Alfonso could hardly believe his fortune. He thought he would never see her, his feet restraining him from seeking her out, his steps guided merely by duty, yet the person who appeared before his eyes was her, as if the heavens had gifted her to him.

“Ari, is that you?”

A smile crept up to the corners of Ariadne’s mouth. Hidden behind her mask, her warm exhalations still reached Alfonso.

“Yes! How did you get here?”

She wanted to ask about the Duchess of Lariessa, but Ariadne did not want Alfonso to know that she knew about her. It was a futile effort to protect her meager pride.

‘If you choose not to tell me, I’ll play along and pretend to not know as well. Come back to me as if nothing ever happened when everything is resolved.’

Strictly speaking, Alfonso never explicitly confessed his feelings for Ariadne, so she assumed these were merely her presumptuous thoughts.

She vowed to never voice these thoughts, wrapping them up tightly and burying them deep within her heart. However, upon seeing Alfonso, her radiant smile and the energy coursing through her body were impossible to conceal.

“I ended up here while wandering around the garden. I started walking aimlessly and here you are.”

In Alfonso’s mind, Lariessa was already erased completely. He even forgot his mother’s warning. They shared stories about each other’s appearances, the masquerade, and their plans for what came next.

“In midNovember, the entire court heads to Taranto. You’ve never been to Taranto, have you?”

“Ah, I’ve heard it’s the hometown of the Archbishop and ‘mother’, but I’ve never been.”

Cardinal de Mare was an orphan from heaven and had no relatives or estates in Taranto. It was best not to see Lucrezia’s relatives.

Moreover, he was a clergyman belonging to the Holy See in charge of the Diocese of San Carlo, so he didn’t need to follow the Etruscan court to the southern palace in winter.

“It would be nice if you could come along. The prince’s palace can send an invitation.”

As Alfonso said this, he bit his tongue. Ah, he shouldn’t have mentioned something uncertain.

But he wanted so badly to go to the southern palace with her.

The scent of the sea in the dry air, and the shrubs unique to the south with a lower color between dark green and olive, unlike the northern deciduous trees that are blue all year round. He wanted to show her everything.

He wanted to feel proud as he watched Ariadne’s eyes widen at the sights she’d never seen before, and he wanted to continue showing her fascinating and beautiful things to keep her curiosity alive.

“An invitation?”

However, Ariadne tilted her head. The prince’s palace wouldn’t be in a position to invite an unmarried noblewoman to the southern palace.

Alfonso quickly corrected himself.

“Well, due to various circumstances, it might be difficult to send an invitation under the name of the prince’s palace. But you know I have a cousin in Taranto, Bianca.”

Before he knew it, Alfonso found himself revealing his early plans to Ariadne, plans he hadn’t even brought up with Secretary Bernardino. It was a very unAlfonsolike thing to do.

“Bianca of Taranto is the sole heiress of a duchy without a lord, and always accompanies us and spends time with us when we go to the southern palace. If you receive an invitation from Bianca, you can naturally visit the palace in Taranto.”

The relationship between Prince Alfonso and Bianca of Taranto was not bad for cousins. Alfonso was a kind older cousin, and Bianca was a gentle younger cousin.

In other words, she would be open to a request from Alfonso to invite the Lady of de Mare. So even though Alfonso hadn’t heard Bianca of Taranto’s opinion yet, he tossed the idea to Ariadne first.

Once again, it was a very unAlfonsolike behavior.

Ariadne smiled brightly. The Bianca of Taranto was a carriage she had always wanted to see. By then, the Grand Duchess of Balloa would have returned to her country.

“That would be wonderful! Please do invite me!”

While Alfonso and Ariadne were chatting by the abandoned fountain, two uninvited guests moved towards the deserted fountain. The first of these unwanted guests was Isabella de Mare.

Isabella was prohibited from even receiving letters while in seclusion, and could only get in touch with her friends just before the masquerade.

They exchanged letters about where to meet, but before they could come to a definite conclusion, the date of the masquerade arrived.

Judging by the nuances of the letters exchanged up to then, Isabella thought the meeting place would be the entrance of the masquerade hall. However, when Isabella went to the entrance of the masquerade hall, Leticia de Leonati and Camellia de Castillion, whom she was supposed to meet, were nowhere to be found.

Instead, what Isabella came face to face with was Julia de Valdesar and the rest of her friends. To make matters worse, they were wearing Colombina masks that only covered half their faces, and it was bad luck to run into them while she was alone.

“……!”