Versailles is worse than being queen

◎sleep◎

What do people see before they die?

Louis doesn't like to think about such abstract and distant issues, he cares more about the matter at hand.

But in the brief coma after drinking the poison, he saw his own fleeting life.

Not this 19-year-old's life, but another 38-year-old's life.

Like him, that too was a very unhappy little boy.

He doesn't like his own identity, doesn't like the suffocating French court, and doesn't like those people around his grandfather and him who act one way in front of him and another behind his back.

But he is not born to resist or quarrel with others. He just accepts everything that comes with his identity, even if he is very unhappy.

He felt at ease only when he was studying blacksmithing and lockmaking, letting the hard metal strips soften in the heat and mold them into the shape of his heart, making the most delicate locks.

Until later—when he still knew nothing, his grandfather married a young Austrian bride who also knew nothing.

Girls are strange creatures!

For the first time, she taught him what a picnic is and what treading water is. She recognized the wild fruits in the forest of Fontainebleau, and she stuck her tongue out behind her back at the Countess Noaille who put on a bad face all day long.

She made him feel truly happy and free for the first time—ironically, it was only when he met her that he realized how unhappy and not free he was.

It wasn't his bride, it wasn't his wife, it was the spirit that had come into his life.

Even if they grew up together later, he became the king of France at the age of 19, and people told him that she was not a qualified queen, and he never wavered in his belief.

He is so stupid, he is not a good king nor a good husband.He knew that if it wasn't because he was born as the crown prince of France, she would never have had any contact with him, let alone marry him - he knew she was wronged, so how could he bear to accuse her?

Decades may sound like a long time, but looking back it seems like only a moment has passed.

A moment is a lifetime.

During the years of his reign, the people of France became more dissatisfied with the royal family every day.The streets and alleys are full of insults to the queen and insults to him, but he rarely punishes those people—he always takes a long time to make up his mind before he hurts others.

He has little power to change anything, so every decision is difficult.He is always hesitating.

Until the Great Revolution broke out later, he was still hesitating—whether to suppress it?Do you want to declare war?Do you want to run away?

Like every choice before, it seemed that no matter how carefully he weighed the consequences, he always inevitably chose the worst one in the end.

In the end, the people spurned him, ministers turned their backs on him, relatives voted for his death, and she completely despaired of him.

He actually does.Her disappointed eyes always made him feel like a thorn in the back.But facing her, he couldn't say a word—he knew he was a failure, he had lost all fighting spirit, but she didn't.

Antoinette would never throw in the towel, but he did.

Before going to the guillotine, Louis sighed wearily.

It's hard being a king.

Why should it be him?

He never harbored malice towards anyone, and in everything he did, he never wanted to hurt anyone.

He really, always wanted to be a good person.

Where the consciousness is deep and deep, there is no light or sound.

Countless bubbles clustered around him, pushing his consciousness to gradually surface.

He saw her again in a hazy halo - at this moment, she was 19 years old.

Louis has never been a smart person, but at this moment he understood a certain important secret.

If there is salvation for this country...the key to salvation is in her hands.

"The murderer who assassinated the king is here!"

"catch him!"

After a brief silence, everyone in the square was furious.

Right here, in front of all the hopeful people, someone actually assassinated the king!

In the chaos, someone soon shouted: "... is the king's younger brother! Those two earls!"

"Kill the king, he is the new king!"

"Fart!" Immediately there were curses from all directions, "Does he think the people of Paris are pigs and dogs? Have we no conscience, no guts? A murderer will never be our king!"

The public opinion was boiling in the square, and Louis heard the angry shouts of the people.

He suddenly felt very happy - once when he was separated on the guillotine, the cheers of the crowd shook the whole Paris.But at this moment, the shouts in the square were full of anger.

It exploded for him, not against him.

"Louis!"

He felt drops of cold water dripping on his face.

In a trance, that extremely familiar face appeared in his sight.

Full of unspeakable grief.

"Louis, why are you doing this?" Antanya could hardly speak, as if every word cut her throat bloody, "Do you feel pain?"

She understood in an instant.Louie wasn't about to speak in public at all, he was still the boy who couldn't speak in public—

He just wants to die in front of the public, proving the brutality and shamelessness of the usurper.

"Antoinette, are you crying for me?" murmured Louis.

More tears dripped down his cheeks.

He couldn't help smiling, "Antoinette, don't cry. Do you know how happy I am now?"

It turns out that even for the most emotionally insensitive people in the world, being loved is such a happy feeling.

He will never be the king who betrayed his people.

When people think of him in the future, they will remember him with nostalgia and regret, not with hatred and contempt.

Louis reached out and took Antanya's hand lightly.

"Antoinette, I'm sorry...I'm really sorry. If I had been braver and more decisive, France would not have come to that point, and neither would you..."

In the eyes blurred by tears, Antanya's eyes widened in shock: "Louis, you..."

"I was sorry for you in the last life, and I will be sorry for you again in this life." Louis pursed his lips in embarrassment, "I'm really sorry...I made this decision without discussing it with you."

There was one thing he didn't understand until his death——

Merely being a good man is the greatest sin of a king.

But now, the similar but completely different encounters of the two worlds finally made him wake up.

To love the people like children is not to give bread to homeless orphans, or to be sympathetic to the poor, but to bring people a better life so that they will not go hungry, wander, or beg on the street.

It is not to forgive the civilians who offend oneself, and to pray for the soldiers who died in battle and the people who were killed, but even if they do not hesitate to use less kind means, they must use powerful to deter the threat of the enemy and ensure the stability and peace of the country.

"Antoinette," Louis looked at Antanya, tears streaming down slowly: "My will will be announced soon...but I want to tell you personally."

"I, King of France, beseech you to take my crown."

Antanya stared blankly at the boy who was about to die before he grew up.

In her previous life, she had almost never seen his intense emotions—even the moment when he was sentenced to death by the National Assembly.

But this boy, who was only 19 years old, looked at her with tears streaming down his face.

"France is a beautiful country. She will love you very much, please take her all the way...I will give her to you."

You two, be well.

"...I promise you, Louis."

Louis blinked at her answer.

Antanya didn't bother to take out her handkerchief, and wiped her tears away with her hands again and again in vain.

But she still couldn't see Louis' eyes clearly.

Those blue eyes, as light as the sky, reflected the sunlight falling at this moment, as transparent as the thinnest glass in the world.

The next moment, the flickering shimmer disappeared.

The soul trapped in the Palace of Versailles for 19 years is free forever.

……

Three days later, the people of Paris held a funeral for the king.

This is also the most solemn funeral of a king in recorded history.

Never again have so many tears been shed for a king who reigned for only a month without raising a war, capturing a territory, or even delivering a full King's Speech.

He is neither tall nor handsome, his body is bulky and clumsy, and he does not have the great name of his ancestors.

But people miss his creativity and wisdom, his gentleness and kindness, and the unparalleled longing and hope for the future that he once planted in people's hearts.

People commemorate the rest of the king's soul, and will always remember the assassination that challenged the bottom line of human conscience.

The most brutal and shameless crimes in the world happened in Paris.

At this time, the murderer occupied the Palace of Versailles and announced that the king was dead. According to the French succession law, he had become the new king of France, Louis XVII.

When the messenger from Versailles came to Paris, the people of Paris refused to open the city gates for him.

"Get out!" The angry people raised their guns|guns and aimed at the man on horseback. "The people of Paris already have their queen—we will never recognize the crown on the head of the slaughterer!"

Louis XVII was furious about this, and soon organized the troops around Versailles to gather near Paris.

"That foreign country! How dare she usurp the throne! French law stipulates that the king's heir should be his younger brother—"

"The king's will is read in the presence of all the public, and France will welcome a queen."

The soldier guarding the city said coldly, "The law? The law also stipulates that killing is not allowed, and the murderer is guilty."

"Will you be with the sinners of France?"

At this moment, the army has surrounded the southwest corner of the city.

But this has aroused the indignation of Parisians even more.

"Get out of his Salic law!" The extremely angry Parisians picked up anything that could be used as a weapon at hand, vowing to fight the usurper to the end.

Inside and outside the city walls, the atmosphere was extremely tense.

And in the catacombs of Saint-Denis Church, a young girl stood alone next to a tombstone.

This is the last moment of peace left for her.

Leaving here, she will wear the crown of thorns and face a storm she has never experienced.

She gently touched the newly erected marble tombstone.

"...Louis, go to sleep."

She has never been a queen, and she doesn't know if she can be a good queen.

But she at least remembers a little bit.

Even if she fought to the death on the throne, she would never let the murderer who killed Louis win the throne.

Antanya turned around and left without a sound.

The catacombs returned to silence.

Light candles illuminated the newest marble tombstone, on which were inscribed a few lines——

Here lies the inventor of arc welding, an outstanding lockmaker and welding engineer.

His diligence and wisdom promoted the progress of human civilization, and his kindness and courage saved countless lives.

He died under the dark gun of the most despicable and shameless villain, but he will always live in the hearts of the French people.

He is Louis XVI, King of France, and he is 19 years old.

Originally, he just wanted to live an ordinary life.