I Am Louis XIV

The attendants announced loudly that the king was coming, and everyone in the room stood up and bowed their knees. Louis glanced over and found that almost all of them were women.

There were about three round tables in this spacious room, but all of them were seated almost around the table where the Queen Mother was, like sunflower petals around the seed tray, Louis walked over and kissed the Queen Mother's hand, Anjou Duke Philip immediately gave him the position closest to the queen mother, and then everyone moved out of their original positions in order starting from the younger brother—the king took a look, and Mrs. Christina Alexandra was present, and The first night was different. According to her current status, she was ranked next to the Queen Mother Mary and Princess Henrietta of England, but the Duchess of Montpensier, who was fortunate to sit on the left hand side of the Queen Mother, Mary Mancini Standing behind the queen mother, she stood in a row with the other ladies. When she saw the king, she couldn't help thinking about it—they hadn't been able to play together for several weeks, so they winked at the king.

The Queen Mother may have seen it, but she didn't say anything, she just turned her head away. The Duchess of Montpensier was a little unhappy. She was still displeased to see another woman of humble birth so indulgent to the king: "Miss Mancini," she said, "bring me a glass of Tokaj."

According to etiquette and status, this kind of thing should not be done by the Queen Mother's maid. The Duchess of Montpensier is so bold because she not only returned to the court with her rich financial resources, but also got the Queen Mother again. The queen dowager's favor, the king's attention——Marie Mancini's thoughts were all on the king, and he did it without thinking——If Mary refused or yelled angrily, the queen dowager and the king would fall in love. They also made preparations to mediate, but Mary's reaction surprised them, which made them dumbfounded. As soon as the king stretched out his hand, he took the Tokaji wine sent by Mary, "Thank you, Mary. ' he said affectionately.

If it is for the king to pour wine, it is very appropriate for Mary's status, and no one will underestimate her. The queen mother asked another maid to pour wine for her and others, and they shouted in unison, cheers to the king's health , This matter was so quietly covered up.

Princess Henrietta is now twelve years old. According to the age of the princesses, this age is enough to be a wife or even a mother, but the poor girl can only be an exiled princess in Paris. Struggling in the low countries, the hope of restoration is getting slimmer day by day. The French ministers looked at them very badly, and many of them suggested handing them over to the traitor Cromwell. If Louis insisted, They may really be expelled from Paris, and then, she doesn't know where to go... Compared to Charles II, their value is lower, so low that it is difficult for anyone to protect them, and for this reason , she was full of gratitude to Louis XIV.

When she was a young child, her mother and elder brother tried every means to make her the wife of Louis XIV, but neither the Queen Mother nor the Bishop of Mazarin agreed. Henrietta admitted that at that time, She did try her best to get close to Louis according to her mother's instructions. After all, she came from a prominent family. If Louis fell in love with her, the queen mother and the bishop might also consider their marriage—but until now, she also knew that this hope was too much. So her brother wrote that she could consider marrying Philip, Duke of Anjou, because as far as Duke Gaston was concerned, his only son had died a few years ago, and there was only one illegitimate son, and he could not inherit the title of Duke. and the territory, then the duke's territory and title will inevitably be transferred to Philip, Duke of Anjou. In addition to the property that the duke got from his mother, the net worth of the younger brother Philip is already extremely huge.

No one asked her if she was willing, and no one thought about it for her—what she had fought so hard for before has almost become a joke now, and it is impossible to say that the Duke of Anjou knew nothing about it , Henrietta still clearly remembers how Philip pushed her to the ground fiercely, just because she sat in the seat closest to the king-she is not qualified for this, in the French court, Montpensier The position of the Duchess was higher than hers. Although Henrietta knew that even her elder brother would have to salute in front of Louis, she still couldn't help feeling bitter, and at the same time carried a sense of unwillingness to fear.

Now she doesn't even dare to be alone with Philip, Duke of Anjou. Although the ladies of the court say that he is as gentle and lovely as a lady, Henrietta can see it-although the bishop and the Queen Mother are in order to avoid fighting in the same room. He intentionally cultivated him in a feminine direction, but with Louis' protection, this prince's heart is still as cold and hard as steel, and all the softness and tenderness are only on the surface, not inside. ,

Ironically, she may not even be able to get this marriage contract now, because since the Duchess of Montpensier returned to the court, the Queen Mother and the bishop deliberately matched him with the Duchess of Montpensier. The Duke of Gaston's territory and title, and even his daughter's property, these two also wanted to get it for the Duke of Anjou, and the king also acquiesced, he respected the Duchess of Montpensier very much, for example, now, he does not He would like to make Miss Marie Mancini humiliated, but he didn't want to make the Duchess of Montpensier feel unhappy, so in the following game, he kindly made a table game with the Duchess of Montpensier. Allies, the two of them worked together to beat the bishop and the Queen Mother at the poker table, and emptied their wallets.

The duchess won about five hundred livres, which was nothing to her, and at the end of the last round she seized the louis d'or and threw them to the crowd, laughing loudly as if in the golden rain. thunder.

The evening was a happy one for the Duchess of Montpensier, and the king ordered Bontang to send a purse containing a hundred louis d'or to the Princess Henrietta, because he found , Today at the card table, Princess Henrietta was very nervous, and she seemed to faint every time the cards went badly—because Charles II was unable to reset for a long time, Queen Mary had no choice but to return to her Cromwell, the enemy, begged for a part of her husband's inheritance and income, but letters and emissaries were in vain, and the princess must have been in dire straits.

And just when the king was concentrating on ordering this matter with Bang Tang, the door of a room on the corridor suddenly opened, and then a soft arm pulled the king in, which shocked the king's attendants. He was about to shout when Bontang stopped him. "That's Miss Mancini," he said, and the attendant smiled knowingly.

"Mary!?"

"It's me! Your Majesty! It's me!"

The king was very aware of Mary's feelings for him. To be precise, he used this feeling despicably. From the very beginning, Mary only entered the court as the niece of the bishop of Mazarin, not in the world. A witch, but what the king needs is a witch, or someone who has an understanding of the other world. Before Vesalius failed to appear, the only one he could catch was Mary. Later, Mary became the Queen Mother's maid, He also needed her to get the queen mother's movement, and he indulged Mary's love for him, although he knew it would never come to fruition.

"I love you, Louie!"

Louis held her hand. Mary's hands were small, with thin fingers. Louis, who had to take martial arts classes every day and paid great attention to his own development, could easily hold them all in one hand.

"And you, do you love me, Louie?"

"..."

"Louis?"

"Mary," Louis said in the dark, "you know, the Bishop and the Queen Mother are planning my marriage."

"Louis!"

"You know that, right?" Louis said, "You are the queen mother's maid."

"Louis, please..."

"I can't love you, Mary."

"But I love you, Louie, can't you just love me a little? Just a little."

"Do you know the consequences of this? You will lose your reputation, and you will not be able to get a satisfactory marriage, because others will only regard you as my lover."

"I don't care, Louis, as long as you love me."

"Think about it, Mary, your father, your family, they only want you to be the legal wife of a nobleman, not the king's lover, the so-called royal wife."

"To hell with them all! Louie..."

Louis held down Mary - she did have a pair of magical hands: "Don't do anything that you and I regret, Mary, go back to your room, no one will know that we were together."

"Louis!"

"Go, don't be a disobedient child."

"I'll convince you."

"It is not I you are trying to persuade," said the king.

—————

The king had to let Mary Mancini go first. Everyone knew that Mary loved him. If they walked together at the same time, there would be rumors. Mary left, stomping angrily along the way, "I Rest here for a while," said the king, and went back to his room, closing the door.

This room, too, was tortured—the bed curtains and curtains were pulled away, and the bright moonlight poured into the room from the window. There was no other furniture in the room except a bedstead. The king sat on the bedstead and looked at it. The black shadow on the glass window flowed into the room, and then stood up on the dusty floor—Theodoric, Prince of Ventrue, bowed to the king: "You found me? Your Majesty."

"Well, it's pretty clear," said the king—a group of little bats lying on the glass.

"I came here for the previous agreement." Prince Theodric said.