Chapter 3

Cesare snorted.

"Isabella was always meant for me! She was the woman for me. The most beautiful woman should belong to the strongest male. Do you know how humiliated I felt when your father pushed you forward instead of your sister?"

Ariadne stood there with her mouth agape, staring blankly at Cesare.

"Your sister was the most beautiful lady in San Carlo. When I proposed, your father shamefully pushed you forward instead! Can you imagine how wronged I felt? What was lacking in me?!"

In front of Ariadne, Cesare was recounting in detail the sorrow he felt at being rejected. Ariadne was a 'good woman.' She had repeatedly accepted such unreasonable behavior from her man. That was the only way she knew to be loved. She could never compete with her stunningly beautiful sister in terms of looks. Although she loved studying, her neurotic stepmother, using the excuse that scholarship was not a virtue for a girl, had always obstructed her studies, preventing her from learning much. Ariadne had to be 'good.' She was not naturally gentle or kind. However, by giving up her own things, yielding, bowing, feeling sorry, and submitting, she had carved out a place for herself in a world that would not give her a place. Or so she thought, until today.

"Was I just a substitute?"

A smile of disbelief was etched on Cesare's face, a smile that bordered on madness.

"Substitute?"

He strode over and lifted Ariadne's chin with his hand, spitting out his words one by one.

"To be a substitute, you have to be replaceable. You can't even be a substitute."

Ariadne trembled but scrutinized Cesare's expression. His upper lip curled to reveal his canines when he was angry, his high nose bridge, his well-defined auburn eyebrows, the movement of his forehead muscles trembling with rage, and his piercing blue eyes, filled with incomprehensible anger. She knew Cesare too well. Though she couldn't understand him rationally, she had internalized his patterns. She felt that today might be the last time she would see Cesare. He roughly pushed her chin away with his right hand, and Ariadne, unable to resist the strength of the man, fell to the bedroom floor.

"Get out of my sight. Never show your face again."

She had countless hints. It was her own fault for stubbornly clinging to hope like a cow. She had known this would happen.

* * *

Cardinal de Mare, despite his position in the clergy, had many children, like many other clerics of his time. His mistress, Lucrezia, was of noble birth and had three children with the cardinal, whom she treated like a wife. She raised these three children as if they were the offspring of a great noble. The second and eldest daughter, Isabella, though only seventeen, was renowned in society for her beauty and was both Lucrezia's treasure and Cardinal de Mare's pride.

"Father, I don't want to marry that man."

The girl with peach-like skin and flaxen hair pouted cutely to Cardinal de Mare. Her sapphire eyes shimmered pitifully.

"He is as fierce as a beast, and there are rumors that he is a bastard."

Cardinal de Mare stroked his angelically beautiful daughter's head.

"Yes, yes, I understand. He is announced as the prince's cousin, but in fact, he is the king's bastard. I have no intention of marrying my daughter to a bastard."

It was as if the cardinal's children were legitimate. Isabella smiled faintly. Her innocent face, when lit up with a smile, made her look like a cute fairy.

"Father always says to uphold the de Mare family name. I will be the most beautiful and noble woman in this country. I can't end up as just a countess."

"We'll say that Isabella is temporarily ill. We can't force a sick child to marry."

"But we can't ignore the Count of De Como's proposal, can we?"

A cold voice interjected from behind. It was Lucrezia, Cardinal de Mare's mistress.

"We can't disappoint him, especially since he is about to become a Margrave."

A Margrave was a position responsible for defending the kingdom's borders. It could be seen as being exiled from the capital, but it was also a position with military power. However, if the Margrave were to die in a local war with the Kingdom of Gallico, he would not be a suitable match for a daughter. But if they refused to give their daughter to a Margrave with an army, and he were to rebel and march on the capital, it would be a disaster. Even if they couldn't give their most precious child, they needed to maintain a connection, a connection that was better to be less valuable in case it needed to be severed.

"Bastards should marry bastards. Send Ariadne, Your Eminence."

"Ariadne... It's been a long time since I've heard that name."

Cardinal de Mare smiled, revealing his teeth.

* * *

Ariadne's mother was a maid to the mistress Lucrezia. On a night of heavy rain, the drunk Cardinal de Mare took the maid instead of Lucrezia, and when Lucrezia found out, she was furious. But the maid was already pregnant with the cardinal's child. She was locked in a room at the top of the tower right after giving birth, and the child was a daughter who did not resemble the cardinal at all. Ariadne grew up in the servants' quarters. Without proper education, Ariadne, at fifteen, could neither read, write, draw, nor play an instrument. But in the spring of her fifteenth year, the cardinal's steward, Niccolo, informed Ariadne 'miss' to pack her things and move to the inner castle. At the time, she thought her father had finally remembered her. She believed she now had a family, and the noble family beyond the walls had finally forgiven her mother's lowly status and accepted her as a family member.

Family, indeed.

If family meant sucking the marrow out of your bones and then giving you a hard blow when you were no longer useful, then Cardinal de Mare's three children and Ariadne were a perfect family.

* * *

"I accept your proposal. The daughter of the de Mare family is betrothed to the Count of De Como."

When Cesare de Como received this reply, he was overjoyed. Isabella, the only daughter of Cardinal de Mare, was the dream and ultimate goal of every man. Winning her was like being certified as the best man in the capital. With her porcelain-white skin, rosy cheeks, and flaxen hair, Isabella was as beautiful as an angel in a religious painting. When she smiled, she looked like a playful fairy from an ancient myth. But her most striking feature was when she wore a solemn expression. When sadness enveloped her noble and innocent face, anyone would want to comfort her.

And now, Isabella stood before Cesare de Como, looking solemn.

"Miss Isabella, why do you look so troubled?"

"..."

"Do I not please you? Although I hold a noble title instead of a royal one, I am still the king's cousin and the Count of De Como. My future estate will be wealthy and beautiful. There is no better match among the nobles in the capital. I will stake everything to make you happy..."

"It's not me."

"Pardon?"

"The one betrothed to Count Cesare is not me."

Cesare was taken aback.

"But the reply to the proposal was clearly positive..."

Isabella lifted her sapphire eyes, looking at him with a pitiful expression, and spoke in a soft voice.

"The 'daughter of de Mare' mentioned in the proposal is my sister, Ariadne. She is a pitiful sister not well-known in society. She threw a tantrum, asking Father if she had nothing in her life, could she at least marry the best man in the Etruscan Kingdom. Her stubbornness was so strong that no one could stop her."

Isabella sighed heavily, lowering her golden lashes.

"I... have had more in life than my sister. Father said it was time to yield to her this time, so..."

Her dove-gray eyes filled with appealing tears, and she bowed her head as if not wanting to show them.

"I cannot go against Father, Count Cesare."

Her delicate, bowed head looked pitiful.

"I have always admired you from afar at the grand mass. But now we are to become family, and affection between family members is not allowed. Please remember me only with kindness and goodwill."

"But...!"

"Shh."

Isabella placed a finger on Cesare's lips. Her white, translucent finger gently pressed against his soft, plump lips, and Cesare inhaled sharply at the unexpected touch.

"Ariadne is a good girl. Please treat her well. I only came to tell you this."

With that, Isabella de Mare quietly turned and walked back to the family pew in the church. Cesare stared blankly at her retreating figure, then noticed a lace handkerchief Isabella had dropped on the floor. He picked it up and cherished it in his chest. He wanted to smell it, but even that felt disrespectful. He could feel a faint warmth from the handkerchief in his chest. He placed his right hand over his heart, where the handkerchief was.

- Thump, thump.

His heart beat, and he couldn't tell if it was from excitement at seeing Isabella or from anger at having her taken away. When he looked up, he saw Cardinal de Mare talking to people nearby, and a dark-haired girl standing beside him with her head bowed. The girl was unnaturally tall, her hunched back made her look like a servant rather than a noble, and her sun-tanned skin was rustic. He glared at the white-robed cardinal and the dark-haired girl standing beside him. He was so close to the golden trophy. These two have ruined my life.

* * *

"Jacomo!"

"Yes, Your Excellency!"

"Take Miss Ariadne to the top of the west tower for convalescence. She has a madness that prevents her from performing the duties of a queen. She is too ugly to be seen, so handle it discreetly so no one will see her."

"Yes, Your Excellency!"

- Clank!