I Became A Genius Of The French Royal Family [EN]: Chapter 135

< Something Big Is Coming >

“Your Royal Highness, Princess, how heartbroken you must be. It’s not much, but I brought this in hopes it might lift your spirits even a little.”

“Thank you. Your country’s show of friendship alone is a great comfort.”

Once her emotions had settled somewhat, Marie reappeared at official events.

No sooner had she done so than ambassadors from various countries lined up to offer their condolences to Marie, bringing strings of contributions.

“These tea leaves were brought directly from Qing [the last imperial dynasty of China, also known as the Manchu Dynasty]. They are said to help calm the mind.”

Yesterday, the ambassadors of Spain and the Netherlands visited, and today a bishop from Russia and the Vatican is scheduled to come.

Moreover, she heard that the ambassadors of England and Prussia would also come to express their condolences tomorrow.

“Thank you. Every time I savor the scent of the tea leaves, I will remember the kindness shown by the ambassador.”

“Please don’t mention it. We would be satisfied if it could alleviate even a little of Your Royal Highness’s sorrow.”

“Still, it wouldn’t be polite to simply accept such a gift. Is there anything you’ve been struggling with recently?”

Marie skillfully received the ambassadors and probed to see what they wanted.

Most of them seemed to have come not to make a request, but to gain Marie’s favor on this occasion.

No, to be precise, Marie was not so naive as to not know that they were trying to impress her husband, not her.

The ongoing procession of condolences was not limited to foreign ambassadors.

Condolence money sent by nobles from all over France was still piling up, and nearby nobles continued to visit the Tuileries Palace.

Looking at the items piled up enough to circle the palace once, Marie could once again feel her husband’s status.

‘I’m glad I took action.’

Using her mother’s funeral in such a way bothered her, but it couldn’t be helped.

It wasn’t for any bad purpose, and it was ultimately for Austria’s sake, so her mother would be pleased.

‘My brother also readily agreed… so there’s no possibility of problems, right?’

Her mother told her to look only to the future, not the past, but honestly, she couldn’t help but feel heavy-hearted.

Still, now that the practical ruler had changed from her mother to her brother, this process was something that had to be gone through.

When the king changes, the diplomatic relations built up before also waver.

In many cases, they return to square one, and even if they don’t, it is very common for the bonds of alliance to weaken.

In particular, Austria and France have a marriage alliance, but the case is different with Russia.

Russia sent one of its own people as the Crown Princess of the next king, Auguste, but she was only the brother of the person who would become king.

And Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II is her brother, not her mother or father, which is a subtle relationship.

In terms of the degree of bonding, it is true that it can’t help but seem subtle.

Christian loved her, which was an immutable truth, so she believed he would treat her brother well.

But in the end, that was all it was.

The Austrian monarchs would gradually have weaker connections with her, and her husband’s favor would decrease accordingly.

Marie wanted the empire that her mother loved and cherished so much to continue.

To do so, solidarity with France was essential.

From a cold perspective, the current Austria would inevitably be pushed back by Prussia without an alliance with France.

Showcasing the status of the alliance centered on France may seem like enhancing the prestige of her husband’s family.

However, at the same time, this also meant that Austria, which was in charge of one axis, could continue to reap the benefits.

Christian would have seen through all of these thoughts long ago.

So, he must have passed this matter over to her, as it was a matter she had suggested, telling her to handle it herself.

“Your Royal Highness, Princess, the Crown Princess has arrived.”

“Really? Quickly, this way… no. It would be better for me to go out and greet her myself. I’ll be right there.”

Crown Princess Juliana comes from Versailles to Paris almost every day, shedding tears.

Perhaps it was because she projected her own situation of not being able to return to her home country even after losing her family onto me.

She cried so sadly that anyone who saw her would have mistaken the Crown Princess for the one who had suffered the loss of her mother.

Still, I didn’t feel bad because the heart that sympathized with my sorrow seemed genuine.

“We shouldn’t make our cute Crown Princess wait long.”

As long as Marie and the Crown Princess moved together, the French social world was in the palm of her hand.

She had recently begun to get a sense of how to handle this power efficiently.

The seizure of the social world was not simply achieved to satisfy vanity or to show off.

She could get her hands on various rumors and behind-the-scenes stories circulating among the nobles faster than anyone else, and she could control the spread of various malicious rumors.

And in other words, she could spread those behind-the-scenes stories and malicious rumors from her side.

Until now, she had only watched quietly without using her power.

But now she knew.

Even if no one told her, even if Christian didn’t give her a hint.

After watching this country and city, and people from various classes for a long time, she naturally began to see.

Before long, the day would come when she would have to do things that she had not consciously done until now.

※※※

I was watching the situation from a step away from the many visitors flocking to the Tuileries Palace.

Watching Marie respond to so many people made me feel proud and sad at the same time.

I was a little worried, but after seeing her again, it seemed like there would be no problem leaving everything to her.

I was already busy with the things Louis XV had asked me to do, so it was a relief.

Marie would be more suitable than me to talk to the Spanish ambassador right now.

“Your Highness, they have arrived. Shall I have them come through the back door?”

Deon said with a voice full of strange expectations.

I put down the documents I was looking at.

“Just have them come in through the main gate. There are so many visitors right now that they won’t stand out.”

When holding meetings with intellectuals belonging to the reformist faction, I always had them come in secretly, but today was an exception.

After waiting a little, I heard a cautious knock on the door.

“Your Highness. I will enter.”

It was Robespierre’s voice.

He came in with a young man who seemed very nervous.

“I, I’m pleased to meet you for the first time. My name is Emmanuel Grouchy.”

A young man of misfortune whose path to success was blocked despite being from a prestigious family because he was a republican.

He carefully sat down in the seat I had offered and looked at my complexion.

“Your Highness… I don’t know what rumors you’ve heard, but they’re all lies. I have no intention of harming the royal family in the slightest…”

“I received a request from your father. That’s why I called you, so don’t worry too much. In the first place, if I was going to arrest you, I wouldn’t have asked Robespierre to bring you.”

“…Yes. That’s… right.”

“I am also personally very interested in you. It would have been no problem for you to succeed just by running well on the path laid by the Marquis, but I was curious as to why you ruined it with your own feet. Your grades are too excellent to be called a simple fool, and your activities are not very active to be said to have a fiery belief.”

Grouchy rolled his eyes around and couldn’t answer easily.

It was because he didn’t know how far to trust me, and he didn’t understand the current situation itself.

Of course, I didn’t know how trustworthy Grouchy was either.

I heard that his loyalty was excellent, but I didn’t know if that was his nature or if he was just fascinated by Napoleon.

“As you can see from Robespierre here, I don’t discriminate against people based on ideology or beliefs. What’s important is the person’s character and ability.”

“…I’m surprised. The Duke, who is a member of the royal family and the first nobleman in this country, is saying such a thing…”

“You say you support republicanism, but what is republicanism in your opinion? Originally, republicanism is like a nose ring if you put it on your nose, and an earring if you put it on your ear, so words play separately [meaning the definition changes depending on who is using it].”

Even Machiavelli, Spinoza, and Rousseau, who are representative republican thinkers, have slightly different ideas.

Of course, the basic framework they share is solid, but I didn’t know how much consideration Grouchy had.

Grouchy, who had been seriously contemplating my question, carefully opened his mouth.

“I am not a great thinker, so I cannot present a blueprint for what the country’s system should be. I just think that freedom should be linked to the rule of law, and that the concentration of power beyond the limit is not good.”

“Still, you understand the core ideology properly.”

Should I say it’s an irony of history that such a man became a passionate Bonapartist?

Still, I was quite fond of the fact that he was born as a privileged person and had such beliefs.

“Grouchy, your father wants you to abandon that republican ideology and return to being a sound nobleman of the kingdom. What do you think?”

“Even if I say that, shouldn’t I assume that my path to success is blocked since I’ve already been branded as a republican?”

“If I guarantee that, it doesn’t mean anything.”

“I am very grateful for your words, but I still don’t want to compromise with reality and bend my beliefs. It may be a youthful folly, but that’s how it is right now.”

Was this the kind of person the traitor of Waterloo was when he was young?

For some reason, it was strangely funny, and in proportion to that, my desire to collect talent was fiercely boiling.

“I’ll make a suggestion. How about working under me for the time being? My bodyguard commander, Deon, is getting old enough to find a successor.”

“…The Prince’s bodyguard commander? Me? No, as I just said, I’m rumored to be a republican…”

“If I say I’ve rehabilitated him, no one will have a problem with it, so it doesn’t matter if we keep it that way in form. However, I can’t entrust you with such an important position right away, so it would be good to have time to get to know each other. I’ll be observing you a little more, so you should also try to understand what kind of person I am.”

Grouchy blinked at Deon behind me, gaping like a goldfish.

As I waited leisurely for an answer, he still asked an unexpected question with a somewhat dazed face.

“…But Your Highness. If I become that person’s successor… do I have to cross-dress too?”

Cough!

I desperately suppressed the burst of laughter and quickly shook my head before Deon could say anything.

“Surely… surely that can’t be the case, cough.”

“Ah… I see. That’s a relief… no, I will gratefully accept Your Highness’s will.”

“You thought well. If you are interested in changes in ideology and system, my seat is the best place to see the changes to come.”

Grouchy blinked with an expression that he still didn’t quite understand.

“A big bomb is scheduled to explode by next week at the latest, so please organize your thoughts and tell me. I’m quite curious to see how the value of freedom that you value will be accepted by the existence of slaves.”

“The rationality of the slavery system… are you talking about it?”

If an ignorant person heard it, it would feel like a slightly absurd topic, but by now, England would have been turned upside down.

Soon, France will not be able to avoid being affected by the trend.

And this wave will grow into a fierce typhoon that cannot even be compared to the commotion in Europe and will strike the New World.

A huge bomb that would prevent the great powers from even daring to move, taking advantage of the chaos of Maria Theresa’s death.

This is because the bill to abolish slavery was finally formally introduced in the British Parliament.

< Something Big Is Coming > End