Arabella wanted to inspect the most expensive, largest, and best thing that had arrived at the house today.

If she could see the legendary jewel that had been the talk of the kingdom a few years ago, she thought she would be able to brag to her friends for a long time.

On the other hand, Lucrezia and Isabella were interested in more practical matters. Something like the ‘Heart of the Blue Deep Sea’ was not something they could have just by looking at it.

It would just make their stomachs hurt from envy. But what about the trinkets and gold coins the queen had given?

“Why bother opening that big box? It’s like inviting thieves!”

Lucrezia scolded Arabella. Ariadne agreed with her a hundred percent.

“Show us the jewelry box that Queen Majesty gave you today.”

Isabella clung to Ariadne and acted friendly.

She was unusually close. Before Ariadne could express her discomfort, Isabella quickly snatched the queen’s jewelry box with her pale, thin arm and placed it on a nearby table.

Thud!

Although it was not as heavy as the ebony box made exclusively for the ‘Heart of the Blue Deep Sea’, the queen’s threelayered jewelry box was also quite heavy. Isabella quickly opened the lid, her eyes spinning.

‘Ah, it’s dazzling!’

As soon as Isabella opened the lid, she squinted at the reflected light. Various pieces of jewelry, ranging from five parts to one carat, filled the velvetlined box.

“This is so pretty!”

Isabella snatched up the most eyecatching topaz earring from the top compartment of the jewelry box.

The earrings, with one carat of yellow topaz cut into a cushion cut, were fitted into a golden frame carved into the shape of tree branches. The main topaz was yellow, but the small decorations packed onto the branches were sparkling amethysts.

“Mom, doesn’t this match my eye color perfectly?”

“It’s like it was made for you, Isabella!”

Beyond just holding up the earring to see, Isabella took off her own earring and tried to put it on.

“Ariadne, give this to me. It suits me so well. If it doesn’t hang on my ear, the earring will be sad. Gold goes well with blond hair.”

Unable to get the hoop off smoothly, Isabella gave up on taking it off without looking and examined the earring closely with annoyance.

“Why won’t this come off!”

The earring was very finely engraved with a tiny relief.

Ariadne expressed her refusal calmly to the frustrated Isabella.

“Sister, I very much want to give it to you, but unfortunately, I can’t.”

“What?!”

Isabella raised her left eyebrow and glared at Ariadne. It was an attitude that seemed to say ‘How dare you?’ The atmosphere immediately cooled and the air turned frosty. Isabella threatened Ariadne with a tense voice.

“If you don’t want to give it, just say so.”

“That’s not it, really.”

Ariadne gently smiled and took the earring that Isabella had been struggling to remove, and unhinged it for her. As she unhinged it, the full engraving finally became visible.

From MdB, to ARI.

It was an initial taken from the first letters of ‘Marguerite de Brion’, the maiden name of Queen Marguerite, and the first three letters of Ariadne’s name. It was peculiar that it only had the first name without the surname.

“Since it’s a gift from Her Majesty the Queen, she engraved her initials on all the jewelry. Therefore… if the ownership of these jewels is changed for reasons other than inheritance, it would be punished as a crime of lesemajesty.”

Ariadne explained kindly as if it was really troublesome.

“Can’t be given to someone else either.”

And then, Ariadne drove the point home to Isabella, who could easily try to possess the jewel in other ways even if Ariadne didn’t give it willingly.

“You’ll be severely punished if you steal.”

Ariadne snatched the other earring that was held in Isabella’s hand with force.

Isabella helplessly had the golden earring taken from her hand. Ariadne, who put together the pair of earrings and placed them back in their original spot in the jewelry box, closed the lid with a thud.

“I ask for your understanding, sister.”

Isabella, with her violet eyes wide open, was still struggling to comprehend the situation as she stared blankly at Ariadne.

But Ariadne, indifferent, picked up the jewelry box, turned around, and cheerfully headed toward her own room.

“Besides, I’ve already prepared a similar ‘gift’ for you.”

This was the thoughtful ‘gift’ Queen Marguerite had prepared for Ariadne.

And Isabella hadn’t caught on to what was most important. Ariadne quietly held the elm leafcolored silk ribbon she brought from her hair in her hand.