He glanced briefly at Janovi.

“Today, in front of His Majesty the King, all of San Carlo, and even foreigners, at the hunting ground, I heard that you belittled Janovi, your own nephew, more than Ariadne, who should be your child and my child.”

Cardinal de Mare theatrically waved his hand in the air.

“Isn’t that such a petty story to others? ‘Cardinal de Mare is a complete fool. He cherished a woman who values her natal home more than the Cardinal’s dining table as his wife, and he didn’t even have another mistress.'”

Lucrezia was trembling with anger.

Even Isabella, who had been crying out of fear, held her breath, and only Janovi was still unable to grasp what was being said, sinking into his own misfortune with a bad head.

“I plan to cut off all support to the de Rosi family in the future.”

Cardinal de Mare stared at Lucrezia with a deep green gaze.

“Is this man thinking, ‘I’ve already prevented him from sending money to his natal home, what is he doing?'”

Lucrezia shuddered as if she had been hit, and once again looked down at the floor.

“I knew that you were secretly sending money to the de Rosi family. I didn’t want to embarrass you by digging into it every day, so I just let it slide. But now it’s over. Not a single ducat, no, not even a single florin of my money is worth it for these ungrateful people.”

Cardinal de Mare turned to Ariadne. Ariadne, who had been enjoying being out of the spotlight, was surprised and quickly lowered her head.

“Father.”

“Ariadne.”

He looked at his second daughter for a moment and then continued his conversation with Lucrezia.

“From now on, Ariadne will inspect your account books. After writing your accounts carefully, bring them to Ariadne once a week for inspection.”

“…!”

Lucrezia’s face twisted. This was not only a humiliation but also a sign that it would be difficult for Lucrezia to wield her power as the unique mistress of this house.

Because if there is anything strange in the expense details, Ariadne will immediately tell Cardinal de Mare. Now she can’t spend money as she pleases, she must have a legitimate ‘reason’ to spend.

“Ariadne. If you see anything suspicious in the accounts, confirm it all and bring it to me. Not even a single potato or cabbage going to the de Rosi family can I endure.”

He estimated for a moment and then added.

“Probably at least 20 ducats (about 20 million won) a month are going to the de Rosi side. Catch that much each month. We need to block it.”

Ariadne bowed her head politely but firmly.

“Yes, Father.”

Cardinal de Mare addressed Janovi, who was knelt down in the corner with his limbs bound.

“Tell this story to your parents, grandfather, and grandmother without leaving a word out. Say that it was because you, not knowing your place, shot a crossbow at the daughter of Cardinal de Mare that this happened. That it is all because of Janovi de Rosi that the de Rosi family is going to starve to death.”

As Janovi was trembling, Cardinal de Mare motioned to his butler Nicolo.

“Take him away.”

“Yes, Your Grace!”

The guards hurriedly dragged Janovi away. They took him to the north dungeon where the house’s prisoners were kept, intending to cut off his limb tendons.

Janovi was dragged along like a dog to the north dungeon. The servants of the de Mare family, who he had thought were beneath him, approached him with their eyes wide and a large knife used for slaughtering livestock in hand.

“Oh, no! Don’t come near!”

Even when Cardinal de Mare said to cut off his limb tendons, Janovi thought ‘he can’t possibly cut them’, but seeing the slaughter knife brought him back to reality. But even when he desperately screamed, there was no response.

Overwhelming force crushed him and the slaughter knife tore his shoulder tendons, then his Achilles tendon.

“Ahhhhhh!”

It was a moment when an individual trying to clumsily use personal violence succumbed to the violence of a group. His future was ended by the oppression of the stronger party.

Janobi was dragged out and soon a sound, as if a pig was being butchered, echoed regularly four times from the basement.

Lucrezia, having heard her nephew’s screams, was so pale that she couldn’t utter a word. Cardinal de Mare seemed to speak to her, both tenderly and indifferently.

“My dear. Think of it as a good excuse to free yourself from those scoundrels.”

And with that, he abruptly left Lucrezia’s reception room. His comfort, which was not comfort, seemed to provide no consolation to her.

Lucrezia, disbelieving the situation, shivered like an aspen, her knees wrapped in her arms.

Ariadne, having finished all her observation, thought there was no need to stay any longer, prayed, and stood up to leave the room. That’s when Lucrezia screamed in a possessed, tearing voice.

“You! Possessed witch! Nothing has been going right since you came!”

If the Ariadne of her previous life was a ghost, then the current Ariadne was indeed a possessed witch. Lucrezia always had a beastly instinct for approaching the truth. She responded with a blank expression.