monarch

When the king entered Princess Mary's chambers, she had recovered from a coma.

Princess Mary was lying on the Turkish divan with an embroidered cushion behind her, one elbow resting on the satin surface of the sofa.Compared with just now, her face was still pale, but as if she had been enchanted, she became radiant in an instant.She gently stroked her lower abdomen with one hand, as if it was some rare treasure. In fact, what was being conceived in that noble womb was indeed a rare treasure.

When His Majesty walked into the room, Princess Mary didn't get up, she just lowered her head slightly to salute, obviously her haughty character had returned.The smile on her face was so full of smugness that the king could not help but frown slightly.

"Madam, I would like to express my heartfelt congratulations to you." The king reached out and took the hand that Princess Mary extended to him. "The whole kingdom will rejoice at this good news."

"I hope so, Your Majesty, I hope so." Princess Mary said meaningfully, "I think you must also be happy that you have a nephew?"

"There is nothing more gratifying than the continuation of the family." The king said dryly, and he took half a step back, giving up his position to Philip of Spain.

Compared with his usual indifference, the Spanish Philip now looked at a loss, like a boy who was dazed by everything around him.He walked carefully to Princess Mary, and with his wife's encouragement, he squatted down and put his palm on Princess Mary's still flat belly.

"I can't feel anything?" After half a minute, he raised his head with a blank expression on his face.

Princess Mary laughed. From Edward's point of view, she seemed to have never smiled so happily.

"It's only been more than a month." She stretched out her hand to cover Philip's hand on her lower abdomen. The other's muscles stiffened for a moment, but even after she relaxed, she didn't intend to pull her palm out. .

"So everything is normal now? Nothing to worry about?" Philip asked in Spanish.This problem is not without purpose. For Princess Mary, who is nearly forty years old, pregnancy is considered a miracle bestowed by God, but it is only the first step to give birth to the child safely.

"Great, great, father will be very happy." Hearing the good news, Philip smiled involuntarily.Now Philip has only one son, Prince Don Carlos, who was born to his ex-wife. However, the heir is weak and suffers from mental problems caused by inbreeding. It is still unknown whether he can live to adulthood.Therefore, if Princess Mary can successfully give birth to a healthy male heir, it will greatly consolidate the current status of the Spanish Habsburg family.

Princess Mary turned her attention to Princess Elizabeth who was standing behind Philip again. The expression on her face seemed to confirm that she was the ultimate winner. "My dear sister, thank you for making a special trip." Her tone was His sarcasm no longer bothered to cover up.

"I'm also here to congratulate you." Princess Elizabeth bit her lip and said word by word, "There is no doubt that this is a great event for the whole country."

"Indeed, this country will soon have a second heir to the throne." Princess Mary did not know whether it was intentional or not, and she emphasized the word "second" when she said it-this is exactly what Princess Elizabeth said. The current line of succession, and once Princess Mary's child is born, no matter whether the child is a boy or a girl, she will become the second in line after Princess Mary, squeezing Princess Elizabeth to the back.

Princess Elizabeth gritted her teeth slightly, "I believe that our brother, His Majesty the King, will soon have a child of his own. By then, I believe there will be no lack of heirs."

Princess Mary didn't answer, she looked at her belly again, her fiery eyes were like a dragon admiring the treasures it gathered.

Seeing that the atmosphere was tense again, the king spoke again: "I think His Majesty the King of Naples and Princess Mary must have a lot to say, and I think we won't bother you two." He walked out of the room without looking back.

Seeing that His Majesty had left, Princess Elizabeth immediately lifted the hem of her skirt, turned around and left, obviously not interested in continuing this hypocritical courtesy.

The door was closed again, shutting out the curious eyes of the crowd who came with the king.

"For this child," Princess Mary said again when she and her husband were left alone in the room, "I want to thank Almighty God devoutly. To tell you the truth, I have already lost my own child hope."

Philip also seemed much more relaxed than before, "To tell you the truth, in fact, I don't have much hope for reaping an heir from this marriage... My father is already thinking about my son Don Ka Rose's marriage is over, and he obviously doesn't think I'll have any more legitimate children."

"But God is merciful, isn't he? This is the proof." Princess Mary pointed to her stomach.

"Yes, thank God." Philip crossed himself.

"I will give birth to a healthy prince. He will be my father's perfect heir. He was born to be the greatest king." Princess Mary said firmly.

"How do you know it's a boy?" Philip asked with some doubts.

"I just know." Princess Mary sounded very confident, "I pray to God day and night, and I believe God will answer me."

Philip was noncommittal. "I hope so," he said softly.

"So...do you have to leave immediately?" Princess Mary's face turned red, and she asked almost timidly, as if she was afraid of the predicted result, "You know, if you follow the original As planned, return to England next October, and you will not be able to witness the birth of your son."

Philip shook his head regretfully, but his tone was very firm: "Unfortunately, madam. My departure arrangements have been made, and now there is no possibility of delay. The situation in Italy is turbulent, and the French and Venice has formed an alliance to attack Milan, and the dukes of Ferrara, Modena, and Tuscany have joined forces with them, and the bribes of the French king and the subsidy of the Doge of Venice have been put into their The national treasury, a big battle is about to break out, and I must go to Italy to preside over the overall situation."

A look of disappointment quickly climbed up Princess Mary's face, and Philip noticed the change in his wife's expression, "Of course I don't want to miss the birth of my child...I hope the problem in Italy can be resolved as soon as possible so that I can be in the next year. Come back before summer."

Although Princess Mary was still disappointed, she could only nod her head, "Then I hope you can solve the troubles in Italy as soon as possible."

"I hope so too." Philip stood up. "If you don't mind, I won't bother you anymore." He was about to turn away.

"Aren't you going to stay tonight?" Princess Mary stopped him.

Philip looked rather reluctant, "Do you want me to stay? I thought you would rather have a good rest."

"I hope you stay with me." Princess Mary replied without hesitation.

Philip nodded, "If this is what you want, then I am willing to obey."

Princess Mary watched him with satisfaction as he walked back to the couch and sat down, and reached out to hold her palm again.

……

When the king returned to his study, he pointed to the desk to the attendant, and the attendant who was holding the candle quickly put the candelabra in his hand on the table with gold ornaments at the corners and piled up with books and books. Large desk with papers.

He bowed to the king, and quietly disappeared from the study like a ghost.

When the King and Robert were alone in the study, His Majesty went around behind the big table, pulled out an armchair there, and sat on it, resting his chin on his hands, lost in thought.In the huge fireplace behind him, the red fire was burning fiercely, and the incense wood burning in it collapsed from time to time and fell onto the golden wood frame.

Robert didn't want to disturb His Majesty's contemplation, he pulled an armchair over, sat down opposite the king, and looked at him quietly.

After about 5 minutes, the king finally broke the silence. His voice sounded as if he was talking to himself or to Robert, "Fate is really unimaginable...it favors those who are loved by it. Those who have been ruthlessly abandoned will also ruthlessly abandon those who it once cared for, who can predict the current situation?"

"It's not a bad thing." Robert looked at the king, "Princess Mary's pregnancy can just help you dispel the coveting of some ambitious people."

The king glanced at him with a half-smile, "Your father must be furious when he goes back tonight. When I saw him just now, he almost lost his composure in public."

"Maybe." Robert's voice was a little low, "but when he wakes up, he will understand that this is not a bad thing for him. Kill the flames of his ambition before it has caused too much damage." Annihilation, both for him and for the kingdom, is a good ending."

"What you said is not unreasonable." The king sighed, "However, even if all the aspirants die down, the one remaining pretender will be intensified by this news."

"You mean Princess Mary herself."

"That's true." The king sneered, "In the final analysis, many people still think that she is more qualified to inherit the throne than me. After all, her mother is the king's original wife...No doubt she thinks so. Now she has If you have a child, you will naturally fight for your child's birthright."

"However, this country will not accept being a piece of the puzzle of the Habsburg Empire." Robert shook his head. "The nobles will not accept a ruler in Madrid."

"Madrid is indeed too far away," said the king, "but what if the orders are given from a nearer place? Brussels, for example? Or even further, from London?"

Robert looked at the king in astonishment, "What... do you mean?"

The king opened his desk drawer and took out a small gold-plated key.He stood up and waved to Robert, motioning him to follow.His Majesty opened a secret door hidden behind a tapestry, and the two of them entered a small windowless room, surrounded by ornate Persian tapestries.The king went straight to the tapestry on the opposite side of the room, which depicted Alexander the Great entering Babylon, and reached out to touch a mechanism. The tapestry immediately rolled up, revealing a dark cabinet embedded in the wall.

The king unlocked the door with the little key, drew out a volume of papers, and handed it to Robert. "Read it," he said.

Robert reached for the document and unfolded it.

It was not a very long document, with a few lines written on thin white paper.As soon as Robert opened it, he noticed the conspicuous cursive signature of Emperor Charles V of Spain at the bottom.

"What is this?" he asked in surprise.

"A promise," replied the king.

"Philip of Spain now has a son. Although Prince Don Carlos is mentally handicapped, as long as he lives in this world, he and his heirs are the legitimate heirs of Spain. In this case, Mary's The child may get nothing. Not only is this result unacceptable to her, but it will also make this marriage between the two countries completely meaningless."

"Before the marriage contract was signed, my representative and the representative of Emperor Charles V signed a secret agreement in Madrid. What you are holding now is the original copy of this document."

"Emperor Charles V promised that if Mary succeeded in giving birth to an heir, after Philip of Spain, the Spanish Empire would be divided into two parts: Don Carlos and his heirs would inherit the territories of Spain and Italy, while he and Mary's The children will inherit the Netherlands and Burgundy. This document also states that the children of Mary and Philip will give up their inheritance rights to Spain and Italy, that is, even if Don Carlos dies early, the children of Mary and Philip will Only the Netherlands and Burgundy will be inherited, while Spain will go to Philip's possible future children, or his cousins."

"So you see, Mary's child will create a branch of the House of Habsburg. Even if he does become my heir, the country will not become an ordinary vassal of Spain, but on the contrary, London will become The center of a trading empire that includes Britain, Ireland, the Netherlands and Burgundy, you know, more than half of our import and export trade is with the Netherlands, and there are more English merchants in Antwerp than the locals A lot... Isn't such a result so unacceptable to the nobles?"

Robert held the document tightly, almost making two big holes in it, and stared straight at the writing on the document, as if he was looking at his own death sentence.

He gently placed the piece of paper on the desk, as if the thin document weighed a thousand catties, his lips trembling slightly, "You must get married as soon as possible." He heard himself say, "If this continues, the more More and more wavering people will join the ranks of your enemies."

The king shook his head, "Let them go, now that the poisonous snakes have emerged from their caves, I don't want to drive them back and waste this good opportunity... If they want to do something Please go ahead with the conspiracy, I just solved them all at once."

"Some people will say," Robert's voice hesitated, "you have pushed the nobles too hard, and they are the cornerstone of the monarchy."

"That's what your father said." Edward laughed. "What else did he say?"

"He said that you are digging the grave of the monarchy. Although it is very impressive now, it will be the end of the monarchy less than 100 years after you."

"100 years?" The king laughed. "I'm afraid it won't take that long. If I were to estimate it, it would probably be seven or eighty years."

Robert's mouth fell open in astonishment.

"Compared with those who can only see this Friday, your father is really different. You know, not everyone can think on the scale of tens or hundreds of years." Edward picked up a piece of paper on the table. He was playing with a small silver paper knife with an ivory handle in his hand.

"Since you know, why do you still..." Robert was in a daze, "I thought it was just my father's scaremongering."

"Because this is a Pandora's box." The king shrugged his shoulders and said indifferently, "The centralization of monarchy is the trend of history. Now France, Spain or Austria are more or less on this road, and I It's just that they are going faster than them. In this era, if you want to make the country strong, you have to take this step sooner or later. Instead of hesitating there, you should stop a little bit. This will also give us a bit of a first-mover advantage .”

"But according to what you mean, one day, those monarchs on the European continent will..." Robert looked completely unbelievable.

"There will be a day." Edward smiled, "Maybe one day, dozens of crowns will fall on the ground and no one will pick them up... But that will be hundreds of years later, and by then we will have long been asleep Why do you need to worry about the people at that time?”

"I always feel that your plan is too risky." Robert still didn't seem to be completely relieved, "I know that you control the Guards, and every day you pass, your power is getting stronger, but I am still worried and feel that things It’s not going to go as smoothly as expected.”

"Don't worry." The king stood up, walked around the table, and walked to Robert.Robert was about to stand up, but the king held his shoulders, and he had to look up at Edward's face. The other party's blue eyes were rippling like a clear lake, as if trying to suck him in. .

"Everything will happen according to plan. At that time, no one will be able to comment on the choices I made. They will know that the only choice for them is the choice I make for them." After a pause, "At that time, I will discuss the topic of marriage with you. It's just the two of us, and we don't need to listen to other people's opinions."

Robert seemed to want to say something, but when he heard Edward's last promise, he was reluctant to say anything, as if he was afraid of changing the king's mind, he just nodded slightly.

"Everything will be all right." The king whispered again, both to persuade Robert and as if to reassure himself.

There was another crackling sound from the fireplace behind him, which was very clear in the quiet study.