Chapter 82

Ariadne was tense, fearing that Lucrezia might try to make excuses like, "I was just trying to clean up what was in Ariadne's room, and I got involved." It was an era when the Inquisitors' footsteps and blades were rampant. This house was the residence of a Cardinal, one of the highest-ranking clergymen of the Holy See, overseeing the Basilica of San Ercolo and the Diocese of San Carlo. If she were somehow, even slightly, implicated, it would not end well. However, the foolish Lucrezia could not make any excuses at all.

Strictly speaking, the reason Lucrezia could not make excuses was not just because she was a slow-witted fool. She had been caught red-handed, leaving no room for excuses.

"When Niccolò hinted to me, I thought he was just making a nasty joke!"

Lucrezia's confidante, the housekeeper Giada, had encouraged her, but when Lucrezia actually tried to perform black magic inside the house, she became afraid. So, under the pretense of seeking advice, she went to see Niccolò, the butler and her sister's husband. She tried to hint at it a few times, but as the date for Lucrezia's ritual approached, she finally spilled everything.

Before performing the black magic, Lucrezia had confessed everything to Niccolò, except for her own mistakes. After hearing the whole story, Niccolò, the butler, decided that this was not something he should keep to himself. He immediately informed Cardinal de Mare.

If Cardinal de Mare had seized the related items from Lucrezia's quarters and stopped everything before the black magic was actually performed, everyone would have been at peace. Lucrezia's attempt at black magic would have been averted, the frog's blood would have remained in the flask, and the ivory carpet in the young lady's room would not have been stained with rotten blood. Perhaps the whole incident would have been dismissed as a ridiculous mishap.

But Giada's decision came too late. When Cardinal de Mare rushed to Lucrezia, she had already begun the ritual. What Cardinal de Mare found was an absurd, foolish, and unbelievable pentagram drawn on the floor of the cardinal's residence, with his wife crouching beside it.

"Do you even have a brain in that head of yours?"

For Cardinal de Mare, it was so absurd that he did not even feel angry at first. His primary emotion was shock.

"This is the house of a cardinal, a high-ranking clergyman who serves the Lord. I am the spiritual leader of the Etruscan Diocese of San Carlo and one of the thirteen apostles next to His Holiness the Pope."

He pointed at the blood-drawn pentagram on the floor.

"And this is what you bring into my house? Do you want our entire family to be hung on crosses and burned by the Inquisitors?"

Lucrezia, finally realizing the gravity of her actions and the consequences, began to tremble violently.

"That wasn't my intention, Your Excellency..."

Lucrezia did have something to say. She had been caught drawing a large pentagram on the wooden floor of the house because the gypsy astrologer had not given her a detailed and precise explanation.

The gypsy astrologer had told Lucrezia to place the object requiring purification in the center of the pentagram, draw the pentagram with frog's blood, and place burners at each point of the pentagram to burn frankincense and myrrh, which would dispel evil spirits. The gypsy astrologer naturally assumed that Lucrezia would draw the pentagram very large, with each point of the pentagram outside the building.

Placing one burner in front of the stable, the second in a corner of the garden, and the third in the servants' vegetable patch would reduce the risk of being discovered. The points did not need to be physically connected by blood. This was common knowledge among those who practiced black magic. Moreover, the "cursed gem" did not actually have any curse, and there was no need for the pentagram to be drawn precisely.

A pentagram that was skewed, tilted, or even a hexagram would have made no difference, so there was no need to explain the method of drawing it in detail. However, Lucrezia, who was a novice in black magic, firmly believed that she needed to draw a small pentagram with blood, centered around the safe. She had been waiting for an opportunity to use Ariadne's room, but she could not find a suitable moment.

Today was the day the constellation of the Snake Master ended, so she took advantage of a brief moment when Ariadne's study was empty and hastily began the ritual, leading to this situation.

This was a result of a massive communication failure, but explaining this to Cardinal de Mare was impossible, and it was unlikely to calm his anger.

The fire of Cardinal de Mare's anger was just beginning to ignite.

"You'll be dead, and then what will happen to my reputation!"

Cardinal de Mare had dedicated his life to climbing the ladder of the class system, from an orphan boy in a seaside village. It had taken enough time for a scrawny twelve-year-old boy to become a middle-aged man with wrinkles around his eyes and thinning hair.

"What will become of the renowned theologian Simon de Mare!"

Cardinal de Mare had come from nothing and made his way in the world with his own hands. His reputation as a scholar and researcher was the strongest driving force behind his success. Although his pen had become less sharp with age, in his youth, it was sharp, and he advocated for a rational and logical approach to the divine and theological theories, persuading the church to reach the Lord through logic and reason, rather than through witch hunts, black magic, and inquisitions.

But a pentagram of the devil was found in Cardinal Simon de Mare's house.

"This negates all my writings, all my works!"

To think that a man known for his highest intellect was secretly a devil worshipper.

"People will say that Simon de Mare opposed the Inquisitors all these years because he didn't want to be taken away himself!"

He could not understand his wife.

"What were you thinking, doing such a thing!"

Lucrezia, who had started to cry, stammered.

"..."

"What?"

"Our family... I just wanted everyone to be happy..."

"Do you believe that, you woman!"

Cardinal de Mare shouted, half out of exasperation and half out of rage. It was too difficult to have a conversation with someone who had no brain. He had no idea where to start to convince Lucrezia that this was irrational. At the same time, the realization that the woman he had lived with for over twenty years was hopelessly stupid hit him like a wave.

"Didn't you know this would happen? Didn't you know what would happen if the Inquisitors found this!"

"I'm sorry... I'm sorry..."

The past twenty years of leading the household alone flashed through Cardinal de Mare's mind. He had always thought that Lucrezia stood firmly behind him, taking care of the family and supporting him. But upon reflection, she was a massive burden. She clung to him like a leech, sucking his blood. Not only that, but her family came with her as a package deal.

He thought Lucrezia was loyal to him, but her family always came first. He had felt this during the Janovi incident. To him, his illegitimate daughter, who shared his blood, was more important than his dim-witted niece. His loyal wife should have felt the same way. But when the time came to choose, Lucrezia cruelly cast aside Ariadne and chose Janovi.

Cardinal de Mare's blood ran cold.

"Lucrezia, I've given you enough chances."

The way Cardinal de Mare addressed Lucrezia had subtly changed. He always called her "you" or "dear," but now he called her "you" in a more formal way.

"You are a liability to the de Mare family. You contribute nothing."

Lucrezia's purple eyes widened. She knew her husband very well.

"No, no..."

"It seems this is the end."

- *Clang!*

The sound of pottery shattering echoed through Ariadne's quarters. It was the sound of the porcelain doll that Arabella, who had secretly followed and hidden at the entrance to Ariadne's study, dropped on the marble floor. Lucrezia, who had just discovered the young Arabella, crawled to her on her knees as if she had found a lifeline. She clung to her youngest daughter, hugging her tightly.

Arabella, startled by her mother's sudden, forceful embrace, which was covered in rotten frog's blood, took a step to the side, but Lucrezia ignored her and held her even tighter.

"Your Excellency, Your Excellency! I am the mother who bore your children!"

Lucrezia, instinctively knowing her husband's nature, shouted with all her might. Her husband had decided to cast her out today. If she was thrown out, it would be the end.

"I bore three children... three children! I have lived with you for 22 years! You can't cast me out like this! Think of the children!"

Cardinal de Mare was unwavering.

"I am doing this for the children."

He looked at Lucrezia with his cold, emerald eyes, which he found mesmerizing but never understood. He stared at her purple eyes for a long time.

"It's better to have no one at all than to have a mother like you in the house. Arabella? Marriage? How can she have a good marriage with a mother obsessed with black magic!"

He continued, staring at Lucrezia.

"Do you really think Ipolito will become a successful man, a brilliant bureaucrat, a renowned soldier, or a faithful clergyman with a mother who lacks judgment?"

Arabella, caught between her parents like a cushion, struggled to free herself from Lucrezia's embrace. But neither Cardinal de Mare nor Lucrezia cared about their daughter's well-being.

"A mother like you. It's better to have none."

Cardinal de Mare stood up and looked at Niccolò, the butler, who was bowing in the corner with Ariadne.

"Take this woman to the Bergamo estate. Keep her in a small room where she can't see anyone."

Niccolò bowed deeply.

"As you command, Your Excellency!"

Upon hearing this, Lucrezia screamed and clung to Arabella, shaking her.

"Say something to your father!"

Arabella, pale and stiff, could only tremble and say nothing.

"You're my daughter! My child! Say something for your mother!"

Lucrezia's scream pierced the sky, and Cardinal de Mare shook his head and approached her.

"Stop showing your disgrace to the children on your way out."

He grabbed Lucrezia's left hand. Arabella, seeing this, quickly escaped from Lucrezia's tight embrace. Cardinal de Mare forcibly removed a large gold ring from Lucrezia's left hand. It was the de Mare family ring, used as the lady of the house's seal. It had been on Lucrezia's hand since it was made, when he,