Flowers, Swords and France

It was already late at night when Charles returned to his home in the carriage sent by the Marquis of Treville.

There were bright lights in the mansion, making everything as bright as day, but when walking through this grand mansion that belonged to him, Charles still felt a little alienated. Especially when compared with the situation just now in my hometown, this feeling of alienation becomes even stronger.

Maybe it will take a while to get used to this new home.

At this time, Charlotte was sitting in front of the piano in the corner of the hall, looking at the piano sheet music. Apparently she had just finished dinner and was passing the time here.

"My dear, I don't even know when you fell in love with music?" Looking at Charlotte's slim back, Charles greeted her in a joking tone, and then walked over step by step. "Well, could you please play a song for your poor husband?"

"I can't play, Charles, it's not like you don't know." Charlotte replied without looking back, "I'm just here to look at the music scores. I just thought that we have to hire a musician for the family, otherwise Sometimes, this empty hall feels quite quiet. Besides, we can’t hire musicians from outside every time we hold banquets, right?”

In this era, aristocratic women did not boast that they could play the piano. On the contrary, they generally felt that being a musician was a despicable profession that could only bring them artistic enjoyment but was not worthy of respect.

"Oh? Really? Okay!" Charles shrugged obediently, and then hugged his wife's shoulders from behind. "Then it's up to you. We can hire you if you like it. We can hire as many as we need. By the way, speaking of this. It just happened to happen!"

"What?"

"I sent an invitation to the people from the Austrian Embassy today, and I want them to come here for a meal the day after tomorrow. It's time to start preparations, but we can't let the Austrians laugh at us for not knowing etiquette." Charles bent down slightly. He brought his cheek to Charlotte's ear, "I forgot to explain it to you today, I'm sorry!"

"Austrians?" Charlotte turned her gaze away curiously, "You want to invite foreigners over? And the time is so short?"

"Yes, they are Austrians. As for the rush of time, there is nothing we can do - who told us to go to England in a few days?" Charles nodded immediately. Then he continued to add it. "This is an unofficial official operation - a diplomatic operation. I want to take this opportunity to at least get a feel for the Austrians and find out what these people are thinking."

"So, you are already working? And this is part of your diplomatic action?" Charlotte gradually understood something.

"Yes, you can understand it that way."

"Okay, I understand, Ciel." Charlotte nodded, and then suddenly became excited. "I'll prepare it. The Austrians...ah! They have a lot to do now. They are very fastidious and show off, and they also like to spread gossip behind others' backs. I've heard so much in social circles. Back! This time...if we accidentally neglect them, we might become the protagonists of a new joke...?"

"It's okay. Don't worry." Charles waved his hand boldly, "Others can't control them, so why can't I control them now? I will ask them to be careful about their words and deeds...Besides, they still ask for help from me. Absolutely don’t dare to mess around.”

"You can talk big!" Looking at Ciel's high-spirited look. Charlotte couldn't help laughing, "You really want me to cause some diplomatic trouble. Then you will be the first one who can't spare me, right?"

"No, of course not. I would rather trigger a war with Austria than let you suffer their ridicule." Charles complimented his wife without any scruples, "Besides, it looks so beautiful. And elegant madam, how dare those Austrians complain?"

This kind of compliment made Charlotte couldn't help laughing.

"Haha... Well, just because of your words, I will try my best to please those Austrians, and I will never let you... But, I guess, I can deal with them well and won't stop you. A great and sacred diplomatic undertaking.”

"That's great!" Charles was overjoyed and nodded repeatedly.

Then, seeing Charlotte so happy, the time had come, and Charles decided to tell Charlotte what was on his mind.

"I'm sorry, Charlotte, I decided to run over and see grandpa today..." Charles sighed, and then kissed Charlotte on the cheek, "It's been a long time, I miss them so much."

"It's okay. It's been a long time, so you should run over and take a look." Charlotte still didn't look back, and there was no emotion or anger in her tone. "Besides, it's not like you didn't tell me."

"Yeah, speaking of which, I have one more thing to tell you." After a moment, Charles pretended to mention it casually, "There is something about our trip to England in a few days."

"What?" Charlotte looked at Ciel suspiciously, "Did something unexpected happen?"

"It's not that there was an accident..." Charles smiled slightly, trying to sound very understated, "It's just that my grandfather gave me a request by the way."

"What does grandpa have to request? Just tell me?" Charlotte also laughed. "Does he want us to bring something back? Or to meet some of his British friends, or... worse, to meet An old lover of his?"

"No, no, it's not that bad..." Ciel waved his hand with a smile, "It's just a small thing. He wants Fran to come over and relax."

The smile on Charlotte's face suddenly froze.

The atmosphere where the two of them had been very cordial and harmonious just now suddenly became a little cold.

"Actually, it's nothing. It's just that Fran was seriously injured recently and she finally recovered, so grandpa wants to let her go out to relax and recuperate." Of course, it is impossible for Charles to tell everything to Charlotte. , so I had to continue to use grandpa as a shield, "But don't worry, she is just going to visit the UK and will not interfere with our schedule. She won't even sit together on the boat..."

He finished what he said very quickly, but it did not calm down the atmosphere.

The long silence made Charles feel a little uneasy.

"Charlotte... you... what do you think?" He reluctantly asked again, "After grandpa made this request, I took a look and found that it was actually nothing serious, so I agreed to him..."

"It's like this again... it's like this... it's like this again!" Charlotte repeated a few words in succession, and then suddenly shouted, "Can't we get rid of her even if we go to England? We want to recuperate There are plenty of places for her to go! Why do you think we have to keep an eye on our children?”

Charlotte's scolding made Charles even more nervous, so he had to lower his head and let his wife get angry.

"Charlotte, as I said just now, she is not following us, and it will not affect our itinerary and diplomatic mission." After Charlotte finished scolding, Charles reluctantly spoke, "She is just with Mary. Let’s go to England to relax, that’s all.”

"Do you find this kind of thing interesting?" Charlotte frowned and looked at him, "Isn't that the same thing?! We went out for a trip, which was regarded as our wedding trip, but...it turned out that someone was following us. By the way! Do I have to thank you for not letting her go to see the queen with us?"

Read the original text in Liu#9@书/吧!

Beads of sweat gradually formed on Ciel's forehead.

"Of course not. We haven't been affected in any way, right? She has someone else to take care of her. She's just recuperating."

"That's right! No matter what she did, you can always find some reason for her!" Charlotte replied with a sneer, "Why, you are so soft-hearted after seeing your sister fall?"

Charlotte's tone was very unkind, and she had obviously been reminded of some bad memories, so she settled the old and new accounts together.

Although she didn't know all the details about Fran's previous injury, Charlotte had already guessed from various clues that the matter would not be as simple as 'slip and injury'.

"Charlotte... I know you don't like her, but you can't be so mean to someone who just escaped from death, right?" Seeing Charlotte's unkind tone, Charles finally became a little dissatisfied, "That's right... …I was indeed angry with her before, but she is my sister! If I don’t understand her, who else can she rely on in this world?”

Then, Charles waved his hand, obviously not wanting to continue arguing with Charlotte on this issue, "Besides, it is true that I am particularly soft-hearted towards her, but am I any different towards you? We have grown up There were so many disputes, and we ended up breaking up, but in the end, didn’t I try my best to reconcile us?”

This sentence made Charlotte suddenly speechless.

"you……"

She thought about that day again.

At least, at that time, he proposed to me on his knees.

"Okay, Charlotte, even if I beg you, don't ruin our mood because of this incident, okay?" Seeing that Charlotte was a little shaken, Charles gently touched her forehead. "I'm already worried enough. Please let me relax a little bit..."

"Okay, then do as you wish." After hesitating for a moment, Charlotte finally nodded, "But don't let her come to us!"

"Okay." Charles nodded repeatedly, "Then let's do it."

Then, he took Charlotte into his arms. "Then let's go rest first."

………………

Early the next morning.

"Richard von Metternich? He's coming?!" (To be continued...)