‘The Heart of the Blue Deep Sea’ was a 30-carat sapphire of vivid navy blue discovered in the Taranto territory. Not only was it large, but its bright yet deep color was extremely rare, making it an exceptionally valuable item.

The circumstances of its discovery were also mysterious. According to the person who first found ‘The Heart of the Blue Deep Sea’, a pod of dolphins appeared on the shore, left the sapphire, and disappeared.

Taranto was known as a coastal territory without any known sapphire mines, which further fueled rumors and stimulated the desire of many luxury enthusiasts.

When ‘The Heart of the Blue Deep Sea’ was discovered, the Duke of Taranto at the time presented this jewel to Leo III, and since then, this gem had been sleeping in the royal vault.

“Ho ho. You don’t know, but this is killing two birds with one stone.”

Leo III gestured for his secretary to come closer and whispered in his ear, even though there were only the two of them in the carriage.

“If we give this to Cardinal De Mare’s daughter, won’t it eventually come back when she gets married?”

“Pardon?”

“‘The Heart of the Blue Deep Sea’ is a jewel that Cardinal De Mare has been coveting. If we give it to the Cardinal’s second daughter now, he’ll be delighted thinking it’s his. But the owner is clearly the daughter, so how could he take it away?”

“No, then who are you planning to marry her to? Do you mean Prince Alfonso?”

Leo III became angry.

“Why are you so tactless! How could you compare Alfonso! Alfonso’s match should be a princess of a country, or at least a lady of some duchy!”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

“Of course, it’s Cesare!”

Leo III seemed pleased as if he had a good idea.

“I plan to arrange a good fief for Cesare and make the Cardinal his father-in-law so he can live comfortably with a strong backing. The Cardinal’s second daughter is also illegitimate, and they say she’s smart and clever, so isn’t that perfect? That boy has a quick temper, so he needs a calm wife.”

He was so meticulously planning his son’s future that he seemed ready to name even his grandchildren.

“Moreover, Rubina wanted ‘The Heart of the Blue Deep Sea’ so badly.”

“I’m well aware of that.”

The secretary swallowed the words, ‘So are you really going to give it to that girl?’

“I couldn’t give it to her because of the Queen’s watchful eye. I was resented a lot. If the Cardinal’s second daughter takes this when she marries Cesare, it’s practically the same as Rubina’s, isn’t it? Heh heh heh.”

‘That’s… A woman’s heart doesn’t work that way…’

What mother-in-law would be happy if her young daughter-in-law possessed the precious jewel she had longed for? Given Countess Rubina’s personality, it would be fortunate if she didn’t barge in and forcibly take it away.

The secretary had so much he wanted to say.

That the King was now encouraging unnecessary conflict between a mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, or that if His Majesty understood women a little better, he wouldn’t have such a bad relationship with Queen Marguerite, or that it was surprising that Countess Rubina hadn’t scratched the King’s face yet, and so on.

But he had already used up his quota of objections for the day. If they were going to listen when he spoke, they wouldn’t have come this far. The secretary gave up on any further objections.

“You are wise, Your Majesty!!!”

“Ariadne, where did you get such ideas?”

The first to greet Ariadne upon her return from repelling the Apostle of Acereto was Cardinal De Mare’s interrogation.

Although Ariadne had given a grand lecture on ‘the learning of her father’ at the Grand Cathedral of San Ercole, receiving something was one thing, and verifying its source was another matter entirely.

It couldn’t be helped. Ariadne’s performance today was too outstanding for a fifteen-year-old girl to have scribbled alone at home.

Ariadne carefully chose her words.

“I read father’s books that were on the shelves at home as a pastime.”

The passages from the Holy Scriptures that Ariadne had cited while debating with the Apostle of Acereto at the Grand Cathedral of San Ercole were exactly the same as those used by the best theologians of the Central Continent at the Council of Trebero to define the Acereto school as heretical.

Cardinal De Mare was only able to grasp this after reading the document summarizing the conclusions of the Council of Trebero, which the heresy inquisitor brought along with the Pope’s decree.

“You figured this out on your own?”

While outsiders were praising Cardinal De Mare’s broad and deep theological knowledge, saying that even the young daughter he raised had outstanding theological knowledge, Cardinal De Mare himself knew best that this was not true.

The conclusions of the Council of Trebero were the result of discussions by those who had mastered the system of the Holy Scriptures, exercising creativity and collective intelligence.

Even Cardinal De Mare wasn’t confident he could draw such conclusions alone sitting at a desk, unless perhaps he mobilized the priests under his command for a long-term group project.

It wasn’t something a fifteen-year-old child could grasp alone after two months of theological study.

Ariadne decided to show off her knowledge here. It was a section that needed to be broken through in one breath, even if mixed with bluster.

“I found Wycliffe’s ‘Brief Essay on the Nature of Saints’ and Pelagian’s ‘Collection of Letters Studying the Trinity’ most impressive.”

It would become widely known later, but these were actually the writings that formed the basis for drawing the conclusions of the Council of Trebero.

In a year or two, they would become must-read books that children all over the Central Continent would memorize as essential education, but for now, they were so rare that only places like a Cardinal’s residence would have handwritten copies.

“You read all that?”

“I was most intrigued by how Wycliffe focused on sentence structure, noting that the phrase ‘the Son through the Father’ is repeatedly written in the ‘Meditations’, using this to prove that the Son and the Father are one.”

To the skeptical Cardinal De Mare, Ariadne exaggeratedly flaunted that she really knew the contents of the books she had named.

‘If I just say I knew it, or that I saw the future, I’m done for.’

What Ariadne wanted to avoid more than anything was being called a ‘saint’. It was problematic whether there was official recognition from the Holy See or not.

Being called a saint without the Pope’s canonization was just right to be dragged away by the heresy inquisitor.

But being officially canonized wasn’t welcome either. Pope Ludovico was a fearsome man, and it was historically very common for people canonized as saints while alive to be suddenly declared heretics and dragged to the stake.

One might think that Cardinal De Mare could protect her within the Holy See, but Cardinal De Mare had already sold out his own daughter in a previous life. A daughter elevated to sainthood would be an unparalleled useful card.

She didn’t know the intricate inner workings of power relations within the Holy See, and she trusted her father even less.

Ariadne wanted to maximize the use of her own cards within the familiar game of the nobility of San Carlo that she knew.

Cardinal De Mare seemed suspicious.

But no matter how sharp theological questions he fired at Ariadne based on the latest documents from the Council of Trebero that she shouldn’t have encountered yet, Ariadne answered accurately as if she had memorized the answer key.

Whether he asked about doctrine, supporting verses, or the latest questions and answers, her responses were as perfect as if printed by a machine.

He finally had to accept, despite numerous doubts, that his second daughter was truly a theological genius who had independently reached the same conclusions as the theologians of the Council of Trebero.

He was skeptical, but if this was true, it was truly a once-in-a-millennium talent, so he couldn’t help but suggest to his daughter.

“We are conducting theological studies with the priests at the Grand Cathedral. Would you like to participate?”

Ariadne vehemently refused.

“No, father! My learning is too shallow to do that, I would be embarrassed. Please just allow me to study at home and occasionally ask you about things I don’t understand.”

She couldn’t reveal her lack of depth. And if anything, Ariadne’s talent was more in ledger management and administrative work, definitely not in theological study.

However, Cardinal De Mare, half because he thought Ariadne couldn’t really have such talent despite what he had seen and heard with his own eyes and ears, and half because he thought theology wasn’t a woman’s business, took Ariadne’s desperate refusal as girlish shyness and didn’t insist further. It was a heaven-sent occurrence.

The story of the genius girl of San Carlo spread throughout the Etruscan Kingdom with some exaggeration.

– ‘They say she single-handedly drove out heretics from the Grand Cathedral of San Ercole!’

– ‘She must have great faith.’

– ‘As expected… even if her birth is a bit questionable, she’s still the Cardinal’s child.’

The person who reacted most sensitively to this was, unexpectedly, the King’s mistress, Countess Rubina.

“Cesare. Listen to this.”

Countess Rubina sat her son down and let him hear the praises of Ariadne that were ringing throughout the city.

“You are to be king. It would be helpful to have a spouse with high virtue.”

Cesare snorted.

“Mother. Get a grip. With Alfonso occupying the position like that, how could I become king?”

“Again, again with your crooked attitude! Your father loves you!”

“He loves me so much that he only bestowed upon me the title of a mere court noble without even a fief! Just a count!”

– Bang!

Cesare roughly put down the wine glass he had started drinking right after noon.

“Mother, wake up from your dream. If father had any intention of putting me on the throne, he would have officially announced me as of royal blood instead of leaving me as the Count of Como. Even if lightning were to strike that damned royal palace right now and take out both that bastard Alfonso and father-”

He crossed himself here, showing a shred of conscience, before continuing.

“The one with succession rights to the Etruscan throne is that twelve-year-old girl Bianca of Taranto, not me. Do you understand?”

After finishing the remaining wine in one gulp, he growled roughly at his birth mother.

“So stop with the useless talk. I’ll choose my own woman.”