Except for the gamblers who didn’t care who anyone was as long as they put the money down correctly.
“I gambled with my money and I didn’t have any cash, so I left the bracelet with my friend and borrowed some gambling money. A little later, I won a big bet and when I went to pay back the borrowed money and get the bracelet, that friend also ran out of gambling money and left the bracelet with someone else and got some cash! Recklessly handling someone else’s collateral.”
Cesare shook the bracelet.
“It turns out it ended up with Count Campa.”
He pointed to Count Campa with his chin.
“Tell Count Campa when he sobers up. I’ll send someone in the morning to repay the amount I borrowed as collateral, and that Count Cesare took the bracelet.”
It was a perfect alibi.
Count Cesare was also a person capable of giving huge gifts to women, and a person capable of gambling with that gift as collateral. The circumstances that led him to join Campa Count were also natural.
“So please stop blaming the lady who should have been the owner of the bracelet. She firmly rejected my courting, she wouldn’t have played with a gentleman like Count Campa.”
Cesare, with his handsome face, openly sneered towards Count Campa.
“I will try courting again, can everyone please make some room?”
He approached Ariadne and extended his hand.
“Lady. Let’s go.”
This time, Ariadne also took Cesare’s offered hand.
[This is the time separator]Finally escaping from the crowd and regaining her composure, Ariadne removed her mask and wiped the sweat that covered her face. Not only the face that had worn the silk mask, but her entire body was soaked with sweat.
“Thank you, Count de Como. I didn’t realize things would get so messy.”
“Cesare. Call me Cesare if you’re grateful.”
Ariadne gave a bitter smile. The name that started with the tip of her tongue was so familiar that she could pronounce it all the way through even unconsciously.
“Count Cesare. Let’s stick with Count Cesare. I can’t compromise anymore.”
“Oh, that’s decisive. It’s been less than 10 minutes since I turned all sorts of rumors around to save you.”
“Rumors? What rumors?”
“Like being a gambler, or being dumped by a woman.”
Cesare frowned slightly.
“Or having a woman taken away by the prince.”
Ariadne laughed a little.
“It’s all true, isn’t it? It’s true that you’re a gambler, it’s true that you were dumped by a woman. Especially the part about being a gambler is a public fact. Everyone knows it even if you don’t say it, Count. Only the part about having a woman taken away by the prince is a little different from the truth.”
Cesare smiled at a strange point.
“Oh, lady, do you know I gamble?”
“Who in the capital doesn’t know about that?”
“No, no, you’ve been interested in this! Last time, you even knew I was carrying a club around. Aren’t you more interested in me than anyone else?”
Cesare scrutinized Ariadne as if suspicious. He leaned in, bringing his face so close to Ariadne’s that she could feel his breath, and stopped.
“Miss, aren’t you really just scanning the ‘San Carlo Gazette’ for ‘Count Cesare de Como’?”
Ariadne burst out laughing and shouted loudly.
“There’s no way!”
“A strong denial is an affirmation.”
“No, it’s not!”
After quarreling with Cesare for a while, Ariadne finally spoke to him. Her voice had softened considerably.
“Thank you for today.”
There was regret in her eyes.
“You didn’t have to step in from your point of view.”
“Are you saying this after the carriage ride, right?”
Cesare responded playfully.
“Ah, truly!”
“There’s no need to thank me. I did it to look good to you. So please, don’t return the gift I gave you, don’t lose it, just keep it.”
He paused, then added another sentence.
“Your sister at home will be jealous. Keep an eye out at home too.”
She suppressed a chuckle.
“Do men notice it too?”
“Count Cesare is not just any man. I’m different from those fools who get fooled.”
A lie. You were the one who got fooled. Completely.
“It’s a couple item with me, you should keep it well.”
“Just take this mask and bracelet back.”
“No way!”
A blush crept onto the surface of the longfrozen exterior of Ariadne’s heart. Her heart had softened a bit at the thought that Cesare had stepped up for her.
But standing before her, Cesare felt a pleasure that was slightly different from love.
‘Alfonso de Carlo, I’ve won the affection of the woman you love.’
[This is the time separator]The happiest person after Cesare’s departure was Princess Lariesa.
“There…… was it all a misunderstanding?”
Lariesa was the one who wanted to believe in Prince Alfonso in the first place. She wanted to be deeply engrossed in the fairy tale that the golden prince was a prince just for her. She could have reassembled reality for that.
“Sigh……”
Prince Alfonso, who couldn’t affirm or deny, just let out a hollow laugh. There’s no doubt that if he checked his horoscope for the day, it would read ‘If you were born in 1105 and are a Gemini, don’t get out of bed! It’s dangerous outside the blanket!’
“The Etruscan royal palace seems to have a good relationship between halfbrothers. We wouldn’t have had a chance. If something happened in Montpellier…”
Lariesa’s oblivious chatter went on and on. Alfonso pressed his forehead.
In contrast to the happy Lariesa, the most unfortunate person at this moment was Isabella de Mare. She almost succeeded. Then, out of nowhere, Count Cesare stepped in and blocked her.
Isabella was doubly upset that the person who interfered was none other than Count Cesare, whom she desired.
“Darn!”
Isabella kicked a stone on the ground. She had unconsciously imitated what Cesare had done at the fountain.
However, Cesare was a skilled rider and Isabella did not have the same abdominal and thigh muscles. She fell over with a thud.
“Ouch…!”
A red ruby rolled out of the fallen Isabella’s bag. It was the very ruby that had been set in the Fleurdelis bracelet in question.
“Isabella, are you okay?”
Camellia de Castiglione noticed the fallen Isabella and asked if she was okay. As she reached out to help Isabella up, Camellia spotted the ruby that had rolled out of Isabella’s bag with her bright eyes.
“Oh my, what’s that?”
Camellia asked, her gaze fixed on the red ruby.
“You’re carrying around a gem that hasn’t even been set. Is it a valuable item?”
Isabella growled ferociously.
“Camellia, don’t mind the useless things.”
She had no energy to waste on a petty woman like Camellia at the moment.
But Camellia was not one to miss such an opportunity. She had always been overshadowed, beaten, and ridiculed by Isabella, and now that Isabella was in a pathetic state, it was the perfect opportunity to strike back.
“What a pointless worry, I am merely looking after my injured friend.”
Camellia smirked with a pretty face.
“Prince Alfonso has Princess Ariadne, and Count Cesare has a younger sister, so our Isabella… What will she do? There are no men left?”
My Step-brother Is Obsessed With Me (Female-dominant)
A gentle female protagonist vs pitiful in the early stage, and a sick male protagonist in the later stage
Cheng Songer transmigrated into the body of a vicious cannon fodder female supporting character with the same name as her in a female-dominant novel.
In the original story, the cannon fodder female supporting character was inhumane, committing domestic violence, gambling excessively, being lustful, and even wanting to sell her stepbrother to a brothel for money.
As luck would have it, she just happened to transmigrate at this time.
Seeing Cheng Qingzhi biting his lip, enduring the tears in his eyes, looking pitiful, her heart softened.
She stuffed the money back into the Madam’s hand and reached out to him.
“Brother, come home with me.”
