The Youngest Prince Of The English Royalty House [EN]: Chapter 23

[Reunion of Mother and Son in Emotion (2)]

Iocasta of England (a beauty of eternal youth from Greek mythology), already well past middle age, still retained her prime beauty.

She gazed at the scenery with a calm expression.

“The sky is truly clear.”

Her beautiful eyes reflected the good weather outside the window, a welcome change after a long time.

On such a fine day, the salty scent of the sea breeze wafted in.

The sounds of birds chirping and people living their lives filled the air.

She had been Eleanor of Aquitaine, Duchess of Aquitaine,

Then Eleanor of Capet, Queen of France, and now she was known as Eleanor Plantagenet, the Great Queen Dowager of England.

She was called the Great Queen Dowager to distinguish her from her eldest daughter-in-law, Marguerite, the joint Queen of England.

Despite her splendid and magnificent status, her body was confined here.

However, her ears were always open.

Her vassals and spies, scattered throughout England, and even

King Philip II of France, conveyed the sounds of the world to her.

“My husband became a Great King, and I became a Great Queen Dowager, but this tiresome smell of salt never fades.”

Eleanor was the Great Queen Dowager exiled in Salisbury.

People brought her news of how the world was turning.

Thus, she could see that the political formula she had calculated was slowly collapsing.

The grand rebellion she had ambitiously planned failed due to various variables.

Her biggest miscalculation was believing that the seven hated nobles of Henry would betray Henry II for their own gain.

[Queen, you are no match for me, no matter what you do.]

Having lost, Eleanor had to endure a long exile.

Would her life have been different if she had not played the role of Queen of France and been used?

Perhaps she was reaping the consequences of betraying Louis VII and committing ‘adultery’?

As she was lost in various regrets and agonies,

Her lifelong enemy, whom she thought she would never face, came to find her.

“His Majesty King Henry is entering.”

The door opened.

Henry, once Eleanor’s lover whom she wouldn’t trade for her own lands, entered.

Of course, the sweet scent of love from those days no longer emanated from Henry II.

“Eleanor, it’s been a while.”

“…”

Eleanor looked at her husband, who had aged much more than before.

The wrinkles were deeper than before, and his once handsome face was much worn.

‘That man is growing old too.’

Realizing the natural order of things, she felt sympathy for her husband.

However, the sense of betrayal she felt had not faded despite the long years.

So she,

as always, did not hide her discomfort and greeted her husband.

“An unwelcome guest has arrived.”

“I am not pleased to see you either.”

“Then why did you come to this humble place?”

As Eleanor sneered,

“I am reluctant, but I am considering lifting your exile.”

“….!”

At the unexpected remark, Eleanor thought.

How could this madman say such a thing unless he had lost his mind?

Her current feeling was akin to the shock she felt when she first learned that Henry II had more than ten mistresses like Zeus [the king of the gods in Greek mythology, known for his numerous affairs].

Still unable to believe the outrageous words of her husband, Eleanor asked again with a cynical smile.

“Lift my exile? Why?”

Although she was not executed because she was his wife,

In any case, Queen Eleanor was the leader of the rebels who had instigated the great rebellion.

Eleanor could not fathom her husband’s intentions in releasing her.

‘What is he thinking?’

The beautiful Queen Eleanor frowned.

Could it be that this Henry was planning to release her from exile,

Only to drive her into a new trap and completely ruin her?

Henry II knew exactly what his wife, who did not hide her expressions, was thinking.

“When the great army rose last time, none of them asked for your exile to be lifted.”

Hearing those words, Queen Eleanor smiled bitterly.

As someone who had been used as a tool for revenge to incite the great rebellion,

She was neither upset nor sad at her husband Henry’s words.

She had given birth to her beloved children, so it was natural for them to be as cold as she was.

However, Henry II’s next remark

Was something she had never expected.

“But Richard, only that fellow tried to save you.”

The name that came out of Henry II’s mouth.

‘Richard.’

Queen Eleanor recalled the name of her most beloved child in her heart.

Her capable son, the reliable second son she relied on the most.

He was the only one who had requested her salvation.

“As expected of Richard. He hasn’t forgotten his mother.”

Henry II, looking at his wife’s face, which did not bother to hide her emotion, spoke in a calm tone.

“That Richard earnestly pleaded with John, and our youngest son said he would accept you without any conditions.”

“John?”

“John, your youngest son, whom you treated most indifferently.”

John.

Eleanor’s sore spot.

Thinking of her youngest son, Eleanor felt a subtle emotion.

Henry II, who had been gazing silently at his wife, said.

“I don’t care what tricks you play or whether you collude with the French again. But I hope you won’t make things difficult for John, that child.”

“How unexpected… that there is a son you love so much in the Angevin family.”

“John is… just ordinary.”

Henry II left those subtle words and departed.

Queen Eleanor, whose exile was officially over,

came to Ireland and looked at her youngest son, John.

The mother, who met her youngest son, who resembled his father and mother and was quite handsome, though not as much as her eldest son Henry or Geoffrey,

spoke of ‘forgiveness and reconciliation’ and watched her youngest son’s reaction.

**

-Ireland, Dublin-

So, from the moment I was reborn,

I wanted to receive my mother’s warm love in this life.

Although she loves her children,

The problem is that the ‘Eleanor’ who is as ruthless as Henry II is my mother.

Anyway, right now,

My mother is looking at me with clear eyes and saying.

“You were too young to say it back then, but your mother was having a very hard time back then. So much so that I couldn’t take care of you properly, the youngest.”

A reunion with my mother.

Something I had imagined many times had happened, and my worries deepened.

I am John, who can only survive by becoming safe, the Safe John.

To me, my mother, Queen Eleanor, is a very dangerous being.

With fatal beauty,

Would my mother, who hides fatal cunning, stay quietly in Ireland?

But,

Should I, who claims to be a pseudo-Saint Patrick [a self-proclaimed follower of Saint Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland], express resentment here?

Absolutely not.

So I approached my mother without a word.

And gently hugging my mother, who was now shorter than me, I said.

“The peace of the Lord…”

No matter how much my mother hated me, and no matter how much I missed her, she is still the one who gave birth to me.

And the youngest son who embraced the ‘ruthless’ mother. Seriously, where else can you find a picture as good as this?

“What is the meaning of those words?”

“… In the name of the Lord, I will forgive everything. Mother!”

I have a lot to do in the future, so fighting with my biological mother, prioritizing emotions, is a waste of time!

Wouldn’t that be a disqualification for Safe John?

And I went one step further,

And said something that emphasized that I was different from my brothers, who used my mother as a justification to move.

“Mother, unlike my brothers or father, I have no attachment to Aquitaine.

Rather, that’s why I was able to accept you more freely.”

“You have no attachment to that rich land?”

At my words, my mother, Queen Eleanor, looked at me with an unbelievable expression.

Of course.

Aquitaine is a rich, fertile, and wealthy land.

But there’s no point in having honey land that you can’t even protect.

Aquitaine may be a good land for my brothers, but it’s a poisoned chalice for me!

‘Besides, managing the territory is overwhelming even with just Ireland.’

“John, I thought I knew everything about you, but I was wrong.”

What does this mean again?

Is a good son unfamiliar?

**

-Kingdom of France-

Around the time Prince John was having a reunion with his mother,

In the flourishing city of Paris, there was a monarch with many worries, wearing a complicated expression today.

Not Henry, not Richard, not Geoffrey.

It was the worries caused by Safe John, which made him think even more!

“Your Majesty… are you alright?”

Philip II could not say anything to the secretary.

He wanted to pour out all his complaints to this old nobleman, but the monarch is the one who bears everything.

The moment you rely on someone, you become infinitely weak!

“I’m fine… but I want to be alone.”

‘The grand plan has collapsed.’

Despair came to his heart.

He never imagined that touching the youngest son, John, would return to him as such a humiliating disgrace.

In front of everyone, Henry II called Philip II the King of the Franks.

Frank.

The word Frank that Henry II of England said to Philip II.

It was not the glorious name of old France, but the remnants of the past that Philip II wanted to erase.

Why did Philip II officially declare in front of the people that he was the King of France, not the King of the Franks?

Because Gaul (France) had to go through a new era.

By integrating the surrounding territories and driving out the hated England from the continent. To declare a new order of centralized ‘France’ rather than feudal Frank.

‘The Lion’s Great Army’ ruined everything.

Who would have expected Henry II to use those hateful sons like mercenaries?

How could he have foreseen that Henry II had colluded with the Holy Roman Empire?

All of this is because of that damned John, who hides his cunning behind a mask.

Recalling the moment of humiliation, Philip II looked at the robes left by his father, Louis VII, and said.

‘Father, what path did you walk?’

He suddenly missed his father and former king, Louis VII, who was already with the Lord.

‘The position of king is a very lonely one.’

It was a lonely fight.

‘Damn Henry II. The bastard he made has more bastards than Zeus.’

Still, there is hope.

Of course, the great kingdom of the Angevin family, Henry II’s England (Angevin Empire), as some say, was great.

But like the great Achilles [a Greek hero known for his strength but also for having a vulnerable heel], the hateful Angevin-Plantagenet family also had weaknesses.

That is, as they themselves said.

The members of the Angevin family always desire the territory of longing.

[To Philip II], at least Duke Geoffrey of Brittany.

He is someone who would do anything for the territory of Brittany, not England.

The Basilica of Saint-Denis, famous for its death and glorious cathedral.

Geoffrey, who met Philip II here,

spoke with a blank face.

“Philip, I will support your will. My brothers are so full of themselves that they don’t even know, but I know how good an ally France is.”

“Then, does that mean you will cooperate with me?”

“I will move when I see an opening… My older brother is currently obsessed with a beautiful woman like his father.”

At that time.

“Duke of Brittany!”

“Your Majesty!”

The vassals opened their mouths with urgent expressions towards the lords in the cathedral.

The news of the Eastern Roman Empire, which had been temporarily controlled, was also heard in the West.

“What…?”

“Is that true?”

The news that the coup d’état led by the princess and uncle of the Eastern Roman Empire had failed,

And that Emperor Alexios II had begun his true direct rule.

That news

Was an important story even for the prickly Westerners.

**

While King Philip II of France and Duke Geoffrey of Brittany

Were thinking a lot about the new news from the Eastern Roman Empire.

In front of Queen Eleanor, who suddenly started her convalescence in Ireland,

John’s wife, Mary, the mistress of the Irish territory, appeared and greeted her politely.

“Mother, I am happy to meet you like this. My name is Mary.”

Eleanor, who received the greeting from her youngest daughter-in-law, quietly looked at Mary for a moment,

Then smiled softly.

“I am honored to see such a beautiful daughter-in-law.”

For some reason, not in a casual tone, but in a polite tone!

“I am just an ordinary woman in front of Her Majesty the Great Queen Dowager, the most beautiful woman in the world.”

Eleanor is a heroine.

To be active as a female power figure in this medieval era.

You must accurately analyze the value of the territory,

And secure the military power and intelligence to protect that territory.

Like Thomas Becket, who became Pope Pius II, and Henry II, the Great King of England, Eleanor also.

She knew that the Clare family was hiding a ‘big’ secret more than she thought.

“I know the secrets of the Clare family in more detail than others. But…”

Queen Eleanor, who paused for a moment, suddenly strode towards Mary.

And said in a small voice that could only be heard in her ear.

“I have something to say. Mary, you are a precious youngest daughter-in-law. So please. Don’t use John.”

“Yes?”

Mary was dumbfounded right now.

Why is her mother-in-law saying what she was going to say?

Reunion of Mother and Son in Emotion (3)