The chamberlains shouted the king's arrival, and everyone in the room rose and curtsied, and Louis glanced over to find that it was almost entirely women.

There were about three round tables in this spacious room, but all of them were almost around the table where the Queen Mother was, like the petals of a sunflower around a seed tray, Louis walked over and kissed the Queen Mother's hand, and Philip, Duke of Anjou, immediately gave him the place closest to the Queen Mother, and then, starting with the younger brother, everyone gave up their place in order—the King only glanced at Christina. Lady Alexandra was present, and unlike on the first night, she was now lined up next to Mary and Princess Henrietta of England, Queen Mother of England, but the Duchess of Montpensier, who had the honour to sit on the left hand side of the Queen Mother, and Marie Mancini stood behind the Queen Mother, standing in a line with the other ladies, and when she saw the King, she could not help but wink at the King for four years, when they had not been able to play together for several weeks.

The Queen Mother may have seen it, but said nothing, but turned her head away, while the Duchess of Montpensier was slightly displeased, and although her previous recklessness had completely deprived her of the possibility of becoming Queen of France, she was still very upset to see another woman of humble origin so indulgent to the King: "Mademoiselle Mancini," she said, "bring me a cup of Tokaj." ”

According to etiquette and status, such a thing should not be done by the queen mother's maids, and the Duchess of Montpensier was so bold only because she was able to return to the court with her rich financial resources, but she was once again favored by the queen mother, and the king valued - Marie Mancini's mind was all on the king, and she did it without thinking about it— If Mary refused, or shouted angrily, the Queen Mother and the King were prepared to mediate, but Mary's reaction was so surprising that they couldn't laugh or cry, and the King stretched out his hand and took the tokaj from Mary, "Thank you, Mary." He said affectionately.

If it was for the king to pour wine, it was fitting for Mary to be in her capacity, and no one would have underestimated her, and the Queen Mother had another maid pour wine for her and the others, and they shouted in unison, toasting the king's health, and the matter was so quietly hidden.

Princess Henrietta is now twelve years old, according to the age of the princesses, it is enough to be a wife or even a mother at this age, but poor she can only be an exiled princess in Paris now, her brother Charles II is still struggling in the Low Countries, and the hope of restoring the throne is getting slimmer day by day, and the French ministers look at them quite unkindly, and many of them have suggested that they be handed over to the traitor Cromwell, if it were not for Louis's insistence, they may indeed be expelled from Paris, and then, she does not know where to go...... Compared to Charles II, they were worth less, so low that it was difficult for anyone to protect them, and for this reason, she was full of gratitude to Louis XIV.

When she was a young child, her mother and brother tried to make her Louis XIV's wife, but neither the Queen Mother nor the Bishop of Mazarin agreed, and Henrietta admitted that at that time, she did try to get close to Louis as her mother had told her, after all, she was from a prominent background, and if Louis fell in love with her, then the Queen Mother and the Bishop might also consider their marriage— But until now, she also knew that this hope was too slim, so her brother wrote that she could consider marrying Philip, Duke of Anjou, because as far as Duke Gaston was concerned, his only son had died a few years ago, and he had only one illegitimate son, and he could not inherit the Duke's title and domain, so the Duke's domain and title would inevitably be transferred to Philippe, Duke of Anjou, and the Duke's property from his mother, the royal brother Philippe's net worth was already extremely large.

No one had asked her if she wanted to, and no one had thought about her—what she had fought for had now become almost a joke, and it was impossible to say that the Duke of Anjou knew nothing about it, and Henrietta still remembered how Philip had pushed her to the ground with ferocity, just because she had sat in the closest position to the king— She did not have this qualification, and in the French court, the Duchess of Montpensier was higher than her, and although Henrietta knew that even her brother would have to salute before Louis, but she could not help but be angry, and at the same time with an unwilling fear.

She didn't even dare to be alone with Philip, Duke of Anjou, now, and although the ladies of the court said that he was as gentle and lovely as a lady, Henrietta could glimpse that although the Bishop and the Queen Mother had deliberately cultivated him in a feminine direction in order to avoid roommates, but with Louis's protection, the heart of this royal brother was still as cold and hard as steel, and all softness and tenderness were only on the surface, not on the inside. 、

Ironically, she may not even be able to get this marriage contract now, because since the Duchess of Montpensier returned to the court, the Queen Mother and the Bishop have deliberately reconciled him with the Duchess of Montpensier, and it is clear that in addition to the Duke of Gaston's domain and title, even his daughter's assets are also wanted to be obtained by the Duke of Anjou, and the King has only acquiesced- He did not want to humiliate Mademoiselle Marie Mancini, but he did not want to displease the Duchess of Montpensier, so in the following game he amiably became an ally of the table with the Duchess of Montpensier, and the two of them worked together to bring the Bishop and the Queen Mother to the table, and emptied their purses.

The Duchess had won about five hundred livres, which was nothing to her, and at the end of the last game she grabbed the golden louis and threw it at the crowd, and in the midst of a golden rain her laughter was as loud as thunder.

The night was a great occasion for the Duchess of Montpensier, and the king ordered Bontang to send her a purse containing a hundred louis, for he found that at the table to-day she was so nervous that she felt like she was going to faint every time she had a bad hand— Because Charles II was unable to restore the throne for a long time, Queen Mary was forced to ask her enemy Cromwell to transfer a part of her husband's inheritance and income to her, but neither the letters nor the messengers were in vain, and the princess must have been quite embarrassed.

And just as the king was concentrating on this matter with Bonton, a room in the corridor suddenly opened the door, and a soft arm pulled the king inside, which startled the king's attendants, and he was about to shout, but Bontang stopped him, "That's Miss Mancini." He said, and the attendant smiled knowingly.

Louis also discovered the identity of the visitor, and just as he was about to say something, he was kissed.

Ever since Louis came here, he had been kissed and kissed, from his hands to his cheeks, but for the first time his lips had been so hot, and for the first time with pure love and yearning, he had fallen into a rose in full bloom, with its rich petals, its soft stamens, its luscious nectar, their hearts clinging to each other, and the violent collision overlapping and roaring their eardrums.

"Mary!?"

"It's me, Your Majesty!"

They kissed again.

The king was well aware of Marie's affection for him, to be precise, he used it despicably, from the beginning, Marie only stepped into the court as the niece of Bishop Mazaran, not a witch in the inner world, but the king needed a witch, or rather, someone who knew about the inner world, and before Vesalius did not appear, he was able to catch only Marie, and later Marie became the queen mother's maid, and he also needed to use her to obtain the queen mother's movements, and he indulged in Marie's love for him, although he knew that it would not lead to anything。

"I love you, Louie!"

Louis held her hand, Marley's hand was small, the fingers were so thin that he had to take martial arts classes every day and Louis, who was extremely self-conscious, could easily hold them all in one hand.

"What about you, do you love me?

“......”

"Louie?"

"Mary," said Louis in the dark, "you know, both the Bishop and the Queen Mother are preparing for my marriage. ”

"Louie!"

"You know that," said Louis, "you are the lady-in-waiting of the Queen Mother." ”

"Louie, please ......"

"I can't love you, Mary. ”

"But I love you, Louie, can't you just love me a little? ”

"Do you know the consequences of this? You will lose your reputation and you will not be able to get a good marriage, because people will only see you as my love. ”

"I don't care, Louie, as long as you're willing to love me. ”

"Think about it, Mary, your father, your family, they only want you to be the legitimate wife of a noble man, and not the king's lover, the so-called royal lady. ”

"To hell with them, Louis ......"

Louis pressed down on Marie, who did have magical hands, "Don't do anything that makes me and you regret it, Marie, go back to your room, no one will know we were together." ”

"Louie!"

"Go ahead, don't be a disobedient child. ”

"I'll convince you. ”

"It's not me you're trying to convince. The king said.

——————

The king had to let Marie Mancini go first, and everyone knew that Marie was in love with him, and if they walked together at the same time, there would be gossip, and Marie was gone, stomping angrily along the way, "I'll rest here." The king said, then went back to his room and closed the door.

The room was also tortured - the curtains and curtains were pulled away, the clear moonlight poured in through the window, there was no furniture in the room except for a bed frame, the king sat down on the bed frame, watched the dark shadow on the glass window flow into the room, and then stood up on the dusty floor—Theodrik, Prince of Van Zhuo, bowed to the king: "You have found me, Your Majesty." ”

"Well, it's clear. Said the king—a group of little bats lying on the glass.

"I'm here for the previous agreement. Prince Theodric said.