Ariadne responded to the heretic judge with a calm yet resounding voice that could be heard by all present.

“Our father, His Eminence the Cardinal, was never in collusion with the renegade Alessandro.”

She took a step forward and looked straight at the heretic judge.

“His Eminence greatly feared the heresy of Apostle Asereto, and so he prepared for a public refutation!”

‘Prepared?’

The heretic judge scoffed.

“Prepared, you say? If so, either you should have stepped up as the debater, or put forward a priest with appropriate qualifications. What are you doing, Cardinal de Mare, by putting forward a young girl? Is this a child’s play?”

It was a continuation of questions about qualifications. Halfturning his back on Ariadne, he spoke obliquely, aiming his upper body towards Cardinal de Mare. Ariadne decided to counteract with a counterattack.

“His Eminence respected the Holy See and acted accordingly!”

Ariadne’s voice rose.

“Apostle Asereto was a guest of Pope Ludovico, sent directly to San Carlo by the Holy See! If His Eminence personally engaged in a religious dispute with such a guest, what would become of Pope Ludovico’s face?”

She did not lose any momentum and took another step forward, giving a blow to the heretic judge.

“Moreover!”

Her finger flew right in front of the judge’s nose, who did not even look at her.

“The content of Apostle Asereto’s sermon today was not discussed in advance at all. Any ordained priest would have considered the content of that sermon to be sacred, and censoring it in advance would be an unjust act even if Pope Ludovico himself was the one censoring it! People of San Carlo just didn’t doubt that Apostle Asereto, no, Priest Alessandro, considering his host, Pope Ludovico, and his landlord, the people of San Carlo and His Eminence Cardinal de Mare, would deliver a more general sermon.”

Ariadne glanced at Apostle Asereto, who was forcibly kneeling before the priests under the heretic judge.

“He should have discussed it first, or at least restrained himself! The one who disrespected the people of San Carlo and Cardinal de Mare is rather Apostle Asereto!”

She slyly shifted the blame for the heretical sermon echoing today in the grand cathedral of San Ercole from Cardinal de Mare to Apostle Asereto.

In fact, anyone could have predicted that if Apostle Asereto was put on the stand, he would preach such a sermon. He was a man who spread the word without considering means and methods.

Strictly speaking, this was mainly the responsibility of Pope Ludovico who deliberately invited Apostle Asereto to San Carlo and led the situation where he would preach the Mass, and somewhat contributed by Cardinal de Mare who knew this but did nothing.

The heretic judge seemed to feel a bit pressured by Ariadne’s tail wagging at Pope Ludovico. But she had no intention of stopping there.

“Furthermore, His Eminence was worried about the heresy of Apostle Asereto and was already conducting theological considerations. All the theological bases for the public refutation were prepared. It was just that he could not declare a formal debate as it would be a disrespect to the Council of Trevoro and His Holiness Pope Ludovico! Isn’t that right, Father?”

Cardinal de Mare was completely out of it. He usually disliked his children, except Isabella, calling him father in public places, but now was not the time to reprimand Ariadne for such a trifle.

Even if the title Ariadne was using to call him now was ‘doggie’ instead of ‘father’, he couldn’t have complained.

He caught the lifeline that fell from the sky like a lifesaver.

“Well, well, well! Inquisitor, I’ve been taking the heresy of the Asetto faction very seriously since a long time ago. I really wonder what the Pope Ludovico believed in the apostle of Asetto to send him to San Carlo to preach at the Great Saint Hercules Basilica!”

“Even His Holiness the Pope must have been momentarily blinded by the cunning of Priest Alejandro. Heresy never shows up without wearing the mask of sanctity, does it?”

Ariadne de Mare took the Cardinal de Mare’s lead with a nod. The motherdaughter team’s banter was spoton.

“Respecting His Holiness’s dignity, I could not publicly sanction it, and the sermon being preached on the pulpit was blasphemous, I couldn’t stand it and interrupted!”

The latearriving Inquisitor did not accurately know that Ariadne was in a theological dispute with Asetto’s apostle during Mass.

“Did such an incident… occur?”

The Inquisitor, who had been looking only at Cardinal de Mare and conversing, responded to Ariadne for the first time. His tone was more polite than before.

“Indeed! This young lady stopped the sermon of Asetto’s apostle in the middle.”

“She saved the dignity of San Carlo!”

“How embarrassed we would have been if we had just quietly listened to the sermon of the heretic until the Inquisitor came in!”

“She was brave. Outstanding.”

“The level of theology was also impressive.”

“Like father, like daughter.”

The murmuring crowd in the corridor gave Ariadne more strength.

Cardinal de Mare did not miss the opportunity that fell from the sky. He quickly pushed the Inquisitor off the stage in the middle of the stage.

“Inquisitor! I… no, the Diocese of San Carlo has fulfilled its duty to be faithful! Even if it’s the Pope’s decree, don’t waver about this matter until you receive it!”

“But, Cardinal de Mare…”

“Do you have the authority? It’s out of the question to link a faithful diocese with heresy without the permission of His Holiness the Pope. Now, quickly punish the sinner. Let’s wrap up quickly and return to our places.”

The Inquisitor could no longer question Cardinal de Mare and took the apostle of Asetto, bound in rope, and left.

It would take at least 3 weeks to report to Pope Ludovico by letter and wait for further instructions. She was safe until then.

In the chaotic Great Saint Hercules Basilica, where Cardinal de Mare took people and left, Ariadne finally took a deep breath. Her palms were sweaty all over. Her face was red hot with tension and excitement.

The murmuring people kept glancing at Ariadne as they left the Great Saint Hercules Basilica.

Even though it had just started to rain, all the people inside the huge Saint Hercules Basilica, which could accommodate up to 50,000 people, were focusing on Ariadne in her modest black dress.

No one remembered the beautiful Isabella at this moment.

On the way home in the carriage, Ariadne reflected on the events of the day.

The family had escaped when the chaos broke out and had returned to the cardinal’s residence first, and Cardinal de Mare was so preoccupied with handling the aftermath of the incidents that Ariadne was riding in the cardinal’s luxurious silver carriage alone.

While Cardinal de Mare was worried about being held accountable, this incident was going to end without punishing Cardinal de Mare.

This time, Ariadne, the blood relative of the Cardinal, stepped forward and stopped the sermon of the heretical priest in front of everyone. There was not enough grounds to condemn the cardinal for not being faithful.

In her past life, everyone in San Carlo had been listening to the sermon of Asetto’s apostle, who would soon be causing a stir, without rebelling.

But even then, Pope Ludovico eventually ended this incident without inflicting substantial harm on Cardinal de Mare.

‘Instead, I got engaged to Cesare de Como.’

Ariadne let out a hollow laugh. One’s life, just for such a reason, was thrown into the abyss.