I Became A Hidden Powerhouse Of The British Empire [EN]: Chapter 464

In the 19th century, it’s no exaggeration to say that virtually no country held a tolerant view of homosexuality.

The British Empire was no different.

Even if it wasn’t as severe as in the Middle Ages, Europe, with its deeply rooted Christian culture, naturally saw many people disapproving of homosexuality.

It wasn’t just considered a sin in a moral sense.

Within the British Empire, homosexuality was literally illegal.

This was a tradition upheld since Henry VIII criminalized homosexual acts in England and Wales in the 16th century.

Moreover, this trend intensified after the sexually conservative Victoria ascended to the throne.

A few years prior, a bill was passed to regulate homosexual acts even more strictly throughout the British Empire, a measure society largely accepted.

Even the literary world, often harboring relatively progressive values, negatively portrayed homosexuality.

But what if the Crown Prince of the British Empire were gay?

This was a major crisis that could upend not only the British Empire but all of Europe and the world, a scandal of epic proportions.

If this were revealed, the widespread praise for the beloved Crown Prince would vanish instantly.

Curses would undoubtedly pour in, demanding his immediate removal from his position, replaced by the second son or eldest daughter, or outright expulsion from the royal family.

The future, filled with ridicule and lamentation over the absurdity of a gay man becoming the next emperor of the British Empire, was vividly imagined.

Edward could fully sympathize with his mother’s anxiety, prompting her to have his younger sibling sound him out.

But logically, there was no way he would be attracted to men.

Edward was sincerely frustrated to the point of madness.

“You incompetent sibling, do I look like someone who prefers men to women in your eyes?”

“Well… I used to think there was no way, but these days are so strange. Scientists are popping up everywhere saying that monkeys have evolved into humans, so it’s possible that the Crown Prince is gay.”

“Isn’t that different? If I really liked men, there would have been some kind of scandal by now!”

“Ah, I don’t want to ask you this either! So, just hang out with women, go to parties, and occasionally have affairs, and live like the other royals? Do you think I enjoy taking on this role? Think about my situation, being questioned at every family meeting about whether your brother is secretly meeting a man. If you feel sorry for me, go and get a lover right now.”

It seemed Adelaide had suffered a lot while in Asia, as her face was etched with annoyance.

Considering the eldest daughter suffered that much while the eldest son was away, I feel sorry… not really.

“No, now that I think about it, it’s absurd. You’re the same; you don’t have a lover even at your age, so why am I the only one facing these ridiculous rumors? Shouldn’t you also be suspected of liking women to be fair?”

“I even pushed for an engagement, but it was broken off due to their circumstances. Is that the same as you?”

“Ha… damn it, if I had known this would happen, I would have started a fake scandal. You got engaged to the Prussian Crown Prince because you didn’t want to get involved in these annoying problems, right?”

“That too, and my father asked me to; there were various reasons. Anyway, my situation is different from yours. You are the one who will succeed mother, and I am not.”

To put it coldly, it’s an undeniable fact that it’s much more shocking, in terms of public image, for the Crown Prince to be gay.

His younger sister logically and factually pointed out, as he irritably pushed aside the newspaper stained with the coffee he had spat out.

“And you keep talking about common sense, but if you think about it logically, isn’t it natural to be suspected? We’re not young anymore, but you’ve never had a scandal with a woman. Unlike me, you don’t even attend parties, and even if you do, you’re usually only with family, right?”

“Well, it’s more beneficial to invest in my development than to waste time on such trivial matters…”

“So much so that my mother even thought that you might have hit it off with a woman from a prestigious family over there when you went to Asia. She’s changed her mind to just bring a woman; anyone is fine… The closest family thinks this way, so it’s obvious how other people will see it.”

At this point, Edward even began to seriously doubt whether he was being unfilial.

He had spent day and night honing himself to possess the skills worthy of his father’s successor, but was this the price he was paying?

“Okay, okay, I understand. It’s my fault. So what do you want me to do? Should I start meeting women who want to be the Crown Princess once a week starting today?”

“Oh, you’re willing to do that? First, tell me really, really honestly. We’re twins, after all. I want to help if I can, but to do that, I need to know the facts for sure. You really like women, right?”

“I said yes, how many times!”

Anyway, he had nothing to be ashamed of before the Bible, so he had nothing to feel guilty about.

When he thought about it, in the past, Queen Elizabeth or his mother in the early days of her reign were praised rather than suspected even if they said they were married to the country, so why was he being suspected?

He briefly imagined what would happen if he said the British Empire was his wife, shook his head, and decided to leave the imagination as just an imagination.

Now that he was aware of the seriousness of the situation, he had to come up with some way to deal with it.

Being gay… he thought that a trial would come someday, but who could have imagined that his first trial would be such a ridiculous misunderstanding?

After desperately instilling in Adelaide for a full 30 minutes that he hated men and liked women, he began to seriously discuss countermeasures.

* * *

That evening, after successfully concluding negotiations with Bismarck and Freycinet.

I was greeted by Victoria’s sigh full of worries, feeling elated that no matter how much they struggled, Europe was still in the palm of my hand.

“…So you told Adelaide to sound out whether Edward is gay or not?”

“This is an issue that should have been addressed a long time ago. I thought she would be able to hear his honest feelings better than his parents asking him. Even though they bicker, they are the closest among the family.”

“Well… I understand your feelings, but…”

You asked his twin sister to find out if Edward was gay? Is this right?

In fact, unlike other people, I knew why Edward couldn’t meet women.

There are several reasons, but the biggest reason is that he simply doesn’t have the time physically.

And he is so overly responsible that he thinks that if he, the Crown Prince of the British Empire, meets just anyone, the dignity of the royal family may fall.

From a father’s point of view, it would be nice if his son met a good person, got married, and gave him grandchildren, but isn’t what he’s doing now a very admirable reason?

It is a hundred or a thousand times better than living a life of meeting anyone and spending wild nights like the frivolous nobles of this era, and having mistresses behind his back.

“No matter how much, even if other people do that, how much stress would he get if even his parents do that? He’ll do it when the time comes, so just leave him alone…”

“If we had left him alone with that mindset, he would have been in a situation where he couldn’t even hold a woman’s hand until he turned thirty. Is that what you’re saying?”

“No, he might have secretly enjoyed it behind our backs without us knowing…”

“I wouldn’t have gone this far if he had. Until now, I thought your words were right and followed your wishes, but not anymore. I can’t postpone the children’s marriage issues any longer, so I’m going to go in the direction I think is right now.”

“……”

I acknowledged the children’s freedom, but the result was that the eldest son and eldest daughter had not married anyone until they were almost thirty, so I have nothing to say.

The biggest problem is that the younger son, Alfred, and his younger siblings seem to think that their older brother and sister are too cool.

From the children’s point of view, their older brother and sister, who are demonstrating unique abilities in their respective fields and increasing the family’s power day by day, may look cool.

It was an undeniable fact that Edward had achieved success here and there, and that Adelaide had multiplied the business I had entrusted to her several times.

“I really never imagined that we would not see a single grandchild until we reached this age. Do you have anything to object to here?”

“No.”

“Good. Then this time, I’m serious, so I hope you cooperate well. First of all, according to Adelaide, fortunately, our eldest son is a young man with perfectly normal physical health who likes women, not men.”

I don’t know if you can’t believe it with just words to be really sure, but I don’t do the foolish thing of saying such things out loud.

As I nodded obediently, Victoria nodded satisfactorily and handed me the prepared data.

“Take it. And please review it too.”

“What is this again?”

“I’ve roughly made a list of people who would be suitable as our son’s bride.”

Judging by the heavy feeling in my hand, it seems to be at least hundreds of pages. Was she this serious?

I had a feeling that I had to do this, but I felt a little heavy on one side of my heart, thinking about why she would do this.

“Let’s see… Oh? I thought you would have only picked out royal-related figures with some name recognition, but it’s more diverse than I expected?”

“I told you. I don’t care if you bring them from Joseon [ancient Korean kingdom], Qing China [last imperial dynasty of China], or Japan. And that child has never met a woman before, so I don’t know what kind of woman he likes. If I tell him to meet this person just based on their background, he will naturally hate it and dislike it, right? Whose son is he to obediently bow down and go along with it? Really, who did they get their personalities from… sigh, my fate.”

I can confidently say that it’s because they resemble the personality of my beloved wife, but let’s stay quiet because rash words will only shorten my lifespan.

“I understand. So you’re going to have Edward meet each of the people listed here and connect him with the person Edward is interested in, right?”

“I’ll talk to the women, so please coax Edward well and get him to go to the meeting. He respects you deeply, so wouldn’t he listen to your words? If you tell him something like, ‘How can a person who governs a country not be able to handle one woman?’ he’ll follow you, right?”

Is this a matchmaking company’s couple manager, and I have to go to my son and ask him to meet this person because he’s good?

Just yesterday, I was skillfully engaging in political maneuvering with Bismarck and Freycinet in the palm of my hand, but I can’t help but feel absurd at how this has happened.

But speaking of matchmaking companies, I wonder if it would be profitable to do such a business in this era… No. Stop thinking about useless things, and if I don’t take it seriously, Victoria’s patience might really explode.

“Then I’ll go back and look at these materials more closely. Don’t worry too much and take it easy. It’s not too late for a man to get married at the age of thirty.”

“Just in case, if you try to cover it up like you did with Adelaide, I’m really going to get angry this time.”

“Ah, I understand.”

No, they’re the ones who didn’t get married, so why do I have to hear these words from my wife? Thinking about it, it’s a bit unfair.

So, when I told you to freely date and marry, you should have made a partner right away?

Now that it’s come to this, I can’t take responsibility anymore.

I’m sorry, kids.

It’s not my fault; it’s all your mother’s will.