Chapter 70

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Translator: Harry Potta
Chapter: 70
Chapter Title: Collateral for a False Love
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Cesare strode into the center of the crowd. He approached the wife of the aristocratic couple who had first discovered the lovers, now unwillingly cast as the instigators of this whole affair, and snatched the Collezione bracelet from her hand.

“This bracelet is mine. Give it back.”

The noblewoman, overpowered by Cesare’s strength, lost her grip on the bracelet. She stared at him, dumbfounded.

“This is a woman’s bracelet. How can it be yours?”

Cesare replied with a wide grin.

“I bought it for a lady, but she wouldn't accept it. So, it’s mine, isn’t it?”

Cesare held the green topaz bracelet he’d taken from the noblewoman high in the air.

“Everyone! This bracelet belongs to me, Count Cesare.”

Under the combined light of the moon and torches, the green gem—with its missing red ruby like a lost tooth—gleamed alluringly.

“Lady de Mare’s mask, necklace, and bracelet were all made as a set.”

Cesare smiled faintly.

“Of course, you had good reason to believe the bracelet was hers. The three pieces were originally a set.”

He first placated the crowd, subtly conveying the message that they had done nothing wrong. An angry mob tended to take on a life of its own, deaf to any reason. It was important to start on friendly terms.

“How do I know this, you ask? Because I was the one who gifted the mask to the second Lady de Mare.”

Standing right beside Ariadne, Cesare removed his own mask. He held it up high for all to see, showing them the inside.

“Do you see? The inside of this mask?”

From the outside, the fleur-de-lis pattern on Cesare’s mask was barely visible, integrated as a small, dense, and intricate design. But on the inside, there was a large fleur-de-lis identical to the one on Ariadne’s mask. Even the color scheme—red rubies and green topazes—was the same. Standing side by side, it was clear the patterns on the two masks were identical.

“I met her at the ball, intending to complete the set by giving her the matching bracelet. It was supposed to be a surprise. But…”

Cesare lowered his head dramatically.

“How haughty she is! The young lady, who had reluctantly accepted the mask, refused to take the bracelet the moment she realized it was a matching set with mine.”

He reveled in the crowd’s focused gaze, then shrugged and continued.

“She said she couldn’t go around without a mask at a masquerade, so she would return it after the ball, but she couldn’t accept the bracelet. She warned that being seen together might cause misunderstandings and told me to stay at least five piedi away from her. Oh, how cold and sharp-tongued she was!”

Cesare shook his head.

“But what kind of man gives up so easily! I got down on one knee and played my final card.”

He paused for a moment before continuing.

“Marry me.”

A shriek erupted from someone in the audience who couldn’t contain themselves. Cesare glanced toward the sound, his eyes curving into crescents as he gave his fan a nod. After his fan service, he fixed his gaze back on the crowd and shook his head tragically.

“But she turned me down flat! Told me not to even dream of it.”

Cesare raised both hands in a shrug.

“And to top it off, just my luck, His Highness Prince Alfonso de Carlo witnessed the whole humiliating scene.”

Cesare grinned and slapped Alfonso on the shoulder.

“Hiding in the bushes and watching, like a little rat.”

Alfonso forced a smile at Cesare through gritted teeth. He whispered to the Count under his breath.

“You’re the one who acted like a rat.”

“Let me have some fun too, Your Highness. Is that any way to treat your savior?”

Cesare smirked slickly.

“Smile. Show me your teeth.”

Prince Alfonso clenched his fists but couldn’t bring himself to swing. Leaving the cornered prince, Cesare cheerfully returned to his performance for the audience.

“His Highness made a sound in the bushes, and our proud lady spotted him. She then asked for his help, saying a strange man was pestering her. The lady in distress left me standing there alone, escorted by the prince.”

The crowd began to murmur again.

- “What? So it’s true she was with the prince?”

Cesare didn’t miss the crowd’s whispers.

“It is true that the young lady was not with Prince Alfonso for the ‘entire’ ball. She was with me at the beginning. In fact, I was her escort from the very start. Her alibi is airtight.”

- “But then why is the bracelet here?”

Count Cesare had a reasonable explanation for that as well.

“Furious, I went to hang out with my troublemaker friends, only to find them holed up in a small room in a corner of the palace, gambling. That gentleman over there was with them, too.”

Cesare gestured with his chin at Marquis Campa, who was snoring on the ground under a cloak. No one in the capital associated with Marquis Campa anymore, except for those at the gambling table who didn’t care who you were as long as you put up the money.

“I needed to place a bet but had no cash, so I gave the bracelet to a friend as collateral and borrowed some gambling funds. A little later, after a big win, I went to pay my friend back and retrieve the bracelet, only to find out he had also run short of funds and passed it on to someone else for cash! How irresponsible, tossing around someone else’s collateral.”

Cesare shook the bracelet.

“I was wondering where it went. It seems it ended up with Marquis Campa.”

He pointed his chin at the Marquis.

“When Marquis Campa sobers up, tell him this: I’ll send a man in the morning to repay the gambling debt I borrowed against it, but Count Cesare has taken the bracelet.”

It was a perfect alibi. Count Cesare was certainly the type of man to give a woman an extravagant gift, and he was also the type to use that gift as collateral for gambling. The story of how he ended up with Marquis Campa was also plausible.

“So please, stop your accusations against the young lady who was supposed to be the owner of this bracelet. She rejected my proposal so firmly; do you really think she would dally with a man like Marquis Campa?”

Cesare said with a handsome face, openly sneering in Marquis Campa’s direction.

“Now, I’m going to try my luck with another proposal, so if you would all be so kind as to give us some space?”

He approached Ariadne and held out his hand.

“My lady. Let’s go.”

This time, Ariadne took Cesare’s outstretched hand.

***

Having finally escaped the crowd and regained her composure, Ariadne removed her mask and wiped the sweat from her face. Not only her face under the silk mask but her entire body was drenched in sweat.

“Thank you, Count de Como. I never imagined things would get so messy.”

“Cesare. If you’re grateful, call me Cesare.”

Ariadne gave a bitter smile. It was a name so familiar that if she let the first syllable slip from her tongue, she might unconsciously say the whole thing.

“Count Cesare. Let’s stick with Count Cesare. I can’t concede any more than that.”

“Wow, so firm. And it hasn’t even been ten minutes since I saved you by taking on all sorts of disgrace.”

“Disgrace? What disgrace?”

“Being a gambler, or being rejected by a lady.”

Cesare frowned slightly.

“Or having a prince steal my woman.”

Ariadne couldn’t help but laugh a little.

“Isn’t it all true? It’s true you’re a gambler, and it’s true you were rejected by a woman. The gambler part is common knowledge. Everyone knows that, even if you don’t say it. Only the part about the prince stealing your woman is a little different from the truth.”

Cesare’s face lit up at an odd point.

“Wow, you know I gamble?”

“Who in the capital doesn’t?”

“No, no, this means you were interested! Last time, you knew I carried a club, too. You’re more interested in me than anyone, aren’t you?”

Cesare studied Ariadne closely, a suspicious look on his face. He brought his face right up to hers, stopping only when she could feel his breath.

“You’re not secretly poring over the ‘Cesare de Como’ section of the ‘San Carlo Gazette’ or something, are you?”

Ariadne burst out laughing and exclaimed loudly.

“Of course not!”

“A strong denial is an affirmation.”

“No, it’s not!”

After bickering with Cesare for a while, Ariadne finally spoke to him, her voice much softer.

“Thank you for today.”

A hint of apology lingered in her eyes.

“You didn’t have to step in, from your perspective.”

“Right after being rejected, you mean?”

Cesare smoothly interjected.

“Oh, honestly!”

“No need to thank me. I did it to get on your good side. So please, don’t return the gifts I give you, and don’t lose them. Just keep them safe.”

He paused for a moment, then added another word.

“That sister of yours at home will be searching with fire in her eyes. Keep it safe at home, too.”

She let out a faint laugh.

“Is it that obvious, even to a man?”

“This Count Cesare is not just any man. I’m not like those fools who get deceived.”

*A lie. You were the one who was deceived. Thoroughly.*

“It’s a matching item with mine, so you have to take good care of it.”

“Just take this mask and bracelet back.”

“Ahem!”

A tiny crack appeared on the surface of the eternal ice around Ariadne’s heart. Thinking that Cesare had stood up for her, her heart had softened just a little. But Cesare, standing before her, was feeling a pleasure of a slightly different kind than love.

*Alfonso de Carlo, I’ve won the affection of the woman you like.*

***

After Cesare had captured the audience and departed, the happiest person was Grand Duchess Lariesa.

“So… was it all a misunderstanding?”

Lariesa had wanted to believe in Prince Alfonso more than anyone. She wanted to be lost in the fairy tale where the golden prince was hers and hers alone. For that, she was willing to reassemble reality.

“Ha…”

Unable to confirm or deny, Prince Alfonso could only let out a hollow laugh. If he were to check his horoscope for the day, it would surely say, ‘Geminis born in 1105 should not leave their beds! It’s dangerous outside the covers!’

“The half-siblings of the Etruscan royal family must have a wonderful bond. For us, it would have been impossible. In Montpellier, what happened was…”

Lariesa’s clueless chatter went on and on. Alfonso pressed his forehead. In contrast to the blissful Lariesa, the most miserable person at that moment was Isabella de Mare. She had been so close to success, only for some upstart Count Cesare to throw himself in the way. The fact that the meddler was none other than the Count Cesare she desired made her twice as furious.

“Damn it!”

Isabella kicked a loose stone on the ground, unconsciously mimicking what Cesare had done at the fountain. But Cesare was a skilled horseman; Isabella lacked his abdominal and thigh strength. She stumbled with a thud, falling in an unsightly heap.

“Ouch…!”

A single red ruby rolled out of Isabella’s fallen handbag. It was the very ruby that had been set in the infamous fleur-de-lis bracelet.

“Isabella, are you all right?”

Camelia de Castiglione spotted the fallen Isabella and asked after her. Extending a hand to help her up, Camelia’s sharp eyes caught sight of the ruby that had tumbled from Isabella’s bag.

“Oh, what’s that?”

Camelia asked, her gaze fixed on the red ruby.

“Carrying around an unset stone. It must be valuable?”

Isabella growled fiercely.

“Camelia, mind your own business.”

She had no energy to waste on someone as insignificant as Camelia right now. But Camelia wasn't one to miss such an opportunity. She had always been pushed aside, stepped on, and ridiculed by Isabella. Now that Isabella was in a ridiculous state, it was the perfect chance to strike back.

“Mind my own business? I’m just being a considerate friend, looking after you in your time of hurt.”

Camelia smiled, a vicious twist to her pretty face.

“Prince Alfonso has Grand Duchess Lariesa now, and your little sister snatched up Count Cesare. Oh, dear Isabella… what will you do? There are no men left, are there?”