In ordinary times, Gypsy fortunetellers were treated as nothing more than idle entertainment. At best, they were a diversion for women who sought love fortunes through tarot readings.

However, when plague struck the city, or when the country was plagued by natural disasters such as floods or fires and scapegoats were needed, the story was different.

The masses quickly shifted their disdain for Gypsies, asserting they were to blame for all the current misfortune. The Gypsies who were dismissed as incompetent yesterday were transformed into formidable servants of the devil today.

During chaotic times, it was commonplace for heresy inquisitors to chase after Gypsies, accusing them of being witches in league with the devil.

Thus, those who had much to lose were especially careful not to get involved with misguided sorts like fortune tellers. Nobility and clergy, including their families, were particularly cautious.

However, this fortune teller had been famous throughout San Carlo for over 20 years. She gained her reputation as a confidante to Countess Rubina, mother of Count Cesare.

This Gypsy woman accurately predicted that Rubina, then a lusty young woman, would become the King’s woman. The woman’s extraordinary abilities did not stop at one prediction. She foretold of Cesare’s birth before it even happened.

“Certainly, it will be a son.”

She said she had found out who the child in Countess Rubina’s womb was by examining the celestial paths.

She was still Rubina’s closest confidante, offering valuable advice whenever Rubina faced a crossroad.

Lucrezia thought to herself.

“If Countess Rubina hasn’t been dragged off to the heresy inquisitors in the past 20 years, wouldn’t I be safe as well?”

Lately, Lucrezia was suffocated with anxiety. Nothing was going right, and there was no guarantee that things would get better in the future.

Her golden child, Isabella, had been confined to her room under disciplinary action by Cardinal de Mare, unable to set foot outside, and she herself was being monitored by a detestable child her husband had brought from outside.

Lucrezia let out a deep sigh unknowingly.

“Do you feel suffocated?”

At the Gypsy woman’s question, Lucrezia’s eyes widened.

“That’s right!”

“Do you have trouble sleeping at night, and do you have headaches?”

“That’s right!”

“You have worries at home. Something new has come in, it wasn’t there originally.”

“Oh my, that’s right!”

Lucrezia sat on the round embroidered cushion laid in front of the Gypsy woman, as if she was entranced by something.

“Let’s see.”

With the table between them, the Gypsy woman shuffled her tarot deck and handed seven cards to Lucrezia, who had just settled down.

“Draw three cards.”

With trembling hands, Lucrezia chose the first card. It was the ‘Swords’ card, brilliantly decorated with silver foil and red dye on thick paper. Behind the main figure, eight yellow flowers were drawn. It was the Eight of Swords.

The Gypsy woman clicked her tongue.

“This is your current situation. Defeat, hardship, loss, parting. Fortunately, it’s not yet set in stone. What’s your zodiac sign, ma’am?”

“June 23rd! It’s Cancer.”

“When the ‘Swords’ card meets Gemini, it has a destructive power that no one can overturn. You narrowly escaped by a day. You’re lucky, you’re lucky.”

The Gypsy woman extended the deck and urged Lucrezia to draw the second card. With trembling hands, Lucrezia turned over the second card.

It was ‘The Fool’ card. ‘The Fool’ card was flipped over, and at first glance, it looked like ‘The Hanged Man’ card.

“This is the cause of this situation. Someone foolishly ruined things without knowing anything.”

In fact, the meaning of the reversed ‘Fool’ card was ‘rashness’ and ‘foolishness’. The card pointed out that Lucrezia’s actions had led to her current predicament.

But the Gypsy woman was an experienced fortuneteller. She never made remarks that could drive away the fish she had caught. So, she subtly told her client what she wanted to hear, suggesting the cause of the accident was external to Lucrezia.

“That’s right! It’s accurate! How do you know!”

Lucrezia nodded fiercely, as if she could shed male tears. It had been a while since she found someone who understood her. Really, nobody in the De Mare household listened to her.

The Cardinal would now enter his bedroom at night, say nothing, turn off the cold candles and go straight to bed. Isabella, who understood her mother’s heart well, could not meet her because she was afraid of her husband.

The youngest Arabela, a girl with no ill will, clung to the street thug who had rolled in from outside, as if she had betrayed her only mother.

The bottom line was that Giada was just a subordinate, and Ippolito, the eldest son who was cherished, didn’t even respond properly to his mother’s letters.

There was no need to mention her family members. They alternated between pleading and threatening letters for money, and when Lucrezia replied, ‘The situation is not good, please wait a little’, they only repeated insults and anger.