Flowers, Swords and France

After reaching a consensus with his family members, Charles stopped talking and had dinner with his family. He took this opportunity to form a united front with his family and showed his unwavering determination - he had no doubts about Charlotte and would continue to stand with her unwaveringly.

Although he and Charlotte often quarreled since childhood, and although they often quarreled after marriage, and even almost broke up recently, after suffering an unexpected blow, Charles found that the emotional bond between him and Charlotte was so deep that he was unwilling to doubt his wife because of Lelouch's strange appearance, let alone break up with her.

Under his determination, other members of Treville also expressed a unified position to protect the reputation of Charlotte and the newborn child. Although it was a pity that the Marquis of Treville still did not express his position, the statements of these people had given Charlotte enough courage to recover a little from the terrible blow.

As Charles expected, within a few days, the news that "Mrs. Treville gave birth to a child with a strange appearance" had spread throughout the social circle and became a popular news, being discussed secretly.

Although considering the power of Minister Treville, no one would talk about this news loudly in formal occasions, but people full of curiosity whispered behind the scenes. Some people asked if there was any hidden story because of curiosity; some people were full of malice and deliberately said some words to defend Charlotte, but they hid the meaning in their words, directly implying that Charlotte might be "careless for a moment" and left the bad consequences of the affair. Some people were even worse, simply linking this incident with the high officials of the entire empire, denouncing the absurdity of the rulers of the empire.

This trend, like most rumors mixed with romance and politics, finally gathered in the court.

In the Tuileries Palace in the center of Paris, ladies and gentlemen gathered together today.

Her Majesty the Queen of the Empire spent the entire winter in the Palace of Fontainebleau. She just returned to the palace two days ago. With her came the entire group of noble ladies around her.

And the news about Charlotte has almost become their main topic of conversation for the past two days.

As the chief female officer of Her Majesty the Queen, and at the same time deeply trusted and favored by Her Majesty the Queen, Charlotte, while enjoying the respect of this group of people, is also secretly envied by them. This jealousy has become extremely strong after accumulating for a long time. Now that they have a chance to vent, it is naturally like a flash flood.

Not only do they want to vent their jealousy, but they also want to ruin Charlotte's reputation in the ears of Her Majesty the Queen so that she will fall out of favor.

"It's really scary, a child with purple pupils, haven't you heard of it? This will bring bad luck to the family, right?" In the flowers of the Tuileries Garden, several ladies gathered together. A lady wearing a court dress and holding a fan in her hand pretended to be shocked and said to others, "Our Charlotte is so unlucky..."

"Yes, I think this is too unlucky..." A younger lady nodded, and her tone seemed to be meaningful, "At least Charlotte should choose..."

"Hahaha..." Her words caused a few chuckles. "How unlucky, so pitiful!"

They were all dressed very luxuriously, which made them look graceful, and even their smiles were very moving, which could compete with the flowers blooming in the early summer in the flower garden. However, the things implied in their words were like ice knives, coldly and sharply stabbing at Charlotte who was not present, and they only wished that they could not stab her all the way at once.

"I heard that Mr. Treville was not angry, and he seemed to have accepted it." Another person joined in. She looked the youngest and seemed to be unmarried from her dress.

"It's really a blessing that our lovely Charles can endure it... It's not easy, right?" The lady next to her answered, "He is such a handsome and smart young man, what can Charlotte be dissatisfied with? I really don't understand, this young man is so handsome! And so capable!"

"Maybe he is too capable, so he has too many things to do and neglects his wife." The lady who spoke first answered casually, and in an instant she seemed to have perfected the whole plot, "I have seen many similar things. Some women are just not easy to satisfy, aren't they?"

"Then...how can Charles endure it? I have met him several times, and he is not a person who will swallow his anger?" The lady just now was even more confused "What a great young man! Sometimes I really envy her."

"You may not understand this..." A lady laughed strangely, "You haven't heard that when Charlotte's grandfather died, I don't know what kind of magic she used, the old man left all the inheritance to his granddaughter, and even his own son and grandson could only watch from the side, so this is a lot of money..."

"So that's it!" The lady seemed to suddenly understand, "No wonder... No wonder she is so arrogant, it turns out that she relies on this to suppress her family."

After a moment, she seemed to be a little dazed and closed her eyes again, "I... If I were her, I would never do that, I would be very satisfied to have such a husband!"

"Although I can't be a wife now, if you want to be satisfied, you might have a chance?!" The wife laughed. "Our lovely Ciel needs comfort too, doesn't he?"

Her words caused another round of laughter. The ladies all made fun of the young lady, bringing waves of laughter.

Matilda, who had been silent not far away, clenched her fists.

You people... are so vicious!

After Her Majesty Queen Carona came to France, she was introduced to Her Majesty by her father. Because she was about the same age, was cautious in her actions, and had very elegant interests, she was appreciated by Her Majesty Queen Carona and was regarded as a friend of His Majesty. , and was called to His Majesty's side from time to time.

After two people get along for a long time, sometimes they will transcend the difference in status and say some personal things between friends.

It is precisely because of this relationship that Matilda's status in the court has skyrocketed, and she is regarded as a being who cannot be easily offended. Fortunately, her personality was not as strong as Charlotte's, and she rarely had conflicts with others, so she did not arouse widespread jealousy.

"Matilda, what's wrong with you?" A lady finally saw something strange about Matilda, so she greeted her. "Are you feeling uncomfortable?"

"I heard what you... what you just talked about." Matilda suppressed the anger in her heart, and then whispered.

"Oh, is that so? Are you also interested in this topic?" Hearing what Matilda said, the other party's interest also rose. "You must also sympathize with our lovely Charles, right? This young man has always been They are all well liked.”

"No...that's not the case. Why should I sympathize with him?!"

Matilda finally couldn't bear it anymore and asked the other party directly.

"Huh?" The lady looked at Matilda doubtfully, not understanding why she suddenly burst out.

"I think we are ruining the reputation of an upright young man and his wife by talking about this kind of thing. They have just received a child. We should bless them instead of derogating them like this." Matilda said directly Looking straight at the other party, the eyes behind the lenses were firm and calm, "It is completely unfounded to make unprovoked attacks based on some unfounded speculations. Mr. Treville is very happy, he has not encountered any misfortune, so I don’t feel like I need to sympathize with him at all.”

"Are you... lecturing me?" Because of Matilda's attitude, the lady's face changed. "You... are talking to me like this?"

Matilda frowned.

It is a terrible thing to offend people in the palace. People will hold grudges for some small things for a lifetime. The education she received since childhood made her more aware of the importance of being kind to others.

When the news first broke, she was secretly worried about Charles and Charlotte, and then things developed just as she feared, quickly turning into ridicule and attacks on the young couple.

She could bear it at first, but when she heard that others were teasing and teasing Ciel, she finally couldn't bear it anymore.

If you offend me, offend me. Am I still afraid of you?

"I'm not lecturing you, madam. I'm just reminding you that we are in the palace and we should be more careful in our words and deeds instead of disparaging others for some unfounded speculation." Matilda said unceremoniously Looking at each other, "We have been in contact with Charlotte so many times. Can't we clearly see who she is?" ? She is not the kind of person who would tarnish her and her husband's reputation. The accusations against her are baseless! If we judge bloodline only by hair color and eyes, what would Adam and Eve be like as their children? Aren’t we the same? Then why are your eyes and hair different from mine?”

This sharp rhetorical question and merciless attitude made the other party turn pale, but Matilda didn't care at all.

"Charlotte is Her Majesty the Queen's Chief Lady and a member of the Court. She is a friend of ours. From our position, we should spare no effort to protect her reputation and the reputation of the entire Court when adverse evidence appears to support it. Otherwise, wouldn’t others only see our jokes?”

The other party's face became even more ugly, and just when she was about to say something, a female attendant beside Her Majesty the Queen came over, and then whispered that Her Majesty the Queen had summoned Matilda and asked her to come over.

Matilda immediately followed the order, and just as she was leaving, she clearly heard a few words.

"Who does she think she is...?"

"How dare a daughter from a poor family be so arrogant? Sooner or later, she will be beautiful!"

She closed her eyes.

Compared to the criticism that Ciel and Charlotte had endured, this attack was a breath of fresh air.

Soon, she followed the female officer to the deepest part of the garden, where the current Queen of the French Empire was sitting leisurely in the pavilion, lazily looking at the surrounding flowers.

"Please sit down, Matilda." As soon as she saw Matilda coming over, she showed a friendly smile, "I just saw that you seemed to be quarreling with some people, so I quickly called you away without disturbing you. Are you interested?"

It is a rare honor to call you between her and Matilda.

"Thank you very much, Your Majesty." Matilda bowed respectfully to the other party before sitting down. "Thank you for pulling me out of a pile of absurd quagmire. It is really uncomfortable to talk to them. ”

"Why did they offend you?" Her Majesty the Queen asked with a smile.

"Just because of some previous rumors, they viciously attacked Charlotte and His Excellency Minister Treville. I...I couldn't stand it anymore, so I stood up and explained the truth to them."

"Ha! So there is some truth in this palace?" Her Majesty the Queen smiled even more cheerfully, "But this rumor is indeed interesting... What do you think?"

"This is a vicious and absurd rumor with no basis." Matilda immediately replied, "Your Majesty, we should put an end to the rumors in the palace, and we must not let this kind of thing dampen the enthusiasm of a minister who is most trusted by your Majesty. …”

"Is it really that ridiculous?" Her Majesty Queen Karona asked. "And, my friend, why are you so angry?"

Matilda was speechless for a moment.

Indeed, she didn't have the confidence to say that the rumors were definitely false, but she really couldn't stand others mocking Charles like that in front of her, and she didn't want to see her beloved being laughed at like this in private. When Ciel was attacked for no reason, she felt as if she was being attacked, painful and angry.

"Now that Mr. Treville, the Minister, has firmly supported his wife, I believe that Charlotte is absolutely innocent." After a moment of silence, Matilda replied, "Besides, this is someone else's family matter, and now it is someone else's business." We think it’s okay, but we can’t let others bother us..."

"It's not wrong to say that people are bothering themselves. This is just Charlotte's family matter. Why should we gossip about others?" This sentence made Her Majesty the Queen nod. "Actually, even Charlotte ...Even if it's true...it doesn't matter. In my opinion, Mr. Treville is not an honest person. Wouldn't it be fair for Charlotte to take some revenge? "

This Matilda didn't dare to continue.

"In short, there is really no need to talk about this matter anymore. We don't need to pay attention to family affairs for others." Her Majesty Queen Kalona laughed again, "Then what do you think we should do to defeat this rumor?"

"I have seen rumors that are ten times more absurd and vicious than this one, so I know that rumors are just parasites attached to hatred and jealousy. They come and go quickly, as long as we can maintain a firm attitude , continue to support Charlotte, and the rumors will soon pass." Matilda raised her head and looked at Her Majesty the Queen, "Your Majesty, I ask you to issue an order to prohibit talking about this matter in the palace and punish those who dare to slander Mrs. Treville. At the same time, you can receive Charlotte in person. , expressed condolences to her, and at the same time showed that her status is unshakable..."

"Pah, pah, pah" Suddenly, Karona clapped her hands.

"Your Majesty?" Matilda was confused.

"My dear friend, you and I are together." Queen Carolina winked, "I have already summoned Mrs. Treville, and she will probably be here soon. It has taken so long to talk about it. I really miss her when I don’t see her.”

Read the original text in Liu#9@书/吧!

"Then you... then why do you still ask me..." Matilda was surprised and happy.

"I'm teasing you, can't I?" Her Majesty the Queen said confidently. Only at this moment can one see from her smile that she is still a girl under twenty years old.

This kind of smile is a bit narrow and full of ridicule to friends. "Charlotte and I are good friends. She really respects me and is a warm-hearted person, so she has something to do now, so I should help her, right? Besides, her husband also respects me. I have great merit, and recently I had the emperor of Austria come over to wish me a birthday - of course I am only telling you this. Kings cannot make deals with their ministers, so I cannot say that I am willing to help them just for merit. Yes, I would rather say, it’s for friendship.”

Then, there was a little more slyness in her smile, "But... I am very curious, my friend, why are you so angry? I want to repay Charlotte and her husband, what about you? From my observation It seems that your relationship with Charlotte is not very good, right? I saw you two quarreling that day, so why are you so anxious about her affairs and even quarreling with other people? This is not like you. It’s the usual style.”

"I...I..." Matilda's face turned slightly red, but she quickly calmed down, "My father and my brother have both been indebted to Mr. Treville, so I want to repay him... …”

"It's really for Mr. Treville..." Her Majesty the Queen understood something, and then laughed, "Let me just say, that guy is not honest at all, even if Charlotte did something, she did nothing wrong. !”

Amid Her Majesty the Queen's laughter, Matilda seemed to want to say something, but she raised her hand to stop her, "Okay, you don't need to say anything against your will. I won't interfere with your affairs. But... …It’s a pity for me. Why does a girl like you have to like someone like that? There are so many people you can choose from..."

"Your Majesty, this is my private matter. You don't need to worry about it. I am very grateful for your care of me, but I am a stubborn person and will not change my opinion because of others." Matilda interrupted a little rudely Hearing the words of Her Majesty the Queen, his attitude was firm and calm, "In addition, I...even if I have done some dishonorable things, I will not do evil things and secretly attack Mrs. Treville. I firmly believe that she is indeed innocent." ”

"You are all very good people, why do you have to be confused by that kind of person?" Her Majesty the Queen frowned and finally sighed.

Matilda was silent, and at this time, led by the female attendant, Charlotte also came over.

"I am very happy to come to see you again, Your Majesty the Queen." As soon as she saw the Queen, she saluted.

"Charlotte, we have missed you!" Her Majesty the Queen quickly asked her to sit down, and then looked at Charlotte carefully.

Perhaps because of the recent postpartum period, her face is weak and pale, and the corners of her eyes are swollen. She seems to have not slept well and has even cried many times. It is really pitiful to see her. However, some of the strength and arrogance of the past can still be seen in her expression.

"My poor friend!" Seeing Charlotte who was so haggard, Queen Carolina couldn't help but feel pity for her. "You have really suffered during this period."

"If you want to be a mother, you have to suffer. What can you do?" Charlotte smiled bitterly. "But fortunately, both mother and child are safe. Everything is worth it."

If you normally hear these words, you may feel that they are showing off, but on this occasion, Her Majesty the Queen always feels that there is a bit of bitterness in her words.

"Since everything goes well, that's great." After a moment, Her Majesty the Queen smiled and comforted Charlotte, "Recently...there have been some not-so-pleasant rumors happening in the palace recently, but don't worry, Rumors are just rumors after all. They will never affect my opinion, and they will never shake your status with me... I will still spare no effort to support you. When you are well, come and see me more, right? I always feel quite bored without you in the palace.”

"Okay, I will come back to accompany you as soon as possible." Charlotte was deeply moved and nodded quickly. "thank you……"

She also knew how valuable it was for Her Majesty the Queen to summon her immediately and express her support in person under such circumstances, so of course she was very happy.

"Don't just thank me. This was all Matilda's suggestion. She was very angry about the rumors attacking you and argued with many people to protect your reputation." Her Majesty the Queen laughed again, "Matilda I was asked just now to issue an injunction prohibiting anyone in the palace from talking about such rumors, and I am prepared to do so."

"This is really..." Charlotte was greatly surprised and looked at Matilda doubtfully, not understanding why she did this.

Matilda was also a little embarrassed and hurriedly looked away.

"I have so few friends, how boring would it be for you to quarrel with each other?" Her Majesty the Queen said with a smile, "Okay, have you brought the child over? Let me see..."

"Yes, I've brought it over." Charlotte nodded immediately, and then the female officer behind brought up a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes.

When she saw the child's appearance, Her Majesty the Queen was a little surprised at first, but soon she looked at the child carefully.

Especially those crystal clear eyes that reflected a strange light, which made her feel as if she was admiring some jewelry.

"What a cute child!" After looking at it for a long time, Her Majesty the Queen suddenly sighed.

She then put her fingers teasingly into the baby's mouth and let him suck hard while she giggled. "He will definitely become a very cute young man in the future, with such beautiful eyes!"

The old Marquis would be furious because he doubted his bloodline, but she didn't care about it at all, so she could appreciate this beauty with a purely objective attitude.

"I'm so grateful that you can say that, Your Majesty." Charlotte carefully approached Her Majesty the Queen, then lowered her voice and said, "Your Majesty, can I ask you something?"

"Huh?" Her Majesty the Queen was a little surprised, "Please tell me, what is it?"

"I...I want to ask you to be his protector and help me take care of this poor child." Charlotte pointed to her little son, with tears faintly appearing in the corners of her eyes, "This is what I want to say to you. My only request, please... please accept my request for the sake of my respect and hard work for you these days, can you? I'm really worried about this child's future... the thought of people possibly having him Bullying him and laughing at him because of his appearance, I just can’t sleep..."

Charlotte's affectionate words made Queen Carona stunned for a moment.

From Charlotte, she suddenly thought of her old father, the father who had taken care of her since childhood, cared about and loved her, and was aging prematurely.

She also doesn’t know when her own child will be born?

As Her Majesty the Queen, it would be dereliction of duty no matter how you look at it, if you fail to fulfill your legal obligations and bring an heir to the empire that can continue the country's unification.

"Parents in the world are so pitiful..." She couldn't help but sigh with a bit of sadness in the end, "Okay, let me have a taste of what it's like to be a mother in advance."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Charlotte stood up again and bowed to Her Majesty the Queen with gratitude, "I will never forget your help to us today. You will be the Majesty that our family always respects."

"Oh, it's really embarrassing to say such solemn words at this time." Her Majesty the Queen couldn't help laughing, "If you really appreciate me, come and see us more often, let's have fun together, and plan how to receive the emperor."

His Majesty Franz-Joseph is scheduled to come to Paris soon to attend the celebration of His Majesty the Queen's 20th birthday. This has been regarded as the top priority of the French court. Everyone is busy receiving it. Her Majesty the Queen herself is also very concerned and often asks about it.

"My husband and I will serve you wholeheartedly." Charlotte also smiled slightly, "His Majesty Franz-Joseph will definitely return to us with satisfaction."

"That's great." Her Majesty the Queen nodded with satisfaction, and then picked up Lelouch again, "Let me take another look at this little guy?"

Charlotte understood and walked away temporarily with Matilda next to her.

"Thank you." After leaving the pavilion, Charlotte whispered to Matilda.

"You're welcome..." Matilda lowered her head and looked down at her feet, "This is just my small compensation to you. I owe you. After all, I still haven't given up my wish."

Charlotte's expression became a little strange, but in the end, she still said nothing, just greeted the group of ladies in the garden.

At this time, these people also saw her. After the initial astonishment, they immediately smiled, as if they were not the ones who mocked her just now.

"Good luck, ma'am." Matilda said behind her in a voice that no one could hear.