Ariadne spent the next few days extremely busy. There were many household chores that had piled up during her stay at the palace.

She paid the merchants for their household goods, made contracts for the following year, broke down and repaired old things, and paid wages to the attendants. In the midst of this, she didn’t have time to think about the palace until a message came from there.

“Madame Carla!”

Madame Carla, the queen’s confidante, visited the De Mare mansion directly on the third day after Ariadne returned home.

“If you had given me a notice first, I would have prepared a more sumptuous welcome for you.”

Ariadne greeted Madame Carla in the living room she now used, offering pleasantries. Although she said this, the rose tea she hurriedly brought from Mount Gaeta was a hardtofind luxury item. However, Madame Carla did not even bring the rose tea to her lips, responding stiffly.

“I didn’t come as a guest, but as a messenger. So, no need for guest treatment.”

She took a letter from her bosom and handed it to Ariadne. Ariadne immediately opened the letter she received and checked its content. It was an invitation.

“To Miss Ariadne de Mare,

We plan to host a small banquet at the Queen’s Palace this coming Saturday. We hope you can attend and grace the event.

Queen Marguerite.”

Madame Carla spoke gruffly.

“You said you wanted to become a confidante of Her Majesty the Queen, didn’t you? Her Majesty has taken some interest in you. The number of invited guests is not many. Your seat assignment is also very close. You should know that this is an honor.”

On the other hand, Ariadne was completely thinking about something else. Queen Marguerite was killed by poisoning at a small banquet held in the palace.

‘It should not be time yet, already?’

But Princess Lariesa had already returned to the Galician Kingdom due to an unfortunate event, and the engagement had not been settled. There was plenty of room for detailed timing to change.

“Who are the attendees, by the way?”

Madame Carla snorted, thinking that this immature girl couldn’t possibly be so choosy about the other attendees.

“Are you trying to figure out who the attendees are right now? If you see someone you don’t like, are you saying you won’t go?”

Ariadne denied it with a bitter smile.

“No, why would that be?”

It was a common behavior for the ladies of the social circle to torment those they disliked, but Ariadne had neither the intention nor the leisure to do so. She vaguely skirted the issue.

“I’m just asking in case there’s something I should particularly be careful about, or if there’s something I shouldn’t wear. By any chance, is this a banquet that Countess Rubina is also attending?”

Madame Carla’s complexion darkened at once.

“Well, we couldn’t help it this time.”

Queen Marguerite did not like to attend the same event as Countess Rubina. It was natural as a human being, but it was considered indecent as a queen who had to preside over official duties.

Therefore, at official events hosted by Leo III, or at the monthly Mass, Queen Marguerite had no choice but to attend with Countess Rubina.

But in private gatherings hosted by the queen, Countess Rubina was strictly excluded.

“This time, with His Majesty Leo III… it just turned out that way. As a gesture of reconciliation, Her Majesty the Queen has invited Countess Rubina.”

The relationship between Leo III and Countess Rubina had now been over 20 years. It was quite an achievement for a government to rule for such a long period, but the relationship between Leo III and Countess Rubina was not as affectionate as before, with milk and honey flowing from their eyes and wanting to give each other the stars and the moon.

Rather, the mere existence of Countess Rubina scratched Queen Marguerite, the king did not love Queen Marguerite enough to expel Countess Rubina, who was the mother of his illegitimate child, and it just looked like the queen’s acceptance of Rubina was saving the king’s face.

“There won’t be any problems. That woman has aged as well, she won’t do anything crazy now.”

Ariadne bit the tip of her tongue, nearly shouting ‘No!’ She was getting excited without realizing it.

The queen consort Marguerite of her previous life died at the rare joint meeting attended by the Countess of Rubina. The reason why the Countess of Rubina was pointed out as the main culprit of the assassination was because of that. The assassination attempt is this Saturday!

Knock Knock.

When Ariadne was about to play along with Lady Carla, someone knocked on the door. It was the postal servant.

“What is it, given that we have a guest?”

Ariadne asked the postman in a slightly stricter voice. It was not customary for a servant to intrude when there were important guests.

“It seems that an important letter has arrived, Miss.”