Ariadne de Mare intuitively knew that her hands would be stained with blood the day the Cardinal de Mare mentioned ‘disposing of it’.

The Cardinal de Mare had many enemies in the church. The head of the Holy See himself, Pope Ludovico, was one of them.

The Pope Ludovico, the head of the New Church, was eagerly seeking an opportunity to eliminate the Cardinal de Mare, the leader of the Old Church and the bishops of Etruscan.

If word got out that black magic had been used in the Cardinal’s house, it was the end.

Apart from the Gypsy astrologer, the only ones who knew the whole story of this outrageous incident of black magic being used in the Cardinal’s house were the Cardinal de Mare, Lucrezia, Ariadne, Arabella, the butler Nicolo, and the maid Giada.

The family could initially be trusted because they were all at risk of being crucified and burned at the stake if this story leaked out. They were all forcibly in the same boat.

The only worry among the family was Lucrezia. It was worrisome not that she had ill intentions, but that she was unpredictable due to her lack of fear. However, since she was confined in the Bergamo estate for the time being, there was a small chance of her causing trouble.

What remained were the butler Nicolo and the maid Giada.

“……”

Ariadne watched Giada, who was diligently sweeping and cleaning the room as if to prove her worth.

Nicolo could be trusted. He was the one who warned the Cardinal de Mare to stop Lucrezia’s foolish acts.

Moreover, it was clear that the father still trusted the butler. Nicolo was not the target for Ariadne to deal with today.

Giada, who was Lucrezia’s confidante… Ariadne thought that the Cardinal de Mare meant to kill Giada to silence her when he said ‘take care of the aftermath yourself’.

Giada, who was cleaning with dexterous hand movements without knowing anything, looked pitiful.

In fact, even if the Cardinal de Mare wanted to keep Giada alive, Ariadne had to strike Giada today. Giada was Lucrezia’s only confidante. It was a golden opportunity to cut off Lucrezia’s arms and legs.

There was a good excuse. Giada was already a servant who had betrayed Lucrezia once. A traitor once is a traitor twice.

‘Being pitiful is one thing, but what needs to be done needs to be done.’

Pity is one thing, and the safety of the family is another.

So Ariadne stood guard all the while Giada was cleaning, making sure no other servant came in. She couldn’t leave her life in someone else’s hands.

When Giada, who had no idea what was going to happen to her, finished wiping off each bloodstain on the carpet with her hand and put all the incense and myrrh that was stuck on the burner into the trash bag, Ariadne calmly asked her.

“Is that all the stuff we need to dispose of secretly?”

“Eh?”

“Do you have anything else strange left in the mother’s room? You should not find things like pictures of demons or black magic books in the master’s wardrobe.”

Giada finally understood what she was saying and nodded.

“There were also melted gold and some black pills in the bag I got from the Moorish woman.”

Ariadne’s ears perked up at the mention of ‘Moorish’.

“Moorish? Was that astrologer Moorish?”

Ariadne was always contemplating the cause of her return.

She had rummaged through various books since her return, but there was not a single mention of something like what Ariadne had experienced in the legitimate literature of San Carlo. Therefore, the answer must lie outside the mainstream continental academia.

In her previous life, Ariadne was killed by Isabella’s subordinate, a Moorish knight. Something happened then. The culprit could either be Isabella or that Moorish knight.

Ariadne did not think Isabella was the cause of the return. Isabella couldn’t have such a power.

If you were to name the person least interested in spiritual matters, Isabella would be one of the top five in all of Etruscan known to Ariadne.

What remained was the Moorish knight who had killed her, and the red light that flashed in his eyes. If she could meet the Moors, she might know that Moorish knight, and even if not, he might give her another hint.

She needed to start researching the Moorish documents.

“Did you receive it yourself? Did you accompany the visit to the black magician?”

“No… Not a black magician…”

Giada insisted to Ariadne that what she met was not a black magician, but a harmless astrologer, that she had nothing to do with black magic, and that she was a devout believer, and she made various excuses.

She had no idea what the problem was. She was indeed Lucrezia’s trusted aide.

“…An astrologer. The Countess of Rubina said she had been with him for a long time. He’s not a strange person.”

Ariadne’s eyes shone sharply.

“Okay, where did you meet this astrologer?”

“It’s in the back alley behind Campo de Spezia. He was in a detached house on an alley where many Moors live.”

“Do you know the way?”

“I went with Coachman Giuseppe.”

Giuseppe was a young coachman who spoke easily in front of the coach. Ariadne immediately picked up her cloak.

“Let’s go right now.”