170 Behind the Scenes

(Cardinal Armand Jean Richelieu / Rochefort POV)

"Your Excellency, our man in London reports that after several private meetings with King Charles, Prince Jazłowiecki went to The Hague." (Rochefort)

"What are these damned people up to, or rather what their King is up to? The Hague... The Hague... Ha... Charles's sister, Elisabeth live in The Hague!!! Inform our people in Netherlands and let them find out what this Pole is doing." (Cardinal Richelieu)

"Yes, Your Excellency. The arrest was successful too..." (Rochefort)

"So fast? How did you do it?" (Cardinal Richelieu)

"As you know, the King of Spain, Philip, offered the brother of the Polish King, Jan Kazimierz, the honorary position of admiral of the fleet and vice-king of Portugal..." (Rochefort)

"I know, you're not telling me anything new. After the Polish king married the Emperor's daughter, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth is now closer to the Habsburgs. The Spaniards wanted to strengthen this bond through Jan Kazimierz and the title of vice king of Portugal..." (Cardinal Richelieu)

"Exactly, Your Excellency. In order to get to Spain, Jan Kazimierz had to travel through the Kingdom of France... and we watched him." (Rochefort)

"Say it finally... we're not in the theater, and you're a spy, not an actor." (Cardinal Richelieu)

"The king's brother was unlucky, during one of the breaks he stopped near our fort, which he went to see... and our people arrested him on charges of espionage for the Kingdom of Spain." (Rochefort)

"This is going to be a big scandal... was he really spying?" (Cardinal Richelieu)

"Does it matter?" (Rochefort)

"No... if we say that he spied, it means that he was. Thanks to this, we can force the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth to make concessions... Well done, but now take care of Jazłowiecki. One more thing... we need to know what Charles I talked to him about, let our people in London spare no gold. We cannot allow these damned Englishmen and Poles to enter into an alliance." (Cardinal Richelieu)

(End POV)

Over the next few days I visited the residences of the Queen and her family... although my relations with her son did not improve, it was the other way around with Elisabeth. It wasn't love or anything like that... she was just curious about the world. Outside of The Hague and a few places in the Empire, she knew the world only from stories and books and I was a treasure trove of knowledge... At least compared to other people alive these days.

I have been to the Kingdom of Denmark, Moscow, Vienna, Rome, Crimea or the Ottoman Imerium... what she read about, I saw, and having additional historical knowledge, I knew a lot of interesting facts.

"What place do you consider the most beautiful? Rome, Vienna?" (Princess Elisabeth)

"Podolia, there are no big cities there, the largest one has no more than 15,000 people, it is not a rich province and it is also not big... but I would not change it for any other place on earth." (MC)

Suddenly, from one of the garden alleys, a local Ayrton Senna came on us and, without using the brake, hit me in the leg... It was Sophie on a four-wheeled bicycle that I had given her... I hate children.

"Sophie, be careful how you ride or I'll tell mom and she'll take your bike." (Princess Elisabeth)

"Nothing happened... but if you ride so fast, you can fall off the bike and hurt yourself..." (MC)

"I was supposed to ask before, is this your invention?" (Princess Elisabeth)

"Yes, but it's nothing complicated, the real challenge will be building a balloon, but I'm going to leave it to someone else to do." (MC)

"Balloon?" (Princess Elisabeth)

"It is such a device which with the help of warm air will help to lift a man into the air, it's an old idea from a few years ago... a more scientific solution to Daedalus' idea." (MC)

"I have never heard about this." (Princess Elisabeth)

"My newspaper does not appear in The Hague, but in Warsaw, and there are no more than 300 copies... to explain it better, or even better to show it, I can try to make a paper lantern." (MC)

Building a simple lantern that will rise a few or several meters should not be difficult, but if it falls and it is lit, somewhere in the city it can be a problem... On the other hand, who cares about The Hague.

After returning to the inn, I managed to make a light lantern, heated with a small candle... the effect was not stunning, but the lantern flew up and only stopped at the ceiling, which prevented it from rising further.

(Elisabeth Stuart / Princess Elisabeth POV)

"And what do you think my daughter?" (Elisabeth Stuart)

"I don't know. I can't really judge the Prince... He has as much evil in his heart as he has good. When he talks about Podolia, he describes it as a paradise on earth, but..." (Princess Elisabeth)

"But?" (Elisabeth Stuart)

"When I asked him about literature or science, he seemed bored... strange for an author and inventor. When I asked about the war, I felt like he was enjoying it." (Princess Elisabeth)

"I said I would not force you, it is your decision. I was lucky to have married someone as noble as your father, I was happy and thanked God for it, and I still thank him." (Elisabeth Stuart)

"I know, I'm not against marrying the Prince, it's just an important decision and I hesitate... but compared to others who wanted to marry me, Prince Jazłowiecki has the most open mind. He talks to me as equals, although sometimes he considers my ideas to be child." (Princess Elisabeth)

"I also noticed it in his behavior, especially when he talks to your brother... The prince treats him like a child, not like a man. Which annoys your brother a lot and I also think that Karol is jealous of him." (Elisabeth Stuart)

"But Charles needs his help." (Princess Elisabeth)

"This is also part of the problem... When you need help, and the only person who is able to help you is someone you envy." (Elisabeth Stuart)

(End POV)