Ariadne bit her lip. Her most concise escape route was blocked.

People began to murmur.

– “Is that woman Cardinal De Mare’s second daughter? The one who repelled the Apostle of Aseretto?”

– “Wasn’t she renowned for her theology? Surely a devout young lady wouldn’t do such a thing?”

– “You never know what’s in people’s hearts! When even in monasteries, clergymen cause scandals from time to time!”

Someone demanded of Ariadne.

“Take off your mask!”

It was a request with no logical connection whatsoever. Because not a single person present had seen the face of the mysterious fleeing woman.

Removing Ariadne’s mask would be of no help in finding the Marquis of Campa’s secret lover. But people, half out of curiosity and half to affirm the superiority of the group they occupied, each added a word.

– “That’s right, take off the mask!”

– “Let’s see your face!”

– “What are you ashamed of that you can’t take off the mask?”

A plausible reason was added later.

– “If the secret lover takes off her mask, her makeup will be all smeared. She must have been kissing and sucking with her lips. Obviously her face will be a mess, so she can’t take it off.”

Ariadne had no intention of taking off her mask here.

Removing the mask itself was not a difficult task. However, once you yield even slightly to the irrational demands of the public, they are bound to demand more and more afterward.

To a yielding lamb, the crowd could become far crueler than the sum of its individual members. If you lose momentum, collapse is instantaneous.

Ariadne held her head up stiffly and replied.

“It is true that I am Ariadne de Mare, but I am neither the Marquis of Campa’s secret lover nor in a position to prove anything to you all. On the contrary, I find this absurd misunderstanding highly unpleasant.”

Ariadne spoke only the truth, but regardless, someone flared up at Ariadne’s lofty attitude. That anger quickly spread to those next to them.

– “A misunderstanding? How can it be a misunderstanding when the evidence is so overflowing?”

– “What about the bracelet? Why aren’t you taking off the mask?”

People were about to boil over together.

“It’s not a misunderstanding, it’s slander.”

The one who answered the crowd’s questions was not Ariadne, but a mid-low male voice. It was Alfonso, the prince who was now transitioning to a fully adult voice after puberty.

Alfonso had been wandering the garden with an uneasy heart ever since Ariadne had coldly left him behind in the garden.

His head kept repeating that he was looking for Larissa, but in fact, the person he was desperately searching for was Ariadne.

As he wandered around looking for the woman in the golden dress, he kept wishing that she had black hair rather than brown, and a glossy, calm, healthy complexion rather than a pale and dry, snow-white skin.

In the plaza where he came running after hearing a big commotion, stood the woman he most wanted to see.

The moment he found her, he had to admit that he had not been looking for the Duchess of Larissa. He had no intention of wandering through the garden any longer. His destination was right in front of his eyes.

However, the woman he was looking for was the center of unwanted attention.

Considering diplomatic relations, Prince Alfonso should never have uttered a word about being with Ariadne here. Alfonso was originally a person who took his duties and responsibilities seriously.

But his mouth moved on its own.

“The young Lady de Mare has been with me all along…”

His amazing Ariadne was being slandered absurdly and was in danger. He did not stop at verbal defense, but ran to the center of the plaza and stood next to Ariadne.

Alfonso instinctively embraced her, almost concealing her from people’s eyes. The crowd was still gathering in the meantime.

Holding Ariadne in his arms, Alfonso raised his voice and shouted loudly at the people.

“There is nothing to see here. Lady de Mare has been with me the whole time. To say that she, a virtuous lady, is the Marquis of Campa’s secret lover is false and seriously damaging to her honor.”

At Alfonso’s words, one of the nobles politely raised an objection.

“But Your Highness, you do not know every single action of Lady de Mare, do you?”

The public wanted a scapegoat.

“That’s right, even now you didn’t come together, but separately.”

“If you weren’t constantly by her side, how can you prove an alibi for the entire ball?”

Alfonso pushed on, his tone rising strongly.

“Lady de Mare has been with me continuously from the beginning to the end of the ball!”

Alfonso issued not persuasion, but a command. It was the dignity instilled in him as the future monarch.

“Her whereabouts are certain, so stop talking about this now. Let’s all disperse. And someone call an attendant to clean up the person lying on the floor.”

Just as the now nearly 100 people thought the fun spectacle was over and were about to turn their steps away, grumbling,

“You were with me. Prince, with me.”

Another woman in a golden dress emerged from the bushes. It was the Duchess of Larissa, of medium height, wearing a volto mask just like Ariadne.

She looked disheveled from wandering through the bushes. Larissa seemed to have difficulty breathing, with her volto mask pulled down roughly under her chin as she panted.

– “Who is that woman now?”

– “Well, didn’t a state guest come from the Kingdom of Gallico! Isn’t she that duchess?”

– “No wonder her speech is clumsy.”

The Duchess of Larissa, covered in all sorts of plant debris that could be found in the bushes, asked Prince Alfonso in an even more pitiful state.

“You weren’t with that woman. You were with me. Lies. All lies. Who is that woman?”

The scandal of the Marquis of Campa was instantly elevated to the scandal of Prince Alfonso.

The prince is lying. For whom?

At the Duchess of Larissa’s accusation, the crowd stirred again.

– “The prince wasn’t constantly with the young Lady de Mare?”

– “Wait, so he made a fake alibi for her?”

– “Why is the duchess crying?”

The Duchess of Larissa was shedding tears from her downturned brown eyes like a cow, saying that Prince Alfonso had lied.

Larissa could not believe today’s events. Her sister’s ‘Golden Prince’ had been handed over to her.

It was the most perfect day imaginable, but she had ruined the atmosphere by saying something strange, and the prince was defending a woman she didn’t know. Larissa wanted to slap her own face with her own hand.

“Prince Alfonso, who is this woman!”

The agitated Larissa began to appeal to Alfonso in Gallican.

“Weren’t we officially engaged in both our countries? How can a promise between nations be so light?”

The nobles who could speak Gallican were surprised by the talk of a state marriage. So a marriage proposal was being exchanged! They alternately looked at the newly appeared noblewoman, Prince Alfonso, and Ariadne. The crowd was greatly stirred.

Prince Alfonso closed his eyes. How on earth could he handle this?

– “Indeed, why would the duchess come all the way to Etruscan! It’s because a marriage proposal is being made. But the fiancé spent time with another woman at the ball.”

– “The Duchess of Larissa has come down to Etruscan just to meet Prince Alfonso now. This has already spread all over the country, so she won’t be able to marry anywhere else, but the man’s mind is elsewhere. Tsk tsk.”

– “No, leaving his prospective fiancée and having his mind elsewhere, is it with the Marquis of Campa’s mistress? The prince’s taste in women is just… He takes after his father. Ugh!”

It was becoming an established fact that Ariadne was the Marquis of Campa’s mistress.

– “So the second Lady de Mare has no one to prove her alibi? That bracelet is hers, right?”

– “It’s a set with the Collegioni mask and necklace. How many of those could there be? Plus, even the dress color matches. It’s completely certain.”

The situation was at its worst. Alfonso decided to do what he could in the meantime. He called Bernardino, the secretary who was in the crowd, and gave him a few orders. Bernardino, who received the prince’s command, ran towards the Queen’s Palace.

Having finished giving orders, Alfonso licked his dry lips. Now all that was left was to wait. His insides were burning up.

Ariadne also bit her lip. But her thoughts were running elsewhere.

The Duchess of Larissa. The daughter of a noble sovereign who appeared wearing the tiara of the Grand Duchy of Valois. In front of Cesare, she tried her best to act indifferent, but when she actually saw Larissa, her heart ached so much.

‘The Duchess of Valois is nothing. Just wait a little. When “that incident” happens, the Duchess of Valois will never be able to come near Alfonso again.’

Ariadne tried to steel herself by repeating an event that would happen in the future. But anxiety crept up. Will that incident really happen the same way in this life? Is the future fixed?

If “that incident” doesn’t happen… She didn’t even want to think about it. The difference between Larissa, who had the power of the state behind her and was aiming for the prince’s side, and Ariadne, who had to do everything alone, was stark.

“You! Speak!”

At Alfonso’s silence, the Duchess of Larissa turned her arrows on Ariadne.

“Why are you keeping silent? Don’t you have anything to say even if you had ten mouths?”

Frustrated, Larissa pressed Ariadne in Gallican.

The Duchess of Larissa was also a mess inside. It is always easier to blame the mistress than the cheating husband.

If Alfonso becomes a bad person, then she who fell for him becomes a fool. That was something Larissa could not bear. So she changed direction. That nine-tailed vixen must have wagged her tail at the unsuspecting prince.

When Ariadne did not answer, Larissa thought she did not know Gallican and attacked her in Etruscan.

“Secret meeting, you bad person! Prince, secret meeting, dishonest! You bad person!”

In addition to the secret meeting with the Marquis of Campa, a secret meeting with Prince Alfonso was also becoming an established fact. Ariadne chewed the inside of her mouth. How could she break through this?

Larissa’s excitement was increasing. She even revealed her identity and poured out everything she wanted to say in Gallican.

“I am Larissa, the daughter of the Grand Duke of Valois! I am scheduled to marry Prince Alfonso of your country. Who are you to wag your tail at my man?”

The Duchess of Larissa approached Ariadne and began shouting while pointing at her.

“I hate immoral brats like you who do not respect the sanctity of marriage the most!”

In the Duchess of Larissa’s mind, she had already finished her wedding with Prince Alfonso.

Prince Alfonso immediately called Secretary Bernardino and gave him a few orders at the point when the Duchess of Larissa was approaching Ariadne as if to pounce on her.

He could not leave Ariadne like this. No matter what the Kingdom of Gallico said, whether the engagement was broken or knights were dispatched to the border, he intended to clean up this mess.

From a common sense perspective, the best outcome in this situation was the mediation of Queen Marguerite.

With the Queen, a doctor who could diagnose that Larissa had become overly excited, and an attendant from the Kingdom of Gallico to take Larissa away, the situation could be calmed down.

Bernardino ran into the palace to find the necessary personnel.

However, before the secretary returned, this situation was resolved by a completely unexpected person.

“Well, there seems to have been a misunderstanding.”

It was a smooth manner of speech with a pleasant tenor tone of voice.

As he finished speaking, he tilted his mask to reveal his face. A sculptural, handsome face shone smoothly, illuminated by the moonlight and the torches installed here and there in the garden.

“Count Cesare!”

“It’s Count Cesare!”

After learning his identity, Cesare smiled and replied, savoring people’s shock.

“The prince is enduring slander for the sake of this half-brother, indeed, the bond of being raised together cannot be severed, it seems.”

Speaking of the king’s illegitimate child at an official occasion was an insult to the royal family. Cesare originally could not even mention such a thing in Alfonso’s presence.

But now Cesare was Alfonso and Ariadne’s only lifeline. Alfonso was in no position to say anything to Cesare now.

Cesare parted the crowd, drawing everyone’s gaze as he smoothly entered the center of the plaza. Passing by the Duchess of Larissa, he stood next to Ariadne and elegantly kissed the back of her hand.

“Lady de Mare.”

“Count de Como.”

Receiving Ariadne’s greeting, Cesare grinned.

“It seems someone is very jealous of the young lady? What to do about this? After today, the number of people jealous of you will increase much more.”

After joking with her, Cesare turned to face the crowd and raised his voice.

“This young lady is not the Marquis of Campa’s mistress or anything of the sort.”

He glanced at Alfonso.

“Nor is she the prince’s secret lover.”

Cesare gazed at the Duchess of Larissa and elegantly bowed, slightly pulling back one leg and bending his knee.

“You have nothing to worry about, Duchess. Everything will flow as it should.”

Cesare whispered to Larissa in Gallican, then shouted to everyone.

“This young lady is the woman I am courting. She has been with me all along.”

It was the appearance of the second man claiming to have been with Ariadne, and the third man presumed to have been with her.

Moreover, Count Cesare was publicly courting her?

The hall instantly became chaotic.