“Me too?”

“How would I know whether what I am meeting is an astrologer or just a Moor passing by without you?”

Ariadne fired back, irritated at Giada’s constant attempts to evade responsibility.

“I need to hear what that woman told my mother.”

Ariadne called for the carriage to be prepared. The designated coachman was Giuseppe, who knew the way.

Ariadne planned to first meet the Moorish astrologer and try to shut him up. She would try to talk first, but if that didn’t work, she would resort to more forceful means.

It would be quite troublesome if the story that Cardinal de Mare’s government practiced black magic within the cardinal’s mansion reached the ears of Countess Rubina. It would be a bonus if she could learn something about regression in the meantime.

“Miss, the carriage is ready!”

Despite the coachman’s hurry, Ariadne stood in the room for a moment in thought. Eventually, she picked up a protective dagger and tucked it into her bosom.

“Ready.”

Ariadne, pulling Giada who was frozen in her gaze, immediately got on the carriage.

“Let’s go.”

Before being expelled to the Bergamo territory, Lucrezia had a brief time to collect her belongings.

“Madam. You need to hurry. If you catch the eye of His Eminence, ring the bell.”

Butler Nicolo kept an eye on his surroundings and urged her seriously.

Lucrezia first hurriedly collected her valuables and cash. Gold coins could be useful wherever she went. She also packed all kinds of jewels and accessories.

Her gaze rested on a corner of the desk after she had collected all the gold coins from the small safe. There lay a tiara with a pink sapphire etched on it. It was the tiara that Isabella had received from Ottavio de Contarini.

The tiara was here thanks to Cardinal de Mare’s strict order to confiscate Isabella’s luxurious items from men and keep them in his room.

Lucrezia hesitated for a moment. For her daughter’s reputation, she might have to return this tiara to the Contarini family someday.

But she needed money now. First, she had her family in Taranto, who were crying out like starved chicks for ten days, and she also had her eldest son, who she might need to help at any time. A woman’s emergency money was a woman’s power.

‘Hey, if I don’t sell it and keep it, I can get it back.’

Lucrezia ultimately chose her eldest son and her family over her eldest daughter. Lucrezia also packed the sapphire tiara into her pocket.

Feeling a bit guilty afterwards, she thought she should at least see her daughter’s face before she left. Lucrezia turned her head and pleaded to Butler Nicolo.

“Can’t I see Isabella before I go?”

Butler Nicolo showed his embarrassment.

“Madam, it’s a big favor I’ve done you by allowing you up here.”

Lucrezia pleaded with Nicolo in the most pitiful expression in the world. It was a pitiful sight that he had never seen before, even as Nicolo, the butler who had been serving the de Mare cardinal and his wife Lucrezia for a very long time.

“To the children… They need to be told what has happened. In that case, I’ll give up on seeing it myself. Please deliver a letter each to Isabella and Ippolito.”

From the possessions she packed, Lucrezia pulled out a ring adorned with a gem the size of a fingernail and handed it to the butler Nicolo. Nicolo let out a grunt and quickly pocketed the ring.

“One letter for the young ladies, one for the young lord. Please write them right away and give them to me. Hurry.”

Having obtained Nicolo’s approval, Lucrezia dipped her pen in ink and wrote the letters as quickly as she could.

The one sent to Isabella was relatively simple and short. It was about how her mother was chased to the Bergamo territory because she fell out of favor with her father and asked her to take care of herself. Of course, it was added that she loved her.

The one sent to Ippolito was long and detailed. To begin with, the paper she picked was different. Instead of a memo, Lucrezia chose a proper letter and started writing a detailed and long letter, pressing each word into it carefully.

“To my beloved son Ippolito,

My dear son, whom I always miss, I have dedicated my life to carrying and giving birth to you, and I do not regret that fact at all. I always want you to do well and be happy. It’s so heartbreaking and sorry to ask you for help, my precious son, and it’s really hard to speak out.

My dear son, please help your mother.

Something bad has happened to your mother. Your father has… (omitted)… been chased to the Bergamo territory. The authority in the house has come to be held by the girl Ariadne. As I wrote in the last letter, Isabella is confined to her room and is in desperate condition, and there is no one to help your mother. Ippolito, I didn’t get a reply from you, are the letters arriving properly? Is there no trouble? Are your studies going well?

It’s almost vacation, won’t you lend a hand while you’re back? Your mother only trusts our son. I’m supposed to be a sturdy mother in front of you, but I’m really ashamed and hurt that things have come to this. But the only person I can trust is our son. I love you, and I miss you, my son.

With all my love, looking forward to seeing you smile, your mother.”

Lucrezia sealed the letter to Ippolito tightly and handed it to Nicolo. She also gave the letter to Isabella to Nicolo. She put them in envelopes properly, but she left them unsealed.

“So these are the two letters.”

There was nothing for Arabella.

“Please do me a favor. Deliver them properly. I’m counting on you.”

“Don’t worry, madam.”

“Ippolito doesn’t respond well, is it not because the way to Padua is long and it gets lost?”

The expression on butler Nicolo’s face became a bit troubled. The letters sent to Padua were being delivered well through a reliable post. It was just that Ippolito was not sending a reply.

However, in the face of a difficult situation, and the only reliable thing left for the madam who had no one but her eldest son, Nicolo was a little weak to tell her the story outright.

“I will ensure that the letters are being delivered properly, so don’t worry, madam. Is there anything else you want to leave for Miss Arabella?”

Lucrezia answered without a change in her expression.

“She’s young, would she understand even if she received a letter. Besides, she saw everything earlier. There’s nothing else to leave.”

Nicolo barely suppressed a sigh and nodded.

“Understood. It’s time for you to depart now. There should be a carriage downstairs.”

Lucrezia followed Butler Nicolo, carrying a bundle of packed possessions and wearing a thick velvet robe. As she moved, she kept looking back at the mansion of Cardinal de Mare, where she had spent the past 22 years, full of glory.