“Duke Mireille was found wearing the clothes of a coachman from Palacio Carlo. The carriage was a mess in an area where the Galician delegation had no business being, and the real coachman was found drugged and in his underwear. Her Majesty the Queen tried to make this case as unrelated to Prince Alfonso as possible, based on these facts, and I advised her on this.”
“You did?”
Cardinal de Mare questioned Ariadne with a bewildered look. No matter how talented she was in theology, his second daughter was ultimately just a fifteenyearold girl.
In his mind, Ariadne’s cleverness was something she had gained from books. His second daughter had no opportunity to be exposed to politics or cunning schemes.
But Ariadne answered without a hint of fluster.
“Yes, I was fortunate. Her Majesty Queen Margaret was aware that this could be related to the antiGalician sentiment, and wanted to hear the opinion of a native Etruscan.”
It was necessary to add a natural reason for her involvement in the situation. Excuses were only as good as their creation.
“Lady Carla, a trusted servant of Her Majesty the Queen, is a skilled courtier, but as a Galician, she had difficulty understanding the mindset of the Etruscans. Countess Marquez, a person whom Her Majesty the Queen heavily relies on, was unsuitable for consultation as her husband was deeply involved in the marriage negotiations with the Kingdom of Galicia.”
Ariadne decided to add a bit more here. The one thing that could motivate Cardinal de Mare was ‘greed.’ The desire for the De Mare family to remain noble forever.
“Father, this is my chance to advance as a confidante of Queen Margaret.”
It would normally be a vain connection since the Queen was supposed to die this month. But what if Ariadne truly saved Her Majesty’s life?
“I will elevate the name of de Mare.”
Royals kept noble ladies who were to their taste around them as maids of honor. Being in that inner circle came with many privileges.
Of course, this included arranging good marriagesalthough Ariadne was eyeing the lord’s songood business opportunities, appointments to positions, and if they managed to impress the king and queen, even the title that Cardinal de Mare dreamed of was possible.
“Yes, yes. Be careful not to get caught, and serve the Queen well when you are near her.”
Cardinal de Mare didn’t forget to advise.
“If there’s a good opportunity, make sure to share it with your brother and sister as well. We’re a family. We rise and fall together.”
Why didn’t this lovely family rhetoric apply to me in my past life, Father? Ariadne swallowed the question she wanted to ask and respectfully lowered her head.
“Will there be anything else?”
Cardinal de Mare, mollified by Ariadne’s docile response, spoke with a nod.
“Speak up if you need support from the family.”
The words she had been waiting for.
“So, Father.”
Ariadne deftly segued into an unrelated topic.
“The time to harvest the wheat is soon. I want to make a large purchase of wheat this time.”
“Wheat? Why do you suddenly want wheat?”
The wheat sown in autumn was harvested from May to June. Ariadne intended to carry out the wheat hoarding this time, which she had failed last time due to Lucrezia’s interference. If she had bought then, she would have had to buy old wheat, but now she could hoard new wheat harvested at its peak, so now was rather better.
“The Langbuye Orphanage, managed by Her Majesty the Queen, suffers from a shortage of food every winter. They survive winter on the turnips they produced themselves, but if the poor people die out at that time, the reputation of the Queen’s Palace would be tarnished, so they are worried every year.”
“Ho, ho….”
“If you hoard wheat in advance this summer and donate it to the Langbuye Orphanage in winter, wouldn’t it be a great help to rise as a close associate of Her Majesty the Queen?”
Of course, Ariadne had no intention of donating for free. When the Black Death breaks out, the next year’s farming will also fail.
Ariadne was determined to be the only person holding food throughout the Etruscan Kingdom in 1124.
“What amount are you thinking of?”
In fact, Ariadne would have liked to stack at least 100,000 ducatos’ worth of wheat (approximately 1 trillion won). It’s enough to feed the entire San Carlo for a year. Ariadne was firmly aware of the future where the price of wheat would skyrocket. It’s like swimming with feet on the ground.
But there was no way Cardinal de Mare, who was ignorant of the situation, would approve of such a large amount. In fact, it wasn’t an amount that the de Mare family could procure on their own, let alone using the funds of the Holy See.
“……Well, about 20,000 ducatos (about 200 billion won)?”
She called a compromise amount and watched the reaction of Cardinal de Mare.
Cardinal de Mare looked at Ariadne as if his eyeballs were about to pop out.
“What? 20,000 ducatos?”
Male lead is a Destined Young Husband (Female-dominant)
One-sentence summary: Wife-master, listen to my explanation!
Li Ruantang, a young lady from a prestigious family, stumbled and fell. When she woke up, she saw a noble and beautiful young man sitting by her bedside, wiping away tears.
The young master had slightly reddened eyes, and his every move exuded charm.
The sight made Li Ruantang’s eyes hot and her heart flutter. After all, she had made a bet with the young master Meng from the neighboring family. If she couldn’t marry a husband before the end of the year, she would have to admit defeat and give up the jade she had worked so hard to obtain.
Outside the window, the flowers were in full bloom.
Rather than losing the bet, the jade, and her face, Li Ruantang calculated that it would be better to seek marriage with the young master in front of her, killing three birds with one stone.
…
Meng Jun never thought that an accident during a spring outing would lead to them rolling down a cliff and into a river, yet still survive.
Now they were trapped in an unknown village, and Meng Jun had overheard that the family who had rescued them had their own intentions.
After all, it was Li Ruantang who had lost her mind and sought marriage first. He was only trying to protect himself!
Glancing at Li Ruantang, who was listing her own merits, the young husband’s voice softened, and he blushed as he lied, “W-wife-master, Wife-master, don’t you remember me?”
The young husband’s voice was clear and handsome, coaxing Li Ruantang’s heart to be soft and sweet, and she spared no effort to protect him.
It wasn’t until they returned to the capital that Li Ruantang suddenly remembered.
When they had fallen off the cliff, in order not to implicate Wei Yunruo, whom he secretly admired, the young husband had instead pulled her, who was slightly farther away, down the cliff with him…
Short summary by Yuushi L: Initially, the male lead (ML) liked another girl, while the female lead (FL) liked the ML. Both fell off a cliff. The FL temporarily lost her memory, and the ML, fearing others might take advantage of him, claimed FL was his wife while they were staying in a village. Later, when they returned home, the FL regained her memories and remembered that the ML liked someone else, so she kept her distance from him. However, during their time living together in the countryside, the ML’s view of the FL had completely changed. From this point, his pursuit of the FL begins.
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