Ariadne hesitated for a moment. Saying, “Your older brother did something terrible,” was a suitable description of the event, but there was a more honest emotional answer.

“I thought you would buy it.”

Prince Alfonso’s face suddenly reddened. It was the answer he had been unconsciously craving. ‘You are special’. The words he wanted to hear came out of her mouth. Alfonso wanted to ask her another question.

But before the atmosphere became awkward, Ariadne burst out in hearty laughter, tapping Alfonso’s shoulder. The boy had to close his mouth in disappointment.

“You, you saved 2000 ducats (about 2 billion won) thanks to me, right? Do you owe me a favor?”

With her plainness, Alfonso was forcibly pulled out of his reverie. He also laughed with her.

“Is that so? This amount is really big. How should I repay this favor, your grace?”

“Pay 2000 ducats in gold at once?”

“You’ve got a great businessman here!”

Alfonso playfully stepped back and showed both his hands and feet.

“The Porto merchant at least brought a fake statue, but you are trying to take it from me directly!”

Looking at Prince Alfonso’s face, Ariadne laughed heartily again.

“Grant my wish later!”

“Wish? What are you going to wish for?”

At the prince’s question, Ariadne casually shrugged her shoulders.

“I don’t know.”

“Alright, I understand.”

Prince Alfonso gladly accepted the promise of debt repayment even though the contents were not confirmed. If the court officials had seen this, they would have collectively shouted, “Please think about it, your Highness, you shouldn’t do that.”

But he wanted to give her anything now. Any excuse to be involved with her was good. If Ariadne asked for the kingdom, he might be able to see her for another three weeks using negotiations as an excuse.

“Ha, I think we should go in now.”

The one who suggested the end of today’s meeting was Prince Alfonso for the first time between them. Alfonso had a dinner meeting at the palace in the evening, so he had to hurry back to the palace to meet the schedule.

With a reluctant heart to step away, he looked at Ariadne a couple of times, and then mimicked writing with his hand.

“Write a letter!”

“Huh?”

“No, I’ll write a letter! Reply!”

Ariadne nodded her head in surprise. The prince confirmed again.

“You must reply!”

Even though Ariadne nodded her head over and over again like a broken windup doll, Prince Alfonso, who wasn’t reassured, got into the carriage only after receiving two or three confirmations.

The golden chariot departed the main gate of the Count of Chibo’s residence, making a loud noise. The curtain behind the chariot was lifted, revealing the face of Prince Alfonso looking out of the window.

Ariadne waved her hand for a long time, smiling until she could no longer see the chariot.

Ever since she had exposed the scam of a Porto merchant at the Count of Chibo’s house, Ariadne had been in constant worry of being dragged to the Archbishop de Mare, to reveal the source of her ‘insight’.

She rummaged through her house, found books detailing fine art, archaeology, and the history of ancient Hellenia, stacked them high in her newly formed library, and read them all.

Only after she had organized which sections of several documents mentioned the relevant content, to answer immediately if someone asked ‘How did you know that fact?’, did she heave a sigh of relief and regain her composure.

The man who had impersonated ‘Vincenzo del Gato’, a merchant from the Republic of Porto, was revealed to be a sculptor, a lesser noble from Rastera.

They had been gambling buddies, and after inadvertently committing a murder over gambling funds dispute with the real Vincenzo del Gato, they seized the opportunity to both clear their gambling debts and loot his art warehouse, using his name to commit a huge scam before disappearing.

“Cesare must be like a dog chasing a chicken now.”

Upon hearing this story, Ariadne inwardly found it amusing. Cesare must have started this play to get in the good graces of the prince, assuming there would also be disputes over merchant organizations and privileges, and internal problems of the Porto Republic.

When it all came out to be an individual’s deviant behavior, it was something not even worth the floor price of the Count of Chibo’s house.

The sky was high and the weather was clear. It was a beautiful early fall where the heat had left early. One day, Archbishop de Mare called both Ariadne and Lucrezia to his reception room.

Knock knock.

After knocking on the door to Archbishop de Mare’s reception room, Ariadne cautiously entered. Lucrezia was already there, sitting down.

“Father, have you called for your bastard child?”

“Hmm. Sit down.”

Except for when she wanted to tease Archbishop de Mare in public, she had always respectfully addressed him as ‘Your Grace’, but ever since the promise of hosting a debutante ball, she had loosened up a bit and started to refer to him as ‘father’.

Lucrezia seemed to be dissatisfied with that address, or perhaps she had already heard something from Archbishop de Mare, her expression was full of discontent.

“I’ve already spoken to your mother. I understand that at your age, you may have various personal expenditures.”

‘I bought a safe and some artwork.’

While she was swiftly making witty replies in her mind, Ariadne just bowed her head a bit more on the outside.

“I apologize, Father.”

“No, no, it’s only natural for a grownup daughter to have reasonable personal expenses. So, I think it would be good for you to receive an allowance directly and manage your personal expenses. We have to hold a debutante ball soon, don’t we?”

Ariadne’s expression brightened instantly.

“I’m grateful for your grace, Father.”

“You’ve been deprived so far, so you need to catch up now. I’ll give you the entire budget for the debutante ball.”

Archbishop de Mare glanced at Lucrezia.

“Your mother hasn’t been feeling well lately, so it seems like she won’t be able to help much with the ball preparations.”

Lucrezia was as healthy as a pheasant.

It’s just that Archbishop de Mare very rationally predicted that if he handed the preparations for his second daughter’s ball to Lucrezia, about half of the total budget would briefly reside in Lucrezia’s back pocket before completely flowing to Lucrezia’s grating inlaws.

The shame of the poor de Mare family’s ball, prepared with a leaky budget, would fall onto himself, the head of the family.

Lucrezia didn’t want to discuss the issue of her back pocket getting thinner and losing some control over the household economy.

And so she agreed to feign illness under the pretense of Cardinal de Mare, and Ariadne had no intention of revealing the actual truth when the two had come to such an agreement.

So they exchanged a few words of concern about the health of Lucrezia, who was perfectly healthy.

“Here, take 150 ducats (about 150 million won). Prepare with this, and if it’s not enough, you can always ask for more.”

He didn’t trust the government, and he didn’t trust his fifteenyearold daughter either. The budget for the debutante ball Cardinal de Mare had in mind was about 300 ducats, and if they were to spend at maximum, it would be 500 ducats. The plan was to initially give a small amount and then check the progress.

“Understood, Father.”

However, Ariadne was a professional manager who had been managing the Etruscan royal palace for nine years.