I Became A Hidden Powerhouse Of The British Empire [EN]: Chapter 122

Becoming a Hidden Power in the British Empire 122

I Will Get Married

My marriage to Victoria isn’t just about vowing to spend my life with one woman.

It means becoming the husband of the Queen of the British Empire.

Living as the Prince Consort of this country means that every single action can become a matter of national interest.

Especially now, with the royal family’s popularity so high and the public’s affection so strong, I have to be careful about every little thing I do.

But when I think about it, it’s always been the same.

How much have I had to watch my behavior to survive in the conservative British upper class?

From birth, I was in a position where even the slightest misstep would lead to whispers about how the Irish mixed-blood was just as they expected.

Wasn’t the reason I hid behind Wellesley from a young age, only taking the practical benefits while yielding all external honors to him, because of my background?

So, even if I marry Victoria, wouldn’t things stay largely the same?

I just need to make her the most beloved queen in the history of the British Empire and remain the respected husband of that queen.

Of course, it might be a little more uncomfortable than it is now.

“If this is a dream, I don’t want to wake up. What should I do? I’m so happy, I feel like I’m going to die.”

“If you’re already like this, it’s a bit dangerous. You’re going to become even happier in the future.”

“Actually, I knew I wouldn’t be rejected… but I was still worried about what would happen if I were. What if I got an answer like, ‘I like you, but not enough to marry you’? I had so much more to say prepared, but I couldn’t even say it properly…”

I knew there was no way that would happen, but even I would have been too nervous to deliver any impressive lines.

But the important thing is the feeling of caring for each other.

Just seeing that smile blooming with happiness makes me think I can easily overlook any minor inconveniences that may come in the future.

“It’s amazing. Just a moment ago, my heart was pounding with tension and worry, but now it’s throbbing with a completely different emotion. If I say this, you might think I’m being too dramatic, but I feel like we were born for each other from the very beginning.”

“This is the first time I’ve received such great love from someone, so I’m honestly very excited.”

“Th, then.”

Victoria hesitantly narrowed the distance and lifted herself up like a wooden doll.

I couldn’t help but laugh at her stiff movements, but I knew intuitively what she wanted.

I gently embraced her, and her body trembled for a moment in my arms.

“…This is the first time I’ve had such close physical contact with a man.”

“By the way, have you told anyone else that you’re going to marry me?”

“No. Of course, I’m telling you first. I’m going to go back and tell them now. To Letzen, to Cecilia, and to my mother… I should tell them, right?”

“Of course. I’m sure your mother will congratulate you a lot.”

“Yes. Recently, I’ve been talking to my mother often. You’re right, she’s gotten a lot better since we got rid of that Conroy guy. But I’m a little curious about how my mother will react when I tell her I’m marrying you.”

I’m a little curious about that too.

She brought me in thinking I was just a young Irish mixed-blood kid who was easy to exploit, and then she got backstabbed a few years ago. And now, it turns out that kid is an Asian royal.

To top it off, he’s marrying her daughter, the queen of this country. Anyone would be dumbfounded by the absurdity of the situation.

“Do you think my mother might oppose the marriage?”

“I don’t think so. She knows very well that she did something wrong to me, so she wants to compensate me in any way she can. She’ll probably actively help with the marriage and want to ease her burden a bit with this. Rather than that, I’m more worried about how to tell my uncle or Cecilia.”

It wasn’t strange to marry a cousin in this era, but if you were too close, it would feel a little awkward.

Especially since Aunt Cecilia, or rather, Mother, is also Victoria’s chief lady-in-waiting, isn’t she?

Saying, ‘I’m going to marry her son,’ is… well, it’s definitely a bit awkward.

“I think your aunt will be very happy, so shouldn’t you just tell her comfortably?”

“Of course, she’ll probably be very proud. But Killian is legally Cecilia’s son, so… um… no, it’s okay. I’ll just tell everyone today since I have to say it anyway.”

“If it’s awkward to bring it up, should I go with you?”

“No. I think it would be even more embarrassing if you did, so I’ll tell them all first. And originally, the one who proposed should do this first, so Killian, you should go back for now. Killian, you have people to tell this news to, right?”

Indeed, I need to tell Wellesley, who must be eagerly waiting to hear how things are decided, that the marriage has been confirmed.

“Alright. Then I’ll inform the Prime Minister that I’m going to marry Her Majesty and proceed with the process of having me recommended by Parliament as quickly as possible.”

“Yes. Then…”

As I bowed and was about to leave, she hesitated for a moment and shyly waved her hand.

“Please take care of me from now on, my Killian.”

“Yes, Your Ma…”

I instinctively tried to respond as usual, but I recomposed myself and kissed the back of her hand.

“See you tomorrow, my Victoria.”

“Huh? Wh, what did you just say…”

“Ah, I’m sorry. The atmosphere was so nice, I didn’t even realize it.”

Come to think of it, is this the first time I’ve called her name directly without any titles?

Even if it’s a private setting, calling her name right away from the first day might be too forward for her conservative standards.

But since we’re getting married, wouldn’t it be a bit much to keep calling her Your Majesty even in private?

“No, no. Never apologize! From now on, always call me that when no one else is around. No, say it ten more times before you leave.”

Ah, so it wasn’t too forward, but the opposite.

In the end, I had to express my affection by attaching her name to the end of every sentence for dozens of minutes before I could leave Kensington Palace.

It seems like the Queen’s restraints have been completely released, so I need to pay a little more attention to my physical fitness from now on.

But I’ll probably be fine for a while.

After all, I’m still in my early twenties, full of energy.

* * *

“Heh… so it really ended up being decided like that? Her Majesty proposed to you directly?”

“Yes. And I accepted.”

“I said it as a joke before, but I never thought it would actually turn out like this…”

Thanks to me telling him to prepare yesterday, Wellesley accepted it relatively calmly, but he still shook his head as if he couldn’t believe it.

“Was this Gladstone’s idea? Those guys must be out of their minds. What kind of person would think of recommending their political opponent as the Prince Consort to reduce their influence?”

“I told you before, he’s a capable person.”

“Then why did we send him to the Whig Party? If we had kept him firmly in our party, this wouldn’t have happened.”

“Even so, he and Disraeli would have had a big fight someday, and one of them would have left the party. It was impossible to have both of them at the same time anyway. And as I said before, we should be grateful to have such a capable political opponent. Thanks to him, the relaxed atmosphere within the party has regained its tension, hasn’t it?”

“Isn’t it a sense of crisis rather than tension? At this rate, you’re going to be forced to step down from your ministerial position.”

Certainly, from Wellesley’s perspective, this is a situation where the Whig Party has landed a solid counterattack.

It’s no exaggeration to say that they’ve received a shock strong enough to be knocked down, not just losing points.

“But as the Whig Party suggested, this is clearly something that’s also in the national interest. As I said before, a politician should always work in a way that the country’s benefit becomes their own benefit. From that perspective, Prime Minister, you should watch and learn a lot from the Whig Party’s strategy this time.”

“Well… I was honestly impressed too. I thought, ‘They can stab us like this in such a bizarre way, and there’s no justification to oppose it.’ But the problem is, just because it’s helpful to the national interest, we can’t just keep getting beaten unilaterally, can we?”

“That’s also true. Do you think I want to be dragged down from my ministerial position while shouting about political neutrality? I’d hate it more than anyone else.”

“Right? But you said before that there was a very low possibility that the Queen might propose. You also said that you had thought about it to some extent.”
The reason Wellesley can maintain his composure, even if it’s forced, is because of what I said before.

Of course, I didn’t lie. I had thought about it to some extent.

But strictly speaking, that was a method for me, not for the Conservative Party.

Still, if I do well, Wellesley will do well in the end, and if Wellesley does well, the Conservative Party will do well, so isn’t it all the same in the end?

I can ask for his help without feeling any pangs of conscience, right?

“First of all, there’s no point in dragging it out, so please have the Prime Minister draw out the Whig Party’s opinion in Parliament as soon as possible. I heard from the Queen that they’re going to recommend the Prince Consort, is that right?”

“Then, of course, they’ll ask for our party’s cooperation, so we just have to agree? Ah, wait. What if we agree, but make the engagement period long? Then you’ll be married, but since you’re still engaged, you won’t have to step down from your ministerial position, right?”

Originally, it was common for nobles at this time to announce their marriage and have an engagement period of a certain length.

But this isn’t a typical noble’s marriage.

“That’s not a bad idea, but it’s not a good idea either. Above all, there are too many elements that the Whig Party can easily attack. They can attack us by saying, ‘The royal family needs an heir as soon as possible, so what are we going to do if the marriage is delayed?’ and we won’t be able to refute it. And above all, if we openly try to stall for time, the Conservative Party and I can’t avoid losing face.”

“Hmph… that’s true. Certainly, the public wants the Queen to have an heir as soon as possible before she gets any older. We can’t take a stance that looks like we’re stalling for time if we want to prevent public opinion from going to the Whig Party’s side.”

“Yes. So just show everyone that the proposal was made by the Whig Party, but the Conservative Party is leading the promotion itself. And the Whig Party will be thinking that they’ve landed a blow on us, so the faster we move, the more they’ll be caught off guard.”

It’s like a cow stepping back and catching a rat [an idiom meaning to achieve something unexpectedly while trying to avoid a problem], but we’ve created all sorts of excuses in preparation for marrying Victoria.

No matter how much Gladstone or Palmerston knows about the relationship between me and Victoria, it’s absolutely impossible for them to predict my actions.

So if we move first and create the justification, they’ll have no choice but to get swept away while they’re stammering.

“It’s a tradition that the Prince Consort must maintain political neutrality, and it’s a tradition that we must follow in the future. How can healthy parliamentarianism work if the king or Prince Consort openly starts interfering in politics?”

“…That’s true, but it’s a shame. I know your abilities are far superior to the freeloaders rolling around in Parliament right now, but you have to step down like this.”

“That thought that I have to step down is the blind spot.”

Why would I step down? I can just operate secretly behind the scenes while maintaining complete political neutrality on the surface.

And in fact, there are ways to engage in external activities on the surface besides acting as a hidden power.

From now on, I’ll tell Wellesley that method…

“Ah, but this is unrelated, but did you propose to Her Majesty?”

“Excuse me? Her Majesty proposed to me, didn’t she?”

In this era, marriage was seen as the man taking responsibility for the woman and the woman belonging to the man, so it was considered natural for the man to propose.

But since Victoria is the queen of this country, she has no choice but to propose first, even in the sense that she takes sovereignty.

There’s no way anyone wouldn’t know this, so I don’t know why he’s suddenly saying something so out of the blue.

“Oh dear. You still don’t know because you haven’t experienced marriage yet. Her Majesty is the queen of this country, but before that, isn’t she a woman? She proposed first because of practical constraints, but it’s inevitable that she’ll feel sad that she can’t experience such an event that every woman experiences.”

“Ah… I see.”

That certainly makes sense. A lot.

“So, in order to become a more beloved husband in the future, put your back into it and prepare properly here.”

“Yes. I should. I was so distracted by other things that I didn’t even think about it.”

“Hahaha, you owe me one this time. Once you experience how much this will help in your married life, you’ll be grateful to me for the rest of your life.”

Is this why companies prefer experienced workers?

As someone who has never experienced married life, no matter how talented I am, I couldn’t have known this best piece of advice.

I never thought I’d get help from Wellesley in a place like this.

I almost messed up big time.