Countess Marquez and Marchioness Cibo looked stunned by Ariadne De Mare’s sudden prostration, but Queen Marguerite remained calm, her expression entirely unreadable.
“Why on earth would she refuse such a treasure?”
“Well… isn’t it an honor for the family?”
“True. It’s a piece that would more than suffice as a family heirloom.”
However, unlike the baffled Marchioness Cibo, Countess Marquez seemed to have caught the scent of a hidden motive.
Ariadne remained prostrate, ignoring the noblewomen whispering behind her, and earnestly pleaded with the Queen.
“A treasure that does not suit one’s station only brings ruin to its owner. I came wearing flowers instead of a headpiece today because I had no jewelry to match this dress. I am not worthy of possessing such an excessive item, nor do I have the power to protect it! Your Majesty, I beg you—have pity on me and look upon me with mercy!”
Queen Marguerite’s lips tightened.
“Ariadne De Mare. I know why you are doing this.”
Though the Queen gazed down at her with a semblance of pity, the chill lingering in her eyes did not vanish.
“But this is the King’s decree. My hands are tied.”
She stepped down from the throne, personally pulling Ariadne up from her knees to press the ebony jewelry box containing the ‘Heart of the Blue Deep’ into her hands.
To others, the Queen’s touch and the ‘Heart of the Blue Deep’ would be the height of family honor and supreme glory. To Ariadne, it felt like a death warrant. Her face drained of color, her skin cold with terror.
“Let me offer you a word of advice. The ‘Heart of the Blue Deep’ is, indeed, far too precious for you to hold alone. Setting aside the King’s intent, its weight is too great for any one person to bear. Many will covet it.”
“Create a balance among them. If you lack the strength to protect the ‘Heart of the Blue Deep’ yourself, ensure that so many desire it at once that none can claim it exclusively. It is a treacherous task, but it is the only way.”
Ariadne bowed her head. Her posture was the picture of courtly grace, though in the depths of her heart, she wanted to scream: *If you are so confident, Your Majesty, why don’t you try it yourself!*
Yet, objectively, Queen Marguerite was showing her more favor than was expected. Strictly speaking, the Queen had no obligation to stand in for the King, no reason to treat this audience like a casual chat, and certainly no duty to tolerate Ariadne’s rejection—which amounted to little more than a tantrum. Giving her this tactical advice was an act of unexpected grace, provided King Leo III did not change his mind.
Ariadne decided to gamble on that grace. She lifted her head, assuming her most pitiful expression, and met the Queen’s blue-grey gaze with fervor.
“If so, Your Majesty, if I may be so bold, might I request one favor of you?”
*Please, please say yes…!*
The Queen lowered her lashes, glancing toward the floor for a beat before looking back at Ariadne, a flicker of curiosity in her expression.
Ariadne sensed the shift—a faint sign of consent. She rose, hurried to the Queen’s side, and whispered into her ear.
Having heard her out, Queen Marguerite tilted her head, a faint, wry smile touching her lips.
“That is a request I can grant.”
*It worked!*
As Ariadne fought to keep her relief from betraying her, the Queen added a final remark.
“Besides, I had already prepared a similar ‘gift’ for you.”
The Queen wrinkled her nose at her.
“You bold child. You said there would be only one request, yet you bring me two.”
Ariadne had no response, offering only a shy, foolish smile. The taut atmosphere of the reception room suddenly dissipated.
Countess Marquez and Marchioness Cibo, who had been watching with wide eyes, laughed aloud, and the Queen’s Galico ladies-in-waiting followed suit with gentle titters.
“Your Majesty seems to be treating this young lady a bit too well.”
Countess Marquez, still laughing, teased the Queen in a half-whining tone. The Queen chuckled warmly and offered a light rebuke.
“She looks twenty-five years younger than I. She is so young and endearing; I have naturally developed an affection for her.”
“She is like a mirror to Your Majesty’s youth.”
“So clever and demure—they are truly cut from the same cloth.”
The Queen’s Galico ladies-in-waiting chimed in with soft laughter. The Queen replied with a wistful smile.
“Now that you mention it, perhaps she is. I only hope her fate is kinder than mine.”
At that single remark, the lively air of the reception room sank once again into solemnity.
* * *
Ariadne returned home, laden with the Queen’s gifts. The ebony box containing the ‘Heart of the Blue Deep’ was as long as her forearm, and its width and depth were substantial enough that even for a girl of her height, it was a heavy, cumbersome burden. Yet, it was far too precious to entrust to anyone else.
In the end, Ariadne hauled the ‘Heart of the Blue Deep’ inside, feeling less like she was carrying a jewelry box and more like she was lugging a crate.
“Ariadne, open it! Let us see!”
Arabella’s eyes shone, hungry to behold the most expensive, grandest treasure to ever enter the house. To think it was a legendary gem that had been the talk of the kingdom years ago—if she could just see it once, she could boast to her friends for a lifetime.
Lucrezia and Isabella, however, were focused on more practical matters. A treasure like the ‘Heart of the Blue Deep’ was beyond their grasp, and merely looking at it would only sour their stomachs with envy. But the smaller trinkets or gold coins the Queen had bestowed? That was a different story.
“What is the point of opening a box like that? You’ll only invite thieves!”
Lucrezia scolded Arabella. Ariadne agreed with this a hundred percent.
“Show us the jewelry box you brought, Ariadne.”
Isabella clung to her, projecting a forced intimacy. Her proximity was unusually stifling. Before Ariadne could express her discomfort, Isabella had already snatched the Queen’s jewelry box with her slender, white arms, setting it firmly upon a nearby table.
– Thump!
While not as colossal as the ebony case for the ‘Heart of the Blue Deep,’ the Queen’s three-tiered box was still quite heavy. Isabella’s eyes glittered as she deftly flipped the lid open.
‘Ah, it’s blinding!’
Isabella squinted as the light hit the contents. Inside, nestled against velvet, lay a collection of jewelry ranging from five points to one carat, packed tightly together.
“This is beautiful!”
Isabella snatched the most striking topaz earrings from the top tier.
They featured a one-carat yellow topaz, cushion-cut and set within a gold frame crafted to look like delicate branches. The main stone was gold, while the ornaments embedded in the branches shimmered with deep purple amethysts.
“Mother, doesn’t this look exactly like the color of my eyes?”
“It looks as if it were crafted for you, Isabella!”
Isabella didn’t just hold the earrings up to her ears; she began to remove her own, eager to wear them immediately.
“Ariadne, give these to me. They suit me perfectly. It would be a tragedy for such earrings not to hang from my ears. After all, gold was made for blondes.”
Struggling because the clasp wouldn’t budge, Isabella gave up on removing the earring blindly and stared at it, irritated.
“Why won’t these come off!”
There was a tiny, exquisitely delicate engraving on the earring.
Ariadne calmly refused the seething Isabella.
“Sister, I would love to give them to you, but unfortunately, I cannot.”
“What?!”
Isabella glared at Ariadne, her left eyebrow arched. It was an expression that screamed, ‘How dare someone of your station?’ The atmosphere soured, the air turning frigid. Lowering her voice, Isabella threatened her.
“If you didn’t want to give them to me, you could have just said so.”
“That truly isn’t the case.”
Ariadne smiled gently, took the earring Isabella had been struggling with, and unclasped the hook for her. Once the clasp was undone, the engraving became fully visible.
– From MDB, to ARI.
It was a monogram formed from the first letters of Queen Marguerite’s maiden name, ‘Marguerite De Brienne,’ and the first three letters of Ariadne’s name. It was unusual to use only first names, omitting the family surnames.
“Since they are a royal gift from Her Majesty the Queen, she had the initials engraved on all the jewelry she bestowed upon me. Therefore… if the ownership of these pieces changes for any reason other than inheritance, it is punishable as an act of lese-majesty.”
Ariadne explained it kindly, as if she were truly caught in a difficult position.
“One is not even permitted to gift them to another.”
And for Isabella, who might try to acquire the jewelry through other means even if Ariadne refused to hand them over, she drove home the final nail.
“Theft carries an aggravated penalty.”
Ariadne firmly snatched the other earring from Isabella’s hand. Helplessly, Isabella watched the golden trinket be taken from her. Ariadne gathered the pair, placed them neatly back into their original spot in the jewelry box, and closed the lid with a sharp *clack*.
“I ask for your understanding, Sister.”
Isabella’s violet eyes widened; she stared blankly at Ariadne, still struggling to process the situation. Ariadne didn’t care; she picked up the jewelry box, turned, and walked briskly toward her room with a light step.
*Besides, I have already prepared a similar ‘gift’ for you.*
This was the thoughtful ‘gift’ Queen Marguerite had prepared for Ariadne.
And Isabella hadn’t even noticed the most important part. Ariadne quietly gripped the zelkova-leaf-colored silk ribbon she had untied from her hair and tucked into her bodice.