He Opened A Matchmaking Agency In 18Th Century London [EN]: Chapter 41

41. Meeting with King George

◈ A few days later, Windsor Castle.

On the morning of the promised gathering at the palace, Tae-oh hurriedly took a carriage to Windsor Castle.

Windsor Castle, exuding the antique atmosphere of medieval Europe, was situated on a hill overlooking the River Thames.

However, it wasn’t the majestic sight he remembered from modern times.

Windsor Castle was originally built as a wooden fortress for the defense of the western region, later reorganized and expanded, and newly constructed into its modern form during the reign of George IV.

Whoa, whoa-

“We have arrived.”

“Yes.”

Tae-oh, stepping out of the carriage, kept fiddling with the ridiculous white wig he had on.

‘Seriously, this bizarre wig is always uncomfortable, and I can’t seem to get used to it.’

At that moment, a guard, seeing the approaching carriage, came down and asked,

“How may I help you?”

After handing over the invitation and the guard carefully checking it, he led Tae-oh to an usher waiting at the palace entrance.

The interior of the castle, following the usher, was magnificent and splendid.

The wide corridors and endlessly high ceilings made it clear that this was the castle where the British monarch resided.

Clack, clack.

Step, step.

Only the sound of Tae-oh and the usher’s footsteps echoed through the long corridor.

Tae-oh followed the usher, not knowing where he was going.

However, one side of the corridor wall was unique. The entire wall was decorated with bookcase-shaped cabinets filled with numerous books.

‘They probably didn’t put these here to read, and since books are precious in this era, they serve as intellectual decorations.’

While examining the various books, the usher stopped in front of a door guarded by two servants. Tae-oh also stopped.

The usher gestured, and the servants bowed their heads and opened the door.

Clunk-

“This is the place. Please, go in.”

Stepping through the open door, a large reception room unfolded before him.

There were about 50 to 60 people gathered in small groups, chatting, and the room was so large that no one seemed to notice Tae-oh’s entrance.

In the center of the large room, two luxurious leather chairs were placed alone, and next to them, about 20 musicians were tuning their instruments, preparing to play.

It was a somewhat unfamiliar sight for Tae-oh, who had expected a small banquet.

‘There are only two chairs, and I’m hungry, but there’s nothing to eat.’

Grumble.

He had skipped breakfast, expecting a feast, so his stomach kept sending signals.

“Are you Mr. Theo Sanderson?”

Tae-oh turned his head at the sound of his name and saw Duke David Manners approaching with a bright smile.

“Ah, Duke Manners.”

The Duke quickly grabbed Tae-oh’s hand as he tried to show his respects.

“It’s been a while since that dinner. I’ve been waiting, wondering why you haven’t come. Welcome, welcome. Haha.”

His cheeks rose, his orbicularis oculi muscles contracted [muscles around the eyes that tighten when smiling], and his eyebrows were pulled down.

Natural micro-expressions of joy appeared all at once, conveying a genuinely welcoming emotion.

With Duke Manners’ welcome, nobles began to gather around Tae-oh one by one.

Among them, he saw some familiar faces from the Intelligence Club.

“Oh, isn’t it Mr. Sanderson?”

“Hahaha~ It seems you’ve come at His Majesty’s invitation?”

Meeting familiar people in an unfamiliar place is always a pleasant surprise.

As Duke Manners and the Intelligence Club members greeted Tae-oh, other nobles also began to show interest.

Even if they didn’t recognize his face, they all seemed to have heard the name ‘Theo Sanderson.’

In particular, the eyes of the ladies fanning themselves were unusual.

The story of catching the culprit of the bizarre murder case and upholding the honor of the highest aristocratic family in England, as well as his remarkable achievements as a marriage broker, made him a very interesting person for mothers with children of marriageable age.

After the welcoming of Tae-oh ended, the invited people resumed their conversations.

From the sounds heard here and there, as expected, the war with the North American colonies was the main topic of conversation.

“Have you heard? The colonists are recklessly calling His Majesty ‘a wicked beast-like tyrant’ or ‘a butcher’?”

“Yes, I have. They praised and revered His Majesty so much before. They are truly a treacherous bunch.”

“Indeed. They are just rootless rioters. We must show those ungrateful bastards a taste of their own medicine immediately.”

A high-ranking official next to Duke Manners glanced around and lowered his voice.

“It’s all about the war with the North American colonies. But I’m very worried because His Majesty seems to be getting more and more irritable because of it.”

Duke Manners’ face also darkened at the high-ranking official’s words.

“I haven’t been able to see His Majesty lately because I’ve been recuperating, but from what I hear, he seems to have been very troubled since the outbreak of the war with the colonies last year.”

The official nodded and whispered even more quietly.

“Duke, have you heard the news? The North American colonial governments recently held a meeting and declared that they will reject all words or letters from His Majesty from now on.”

“…What? Is that true?”

A few weeks earlier, on May 15, 1776.

The 13 North American colonial governments urgently convened a ‘Continental Congress’ [a meeting of delegates from the British colonies]. And through that meeting, they declared that they would no longer follow any instructions issued in the name of the British monarch.

“Oh dear. Does His Majesty know about this?”

The government official nodded at Duke Manners’ question.

“Yes. He heard about it the day before yesterday and was furious.”

“Then, he will eventually bring up that story at today’s meeting as well.”

“Probably so. Ugh, we don’t have any good solutions, and it seems we’ll be the only ones to get an earful again.”

Most of the nobles and officials seemed more worried about George III’s nagging than about the war itself.

‘It seems that George III’s power is still alive and well. Everyone is just watching the King’s every move. Well, the weak image of George III that I read about in books was from the period after American independence and the French Revolution, so he must be at his strongest now.’

George III suffered greatly from mental illness at the end of his reign, and as a result, George IV took over the government as regent at the end.

Then, for the next 10 years until the French Revolution.

George III’s power will be shaken by the war, but it will still be quite strong.

Clunk-

Suddenly, the door opened, and a King’s aide-de-camp in a red uniform shouted loudly.

“His Majesty the King enters!”

Then, the nobles and officials who were gathered here and there around the center of the room moved to the sides as if parting the Red Sea, bowing their heads and bending their knees.

Step. Step.

Clack. Clack.

Soon, King George III of England and his wife, Queen Charlotte, appeared in the reception room.

Step. Step.

The man walking confidently through the nobles was George William Frederick, King George III of Great Britain and King of Ireland.

King George, seemingly oblivious to the other nobles who were greeting him, went straight to Duke David Manners.

“Your Majesty.”

As Duke Manners bowed deeply, King George patted him on the shoulder and smiled.

“How long has it been, my lord? I was so surprised to hear about you. You left my side to recuperate, and we might never have seen each other again because of that hideous fellow?”

“I am sorry for causing you concern, Your Majesty.”

It was another moment of directly facing a historical figure up close. This time, it was the King of England.

‘···So, this is the famous George III.’

Tae-oh was bewildered by this surreal situation, but he carefully watched King George talking with the Duke.

He was roughly similar to the portraits he had seen in books or on the internet, but he looked more lively in person and had a more handsome appearance than he had expected.

But,

‘···?’

The subtle shaking of George III’s eyes and his excessively fast speech felt ominous to Tae-oh.

George III, who was talking to Duke Manners, used a very fast tone as if he was constantly scolding, and his eyes were shaking uneasily.

Not only that.

In his words, he unconsciously used the pronoun ‘I’ a lot and kept connecting negative content.

In particular, he repeatedly blamed himself, repeatedly mentioning his regrets about the policies he had made in the past.

Perhaps he wanted to hear words of comfort that his decision at that time was the best, but the degree of self-blame was severe.

“Why didn’t I think about the strong measures against the colonies back then, like a fool, and only listen to the petitions of the merchants? If I had listened to Lord North [Prime Minister of Great Britain] and taken proper action earlier, this wouldn’t have happened, would it? Sigh- Really. I can’t sleep when I think about it.”

“No, Your Majesty. Didn’t you soothe the hearts of the colonists because of that? That decision at that time was an extremely correct judgment.”

“No, no! I have sown the seeds of misfortune with my weak heart.”

To the servants and nobles, it may have just sounded like lamentation or regret over past decisions.

However, it came across very differently to Tae-oh, who was a psychological analysis expert and clinical psychologist.

‘Hmm… It seems like generalized anxiety disorder is trying to accompany depression?’

When depression accompanies generalized anxiety disorder, all perspectives are focused on ‘oneself,’ and the scope of thought keeps narrowing.

In other words, George III was diagnosed as being in a state of entering depression, going beyond severe depression caused by generalized anxiety disorder.

‘Depression’ is an emotion, so most people can experience it from time to time in their lives.

In the case of feeling down, you can get rid of it to some extent on your own by changing the environment or changing your mood.

However, the situation changes when you go beyond the stage of feeling down.

Even if you forcibly escape from a depressed environment, it can spread to depression, where mental anxiety and worries do not disappear, and you may suffer greatly, and in severe cases, symptoms of mental illness may appear in combination.

‘George III seems to have been recorded in history books as suffering from mental illness with a manic reaction about 10 years later, but has he already reached this level of symptoms?’

Tae-oh quickly realized that, unlike his healthy-looking appearance, his mental state had reached a dangerous level through George III’s subtle facial expressions and tone of voice.

Even a thorn stuck in your hand is annoying and painful, but stress caused by anxiety disorders is closely related to the onset of various physical diseases while causing severe depression.

‘At that level, it must be affecting his body as well. Usually, it would be accompanied by indigestion, abdominal pain, and sleep disorders. I think he’s suffering quite a bit from such illnesses right now.’

The problem was the level of medicine at the end of the 18th century.

At this time, as with other diseases, there was little proper research on mental illness in particular.

In fact, ‘psychiatry’ entered as an area of ‘medicine’ in the mid-to-late 20th century, more than 200 years later.

So, of course, there were no clear treatments in this era.

If diagnosed with a mental illness at this time, even if it was an early symptom, it was not a problem that ended with simple counseling or medication like today.

Forced hospitalization in mental hospitals, which were like zoos, led to terrible suffering from absurd treatment and bizarre treatments, and in the end, many people ended up dying miserably.

For this reason, mental illness was considered a more terrible incurable disease than cancer in modern society, and the fear that one might get a mental illness was rampant regardless of class.

But now, George III is experiencing generalized anxiety disorder in combination with severe depression, and the symptoms are at risk of developing into depression or other mental illnesses.

In addition, judging from the color of King George’s face and the movements of his body, it was presumed that he was suffering from various side effects while using bogus drugs to treat physical illnesses caused by generalized anxiety disorder.

‘Hmm···.’

Tae-oh was unknowingly examining King George’s condition with the eyes of a 21st-century clinical psychologist.