No wonder Carlo was so surprised, because it was not a literal invitation to Mafalda to the ball, but a customary courtship for Prince Ferdinand, which was just a cover-up.

Faced with the sudden news, Carlo had to return to his office to discuss with Bacona.

"What happened to that Prince Ferdinand?"

Carlo, who was confused about this, first asked the other party what the situation was.

In the face of Carlo's inquiry, it was obvious that Bacona had done his homework before, only to see him introduce himself. And Carlo only learned about this basic situation in the introduction of the foreign secretary.

The Prince Ferdinand was born on August 24, 1865, in Sigmaringen, in southwestern Germany. Ferdinand's father was Prince Leopold of Hohenzollern, and his mother was Princess Antonia of Portugal, daughter of Queen Maria II and Fernando II of Portugal.

With his father, Leopold, and his brother William, renounced their succession to the Romanian throne in 1880 and 1886, respectively, the young Prince Ferdinand became the presumptive heir to his childless uncle, King Carol I of Romania.

Prince Ferdinand, on the other hand, was not married until he was 31 years old, because he maintained a close relationship with one of the palace maids, Elena Vocorescu. Queen Elizabeth, who was his aunt, knew about it, but she encouraged the two to have a relationship. (According to the Romanian Constitution of 1866, the supposed heir to the Romanian throne was forbidden to marry the Romanian people).

In 1891, the affair sparked a dynastic crisis, and Queen Elizabeth and Elena were exiled to Novauvid and Paris, respectively.

And such a blow made Prince Ferdinand a little resistant in emotional matters. In addition, at that time, Bulgaria took a large part of Macedonia's territory in one fell swoop, making the situation in the Balkans a little unpredictable, so the marriage of Prince Ferdinand will also be far away.

And this courtship to Italy must also be the result of Romania's careful consideration. In fact, Romania is more different in the Balkans in terms of language and writing, and unlike other countries, the Romanian language and writing belong to the Latin family. It is grammatically and colloquially similar to Italian, but retains some Latin words that have been lost in other Romance languages.

Of course, if the language and writing are similar alone, it will not bring great exchanges between the two countries. In fact, in the Balkans, apart from Bulgaria, Romania is the friendliest country to Italy. Of course, this is not just due to the similar language and writing, but to the economic and trade exchanges between the two countries.

Needless to say, Romania's grain exports are very strong due to the rich impact plains of the lower Danube. It is the second largest grain exporter in Europe, after Russia, and of course Romania produces oil and gold in addition to grain. That's right, Romania is also the second largest gold producer in Europe, producing almost twenty tons of gold per year.

As for oil, needless to say, the second largest oil in Europe went abroad, and before the development of Baku, it was the first oil exporter.

This abundance of output led to trade between Italy and Romania. Italy is Romania's largest importer of grain and second-largest importer of oil. (After the oil exploitation in Balikpapan, it has been reduced to fourth)

Romania doesn't just export, it also imports. Although Italian industrial products cannot compete with other countries in terms of quality, the lowest selling price makes many cyst-shy Romanians take out their wallets.

In addition, in view of the performance of the Italian army in recent years, Romania has also purchased a lot of Italian ordnance, of course, this has a lot to do with the cheap price of Italian munitions. Italy is currently the third largest importer and exporter in Romania, and trade between the two countries reached 34.91 million lire last year.

Of course, the cultural, economic, and trade exchanges between the two countries cannot be a proof that the relations between the two countries are destined to be good.

What Romania values is Italy's influence in the Balkans. In particular, Italy's territory in the Balkans is not far from Romania, separated by only one country, and Romania is considered a neighbor.

It is well known that Romania's independence depended on the Tenth Russo-Turkish War. However, after independence, Romania was very afraid of Russia, fearing that Russia would annex it, so it had close relations with Austria-Hungary.

Of course, the tigers in the east want to eat people, and the tigers in the west are not bad, and soon Romania will feel the penetration from Austria-Hungary.

Finding a friend who can help you for this is a desperate need for Romanians. It just so happened that the Italo-Turkish War showed him the strength of Italy, and also got Albania from the Ottoman Empire.

This naturally made Romania put its hopes on Italy, and it happened that its own prince was not married, which can be regarded as a stone throwing.

Faced with this invitation from Romania, Carlo looked at the foreign minister in front of him and asked. "What do you think, Bacona?"

"Your Majesty, I do not think we can refuse this invitation from Romania. Strengthening our ties with Romania would be in good interest for my country. ”

At this point, Bacona continued with great interest. "First of all, our influence in the Balkans has weakened over the years as countries continue to exert influence."

There is also a reason why Bacona said this, first of all, Bulgaria, which has the best relations with Italy in the Balkans, has also lost so close relations with Italy in these two years. According to the information they received, Bulgaria's relations with Russia are slowly recovering, and its relations with Greece are also improving.

Of course, this is also understandable, Bulgaria is not without ideas about the remaining small half of Macedonia, even Constantinople.

Italy could not support it in this regard, and Italy could no longer expand in the Balkans, otherwise it would attract resentment and even excesses from Austria-Hungary and Russia.

Russia is better, but Austria-Hungary is not. The Triple Alliance remains the cornerstone of Italian diplomacy, so any diplomatic strategy that affects it needs to be thought twice.

"In addition, it is also very beneficial for my country to have a good relationship with Romania."

As he spoke, he gestured with his hand on the map, from Albania in Italy to Bulgaria and Romania, and the lines were connected in series, which made Carlo's eyes shine.

"In this way, Romania's goodwill must be accepted by our country."

"Almost, I can't think of a reason not to accept it."

The conversation between the two seemed to be missing something, and they didn't ask the person concerned, Princess Mafalda, if she wanted to?

I'm sorry, but as the princess of a country, there is basically no right to choose freely.

That's right, the combination of princesses and mortals in the movie is simply deceitful, and princesses and princes are reality. Whether this princess loves the prince or not, she must accept it. This is also one of the reasons why there are so many lovers of European royal families, two people who do not know each other are forced together for the benefit of the country. are all princesses and princes who are held in the palm of their hands, and it is strange how good their feelings can be.

However, since childhood, they have received benefits such as fine clothes and food, as well as various excellent education, which determine the fate of their future wedding, and rarely can be directly decided.

After the two negotiated, Carlo informed Princess Mafalda of the result.

For his sister, he can only say sorry.

For Romania, of course, after receiving an answer from Italy, it was naturally ecstatic. Immediately preparations were made for the grand ball, in preparation for the arrival of the Italian princess.

After Christmas, led by Carlo's younger brother Emanuele, Carlo's youngest sister, Princess Mafalda, boarded a cruise ship for Romania.