However, Countess Rubina was not an easy person. If her son was as ferocious as a wolf, the countess was like a tiger descending from the mountains.
She slapped away the glass of wine that her son roughly placed on the table.
“Crash!”
The glass that fell on the marble floor broke into pieces with a loud noise. She stepped on the shattered glass, approached her son, and leaned in his face.
“Where do you get the audacity to raise your voice at your mother, you who came from my womb?”
She was so close that the warmth and the sound of her breathing could be felt. Countess Rubina harshly scolded the unmoving Cesare.
“You are going to be king. Just try to say you can’t. If it doesn’t work, we have to make it work, you worthless thing!”
Countess Rubina, who got up, began to stride around the drawing room.
“There are rumors that the king is going to give that child the ‘Heart of the Blue Sea.’ The ‘Heart of the Blue Sea!’ Do you know why I wanted to have it?”
“I know, I know, your astrologer.”
“Stop with the idle talk!”
Countess Rubina shouted, turning to her son.
“The one who possesses the ‘Heart of the Blue Sea’ will become king.”
Her eyes were filled with conviction, as if she was under some spell.
“The person who prophesied that I would be the queen, that you would be the son, all of it. So.”
She approached her son and pressed her finger against his chest. Under her force, Cesare’s torso was pushed back.
“It’s all for you. Bring the ‘Heart of the Blue Sea.'”
[This is the time separator]The king’s gift was to be received at the palace from the queen. Although the gift from the king should have been presented by the king himself according to tradition, Queen Marguerite was to deliver it instead because of a sudden meeting in King Leo III’s schedule.
Having been deeply humiliated by Queen Marguerite in the past, Lucrezia had to hear another reprimand from Cardinal de Mare due to the incident where Ariadne defeated the apostle of Asereto.
“All of San Carlo saw it. The child had nothing to wear and was skinny!”
“Darling, I gave that child everything! I even gave her gold earrings!”
“Why are you addressing me in that way! You smeared mud on my face and now you’re calling me ‘darling,’ ‘you’? So, are you saying what you gave Ariadne appeared decent to others?”
They quarreled intensely.
Although Lucrezia would have felt unfairly treated to some extent, once Cardinal de Mare insisted on checking Ariadne’s wardrobe, they all went up to the third floor attic. When they opened the shabby wardrobe of their second daughter, Lucrezia had no choice but to admit her mistake in front of the cardinal.
There were only three sets of clothes hanging in Ariadne’s wardrobe. One creamcolored suit she wore to the Queen’s Mass, one black suit she wore to the San Ercolano Cathedral, and a dress she couldn’t wear outside.
Aside from the shoes she wore on the farm, she only had one pair of children’s shoes with a round toe. Ariadne wore these shoes everywhere – in the backyard, at mass, and even at the palace.
“Oh my, headache!”
Upon opening the wardrobe, Cardinal de Mare held his forehead and Lucrezia was speechless. It was inevitable that the issue of how living expenses were spent would come up.
“I don’t know where you spend your money. The second daughter almost met the queen twice in the same clothes. Make sure no one can say that our second daughter is starved and illdressed when they look at her life!”
Thus, Ariadne had her first encounter with a luxurious novelty called a tailor shop after her return.
[This is the time separator]“Although she’s young, she’s quite tall and slender.”
Behind the highend tailoring shops gathered by the Tiber River, a highquality tailor shop where Lucrezia traded was well hidden.
The Ragione tailor shop, which had good prices for its quality, was frequently used by Lucrezia when she needed to dress Arabella, who was growing rapidly.
Today, Mrs. Marini from the Ragione tailor shop was at Cardinal de Mare’s residence, measuring Ariadne for her summer outing clothes and autumn clothes, discussing how they should be fitted.
“Your growth will be rapid soon. Not just in height, but also in bust and elsewhere.”
Mrs. Marini winked at Ariadne, who slightly furrowed her brow in response.
“Should I make a deep neckline? I know you haven’t had your debutante ball yet, but your figure is soon going to be like the young ladies’. You’re too big now to dress like a child.”
Normally, a mother would sit with them, meticulously advising how a pubescent girl’s clothes should be tailored, but Ariadne only had her nanny.
After being harshly scolded by Cardinal de Mare over the matter of Ariadne’s wardrobe, Lucrezia, claiming that it would only upset her further to be involved, handed over full authority to the Ragione tailor shop, setting a budget of five ducats (about five million won) to create as many varieties of summer and autumn outing clothes as possible.
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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