monarch

Robert tried his best to avoid the crowd, returned to his room with a pale face, and then sat down on the armchair closest to the door as if he had collapsed.Boundless fatigue enveloped him like an impenetrable net, causing him to fall asleep on the chair almost immediately.

When Robert finally awoke from this sudden sleep, he couldn't help but feel as if he had had a nightmare.The sunlight coming in through the windows had turned orange, like the yellow halo of a burnt-out candle.

He stood up with the armrest of the chair, and moved his hands and feet to relieve the numbness from his muscles.He walked to the window and looked out at the garden. There were no people left in the previously crowded garden. The guests had already returned to their rooms to rest and change their clothes, preparing for the evening banquet and dance.

He stood quietly by the window in a daze for 5 minutes, then walked back to the bed and rang the bell.

It didn't take long for the door to be pushed open, and one of his valets entered the room, a 15-year-old Scottish boy who had just gotten the enviable job last month.He has red hair and a pleasantly round face with freckles that look like raisins on a pudding.

"What's your order, Lord Earl?" He said in a humble tone, sounding a little nervous.

"What time is it, John?" Robert asked.

"A quarter to five." The servant called John replied quickly.

"Okay," Robert estimated the time, "please come and change my clothes in half an hour."

"Please allow me to remind my lord," said the servant again, "the servant of the chief minister, the duke, came here just now, and he said that the duke would like to see you before the dinner. If you are free, he would like to occupy you Half an hour from 05:30 to six o'clock."

"Did he say what it was?" Robert frowned slightly.

"No, my lord. However, His Excellency the Duke emphasized that he very much hopes that you can set aside time."

Robert pondered for a moment, as if he was thinking about his father's intentions, and finally he nodded, "Okay, you go and inform the Duke that I will visit his suite at 05:30."

"Yes, my lord."

"Then, come back and change my clothes."

"As you wish, my lord." The servant kept nodding, reminding Robert of a woodpecker punching a hole in an oak tree.

The little servant ran out, and after five minutes, he returned to the room again holding a silver plate with the dress he wore to the ball on it.

"The Duke said that he is waiting for your arrival at 05:30."

Robert nodded, motioning for him to change his clothes.

The intricate dress of this ball, including black gold-embroidered bodice and dark red cloak, and a few sparkling diamonds hanging from a brooch on a hat with white feathers.It took the servant twenty or ten minutes to get the outfit fully dressed for his master, and he fastened a brooch made of precious stones on his chest in the shape of a rose climbing on the trunk of an oak tree. It was Robert's last birthday. The rose was a gift from the king at that time, the rose was a symbol of the royal family, and the oak tree was a badge awarded by the King's Order Heraldry when Robert was named Earl of Leicester, so the meaning of this brooch naturally goes without saying.

With 5 minutes left before the appointed time, the fully dressed Robert finally left his room, walked through the long corridor running through the entire house, and came to the other wing of the mansion.

The Duke's personal servant was already waiting at the door. As soon as he saw the young master, he immediately came forward, "My lord, the Duke is waiting for your arrival."

Robert nodded, followed him into the front hall of the Duke's suite, and came to the door of the Duke's study.

The servant knocked on the door and pushed the door open, "My lord, Lord Robert has arrived."

The chief minister was sitting in front of the desk, holding a quill in his hand, writing and drawing on a thick stack of documents on the desk.Seeing his son coming in, he raised his head and nodded slightly as a salute, and at the same time motioned for Robert to sit in the armchair opposite him with his eyes.

Robert walked to the table, pulled out the chair and sat down. The servant behind him had exited the room knowingly and closed the door gently.

The Duke was still working at his desk, and there was a rustling sound of the pen nib rubbing against the paper. He quickly wrote lines of comments on the document. The red ink looked like blood, protruding on the paper.

After a few minutes, the Duke finally nodded in satisfaction, threw the quill aside, and looked up.He turned the angle of the chair slightly so that he faced Robert.

"Thank you for coming on time." The Duke said, "I'm sorry to keep you waiting for me for a while, but I just read half of an urgent diplomatic report. You know, writing these notes must be done in one go, otherwise when you start over again later , you will forget your previous thoughts. I am sorry, but I want to assure you that our conversation will not be delayed beyond six o'clock."

"I understand very well, you don't have to apologize." Robert nodded.

"In order to make our conversation more efficient," the Duke went on, "I suggest that we avoid those long and boring formalities, and talk in a straightforward manner, which will save time, do you agree?"

"I'd love to," Robert replied.

"Then I'll get straight to the point, what do you think of Princess Elizabeth."

Robert frowned slightly, "I don't understand what you mean."

"I thought we agreed to talk in a straight-forward manner." The Duke showed a mocking smile, "Then let me explain more clearly, what do you think about marrying Princess Elizabeth as your wife. "

"You are quite straightforward," said Robert coldly.

"I also expect you to respond to me in the same way." The Duke also responded coldly.

"That being the case, I'll be blunt. I know what you expect from a marriage like this, but what you think is impossible. On the contrary, this marriage can only lead to disaster. We have already settled with the royal family The climb is too deep, this marriage will touch His Majesty's red line... I hope you will not have any doubts about this."

"Did His Majesty tell you that?" The Duke shrugged his shoulders. "It must have been, and he expected you to bring it to me."

"You think it is, I hope you will seriously consider this sentence."

"I have thought about it, but I have come to a completely different conclusion," said the Duke. "I still think this marriage is a very valuable move."

"Worthy enough to make you abandon His Majesty's holy favor?"

"The relationship between the monarch and the heir is the most complicated relationship in the world." The Duke stood up and paced the room, as if he was talking to himself or to Robert, "there is something between them They are natural enemies in terms of power sharing, but they are also natural allies in maintaining the dynasty. Handling such a relationship requires both parties to be shrewd and politically skilled. Your Majesty is a smart man, so he will definitely be dissatisfied with me because of this, maybe He will start to be wary of Princess Elizabeth and me, but he will not abandon me, because he still needs me and his sister."

"Your Majesty's current religious balance policy can only be maintained by relying on his personal impartial attitude towards the two religions. However, this is a powder keg that may explode at any time...Princess Mary is now the leader of the Catholic side. If If we can join hands with Princess Elizabeth and let her be the flag of our faction, then we will have a chance to become the leader of the Protestants. At that time, even the king will be afraid of us. Now tell me, is this a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity? Chance?"

"Don't forget that we have everything we have today, all thanks to His Majesty, but now you want to fight against His Majesty?" Robert stared straight into his father's eyes, "This is how you repay His Majesty's kindness Where is your allegiance?"

"Ende? Loyalty?" The chief minister suddenly burst into hysterical laughter, "There is no such thing as kindness and loyalty in politics! There is only one reason for a politician to show gratitude, and that is his approach It can bring him greater benefits. My dear son, with all due respect, although you are now in a high position, you are not a politician."

"I don't want to be a politician either." Robert's voice was as cold as frost.

"But your . . . " said the First Minister with a malicious smile, "how should I say it? 'Best friend,' or as the Greeks call this relationship—companion? He's a statesman, And a top-notch politician, he was born to do this, they are all Tudors, born to be cold-blooded killers."

Robert jumped up from the chair suddenly, the movement was so great that the chair almost fell to the ground, "What do you mean?" His face lost blood, and his voice sounded more nervous than usual Much sharper.

"Don't be so surprised." The chief minister observed his son's reaction with great interest. "This is basically an open secret. Don't treat everyone as a fool." He pointed to Robert's chest with his finger, and Robert He lowered his head and found that the chief minister's finger was pointing to the beautiful brooch on his chest. "You are much luckier than Piers Gaveston. Your 'friend' is not a weak fool like Edward II. No one dares to spread gossip about him. The nobles are silent about it, let alone anyone who dares to borrow it. Difficulty."

Robert lowered his head and said nothing. He gently stroked the gemstone on the brooch with his fingers, as if he wanted to draw strength from it.

"This Greek-style relationship may be criticized by the church, but I don't care at all." The chief minister shrugged his shoulders, "However, what worries me is that you seem to have forgotten that he is a king first. In this relationship, he is in an absolutely dominant position, and now you are going smoothly under his protection, but you cannot be a queen after all, if one day he loses interest in you, what are you going to do?"

Robert still responded with silence.

"I told you before that His Majesty needs to get married as soon as possible, and I do it for the benefit of you two." The chief minister continued, "If he has a wife and children now, the two princesses and the girls of the Gray family , it will no longer be a rare commodity to live in, the future of the dynasty will be consolidated, and I can be at ease as the king's chief minister... A dynasty without an heir is a sinking ship, and you can't blame the crew on this ship It's human nature to escape."

"As I said just now, Your Majesty is a first-class politician. He understands what I said completely. However, he still has no intention of getting married. It only shows that he is indeed unusual to you. Congratulations," said the Chief Minister lightly.

Robert raised his eyelids in response.

The chief minister didn't think it was disobedient, "So you see, you are now in an embarrassing position, which has become the biggest obstacle to the continuation of the dynasty. With all due respect, this is not a good position. If I were you, I would seriously consider it. A proposal to marry Princess Elizabeth." He paused for a few seconds, "Actually...marrying the princess does not mean the end of your relationship with His Majesty, I once had a frank exchange of opinions with the princess on this, and her performance on this... Very generous, she will fully respect your freedom, of course, based on the premise that you respect her freedom."

Robert finally raised his head, with a mixture of shock and disgust on his face, the chief minister couldn't help but take half a step back.

"Don't look at me like that." The chief minister felt quite uncomfortable because of his son's gaze, and his tone became a lot colder, "You and the king are not the only couple in the court... such a relationship, you The marriage with the princess is only out of political considerations and has nothing to do with anything else, there are many such marriages."

"What exactly are you planning?" Robert gritted his teeth, his body trembling slightly under the influence of anger, "Don't say that you just want to avoid others, you already have the third heir to the throne as your daughter-in-law, Now you still want the second heir to the throne to be your daughter-in-law. Is your ambition endless? When will you be satisfied? Do you really have plans for the throne?"

"Please pay attention to what you say, young gentleman." This time it was the turn of the First Minister to change his color. "Before making such accusations, you should think carefully. This is my advice to you."

"Please don't treat others as fools." Robert responded in the words of his father. "In the eyes of others, these actions of yours are clear evidence of trying to get your hands on the throne. Your Majesty is only 17 years old now, and you are so anxious to think about it." Doesn’t the question of the heir seem to be a conspiracy? Not to mention that the first heir is always Princess Mary, and now you plan to favor Princess Elizabeth, what means are you going to use to bring down the Queen of Naples? A civil war?"

"A few years ago, I asked you a question." The chief minister went back to his desk and sat down, "If one day you had to choose between the Dudley family and the king, what would you choose? What?" His sharp eyes were like the edge of a sword, almost stabbing Robert right through.

"Why did you take our family to stand against the king?" Robert's eyes were bloodshot.

"This decision was not made by me, but by Your Majesty." The chief minister tapped the table lightly, "He chose to be an enemy of the entire noble class, and our family is the main member of this class. In fact, I can be proud In other words, I am the number one member, and naturally, I am also regarded by the nobles as their natural spokesperson."

"Most of the nobles in this country are mediocre people," Robert said disdainfully. "Not only that, but they are also extremely greedy. No amount of land, power or wealth can satisfy their appetites!"

"However, any monarch needs the support of the nobles. The noble class is the pillar supporting the kingship and the foundation of the monarchy in this country for 800 years!" The chief minister was also angry, "Your king wins over the common people and fights against the nobles. He also created a Janissary that is only controlled by himself... It is nothing more than the old tricks played by Caesar in Roman times, think about what happened to him! You have opened Pandora's box by giving the common people rights, and they used to They used to be obedient subjects, but now that they have rights, they will feel that your gifts to them are justified. After all, there are so many of them, and so few nobles and kings. Today they can do without nobles, and tomorrow they will abandon the monarchy, After all, why spend hundreds of thousands of ducats a year for some bossy guy to live in luxury and ride on everyone's heads just because he has a little William the Conqueror's blood in his veins! Unrest will sweep through everything, and the worst rebellion and civil war in history is child's play in the face of this catastrophe!"

He coughed a few times because of his excitement, and continued: "Your Majesty is now very prestigious, so naturally there is no need to worry, but does his heir have this ability? When the royal power becomes the target of the people, how can a castrated noble class stop it?" Live that wave? If you let him rule the country for 30 years, then this change will be irreversible, and within 100 years after his death, the end of the monarchy will come!"

"You are thinking too far." Robert replied bluntly, "I think you are more dissatisfied with the disappearance of your power. Today's cabinet ministers are just the king's secretary. Power ministers are not the same, and this is what you care about most."

"It seems that you have already answered the question I just asked." The chief minister said calmly and majesticly, obviously angry.

Robert made no answer, but bowed.

A clock in a corner of the room struck six, and the sound echoed through the dead room like a death knell.

"It's exactly six o'clock." The chief minister regained his composure, as if the excitement just now was just a mirage, "I will keep my promise and will not delay your time any longer."

Robert turned around without hesitation, unscrewed the door, and strode out.

The servant waiting outside the door came in with his head in surprise, "What are your orders?"

"Close the door." The Chief Minister said coldly.

The door was closed, and the chief minister picked up the quill again, and began to scribble vigorously on the paper. Unsurprisingly, the paper was scratched by the pen tip, and he folded it sullenly. The quill was like a sapling in a storm Usually it was broken into two pieces, and he threw it into the flames burning in the fireplace, and disappeared in an instant.