Chapter 413: The Crown Prince's Time
Joseph instinctively glanced at Alexandra, who had a significant role and was currently on stage diligently introducing a composite-panel wine cabinet. He couldn't help but smile and nod:
"She truly is a little angel—beautiful, adorable, and very diligent in her work."
'Well, among the entire cast, the Russian young girl's product placement was the most natural and seamless. He certainly had to praise her more.'
Queen Mary, however, heard a different nuance in his words. She quietly cast a triumphant glance at her husband, as if to say, 'See? I was right, wasn't I? Our son genuinely likes the Russian Grand Duchess.'
Louis XVI looked at the young girl on stage. To be honest, he was slightly displeased with her Russian lineage, but the thought of his son calling her a "little angel" made his heart soften.
He, too, was influenced by Enlightenment ideals, and his expectations for royal marriages were far less rigid than those of his predecessors. Indeed, because of his love for Queen Mary, he felt that his son should also choose a girl he genuinely liked.
'Forget it,' Louis XVI muttered to himself. 'What matters most is that Joseph likes her. At least she's a genuine girl, and a princess at that.'
Although Joseph had long denied to his father that he liked men, Louis XVI had witnessed countless same-sex romantic entanglements at Versailles—a practice even quite popular among nobles—so he had always worried about his son's orientation. Only now did he truly put his mind at ease.
Louis XVI also looked at Queen Mary and nodded, signaling his approval of the "Crown Princess" on stage. Immediately, both of them broke into smiles of satisfied approval.
Joseph had no idea that his parents had just, in that very second, decided on France's future Crown Princess. He was watching Baron Tyrell Shaw distributing soda drinks to the distinguished guests on stage when he suddenly frowned slightly. 'Was there a bit too much product placement? Hmm... a ninety-minute play with only thirty-five minutes of product placement shouldn't be too bad, right?'
However, the audience quickly lost focus due to the massive amount of product placement, and the royal family in the VIP box also began to chat amongst themselves.
"My dear, I truly love the set of furniture you gave me." Queen Mary fed a piece of nut brittle into her son's mouth and said with a smile, "It's the best birthday gift I've received this year. Oh, and of course, this gift is wonderful too."
She said, pointing to her hair ornament:
"Isn't it adorable? Your father made it himself!"
Joseph looked at the slowly rotating birdcage on his mother's head. Suddenly, the mechanical nightingale inside flapped its wings, popped out, and let out a joyful chirp.
"Actually, it can also play a short snippet of 'Queen Anne's Birthday Ode'," Louis XVI said, proudly lifting his head.
Joseph blinked, then hesitantly asked:
"Dear Father, how long did it take you to make this hair ornament?"
"Not much," Louis XVI said very proudly. "Only two and a half months, really, plus a bit of design time. Monsieur Florent said that even he couldn't have done it better or faster..."
Joseph couldn't help but palm his forehead upon hearing this. 'No wonder,' he thought to himself, 'the development of the new rifles has seen no progress. So, you've been tinkering with birdcages all this time.'
'Never mind,' he thought, silently shaking his head again. 'His father isn't drawing a salary, so his "work" hours can naturally be arranged as he pleases. Still, he'll have to be reminded from time to time...'
Queen Mary's birthday celebration concluded amidst laughter and joy, and soda drinks immediately became a hot seller throughout Paris—even with a price tag as high as six livres per bottle. Long lines, stretching for hundreds of meters, also formed outside the "Comfort Living" furniture store in the Louvre District...
However, what Joseph hadn't anticipated was that the product placement he had arranged for the Queen's birthday had caused a very negative impact.
Following the custom, the major theaters in Paris began to imitate the court theater group, incorporating subtle product placement into their plays. This was, of course, because product placement brought them significant profits, and they could no longer give it up.
On the corner of Rue de Richelieu, the Comédie-Française was staging "The Marriage of Figaro."
A couple, seeing the actors on stage begin to mention the "Source of Elegance Perfumery," immediately exchanged glances.
The man whispered:
"Looks like it's 'Crown Prince's Time.' We can go grab a coffee first."
"All right, dear."
French audiences, naturally, gritted their teeth in frustration over the subtle product placement. Upon tracing it back to its source, they learned that this had been the Crown Prince's original brainchild.
Thus, "Crown Prince's Time" naturally became the euphemism for product placement.
...
Brussels.
In the Parliament building, Carl II frowned angrily at the British court messenger, but when he remembered George III's personal signature on the letter on his desk, he could only sigh.
"Please inform His Majesty the King that I will lead my troops back to Hanover as soon as possible."
Although he was the Governor of Hanover, he was even more so George III's "instrument." So, when the British King ordered him to cease supporting the Netherlandish Rebels in the Southern Netherlands, he had no choice but to obey.
After the messenger departed, Carl II gazed into the distance at the faint smoke that could still be seen, but a strange sense of relief welled up in his heart.
In truth, deep down, he had already concluded that he could not possibly defeat the French forces arrayed against them.
Only the shame of potential capture prevented him from confronting this retreat.
But the British King's recent order had solved this dilemma for him.
"Alas, for the sake of my loyalty to His Majesty, I can only temporarily endure this humiliation," he muttered to himself as he walked towards the door, waving to his orderly. "Order Metternich to lead two regiments to guard the southern front. The rest of the troops are to immediately gather in the northern suburbs of Brussels."
"Yes, Marshal!"
Vander Noot and the Southern Netherlands parliament members soon learned of the Hanoverian army's unusual movements. Although greatly surprised, they merely went to Carl II to inquire about the situation.
By then, Carl II, escorted by his guard, had already traveled fifty miles outside Brussels.
Vander Noot and the others had yet to realize that they had already been sold off like commodities. They frantically organized the Southern Netherlands National Guard to take over Brussels' defense, while simultaneously calling for aid from the Prussian army in Liège.
...
Potsdam, Prussia's administrative center.
Sanssouci Palace.
William II frowned:
"This means that all our substantial investments in the Southern Netherlands will come to naught!"
Lord Grenville, the British Foreign Secretary, offered an unassuming smile:
"Your Majesty, with all due respect, how to quickly end the war in Silesia is currently the most pressing issue for you to focus on."
"If the intelligence I've received is accurate, Prussia's finances must already be very strained, correct?"
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