The Etruscan Kingdom came forward to compensate for the life of the royal family when the Princess of Galico, who had been beautifully raised and sent, stumbled and was sacrificed in a speculation committed by the King’s government in a foreign country.

The Etruscan Kingdom offered a nominal consolation fee, but Galico’s Kingdom laughed it off.

“It wasn’t a problem that could be solved with gold.”

When no additional offer was made to their liking, Galico’s Kingdom immediately dispatched their heavily armored troops to the borders of Etruscan. It was right in front of the Gaeta region.

The Count of Gaeta, who had a duty to protect the border, was half Galican. The land of Gaeta was directly attached to the Galico Kingdom, so all the people of Gaeta were familiar with Galico’s culture and language.

Furthermore, the ruling family of Gaeta had long intermarried with Galican nobles. The current Count of Gaeta was born to a Galican mother and took a Galican noblewoman as his wife.

As soon as the heavily armed forces and artillery units of Montpellier arrived under the walls, the Count of Gaeta surrendered and swore allegiance to the King of Galico.

He smoothly moved from the Etruscan ruling class to the Galican ruling class.

The country was turned upside down.

“How could a nobleman, who has a duty to protect the country, offer his territory to an enemy country!”

“A man who throws away his oath of allegiance like it’s nothing!”

“Half of him is filthy Galican, that’s why!”

“Can you call someone an Etruscan who has a Galican mother and wife?”

The person who unexpectedly took the brunt of this was Prince Alfonso, who had not yet passed half a year since the loss of his mother.

“Our future king also has a Galican woman as his mother and is about to take a Galican woman as his wife.”

“How can we serve such a person as king?”

“There will be a ridiculous situation where the king of Etruscan is not an Etruscan!”

While it was impossible to change the fact that the mother, who had given him life through surrogacy, was Galican, it was possible to change his yettobemarried wife from Galican to Etruscan.

When public opinion worsened among both the nobility and the public to the point where it even spread to tax refusal movements in the capital, Palazio de Carlo hurriedly sent a divorce notice to Princess Lariessa, who was in an engagement.

Palazio de Carlo quickly found a new domestic groom to turn the situation around, turning a blind eye to the proud Duke of Balloa.

There were two final candidates. Julia de Baldesar, the daughter of Duke Baldesar, and Isabella de Mare, the eldest daughter of Cardinal de Mare.

After Leo III excluded all the daughters of feudal nobles, saying he could not tolerate a relative with an army, the only daughters left from decent families with suitable age and reputation were them.

The Etruscan Kingdom, on the brink of bankruptcy, desperately needed the intervention of the Holy See. The odds of regaining the Gaeta region through military power were slim, leaving diplomatic solutions as the only viable options.

Furthermore, the Black Death began to spread throughout the Etruscan Kingdom in the summer of 1123. It was desperate. At that point, the problem wasn’t the Gaeta region, but the urgent need for food and medical aid.

Ultimately, the one who had the power to influence the decision of the Holy See was Isabella de Mare, the daughter of the Cardinal.

“It was a bleak time.”

Isabella’s greatest pride was her beautiful appearance, but it was not her beauty but her father’s power that brought her greatest achievement. It was ironic.

“All we need to do is wait.”

If it was about her father’s power, Ariadne had the same privilege. At this point, Isabella’s reputation had been severely damaged. Even the trust of her father, Cardinal de Mare, was now leaning towards Ariadne.

If the gamblers were asked to choose between the two daughters of Cardinal de Mare as the companion of the prince, most would bet on Ariadne.

It was worrisome that unlike in her previous life, the Grand Duchess Lariessa followed Alfonso all the way to Taranto, but if Queen Marguerite is assassinated, Lariessa won’t be able to marry Alfonso, no matter what she does in Taranto.

“It will be okay.”

Queen Marguerite had been very kind to her. She was a fair and strict mistress of the nation, but at the same time, she was a kind person.

She had offered a warm hand to Ariadne, who had no reason to be favored, several times.

“What can I do?”

Ariadne shook her head to dismiss the guilt of conscience.

The assassination of Queen Marguerite was a national event. Ariadne had barely managed to secure a little more power within the de Mare family.

Even the Apostolic event of Asereto, where Ariadne had made her biggest contribution, she had only contributed, but did not change the course of the event itself.

The assassination of Queen Marguerite was not an event of her size. She wanted to believe that.

“I can’t help it.”