Chapter 21

-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Harry Potta
Chapter: 21
Chapter Title: Heart of the Deep Blue Sea
-----------------------------------------------------------------

The ‘Heart of the Deep Blue Sea’ was a vibrant, ultramarine sapphire of 30 carats, discovered in the Duchy of Taranto. Besides its impressive size, its vibrant yet deep color was exceedingly rare, making it an object of extraordinary value. The circumstances of its discovery were also mysterious. According to the original discoverer, a pod of dolphins had appeared on the coast, left the sapphire, and then disappeared. Since Taranto was a coastal territory with no known sapphire mines, the story spread like wildfire, igniting the desires of countless connoisseurs. The Duke of Taranto at the time of the discovery presented the jewel to Leo III, and it had remained locked in the royal treasury ever since.

“Ahem. You may not see it, but this is killing two birds with one stone.”

Although only he and his secretary were in the carriage, Leo III beckoned the man closer and whispered into his ear.

“If I give this to Cardinal de Mare’s daughter, won’t she bring it back with her when she marries into the family?”

“Pardon?”

“The ‘Heart of the Deep Blue Sea’ is a jewel Cardinal de Mare has coveted for ages. If I give it to his second daughter now, he’ll think of it as his own and be delighted. But since the girl is the rightful owner, he can’t very well take it from her, can he?”

“Then, who do you intend for her to marry? Are you speaking of Prince Alfonso?”

Leo III grew angry.

“Why are you so slow-witted! How could you even compare him to Alfonso! Alfonso’s bride must be a princess of a kingdom, or at the very least, a duchess from some duchy!”

“My apologies, my deepest apologies.”

“It’s Cesare, of course!”

Leo III looked pleased with himself, as if he’d had a brilliant idea.

“I plan to grant that boy Cesare a nice fiefdom somewhere and make the Cardinal his father-in-law, so he can live a comfortable and prosperous life. The Cardinal’s second daughter is illegitimate herself, and they say she’s clever and bright, so isn’t it perfect? That boy has a fiery temper; he needs a calm wife.”

He was planning his son’s future so meticulously that he seemed ready to name his grandchildren.

“And what’s more, Rubina has always wanted the ‘Heart of the Deep Blue Sea’.”

“I am well aware.”

The secretary swallowed the words, *‘Which is precisely why I asked if you were really going to give it to that young lady.’*

“I couldn’t give it to her because of the Queen. I earned a lot of her resentment for that. If the Cardinal’s second daughter brings it with her when she marries Cesare, it will be as good as Rubina’s, won’t it? Heh heh heh.”

*That’s… not how a woman’s heart works…*

What mother-in-law would be pleased to see a young slip of a daughter-in-law possessing the precious jewel she had longed for? Given Countess Rubina’s personality, it would be a miracle if she didn’t storm in and forcibly take it from her. The secretary had much he wanted to say. Things like, the King was needlessly instigating a fight between a mother-in-law and daughter-in-law; if His Majesty understood women even a little better, his relationship with Queen Marguerite wouldn’t be so strained; it was a wonder Countess Rubina hadn’t clawed His Majesty’s face yet, and so on. But he had already used up his quota of objections for the day. If the king were the type to listen, they wouldn’t have reached this point. The secretary gave up on any further arguments.

“Brilliant, Your Majesty!!!”

***

“Ariadne, where did you come up with such an idea?”

The first thing to greet Ariadne upon her return after defeating the Apostle of Acereto was an interrogation from Cardinal de Mare. Although Ariadne had given him a hefty cut of the credit at the Grand Cathedral of San Ercole by citing her ‘father’s teachings,’ it seemed that accepting the praise was one thing, and verifying its source was another. It was understandable. Ariadne’s performance that day had been far too brilliant for a fifteen-year-old girl who had simply been scribbling at home. Ariadne chose her words carefully.

“As a pastime, I read my father’s books that were on the shelves at home.”

The passages from the Holy Scriptures that Ariadne had cited in her debate with the Apostle of Acereto at the Grand Cathedral of San Ercole were the exact same ones used by the greatest theologians of the central continent at the Council of Trevero to declare the Acereto school a heresy. Cardinal de Mare had only been able to grasp this after reading a document summarizing the Council’s conclusions, which an inquisitor had brought along with a papal bull.

“You figured this out on your own?”

Outside, people were praising Cardinal de Mare for his vast and profound theological knowledge, which had supposedly nurtured his young daughter’s own outstanding theological aptitude, but the Cardinal himself knew best that this was not the truth. The conclusions of the Council of Trevero were the result of debate, creativity, and the collective intelligence of those who had mastered the framework of the Holy Scriptures. Even Cardinal de Mare was not confident he could reach such a conclusion sitting alone at his desk, though perhaps he could if he mobilized the priests under his command for a long-term group project. It was not something a fifteen-year-old girl could grasp on her own after just two months of theological study. Ariadne decided to flaunt her knowledge here. This was a hurdle she had to clear in one leap, even if it meant bluffing.

“I found Wycliffe’s *A Treatise on the Nature of the Son* and Pelagian’s *A Collection of Letters on the Trinity* to be the most impressive.”

These were, in fact, the very writings that formed the basis for the conclusions of the Council of Trevero, though this would only become widely known later. In a year or two, they would become required reading for children across the central continent, but for now, manuscript copies were rare enough to be found only in places like the Cardinal’s residence.

“You’ve read all of that?”

“I was most intrigued by Wycliffe’s focus on sentence structure, noting the repeated phrasing in the *Meditations* that ‘the Son came through the Father’ to prove the oneness of the Son and the Father.”

To the skeptical Cardinal de Mare, Ariadne exaggeratedly demonstrated that she truly knew the contents of the books she had named.

*If I say, ‘I just knew,’ or ‘I saw the future,’ I’m finished.*

What Ariadne wanted to avoid above all else was being called a ‘saint.’ It was a problem without the Holy See’s recognition, and a problem with it. To be called a saint without the Pope’s canonization was to invite the attention of the inquisitors. Yet, official canonization was not desirable either. Pope Ludovico was a fearsome man, and it was historically common for people acclaimed as living saints to be suddenly declared heretics and dragged to the stake. One might think Cardinal de Mare could protect her within the Holy See, but he already had a track record of selling out his own daughter in her past life. A daughter revered as a saint would be an invaluable pawn for him to exploit. She knew nothing of the intricate inner workings of power within the Holy See, and she trusted her father even less. Ariadne wanted to play the hand she was dealt within the familiar arena she understood: the aristocratic world of San Carlo. The Cardinal remained suspicious. Yet, no matter how many sharp theological questions he threw at her, based on the latest documents from the Council of Trevero that she could not possibly have seen, Ariadne answered with the precision of someone who had memorized the answer key. Whether he asked about doctrine, scriptural basis, or the latest catechisms, her answers were as perfect as if they were machine-printed. In the end, despite his many doubts, he had no choice but to concede that his second daughter was indeed a theological genius who had independently reached the same conclusions as the theologians of the Council of Trevero. Though he was skeptical, if this was true, it was a talent that appeared once in a thousand years, and he couldn’t help but extend an offer to his daughter.

“I am conducting theological studies with the priests at the Grand Cathedral. Would you like to participate?”

Ariadne recoiled and refused.

“No, Father! My knowledge is far too shallow, I would be embarrassed. Please, just permit me to study at home and occasionally ask you questions when I am lost.”

She couldn’t risk her bluff being called. Besides, Ariadne’s talents, if any, lay in bookkeeping and administration, certainly not in theological studies. However, Cardinal de Mare, who half-believed she couldn't possibly have such talent despite what he had seen and heard, and half-believed theology was no business for a woman, took Ariadne’s desperate refusal as girlish modesty and didn’t press the matter. It was a stroke of divine luck.

***

The story of the genius girl of San Carlo spread throughout the Kingdom of Etruscan, embellished with a bit of exaggeration.

“They say she single-handedly drove the heretic from the Grand Cathedral of San Ercole!”

“Her faith must be profound.”

“Well… despite her birth, she is a Cardinal’s child, after all.”

The person who reacted most sensitively to this was, surprisingly, the king’s mistress, Countess Rubina.

“Cesare. Listen to this.”

Countess Rubina made her son sit down and listen to the praises of Ariadne that were ringing throughout the city.

“You are destined to be king. It is helpful to have a spouse with a virtuous reputation.”

Cesare scoffed.

“Mother, get a grip. With Alfonso sitting right there on the throne, how could I possibly become king?”

“There you go again, being difficult! Your father loves you!”

“He loves me so much that he bestowed upon me the measly title of a court noble with no fiefdom! A mere count!”

*Clang!* Cesare, who had started drinking before noon, slammed his wine glass down on the table.

“Wake up, Mother. If Father had any intention of putting me on the throne, he would have officially announced that I was of royal blood, not left me as Count de Como. If lightning struck that goddamn castle right now and killed both that whelp Alfonso and my father—”

He had the decency to cross himself before continuing.

“—the one with a claim to the Etruscan throne is that twelve-year-old Bianca girl from Taranto, not me. Do you understand?”

Gulping down the last of his wine, he growled harshly at his mother.

“So stop with this nonsense. I’ll choose my own woman.”