I Am Louis XIV

"Who is Screwdriver II?" Lucy asked.

"Oh, I forgot," said Milady, "you haven't learned this yet," the little Duke of Colonna learned from his French ancestors: "he is the son of Philip IV, King of Spain, and The only surviving son, he was born in the same year as you, but the number of months is a little smaller, his mother is Maria Anna from Spain, that is, the daughter of his father's sister, his niece."

The title of Philip IV confused Lucy, because there was also a Philip IV in the genealogy he had read before, and Milady explained to him, "That is Philip IV of France and your ancestor. , the beautiful man Philip of the Capet dynasty, he is much greater than Philip IV of Spain."

"So Carlos II has brothers?" Lucy asked.

"Yes, but unfortunately, they were called by the Lord very early." Milady led Lucy slowly in the courtyard covered by the light golden morning light. The magic of the wizards guaranteed that no matter when, The air here is clean, warm and humid. The roughness and erosion of the sea breeze will never affect the trees and walls of the buildings in the courtyard. There are also countless sculptures and fountains. Beside the drinking pool, splashing clear water, preening feathers and singing softly, in the lingering mist, a unicorn that is almost the same color as the morning light walks slowly from one acacia flower tree to another. Beside the Albizia julibrissin tree, grab the flowers that look like fluffy little yellow balls to eat, and startle the fairy like stars in the flowers. As soon as they fly up, they sprinkle the air with bright pollen.

Sometimes, Milady is not surprised why wizards always feel that they are superior to ordinary people. In the other world, wizard nobles obviously have greater rights than mortal kings or dukes, and enjoy more extravagant and In a more noble position, those ordinary wizards live more comfortably than artisans or businessmen in the outer world. At least they must have a room of their own and a water system inherited from the Roman Empire. If it were not for the inner world The ability to bear has reached the limit, presumably these wizards will continue to be closed and conservative.

"Tell me," Milady said briskly, as if she was just asking casually, "Why do you want to ask about that brother of His Majesty?"

"Because someone told me that I have a brother." Lucy frowned. He was still very small, and his two eyebrows were also very light, like the fluff of a duckling just after it was born. Milady looked at it calmly. Compared with Queen Teresa and the king's eldest son Louis, Lucy is more like a king, with very beautiful blond hair and blue eyes. Little Louis inherited the dark hair of Habsburg and was born with Tan, presumably the color of night when they grow up, but the brothers have very similar eyes.

"I have?" Lucy asked.

"Yes." Milady said, perhaps those people would not have thought that as early as the moment little Louis was born, the king had decided how to deal with these two sons. He once loved Mary, and he also respected Louis. Leisa, he also loves these two children deeply, but out of the cold heart that a king must have, he has already made arrangements for these two children. So from the very beginning, Milady has taken orders from the king, and she will not hide anything about the king and the Duchess of Colonna, Marie Mancini—Lucy is a smart kid, don't think he You can deceive as you like, once he finds out that you are deceiving him, no matter who you are, he will never believe you again, so Milady finally won the right to education from the Mancini family It is useless; moreover, if they don't say it, others will say it, and it is better for them to tell the truth than to let the little Duke of Colonna hear the twisted and ugliness from others.

Milady took the little duke's hand, and the four years of companionship and care finally played a role at this time. Although he was so nervous that his hands were wet, Lucy still tried his best to calm down and sat down with Milady. Behind a thicket of roses, it's almost impossible to see them unless someone looks for them.

"It's a bit complicated," said Milady. "I don't deny that your father had two wives, but... in some respects, your mother, and Princess Teresa of Spain, both had two wives. It is legal, and the difference is that they are in two worlds." So Milady simply talked about some things after the Dunkirk assassination: "It can be said," she said: "Your The marriage between father and mother is recognized by the laws of the inner world. In the inner world, your father is the Duke of Colonna, so your mother is also the Duchess of Colonna. Although you have inherited your father With assets and titles in the other world, after becoming the Duke of Colonna, she should be called an old lady, but I think she will never forgive anyone who dares to call her that."

This sentence made the little duke grin, he is not familiar with his mother... Marie Mancini has been too extreme since she felt the threat of Madame La Vallière and the werewolf clan to her and the Mancini family The violent character has been improved to a higher level - the Mancini family is now able to stand at the top of power in the inner world. In addition to the support of the king, Mary's madness also plays a role that cannot be ignored - the wizards in the inner world now Everyone called her "Black Mary" - after she made one hundred and ninety-three wizards who dared to resist the Mancini family into the cornerstone.

It is precisely because of this that although Lucy loves and respects his mother very much, Mary cannot compare with Milady when it comes to intimacy, and when it comes to admiration and longing, under Milady's guidance Now, Louis is much better than Mary and even the Mancini family. After all, he is the ruler of a huge country, and no matter how powerful the Mancini family is on Gayola Island, Gayola is just an island. .

But this is all for the future, "And your father is the king of France, and as a king, he must marry the princess of another country as his wife, and this candidate finally fell on Philip IV's daughter Your mother is Queen Teresa." Milady gently held the little duke's shoulders: "She and your mother are two sides of the mirror, the one that represents the world, and the inner world will not recognize it. The outside world will not admit that you and your brother, one is destined to be the Duke of Colonna, the other is destined to be the King of France, you are two arms growing on one body, neither can occupy the other position, but together you can destroy any enemy, no matter where he comes from."

The little duke clenched his little fist unconsciously. Although he still didn't understand some words, it was obvious that Milady was telling him that it was not a bad thing for him to have such a brother, and it wasn't that those shadowy brothers with some kind of Strange notion, the… malice of the people who had come to tell him about it. There is nothing wrong with his background, he was also born in the love of his father and mother, his father also had expectations for him, he and... the brothers who have never met will not be enemies, on the contrary, they can become good friends Friends... Father has already arranged for them the road ahead, they just need to go on with peace of mind...

"Can I meet him?" Lucy asked, "I haven't seen him yet. What does he look like? Is he like me? Rong Ke's youngest son is very similar to his brother."

It's really not very similar, Milady said in her heart, and Jun Ke's youngest son is a pair of twins, "I can't answer you, you and your brother are very young, you see, I am rarely even allowed to Take you away from the Colonna Palace, and the same goes for your brother, who is now being raised by the queen mother Anne, and your father rarely sees him-but I think I can ask." Any relationship needs to be cultivated , to be honest, if someone had not deliberately provoked, there would be nothing between the two brothers that would lead to a catastrophe, unless little Louis would be a wizard, or the Duke of Colonna would not be a wizard——Milady Looking down, I saw Lucy playing with a goblin. The little vortex formed by the magic power in the air made the poor little goblin dizzy. It seems that the latter is impossible. As for the former, even if there is Possibly, her king would also make it impossible.

That His Majesty seemed gentle, but in some places, he was so stubborn that even the devil and the angel could not pull back together.

"But I think," said Milady, "that you might exchange presents."

"Oh." The little duke raised his head, his eyes lit up as Milady expected, "I have a lot of interesting toys here!"

"Very well, I think you can choose today, and when you see His Majesty the King, you can ask him to bring them to your brother."

"Okay... well, wait, maybe not today."

"Why?"

"I have grammar and alchemy classes later."

"It's not very important to skip a day of class." Milady waved her hand like a doting parent, and said generously. The little duke giggled, but still declined her kindness: "No, Mi Laidi, I can put away my toys before bedtime, but I can't skip class."

"Even your father started studying after he was six years old. Your Highness, you are only four years old. In your long life, it may be only these few years that you can play carefree."

This terrible idea made the little prince's face stiff for a while. After thinking for a long time, he still painfully decided to go to class: "I hope to take over the mother's job as soon as possible," he said: "It was originally my responsibility. Madame, it is quite inadvisable to impose it upon a frail woman."

Milady thought with her toes, and knew that someone was talking nonsense in the ear of the little duke—indeed, the wizards in the inner world were more prejudiced against women than in the outer world—for example, the husband You can look for flowers and willows outside and act recklessly, but your wife has to guarantee her chastity. Except for those wizards who are equivalent to being raised by big families and who have signed blood oaths and have to abide by the agreement, the private lives of those big family members are almost very private. confusion.

Although Mary is an intelligent and powerful wizard, in the other world, she is still the Duchess of Colonna and must act in the name of the Duke of Colonna, but at the very least she is still an adult, a woman gradually matured in the conspiracy As for the little duke, Milady admits that he is really smart and cute, but it will take at least ten years for him to grow up to be able to handle government affairs independently. During this period, if Mary Manche Ni was forced to back down, and the power of the Duke of Colonna would inevitably be empty, so whether it was to seek power or other families would have a chance.

It is also possible that the wise men among the wizards saw the king's intention - the infiltration and encroachment of the inner world were carried out simultaneously, and while continuously plundering the human resources of the inner world, they used various means to eliminate the differences in the inner world. When all the rights are concentrated in the hands of the Mancini family, or in other words, the Duke of Colonna, Gajola Island is just an unknown province in France.

And this province, between Sardinia and Sicily, faces Naples.

If it wasn't for this, why would the king have invested so much in these three years? Wheat, pork, and potatoes, while the treasury of France still seemed empty, made the unfortunate M. Colbert grey.

Fortunately, Mary was coming back tonight, and Milady casually crushed a rosebud. It seemed that there would be several more cornerstones on that long line of defense.

———————

Colbert sneezed, and as the king said, a group of ministers and relatives sang in unison, half in jest, half in earnest: "May God bless you!"

The financial auditor had no choice but to stand up and bow to everyone in the room. Among these princes and dukes, even if he said his origin, these people would feel humiliated, but the king's favor for him , and his tireless work over the years, he has heroically ensured that the king's books...at least there is no deficit-maybe some people don't understand what this is, but everyone in this room knows that in the king's Under the premise of insisting on refusing to increase taxes, the army, warships and continuous wars have caused the royal family's expenditure and income to continue to be out of balance. There have been two good times, for several weeks in a row, people can see Colbert's room The lights are kept on day and night, and roars like wild beasts come from inside from time to time.

People say that Colbert was almost driven mad by the king, but he persisted, and neither he nor France's finances collapsed... and the resistance of the two seems to have room to strengthen, even if the king said, Mr. Colbert also stood firmly in place and did not faint immediately when he was going to cover the entirety of the thirty Calais ships that Princess Henrietta would marry with iron plates.

——Let's not talk about it, this must be the king's joke. The whole body is covered with iron plates. At that time, did they want to admire these warships in the new dock in Dunkirk as a scenery?