Wishes Fulfilled

Charles VII, the Victorious King, is dead.

This king, who won the Hundred Years' War and saved France from peril, 'died of illness' in Amboise Castle.

When the spy brought this news back to the Louvre and personally informed Louis, the crown prince, who yearned for power, was surprisingly calm as if nothing had happened.

After hearing the report, Louis's expression remained unchanged; there was neither sorrow nor ecstasy.

He merely turned to his confidant beside him and ordered, 'Go inform the Duke of Anjou, and the Count of Maine. Oh, and release the Duke of Alençon, who is imprisoned in the palace; it's a new era now, he is not an enemy of France.'

'Yes, Your Highness... ah no, Your Majesty.'

After the confidant left, Louis pressed the spy who had delivered the message, 'When the former king died, did he say anything?'

The spy replied, 'The former king's illness was too severe; he had lost the ability to speak.'

In the end, the Duke of Armagnac knelt by the bedside and asked if he should let you inherit the throne, and the former king shook his head.

When he asked if he should let Prince Charles inherit the throne, the former king neither shook his head nor nodded.'

Louis sneered, dismissed the spy, and called a servant into the room to help him put on a tailor-made, magnificent suit of armor.

After everything was complete, he tightened the belt from which his sword hung, strode out of the Louvre with his head held high, crossed the drawbridge in front of the palace gate, where his personal guards were already waiting with warhorses at the other end of the bridge.

Louis mounted his warhorse and, leading the personal guards assembled in front of the palace gate, left Paris accompanied by the recently released Duke of Alençon.

The citizens found the crown prince's army appearing on the streets very unusual, and many speculated that something significant must have happened.

Outside the city gate, a detachment of Ordinance Cavalry led by the Count of Maine was awaiting their new king.

After the two groups met, they rushed towards Amboise Castle at an extremely fast pace, while the Duke of Anjou remained in Paris to control the situation.

A few days quickly passed, and Amboise Castle was still immersed in an atmosphere of sorrow.

Queen Marie and Prince Charles, who had rushed from Paris, only managed to see Charles VII one last time; Charles VII left this world on the very day they arrived at the castle.

Servants carefully washed the remains and performed a simple embalming—by this time, the body had already turned black and showed large areas of decay.

Messengers were sent to various regions of the kingdom to inform nobles and clergy from all over to attend Charles VII's funeral.

A delicate coffin was completed, Charles VII's remains were placed within it, and the funeral procession prepared to transport the king's body back to Paris.

Shortly after they left Amboise Castle, a fully armed army appeared before them, blocking their path.

Queen Marie pulled back the carriage curtain, frowned, and asked the Duke of Orléans, who was riding a warhorse beside the procession, 'What's happening? Why aren't we moving forward?'

Beside her, the young Prince Charles was sound asleep; from his swollen eyes, it was evident that the prince still could not accept the fact that his beloved father had passed away.

The Duke of Orléans was also bewildered; he craned his neck to look ahead, only to see two teams of knights circling around the sides of the funeral procession, one on the left and one on the right, seemingly intending to surround them.

He recognized the armor of these knights and their banners.

'Your Majesty, it's the Ordinance Knights, the Ordinance Knights stationed in Paris have come here.'

The Duke of Orléans's reply made Queen Marie frown deeply; the armies of Paris were all in her two brothers' hands, so how could they be here?

The Queen glanced at the sleeping Charles, did not disturb him, and instead dismounted the carriage alone.

She also noticed the Ordinance Knights, who had already occupied both sides of the road and were standing ready.

This made her even more displeased, and just as she was about to reprimand them, she suddenly saw her brother, Charles, the Count of Maine, walking shoulder to shoulder with the Duke of Armagnac, who was leading the procession, towards them.

Queen Marie, supported by her maid, went to meet them. The Count of Maine, seeing his sister's stern face, instinctively recoiled and bowed respectfully.

'Charles, why are you here?'

'Sis... Your Majesty, we are here to welcome you all,' the Count of Maine replied somewhat awkwardly.

The Queen was quite displeased with this answer: 'Hmph, do you need to bring these warriors to welcome us? Where is Louis? Tell him to come see me!'

'Mother, I am here.'

Louis, clad in magnificent armor, rode his steed all the way to the front of the crowd, followed by the Duke of Alençon and several confidants.

'I have come to take the crown that belongs to me, and to invite you and Charles to my coronation.'

As he spoke, Louis's gaze occasionally flickered towards the timid and uneasy Duke of Armagnac beside him, a dangerous glint in his eyes.

'This is certainly a peculiar way to invite someone.'

Marie eyed Louis warily; the crown prince remained on horseback, looking down at his mother as they met each other's gaze.

'You must not harm your brother!'

Louis nodded slightly and promised, 'I will not harm him, as long as he gives up those dangerous thoughts.'

'I can swear to God on this!'

Upon hearing this, the Duke of Armagnac's heart raced, and the thoughts of supporting Prince Charles that had been in his mind almost instantly vanished—he always had a misconception that Louis was intentionally or unintentionally targeting him.

Marie then asked, 'What about your father's funeral?'

Louis glanced at the very conspicuous coffin in the procession, his heart completely unmoved, and he coldly replied, 'Nothing is more important than the coronation; a kingdom cannot be without a ruler for a single day.'

'First, transport father's coffin back to Paris; once I have completed my coronation in Reims, then we will hold the most solemn funeral for father.'

It has been exactly twenty years since he first rebelled against his father in 1440 until today.

Now he has finally achieved his wish, obtaining the crown of France that belongs to him, and nothing else is more important than this.

Marie sighed softly; she understood her son and knew that almost no one could change something he had made up his mind about, so she finally nodded and agreed to Louis's decision.

Seeing his mother's low spirits, Louis did not linger further. Before turning his horse and leaving, he said to Marie, 'Mother, politics is a cruel game; in the face of power, everything else is merely a discardable burden—you yourself taught me this, have you forgotten?'

With that, he left with his attendants without waiting for a reply.

Queen Marie stood rooted to the spot, Louis's words echoing in her mind, along with his indifferent expression.

She knew Louis was reminding her not to forget that ten years ago, they had conspired to assassinate Charles VII's most favored royal mistress.

This conspiracy transformed Queen Marie and Crown Prince Louis from a simple mother-son relationship into close political allies.

Although this alliance was temporarily interrupted after Louis fled France, Louis now clearly hoped to continue maintaining such a relationship.

All the nobles in the funeral procession were brought under the control of Louis's army; they would follow Louis back to Paris, and then proceed without delay to Reims for the coronation.

A detachment of Ordinance Knights took over the task of escorting the former king's coffin.