At the end of Ariadne’s gaze, as she looked up following the voice, there was an elm tree with lush leaves blooming next to an abandoned fountain. The owner of the voice was lying on a branch with a book in hand.

He closed the book he had been covering his face with, set it aside, and gestured to Ariadne.

“Come up?”

The prince nodded.

“The tree is the least noticeable to people.”

There was still plenty of time until the audience with Her Majesty the Queen. There was also no need to rush to pick peonies.

She nodded and stepped onto the trunk of the tree to climb up next to the prince. But because of the voluminous dress skirt, she couldn’t leap up with force.

“Shall I help?”

She was in no position to refuse help. She stretched out her hand towards Prince Alfonso, and Prince Alfonso took her hand. His unusually thick and large hand touched Ariadne’s long, slender fingers.

“This way, that’s right.”

Just holding her hand wasn’t enough for Ariadne to safely sit on the branch. The prince, who had to lift her up by putting his hand on the inside of her forearm to seat her on the elm branch, only then discovered a problem.

“Oh my, your dress was white.”

Ariadne burst out laughing and replied.

“What, you told me to come up without even looking?”

Alfonso laughed pleasantly together. He had called out as soon as he saw her face, happy to see her. There was no time to look at clothes.

Alfonso pondered for a moment, then took off the cloak he was wearing.

“Can you come up here for a moment?”

What the prince was pointing to was his own lap. Ariadne’s eyes widened.

‘This is too straightforward.’

But again, she was in no position to refuse. Prince Alfonso’s favor was the golden ticket that would allow Ariadne to live freely and safely from Cesare and the De Mare family in this life.

When Ariadne obediently shifted her weight onto Alfonso’s lap as instructed, he spread his cloak over the now empty elm branch and seated Ariadne back on it.

“There, is that better now?”

It was a clean movement without any unnecessary touches.

It seemed the ulterior motives were only in Ariadne’s heart. Ariadne’s face reddened for no reason and she just nodded.

“Alfonso, but why were you here?”

Alfonso smiled back.

“That’s my line. Why did you come here?”

Well, it’s not strange for a prince to be in the royal palace. Ariadne smiled bitterly at her own foolish question.

“I have an audience scheduled with Queen Marguerite today.”

“Ah! Today was that day!”

It was known through the grapevine that the second daughter of Cardinal De Mare, who had defeated the Apostle of Acereto, would come to the palace to receive congratulations from the royal couple and alms from the Queen.

“Father spoke very highly of you.”

“Really?”

Ariadne couldn’t be purely happy to hear that she was highly regarded by the King.

It was true that a higher reputation meant more room to maneuver. But Leo III was a monarch with many unusual ideas. One might even say sinister. She wasn’t sure if catching his eye was entirely a good thing.

“He said it’s a shame he can’t award you the Order of Chivalry.”

Prince Alfonso was the sole heir to the throne and still maintained a good relationship with the King for now.

The King adored his young son. So the King’s close associates had no qualms about informing Prince Alfonso of the monarch’s movements.

“What a pity. It was a chance to become a knight.”

Though she laughed as if joking, she was truly disappointed. With just that title, she could have broken away from the De Mare family and lived freely on her own.

“Do you want to become a knight?”

Prince Alfonso’s eyes shone. He was proficient in all the arts required of a knight, such as jousting, horseback riding, swordsmanship, and shield skills.

He was also well-regarded as embodying the seven virtues of a knight: courage, justice, generosity, nobility, reverence for God, and chastity and temperance.

His dream was to become the ruler of the Central Continent, a knight among knights, respected by all knights.

“I’ll give you a knighthood someday.”

“Do I have to swear an oath of loyalty?”

− I swear on my soul that from this moment forward, I pledge my loyalty to my lord. In the face of any adversity, I shall protect him, show him reverence, and place his well-being before my own life. I shall live for a greater good than personal gain. I shall always speak the truth to my lord, keep my promises to him, remain unchanging, never leave, and always stay by his side.

Ariadne was well aware of the oath of loyalty that a knight swore to his lord. She thought it was a hopelessly romantic vow made to be impossible to keep.

‘Moreover, a knight who takes the life of his lord would be no different from Judas Iscariot, the betrayer in the Holy Scriptures.’

Ariadne decided she must never swear an oath of loyalty to Alfonso.

Ariadne had once set a trap for Alfonso. It was because she had been Cesare’s person. If she became Alfonso’s knight after committing such a sin, she would have no right to complain even if she burned in hellfire for eternity.

“I can’t give it to you now since I’m not a monarch yet. When that day comes, I’ll give you the honor of becoming my knight.”

“But I can’t use a sword or a spear.”

“Learn by then.”

Ariadne laughed brightly at his firm swordsman mentality.

“Are you going to protect the country with swords alone? Civil officials can be useful too, you know.”

“Those people are certainly necessary too. They’re excellent talents. But they’re not knights.”

Knights who clash with enemy forces at the forefront where interests conflict to defend the country. Alfonso intended to someday become a monarch who would make the Kingdom of Etruscan prosper along with a golden knightly order burning with loyalty.

“It seems you’re planning nepotism rather than meritocracy. Saying you’ll knight someone who can’t use a sword or spear just because you like them.”

“Now that I hear it, you’re right. I should cancel it to avoid being a tyrant.”

Ariadne hastily waved her hands.

“No, no. I’ll learn quickly, swordsmanship and spearmanship.”

Ariadne made an exaggerated gesture and proclaimed loudly.

“I shall learn swordsmanship from now on to become the greatest knight in the world and Your Majesty’s first sword. I will not disappoint you with my excellent swordsmanship.”

A knight who makes promises that can’t be kept – it was nothing short of the antithesis of a great knight. The two looked at each other and laughed brightly. As Ariadne laughed loudly, she felt her body’s balance faltering.

‘Oh, oh?’

There was a strange sense of buoyancy behind her back. It felt like nothing was supporting her weight. Ariadne flailed her arms.

“Danger!”

It was Prince Alfonso who saved Ariadne as she was about to fall from the tree. Alfonso threw himself to catch her.

First their arms touched, then Alfonso briefly embraced her, and as the center of gravity stabilized, everything became quiet and the sound of leaves rustling in the wind along with the rustling of satin against satin could be heard.

“Ah…”

Ariadne’s face had turned red. It seemed there wasn’t a hint of ulterior motive from the prince’s side, but Ariadne bit the inside of her cheek and tried to manage her expression as she felt her own expectations building.

It shouldn’t become awkward. That was true from a strategic perspective, but emotionally as well, she didn’t want to look foolish in front of Alfonso right now. To appear silly in front of the golden prince – it would be the worst.

Fortunately, the prince seated her properly first and changed the subject of conversation.

“What brings you to this side? This isn’t the way to Mother’s audience chamber.”

Ariadne’s face colored with embarrassment this time.

“Well…”

She wasn’t supposed to officially know what flowers were in the Queen’s garden. Ariadne quickly came up with an excuse.

“I was looking for flowers to pick and put in my hair. I felt my appearance was too plain for an audience with the Queen… This is the garden, right?”

Only half a spoonful of lie. It was true that she had been on her way to the garden.

She just knew too precisely where the garden was. She didn’t want to confess to Alfonso that her clothes weren’t adequate, but one can’t have everything they want in life.

Alfonso, on the contrary, looked at Ariadne with wide eyes.

“Plain?”

From his perspective, there was nothing to add or subtract from this black-haired girl.

“You look pretty?”

Ariadne’s face reddened once again. In front of Prince Alfonso, she felt as if she had truly become a fifteen-year-old girl, which was unfamiliar.

She pointed to her own hair and argued. When she didn’t know the right answer or her emotions, she would think with her head and logic. It was how Ariadne had lived her entire life.

“I decorated with live flowers because I don’t have any ornaments, but the buds are small so it’s less splendid. I must be the only young lady going to see the Queen at San Carlo looking like this.”

Even a prince ignorant of women’s attire could immediately understand that there were no jewels in the lady’s hair ornaments, only flowers.

“Ah-. That’s what was bothering you.”

He frowned for a moment.

“What time is Mother’s audience?”

“Three o’clock this afternoon.”

There was only about an hour left. Alfonso shook his head.

“Then time is a bit tight.”

While there were plenty of gold and silver treasures in the prince’s palace, women’s hair ornaments weren’t just lying around ready-made. He pondered for a moment what he could provide.

“Let’s do this for now.”

He pulled and untied a long ribbon that was decoratively inserted in his sleeve. On the green silk, tiny jewels were embroidered between each embroidery, boasting a brilliant radiance.

Alfonso tied the jeweled ribbon like a ribbon in Ariadne’s hair.

“Will this do?”

Ariadne could bet that the green ribbon was tied haphazardly, looking more like straw tied to crops.

Judging by the prince’s hand movements, he wasn’t the type of man who knew how to tie a woman’s hair ribbon. But Alfonso’s thoughtfulness in taking off his own clothing decoration to tie in her hair was so lovely.

She responded to Alfonso with a smile, prettily crinkling her eyes.

“Thank you. I really like it.”

Ariadne, who had been dallying with Prince Alfonso at the abandoned fountain, returned to the waiting room of the Queen’s palace in time to not be late.

The King’s gift-giving ceremony was usually a splendid event presided over by several court officials. However, Queen Marguerite was extremely introverted by nature and didn’t enjoy such things, and if a large-scale gift-giving ceremony were to be held, there would be no excuse from the Queen’s standpoint not to officially invite Lucrezia, who was Ariadne’s mother.

So the Queen’s audience was to be held in the same reception room where Ariadne had previously been invited to the Queen’s mass, in a small space with one or two of the Queen’s Gallic maids, Marchioness Marquez and Viscountess Cibo.

“−Thus I, King Leo III, bestow the following rewards upon the second daughter of Cardinal De Mare, and hope that she will continue to strive for the nation.”

Queen Marguerite, sitting in her cozy chair, finally finished reading the King’s decree full of words like ‘merit’, ‘filial piety’, and ‘faithfulness’ at the beginning, towards Ariadne who was kneeling on one knee before her, and extended one hand saying kindly:

“You may finally rise. Come closer.”

Ariadne rose by putting strength in her right foot exactly according to court etiquette, then curtsied and took a step closer to the Queen.

“Here, come a little closer.”

What the Queen brought out was a massive jewel box made of ebony with intricate carvings, gilded with gold and pure silver.

“I didn’t know His Majesty would bestow this upon you.”

Ariadne sensed something was amiss from the Queen’s tone.

“May I dare ask what it is?”

To Ariadne’s question, the Queen opened the King’s decree placed on the side table next to her chair and read the last part of the parchment.

“The gifts shall be 50 gold ducats, a box of jewelry chosen by Queen Marguerite, and the ‘Heart of the Blue Deep Sea’.”

Ariadne’s face turned pale. Queen Marguerite opened the lid of the ebony jewel box, and a dazzling radiance flowed out.

It was an overwhelmingly luxurious and incomparably beautiful necklace with a navy blue sapphire the size of a small chestnut, set surrounded by tiny dazzling diamonds.

Ariadne immediately stood up, took a step back, knelt on both knees on the floor, bowed her head to the ground, and cried out:

“Your Majesty the Queen, I absolutely cannot accept this! Please understand!”