Joseph looked at his parents, both amused and exasperated: "So, just so you can go on a long vacation to Brittany, you decided to..."
He had initially intended to say "scared the entire Paris," but upon seeing his motherâs guilty child-like expression, he reluctantly replaced the latter half of the sentence with a long sigh.
"Actually, if you want to go on a trip, I can find an excuse for you at any time. Thereâs no need to make it so complicated. For example, holding a diplomatic meeting of monarchs in Brittany."
Queen Mary blinked: "Thatâs indeed a good idea, why didnât I think of it... But, ah, inviting so many kings to Brittany would also be troublesome, right?"
Joseph thought to himself that even having the Pope host the meeting wouldnât be a problem.
"Now we donât have to worry about that." He sighed again, "Actually, itâs beneficial for your health to travel around. But you canât stay in Brittany forever, right?
"I mean, youâll eventually miss the balls at the Palace of Versailles and the Royal Theater one day."
Earlier, Queen Mary had already told him about the subsequent plans made by Duke Levisâclaiming that Louis XVI had developed severe sequelae, intermittently losing hearing and being very forgetful, so that they could stay in Brittany for âtreatment.â
Queen Mary immediately became conflicted.
This was indeed a problem. If returning to the Palace of Versailles, her husband would have to pretend to be ill, which was clearly too tormenting.
But never attending balls or watching theater seemed difficult to accept.
"Then, what should we do?"
Louis XVI, however, scratched his chest nonchalantly and said: "Even if we donât return to Paris, itâs fine, as long as you can move the Royal Workshop to Brittany. Besides, there must be a lot of interesting things to do at the shipyard."
Joseph smiled: "Actually, youâre thinking too much.
"Rules, as long as no one mentions them, donât count as being broken.
"My suggestion is you can return to the Palace of Versailles anytime without worrying about anything. At that time, regarding fatherâs health condition, the nobles will naturally give an outcome based on âneeds.â You can attend balls every day and still be ânot in good health.â
"And you shouldnât just focus on Brittany, there are also ancient monasteries in the tide of Saint Michel Mountain, palm forests in Cannes, and the warm and beautiful Angel Bay in Nice. Even the hot springs in Upper German and Roman relics, oh, Basel is currently at war, too close to it, that can wait for a later visit."
"Upper German" is the previous regions like Bern, Switzerland.
Queen Maryâs eyes lit up, regretting that she hadnât discussed it with her son from the start.
Immediately, she hesitated again: "But your father is still âill,â traveling around might not be very appropriate?"
Joseph said without hesitation: "Everywhere is bound to have to build sanatoriums, youâre just going for treatment."
As he spoke, he noticed his father still scratching incessantly, already drawing blood from scratching his shoulder, and hurriedly asked: "What are these red blotches on your body painted with?"
"A paint used on wood." Queen Mary said somewhat nervously, "I asked Mr. Tristan, he said he frequently gets it on his hands, itâs harmless."
Joseph frowned: "Why not use lipstick?"
"Iâm worried itâll be washed off by sweat..."
Joseph held his forehead, immediately summoning the Imperial Physician to diagnose.
Later, Dr. Petti pointed to the small red spots beneath the âred blotchesâ and said: "I think His Majesty might be intolerant to this paint..."
Joseph rubbed his forehead: "Seems like an allergy."
The next day.
Although utterly speechless by his parentsâ "genius moves," Joseph had no choice but to return to the Palace of Versailles and held a simple ceremony to assume the position of Regent.
However, led by the Senate, the entire nobility of the Palace of Versailles took this matter very seriously, and all family members who could attend the ceremony gathered at the Versailles Palace Square, where music and various cheers lasted until twilightâJoseph had returned to his room hours earlier to rest.
Alexandra, upon seeing her husband, seemed to finally escape a tense state, disregarding etiquette and suddenly pounced into his arms, murmuring constantly: "Thank Jesus, youâre back, itâs so good..."
Joseph gently patted her back, comforting: "Donât worry, thereâs no coup at all. Paris is the safest place in the world."
He knew that Alexandra, having grown up in the non-coup, Tsar-free Russian court, would inevitably think too much when facing the bizarre situation of "seriously ill King while Crown Prince not informed in foreign land."
Seeing his relaxed demeanor, Alexandra truly eased up, but only two seconds later she began urgently: "I must immediately send someone to the Royal Military University. Uh, Iâve made some of your old subordinates prepare for the âworst-case scenarioâ..."
The predecessor to the Royal Military University is the Paris Police Academy, also the most loyal military force to the Crown Prince she could think of.
Even though Joseph felt she was overly sensitive, in his heart he felt immense warmth and gratitude.
He whispered in his wifeâs ear: "Actually, uh, if I said all this was just the King and Queen wanting to go on a vacation, would you believe it?"
That night, even in her sleep, Alexandra clung tightly to him, as if afraid of suddenly losing him.
The next day at noon, news like "The Crown Prince formally assumes regency, His Majesty the Kingâs condition temporarily stable" appeared in all the newspapers. Parisâs major cathedrals were immediately surrounded by citizens praying for the King.
Outside the Kingâs room on the lawn of the Fontainebleau Sanatorium, Bertier bowed to Joseph, saying: "Your Highness the Regent, this wonât delay your care for His Majesty the King, will it?"
Joseph replied helplessly: "Itâs okay, actually His Majestyâs condition has started to improve and heâll soon go to Brittany for treatment."
"Thank Jesus. His Majesty will surely recover his health."
The Chief of Staff prayed for the King before continuing: "Your Highness, the General Staff has already sent the retreat plan to Warsaw and suggested they fortify the current front and begin withdrawal."
Joseph nodded: "Their response is?"
"The Polish General Staff stated that such a significant matter requires a decision from the Great Sejm."
Joseph immediately frowned.
It would take at least half a month for the various factions of Congress to finish pulling, and meanwhile, an accident might occur on Kosciuszkoâs side.
He turned to Eman: "Please write a letter in my name to His Majesty StanisĆaw asking him to directly issue a retreat order."
"Yes, Your Highness."
Bertier added: "Your Highness, according to recently received news, Mirza ambushed the Osman Army in southern Tbilisi last month, killing and capturing over 13,000."