I Became A Genius Of The French Royal Family [EN]: Chapter 54

The Power of a Silver Tongue (2)

Now that the alliance with Russia had been successfully concluded, most of the objectives for coming here had been achieved.

Improving the Crown Prince’s image took a slightly different direction than I had anticipated, but it had completely changed from what it was before, so it should be considered a success.

At least, he wouldn’t be called weak and lacking resolve anymore.

Frankly, just this much was more than enough.

Of course, this was just an external facade; Auguste’s actual personality hadn’t changed at all.

“Christian, so does that mean I can just sit back and watch now?”

“Yes. You’ve done better than expected, Your Highness. All but one of our objectives here have been achieved, so you can relax now.”

“One exception? Does that mean something failed?”

“No. To put it in terms of cooking, only the main dish, the *viande* [meat], remains. Thanks to you, Your Highness, we’ll be able to handle this more naturally.”

In terms of importance, the task at hand was the most crucial, but the groundwork had already been laid.

It was like adding the final touch, the pupils to a painting of a dragon.

Of course, Auguste, unaware of the current situation, seemed confused.

“I was worried that I might have messed things up when I misunderstood your signal and just left last time… but that wasn’t a problem?”

“No, Your Highness. Your misunderstanding actually made things work out better. Not only the British, but also the Austrians and Spanish must have thought you weren’t an easy person to deal with.”

“But now that I think about it, I wonder if I wasn’t too rude…”

“If it had been a formal meeting, there might have been controversy, but it wasn’t. And as I said before, it’s better to appear unpredictable and reckless than to be seen as easy to handle.”

How many people in this world could interrupt the words of a British duke and walk away?

If someone of humble background did that, they would simply be seen as crazy, but if it was the next King of France, it could be interpreted as an expression of arrogance.

Considering that the public sentiment between Britain and France was extremely negative, it could be seen as part of a political maneuver.

By now, the Duke of Grafton must be racking his brains trying to analyze Auguste’s words and actions.

Could it be said that Auguste’s overly faithful performance had given them an unexpected headache?

“Anyway, thanks to you, Your Highness, we have a natural excuse to contact the British. I’ll pretend to apologize and do some final work.”

“Is it really necessary to apologize?”

“Of course, it shouldn’t be an apology, but rather an expression of regret. It’s absurd for a member of the French royal family to formally apologize to the British.”

“Hahaha, that’s right. That should never happen.”

Even the gentle Auguste often showed such emotional reactions when it came to matters involving Britain.

In that case, it could be expected that the British would show a similar reaction.

The Duke of Grafton, as I had seen so far, was a typical British aristocrat: cold, intellectual, and full of pride in his country.

He was clearly suppressing his hostility towards France and looking for an opportunity to screw us over.

“First, I’ll meet with him one-on-one to sound him out. If we leave him alone, he might do something that would harm us, so we need to put a leash on him.”

“But we’ve just secretly formed an alliance with Russia. Isn’t meeting with the British a bit risky? At least until Russia defeats the Ottomans and publicly reveals the alliance, it’s better not to encounter them. If the British find out about our alliance with Russia, they’ll definitely try to interfere.”

“That’s a valid point, but if we don’t take any action, the British will become suspicious and try to investigate what we’re doing.”

The Duke of Grafton was not a naive person.

How could someone insignificant become the Prime Minister of the ruling party in Britain at such a young age?

He might be temporarily disoriented by Auguste’s sudden actions, but he would soon resume his movements.

If the British side found out that we had proposed an alliance with Russia, there was a risk that all our plans would be ruined.

Of course, Auguste had no idea about my real plans, but he seemed to understand to some extent.

“I see… you’re going to meet with the Duke of Grafton and deliberately give him something to accept. No matter how many times I see it, you really have a sharp mind.”

“Thank you. Then, I’ll proceed with the plan with your consent.”

“Of course. I decided from the beginning to trust you here, so there’s no need to report to me. Just do as you wish and share a little with me when the results come out.”

I responded with a smile to Auguste, who was now casually making jokes, and left the room.

Now, shall we go and paint the final pupils on this magnificent dragon?

※※※

The Vatican, a luxurious residence for British ambassadors.

“No matter how much I think about it, I don’t understand.”

The Duke of Grafton, Augustine Fitzroy.

This influential figure, who became the leader of the Whig Party and Prime Minister at the young age of 33, had been in a bad mood all day.

“No, what is it? What kind of thought process is he operating with? Did he really just blurt it out without thinking?”

The aide shook his head at the former Prime Minister’s venomous words.

“As of now, that’s the only way to see it. The French side is currently not showing any noticeable movements.”

It didn’t make sense.

Grafton had expected that Auguste’s actions clearly had some political motive.

Otherwise, even in an informal setting, how could the Crown Prince of France suddenly pick a fight like that?

“I thought there was a high possibility that he would draw our attention and then contact Russia or the Ottomans behind our backs… but you’re saying there’s really no sign of contact?”

“Yes. We have asked a bishop who is friendly to us to monitor the movements of the French. But so far, France has only talked with the ambassadors of Austria and Spain and had an audience with the Pope, and there have been no other movements.”

“That can’t be…”

Britain already had detailed data on key figures in France.

Grafton had read the report several times before coming to the Vatican.

He had read it so many times that even the handwriting in the report was vivid in his mind.

He recalled the Crown Prince’s description, which was clearly etched in his mind, and chuckled.

[Most Important Person Report – Crown Prince of France, Louis Auguste.]

Like Louis XV, he is indecisive and lacks resolve. Unlike Louis XV, he is naturally timid and unable to be forceful with others. His personality doesn’t seem bad, but he lacks the qualities of a monarch. If the Crown Prince ascends to the throne, it will be a good opportunity to shake France…

“These idiots. If *that’s* what being timid and not forceful is…”

He had seen and experienced it directly with his own eyes, not once but twice.

At first, he was just a little embarrassed, but the second time, he even felt humiliated.

“What kind of information gathering is this?”

As an island nation separated from the continent, Britain was at risk of falling behind in information if it was careless.

Therefore, it had always deliberately put more effort into espionage activities and provided a lot of budget support.

But what was the result?

They had completely misrepresented the Crown Prince of France’s tendencies.

There was a possibility that France had intentionally distorted the information, but that was no excuse.

What kind of foolish country would disclose all information as it is?

“So the information about Louis Christian is also so poor.”

In fact, the information analyzed by the intelligence department about Louis Christian was too fragmented.

First of all, he had excellent political skills.

And he probably didn’t have good feelings about England, and despite his arranged marriage, he seemed to have considerable affection for his wife.

When Grafton first saw this, he was so dumbfounded that he could only laugh.

Was it reasonable to take the country’s money while bringing in this kind of information?

It was obvious that he had excellent political skills just by looking at his past actions.

And of course, a Frenchman would hate England, so *would* he like it?

He loved his wife, and the bastard royal had married a Habsburg princess, so it was natural to treat her like a queen.

It was a fact that anyone with a head could know, so he couldn’t help but get angry.

“What are you going to do?”

“What do you mean what am I going to do? As soon as I get back, I’m going to put this on the agenda in Parliament. How lax must the discipline be for such a terrible result to come out? Even the Tories will quietly agree to this.”

No matter how much the Whigs and Tories were at odds, they wouldn’t hold back on such matters.

He couldn’t leave the parasites who were only wasting money alone any longer.

“Anyway, since we can’t trust the existing information, we need to start running on our feet from now on. Monitor the movements by getting people more closely involved so that they don’t get caught by the French side…”

But.

As if he knew that Grafton would come out like that, an unexpected person visited the British Embassy.

The aide who received the report from below was wide-eyed.

“D-Duke. Prince Louis Christian wants to have a private meeting with you.”

“What?”

After a moment of thought, he immediately nodded.

The timing was awkward, but it was an opportunity.

If he talked to him directly, he could grasp the person’s character and thoughts to some extent.

Even if he had excellent talent, wasn’t he still a boy who wasn’t even twenty years old?

No matter how hard he tried to hide his true feelings, he would inevitably show some signs.

“It wouldn’t be bad to find out how much he has this opportunity. Tell him to come in quickly.”

“Yes.”

Grafton moved to the drawing room and waited for a while.

Soon after, Christian, guided by the aide, came inside.

He bowed his head with an unexpectedly polite attitude and greeted him first.

“Hello, Duke. I wanted to visit you earlier and say hello, but things have been a little delayed due to the situation. I thought it wouldn’t be right to delay any longer, so I came, but I’m worried that I may have been rude by coming so suddenly.”

“No. I’ve been looking forward to this time.”

Grafton focused all his attention and stared intently at Christian’s lips.

What would be the first topic to come out of those lips?

Soon, his mouth slowly opened, and words of apology that he had never imagined popped out.

“First of all, I would like to convey our Crown Prince’s apologies for embarrassing the Duke last time. I think the Crown Prince was too relaxed, so his reaction seemed aggressive.”

“…I don’t know how being relaxed leads to acting like that… but I understand.”

“The Crown Prince is a passionate person. He had been suppressing his temper in the Palace of Versailles because of His Majesty’s presence, but he got a little excited when he came abroad. Even though it was an informal occasion, it was an inappropriate act. So I decided it was right for me to apologize on his behalf.”

“Ah, that’s what happened.”

Grafton didn’t believe Christian’s words completely, but he could roughly understand why he had misunderstood the Crown Prince’s tendencies.

‘Louis XV must have been more forceful in the Crown Prince’s education than I thought.’

If Auguste had been suppressed in the Palace of Versailles, it was understandable that the informants had brought in a different report.

That didn’t mean their incompetence was going anywhere.

“But what is the purpose of Your Highness coming here? You can’t just be here to apologize.”

“It’s a matter related to the reason for the apology. As you know, the reason why we hurriedly sent a diplomatic mission to the Vatican is mainly twofold: to improve relations with the Vatican and to monitor the movements of the United Kingdom.”

“I expected something like that. But I don’t understand why France is now clinging to improving relations with the Vatican.”

“Unlike the United Kingdom, Catholicism has a very high proportion in France. That means the church has a great influence on public sentiment. We can’t just ignore it.”

For now, it wasn’t an unacceptable sound, so Grafton didn’t avoid rebuttal.

Rather, he brought up a question that he had been constantly curious about.

Even if he didn’t get a proper answer, he thought it would be enough to elicit the other person’s reaction.

However, even the great Grafton could not have imagined that this would be a trap that Christian had set up and walked into on his own.