“Hoping Hippolyte will become a great man and succeed? Hardly! How can he become a clearheaded bureaucrat, a renowned soldier, a faithful clergyman, having a mother like you with no judgment?”

Arabella, who was stuck between her parents arguing fiercely, wriggled to escape Lucrezia’s grip. But neither Cardinal de Mare nor Lucrezia cared about their daughter’s safety.

“A mother like you. It’s better not to have one.”

Cardinal de Mare stood up and looked at Nicolo, the butler who was trembling in the corner with Ariadne.

“Look, send this woman to the Bergamo estate immediately. Keep her in a small room in the Bergamo estate where she can’t meet anyone.”

Butler Nicolo bowed deeply.

“I will obey your command, Your Eminence!”

Upon hearing his words, Lucrezia screamed, shaking Arabella, who she was embracing.

“Say something to your father!”

Arabella, pale, was just shaking, unable to say a word.

“You’re my daughter! The child I gave birth to! Take my side for once!”

Lucrezia’s highpitched scream pierced the sky, and Cardinal de Mare approached Lucrezia, shaking his head.

“Stop making a fool of yourself in front of the child on your way out.”

He grabbed Lucrezia’s left hand. Arabella took the opportunity of Cardinal de Mare grabbing Lucrezia’s hand to escape from Lucrezia’s grip.

Cardinal de Mare forcibly removed a large gold ring from Lucrezia’s left hand. The ring he had taken was a family ring of the de Mare, used as a seal by the mistress.

The ring was that of the matron who adopted the surname ‘de Mare’, said to have come from the sea, as he climbed from an orphan boy named Simon to a deacon, a priest, and gradually became a bishop.

This ring had been worn only by Lucrezia from the moment it was created. He ordered his steward Nicolo after retrieving the ring.

“Take her away.”

Steward Nicolo, seeming somewhat uncomfortable, escorted Lucrezia with a bow.

“You must go, you must.”

Lucrezia wailed looking at her husband.

“I cannot go!”

But the Cardinal de Mare seemed to have completely erased Lucrezia from his memory. He turned his head, deliberately avoiding her, pretending he didn’t see her.

Only the underlings were distressed. Steward Nicolo dragged Lucrezia, making sure his words of respect did not reach the Cardinal de Mare’s ears.

“Madam, don’t you know his Lordship’s character well! It is not wise to resist now. Let’s think again after His Lordship has calmed down. For now, you must go.”

Steward Nicolo almost dragged Lucrezia out of the room. Lucrezia kept looking back as she was dragged away by Nicolo.

The Cardinal de Mare wiped the matron’s seal with the hem of his priestly garment, then extended it to Ariadne.

“Here. Take it.”

Ariadne received the shining gold seal with wide eyes. This was the matron’s ring necessary for all financial transactions of the de Mare family.

“I never imagined I’d give this to my daughter, I thought I’d leave it to my daughterinlaw someday.”

The Cardinal de Mare’s face was stiff. In fact, even he seemed to be in a state of disbelief about what was happening.

Like his acknowledged daughter, he was a person who followed the guidance of reason when an incident occurred, and his emotions would follow and overwhelm him later.

“It seems appropriate for this to be in your hands for the time being, considering how you handled your business.”

Having entrusted Ariadne with the matron’s seal, the Cardinal de Mare suddenly felt a wave of fatigue. He staggered and left Ariadne’s study.

“Deal with the aftermath of this damned situation yourself. I need to rest for a bit.”

Ariadne bowed respectfully to the back of her father leaving the room.

“Yes, father.”

Ariadne felt the saying, ‘it is not the strong who win, but those who survive to the end,’ searing through her skin today. Lucrezia had dug her own grave without Ariadne doing anything.

“…..”

Ariadne slipped the golden seal onto her left index finger. The large piece of gold shone brilliantly. It was a ring that Lucrezia had worn on her ring finger, but Ariadne’s slender finger had to wear it on the index finger to barely keep the ring on.

“Arabella.”

Ariadne called out to her younger sister trembling in the corner of the room and gave her a kiss on the forehead.

“Go to your room for now. Don’t tell anyone about what you saw today. I’ll come to your room in a little while.”

After sending Arabella away, it was Giada’s turn.

“Giada. You’re going to have to clean up the mess in this room on your own.”

Giada, who had been at a loss in the corner, finally found a purpose and nodded her head.

It was not right to let any maid see the grotesque sight of the Cardinal’s mansion painted with the blood of a dead animal. It was only right for Giada, who had already witnessed the scene, to take care of the aftermath.

But Ariadne didn’t intend to let Giada go so easily.

“And when you’re done cleaning up the room, we need to talk.”