“Wait!”

Lucrezia’s voice stopped Ariadne’s footsteps as she was about to go up to the third floor. The stepmother’s voice was unusually sweet.

“Ariadne. It’s such an honor that all your jewelry bears the Queen’s seal. But there’s more to it than that.”

It was a rare, soft voice from Lucrezia to Ariadne, as gentle as a chick’s down.

“Good things should be shared, but if you can’t share the jewelry with family members, what’s the use? How about treating the family to a meal to commemorate receiving such an honorable prize?”

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

“If you entrust the gold coins you received from Her Majesty the Queen to this mother, I’ll have a whole cow slaughtered for dinner tonight.”

“Wow! How exciting!”

Arabella started running around in circles in the first-floor entrance. Lucrezia would normally have shouted at her for being noisy, but she ignored Arabella and pressured Ariadne with patience.

“And hand over that purse of gold coins. What use does a young lady have for such a large sum? Mother will keep it safe and give it to you when you need it.”

‘I knew this would happen.’

“Come on. Hurry.”

Lucrezia took a step closer.

Ariadne put her hand inside her dress.

Lucrezia’s expectant gaze eagerly waited for Ariadne’s hand. But what came out in her hand was not the heavy purse of gold coins Lucrezia had expected, but a single sheet of paper.

Ariadne handed the thin parchment to Lucrezia.

“What is this?”

It was a smooth, tanned parchment decorated with silver foil. Inside, it read as follows:

“‘Received in full 50 gold ducats.
– On behalf of the Rambouillet Orphanage, Queen Marguerite.'”

While Lucrezia was intently examining the writing, turning the paper back and forth to see if there was anything more, wondering if it meant the 50 ducats would be given later, Ariadne answered indifferently.

“The 50 gold ducats have all been donated to the Rambouillet Orphanage run by Her Majesty the Queen in the name of the second daughter of the De Mare family.”

“What?!”

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

Lucrezia, who had been excited about the idea of filling the holes in the household accounts with the 50 ducats (about 50 million won) Ariadne would bring, became agitated and crumpled up the Queen’s receipt with a ‘crunch’.

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

Lucrezia shouted at Ariadne, pointing her finger.

“You don’t know how valuable money is because we feed and clothe you well at home?! How could you donate all that money without even showing a bit of consideration for your family?”

Ariadne bowed her head, but unlike before, she didn’t just stay silent. She had gained a voice after the Acereto apostle incident and the royal couple’s donation.

“A child’s role in the family is to polish their name and bring honor to the family name. Her Majesty the Queen also praised the De Mare family’s noblesse oblige for not forgetting the poor.”

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

At that moment, the front door opened and Cardinal De Mare entered. He had just returned home after taking Ariadne to the palace and completing some brief business.

“I, I, I knew you’d be like this! That’s why I hurried back!”

Cardinal De Mare shooed away Lucrezia, waving his sleeves as if swatting mosquitoes.

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

The Cardinal added irritably:

“Do you know how many eyes are watching our house right now? There’s so much gossip – that the Cardinal’s mistress is speculating, starving the second child, locking her up, raising her with the maids! Don’t be greedy for petty cash and embarrass yourself like last time, just stay quiet!”

The Cardinal continued to grumble.

“Even on the way home from the palace, a carriage kept following me… We can’t live in peace!”

The Cardinal took off his outer garment and handed it to the butler who had followed him in, then said to Ariadne:

“You received the ‘Heart of the Deep Blue Sea’, right? Well, let’s open it and take a look.”

He opened the lid of the ebony jewelry box containing the ‘Heart of the Deep Blue Sea’ that was placed in the center of the entrance hall table. Inside the dazzling red velvet lining was a brilliant navy blue sapphire necklace.

“Oh!”

Cardinal De Mare didn’t take out the jewel, but gazed at it mesmerized while it was still in the box.

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

The whole family gathered around the central table in the entrance hall to look at the ‘Heart of the Deep Blue Sea’.

It was about two and a half times the size of an adult man’s thumbnail. It was an unbelievable size for a gemstone. Thanks to its enormous size, it had volume, and the sparkle explosively reflected up from deep within.

“It’s really mysterious!”

Arabella exclaimed. Cardinal De Mare nodded in response to her words.

“There’s a legend that the ‘Heart of the Deep Blue Sea’ wasn’t mined, but was brought up from the sea by a dolphin.”

“Our family crest is also a dolphin, isn’t it?”

“That’s right, Isabella. Don’t you think it has finally arrived at the place where this precious jewel was meant to be?”

Isabella looked at Ariadne with a meaningful smile.

“It’s perfect to become our family heirloom! It would look good with Ippolito’s gray hair.”

Cardinal De Mare didn’t bother to stop Isabella’s words, and closed the lid of the ebony box containing the ‘Heart of the Deep Blue Sea’ with a snap, then said to Ariadne:

“Ariadne, since you don’t have a separate safe for your necklace, how about this father keeps it in the study safe for you?”

“Father, that…”

Ariadne nervously picked at the hem of her dress. They said they would send it right away, so why hasn’t it arrived yet?

“Your Eminence!”

The front door burst open and a servant, with round eyes wide in surprise, delivered a message.

“A guest has arrived.”

Following the servant was a royal official in golden robes.

It was the identity of the carriage that Cardinal De Mare had anxiously said was ‘following’. It wasn’t following. It had the same destination.

“I bring a message from Her Majesty Queen Marguerite!”

The Queen’s official, taking out an edict, recited its contents before Cardinal De Mare, who bowed slightly, and the rest of the family who knelt down.

“Today, an overly generous gift from His Majesty the King was bestowed upon the second daughter of the De Mare family. For ease of safekeeping, a safe is also being sent down by order of the Queen. It is to be installed in the second daughter’s quarters.”

The official approached Cardinal De Mare and handed him a contract.

“Please sign here. This is the installation contract with the safe artisan. Her Majesty the Queen has covered all costs.”

The Cardinal ended up signing the contract in a daze.

Behind the official, four laborers grunting and groaning under the weight of a safe as large as a bookcase up to the waist crossed the threshold of the entrance.

“Your Eminence, where should we install it?”

Ariadne answered.

“My room is on the third floor attic…”

Cardinal De Mare’s expression twisted. It was bad enough that rumors were circulating about mistreating the second daughter, but he couldn’t show the Queen’s official that the second daughter’s room was in the corner attic on the third floor.

Even if it didn’t show, there were too many servant quarters along the way to that room.

“No! No! The westernmost room on the second floor!”

Now it was Lucrezia’s turn to be surprised.

“Darling! That’s Ippolito’s room, isn’t it?”

“Mind your words!”

At Cardinal De Mare’s thundering, Lucrezia tucked her head into her shoulders like a turtle.

Cardinal De Mare might have a short temper, but he usually didn’t raise his voice in front of others. This time, however, he seemed genuinely angry.

“We can’t just put metal in a girl’s bedroom! There needs to be a study to place a safe!”

He went right next to Lucrezia and angrily whispered in her ear.

− “If you had handled things properly from the start, this wouldn’t have happened! I respected and trusted you with the household affairs as your domain, and this is the result?”

− “Your Eminence…”

− “I’ve given you several chances already. But you haven’t improved at all and now you’re repeatedly embarrassing me in front of outsiders! I’ll take measures, so be aware of that!”

Amidst the chaos of the couple’s arguing and the workers installing the safe, Ariadne picked up the Queen’s receipt that Lucrezia had crumpled and thrown, smoothed it out, and put it back inside her dress.

After tightly hugging the jewelry box containing the ‘Heart of the Deep Blue Sea’ and having Sancha, who had come down from upstairs, carry the Queen’s jewelry box, all preparations for withdrawal were complete.

“Let’s quickly go up in this commotion. We can go to the new room. That worked out well.”

“Your Majesty, please write a receipt stating that I have donated the 50 ducats of alms to the Rambouillet Orphanage. However, I will withdraw it later when I need it. If I take it home, it will no longer be my money. The first use of that money will be to purchase my own safe and install it in my room. Please issue an order stating that Your Majesty has ordered that safe to be installed.”

This was the request Ariadne had made to Queen Marguerite. It was about using the Rambouillet Orphanage like a bank. It was a favor she could ask because she trusted the Queen.

She briefly wondered if there was even a need to install a safe.

It cost 15 ducats, and she thought it might be less burdensome to hand over the ‘Heart of the Deep Blue Sea’ to Cardinal De Mare.

She thought that if the control of that object was entirely with Cardinal De Mare, others targeting the ‘Heart of the Deep Blue Sea’ would target or contact the Cardinal rather than bothering Ariadne.

But she decided to change her mind. No matter how much the ‘Heart of the Deep Blue Sea’ was inside Cardinal De Mare’s safe, it was ultimately an object given by Leo III to Ariadne personally.

Because it was nominally her possession, it would be difficult to move it completely separate from her.

And Cardinal De Mare was the type of person who could easily play tricks like including the ‘Heart of the Deep Blue Sea’ in the dowry list when arranging Ariadne’s marriage, but then actually omitting it from the dowry list when sending off the bride.

He wouldn’t have the slightest concern for Ariadne, who would go empty-handed and suffer all sorts of mistreatment.

When she was younger, she resented and envied Isabella, thinking her father truly cherished her.

And she might have felt somewhat inferior. But not anymore. She knew well that if it really came down to core interests, Cardinal De Mare would ruthlessly abandon even Isabella.

Since it had already come into her hands, she would use it well. Though difficult and tricky, this was an excellent card to play.

Unlike in her previous life, the winds were changing.

And that evening, Ariadne received a package from the palace. It was delivered personally by a palace servant.

‘If it’s something sent from the palace, why didn’t they bring it along earlier in the day?’

Ariadne’s question was answered when she untied the bundle and opened the box inside.

It was a large golden hairpin in the shape of a flower, made with about a dozen deep pink tourmalines of around 3 carats each in a marquise cut. The engraving showed it was sold at a high-end jeweler’s on the banks of the Tiber.

The sender was the Prince’s Palace.