Chapter 157: Loss and Gain
In another private box on the second floor of the auction hall, Princess Maria recognized Clémentine the moment she made her first bid—that incessant chirping of a voice echoed through Versailles all day; it was impossible not to recognize her.
Maria hadn't expected Clémentine to compete with her for this necklace, but then she felt a wave of resignation. Hadn't Clémentine come to Paris precisely to compete with her for him?
As Maria looked at the Wish of the Stars, which the Crown Prince had once worn, she suddenly felt that this might be a preview of their struggle for victory.
Whoever acquired the necklace would acquire him!
A thought flashed through her mind, and a determined glint appeared in her eyes. She leaned toward her maid and whispered:
"300,000 Livre."
The maid nodded immediately and called out the price to the auctioneer.
Although some noble ladies from Versailles in the auction house recognized the Wish of the Stars as the necklace the Crown Prince wore in his portrait and eagerly prepared to bid, before they could even react, the price had already soared to an astonishing height, and they all instantly quieted down.
Naturally, Clémentine was not among them.
"400,000," Maria's maid responded almost without a pause.
"500,000!"
"550,000."
Clémentine was about to raise her bid again when she suddenly froze. 'I seem to be out of money.'
After all, she was still only a ten-year-old child, and for now, she only had her annual annuity coming in. With the 200,000 Livre her father had given her for her trip to Paris, her "total assets" amounted to 560,000 Livre.
It wasn't enough to add another fifty thousand.
"560,000 Livre!" She gritted her teeth and stated her absolute limit.
When Maria heard she had only added 10,000 Livre, a wave of relief washed over her. She signaled to her maid: "600,000."
She was already fifteen years old, possessed her own estate, and even a fishery, making her far wealthier than the little girl.
She was confident she had won this necklace bidding war.
Indeed, after her maid called out "600,000," the auction hall fell silent.
Clémentine stamped her foot in frustration, but could only listen helplessly as the auctioneer's booming announcement echoed: "600,000 Livre, going once."
She bit her lip, and her eyes welled with tears. For some reason, she had a vague premonition that if she lost the Wish of the Stars, she would lose the Crown Prince.
"Oh, my dear, what's wrong?"
Queen Mary noticed her niece's shoulders trembling slightly and quickly asked with concern. Then she saw the little girl's reddened eyes.
"Do you really want that necklace?" She pointed to the Wish of the Stars resting on the satin cushion in the auction hall, then suddenly paused. 'This necklace looks somewhat familiar...'
'Wait, isn't this the necklace from the painting?'
The Queen immediately understood why her niece was so determined to keep bidding.
Clémentine looked at her aunt, her expression forlorn, and nodded vigorously.
"600,000 Livre, going twice."
Queen Mary smiled and said softly, "Go ahead and bid as high as you like, my dear. No matter the cost, I will cover it for you."
"Really?!"
The little girl was overjoyed. Seeing the Queen nod, she quickly wiped the tears from her eyes and interrupted the auctioneer, exclaiming, "Wait! 650,000!"
With Queen Mary's support, Clémentine secured the final victory without a doubt.
When the auction house manager respectfully carried the Wish of the Stars to the private box, the little girl eagerly picked up the necklace, pressed it against her chest, gently caressing it, and closed her eyes, savoring its cool touch for a moment. Then she turned to Queen Mary, curtsied, and smiled sweetly:
"Thank you so much, my dearest aunt! I love you dearly!"
However, just as she happily held up the necklace, intending to show it to the Queen, the necklace caught on a jewel on her dress.
The edge of the jewel snapped the string holding the necklace together, and with a soft clatter, dozens of sparkling diamonds scattered across the floor.
Clémentine instinctively reached out to snatch the diamonds from the air, but caught nothing.
She froze for three seconds, then burst into tears, wailing, "Why? Why am I always so unlucky?!"
Several maids frantically got down on their hands and knees, carefully searching for the diamonds.
Queen Mary was also startled, but quickly composed herself. She gently embraced her niece, stroking her back and murmuring soft words of comfort.
After an indeterminate amount of time, Clémentine emerged silently by Queen Mary's side from the East Wing of the Tuileries Palace. Although the auction house assured her repeatedly that the necklace could be restored to its original state, she simply couldn't cheer up.
In a corner of a corridor in the East Wing, Princess Maria bit her lip hard, feeling as if all strength had drained from her body.
She had clearly seen Clémentine leave with Queen Mary. The reason the latter, after being unable to bid further, had ultimately won the necklace, became perfectly clear.
Her heart felt hollow. It was clear that the Grand Duchess of Tuscany was Queen Mary's choice, not herself.
If this was the case, even if the Crown Prince preferred her, he would ultimately have to marry that girl.
'She had lost from the very beginning.'
She tilted her head back and took a deep breath, then said to her maid beside her:
"Alissa, let's go home..."
The next day, the Princess of the Two Sicilies' carriage traveled alone along the King's Highway on the southern outskirts of Paris, facing the rising sun.
Not long ago, it was on this very road that the Crown Prince, accompanied by thousands of soldiers, had welcomed her arrival. Now, she was returning alone. The Crown Prince had originally intended to see her off, but she had refused. 'It would be far too ungraceful to cry in front of him.'
The sunlight stretched the carriage's shadow long, long behind it, like a hand desperately reaching out to Paris, yet unable to grasp anything.
Inside the carriage, Maria hesitated for a long time, then finally placed the letter in her hand back on the table.
On the corner of the envelope that wasn't held down, her neat, beautiful handwriting was visible: "Dearest Your Highness, these days in Paris have been the happiest moments of my life. I pray to God ceaselessly that my life might forever stop at the moment we danced lightly on the Carousel together! While this is merely a wish, I at least have this precious memory. Upon returning to the Two Sicilies, I will pray day and night for your health, and bless you and the Grand Duchess of Tuscany..."
She had wept as she wrote this letter last night, intending to have her maid deliver it to Joseph this morning, but at the last moment, she gave up.
Perhaps these girlish feelings should be forever buried in her heart, rather than cause him even the slightest trouble because of her.
...
In an office on the second floor of the Tuileries Palace, Joseph was reviewing the Fashion Week income and expenditure report sent by Flesselles.
The report was quite thick, and he flipped through several pages but couldn't find the total amount. He looked up at the head of the Fashion Week organizing committee beside him.
Viscount Flesselles seemed to anticipate his thought and quickly said, "Ah, Your Highness, the total income for the past few days is 4.62 million Livre, with expenses of 310,000 Livre."
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