The Crown Prince of France - Chapter 152

Chapter 152: The Issue of Passing Down the Family Line

At the welcome ball that evening, Clementine displayed her social butterfly personality, amusing and entertaining the nobles of the Palace of Versailles, quickly becoming the center of attention.

Queen Marie looked on with satisfaction at her niece, nodding repeatedly, thinking to herself, It would be great if she were my daughter-in-law.

The young noble ladies of Versailles who dared to approach the crown prince were all chased off by her "fierce" gaze, allowing Joseph to have a rare and easy evening at the ball.

As the night grew late, Joseph and Louis XVI walked side by side out of the ballroom.

Father and son discussed the matter of training fire-cap gun craftsmen for a while. The king suddenly signaled to their attendants to step away, then pulled his son closer and whispered, "Clementine, the Grand Duchess, is very healthy and lively, but Princess Maria seems even smarter. To be honest, both of them are quite good."

"Yes, they are indeed quite good."

"So, what are your thoughts?"

Joseph turned to him in confusion, "What do you mean, thoughts?"

Louis XVI smiled knowingly and patted his son's shoulder. "Tell me honestly, which one do you like more? Ah, don’t worry about your mother’s opinion—marrying the one you truly like is the most important thing."

"Marry?!" Joseph was struck by a sudden realization. "Wait! You mean these two girls are here with the idea of marriage?!"

It wasn’t really his fault for being slow to catch on. In his subconscious, it was impossible for him to think of such young girls as potential fiancées, which led him to ignore such an obvious matter.

Joseph couldn’t help but feel a little speechless. Maria might be okay, though she's younger, at least she has... well, a little more of a woman’s figure.

But Clementine was clearly still undeveloped. She was just a little kid! This was practically a crime!

Not to mention, she was his own cousin. Hadn’t he heard the dangers of inbreeding? He definitely didn’t want to have children with intellectual disabilities...

Joseph pondered for a moment before softly saying, "Dear Father, what if I don't like either of them?"

"Eh?" Louis XVI furrowed his brow. "Joseph, as far as I know, the only woman around you seems to be that female doctor, and I assume you haven’t... well, you know, with her, right? Are you telling me honestly that... is it really..."

Louis XVI glanced at his son's crotch with concern and asked, "Is everything... really tight down there? Does it feel painful? If so, trust me, it’s a simple procedure for a doctor to fix. Don’t wait like I did back in the day... it took me forever..."

Joseph froze for a moment, realizing his father must be referring to the issue of... well, that other matter. He'd had problems in the past due to this, making his married life difficult. Was his father projecting and thinking that he might be dealing with the same problem?

Joseph quickly waved his hand. "No, no! Thank you for your concern, I’m perfectly fine."

However, Louis XVI's expression grew even more serious. "Joseph, if you like... if you prefer men, you must still fulfill your duty as heir to the throne..."

"Don’t go there!" Joseph felt utterly embarrassed. What is this? I’m only fourteen, and having no lover is perfectly normal, right? Why is Father assuming so much?

Ah, that’s right. He furrowed his brow. In noble circles at this time, it’s true that at fourteen, you should be involved in love affairs... So does that mean I have to find a lover to prove that I’m physically and mentally normal?

He could only respond seriously to the king. "Father, I truly just haven’t met the right person. Please don’t worry. As for the two princesses... right now, my focus is on making France stronger. The rest can wait a few years."

Louis XVI immediately became earnest. "Son, I know you have great ambitions, and you will be an excellent king in the future, but you can also attend to the women’s side of things..."

As father and son continued their walk, the conversation shifted to more serious matters, and Joseph found himself growing increasingly weary of hearing about marriage and heirs. Just as he was trying to find a way to escape, he suddenly saw a white figure dart past him, disappearing at the end of the corridor.

"Watch out!" The Swiss Guard quickly formed a protective circle around the king and crown prince.

Soon, a small figure appeared, running toward them with urgency. She spoke in broken French. "Have you seen Mr. Beard?"

"Clementine?" Joseph was surprised. "Mr. Beard... what happened to your cat?"

"It ran off!" The little girl’s face was flushed with worry. "It’s usually so well-behaved, but today, I don’t know why, it kept trying to run outside, and I couldn’t stop it..."

Joseph recalled the white figure from earlier and quickly pointed toward the hallway. "It must have run that way."

"Thank you, cousin." Clementine waved to her two maids. "Let’s go chase it!"

Joseph quickly grabbed her arm. "You’ve never been to the Palace of Versailles before, running around like this could easily get you lost."

"What should I do then?" The little girl looked as if she might cry.

Joseph signaled to Kessold. "Please, have your men help look for the cat."

"Yes, Your Highness."

On the other side, Louis XVI also instructed the Swiss Guard to search for the cat. In an instant, dozens of guards set aside their muskets and swords and became cat hunters.

Joseph, hoping to escape his father’s continued talk about marriage and heirs, joined Clementine on the search for the cat.

Before long, chaos broke out across the Palace of Versailles.

As the guards knocked on room doors, the occupants were often two people hastily dressing and clearly flustered. Well, not in the way one might think of a married couple.

Of course, this was entirely normal in France at the time. Anyone not having a few lovers would be seen as lacking charm.

As for Joseph, Clementine was proving to be more efficient, knocking on doors, offering a quick apology, and then entering to search for the cat. She had mingled with most of the nobles at the ball, and with her sweet tongue, not a single person got upset despite being disturbed in the middle of their affairs.

Finally, she knocked on a door on the second floor of the South Wing. From inside, a man’s annoyed shout was heard: "Don’t you see what time it is? What is it?!"

Joseph blinked. That voice sounded a little familiar... was it... Count Morneau, the Minister of the Interior?

The little girl, with her adorable voice, pleaded, "I’m so sorry for disturbing you. But my beloved cat ran off, and I was hoping I could search here. May God bless you, kind sir."

"There’s no cat here!"

"It’s very good at hiding. It could fit through the vent in your door. Please, just let me check for one minute."

There was silence inside.

But Clementine was patient, persistently pleading and knocking on the door.

Finally, the person inside couldn’t take it anymore. It seemed as though there were quiet arguments between a man and a woman. The door opened, and a disheveled woman wrapped loosely in her clothes quickly exited, turning the corner and disappearing up the stairs.

Joseph was stunned. Isn’t that the Marchioness of Saint-Priest?

"Thank you!" Clementine seemed entirely unaware of the chaos she had caused. She happily rushed into the room and ordered the maid to search for the cat.

Meanwhile, Joseph exchanged a knowing smile with Count Morneau, who was sitting by the bed.

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