Ariadne meticulously examined the corpse that was only left with bones. She stripped off any items that could potentially reveal Giada’s identity from the bones.

There was nothing decisive, and at best, there were only clothes and some jewelry. She rolled them up and threw them into the Tiber River on the way back home by carriage.

Ariadne assigned Giuseppe to a Gypsy woman and immediately sent the Gypsy woman to the port. The task that Ariadne gave to Giuseppe was to keep an eye on the Gypsy woman.

He didn’t stop at just boarding the Gypsy woman on the ship, but stuck beside her until the ship she was on departed, to monitor whether she would escape elsewhere.

She thought that Giuseppe might not be able to return home for about three days, but fortunately, there was a ship departing to the port of ‘Black Salt Sea’ that afternoon.

Giuseppe returned home before half a day passed, confirming the departure of the Gypsy woman.

Sancha attended to her young lady, who was greatly shocked, sticking by her side. Ariadne, who got on the carriage, mumbled, holding onto Sancha.

“I’m so glad I didn’t take you in there.”

Sancha guessed this was a story related to the disappearance of Sisterinlaw Giada. Something terrible must have happened inside.

“Miss, don’t look at the disgusting scenes yourself, show them to me. Whether it’s Giada or the Gypsy fortune teller, I’ll handle them all! There’s no need for you to dirty your hands directly!”

Ariadne did not respond to Sancha’s words. She just faintly smiled. It was a rule that people each have their own responsibilities to bear.

Whether it was the scale of judgement of this golden rule, or this mysterious future view, it was a burden that Ariadne alone had to bear.

When Ariadne returned home, she called the butler Nicolo.

“Nicolo. Sisterinlaw Giada has run away. Tell her family not to look for her anymore because she has gone far.”

Nicolo, who had already anticipated this, nodded his head.

“I understand, Miss.”

Sisterinlaw Giada was his wife’s sister, in other words, a sisterinlaw. But not all family can be embraced. To be honest, in this incident, the sisterinlaw had sought her own death.

If the inquisitor came into the Marais Archbishop’s residence and handed over all the heretics who were casting black magic to the religious court, not only would Lucrezia and Giada be on the stake, but also all the relatives of this house and a large number of servants.

In that, there would have been a high probability that butler Nicolo himself would be included.

He was not such a loyal person from the beginning. His life was much more important than his sisterinlaw. Many people of this age could willingly turn a blind eye to injustice in front of their own safety.

“Miss, I’ve prepared your bath.”

At Sancha’s words, Ariadne turned her head.

“Thank you.”

“I don’t know what happened, but cheer up.”

Ariadne had nothing to say to Sancha except for giving her a smile.

Every human has secrets that inevitably cannot be shared with anyone. Ariadne was belatedly realizing this fact.

In her previous life, she struggled to find someone with whom she could share everything. She thought that Cesare would be that one person in her previous life. So she clung onto him and could not let go.

She couldn’t ignore Isabella either. Being recognized by her beautiful and popular older sister felt like her existence itself was affirmed.

But in the end, they were all just mirages. Cesare and Isabella, she certainly chose the wrong targets. But it wasn’t a problem with the targets. Humans are fundamentally lonely and alone.

Reaching her second life, Ariadne was in the process of realizing this fact, now that she had this strange secret that she could not leak to anyone.

“It’s okay. Thank you.”

Ariadne bowed her head. She was not fond of loneliness, but she was familiar with it. In the end, humans are alone. But she could still survive.

It was impossible to share all joys and sorrows minutely with others. Every human ultimately had their own burden to bear.

“I’ll take a bath, and go see Arabella.”

“Yes.”

The fact that she couldn’t be honest with Sancha was painful. But Ariadne was still able to share her daily life, laughter, and warm bathwater with Sancha. And the daily life she had to maintain was not just that. Ariadne had young Arabella.

Knock, knock.

“Come in.”

A voice, seemingly subdued, granted entrance. Ariadne quietly opened the door and entered. It was Arabella’s room. Arabella didn’t seem sick, but she appeared greatly shocked.

Ariadne approached Arabella who was huddled on the bed and hugged her younger sister.

“There was nothing you could do today.”

“……!”

Straight to the point, Ariadne stroked Arabella’s amethyst hair. She spoke as if she were singing a song in a serene voice.

“Mother has only received the consequences of her actions. There was nothing you could do about it.”

“……!”

“It would have been fine even if you hadn’t stepped forward.”