Sister, I'm the Queen This Life (330 Chapters Left to Complete) - Chapter 273
After the royal palace issued the edict granting annulment of their engagement, Cardinal de Mare took to his bed. Whether he was genuinely ill or simply heartbroken and refusing to see anyone was unclear, but Ariadne didn’t care much either way. He’d probably get better after sulking for a few days. If not, well, that was his problem to deal with.
News that Duke Cesare and Countess de Mare had broken off their engagement spread through San Carlo like wildfire. Everyone was talking about nothing else. Unable to endure the gossip any longer, Duke Cesare Pisano fled to his Pisano estates. He packed up his belongings neatly and reportedly vacated Villa Sorotone entirely.
Unlike Duke Cesare, who escaped the capital, Countess Ariadne de Mare behaved as though she’d never even heard of such social rumors. She didn’t have an extensive social circle and rarely attended high-society events. However, whenever she needed to go out to prepare for her next steps, she never hesitated.
Ariadne purchased a plot of land not far from the orphanage.
“Miss, what do you plan to use that for?”
Sancha asked, concerned.
“That neighborhood is so run-down—the land value won’t even increase…”
Ariadne smiled gently and replied,
“I’m going to build a school.”
“A school? Really?”
“Yes. A school where children can learn basic reading, writing, arithmetic, and simple numeracy.”
Without literacy, children inevitably ended up in manual labor. Even farming required owning land.
Children who possessed nothing but their own bodies were forced into low-paying, fiercely competitive jobs like odd labor or domestic service—the fate of any occupation with low entry barriers.
“Now that I’ve dipped a toe into managing a trading company, I realize how hard it is to find capable people.”
It was inefficient for the company to take in bright children, feed them, and start from teaching them letters. Basic literacy was essential for easier on-the-job training. That was precisely why only the children of merchants—who learned their fathers’ trade by observation at home—became merchants themselves.
The Male lead Always Seduces Her with His Beauty (Matriarchy)
Xin Jiao Zhou is the leader of the world’s premier sect. She has just experienced betrayal from all sides, was poisoned in an assassination attempt, and faced death squad attacks while the poison was taking effect. After finally clearing out the scum from her sect, she was drugged again while trying to detoxify.
After waking up from a night of unconsciousness, she gained a “beautiful and kind-hearted” husband.
Xin Jiao Zhou: “???”
He fell ill.
She came to see him, bringing breakfast.
As she put down the breakfast and was about to leave, his hand slipped while holding the spoon. “Clank!”
She turned around upon hearing the noise.
He looked up at her, his eyebrows drooping: “My hand… has no strength.”
“Shall I… feed you?” she asked tentatively.
He opened his mouth cheerfully: “Ah—”
Thinking she was drowning, he jumped in without hesitation to save her, but nearly drowned himself. In the end, it was she who swam over to rescue him, giving him air underwater.
After emerging from the water, his ear tips turned red. He lightly brushed his cheek, tucking his sideburns behind his ear, revealing delicate, pink-tinged ear tips. He lowered his gaze, too embarrassed to look at her.
Xin Jiao Zhou: He’s truly beautiful, kind-hearted, and adorable.
A certain someone when disciplining subordinates behind the scenes: “If they don’t obey, just kill them.”
What’s that? She might already have someone she cares about in her heart? A certain someone: Find out who it is, kill them, and then there won’t be anyone.
What? She met a man by the riverside? What? That man even hurt her? A certain someone: Whichever hand hurt her, chop off his entire arm.
Love at first sight without realizing it, gradually falling in love, slowly getting closer…
Family and national grudges, schemes and desires, good and evil, crime and punishment, she and he face the future together, seeking justice with passion!
A naturally dark female lead who could accidentally destroy the world but is actually an honest person VS a weak, pitiful, and helpless but skilled fighter, beautiful white-cut black male lead
My heart is not of stone, how steadfast is your love? — Tao Yuanming “Imitating the Ancients (No. 3)”
— Reading Guide —
Cold female lead & dramatic black lotus with hidden yandere traits male lead
I’m still curious of what Alphonso meant by the last chapter
I’m still curious of what Alphonso meant by the last chapter
So Alphonso is misunderstanding now?