From the perspective of Cardinal de Mare, it was an absurd amount to spend 20,000 ducatos to get into the eyes of the Queen. It’s grain for refugee relief. It’s not a moneymaking business, it’s just an expenditure.

“That’s ridiculous……”

Cardinal de Mare, who had spoken up to here, coughed. He had no emotional bond with his daughter, who was brought into his house when she was fifteen years old. They weren’t close enough to have an easy conversation based on familiarity.

The reason why Cardinal de Mare had been unhesitant in front of Ariadne until now was simply because he was the superior, and his concubine daughter was the subordinate.

But now, Ariadne is on the verge of becoming the closest associate of the queen, with the potential to marry the prince of the king—whichever side it was. Cardinal de Mare chose his words carefully, coughing.

“……You’re ambitious.”

But 20,000 ducatos was an absurd amount. It was not only about spending the entire annual budget of the de Mare family, but also about whether they could procure it by mortgaging all their assets.

The palace and the Bergamo farm were not the property of the Cardinal to dispose of personally, because they were owned by the Holy See.

“But there’s a limit to wanting to get into the eyes of Her Majesty the Queen. It’s a rule to spread out the favors.”

Cardinal de Mare quoted a proverb, ‘Do bad things all at once but spread out the favors'[Star Icon], and organized his thoughts.

“The maximum I think of is about 1,000 ducatos (about 10 billion won).”

He called the maximum amount with good grace.

“It’s neither possible nor desirable for us to spend more than that on relief. If you feed the poor for free, they climb up expecting more and more. How are you going to handle it next year?”

All Ariadne did was bow her head.

“Yes, Father.”

However, Ariadne was the kind of person who saw hope in half a cup of water.

‘I’ve secured a budget of 1,000 ducatos for now.’

She was determined to somehow fill in the remaining 19,000 ducatos.

Ariadne, who left Cardinal de Mare’s study, immediately called Giuseppe.

“Giuseppe.”

“Yes, Miss.”

He skipped all the unnecessary small talk like ‘How have you been’, and went straight to the point. She liked that part.

“Take a couple of subordinates and look for a warehouse where we can store grain in the outskirts. Ideally in San Carlo city, but Bergamo farm is also okay.”

She added.

“I wish we had a location that could be guarded by our people even in case of an emergency.”

“Yes, miss. How big should it be, and what is the budget limit?”

“The goal is initially 200,000 Cantaros (about 20,000 tons). Start with 500 Ducatos (about 500 million won) for a year’s warehouse rent. Including costs for hiring and training additional personnel if security is insufficient.”

At the enormous scale, even the taciturn Giuseppe’s eyes widened.

“Is it possible?”

“Yes, miss.”

Giuseppe was not one to say something couldn’t be done. He was even more appealing.

Recently, the Countess of Rubina could not understand the outside situation at all.

“There must be something…”

According to her whispers, it seemed that Prince Alfonso had an accident, and King Leo III was covering it up. But she couldn’t delve any deeper from there.

The clown, who had witnessed the scene in person, was immediately executed without further investigation. The king’s confidants did not easily speak to the Countess of Rubina. She tried to curry favor with Leo III himself, but after he flared up in anger, he did not see the Countess of Rubina for ten days.

“Is this the opportunity?”

The Countess of Rubina held a small porcelain bottle adorned with jade on the outside, opening and closing the lid, smelling it.

She fiddled with the jadeadorned porcelain bottle for a while, then shook her head.

“No… let’s not be rash, Rubina.”

Startled.

She finally closed the medicine bottle and put it deep in the drawer.

She had already weathered nearly half a century alone. She was used to waiting. She could wait a lot longer, until a better opportunity came.