Chapter 223

-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Harry Potta
Chapter: 223
Chapter Title: Familial Contempt
-----------------------------------------------------------------
“Let’s have a talk.”

As soon as Cardinal de Mare returned from the royal palace, Ariadne knew instinctively from his first words.

The time has come.

She answered with a feigned, composed smile.

“What is it, Father?”

But Cardinal de Mare was a formidable opponent himself.

“I’ve left the household affairs entirely in your hands until now, but I fear it may have been too heavy a burden for a young daughter to bear.”

He spoke kindly.

“I’d like to see how you’ve been managing things and teach you what I can. Bring the ledgers, will you? Let’s look at them together in my study.”

Oh. So that’s how he was going to play this.

From those words alone, Ariadne understood what Cardinal de Mare wanted to discuss.

Ten to one, Leo III had mentioned the grain, and the Cardinal was now looking for a way to get his slice of the pie.

He must have assumed that since Ariadne had no money of her own, the capital for the grain had come from the family coffers. His true intention was to pretend to review the ledgers with her, find a useful entry, and then pressure her into offering it up.

She felt a pang of disappointment, yet it also felt inevitable. Was she disappointed because she’d held some small hope for her father?

Ariadne decided to just think of it in a positive light. It was absurd to harbor new expectations at this point.

Back in Lucrezia’s day, Cardinal de Mare would inspect the ledgers as a matter of course, barking, “Lu-cre-zia! Bring me the ledgers!” The fact that he was now seasoning his words before starting the conversation meant he considered her to have grown too formidable to ignore. She decided to leave it at that.

She replied with a smile.

“Of course, Father. Please wait just a moment. I’ll bring them up shortly.”

It was fortunate that he’d asked her to bring the ledgers before calling her to his study.

Ariadne had one or two other things besides the ledgers to bring to her father from her own study.

A diploma, for instance.

Before heading to her study, Ariadne called for Sancha and whispered in her ear.

“Bring…”

“Yes, my lady. I understand.”

“Tell them I asked them to come as quickly as possible.”

“Don’t you worry.”

Some evidence is far more shocking when heard from a person's lips than when seen in a document.

* * *

With his daughter seated before him, Cardinal de Mare turned the pages of the accounting ledger, one by one.

Ariadne felt as if she were being tortured.

Another fifty pages in was the record of when she had diverted 5,000 ducats of the de Mare family's budget to Caruso of the Boccanegra Company. Of course, she had already replaced it all.

Why couldn’t he just say what he wanted to say? What was the point of this?

“Father. Should I step outside while you finish looking?”

After sitting in the Cardinal’s study for nearly an hour, Ariadne decided there was no point in waiting any longer and asked him.

The Cardinal didn’t answer, merely adjusting his monocle.

Scrutinizing a subordinate’s work with them sitting right in front of him was a tactic Cardinal de Mare often used to tame them.

Even a silent review was enough to make them squirm. It was an excellent way to break a person without saying a word.

But for his second daughter to say, ‘If you don’t need me, I’ll be leaving,’ meant one of two things: either the girl was too naive to grasp the situation, or she simply did not fear Cardinal de Mare.

Realizing that his ledger-flipping tactic wasn’t working, Cardinal de Mare snapped the book shut.

“No. I’ll look at this later. Let’s talk first.”

Ariadne smiled brightly. The Cardinal found that smile irritating.

“Very well.”

It was a composure she had acquired not as the bastard second daughter of the de Mare family, but as the temporary Princess Regent of the Palazzo Carlo.

“A rumor is circulating in the capital that you are in possession of a very large quantity of grain.”

“It must be the capital’s usual exaggeration.”

She smiled. It was unlikely she could get away with humility, but it was polite to make a show of it at least once.

“I thought so too, but His Majesty the King himself mentioned it. Just what is the scale of it?”

Cardinal de Mare cut to the chase without beating around the bush.

Annoyed by Ariadne’s smile, he no longer bothered with pleasantries.

Prefacing one’s words with small talk was a courtesy reserved for those less familiar, those who commanded respect, or those of higher station.

In the Cardinal’s mind, Ariadne was none of those things.

But Ariadne held firm, weathering his question without flinching.

“Why is the exact amount important? I have enough to feed the almshouse for the time being, but it will all be used for that purpose.”

“Ariadne.”

The Cardinal’s green eyes narrowed.

“You came to San Carlo from the Bergamo estate early last year with nothing to your name. Your mother…”

The Cardinal, having referred to Lucrezia out of habit, shut his mouth.

Lucrezia was no longer the mistress of the house, nor was she Ariadne’s mother.

“...I was the one who stopped Lucrezia from being petty with you about living expenses.”

‘Not entirely,’ Ariadne muttered to herself.

People certainly had a tendency to overestimate their own deeds.

But that was a flaw of the human species, not just Cardinal de Mare.

She decided to grant her father that much credit.

It was true that the Cardinal had, to some extent, protected his second daughter from her stepmother’s grasp.

“As far as I know, you have no personal assets aside from the gifts from the late Queen and a few ducat gold coins. So where did this great fortune come from? And it was all built after I entrusted the household ledgers to you.”

He narrowed his eyes, studying his second daughter.

“I haven’t said anything until now, as you seemed to be managing the household finances shrewdly.”

The Cardinal laid his cards on the table.

“If the source of the wealth you built was the family's assets, then doesn't what you've earned ultimately belong to the family as well?”

He stated it firmly.

“And if it is family property, it is only right that I know its scale. You must have a ledger related to the grain. Hand it over.”

Ariadne stood tall before him, a smile on her face.

“An excellent deduction, Father.”

A thick wrinkle formed between Cardinal de Mare’s eyebrows.

“However, the capital used to purchase the grain was not from the de Mare family’s assets.”

“What did you say?”

“You are mistaken when you say I have no other assets besides the gifts from the late Queen.”

When Ariadne entered the Cardinal’s study, she had brought a large box with her.

She opened the lid and took out the first of her weapons for the day. A dazzling radiance filled the room.

“Is… is that… the ‘Heart of the Deep Blue Sea’?”

It was the very same ‘Heart of the Deep Blue Sea’ that Ariadne had entrusted to Caruso in exchange for a loan of 70,000 ducats.

The moment her share of the profits from the grain sales exceeded 70,000 ducats, she had settled the amount with Caruso and retrieved the necklace.

She trusted no one. Any leverage that could be used as a leash around her neck had to be removed as quickly as possible.

“Yes, Father, it is the ‘Heart of the Deep Blue Sea.’ Undeniably my own personal property.”

Cardinal de Mare couldn’t understand why Ariadne had brought out this necklace.

Could it be… she sold the necklace to pay for the grain? But the necklace was right here!

Ariadne soon cleared up his confusion.

“I pawned this necklace and used the money as capital to purchase wheat from all over the country starting last spring.”

“Are you truly mad?! How could you risk the King finding out—!”

Cardinal de Mare was horrified. If word of this reached Leo III’s ears, he would not stand for it.

He was already looking for any excuse to get his hands on Ariadne. If this became known, there was a very real possibility the King would stretch the charge to contempt of the crown and have her imprisoned.

But Ariadne was not surprised.

“I retrieved it as soon as I had the means. All related documents have been incinerated. Those who know of this are indebted to me in more ways than one.”

Strictly speaking, she was holding a hostage.

Ariadne had not yet sent Petruccia home.

“It’s not that I didn’t want to safely use the family’s money. But didn’t you forbid it, Father?”

Before Queen Marguerite’s death, Ariadne had asked Cardinal de Mare.

She had asked if she could use the family’s assets to purchase wheat for the relief of the people.

“To be precise, you said I could use up to 1,000 ducats. That’s about, what, one percent of the money I mobilized? For your reference, I used it to help pay the warehouse rental fees.”

That much, Ariadne was willing to return to the family. But not the rest.

“But that was the limit you permitted, Father. In the end, I secured the funds on my own and made the purchases on my own. Therefore, the grain I possess and the money from its sale are entirely my personal property. Wealth that I, and I alone, have created.”

“Hah!”

Cardinal de Mare scoffed.

“Do you truly believe you could have amassed that fortune without the family's protection?”

Ariadne’s eyes swept over the brilliant glow of the sapphire on the desk as she answered slowly.

“It would have been difficult, but wouldn’t I have managed it somehow?”

She toyed with the ledger as she spoke.

“I’ll confess, I did borrow about 5,000 ducats in the middle of it all. Of course, I have since replaced it. So, 6,000 ducats’ worth of effort from the de Mare family was involved. I am grateful for your grace, Father. I will offer appropriate compensation for that. But.”

Ariadne looked Cardinal de Mare straight in the eye.

“The final profits are my property.”

Her eyes narrowed.

“What are you scheming?”

Cardinal de Mare ignored the question about his calculations and roared.

“As long as you are in this family, your life and your expenditures must follow the orders of the head of the house!”

But his second daughter did not yield an inch.

“Then should I marry and leave?”

“Ha!”

At that moment, that was the thing Cardinal de Mare feared most.

To think he might lose the goose that lays the golden eggs to another family, just like that!

He met her force with force, browbeating his daughter once more.

“Are you unaware that a marriage without the approval of the head of the house is invalid?”

It was true.

A marriage without a father’s permission was not blessed, and if the father formally protested to the family that had taken his daughter, the marriage could be annulled, and the daughter brought back home.

Any assets that had gone with her would likewise be returned to the family.

But there is no rule without an exception.

“With an order from His Majesty the King, one can marry even without the head of the house's approval.”

“Don’t be ridiculous!”

Of course, Leo III would not designate a husband for Ariadne.

Especially not the man she wanted. The man she wanted was across the sea on a battlefield.

But there was a more realistic option.

Ariadne smiled with her eyes.

“Besides, doesn’t a father’s ‘right of retrieval’ disappear if a child is born from the unapproved marriage?”

This was precisely why eloping couples often had a child first.

If they could remain hidden until a child was born, they could become a legitimate husband and wife.

“Do you just spew whatever nonsense comes to mind!”

Even the ever-placid Cardinal de Mare couldn’t contain himself and slammed his palm on the desk.

“Are you threatening your own father that you’ll run off with any scoundrel you can find!”

“You refuse to make a place for me in this family, so what choice do I have but to resort to desperate measures!”

Ariadne’s voice rose as well.

“Father, do you even consider me your child?”

“What?”

Attacked from a completely unexpected direction, Cardinal de Mare stared at his daughter with a strange expression.

“I fed you, clothed you, and brought you to the capital, raising you like the daughter of a respectable noble family.”

He had done everything he could for his bastard daughter.

In the Cardinal’s mind, this was insubordination, a protest born of ingratitude.

“I could have left you to rot at the Bergamo estate for your entire life! Of course I cared for you because I considered you my child. What is this nonsense you’re spouting now?”

But the coldness in Ariadne’s voice did not thaw.

“During my private audience with His Majesty the King, he told me something. He said that he has ‘promised Cardinal de Mare a title’.”

Thick wrinkles, like earthworms, formed on Cardinal de Mare’s forehead.

“I heard it is to be bestowed this winter. And you never even hinted at it to me. Which means.”

Ariadne looked directly at Cardinal de Mare.

“You intend to give that title to my brother, Ippolito, not to me, don’t you?”

At this, Cardinal de Mare, who had been scowling fiercely, burst into laughter.

“Ha, hahahahahahahaha!”

Ariadne narrowed her eyes and glared at her father.

Her face now wore the exact same expression her father had worn just moments before. In an instant, the expressions of the father and daughter had switched.

“Was that what this was about? The reason you’re acting this way?”

Cardinal de Mare reined in his laughter and said to his daughter.

“You are a daughter!”