Chapter 79

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Translator: Harry Potta
Chapter: 79
Chapter Title: Lucrezia and the Gypsy Fortune Teller
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In the eyes of the world, Gypsy fortune tellers were usually regarded as little more than a passing amusement. At best, they were a pastime for women who wanted their romantic fortunes told with tarot cards. However, it was a different story when a plague swept through the city, or when floods, fires, or other natural disasters struck the nation and a scapegoat was needed. The public would abruptly change their tune, abandoning their mockery of the Gypsies as useless folk and instead pointing their fingers, accusing them of being the very cause of all the current misfortune. Those who were incompetent yesterday were transformed into powerful minions of the devil today. The inquisitors' pursuit of Gypsies, spouting accusations of witchcraft and pacts with the devil, was like a harbinger of troubled times. Therefore, those with much to lose were especially careful to avoid any association with such wicked types as fortune tellers. This was especially true for the nobility, and even more so for the clergy and their families. But this particular fortune teller had been renowned throughout San Carlo for over twenty years. Her fame was earned as a confidante to Countess Rubina, the mother of Count Cesare. This Gypsy woman had accurately predicted that Countess Rubina would become the king's woman back when the countess was still a hot-tempered youth. The Gypsy woman's spiritual powers were not a one-time fluke. She had proclaimed, even before Cesare was born.

‘It is certain to be a son.’

She claimed to have searched the paths of the heavens to learn in advance the identity of the child in Countess Rubina's womb. To this day, she remained Rubina's closest confidante, offering her valuable advice whenever the countess found herself at a crossroads. Lucrezia reasoned simply.

‘If Countess Rubina hasn't been dragged away by the inquisitors in the past twenty years, then surely I'll be fine too.’

Lately, Lucrezia had been feeling utterly suffocated. Nothing was going her way, and there was no guarantee that things would get better. Her precious Isabella was confined to her room by Cardinal de Mare, unable to take a single step outside, while she herself was being monitored by that detestable child her husband had brought home, who was now overseeing the ledgers. Lucrezia let out a deep sigh without realizing it.

“Your heart feels heavy, does it not?”

Lucrezia's eyes widened at the Gypsy woman's question.

“Yes, it does!”

“You have trouble sleeping at night, and suffer from headaches?”

“Yes!”

“There is a source of worry in your home. It is new; it was not there before.”

“Oh my, yes!”

As if possessed, Lucrezia sat down on the round, embroidered cushion placed before the Gypsy woman.

“Let us see.”

With the table between them, the Gypsy woman shuffled the tarot cards with a flourish and offered seven of them to Lucrezia, who had collapsed onto the cushion.

“Choose three cards.”

With a trembling hand, Lucrezia picked the first card. It was a ‘Swords’ card, its design bright with silver foil and red dye on thick paper. Behind the main figure were eight yellow flowers. It was the Eight of Swords. The Gypsy woman clicked her tongue.

“This is your current situation. Defeat, difficulty, loss, separation. Fortunately, nothing is set in stone yet. What is your star sign, my lady?”

“June 23rd! I am a Cancer.”

“When the ‘Swords’ card meets Gemini, the combination is so explosive that no one can reverse it. You narrowly avoided it by a single day. You are lucky, very lucky.”

The Gypsy woman held out the deck, urging Lucrezia to draw a second card. With a trembling hand, Lucrezia turned over the second card. It was ‘The Fool’. The Fool card was reversed, making it look at a glance like ‘The Hanged Man’.

“This is the cause of your current predicament. Someone who knew nothing acted out of turn and ruined everything.”

In truth, the reversed ‘Fool’ card signified ‘recklessness’ and ‘foolishness’. The card was pointing to Lucrezia's own actions as the cause of her current situation. But the Gypsy woman was a skilled fortune teller. She would never say anything that might scare off a fish already on the hook. So she subtly shifted the cause of the trouble to an external source, telling her client what she wanted to hear.

“Yes! That's exactly right! How did you know!”

Lucrezia nodded her head so vigorously it seemed she was on the verge of tears. It had been so long since she had met someone so understanding. Truly, no one in the de Mare household ever listened to her. The Cardinal now came into the bedchamber at night, coldly extinguished the candle without a word, and went straight to sleep. Isabella, who at least understood her mother's heart, was impossible to meet for fear of her husband. That detestable youngest girl, Arabella, seemed to have betrayed her only mother, sticking close to the unwanted nuisance who had rolled in from the outside. The head maid, Giada, was ultimately just a servant, and her precious firstborn son, Ippolito, didn't even bother to properly reply to his mother's letters. And her own family was out of the question. They alternated between letters of pleading and threat, demanding money, and when Lucrezia replied, ‘The situation is not good, please wait a little,’ they responded only with curses and rage. Warm words like ‘You must have had a hard time’ or ‘If things are difficult, it can't be helped; take care of yourself first’ were nowhere to be found. These days, Lucrezia had nowhere to turn for comfort. Seeing Lucrezia's ecstatic reaction, the Gypsy woman did not draw the final card, instead gathering the entire deck and tucking it into a silk pouch.

“There is no need to see more, my lady. A new source of trouble has entered your house. Only by removing this trouble will everything return to normal and your daily life find peace.”

Lucrezia's eyes grew wide. *This is... Is she telling me to get rid of Ariadne?* When Lucrezia didn't answer, the Gypsy woman grew impatient. The Gypsy woman had another scheme in mind. She could not let Lucrezia leave just like this.

“But how... to do such a thing...”

Seeing Lucrezia hesitate, the Gypsy woman made up her mind and took out a crystal ball. The tarot was merely a taste. The crystal ball was the object that proved she was truly connected to the spirit world. She rarely used it because of the spiritual price she had to pay each time, but the material reward she was promised this time was too great. Even if it meant using the crystal ball, she had to ensnare Lucrezia today.

“Look into this crystal ball, my lady.”

Smoke billowed up inside the ball, and the faint silhouette of a beautiful girl appeared. Lucrezia cried out, utterly astonished.

“Isabella!”

“Your daughter, I see.”

At the Gypsy woman's touch, the smoke swirled and the girl's silhouette danced. She was now stealing a glimpse of heaven's secrets. The Gypsy woman narrowed her eyes.

“I see a man of noble blood.”

“What?”

“Your daughter will become the king's consort.”

Lucrezia's eyes flew open. This was exactly what she had wanted to hear.

“And then?!”

The Gypsy woman continued to move her fingers. The silhouette of the man that had appeared before Isabella dispersed, and a vortex of smoke swirled within the crystal ball. Then, the smoke gathered again into one mass, and the silhouette of a man swelled to a great size. He kindly bent down, embraced the trembling Isabella, and lifted her to his side.

"There will be some obstacles, but in the end, she will become the king's consort. The blue blood desires her, no matter when."

The Gypsy woman continued her hand movements. This time, the gathered smoke parted abruptly, and the silhouette of a young girl emerged. The Gypsy woman wrinkled her nose. When truly peeking into the fate of the heavens, she could not control the images that appeared at will.

“Is that your second daughter?”

“It is!”

The figure in the crystal ball was Arabella. Since Lucrezia did not consider Ariadne a child of hers, she immediately confirmed that it was her second daughter. This time, the Gypsy woman narrowed her eyes suspiciously and stared intently into the smoke.

“Does she have any health problems?”

“No? What could be wrong with a child? She's about to turn eleven.”

“...I see a dark energy. A plague? Discord? Strife? You must protect her well. Have her take care for the time being.”

Having revealed heaven's secrets in succession, the Gypsy woman felt a strain on her body. She tried to turn off the crystal ball, but it seemed Lucrezia wanted to see something more.

“Seer, my Ippolito...!”

Having said that much, Lucrezia bit her tongue. Lucrezia loved her eldest son, Ippolito, more than her own life. She was terribly curious about her son's future, but she was struck by the feeling that she should not ask. When the smoke filled the crystal ball, even the oblivious Lucrezia could sense it. The game of tarot that could be called ‘astrology’ was over; now, they had truly entered the realm of black magic. She worried that her trivial curiosity might leave the mark of black magic on Ippolito's future. It was a rare display of prudence from the usually unrestrained Lucrezia. It was a stark contrast to how she had peered into Isabella's future as the fortune teller showed her, without much concern. Her love for her eldest son was a step above the fondness she felt for her eldest daughter—it was a poignant maternal devotion. While the Gypsy woman was kept from turning off the crystal ball by Lucrezia's hesitation, another figure suddenly popped up in the ball, without asking anyone's permission. It was Ariadne.

“?!”

“!”

While the two women were stunned, Ariadne's shadow began to powerfully draw in the smoke. Flustered by the sudden rush of smoke, the Gypsy woman gestured wildly with her hands and feet, trying to turn off the crystal ball. But the crystal ball, as if overloaded, did not budge. At the same time, it began to vibrate at a high frequency, as if unable to handle the excessive amount of smoke. - *Crack, cr-crack!* The Gypsy woman felt as if sublime eyes from the void had begun to watch her.

“Oh, no...!”

The Gypsy woman tried to break the connection, but the crystal ball would not obey. An ominous energy gathered. - *Pop!* Finally, the crystal ball shattered into three pieces.

“Gasp!”

“Heavens!”

Lucrezia was so shocked her face had turned white, but the Gypsy woman seemed just as startled.

‘A heavenly secret that should not have been seen...!’

Lucrezia hurriedly gathered her things and shot to her feet. She was about to leave the room. The Gypsy woman urgently stopped her. A tingling sensation crawled up her right arm. After all the causality she had drawn upon to gaze into the crystal ball today, she could not let her target get away like this.

“My lady, wait!”

Lucrezia turned to look at the Gypsy woman, her face pale.

“My lady. You saw the crystal ball shatter just now, did you not? That is your future. If you do not deal with this immediately, something terrible will happen!”

Lucrezia's expression crumpled. In truth, she had tried to flee because she didn't want to hear those words. Once she heard something like that, she would have to respond to it. To deal with something when she didn't even know what was wrong—it was the thing Lucrezia found most difficult in the world. But now that she had heard it, she couldn't not answer.

“What... What must I do to prevent this future?”

Lucrezia was afraid the Gypsy woman would tell her to kill Ariadne. It wasn't that she was afraid of blood. Lucrezia had flogged more than a dozen servants to death over the years. Nor was it because she had accepted Ariadne as her own flesh and blood, developing some affection for her. Lucrezia simply had no confidence that she could win in a confrontation with Ariadne now. She was afraid of her young, illegitimate daughter. Fortunately, the Gypsy woman spoke not of a person, but of an object.

“There must be a precious jewel that has recently entered your home.”

“A precious jewel...?”

Of course, there was a new precious jewel in the house. It was the ‘Heart of the Deep Blue Sea’.

“Its energy is completely at odds with you and your eldest daughter. Moreover, it is perfectly boosting the momentum of the stone that rolled in. With such an item in your possession, it's no wonder the rolling stone is on a winning streak.”

Sparks flew from Lucrezia's violet eyes, so much like Isabella's.

“Bring it to me, and I will perform a purification ritual. If you cannot suppress the evil energy within that jewel, you are finished...!”

*Wait, if I just get rid of that, that bewitching child won't be able to defy me anymore?*