Cardinal De Mare

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* Comic

Cardinal De Mare is a minor antagonist in "Sister In This Life I Have Become the Queen". The esteemed Cardinal of San Carlo, he is also the father of the protagonists Ariadne &Arabella and the step-father of the antagonist Isabella, though he hardly recognizes Ariadne as such.

## History

### Early Life

Born to humble origins in a fishing village, the orphaned boy known as Simone De Mare rose up to become the esteemed Cardinal of San Carlo, gaining power and riches. Although he was a holy man, and therefore forbidden from a typical lawful marriage, his high rank and power meant he was allowed a mistress of highborn origins, named Lucrezia, that was recognized as his lawful de facto wife. Because of this, all three of their children, despite being born out of wedlock, were recognized and treated as legitimate children of nobility. It later revealed that Isabella and Ippolito are not the biological children of Cardinal de Mare.

The Cardinal also had an affair with one of Lucrezia’s maid, thinking it was Lucrezia, resulted in her becoming pregnant with his daughter. Even though the child, Ariadne, was technically illegitimate like the rest of her siblings, her mother’s low status and lack of any sort of lawful union to the Cardinal, even a de facto one, meant that she was treated as such unlike the Cardinal’s other children. The maid died in childbirth, and Ariadne was sent to work on a nearby farm.

### First Timeline

Out of the three children he sired with Lucrezia, Cardinal De Mare heavily favored his step-daughter, Isabella, who was considered the most beautiful and elegant young lady in San Carlo. Because of her beauty and charm, Cardinal De Mare had high hopes to marry her off to the kingdom’s sole lineal heir, Crown Prince Alfonso de Carlo. However, King Leo III pressured the Cardinal to marry Isabella to Count Cesare de Como, who was recognized as his nephew official but heavily rumored to be his bastard son. Isabella refused to marry Cesare, and her father, in turn, refused to let his step-daughter marry a possible bastard. Lucrezia came up with a loophole, suggesting they bring Ariadne into the house to take Isabella’s place, and the Cardinal agreed to the idea. The engagement was sealed between Cesare and Ariadne, much to the chagrin of Cesare when he found out that it was Ariadne, not Isabella, to whom he was betrothed. Cesare hated Cardinal De Mare for giving him "his lesser daughter" instead of Isabella.

Later on, Queen Margeret was poisoned by her husband’s mistress, Countess Rubina, Cesare’s mother, in the middle of marriage negotiations between Prince Alfonso and Princess Lariessa of the Gallico Kingdom. Since Queen Margaret was a princess of Gallico before her marriage, her kingdom saw this as an attack on their people, and they demanded compensation, semding their army to seize the Gaita Region from King Leo when their demands were not met in time. Because of this, the people of Estrucan doubted Alfonso as a king, for being half-Gallican by his mother and taking another Gallican to wife. Under pressuee from the people, King Leo canceled the marriage and sought a pure blooded Estrucan noblewoman for his son’s bride, of a family of no military power or maternal relation. The Cardinal was a man of great influence and prestige but no real political strength, and, after the decline of the kingdom leading Leo to seek a diplomatic reprieve to their problems, Simone’s step-daughter Isabella became engaged and eventually married to Prince Alfonso, meeting the Cardinal’s ultimate goal. What ultimately became of the Cardinal after Ariadne and Cesare’s conquer of the castle is unknown.

### Second Timeline

After welcoming Ariadme into his home, he finds a scuffle that has ended with Isabella being pushed down the stairs. He demands to know the truth, and Arabella claims that it was Ariadne who pushed her. Ariadne, on the other hand, claims that Arabella was playing too roughly and accidentally pushed Isabella down the stairs. When Isabella is given the opportunity to speak, she collaborates Ariadne’s claim over Arabella, causing Arabella to be punished by their father. Simon condemns Arabella to stay in her room for a week to pray for her sins with only bread and water for food. When Arabella begs for mercy, Simon admonishes her for lying and extends her punishment before running off, calling for Lucrezia.