Flowers, Swords and France

Amidst the cheers of the crowd, the winner of the first race of the Jockey Club has been decided. In such a fanatical atmosphere, almost everyone is focusing on the lucky guy who won the race and preparing to personally award him the award. His Majesty the Emperor.

Because he won the competition, the champion was very happy and kept waving to all directions. His Majesty the Emperor was obviously very happy that he had guessed the winner. He was also smiling. Surrounded by the guards, he walked step by step. He walked forward and attracted the attention of everyone.

But at this time, Charles did not pay attention to His Majesty the Emperor and the hustle and bustle of the crowd. Instead, he noticed that something was wrong with Her Majesty the Queen's expression. Although she was smiling on the surface and looking forward, Charles could find that her eyes were very distracted and confused, and she always felt a sense of alienation, as if she was absent-minded about today's grand occasion.

If it were others, because their attention was focused on Her Majesty, they would not notice much about Her Majesty the Queen and would not feel anything unusual about her. However, from Ciel's perspective, the situation was completely different.

She was unhappy - Ciel came to a conclusion in his mind with his experienced eyes over the years.

Although he is young now, after many years of teaching from his grandfather and several years of being involved in politics, he has already become very deep. In the final analysis, Her Majesty the Queen is just a woman who is just twenty years old. Even if she intentionally Covering up, it’s not that difficult to see emotions clearly.

But now, as the queen of a country, she enjoys the worship and admiration of everyone. In an environment like her, can she still be dissatisfied? Charles couldn't help but feel doubtful.

Did something happen in the palace? He thought curiously.

After all, the emperor of the empire has such great authority. As a minister, the clearer he understands the affairs of the royal family, the better. Only in this way can he continue to maintain influence over His Majesty the Emperor.

Unfortunately, Charlotte is now recuperating at home because she is pregnant and no longer comes around Her Majesty the Queen, so he has no direct channel to explore the palace information.

However, besides Charlotte, he also has people who can help with this matter.

Without a trace, he withdrew his gaze from Her Majesty the Queen, then retreated from the railing to the high platform, slowly walked up to a person without people paying attention, and then gently tugged on the other person's sleeve.

The other party, who was completely focused on His Majesty the Emperor, was stunned for a while before he noticed Ciel.

"Ciel? What's the matter?"

This is a middle-aged man wearing a palace embroidered dress. He is also an old acquaintance of Charles, François Carrion. His father is an archaeologist who went to Egypt with Emperor Napoleon and left him a Loyal to the Bonaparte family's will, and a craft of forging cultural relics, he also used this craft to raise a lot of money for this group of people, and can be regarded as a hero of the organization - although this cannot be disclosed to outsiders at all. achievements.

However, after the empire was rebuilt, he no longer needed to use his old skills, because His Majesty the Emperor made him the steward of the palace, and he became one of His Majesty's most trusted people.

This middle-aged man is responsible for managing the affairs of the palace and preparing His Majesty's schedule. His mind is flexible and can cope with the pressure from His Majesty and other directions. His character is very calm, which makes him understand how to get such a favor. Even if you dote on you, you still won't make people hate you.

Originally, the relationship between the two people was quite close, but after he became His Majesty's courtier, the relationship between the two people was no longer so close, at least the contact between them became much less - this is also necessary, no emperor wants to see the people around him The courtiers and ministers had close contacts.

Because of this, when Ciel pulled his sleeve, Karion felt a little strange about Ciel's sudden behavior.

"I have something to ask you, and I hope you can clear up my doubts..." Charles smiled ambiguously and gestured to indicate that it was not convenient to talk here.

Karion looked at him and frowned slightly, seemingly hesitant, but in the end his brows relaxed again.

"Okay, but I don't guarantee I can say anything."

Then, he led Charles down the high platform, and then came to the back of the high platform. There were large flags fluttering in the wind, which just separated a small space, and there were guards standing not far away, providing privacy. and safety can be guaranteed.

"Can we tell you what it is now? Your Excellency, Minister Treville?" After stopping, Karion said to Ciel in a slightly teasing tone.

"Okay, sir, it's just the two of us here, don't use this title to make fun of me." Charles shrugged, "Or do you also want me to respectfully call you Lord Carlyon?"

Karion didn't reply and just kept looking at Ciel.

"Well, if you want to be serious, I have nothing against it." Charles sighed, "But don't be afraid, I'm not here to cause trouble for you..."

"I think you are already troubling me, Charles." Karion sneered, "Under such circumstances, if you drag me away, it is inevitable that no one will see it. If His Majesty is unhappy in his heart, the two of us will Who can afford it?"

"Can you just pretend not to know anyone now, and even say hello, you have to consider whether His Majesty is happy or not?" Charles was a little unhappy, "Sir, you were not like this before?"

Ciel's rhetorical question made Karion choke slightly. He wanted to retort, but stopped when he reached his mouth. His expression changed, and in the end he could only sigh.

"Hey! I can't compare to you! You can be ministers, high-ranking officials and well-paid people. I'm staying by His Majesty's side. How can I be more cautious?"

"Of course it's good to be cautious, but there's no need to be afraid..." Charles was still a little dissatisfied.

"...You don't know... things are different now. Your Majesty is your Majesty after all, and he is different from us." Karion still smiled bitterly, "Okay, let's not talk about this. What is it that deserves you? You dragged me out so specially to ask? "

"I just want to inquire about one thing, a piece of gossip." Charles smiled slightly again, "Her Majesty the Queen seems not very happy today... I didn't see her come out yesterday, what happened to her? Is it... are you two Your Majesty, did you have a quarrel?"

Upon hearing Ciel's question, Karion's expression suddenly became stiff. He glared at Ciel, seeming dissatisfied.

"Why do you ask such a thing?"

"I just want to ask. After all, His Majesty's family affairs are also national affairs. As a minister, I have to pay attention to it." Charles answered without hesitation. "Well, please tell me, what's going on?"

Karion was still frowning, obviously not wanting to answer, and even had the intention of turning around and leaving.

"Sir! Have you forgotten our old friendship?" Charles raised his voice, "Don't forget, we lived and died together at that time, but no one came to help us! Because we all spent time together In these difficult times, I have always regarded you as a senior that I should respect and trust. Have you really forgotten these friendships? "

Ciel was acting out of emotion, using his old friendship to influence the other party, but he was also acting rationally, threatening that if the other party continued to behave like this, our friendship would be gone, and this also gave Karion a difficult choice - to deal with From his standpoint, it's hard to put aside.

After hesitating for a long time, he finally spoke reluctantly.

"Char, it doesn't matter whether you know this or not..."

"But I just want to know." Charles interrupted. "Carion, you don't need to show off to me. To be honest, with my wife's status beside Her Majesty the Queen, if she was here, why would I bother to ask you? Now it's just because she is resting at home, so I have to I'm just looking for you... But she can always go to the palace. I'll know it sooner or later anyway, so what's wrong with knowing it earlier?"

Because Ciel's reason was reasonable, Karion finally stopped insisting.

Read the original text in Liu#9@书/吧!

"Okay... okay... I'll tell you if you want to know, but this is really not a big deal, just a common dispute. You also know His Majesty's personality... He is a person who is unwilling to be alone. "

Xiaer looked at the other party steadily, seeming to understand something in his heart. "Could it be..."

"Yes, that's it." Karion nodded, "Men, who can't have some hobbies? Although Her Majesty the Queen is very charming, she always stays next to a woman. After a long time, who wouldn't have wild thoughts and want to do something? What else? Especially, this is the emperor..."

"In other words, His Majesty secretly found a lover?" Charles already roughly understood what was going on. "Then Her Majesty the Queen found out?"

Although he was a little surprised when he first heard it, Charles thought it was really normal when he thought about it carefully. Like his uncle, Emperor Napoleon, the current emperor is also a romantic person. He had experienced it when he was young. He had many romances, had several mistresses, and even had illegitimate children.

How could such a man who was accustomed to being romantically restrained after becoming the emperor? Although I have newly married a young wife, after a year, it is impossible to have the deep affection as before, so it is really not surprising at all to do something in private.

"You're right, that's probably what happened. Her Majesty the Queen is a little angry at His Majesty's behavior, and she hasn't paid much attention to it for a while." Carlyon sighed again, "But look, isn't there a lot of this kind of thing in society? ?”

"I think so..." Charles replied casually, his mind still running at high speed, "But isn't Your Majesty thinking of a solution?"

"Who says not? Your Majesty still likes the Queen very much. He has been trying to make his little wife happy for a while. I think she should calm down after a while..." After Carlyon said this, he laughed a little narrowly. At this moment, he got rid of his identity as a courtier, revealed a little bit of his humorous personality, and teased the emperor and queen, "According to me, your majesty has been considerate enough. Who is not like this now?" Well, don’t you?”

"I...I'm not that kind of person." Charles answered, suppressing his embarrassment. "Okay, I probably understand what you said..."

"How about it? Just a trivial matter, right? Why do you need to delve deeper?" Karion became serious again, "Anyway, you must keep what I'm telling you now a secret and don't mess around. Pass it on, otherwise I won’t be able to help you if Your Majesty is unhappy.”

"I know this." Charles silently remembered what the other party just said, "I think Her Majesty the Queen should be able to recognize the reality easily."

"Never mind her! Since ancient times, how can a queen only enjoy the pleasure without suffering? If she can bear it, she can bear it. If she can't bear it, just endure it. Anyway, I will retire in a few years, and I can't control that much anymore..." Ka Leon narrowed his eyes slightly, as if he was tired, "I wish I could retire right away."

"If you say this, I'm afraid you will make many people extremely angry." Charles couldn't help laughing, "There are many people who covet your position."

"Greedy? They haven't really done it, right? As long as they have really done it, who would be jealous of this? Brother, let me tell you clearly, this thing is too tiring, no one can keep doing it. Besides, who is willing to keep doing it? How about serving people with caution?" Maybe it was because he had been suppressed for too long. After chatting with Charles for a while, he was stuck. Leon also threw away his previous serious mask and confessed his true feelings to Charles, "You can't imagine the kind of pressure, staying with the emperor all the time! If you make him unhappy, then... It’s too bad. If you make him happy, which is what you should do, no one will thank you! I don’t believe anyone likes this job.”

He sighed as he spoke, and Ciel's eyes were sunken and his hair was quite gray. It was obvious that he meant what he said. This official position and job were both an honor and a huge pressure for him. Ciel could tell that this was true, he was really tired.

But Charles also understood what the other party's intention was when he suddenly complained in front of him...

"Are you thinking about your retirement life so soon? You're not that old yet..." He deliberately teased.

"I'm not like you, everyone has great ambitions. Now that the empire has been rebuilt, and you have stabilized the country, what else does it have to do with me? I can retire as early as I can... play with my collections, By the way, if my hands are itchy, I can make some antiques for fun..."

"Then you have been with His Majesty for so long, he should have arranged a way out for you to retire..." Charles' tone became more mysterious, "I will not doubt this."

"I think so. Your Majesty is a person who cherishes old friendships. He will not turn a blind eye to me. I'm afraid he will give me whatever I deserve, including titles, honors, and money." Karion smiled, "But no one will. Do you think you will have less money when you retire?”

"I understand." Ciel nodded.

He does understand very well. (~^~)