169 First Date

The Winter Queen quenched her son's battle fervor with a few words. Youth has its rights and you must have ambitions, but you also need to know your limitations... a 21-year-old brat with no military experience wants to challenge the Emperor who has been fighting half of Europe for twenty years... what could go wrong?

"Prince, I apologize again for my son's behavior. He is young and inexperienced. Let me take you to the garden, my daughter is already waiting there." (Elisabeth Stuart)

A few moments later we found ourselves in the garden and headed towards a small white gazebo... after walking a dozen or so meters, I saw the silhouettes of two women and a little girl.

I saw a portrait of Elisabeth on the internet once, so I knew what to expect, although you couldn't trust a painters in this era, any more than you could trust a picture of women in social media. As soon as we got closer, both the women and the girl stood and bowed.

"Scary..." (Girl)

The girl spoke first, I wasn't sure who she was, for me all the children look the same.

"Sophie !!!" (Elisabeth Stuart)

"Please forgive..." (Elisabeth Stuart)

The Queen turned red in the face, as did this little girl. For me it was even fun, kids and drunks are always the most honest, and I never really paid attention to rules, upbringing and manners.

"Lady, nothing happened, I get reactions like this often." (MC)

"First my son, now mine... Prince, let me introduce you, this is my daughter Princess Elisabeth Simmern van Pallandt and my youngest daughter, Princess Sophia of the Palatinate." (Elisabeth Stuart)

After a few seconds, another wave of nods and greetings followed... almost like I was in Japan. The third woman turned out to be the governess of young Sophie... despite all the greetings, the atmosphere was still a bit awkward. So I decided to lighten this tense atmosphere a bit... and the only idea that came to my mind was a trick with a coin and an ear. I took a ducat out of my pocket and performed a trick on little Sophie... although calling her 'little' might be wrong, she wasn't big, but she might have been 7 or 8 years old.

When the moods improved and the queen left us 'alone'... me, Elisabeth, the governess and Sophie sat down at the table. If this is what the first date is supposed to look like?... In their place, I would invite more people and a gypsy orchestra.

I didn't really know how to start a conversation... from the weather or praising the tea we were given, but after one sip I came to the conclusion that it was better to start with the weather.

"Prince, I have read your novels and I have a feeling that each of them was written by a different person. You do not have one style, you do not stick to one topic. Which one do you consider to be your Opus magnum?" (Princess Elisabeth)

Thank god she started the conversation.

"My Opus magnum is just being written, and I don't know if I will be able to finish it in my lifetime. As for these books, I don't have my favorite, and which one did you like?" (MC)

For the next two hours we talked about literature, science, politics and I must admit intellectually, Elisabeth was a very well educated and interesting person, despite being a woman in the 17th century... I also had the opportunity to get a good look at her.

I slept with people uglier than her, so beauty was not a problem... brown eyes, curly shoulder-length hair in the same color, nice face... unfortunately not too big breasts.

"Prince, where did you get that scar on your face?" (Princess Sophie)

I heard Sophie's soft voice.

"The one on the side of the head, from the Danish soldier, the one on the cheek from the Ottoman Janissary." (MC)

What a little cock blocker... I'm trying to judge her sister here, and she clung to my appearance ... like a dog to the bone.

"As you know, I refused to marry Your King..." (Princess Elisabeth)

"He is not my King, he is only temporarily sitting on the Polish throne... I took my oath to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, not to some Vasa." (MC)

"... Why did you fight for the Emperor?" (Princess Elisabeth)

I expected a similar question, Elisabeth was famous for how seriously she treated matters of faith, that's why I had prepared answer to this question for a long time.

"I was young, inexperienced, hungry for fame and adventure... it was a good school of life." (MC)

"Prince, I know that our wedding is only political. I never planned to get married, but if my brother will be able to regain the crown, I am ready to sacrifice ..." (Princess Elisabeth)

Sacrifice? Princess, women like you, there is a line to me and they jump into my bed themselves...

"... What is my brother's chance of becoming king?" (Princess Elisabeth)

"Big, of course it's all in the hands of god, but if we prepare ourselves well, it shouldn't be a problem." (MC)

"I will not convert to Catholicism." (Princess Elisabeth)

"I do not require it from you... I can even put it in writing, I am not interested in other people's souls and consciences." (MC)

"Prince, unfortunately I will not give you an answer at the moment, I would like to get to know you a little better before I do so, so if you can come to our residence for the next few days, I will be happy to talk to you about various topics." (Princess Elisabeth)

I could try to push for a faster decision or something, but I didn't feel like it and it didn't make sense either. Elisabeth was nice, interesting... a bit too sensitive about religion, but I couldn't say a bad word about her... even if she refused me, it wouldn't be a problem.