The Spanish Crown Prince was enthusiastically fiddling with Louis XVI’s gear machine, and turned to call out to Joseph:
“You see, the angle of this blade edge is designed so ingeniously…”
But he saw the latter prostrating on the workbench beside him, not responding.
Antony walked over and shook Joseph:
“Your Highness, have you fallen asleep?”
Joseph half-squinted his eyes, lifted his head, and started rubbing his temples vigorously, saying, “Oh, I shouldn’t have drunk so much wine at the banquet just now… The wine from Bordeaux this year is unexpectedly delicious, but now I have a bit of a headache…”
In fact, he hadn’t drunk too much, it was merely part of the “script” he had to follow.
Antony nodded, “Yes, today’s wine is indeed very mellow. I also drank quite a bit. Shall I take you back to rest?”
“Oh, yes, thank you so much…”
Seeing this, Eman discreetly made a gesture to the servant standing by the door, and then quickly came over to help his master, the Crown Prince, stand up.
The servant then slipped out of the room and signaled the agents from the Police Affairs Department, who had been on standby for a while, to “take action.”
Soon, both men who had been sent by Godoy to watch the Spanish Crown Prince ran into some “trouble.”
One was fancied by two “stormy” noblewomen and got into a fight over jealousy. The winner, giggling, dragged him into a nearby resting room; the other accidentally bumped into a maid carrying a tea tray, smashing a set of priceless Eastern porcelain. The insistent maid dragged him off to meet the steward of the inner court.
Meanwhile, “drunken” Joseph, with his right hand on the Spanish Crown Prince’s shoulder, staggered out of the Royal Workshop.
He glanced out of the corner of his eye as Eman nodded to him, and immediately pointed toward Antony’s residence, dragging out his words:
“Oh! My dear friend, I want to continue discussing the improvement plan for the gear machine with you… Let’s go to your place… and talk all night…”
Antony assumed he was drunk and didn’t want to refuse, so he had to let him walk towards his own room.
Outside the Spanish Crown Prince’s room, a sturdy noblewoman seemed to have mistaken someone for another and unceremoniously whisked away the watching Louisa’s maid. The latter didn’t even have time to cry out before she disappeared around the corridor corner.
A moment later, Joseph and Antony arrived outside the room, and the latter gestured to his attendant:
“Quick, open the door.”
Just as the attendant was about to take out the keys, Eman courteously took them over, saying with a smile:
“Let me do it.”
Eman turned the lock gently, pushed the door open softly, and then stood aside.
Joseph led Antony into the room, and saw that the living room was dimly lit, the guard room appeared empty [Note 1], but there was a faint candlelight coming from the direction of the main bedroom.
Joseph timely withdrew his arm from Antony’s shoulder, and the latter, somewhat puzzled, subconsciously walked a few steps inside, only to hear sounds he should not have heard—
A woman’s voice melodious and high-pitched, continuously calling out “Godoy,” or slurring “you’re amazing.”
The man’s voice was more subdued, mostly breathy exclamations of “hey,” or “ha.”
Antony froze on the spot.
He was all too familiar with these two voices—they were clearly his Crown Princess and her guard Godoy!
What were they doing?!
Antony really wanted to deceive himself by saying they were doing nothing, but the answer was self-evident!
He felt a surge of rage boiling from his feet to his head, his hands clenched into fists, the veins on his forehead bulging, his teeth gritted, and he stepped forward vigorously.
However, he unexpectedly halted.
Then, he lowered his head, trembling as he retreated back to the doorway, paused for a few seconds, took a deep breath, and turned to walk out.
Joseph was completely dumbfounded.
No, come on, man, you’re supposed to burst in, right? I’ve got the guard ready, just waiting for your signal to drag the adulterer out to be “dunked in a pig’s cage” or something.
How could you slip away at the crucial moment?!
I can’t rush in to catch the adulterer on your behalf, can I? How can I take action if you, the principal, are not there?
He too was taken aback for a few seconds before following Antony out of the room, quickly catching up to him and grabbing his arm:
“Why did you leave? Was there something ‘special’ inside the room?”
Antony just lowered his head in silence, walking determinedly forward. Joseph decided to speak more straightforwardly:
“Was that the Crown Princess in the room? Aren’t you going to check?”
It wasn’t until they got back to the Royal Workshop that Antony seemed to have rediscovered his soul, his eyes bloodshot as he looked at Joseph, his lips trembling:
“She… she betrayed me…”
Joseph nodded:
“Then you should have barged in and punished her harshly.”
Antony’s eyes grew even redder, his helplessness like that of a 40-year-old child, and after a long while he said softly, “I… I… I don’t dare…”
Joseph instantly felt puzzled, and it took a while to communicate with him before finally understanding that his Spanish relative was incredibly “tame,” to quite an extreme extent.
He was immediately frustrated, having never seen such a cowardly man.
“You can endure this as well?”
“I can’t…” Antony said, looking down, “perhaps, you can help me?”
“I…” Joseph found himself at a loss for words.
Elsewhere, seeing that the two Crown Princes had not returned for quite a while, Eman reluctantly locked the door again, gently. Inside the room, the couple remained oblivious to the fact that anyone had come by.
…
The next morning, Joseph, following the predetermined schedule, welcomed Russia’s Crown Prince Paul Petrovich, the future Tsar—Paul I—in the Versailles Palace Square.