CHAPTER 1

Letter of Letters

    As his hands slipped out of his face, in motion similar to such of a disappointment, the young king sighed and slowly looked up, his face slightly pale, yet masked by a countenance suffused with confidence that once the eyes met with those of others in the room, they would shudder at such glance. Everyone stood motionless, awaiting the king’s response to the letter that he had just read, which indeed triggered his inner wroth to be awaken at such surprising information gained from the letter, the one that was brought by his master advisor, Giuseppe Buggeu.

* “You knew this would happen, didn’t you, Giuseppe?” asked the king, addressing his courtier, who was the highest in rank compared to the other servants in the room, but also the one who felt the most embarrassment.

* “Your majesty… truly, I, who had been, in fact, attempting to raise your inner alarm and senses of paranoia, had told you beforehand that this wasn’t something unexpected, but rather, an event that we weren’t yet prepared to be able to act accordingly against. Thus, I urge you not to panic and-“

* “Panic? Who, me?” the king interrupted the man, and then continued by slightly laughing, as if he felt mocked by his own servant, “I don’t think you understand, Giuseppe. I don’t need someone to tell me something that I already know, or expect, rather I need people who act immediately, by informing me first, and then performing necessary actions to prevent the circumstance that they had warned me of taking place, in order to not give any possibilities of any kind, a chance of occurring, resulting in scenarios where the event may take place in different forms. What about you, Rafael? I had assumed, in the past of course, that you had the same influential positioning in the respective field that Buggeu has failed to guard as of today, thus, I assume now that you should be in full capability to answer my objections and tell me if you could have prevented this.” the king asked, staring at his chief of army, Rafael Lazinni.

* “Your majesty, I would never, if in case I had knowledge of such an event having extremely high probability of occurring into reality, restrain myself from informing you, which would be an act of betrayal. I have no objections to state, as it is my fault as much as it is Buggeu’s fault in this matter.” said the man, having the look of someone who had been threatened with death.

* “So you’re saying, that if it didn’t have a high probability of happening, then you would, perhaps, not care to inform me of such predicament?” Leomeu asked, knowing well that his courtier was shaking at such demanding questions.

* “No, not at all, my dear King. I would not dare commit such an act of jeopardy, and anyways, I don’t think I would have anything to gain from such under-class movement towards you.” the servant replied, slowly calming down, thinking that he had, perhaps, saved himself from any further questioning.

* “I perceive that now you’re uttering a meaning of betraying me, if it would be beneficial to you?” the master said, glancing at his inferior with a look of disappointment.

* “No, your maje-“

* “Enough, Rafael, since my mind has already decided to consider your opinions and statements impertinent to your standpoint, therefore, don’t waste your energy on trying to justify the shameful ignorance you have evinced in front of everyone. As of this moment, you shall not have any permission to speak, unless I myself bestow upon you such an honor.” Leomeu said in a high tone, simple yet so commanding. Thence, Rafael lost his right of word before the king, and he would have to amend his previous trouble in order to regain the liberty of speech.

* “It seems to me, unfortunately, that none of you are capable of fully comprehending the seriousness of the current situation, and thence, I shall let Albert read the letter again and ask all of you for your opinions on this matter, once again, as we have done this two times already.” the king said, as he took the letter and handed it to his Spymaster, Albert Nicola, who made two swift and shuddering steps ahead to get ahold of the letter, without letting his master stretch his arm any further.

* “May I, your majesty?” the servant asked for permission to speak, in a very low tone, scarcely heard by anyone.

* “What?” his master asked, as he was confused, since he didn’t quite hear him.

* “May I speak, your maje-“

* “Ah, just go ahead and read the letter, Albert, for God’s sake!” the king shouted at his courtier for being so anxious and stupefied.

* “Letter addressed to the King’s attorney, Henry Martini;

Written on 6th of April, by a pro-constitutional agent under the command of Siode Dontateo, whose exact words I will repeat here;

            His Excellency, the exiled prince of France, currently in Italy, has pressed his righteous claims on the province of Paris, therefore, proclaiming himself emperor of the French Empire, accompanied with his ideological desires and ideas of reforming the nation to that of a Republic. His Excellency, Siode Dontateo, amiably urges the King, Leomeu Bertucio the Third, to abandon the throne and banish himself, alongside with his courtiers, to England, where an agreement has been signed between the honorable prince of France himself and King Thomas Cougarson the Fifth, regarding the details of welcoming the current French King to one of England’s northern provinces, giving him the inferior position of a Duke. In case the King refuses this fair offer made by his Excellency, or displays any kind of insolent reaction, he thence shall face severe consequences, which will be indubitably unpleasant and violent, this being truthfully honored and promised by the Emperor himself. Consequently, eighty thousand troops will march into France, and Paris will be captured not by infantry, but rather by the King’s own courtiers, who are in direct contact with his Excellency. This situation requires a thorough consideration by the Royalists, and therefore, you will have two weeks for actualizing an answer to the Emperor, who awaits it patiently.

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With regards, Charles Louis, Emperor’s prime minister.

* “That’s all.” Albert finished and immediately looked at the King, in order to see his reaction.

* “Well, well… Is there anyone who hasn’t understood a single word from this pathetic letter sent by some fool who calls himself ‘The Emperor’? A better question would be, do any of you ha-” the King was interrupted suddenly by the sound of the door opening, following which a figure appeared right after and excused himself for causing distress. He was a messenger from Marseille and handed a letter to Giuseppe.

* “Have the honor and mercy to accept my apology for such an insolent manner of disturbing your majesty, however, I bring urgent news of great importance from Marseille and beseech you to address it as of now.” the messenger said, while he kept his head slightly down, trying to avoid direct eye contact with the individuals in the room, who all, as he felt, looked at him in great confusion.

* “What is it that you get called by, young man?” Leomeu asked kindly, in a calm tone of voice, thus resulting in great relief for the messenger, as it seemed that he wasn’t unwelcome.

* “My name is Lucas Jerro, I am merely a peasant who disturbed your majesty, and I apologize once again.” the messenger cried, as he was calmer than before.

* “It is your service to do so, Lucas. Next time, hand the letter to me directly, and not to anyone else. Giuseppe, give me the thing.” his majesty ordered, as he glanced over to Albert who was still trembling at every eye contact the King made with him.

As Leomeu unwrapped the envelope, he took the letter, throwing away the torn-up pieces of paper on his desk and concentrated fully on the letter as he held it high in the air, perpendicular to his face.

* “ Addressed to his majesty, the King Leomeu the Third;

Written on 7th of April, by the King’s attorney, Henry Martini;

            As his majesty possesses the knowledge of the fact that I, Henry Martini, have been sent by his majesty to Marseille on 1st of April, bestowing upon me the duty of resolving a political matter between the Duke Cossetu Suelli and Baron Antoine, regarding the stock sharings connected to the House of Marseille of Clemente & Salvador, as both gentlemen possess there a financial right of fifteen percent, each. The partner owners of the house have declared both their rights invalid due to their bad terms between one another and have issued a Royal Accordance defending themselves of any financial claims. Therefore, his majesty is requested to address this matter personally, if his desires correspond, of course. If not, then this case will be further transferred to Judge Johannes, whom I recommend not bothering on such theatre of politics, since he himself wishes to resign from his position on 17th of April, thus concluding to an utter truth, that of which he most probably will refuse to look into this matter. On the other hand, we could dismiss this accordance and command the House of Clemente & Salvador to compensate the Duke and the Baron with the sums that they hold rights on financially. I have already attempted in solving the problem by supporting a positive furtherance of their relationship, but it turned out to be an arduous one and most certainly a complete waste of time and resource, since both gentlemen simply do not want to hold onto common duo-metrical business. I await your majesty’s response by letter, as I am located in Marseille, Palais la Justision, cabinet 28.

The French Emblem

With honor, in respect to his majesty, regarded by Henry Martini.”

The king read the letter in silence, scarcely moving his lips, yet he made it clear that he wasn’t joyful of such news from Marseille. He raised his hand and made a gesture, or better said a sign of dismissal for everyone in the room to be out as of that moment. Consequently, all of his servants just walked out of the door, all shuddering with anxiety, clearly trying to grasp onto the hope that they won’t be held accountable for such consecutive unpleasant events.

* “Would you need any kind of assistance, Sir Albert?” a female voice said, as Albert suddenly looked around to visualize who it was that he had been addressed by, just to find his caretaker, Anna, near a window in the ending of the hall, close enough to the King’s room to be able to perceive all of them men’s facial expressions after walking out of there.

* “No bothering is required, Madame. Consider my appreciation upon you.” the Spymaster said, endeavoring to conceal the vehemence of his distress, which was still evinced easily through his eyes.

* “My service is always free to ask, whenever you please, Sir Albert.”