Chapter 22

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Translator: Harry Potta
Chapter: 22
Chapter Title: A Dress for the Queen's Audience
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But Countess Rubina was not one to be trifled with. If her son was a ferocious wolf, the Countess was a great tiger descending from the mountains. With a chop of her hand, she sent the wine glass her son had slammed onto the table flying. *Clang!* The glass shattered loudly as it hit the marble floor. She stood up, stepping on the shards, and thrust her face toward her son, menacing him.

"How dare a whelp born from my own womb raise his voice at his mother."

They were so close their fine hairs could have touched, close enough to feel each other's body heat and breath. Cesare remained motionless as Countess Rubina fiercely berated him.

"You will be king. Just try to tell me you can't. If it can't be done, you must make it so, you useless thing!"

Straightening up, Countess Rubina began to pace around the drawing room, her heels clicking on the floor.

"I hear His Majesty plans to bestow the 'Heart of the Deep Blue Sea' upon that girl. The 'Heart of the Deep Blue Sea'! Do you know why your mother wanted it so badly?"

"I know, I know. Your fortune teller—"

"Enough with the sarcasm!"

Countess Rubina whirled around to face her son, her anger flaring.

"She said that the one who possesses the 'Heart of the Deep Blue Sea' will become king."

Her eyes held a conviction as if she were possessed.

"She was the one who prophesied that I would become the king's woman, and that you would be my son. So—"

Approaching her son, she jabbed a finger into his chest. The force of it pushed Cesare's upper body back.

"This is all for you. Bring me the 'Heart of the Deep Blue Sea'."

The King's gift was to be received during an audience with the Queen at the royal palace. As it was a gift from the King, he should have been the one to present it, but due to an urgent meeting in King Leo III's schedule, Queen Marguerite was to bestow it in his stead. Lucrezia, who had been thoroughly humiliated by the Queen last time, ended up receiving another earful from Cardinal de Mare over Ariadne's recent triumph against the Apostle of Acereto.

"All of San Carlo saw it. The child looked shabby, as if she had nothing to wear!"

"My dear, I gave that child everything she was owed! I even gave her gold earrings!"

"Why are you addressing me like that! After you've smeared my name in mud, you think you can call me 'my dear'? So, are you saying you were proud of how Ariadne was dressed for all to see?"

The two argued back and forth. Lucrezia must have felt it was quite unfair, but when Cardinal de Mare insisted on inspecting Ariadne's wardrobe, they all went up to the third-floor attic. The moment he threw open his younger daughter's shabby wardrobe, Lucrezia had no choice but to admit her fault before the Cardinal. Only three garments hung forlornly inside Ariadne's closet: the cream-colored outdoor dress she had worn to the Queen's mass, the black one she had worn to the Grand Basilica of San Ercole, and finally, an indoor dress unsuitable for wearing outside. As for shoes, besides the ones she wore on the farm, she had only a single pair of children's shoes with rounded toes. Ariadne had worn these same shoes in her backyard, to the grand mass, and even to the royal palace.

"Gods, my head!"

The Cardinal pressed a hand to his forehead after seeing the closet, and Lucrezia was struck dumb. If she tried to talk back now, the issue of where the household funds were being spent would surely come up.

"I don't know where on earth you spend your money. Our younger daughter nearly met the Queen twice in the same dress. Ensure that no matter who looks into this child's life, no one can say she is ill-fed and ill-clothed in our home!"

And so, for the first time since her return, Ariadne was introduced to the luxurious new world of a dressmaker's shop.

***

"You're young, but you have such long limbs."

Tucked away behind the street of high-end dress shops along the Tiber River was a quality dressmaker with whom Lucrezia did business. The Ragione Dress Shop offered excellent craftsmanship for its price, so Lucrezia often used it to have clothes made for the rapidly growing Arabella. Today, Mrs. Marini from the shop was at the Cardinal de Mare's residence, taking Ariadne's measurements and discussing how to tailor her summer and autumn outfits.

"You'll grow quickly. Not just in height, but your chest, and... other places, too."

Mrs. Marini gave Ariadne a wink. Ariadne frowned slightly.

"Shall we lower the décolletage a bit? I know you haven't had your débutante yet, but your figure will soon be that of a young lady. You're too grown to be dressed like a child now."

Normally, a mother would be present, meticulously advising on how to tailor clothes for her adolescent daughter, but Ariadne was alone with Sancha. After being harshly scolded by the Cardinal over the wardrobe incident, Lucrezia had declared that her presence would only upset her further. She gave the Ragione Dress Shop a budget of five ducats, instructing them to make as many summer and autumn outfits as possible, and washed her hands of the whole affair. Thus, instead of a mother who would fuss about lowering the neckline on a young girl and insist on buttons up to the throat and the longest possible hemline, Ariadne had to dissuade the dressmaker herself.

"That won't be necessary. Raise the collar as high as possible, and don't make the neckline deep."

Since her return, Ariadne had been quite displeased with Lucrezia's various forms of mistreatment, but the one area where their interests aligned was meals. When the Cardinal wasn't looking, Lucrezia would not feed Ariadne properly. Yet, Ariadne had no complaints about this.

—"He said embracing you feels like holding a man. He said your breasts are so large and sagging, he thought you were a dairy cow."

Before her return, Ariadne had been tall, with a slender but well-built frame. However, she had always hunched over, trying to make her statuesque body seem smaller. Though tall, she hadn't wanted to look enormous next to the slim-framed Cesare. In this life, Ariadne ate as little as possible. She desperately wanted to stop growing. She wanted to be small and delicate like Isabella, who fit perfectly in Cesare's arms. And she loathed anything that revealed her figure. Ariadne wished that the eyes of others would never sweep over her body.

"I don't want to stand out too much. Don't make it tight or revealing. Make it loose-fitting to hide as much as possible."

Mrs. Marini looked as if she couldn't understand Ariadne's request.

"Pardon...? No, I understand what Your Ladyship is worried about."

As she measured Ariadne, she loosened the draped fabric and showed her the reflection in the mirror.

"You naturally have volume. And you'll develop more. But if you wear the bodice loosely... Look. Doesn't it actually make you look bulkier?"

Conversely, she pulled the draped fabric taut behind Ariadne's back to show the silhouette.

"If you wear it fitted like this, it defines your figure and actually makes you look slimmer. It's the same even if you don't want your chest to be noticeable. It's better to use a thicker fabric to firmly press down and make the bust less conspicuous."

Seeing it with her own eyes, she had to admit the expert was right. It was difficult to insist further. Ariadne decided to have the clothes made as Mrs. Marini suggested, but she also thought she would have to wrap her chest with cotton cloth to further suppress its volume.

***

In the end, Ariadne was presented with a bright, light green outdoor dress, a lovely yellow one, and an elegant white one. The shoemaker was to have a pair of shoes tailored and sent over soon. A few miscellaneous indoor clothes were added, and the rest were to be prepared by autumn. The dress she would wear for her audience with the Queen today was the white one. Made from a thick satin produced in Etruscan, the fabric had a subtle sheen and was cleanly cut, creating an elegant and modest impression. It didn't look like a young lady's dress at all.

"My goodness, no one will recognize you, my lady!"

Sancha exclaimed as she styled Ariadne's hair. Ariadne gave a wry smile.

"Was I that ugly before?"

"Well, there was a bit of that."

Ariadne playfully slapped Sancha's shoulder. Sancha stuck out her tongue.

"Ah, it's a compliment, a compliment! You're pretty now."

As Sancha braided Ariadne's hair and pinned it up in a half-up style, she sighed with a hint of disappointment.

"But my lady is still so young. It would be nice to style you in a cuter, more splendid fashion."

Ariadne recoiled in disgust.

"That sort of thing doesn't suit me. Don't even think about trying."

Sancha gave Ariadne a sly smile. Since the only jewelry she owned were Lucrezia's gold earrings and a silver cross necklace, Sancha found some fresh flowers and tucked them into Ariadne's hair. They were white lisianthuses, currently in season. She made a small bouquet of the same flowers, tied it with a ribbon, and fastened it to Ariadne's wrist, creating a rather fitting adornment without any jewels.

"Now, let's go see the Queen!"

***

Cardinal de Mare escorted her to the royal palace, but Ariadne had to enter for the Queen's audience alone. The audience was to be held in a small drawing room reserved for women, making it inappropriate for the Cardinal to attend. He also had a separate appointment at the palace. But most importantly, Cardinal de Mare lacked the will to dote on his younger daughter.

"Don't cause any trouble. Behave yourself."

This was the Cardinal's admonition as he dropped her off at the entrance to the Queen's palace. Ariadne scoffed in disbelief.

"Of course."

*Does my father think I'm a walking powder keg?* But there are often times when a parent knows their child's character better than the child knows themselves. Ariadne was supposed to wait in the antechamber at the front of the Queen's palace until the time of her audience. However, when she saw her reflection in the glass mirror decorating the wall, her lack of jewelry made her look much shabbier than she had thought. She had tried to make up for the absence of gems with an abundance of fresh flowers, but lisianthuses were not large blossoms, so there was a limit to their splendor.

*The Queen's palace should have peonies growing in the rear garden.*

Dressed in white from head to toe, she thought a single pink peony would make her look much more vibrant and noticeable. There was still well over an hour and a half until her audience with the Queen. Ariadne knew the Queen's palace like the back of her hand. Once inside, there were no guards to block passage, and she had more than enough time for a quick trip to the rear garden. Ariadne lifted her hem slightly, glanced left and right like a squirrel, and stealthily slipped out of the antechamber.

***

The quickest way to the Queen's rear garden was along the central corridor, but by passing through the abandoned fountain, one could enter the garden without being seen. With swift movements, Ariadne crossed the abandoned fountain toward the back garden. This was typically the most secluded area. The chances of running into someone here were the lowest.

"Ariadne?"

But probability and reality were two different things.

"Who's there?"

At the Palazzo Carlo, the only person who would call her by her first name was Prince Alfonso. But as Ariadne looked around, she saw no one nearby.

"Up here."

Backlit by the sun, the silhouette of a man sitting in a zelkova tree was visible.