I Became A Genius Of The French Royal Family [EN]: Chapter 73

Housekeeping

“Damn it…”

The Duke of Orléans clutched his throbbing head, trying to regain his composure.

He almost lost his balance, failing to maintain his composure.

He wondered what great secret was being hidden, but never imagined it would be war preparations.

He understood why the King had said that anyone who revealed it would be punished for treason.

If this were to reach British ears, they would naturally prepare as well, and France would have to bear enormous losses.

If a trial like the one during the Seven Years’ War were to occur, the country might truly falter this time.

Punishing the leaker with treason was only natural.

In other words, both Thérésa, who told him, and the Duke of Orléans, who pressed her to reveal it, would not be able to avoid execution if caught.

It was obvious that not only would they die, but their entire family would be destroyed.

No matter how great a noble one might be, if they committed treason by betraying the country, they could not expect mercy.

Even nobles with connections would not dare to attempt a rescue.

“Let’s move the location first. This doesn’t seem like a conversation for here.”

Matters concerning diamonds or Madame du Barry had already completely disappeared from his mind.

The Duke of Orléans didn’t say a word until he returned to his mansion.

Thérésa, who had entered the drawing room with him, also remained silent, lost in thought.

After drinking wine for a long time, the Duke of Orléans finally let out a deep sigh.

“Even if I told you to speak, how could you thoughtlessly reveal such important information?”

“But… didn’t Your Grace say to speak if I wanted to gain trust?”

“Yes, well… sigh… it’s already spilled milk.”

Thérésa’s face then froze ambiguously.

He irritably gulped down wine and rubbed his temples.

“Didn’t I warn you several times? That it was such sensitive information, and that even if you knew it, you wouldn’t be able to use it much.”

There was no arguing.

There were facts in the world that were a crime to even know, and this was exactly such a case.

“But why are you trying to wage war with England? Is His Majesty planning to repeat the same mistake after the mess he made during the Seven Years’ War?”

“Actually, the situation is much better than it was then. If we manage our diplomacy well, England will have to fight us without any allies. Frankly, if Prussia or the colonies in the New World hadn’t been on England’s side during the Seven Years’ War, it would have ended in our victory no matter what.”

“So, you’ve calculated that it’s worth a try.”

This made the problem even more serious.

The Duke of Orléans felt completely trapped in a dilemma.

“The person who suggested that plan is Prince Christian?”

“Yes. And I ended up being dismissed like this for opposing it to the end.”

“What is the scale of the war you’re planning to wage with England? If things go well, what benefits will France gain?”

“Well… perhaps the entire New World colony that we lost in the last war, I suppose.”

It was a hard story to believe, but Christian had already made several unbelievable things a reality.

What would happen if he performed such a miracle again this time?

It was not even worth questioning.

In this France, no one except the King would be able to defy Prince Christian.

He might wield even greater power than the Crown Prince, who would be the next king.

No, it would definitely happen.

It wasn’t just about winning the war.

It was about defeating England and recovering the lost colonies.

Not only the nobles but also the citizens would obviously side with Christian.

If anyone went against his words, the citizens’ anger might pour out even before the King’s.

“Wait, so is stalling for time on purpose…?”

“Yes? What time are you talking about?”

“No, it’s just a soliloquy.”

Now, the blurry puzzle pieces felt like they were falling into place.

The reason why Christian was being so relaxed and leaving him alone.

Logically, he should have been digging around everywhere to find decisive evidence, but why hadn’t he done so?

Because there was no reason to do so from the beginning.

Instead of wasting time looking for evidence that may or may not exist, he was preparing to increase his power even more.

At the same time, he was subtly putting pressure on him to prevent him from turning his attention elsewhere.

If time dragged on here, Christian would become a national hero of France and be able to wield everything as he pleased.

The court had already fallen into the King’s hands, so he could just create new evidence if he needed it.

There was also the calculation that if he acted rashly under pressure, he would seize the mistake.

“I should have known what type of person he was sooner…”

The Duke of Orléans gritted his teeth.

Even just looking at the High Court, Christian’s method was clear.

He diverted the opponent’s attention elsewhere while finishing all the preparations and then stabbed them in the back.

“By the way, Your Grace, where is the Prince getting his information? I can understand everything else, but I can’t even begin to grasp this.”

“That’s what I’m wondering too.”

Come to think of it, it was strange from the assassination attempt in Austria.

Quite some time later, the Duke of Orléans asked Gravier, who had gone to Austria with Christian at the time, about the situation then.

But the answer he received was absurd.

Prince Christian must have known everything from the beginning.

Gravier seemed almost certain of it.

After that, he tried to clean house internally, but he couldn’t find out where the information had leaked from.

“I don’t know if this is the right expression, but… whenever I talk to Prince Christian, he always seems to know everything. Didn’t you feel that way this time too?”

Since Thérésa felt that way too, there was no room for further doubt.

The Duke of Orléans could once again deeply feel that there was a traitor near him.

The leak started with the assassination attempt in Austria, so Thérésa was excluded from the list of suspects.

Fortunately, the traitor wasn’t someone with critical evidence.

If he narrowed it down to those who only knew the general situation, the candidates wouldn’t exceed ten.

There was no one he suspected yet, but he still had to exclude them from future plans.

“Your Grace, let’s take our time and think about it calmly for now. No matter how capable Prince Christian is, if we analyze him well, we’ll find a gap to exploit.”

“…No. We can’t just wait like that.”

The Duke of Orléans was in a different position from Thérésa.

Thérésa had just fallen out with Christian, so he could just shut his mouth and quietly stay out of the way, but the Duke of Orléans had crossed the line.

If he tried to slowly and leisurely exploit weaknesses, his head would be chopped off in an instant on the guillotine.

“Your Grace… but this is too dangerous.”

“Unfortunately, from the moment the Director of Finance revealed this fact to me, we’ve been in a position with a knife to our throats.”

“Wouldn’t it be okay if we just kept our mouths shut?”

“There’s no such thing as an eternal secret. Now that we’ve crossed the point of no return, we have to see it through to the end.”

Even he thought it was an absurd argument, but the Duke of Orléans had no intention of letting Thérésa go.

The only way for him to survive was to use this information to depose Christian.

It was an absurdly high-risk gamble.

If he failed, his entire family would be uprooted, but that was the same as doing nothing.

In fact, he should have done this from the beginning.

Prince Christian’s political skills and abilities were all beyond the Duke of Orléans himself.

Trying to eliminate such an opponent with a safety-oriented approach that didn’t want to suffer any losses was a self-inflicted wound.

The Duke of Orléans’ eyes, slowly pouring red wine into his glass and bringing it to his mouth, contained a clear murderous intent.

Alright. From now on, I’ll confront him with the determination to lose everything.

※※※

Three days after the banquet, in the afternoon.

“Your Highness~ Thank you so much for inviting me today.”

Madame du Barry, who had suddenly barged into the Tuileries Palace, had a meal with us.

“Well… I don’t know if I should call it an invitation, but I hope the food suits your taste.”

I had said I would buy her jewelry and dresses, but I hadn’t set a specific schedule.

In the meantime, Madame du Barry suddenly came to keep her promise.

What could I do?

I had no choice but to accept her and try to match her mood.

“Haa… you’re really someone I can’t understand with my common sense.”

Marie, who had been quietly sipping her tea, twisted her lips in disbelief with half-dead eyes.

“I don’t know how she knew I didn’t have any plans today. Could it be that she pretends to be clueless while finding out everything?”

Even as she muttered that, Marie didn’t openly pick a fight with Madame du Barry.

“Still, a promise is a promise, so let’s hang out together today.”

“I feel like you’re especially weak against Madame du Barry.”

“It’s just that I’m not sure how to deal with that type of noblewoman yet.”

I, too, was sweating over Madame du Barry’s sudden actions.

On the surface.

While Madame du Barry actively talked to Marie, making the atmosphere lively, the knight who had escorted her approached me quietly.

“This is a letter from His Majesty.”

I calmly ate my food and unfolded the paper.

The reason for taking such a cumbersome approach was to avoid the eyes of surveillance.

If I continued to meet with the King and discuss something, there would inevitably be those who would be on their guard.

So, until I could deal with them, it was more convenient to exchange messages in this way, even if it was annoying.

“Tell His Majesty I’m grateful.”

“Understood.”

“And reassure him that the plan will proceed as scheduled, so he doesn’t have to worry.”

The content was as expected.

I burned the letter I had finished reading in the candlelight and joined in the conversation between Marie and Madame du Barry as if nothing had happened.

“The jewelers and dressmakers are ready. Shall I have them come in?”

“I was going to do that, but Madame du Barry suggested we enjoy it in a different way.”

“Yes?”

“Actually, jewelry and dresses are bought to show off one’s beautiful appearance to the outside, right? So, wouldn’t it be important to hear other people’s opinions? We’ll put on dresses and accessories that suit us, so please give us your impressions, Your Highness.”

Did she want to have a kind of fashion show?

There was no reason to refuse, so I nodded appropriately.

“Please do so. I’ll be waiting here then.”

“Yes~ Then I’ll go prepare. Let’s go, Princess Marie.”

“Sigh… I understand.”

Marie shrugged as if she didn’t care and followed Madame du Barry out.

-But doesn’t the lady need to hear my impressions?

I soon heard her grumbling voice.

“…Those two are surprisingly well-matched.”

Deon, who had come over while the servants were clearing the table, sat across from me with a smile.

“Does it seem that way?”

“Usually, those who are so incompatible actually become close. That’s my feeling after watching the social circles of noblewomen for so long.”

Indeed, few men knew the society of noblewomen as well as Deon.

If he said so, it would be so.

As someone who knew the relationship between the two in the original history, I felt a little strange.

“I hope they get along well, as you say.”

“Trust me. My intuition is quite accurate in this area. By the way, what was the content of the letter you received earlier…?”

“It was nothing much. It was just as I expected.”

“That’s a relief. For now, the political situation in England seems to be chaotic, so they won’t be able to pay attention to this side. We were lucky.”

Currently, the British political scene was in chaos, with the ruling Tory party and the opposition Whig party fiercely opposed to each other.

Deon couldn’t have imagined it, but this wasn’t just luck.

From the beginning, the Vatican had informed the Duke of Grafton of the Tory party’s corruption with the intention of creating this situation.

“If they’re busy fighting among themselves, their vision will naturally narrow.”

“Yes. At this rate, we should be able to contact India secretly. Then we can complete the preparations without any problems.”

“Well, I’m not so sure about that.”

It wasn’t just England that was suffering from internal strife.

The seeds of discord were rooted much deeper here, in France.

“Don’t we have to take care of internal affairs before projecting power externally?”

“Are you saying…?”

“Yes. Let’s start with some housekeeping.”