“Wait!”

Lucrezia’s voice halted Ariadne’s steps as she was about to ascend to the third floor. Her stepmother’s voice was unusually sweet.

“Ariadne, it’s an honor that the Queen’s seal is on all your jewelry. But there must be something else, right?”

Uncommonly, Lucrezia’s voice towards Ariadne was shaky, like the down of a chick.

“Good things should be shared, and what use is it if you can’t distribute your jewelry to your family? How about a celebratory feast with the family for the honor of your prize?”

If Isabella’s target was the jewelry, then Lucrezia’s target was cash.

“If you give the gold coins received from the Queen to me, I will get a whole cow for dinner tonight.”

“Wow! That’s exciting!”

Arabella began to whirl around the firstfloor entrance. Lucrezia would usually scold her for being so erratic, but she ignored Arabella and continued to pressure Ariadne with patience.

“And give me the bag of gold coins. What would a young lady need so much money for? I will keep it and give it to you when needed.”

‘I knew she would do this.’

“Now, quickly.”

Lucrezia stepped closer.

Ariadne reached into her pocket.

Lucrezia eagerly waited for Ariadne’s hand, full of anticipation. But what she pulled out was not the heavy bag of gold coins that Lucrezia had expected, but a single piece of paper.

Ariadne handed the thin sheepskin to Lucrezia.

“What is this?”

It was a piece of paper adorned with silver, smoothly shaved off of sheepskin. It read:

“‘Received fifty ducats in gold.

On behalf of the Lambuye Orphanage, Queen Marguerite.'”

Lucrezia studied the writing carefully, wondering if it meant that the 50 ducats would be given later, and turned the paper over to see if there was anything else on it. To her, Ariadne replied indifferently.

“All fifty ducats have been donated to the Lambuye Orphanage, which is run by the Queen, in the name of the second daughter of the de Mare family.”

“What?!”

“This is the receipt that Her Majesty the Queen gave as evidence.”

Lucrezia, who was thrilled at the thought of filling in the holes in the household budget with the 50 ducats (about 500 million won) that Ariadne was supposed to bring, crumpled the Queen’s receipt in her excitement.

“Why on earth would you donate such a precious thing?! Are you out of your mind?!”

Lucrezia shouted at Ariadne, beating her with a cane.

“Do you not know the value of money because you are wellfed and welldressed at home?! How can you donate all that money without showing any courtesy to your family?”

Ariadne bowed her head, but she was not silent as before. She had gained the right to speak after experiencing the incident of the apostle of Asereto and the goodwill of the king and queen.

“The role of a child in the family is to polish their name and illuminate the name of the house. The Queen also praised the noblesse oblige of the de Mare family for not forgetting the poor.”

“You?! Are you talking back to me with your eyes wide open?”

Then, the door opened and Cardinal de Mare entered. He had taken Ariadne to the royal palace, attended to a simple matter, and returned home quickly.

“I, I, I knew you were doing this! That’s why I rushed home!”

Cardinal de Mare chased Lucrezia out of the room, flapping his sleeves like chasing a mosquito.

“Don’t try to snatch a child’s pocket money, keep your hands off!”

The Cardinal added with irritation.

“Do you even know how many eyes are watching our house right now? There are lots of rumors saying that the Cardinal’s wife is starving the second daughter, keeping her locked up, and raising her with maids! Don’t get greedy over a small amount of money and face embarrassment like last time. Just behave yourself!”

The Cardinal continued to grumble.

“On the way home from the palace, a carriage kept following us……. We can’t live in peace!”

The Cardinal took off his coat and handed it to the butler who followed him in, and then said to Ariadne.

“You brought the ‘Heart of the Blue Deep’, did you? Well, let’s take a look.”

He opened the lid of the ebony jewelry box named ‘Heart of the Blue Deep’ that was placed on the table at the center of the entrance hall. Inside the vivid red velvet lining, a dazzlingly bright indigo sapphire necklace was nestled.

“Oh!”

Cardinal de Mare did not remove the jewel but gazed at it as if he were enchanted, still inside the box.

“So this is the ‘Heart of the Blue Deep’…”

All the family members gathered around the table in the center of the entrance hall to admire the ‘Heart of the Blue Deep’.

It was only the size of two and a half thumbnails of an adult man. For a jewel, it was an absurd size. Due to its massive size, it seemed as though the brilliance exploded from a very deep place due to the sense of volume.

“It truly seems mystical!”

Arabella exclaimed. Cardinal de Mare nodded to her words and replied.

“The legend has it that the ‘Heart of the Blue Deep’ was not mined from the earth but brought up from the sea by a dolphin.”

“Our family crest also has a dolphin, doesn’t it?”