Chapter 52: Provisional Government (5) "…Is His Majesty asking me through Your Majesty the Queen, or are you personally asking me?"
"It is entirely my own will, Finance Minister."
"Mm…"
With a short hum, I began tapping the desk lightly with my fingers.
Louis XVI.
In the original history, I didn't know when, but he was going to end up with his head going thunk and become Lou/is XVI. And Queen Marie Antoinette would follow after and become Ma/rie.
People's loyalty to the king had already taken a hit because of the incident where the mercenaries marched toward Paris.
Even so, this was still this era.
To people accustomed to feudalism, a king was someone who absolutely had to exist.
In the twenty-first century, if a president or prime minister brought troops near the capital on a unilateral decision, it would be impeachment and more—social death, too.
But while the citizens of Paris and the deputies were expressing disappointment in the king, they still hadn't gone so far as to say, "Cut off his head!" or "Stick a lightning rod into his head and roast him!"
If so, that meant there had been some incident in the original history that enraged even those people all at once.
Did he sell the country to Britain or Germany like a Yi Wanyong?
Anyway, this was a mess I shouldn't get entangled in, and I wasn't so desperate that I needed to grab a rope that was overwhelmingly likely to be rotten.
Besides, I was someone who had already snarled at the king to his face once. In Louis XVI's eyes, I had to be an extremely reactionary figure.
I stopped tapping the desk and said in a low voice.
"I've given it some thought, but I'm not sure there's any reason for me to meet His Majesty—whether it's Your Majesty's request or not."
"Is that so?"
Even though I drew the line cleanly, Marie Antoinette answered lightly, as if she wasn't shaken at all.
"…So you didn't expect me to accept your request."
"Yes, to some extent."
The Queen spoke with a dignified smile.
I started tapping the desk again.
Marie Antoinette knew I wouldn't grant her request.
If she came to see me while fully expecting that, then she must be holding something she could offer me.
The tapping sound that filled my room stopped.
"Your Majesty. Then will you show me your hand?"
"Gladly."
The eyes of Guillaume de Toulon, Finance Minister of the National Assembly, and Marie Antoinette, Queen of the Kingdom of France, met.
"If the Finance Minister agrees to meet His Majesty the King, then as Queen of the Kingdom of France, I will lend all my strength to the Finance Minister."
"…I'm not sure. I already have the National Assembly's approval and full support."
"Oh my. That alone won't be enough to force through the reforms you're thinking of, will it?"
"Reforms—most of the reforms I proposed in the Assembly are proceeding well."
"Finance Minister, do you truly think so?"
I shrugged. Seeing that, Marie Antoinette smiled with her eyes.
"Finance Minister—you have a great deal of interest in the property of the Church and the clergy, don't you?"
"…"
No—how did she know? Was she reading minds?
As if she had seen straight through me, Marie Antoinette continued.
"Surely you aren't thinking I'm a witch, are you? Hehe."
Tch. She saw even that—so maybe she really is one?
I pulled my blank expression back into place and slowly opened my mouth.
"…How did you know?"
"I don't know. I simply thought a Finance Minister would."
"Mm…"
"In my eyes, the Finance Minister is warmer than anyone. Anyone can have the heart to help others, but it's difficult to put that into reality."
And the harsher that reality is, the more difficult it becomes. The Queen added.
"Finance Minister—do you remember the winter when we met?"
"…Yes. I remember. It was a very cold day."
"It was. And on that cold day, didn't the Finance Minister go outside and help people? Wasn't it the Finance Minister who even embraced a shivering little child?"
"…"
Well… that was just me trying to survive and it ended up that way.
"A young man like that rose to the post of Finance Minister—so there is only one thing to do. Make ordinary people's lives better."
"So I thought the Finance Minister would surely raise his eyes toward the Church, which has amassed vast wealth."
"This is the card I was holding." The Queen said.
"…Fine. If we assume I strike at the Church as Your Majesty says, then specifically, how will Your Majesty help me?"
"I will meet the cardinal myself and settle it directly. With royal support behind you, the Church will find it difficult to oppose."
That was… strong.
"If you do that, the Church and the clergy's blame will go to Your Majesty. Are you alright with that?"
"Hoho. In any case, there is no more dignity left for me to lose, Finance Minister."
She had come fully resolved.
I closed my eyes for a moment, thought, then met her gaze and said,
"…Then what do I need to do when I meet His Majesty?"
At my words, Marie Antoinette's eyes dimmed for a moment.
"That…"
After biting her lips tightly, Marie Antoinette slowly opened her mouth.
"Stop His Majesty."
"…Pardon?"
"His Majesty intends to attack Versailles with the last remaining mercenary force."
…Excuse me? What?
"Why—do you now have business with me?"
The War Room of Versailles Palace. Beneath the ornament carved with the brave figure of his great-grandfather Louis XIV, the huge king standing there spoke to his visitor with clear displeasure.
No wonder your head ends up flying off, you wannabe dullahan.
"Well, I didn't come because I particularly wanted to see Your Majesty."
"Then why—are you here to scold me again like you did in the Assembly? Saying I hid behind the throne, and so on?"
"I don't know. Whether it becomes a scolding or something else depends on what Your Majesty says."
"…"
"…"
After a long glare between the two of us, the king opened his mouth first, and the conversation resumed.
"…Fine. Enough fighting—speak. Why have you come to see me?"
"I'll be direct. The Flanders mercenary regiment. Is it true?"
At my words, Louis XVI's massive body twitched, then he shot me a sharp look.
"…Where did you hear that?"
Hah. That reaction meant Marie Antoinette was telling the truth.
You insane psycho bastard.
Are you Asmodeus? A commander of the legions of sin?
"…What were you planning to do with that army?"
"That is none of your concern."
"How can you say that! Recall the mercenary regiment immediately!"
"…So. You mean to take even the last remaining regiment from me now."
After finishing that, Louis XVI suddenly burst into loud laughter.
"Hahahaha! Does that Orleans bastard cling that desperately to this idiotic seat!"
What? What is he even talking about now?
"Yes! Finance Minister—doesn't it amuse you? My so-called cousins all drool over my throne as if it's the most valuable thing in the world, and yet the one sitting in it spends all day being hounded by you!"
"In truth, Orleans told me this: gather troops and crush you."
"The very man who attacks me with every filthy trick behind the scenes."
Isn't it comedy itself? Louis XVI added.
"As you say, I will order the regiment to turn back."
"But in the future, don't come barging in this late to take things—take them from my hand in advance."
"Though I no longer know what I have left at all. Ah—next, is it the crown? The crown is a bit awkward to hand over, you see. It's a crown passed down since my grandfather."
Louis XVI spoke in a rapid-fire stream, his eyes wild.
"…Y-Your Majesty. Please… calm yourself and speak…"
Sir, you're scaring me… can you stop?
Even so, Louis rambled on for a long while, then dropped into a chair with a thunk as if exhausted.
"…Are you alright?"
"…Finance Minister. May I ask you one thing?"
The king raised his head weakly and looked at me.
"What did I do wrong…? I—no, I truly don't know."
"You said I hid behind the throne. Yes—perhaps that's true."
"I cannot reign like my great-grandfather. I am not cunning like King Philippe. Nor do I have the embrace of King Henri."
"Hidden behind the throne—what a perfect description of me. Hahaha!"
After laughing again for a while, the king—no, Louis XVI—let his head fall and spoke in a voice that seemed to crawl into itself.
The man, nearly two meters tall and huge, now looked terribly small.
"How can I keep this seat? I no longer have confidence. At this rate, I feel as though I will go mad."
I spoke slowly.
"…Do you truly have to keep the throne, even if it pains you this much?"
"…A curious answer. Then are you saying I should hand this seat to someone else?"
"I'll say this with apologies in advance, but royal authority will only diminish from here—it will never increase."
"You might as well hand it to that Orleans—"
"Traitor."
"Yes. To that trai…tor. Wouldn't it be better to live at ease?"
Louis XVI thought for a long time, then said,
"If I abandon the throne, then what do I become? A duke?"
What is he talking about?
"No. You become Citizen Louis Auguste."
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