Sancha closely followed Ariadne as she left the Rambouillet Orphanage. She couldn’t help but ask urgently, her eyes wide open.

“Miss, do you really intend to make Maletta the legitimate wife of Sir Epolito?!”

Ariadne gave a light laugh.

“I am not His Majesty the King. How could I arrange a marriage that both the man and his parents dislike?”

“But you promised……”

“What I promised was not to arrange her marriage.”

Ariadne had promised Maletta that she would “find a place for her in the family.”

There was no promise anywhere that it would be the place of a legitimate wife. That ‘place’ could be the place of a mistress, or the place of a forgotten lover raising a child out in the countryside.

Hearing Ariadne’s explanation, Sancha’s mouth fell open.

“Even if things go well and Maletta is brought in as a concubine, she would surely go crazy.”

“And what would she do if she goes crazy? Would she accuse me of breaking the contract to the royal family?”

Here, Sancha raised a question. If one is going to act like a scoundrel, why not pursue efficiency to the end?

“If Maletta has no way to enforce the promise, then we don’t even need to bother to tell His Eminence Cardinal de Mare about the marriage, right? Thanks for the testimony, now leave. That would work!”

“The testimony comes first, and the place comes later, so it could work.”

Ariadne smiled with a bit of bitterness in her smile.

“But I don’t want to become that kind of person.”

A person who abandons all their promises like disposable objects. Cesare de Como.

If you live as you please, you will cease to be human.

“I did promise, so I will tell Father. But I don’t think he will accept it.”

“Then will Maletta become Sir Epolito’s mistress?”

“Would Epolito want to keep a woman he’s tasted once by his side again? I think if things go well, Maletta might end up going down to the Bergamo farm to raise her bastard child quietly.”

Ariadne and Sancha returned to the de Mare mansion in silence in their carriage.

“Such scandals should be set off when there are many people in the capital.”

“Even if you try to hide it, it will inevitably leak out… The speed of the rumors will be amazing.”

“That’s right. When the royal palace returns from Taranto to San Carlo, let’s arrange a meeting with Father.”

Maletta and Sancha were of the same blood. The two sisters were very different in character, but they had one thing in common. They were both very aggressive.

When famine struck, their parents were among the first to abandon their hometown and rise to the capital.

It was better to try something than to sit still and wait for the end. The results of that adventure were not good, but that adventurous spirit was passed on to their daughters.

However, along with that adventurous spirit, Sancha inherited patience. All Maletta received was the adventurous spirit.

“Why is there no contact?!”

Starting on the third day after Ariadne’s departure, Maletta began to become increasingly anxious.

“I must return before Sir Epolito forgets me!”

Maletta’s mind was still full of flowers. She couldn’t imagine that Epolito had abandoned her.

She believed it must be due to Lady Lucrezia’s whims, that Sir Epolito was waiting for her. But even Maletta, who didn’t fully understand Epolito, understood one thing well.

Epolito didn’t love Maletta.

He was a noble who easily got bored, and if Maletta didn’t show up in front of him for a long time, he would truly lose all interest in her.

“I can’t just sit here like this.”

Maletta gritted her teeth. When she was driven out of the de Mare mansion, she literally had nothing. All she had were the clothes on her back. In any case, she couldn’t last long in this state.

“I must do something.”

Miss Ariadne had answered her quickly, but she took no action. When was she going to call her?!

Moreover, with Madam Lucrezia holding the fort at home, there was no way to contact Miss Ariadne again. If he could have entered the house, he would have rather met Sir Ippolito and pleaded with him.

“……Let’s meet with the Archbishop.”

The Archbishop de Mare was the clergyman in charge of the San Ercole Cathedral. The clergyman — regardless of the reality — was a person who should guide the souls of the people, so theoretically, they had to meet with the poor.

Besides, he was commuting to and from the San Ercole Cathedral every day, at least. Even if the interview request was denied or indefinitely postponed, he could meet if he threw himself in front of the carriage on the commute.

“Let’s go.”

Maletta stood up from his seat. As soon as the words came out, he planned to leave today. The San Ercole Cathedral was about half an hour away on foot anyway.

Maletta put on the cloak given to him from the Lambuye Refuge.

“Madam! Madam!”

Lucrezia looked annoyed at Loretta, who was rushing into her room.

“What’s the fuss all about? It’s noisy. It’s giving me a headache.”

“This is not the time, madam! There’s someone who claims to have seen Maletta!”

“What?!”