Chapter 75

After listening to Delphiano's belated report, Leo III slammed the mace on the desk with a loud thud. - Bang!

"Am I a joke to you?"

Marguerite, the Queen, was startled by the heavy impact of the mace and trembled, while Delphiano, who was accustomed to Leo III's behavior, bowed deeply and calmly replied,

"Your Majesty, how could that be?"

"But! If I'm not a joke, why didn't I hear about this matter?"

He slammed the mace again as he spoke.

"Is this how you handle matters in my court, without my knowledge, like a mouse scurrying around? Who did you hide it for? Alfonso?"

Leo III glared at Delphiano with fiery eyes.

"The king is getting old, it's time to support Prince Rayne, something like that, Cipriano?"

Upon hearing this, Cipriano Delphiano threw himself at Leo III, who was standing beside the desk, and prostrated himself.

"Your Majesty, never! I am your loyal servant!"

He carefully chose his words to avoid further angering the king, who was well into his fifties.

"How can you talk about the next king when His Majesty is so vigorous! There cannot be two suns in the sky. Moreover, I, Delphiano, am honored to serve His Majesty, who has shown me the grace of the sun, with my meager abilities. How could I be mad enough to look for the next king!"

Delphiano pleaded earnestly.

"By the side of the next king, there will be old and trusted servants. I would just be a rolling stone! Where else could I go besides by His Majesty's side! Please understand, Your Majesty!"

Seemingly pleased with Delphiano's heartfelt appeal, Leo III's anger shifted to the next target, Marguerite, the Queen, who was standing beside him. The king glared at the queen and fiercely interrogated her.

"How did you raise your child!"

The king's anger continued.

"You always boasted about your son. Alfonso, Alfonso, our wonderful son. Yes, I admit that! Our son, who is well-rounded and good at everything! But how could your son, who you raised so well, make such a critical mistake? Not just any mistake, but a scandal involving a woman?"

Leo III glared at Marguerite.

"The Duchess of Gallico is here, and he spends time alone with the Cardinal's illegitimate daughter? If it weren't for Cesare, the situation would have been clear! He left the Duchess alone and had a secret meeting with an outsider! How could he not control himself when the Duchess visited? Do you know how important the negotiations with the Kingdom of Gallico are?!"

He waved the pile of documents in his hand and shouted.

"What is your purpose in life? You can't even please a man, you're not loved by the people, and you can't even bring substantial aid from your homeland!"

Marguerite, the Queen, bowed her head and listened without a word.

"Raising the heir was the only thing you did well, and you messed it up? How could your so-called well-raised son, who you boasted about, soil the nation's affairs in such a critical situation?!"

The king's anger escalated and crossed a line.

"Who knows if he was hiding in the garden, cavorting with a bastard child? Is that what a well-raised son does?!"

Marguerite, the Queen, lifted her head and glared at the king. She had silently endured her husband's tirade, but she could not tolerate this. She spoke, her voice tinged with the thick Gallico accent.

"I believe in my son."

"What?"

"I did not raise my son to be so shameless."

Marguerite, with her steel-gray eyes blazing with blue fury, stared directly at her husband.

"Even if there was a misunderstanding, what has happened is what has happened. The Duchess herself hasn't realized it yet, but her attendants will soon understand the situation, and we must prepare. The king must resolve the external issues. But I assure you, nothing like what you think happened."

Marguerite was unwavering.

"How could you, as a father, make such accusations without even understanding the situation?"

"What?!"

"I will talk to my son to clean up the mess. I promise, our son will handle it wisely."

Without waiting for Leo III's permission, Marguerite left the king's office. Leo III stomped his foot in anger.

"Hmph!"

Marguerite, the Queen, returned to the queen's palace from the inner chambers of the king. Her only son was already waiting for her in her private room instead of returning to the prince's palace.

"Mother. Was Father very angry? Did you suffer?"

Alfonso, feeling regret for not following his mother to protect her, looked at her with concern. Marguerite, on the other hand, gazed at her son.

"Mother. Yesterday, I had a slight argument with the Duchess of Lariessa, and she went to the garden. I was looking for her when I met Ariadne."

The prince was certain that his suspicious father had concocted a drama in his mind, with Alfonso and Ariadne as the main characters and the half-brother and the Duchess as the supporting cast. His father was that kind of person.

"Though the story is complicated, I did nothing against propriety."

It was difficult for the king to misunderstand, but it was a different matter if his mother misunderstood. If even his mother didn't believe him, it would be very sad. The prince looked up at his mother anxiously. The queen nodded.

"I know. My son, I believe you did nothing against propriety."

Alfonso's face brightened. But this was not just a matter of trust between mother and son. Marguerite continued.

"But let's look into your heart. Can you swear that your soul is pure before the Duchess of Lariessa?"

Alfonso could not answer this question. Was he truly not ashamed before the Duchess of Lariessa? Did he not love her, even though he had just met her, and did he not have other women on his mind? His silence was as good as a denial. Marguerite asked gently.

"The child you like is Ariadne, the Cardinal's second daughter, right?"

After a moment of silence, Alfonso finally nodded, confirming his mother's words. The queen pulled her armchair by the fireplace and sat down. She patted her knee, and her grown son, still tender-hearted, sat on the rug at the foot of the armchair, burying his head in her lap.

"She's a good girl. Smart, calm, and upright. She grew up strong despite difficult circumstances."

Marguerite stroked her son's hair.

"But this is not just a matter of personal preference. Let me tell you a story from my youth."

As she stroked her son's hair, the queen's gaze drifted to a distant place.

"I had a lover."

Alfonso was shocked and looked up at his mother with wide eyes. Having a lover was a serious crime that could be punished as treason against the king. Marguerite smiled at her son's shocked face.

"Don't look at me like that. It was before I was married."

She added,

"Calling him a lover might be an exaggeration. Brother Bertrand never accepted my feelings."

Alfonso sighed in relief. Looking at her relieved son with a tender gaze, Marguerite sighed deeply.

"This story will be a bit long. Listen carefully."

Marguerite's eyes became distant. She seemed to be a sixteen-year-old girl running around the Montpellier palace again.

"Brother Bertrand was a priest at the princess's chapel. I fell in love with his smiling face, solemn smile, and devout faith. This was during the time when my marriage to your father was being discussed. I saw a portrait of your father and didn't like him at first sight. It wasn't about his looks; I disliked his eyes. To be honest, I don't like your father even now. I don't love him as a person. Oh, I'm digressing. So, I confessed my love to Brother Bertrand. I asked if we could run away together, live on a vast plain, farm, and raise sheep. I was naive. Brother Bertrand told me, 'The princess has a mission given by the gods.' He also said he had a mission. His mission was to guide the Princess of Gallico on the right path, and my mission was to dedicate myself to my country. To serve my country, I had to marry the man chosen for me, rule his palace, bear his children, and continue his lineage. It was my duty, obligation, and responsibility."

Marguerite's expression was unusually calm after telling this story. She seemed to have accepted her duty as her destiny. This was not a sign of despair or resignation but a calm and peaceful attitude of doing her best every day.

"In fact, I can't farm or raise sheep. I don't know how to promote commerce or lead an army. I can't create any value, yet I use a significant amount of the people's taxes—2000 ducats (about 200 million won) at the least, and up to 5000 ducats (about 500 million won) at the most—every year, which used to be the princess's allowance and is now the queen's budget. Why do the palace and the people support me? How can my luxurious food and clothing be justified?"

She looked into the air with a faint gaze, not at a specific place but beyond it, thinking about her duty, her former people, and the responsibilities she had to fulfill.

"I had a duty to give back to my country as much as I had received. Brother Bertrand said that fulfilling the mission given by God is the purpose of our existence, and that continuing to make efforts, even if we dislike it, find it difficult, or feel it's too hard, is the true holy sacrifice. I still keep this teaching deep in my heart. Every time I have lunch with your father, every time I meet Rubina in the palace, every time I hear rumors about the foreign queen who can't correct her Gallico accent, and even every morning when I wake up, I always remember Brother Bertrand's teaching. Endure even if you dislike it, and persevere even if you can't do it."

- 'Daily endurance builds eternity. The indomitable spirit of a person is truly noble.'

It seemed as if the proverb from the Apocrypha was echoing in Marguerite's ears. The content of the proverb was spoken in Brother Bertrand's voice, the vibrant and full-of-life voice of his early twenties, the last time she saw him.

"I eventually came to the Kingdom of Etrusca as a bride, bringing the ownership of the Gaeta region as my dowry. In return, the Etruscan royal palace sent 20,000 ducats of gold to the Kingdom of Gallico and lent an additional 80,000 ducats. The 100,000 ducats of gold became the military funds for the Briang dynasty to crush the remnants of Capetan, end the civil war, and unify the entire region of Gallico, establishing the United Kingdom of Gallico. My father became the king of the United Kingdom of Gallico, and my brother and nephew inherited it. My former people could farm and have children on the fertile land without the scourge of war. I may not be personally very happy, but I have fulfilled my duty to my country. Now, seeing you grow is my happiness."

She calmly told the story of what happened to the person she loved. She could now tell it in a calm, monotonous voice, but when she first heard it, she could not have been this calm.

"Brother Bertrand volunteered as a chaplain for the Crusades just before I got married and left for Etrusca. He was originally scheduled to be assigned to the central cathedral of Montpellier after his mission at the princess's chapel ended. The unit he joined was annihilated by disease and starvation before it could even approach Ysak. He passed away somewhere in the eastern wilderness of Latgale. Was he happy? I don't know. Did he pass away in relief, having fulfilled his mission? I believe he did. In the arms of the gods, may he be happy."

After making the sign of the cross, Marguerite's story from the past gradually took on a current context.

"Ariadne is a good girl. She is intelligent and calm. But she is not the one who should be by your side as you fulfill your mission."

Marguerite continued in a calm tone.

"The Duchess of Valois is coming with cannon technology. Specifically, 20 completed cannons and 45 livres (about 15 kilograms) of gunpowder as her dowry."

These numbers were the result of Marquez's hard negotiations with the Duke of Mirail and the Count of Reviens. The 45 livres (about 15 kilograms) of gunpowder was enough for a year