Episode 10> The prince's first meeting

In a previous life, I learned that Maleta's sister died of starvation at the Rambouillet Rescue Home. Ariadne planned on showing it to Maletha. I'll leave you here if you don't listen to me properly. Your fate will be the same as your brother's.

"I'd like to go somewhere where there are more sick and difficult people." Is there anything I can do to help?"

"There is a bathing service for the sick..."

"All right, let's do that." * * * There was a reason for the official's silence. It's nice to say it's a bath service, but the reality was horrifying. The sick, who appeared to have no chance of recovery, were lying on dirty straw mats in the long, isolated corridor. Death's shadow hung thickly over their thorny bodies. There were no facilities, supplies, or people to care for them properly. The situation was so bad that it can be safely regarded as maliciously building a shell and deliberately starving the poor, regardless of how bad the finances were because it was operated solely on the queen's budget.

'This is why the manager refused to let me go.'

Maleta's expression was paler than Ariadne's, who was lost in her thoughts. Isabella rescued her from this mess only two years ago. Hunger, cold, and the fear of dying were all vividly recalled. Maletta frantically searched the area for the sick man with red hair. What will she do if she runs into her sister, whom she left two years ago? Ariadne was looking for a sick person with red hair as well.

'Is that the child?'

Maletha was taken aback when Ariadne approached the little girl among the sick.

"Wait, my lady...!"

Maleta turned blue and grabbed Ariadne's wrist, thinking she had to leave before she ran into her brother. Maleta's hands, that is, bare skin, touched the cuffs that were exposed outside the clothes. * * * Pajijik! I felt dizzy and thought I saw flashing lightning and hazy clouds in my head, but Ariadne'saw' something in her head.

- 'I'm only taking one. Which of the two options should I choose?'

Isabella was the one. Isabella was standing outside the Rambouillet Relief Center, which housed the sick. Maleta, a little younger and scruffier, and a skinny, freckled girl with the same red hair as Maleta stood in front of him.

- 'Who is smarter and who is harder working?'

Isabella was pleading with the skinny girl.

- 'Lady, our sisters have grown up together since we were children. Please reap with me as I work hard!'

Isabella wore a glum expression.

- 'There is only one seat available. Tell me why I should choose you rather than both of you.'

Maleta shoved the skinny girl next to her and knelt in front of Isabella. Maleta begged Isabella, almost prostrating herself on the floor and holding her hands together.

'Noble lady!' Sancha has bad manners and a chronic cough!'

With a shocked expression, Sancha returned Maleta's gaze. Maletta clenched her teeth and moved her gaze away from Sancha.

- 'If you only take one person, it has to be me!' He's too young to be of any assistance, and he's as frail as a young mouse! I'll work like a maniac! Take me along, young lady!'

Isabella was looking perplexed.

- 'Are you driven?'

- 'I'll work hard for you, lady!'

- 'All right, let's do it with you.'

Isabella slowly took Maleta, turned around, and began to leave the Rambuilles Relief Center's patronage. Sancha was shocked to learn that Maleta had abandoned him and cried out in anguish.

'Sister, sister!'

Following that, I heard Maletta's haste.

- 'Shh! Hold your breath! I'll send it to you when I go to that house to pick up my pay! I'll collect the funds and transport you from the relief centre. For everything to go smoothly, at least one member of the family must perform well. Understand? I'm patiently waiting!' * * *

"Are you Miss, lady?"

Maleta was taken aback and shook Ariadne's shoulder. Ariadne was upset that Maletha had touched him without her permission, so she slammed Maletha's hand into the ground and made it shake. Maleta lowered his hand quickly and asked Ariadne again.

"Are you all right, my lady?" I was taken aback when he suddenly stopped moving and stiffened."

"How long have I been this way?"

"Was it only a couple of seconds?"

"That's all there is to it."

What did I see as I reflected on the past? Is it true or false? It was time to double-check. Ariadne approached the red-haired girl who was lying dead among her paupers and knelt beside her, pretending not to recognise Maleta. Ariadne, who pretended to be friendly while wiping the girl's brow with a wet cloth, inquired quietly.

"How do you feel?"

The turned-over face belonged to a child of about 12 or 13 years old. Her cheeks were sunken despite the fact that her breasts were still growing. Her freckled girl opened her light green eyes and returned her gaze to Ariadne and Maletha.

"Has your family ever sent you any assistance since you entered the Rambuillet Rescue Home?"

The freckled girl screamed angrily. Martha's expression darkened further.

"Do you have a chronic cough?"

The girl's thrashing became more ferocious. Maleta's face had turned as pale as if she had been met by a male grim reaper.

"Maletta? "Do you recognise this child?"

"Please excuse me..., That is..."

With all her might, the freckled girl shot Ariadne's sleeves.

"Live… … Please assist me, girl...!" * * *

"Special treatment is impossible, no matter how cardinal he is."

The official shrugged his shoulders. When asked to save Sancha, a freckled girl, these were the words that came out. Ariadne was the daughter of the second most powerful man in San Carlo, but this was just a bright apricot. Her powerful father did not love her and was uninterested in her other than her minimal investment in using her as a tool. She did not, however, have any money or power in her own name. She had no money, so she couldn't even call her doctor. She came back to her death, but she was still a bird in a cage with no choices for herself.

"Well sir. In that case, I will give that girl my share of food for today."

Ariadne's portion of food was half a loaf of dry bread and clean water. Ariadne ordered Maleta to boil dry bread in boiling water and make it into a mieum and feed it to Sancha. That was all I could do. Ariadne felt a dark helplessness. However, Sancha was really starving, and after a day or two with little food, he gradually grew vigorous, like a kitten he had picked up from the street.

"Maletta. Come and see."

While staying at the nun's accommodation, Ariadne thought over and over again about the 'fantasy' from before. When he asked Sancha a question as he had seen in the vision, the ghost was right in, and Maleta's terrified reaction, it seemed that the 'illusion' showed what actually happened in the past.

"Hold my wrist like before."

Maletha hesitantly grabbed Ariadne's wrist once more, but this time nothing happened. It seemed that skin-to-skin contact did not always result in illusions. * * * After giving Sancha his share of food, Ariadne quickly grew pale. He said he had to take care of the mountain tea, and the official Ugini sent Ariadne back to the food line. It seemed that he was afraid that the compassionate young lady would be stabbed by another poor sick man while continuing to serve baths in the Great Hall.

'Ah, I'm hungry.'

Ariadne stood in the food line and gulped at the soup she was serving. Normally, the soup would not be edible even if given, but now even the fat floating on the surface looked too tempting. However, there were several owners in the country, and the poor in the relief centre were very serious about food. Ariadne, who finished serving the morning meal without even touching the soup, hadn't eaten a single meal since the evening before. Leaning under the shade of a tree in the relief centre, she tried to forget her hunger for a while. Then, one of her apples suddenly appeared in front of Ariadne's eyes.

'who?'

Looking at the owner of the hand, it was a handsome boy with radiant blond hair and milky features. He was holding out an apology, wearing a satin court costume.

"Want some?" It was Prince Alfonso. He was a young boy, still growing, like a fresh willow branch, much younger than Ariadne remembered him. He was somehow out of touch with reality. He was already dead by Cesare's hand. Ariadne reached out and accepted the apple he handed him. The hand holding the apple and the tip of the finger receiving the apple touched each other, and Ariadne shuddered when she felt the warmth. The past has really come back. She was alive and moving as she was before her sins had been committed.

"I want you to look hungry… … ."

He smiled a bit embarrassed. He showed clean white teeth between his big mouth. Ariadne was aware that the boy in front of her was the prince, but he answered in plain language. It was her instincts as a woman in her 30s who had gone through all of the prenatal battles.

"thank you."

Wiping the apple on her sleeve, she took a big bite. - Wow! The apples were sweet. On the third day of starvation, she felt the sweetness on the tip of her tongue, and it was hard to bear the prince. The juice was so refreshing. After one bite and two bites, the apple was left with only the skeleton in an instant. It was only then that Ariadne remembered that the prince was in front of her eyes. Embarrassed, she hurriedly made excuses.

"I starved for three days, but thanks to you, I got refreshed."

To cover up her embarrassment, the emphasis was placed on for three days, but Prince Alfonso stared at her with good eyes, whether he knew or not.

"I hear you're giving away food to a sick child."

"ah… … . I happened to see it."

"I think it's great. I can't give up on food."

Ariadne involuntarily laughed bashfully. I didn't know it, but it was a smile like a pear flower.

"so do i."

For some reason, it was embarrassing to pretend to be nice in front of Prince Alfonso. She was not bold enough to pretend to be thin in front of the man she had killed.

"I gave up the bread at the Relief Center because it didn't taste good.

What came out instead was a strong pretender. Prince Alfonso asked Ariadne with a slightly surprised expression.

"Doesn't the bread at the relief centre taste good?"

"It's so prickly. There is no milk or butter at all, it just tastes like wheat and salt."

"I see… … ."

Prince Alfonso laughed bitterly. It seems that the relief centre did not give him the real relief centre food. She didn't bother pretending to know he was a prince, and there was silence for a moment. She wasn't in the mood to apologise for killing her. Fortunately, the prince asked again.

"How long are you here?"

"tomorrow."

If Isabella hadn't been mean, Ariadne would have gone home yesterday, the third day, so she wouldn't have met Prince Alfonso today. the prince asked kindly.

"Are you going to keep giving food until then?"

"Well, I was going to eat it until today, but thanks to someone giving me an apple, I think I can do it for two more days."

Ariadne grinned. Prince Alfonso frowned slightly in distress, then pulled out a cookie wrapped in his handkerchief from his pocket and held it out.

"I wish it was something to eat a little more, but… … , All I have is this."

Ariadne accepted the cookie wrapped in a handkerchief. On the edge of the handkerchief was embroidered with 'AFC' in small letters with gold thread. These were the initials of Alfonso de Carlo.

"I will eat well. thank you."

The golden-haired boy asked, looking at the tall, skinny girl taking her food with a handkerchief. As the afternoon sun went down from its zenith, the sunlight shining brightly illuminated the boy and girl.

"What's your name?"

"Ariadne. Ariadne de Mare."