite this, the man in his early to mid-thirties before her showed no sign of offense and welcomed her with utmost courtesy. He looked a decade younger than when she had last seen him in her past life.

"Please have a seat here, Lady de Mare."

Ariadne nodded and took her seat. Meeting an old acquaintance and acting as she once had reminded her of her days managing the palace's internal affairs in her past life. In fact, aside from being scorned by Cesare and high society, it was a time when her power had been absolute.

"To what do I owe the honor of your visit to such a humble place today?"

Caruso asked gently, trying his best not to show his nervousness. In truth, this was what he was most curious about.

The treasured second daughter of Cardinal de Mare, a man of immense influence in the capital, wanted to see him. But why?

He was just a tobacco smuggler who had only recently begun to diversify his business. He had made a fortune selling the luxury good imported from the Moorish Empire. When it came to tobacco, he could boast of being the best in the Kingdom of Etruscan. But weren't tobacco and a clergyman's daughter as far apart as the two ends of the continent?

*'Did she come to ask me to procure some rare spices?'*

Young noble ladies had such whims. The desire to be the very first to possess the rarest items in the capital.

*'But we don't handle the sort of things high society ladies would like...'*

But the words that fell from Ariadne's lips were like a bolt from the blue.

"The works of the flesh are manifest: fornication, impurity, and licentiousness; strife, drunkenness, revelry, and other things like them. I warn you now as I have warned you before."*

It was a passage from the Gospels.

"Those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. You are not to associate with them, nor even to eat with them. For he who does so will become poor and be clothed in rags."

Having finished, Ariadne looked at Director Caruso and gave a luscious smile.

"The Gospels say that the debauched will become poor, yet when I visit the place that sells the very vanguard of debauchery, I find the coffers full of gold, the house bright and cheerful, and everyone in good health?"

Director Caruso was momentarily speechless and raised a cup to drink some cold water. That's right. He had forgotten, thinking of her only as a socialite sensation, but she was originally renowned for her knowledge of theology and her deep faith.

Could she have come to pick a fight over his tobacco smuggling?

"Oh, it's a misunderstanding, Lady de Mare. We distribute many goods to the capital, including wheat from the Lombardy region and rosewater from the Gaeta province. Debauchery? These are daily necessities."

Ariadne's eyes crinkled into a smile, just as they had when she used to command her subordinates as the Prince Regent's fiancée.

"Have you decided to stop selling tobacco from the Moorish Empire, then?"

"Th-That is..."

Besides being a psychoactive luxury good forbidden by the Holy See, tobacco from the Moorish Empire had another fatal weakness. It was smuggled contraband. The Kingdom of Etruscan imposed tariffs of up to ninety percent on exports from the Moorish Empire. All the tobacco handled by the Boccanegra Company was the fruit of tax evasion.

Director Caruso sat up straight and looked Ariadne directly in the eye.

"Did you come here today to talk about this?"

He clasped his hands on the table and spoke his next words.

"We are devout followers who make regular donations to the Holy See."

It was a warning not to mess with them, as they were already paying bribes. Hearing this, Ariadne began to chuckle. Her shoulders shook with laughter, which soon turned into open, hearty cackles.

"Haha, ha..."

After laughing for a good while, she finally composed herself, though a trace of a smile still lingered on her lips as she looked straight at Director Caruso.

"You've misunderstood. You seem to think I came here today to extort some spare change."

She straightened her posture and gestured to Giuseppe. Giuseppe, who had been standing behind her with his arms crossed, stepped forward and placed a black ebony box on the oak desk between Ariadne and Director Caruso with a thud.

"Your words are proving unhelpful in many ways."

Ariadne, who held all the family's account books, knew that Boccanegra had no connection to Cardinal de Mare. Caruso's backer was likely some clergyman in the San Carlo diocese, someone under her father.

Trying to oppose someone with a direct line to power through a lower-level connection was a futile endeavor. Judging by the trembling in Caruso's eyes, he knew it too. It was just that his own power was not yet strong enough to do anything else.

"I came here to make a deal."

She placed her right hand on the ebony box and met Director Caruso's gaze.

"Whether it's liquor or tobacco, it doesn't matter how you earned it. What matters is how much gold you have."

Ariadne's green eyes shone brightly.

"How much are you willing to offer for this item?"

Ariadne flung open the lid of the ebony box. At the dazzling radiance that burst forth from within, Caruso instinctively raised his hands to shield his eyes.