The disappearance of the Duchess of Colonna did not cause even the slightest ripple in the court, and to be honest, there were not many people in this court who liked her, and many who hated her, apart from the fact that she was a foreigner, and a relative of Cardinal Mazarin, and because of Marie Mancini's attitude of no one in his eyes— Although there were not a few royal ladies who dared to provoke the queen and the ladies of the king, at the instigation and favor of the king, there was a big problem with Mary, that is, she had always been committed to gaining all the love of the king, but everyone knew that if a king was like this, then the end of the kingdom was just around the corner—the more the ministers and generals loved their king, the more they hated her ignorant and aggressive possessiveness.

What did she see as a king?

It was a very ironic situation, for Marie's affections might have been much more sincere than that of the Queen or Madame de Lavallière, but there was no room for genuine affection at court—to be precise, the affection of ordinary people, for whom it was a poison to France, and they would rather see a vain, power-loving woman by the king's side, for what the latter wanted the king could give her, but what Mary wanted, which a king could never give.

So it can be said that Marley's departure has made many people breathe a sigh of relief, of course, they are also targeting Madame Lavallière, because this lady is also a foreigner, and she is also the English princess Henrietta, the former lady-in-waiting of the Duchess of Orleans, she has been with the king for too long, and in addition, it is said that the king also promised to give her children a legal identity - That is, the child was legally recognized, and although he still had no right of inheritance, he would in the future have at least one duke title and a fief, for the lady had been with the king during the wars against the Netherlands and Flanders, and they feared whether the king had committed himself to the lady.

The undercurrents of Paris and Versailles were well known to Louis – but it was also a long-standing tradition, since King Edward III of England had the first official Qingfu in history, King François I of France created a "royal lady" for his lover Diane, the royal lady of Henry II, drafted documents on taxes and bills as a member of Parliament, and signed official documents with the king - the so-called "Henry Diane" came from this, and it is said that she was even nicknamed "Prime Minister of the Bed".

Some people may wonder why people in this era are keen on such immoral behavior, but from Louis's observation and inquiry, it can be seen that the existence of the royal lady can also be said to be the need for court affairs and politics.

First, as a rule, the king had only one royal lady at his side, thus avoiding chaos such as the time of Henry VIII, who was known to be a male lord, but his inner palace was once dominated by Boleyn and Howard girls...... Especially after Queen Catherine of Henry VIII went to the abbey, Henry VIII's court became a filthy swamp, and every lady-in-waiting wanted to be the king's lover, or even the queen, they were frivolous and thoughtless, not only flattering the king, but also scratching their heads and posing to any man they fancied, and this trend even spread to the queens after Catherine, Anne Boleyn was remembered as the first queen to be beheaded for adultery, and Henry VIII became a laughing stock among the kings, not to mention, his fifth queen, the Howard girl, was also hanged because of Luanlun.

Therefore, people agree that the royal lady represents order and stability, just like if the queen is there, all the noble ladies must bow their heads and knees to her, and the royal lady has the obligation and power to suppress those who are unruly - although not every royal lady can do a good job, but the existence of the royal lady does give the girls a goal, instead of aimlessly biting each other.

Second: as it has been said, although the nations of this era are all marrying and allied with each other, the promises of the king are never credible, not to mention the generations of enemies such as England and France, even Leopold I of Austria, even with Carlos II of Spain are Habsburg lineage, but when he conspired with Louis to divide Flanders, Leopold I did not consider Carlos II- It is embarrassing that the king's pillow man could become an enemy of the state at any moment, as was Louis's grandmother, and so was his mother, and so was the current queen, and to this day, Queen Anne is secretly called "that foreign woman." ”

It was no surprise, therefore, that the ministers and the people did not want their king to be deceived by a foreign woman, even if she was his rightful wife, and they were happy to see the king and queen indifferent and estranged from each other, and even encouraged the royal lady to be above the queen.

The third is the selfishness of the people, it is well known that if a lady becomes a "royal lady", not only will she be able to enjoy the money, the king's generous gifts, the right to buy and sell official or holy positions, but also her brothers, fathers, and sisters will be elevated to heaven together, and her recommenders will be rewarded with great richness—position, money, and land, or the king's attention and favor.

Louis had complained to the Queen Mother about the overzealousness of the ministers in such things, but only to complain, or rather, in choosing Madame de Lavallière, he had already made a big joke that would have shocked them inexplicably, so he was no longer so angry—"But I really don't need a royal lady for the time being." Louie said.

"I don't think you'd better worry your ministers. Philip said, gesturing his attendants to fetch meat for him, "They will only suspect that you are sick." ”

"I have a strange idea," said Louis, "is it that I have given them too little work or too easy, otherwise how would they think they should face them at the same time," Louis waved his hand, and the attendant on one side thought that the king needed to be served, and hurriedly walked over - in public, the king acts, even at meals, there are procedures and etiquette, but in private, when the king and his brother dine together, the atmosphere is much more relaxed, so the king just shakes his head, indicating that there is no need. After the attendants retreated, Louis continued: "In the face of more than a hundred courtiers, do I still have time to deal with a strange woman?"

The Duke of Orleans' eyes widened in surprise: "Deal with!?Your Majesty, how can you think so, the royal lady exists to appease your body and mind, why do you need to deal with it? You can do whatever you like." ”

"I probably can't do that. ”

"So you are not so perfect," said the Duke of Orleans, who now only dared to say to the King: "You have always been too hesitant in your feelings, and you have seen that those venerable ladies are a bunch of monsters. ”

Louis made a gesture to Philip to stop talking: "You and I have both wives and daughters, do you think that my Elizabeth and your daughters are the same?"

"As much as I love my daughter, I must say that you don't see the strength with which she pesters me," said Philip, "and I will have to tiptoe out of my room, or you will not see me for days—" He cocked his fork and said wistfully, "What can you do but give in when that sweet little devil leans on your knees, puts two little cloud-like hands on your chest, and cries 'Daddy' and grunts incessantly?"

When he said this, even the king couldn't help but smile, "It couldn't be more right, Philip, it couldn't be more right." ”

The Duke of Orleans paused for a moment, his royal brother had not shown his face for days, because of the abominable witch, and because of the rebellion on the island of Gayola—and the heartbroken Duke of Colonna, "well," said the Duke subtly, "since we are all mortals, and cannot get rid of the weakness of our hearts, I will convince them that you need time......"

"After Madame Lavalier gave birth. ”

"After Madame de La Vallière gave birth," said the Duke of Orléans, "have you decided, if she is able to give birth to a healthy boy, to recognize him and give him a fief?"

"I promised her so," Louis said, "May God bless us." ”

"May God bless you, your majesty," said the Duke of Orleans, "would you mind if I spread the news, then? ”

"Absolutely, that's something I've talked to her about. ”

Thankfully, her temper wasn't like Mary's. The Duke of Orleans bluntly stated that he had fought with Marie as a child, and that since then he felt that Marie Mancini lacked reverence for royal power, so he had never been optimistic about the relationship between Marie and his brother. Madame de Lavallière, on the other hand, was sometimes naïve and cowardly, but she at least knew that she should bow to the king's will.

"Let's not talk about her again. Louis said gently, "By the way, Philip, there is one more thing you want to do for me." ”

"Command, Your Majesty. ”

"I probably haven't had time to look after the Duke of Colonna lately, and I hope you'll stay with him at the Hunting House until I can get out of it a little. ”

"Of course," said the Duke of Orleans, with a look of pity, "he is a good boy. ”

——————

No one could have imagined that the king would be busy until the middle of summer, and on the last day of June, Madame Lavallière gave birth in a suite at the Château de Vincennes - unlike when the queen gave birth, it was remote, dangerous, and inaccessible, and outside the suite there were only the king, the Duke of Orleans, Vesalius and Ellalei, and Madame Lavallière's room had no windows, only a door leading to the small hall outside, that is, she had no chance of escaping, and it was her female clan who helped her to give birth— Whether they are lucky enough to get out of here instead of being put in prison depends on whether the Bohemian witches lied to Lavallière.

Female werewolves were far superior to human females in childbirth, and they waited only two or three hours for Madame Lavallière to give birth to a boy - she felt the child detach from her body as she nervously awaited the final sentence, and the first thing she heard was a loud cry!

"She succeeded!" said Elarius, because if it were a werewolf, the first sound of birth would only be a sad whimper, because a werewolf's long kiss could not cry as loudly as a human would.

Louis knew this, too, and he fell backwards into his chair, where the Duke of Orleans' hand was held tightly with him, and it was only then that the Duke felt that the king's hands were gradually warming, and they had been cold before.

Then they watched a delighted maid come out with a swaddling baby, Louis reached out to take it, the Duke of Orleans eagerly lifted the swaddling clothes, and a healthy and normal human male baby appeared in front of everyone, and everyone was completely relieved - although Vesalius and Elarius had to test how much blood in his body belonged to werewolves, and whether he still had the invisible characteristics of werewolves - these tests were intended to avoid the eyes of the king, because some of them were really terrifying.

But these did not do much harm to the child, and when he returned to the king, he only cried red cheeks with annoyance, and his little fists and feet ran out of the scattered swaddling clothes, and Louis held them and looked at Vesalius and Eliho, "May I announce it?"

"That's it. "He had werewolf blood in his body, but it was so thin that he could not become a wolf, nor could he show his fangs or claws," said the archjudge with a strange expression, "and even if he wanted to return to the werewolf colony, he would have been banished, for he had too many human elements in him." ”

The king looked at Vesalius, who nodded.

The king looked at the newborn with a soft expression, "then," he announced, "let us greet the Duke of Hallepur!"

The room was finally filled with jubilation, led by the Duke of Orleans, who were all shouting that the Duke of Hallepur had arrived!

Madame Lavallière, who was in the room, also threw her head back on the pillow, and no one knew how tormented she had been in the previous minutes, and until the end, no one knew whether the king would change his mind. But now the king had given the newborn child the title of Duke of Hallepur, a title that might be confusing, but Madame de Lavallière knew that it was a forest south of Brussels, where the king and she had gone with her to admire the bluebells—and every spring, the great forest was full of fairy-like blue-purple flowers, like a dream— The Duke of Hallepur meant that the child had been canonized by his father to Flanders, just like his two brothers, and he would grow up under his father's protection, and later guard the territory for his father.

The king fulfilled his promise, and she was finally rewarded, though it also represented the coming separation.

Madame Lavalier's tears soaked her beautiful long maroon hair, and perhaps there would be no more tears in this world that contained such deep sorrow and joy at the same time.