“Prince Alfonso, it would be best if you didn’t come forward. Let it be known that it was your loyal subject who saved me from the clutches of the Duke of Mireille.”
Lady Carla looked at Ariadne as if to say ‘what are you up to?’
“And it would be best to submit Lady Lariesa’s note as well.”
“To whom are you suggesting it be submitted?”
Lady Carla, driven by curiosity but still frosty in tone, asked.
“Of course, to His Majesty Leo III.”
Ariadne responded, looking downcast.
“If today’s events become public, the marriage alliance will almost certainly be voided. But that’s not in line with the king’s wishes.”
Leo III desired the marriage alliance with the Kingdom of Galico, or more precisely, the formula for gunpowder, more than anyone else.
“If we announce Lady Lariesa’s note publicly, all of His Majesty’s plans will be distorted. But if we deliver it secretly to him, he will have an additional card to play in negotiations with the Kingdom of Galico.”
She was implying she would sacrifice herself to strengthen Etruscan’s position. Realizing what she was saying, Alfonso cried out in desperation.
“Ariadne!”
He was swept up in emotion, grabbing Ariadne’s shoulder and shaking her.
“Then you!”
The queen’s eyebrows shot up towards the sky. The prince did not notice his mother’s expression. He was struggling to swallow his words.
‘You! …And what about our future!’
If the marriage talks with the Kingdom of Galico continued, and thus if the negotiations were eventually concluded, the place of the princess consort would go to Lariesa.
Ariadne smiled as if she had not understood Alfonso’s unspoken words.
“Your Highness, this is actually my only way out.”
Taken aback by her formal address, Alfonso looked at Ariadne, who pretended not to notice.
“This is the only way to prevent my name from coming forward.”
She calmly continued her explanation.
“Our king, who is desperate for the gunpowder formula and for that purpose, needs the marriage alliance to go through, will likely ask the Galico side not to make an issue of the Duke of Mireille’s death. How about that?”
Ariadne stared straight at Queen Marguerite.
“If we use Lady Lariesa’s note to threaten them, that can be achieved. But we cannot use such a large bait for such a trivial matter.”
Queen Marguerite nodded. She agreed.
“Perhaps, His Majesty will propose to cover up the scandal of the Duke of Mireille and treat his death as an accident?”
It was a plausible scenario if the Duke of Mireille’s faction was not strong.
She added.
“The letter from Lady Lariessa should be written for a larger dream. It’s a huge benefit to keep her craft a secret, and even to accept such a flawed woman as a daughterinlaw. Especially for the Duke of Valoa… A huge carrot, big enough to request the formula of gunpowder despite the Duke’s death.”
Ariadne took turns looking at Queen Marguerite and Lady Carla.
“Whether such a proposal from His Majesty will be accepted in the Gallico Kingdom depends entirely on whether the power of the Duke of Mireille is stronger, or the Duke of Valoa is stronger.”
Queen Marguerite and Lady Carla were silent at the sharp point.
If the power of the Duke of Valoa is stronger, they will try to cover up the scandal of his daughter and negate the death of the Duke of Mireille. If Mireille’s faction is stronger, they will demand blood regardless of the quid pro quo.
“Duke Mireille is dead. Since the Mireille faction has lost their leader, I think they are currently in a state of low capacity for unified response. Your Majesty, what do you think?”
At Ariadne’s reasonable point, Queen Marguerite nodded.
“As you say, the heir to the Duke of Mireille is a lateborn elevenyearold only son. He is unable to cope alone. He is not a person to raise or trust others, so there would be no prominent person within the faction.”
“Then there is a high probability of success. The proposal that I imagine from His Majesty Leo III.”
Ariadne smiled leisurely.
“Then, my name will not be revealed. If we tell everything to His Majesty Leo III, Prince Alfonso will be safe, and I will be safe.”
It’s only half true. In fact, strictly speaking, it’s a lie.
Ariadne’s plan was complex in structure, but it was made up of too many assumptions. ‘Leo III will behave like this’, ‘The political situation within Gallico will be like this’, etc. If just one thing goes wrong, it will undoubtedly crumble like a sandcastle.
Furthermore, some things, no matter how secretly they are done, eventually leak out and become public knowledge. It’s a murder case and a sex scandal. Everyone’s favorite subject. Ariadne knew very well that the secret could not be kept.
But she had a side of her that believed.
“Ariadne, then we…!”
Alfonso looked at Ariadne and cried out desperately.
If the plan that Ariadne has now proposed succeeds, Prince Alfonso and Lady Lariessa will be married.
Prince Alfonso and Ariadne de Mare can never continue.
Ariadne just smiled. She could never tell Alfonso the rest of her plan.
‘Whether this marriage alliance is established or not, it will be broken by the assassination of Her Majesty the Queen, which will happen next month at the latest before early summer.’
She scores points with Leo III by sacrificing herself, and is elected as a candidate for princess when the prince’s marriage is broken due to the death of Queen Marguerite. The scandal might be swirling around San Carlo, but she will have the strong support of the prince himself, who knows the truth of the day.
‘The position of the princess of this country will eventually be decided by a duel between the oldest daughter, notorious as the mistress of the Duke of Campa, and the second daughter, rumored to have been disgraced by the Duke of Mireille.’
Ariadne chuckled. Surprisingly, isn’t Julia going to become the princess in this life?
Ariadne thought of all these plans after entering ‘The Queen’s Reception Room’. There was only one way for her to live.
Sitting down, as Lady Carla was articulating a ‘reasonable method’ with a stern voice, like a sudden epiphany in someone else’s voice, the puzzle was completed and all the pictures fit in.
There was only one thing she didn’t anticipate.
“…Oh my.”
Queen Marguerite looked at Ariadne with deep skyblue eyes.
“You are cunning. But I am the mother of all the people of this country, just like Alfonso’s mother.”
Queen Marguerite concluded her speech.
“I won’t throw you to His Majesty as a sacrifice.”
Queen Marguerite was looking at Ariadne with a determined expression. Ariadne, taken aback, met the Queen’s gaze.
‘Could it be, that look… sympathy…?’
The Male lead Always Seduces Her with His Beauty (Matriarchy)
Xin Jiao Zhou is the leader of the world’s premier sect. She has just experienced betrayal from all sides, was poisoned in an assassination attempt, and faced death squad attacks while the poison was taking effect. After finally clearing out the scum from her sect, she was drugged again while trying to detoxify.
After waking up from a night of unconsciousness, she gained a “beautiful and kind-hearted” husband.
Xin Jiao Zhou: “???”
He fell ill.
She came to see him, bringing breakfast.
As she put down the breakfast and was about to leave, his hand slipped while holding the spoon. “Clank!”
She turned around upon hearing the noise.
He looked up at her, his eyebrows drooping: “My hand… has no strength.”
“Shall I… feed you?” she asked tentatively.
He opened his mouth cheerfully: “Ah—”
Thinking she was drowning, he jumped in without hesitation to save her, but nearly drowned himself. In the end, it was she who swam over to rescue him, giving him air underwater.
After emerging from the water, his ear tips turned red. He lightly brushed his cheek, tucking his sideburns behind his ear, revealing delicate, pink-tinged ear tips. He lowered his gaze, too embarrassed to look at her.
Xin Jiao Zhou: He’s truly beautiful, kind-hearted, and adorable.
A certain someone when disciplining subordinates behind the scenes: “If they don’t obey, just kill them.”
What’s that? She might already have someone she cares about in her heart? A certain someone: Find out who it is, kill them, and then there won’t be anyone.
What? She met a man by the riverside? What? That man even hurt her? A certain someone: Whichever hand hurt her, chop off his entire arm.
Love at first sight without realizing it, gradually falling in love, slowly getting closer…
Family and national grudges, schemes and desires, good and evil, crime and punishment, she and he face the future together, seeking justice with passion!
A naturally dark female lead who could accidentally destroy the world but is actually an honest person VS a weak, pitiful, and helpless but skilled fighter, beautiful white-cut black male lead
My heart is not of stone, how steadfast is your love? — Tao Yuanming “Imitating the Ancients (No. 3)”
— Reading Guide —
Cold female lead & dramatic black lotus with hidden yandere traits male lead
