I Became A Genius Of The French Royal Family [EN]: Chapter 298

Pitt entered the parliament building, receiving nods of support from the members, something he hadn’t experienced in a long while.

Although he was neither the current Prime Minister nor a sitting member of parliament, no one questioned his presence in the seat.

“Lord Pitt, congratulations on your return!”

“Thank you very much.”

The sentiment felt more like a forced formality than genuine warmth.

He still held affection for the country, but his goodwill towards his party members had vanished long ago.

He wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for his desire to prevent the country from tumbling into the abyss.

“I don’t want to linger here any longer. I’ll wrap things up quickly and head straight to the square.”

“The speech is in three hours. The square is already packed with citizens from all over the country.”

“I imagined it would be. Still, it’s a relief that our Prime Minister Percival managed to secure significant concessions from France with his… remarkable skills. I trust no one will raise further objections now.”

“Yes. It’s a relief that you, Lord Pitt… no, that Lord Pitt has stepped forward again…”

*I’m glad they still possess a shred of conscience.*

Pitt left the parliament building as soon as he secured the parliament’s formal adoption of the agreement negotiated by Percival.

He had spent nearly half his life within those walls, but now he couldn’t bear to remain there for even a second longer.

Whether he sensed Pitt’s feelings or not, Percival hurried to catch up with him and began to spout nonsense.

“Lord Pitt, once this storm passes, will you consider leading the party again?”

“Are you asking me to return?”

“Of course! Who else but Lord Pitt can guide this country through this crisis?”

*When did you kick me out like a dog, and now you’re begging me to come back…* He had a multitude of retorts, but arguing now would only be exhausting.

Regardless, he couldn’t pursue what he truly desired at this moment.

Of course, even if they permitted it, he had no desire to return to politics.

“I gather the Prime Minister is unaware of the contents of the letter Christian sent me, judging by your proposition.”

“Of course. It bears the seal of the French royal family, so I couldn’t open it… Why? What did he say?”

“It wasn’t anything particularly groundbreaking. He expressed his reluctance to witness the complete disintegration of the British Empire and requested a favor. However, he did stipulate certain conditions.”

“Conditions?”

Percival’s face tightened.

Pitt had already surmised why Percival was attempting to reinstate him, having noticed it back at the villa.

Having caused such a debacle, Percival would inevitably face a vote of no confidence and be ousted from the prime ministership.

Naturally, he would have no chance of being elected in the future.

Thus, he was attempting to reinstate Pitt to feign remorse, mitigate his disapproval rating, and somehow secure a position within the party to obtain an appointed role later.

And Christian seemed to have seen through Percival’s ridiculous machinations.

Or perhaps even the French found it absurd that this man was attempting to scheme after botching things so spectacularly.

“He advised me to take a well-deserved rest after this final task, given my years of dedicated service.”

Percival, an intelligent man at his core, immediately grasped Pitt’s implication.

“Are you suggesting I should retire from politics? No, what right does he have to…”

“And he requested that I oversee the final arrangements to ensure that at least half of the next cabinet is comprised of pro-French figures. If I comply, he guarantees the agreement will be flawlessly upheld.”

“No, no… that’s blatant interference in our internal affairs…”

Percival’s face turned ashen as all his carefully laid plans crumbled before him.

“Wait a minute, Lord Pitt! Why didn’t you disclose this at the villa!”

“Isn’t it irrelevant to the Prime Minister whether I retire or how the next cabinet is formed? I didn’t deem it necessary to inform you.”

Christian’s proposal, in essence, was an order to dissolve the current ruling party.

First and foremost, Percival’s political career was effectively over.

Had Pitt revealed such information earlier, who knows what kind of trouble Percival might have stirred up.

Besides, Pitt was already planning to retire from politics entirely, so this confirmation felt somewhat disheartening.

“Lord Pitt! This isn’t right! Are you going to comply with it?”

“Yes. I will. It was nothing to do with me anyway.”

If the letter had concluded there, Pitt would have felt deeply resentful.

But the ending contained something along these lines:

*-Although our positions were diametrically opposed, I express my respect for your long dedication and offer my sincere condolences.*

*And I don’t feel good about seeing my only rival step down like this.*

*He also said that if he didn’t want to see a bad sight in England, he should come to France and he would be treated well.*

Of course, he had no intention of going to France, but as soon as Pitt saw the phrase ‘only rival’, he didn’t care about anything else.

It was probably just meaningless lip service, but he didn’t know why those words were so comforting.

For Pitt, Christian was almost an insurmountable wall.

The problem was that it was so high that he couldn’t even dare to cross it, no matter how much he wanted to.

In one corner of his heart, he also had a feeling close to awe.

No matter how much he devised plans and sometimes used extremely vicious tricks, he felt that the gap was only widening, let alone reversing the situation.

If you think of an enemy as so great, you can never win, so even if you try to refrain from it, your mind doesn’t work the way you want it to.

The worst enemy, the goal he wanted to overcome, and on the other hand, the rival he admired.

Even his party members didn’t understand him and kicked him out, but his rival still recognized him.

Thinking about it this way, he thought that the reason why he was told to retire was because he was seen as a threatening enemy.

Of course, it was too good to be true, but that’s why he didn’t feel so bad.

Maybe after a little more time, he might not mind going to France to enjoy his retirement.

Besides.

Most of all, he’s glad that Percival got screwed.

Just looking at that distorted face made him feel like he could endure the sorrow of the speech he was about to give.

※※※

“Dear citizens!”

As Pitt’s voice resonated from the podium, cheers erupted from the somber square for the first time in a long while.

“Prime Minister Pitt!”

“Please come back!”

“Percival, step down!”

In reality, nothing would change even if Pitt returned, but it’s a natural human instinct to grasp at any available straw.

Standing in his place, bearing everyone’s earnest wishes, Pitt surveyed the citizens who filled the square with a sorrowful expression.

Even though Percival was facing heavy criticism, it was Pitt who had initiated the war in the first place.

Now that he had opened Pandora’s Box, it had turned into a truly absurd conflict.

Of course, he had believed victory was attainable at the time, so he felt somewhat aggrieved.

Who would have started a war if they had known that the actual power difference between France and England was so great?

He was ignorant, and thus he made the first move.

“First of all, I apologize for addressing you in such a setting, having not even completed my term. I would like to apologize once again for not properly performing my duties as Prime Minister and continue the story.”

“Come back, Prime Minister Pitt!”

“We were wrong!”

“Percival, step down! Pitt for Prime Minister again!”

In truth, it was somewhat amusing to witness their current behavior, considering it wasn’t long ago that he was pelted with eggs and stones upon his resignation.

But what could he do? Whether he liked it or not, this was his country and these were the citizens he had chosen to lead.

“First of all, I am sorry that I have no choice but to apologize to you in front of you for such an unpleasant matter. Currently, our Majesty and the Parliament have agreed to end the war through close consultation with France.”

“Boo! What’s with the surrender!”

“If Percival has a conscience, he should commit suicide with a pistol!”

As expected, reactions erupted one after another.

Percival and the ruling party members standing behind Pitt turned pale.

“Even if you embellish it with all sorts of rhetoric, you, the knowledgeable citizens, are well aware that this is ultimately tantamount to surrender. But not all surrenders are created equal. We have strived to minimize the unreasonable demands imposed by the French side and to ensure that you, the citizens, can adapt to the post-war situation with minimal disruption. We will disclose precisely how our demands were met through various media.”

After that, Pitt’s lengthy speech continued.

“Give up all of India and Asia? Are you crazy!”

“The British economy is ruined now.”

“To become France’s economic lackey, what is this *kkol-iya* [a Korean expression roughly translating to ‘what a mess’].”

“That’s why we shouldn’t have gone to war! We could have just maintained a competitive system with France, but why did we get greedy!”

People expressing dissatisfaction with their country, which is falling without wings.

“Aaaah! Let go of me, I’m going to kill that Percival!”

“Die, you incompetent national assemblymen!”

“Hey! That bastard took out a gun! Catch him!”

People whose resentment exceeds the critical point and actually try to take action.

“Still, we saved Scotland.”

“We can still have Africa.”

“I thought the mainland would be split up, but isn’t this a good defense?”

Positive people who seem to have no problems no matter what happens in the world.

“It’s all because of the corrupt capitalists!”

“Their oppression will become even more severe! Let’s unite from now on, workers!”

A group of people who subtly take this opportunity to raise their voices.

“Keep this humiliation in mind! We will rise again someday!”

“There is no way to reduce military spending! Let’s elect candidates who will reflect our public opinion!”

Those who still haven’t come to their senses and are calling for war.

And.

“Kekeke, I’m glad I exchanged all the money I had for France.”

“There’s no fool who still has pounds, right?”

“Hey, they said you can get a French investment immigration, right? Do they accept British people too?”

Even in this situation, there are people who prioritize their own interests.

The British Empire, with all sorts of groups melting like a furnace, formally announced the surrender declaration signed by the King and Parliament.

Various reactions continued to erupt, but there was one common saying.

-I’m glad the long war is over.

But.

There was still one country that had not escaped from this great war.

“Prime Minister Percival. It’s time to fulfill the last condition.”

“I understand. We will also participate in sanctioning Russia.”

All-round pressure on Russia, which is holding out that it cannot make other countries independent, even if it is Poland.

Even if it was other countries, the United Kingdom showed the last betrayal of the British Empire, which conversely sanctioned the allied countries they had seduced, and joined the sanctions against Russia in a new form of the French alliance, the Commonwealth.

End