I Am Louis XIV

   Chapter 23 The Little Witch's Fantasy

Mary ran quickly behind the holly hedge, a small heart beating non-stop, not even noticing that she lost her little bag of casting materials, she ran back to her room and chased away. The maids, threw herself on the bed and gasped violently, her head was dizzy, her cheeks were tingling, the world in front of her was spinning, and she didn't know what was going on... But Your Majesty, she means, Louis, (Dear) Louie's voice kept ringing in her ears.

   He said he would not marry Princess Henrietta as his wife.

Marie Mancini was a child before she came to Paris. Although she was only two or three years younger than Louis, because she was born a wizard, she spent far more time in the inner world than in the outer world. The etiquette of the world is obviously not as strict as the world, so when she came to Paris, especially after she was able to serve the Queen Mother, she encountered a lot of ridicule and frame-up full of jealousy. Although she took revenge one by one, she still felt that she It is out of tune with this world, especially since Mr. Bishop told her that it is best not to use the power that belongs to the inner world too frequently.

   But she is a witch.

If it weren't for the repeated and stern warnings of her father and uncle, maybe Mary would have thought of going back to the inner world, where it belongs to her - in the court, although the existence of wizards is almost an open secret, she still The rules must be strictly adhered to - if a member of the royal family dares to openly keep a wizard or a dark creature, he will be excommunicated by the church, or even be questioned by the Inquisition.

And her family didn't want her to exist in the palace just as a witch. What they gave hope was not her understanding and mastery of magic, but her appearance and voice, but... This is for Mary , It is a shame, and she is not willing to give up her identity as a witch, she hopes her husband can believe her, understand her, support her, and even understand the beauty of magic.

   The problem is, even if she's just a child, she knows it's almost impossible. In the inner world, it is not that there are no wizards or witches who accidentally reveal their identities because they fell in love with the mortals in the outer world. So even from the vision of a girl, the image is vague, elusive and imaginary.

   Until she fought the hordes of werewolves with His Majesty the King on that terrible night.

   The first time they met, he knew she was a witch.

Mary had worried whether His Majesty the King would be like those mortals described by the wizards, only to fall into fear because of seeing them cast spells, and then go crazy, obviously, no, His Majesty the King accepts her existence, he is not afraid of her , and will not flatter her, his attitude... can only be described like this, like facing a musician, a priest, a scholar, the spell that makes mortals change their minds is just a skill - like Skills like cooking flowers or baking bread, he accepted her calmly, and magic, and when she talked about those inner worlds with enthusiasm, he didn't shrink or get angry, but hugged her. Listen attentively with a sincere and enthusiastic attitude.

  —I don’t know since when, that vague image became clear, and it seemed like it would appear in front of her at any time.

  To this day, when she heard that sentence outside the door, Louis suddenly overlapped with that image.

Realizing this, Mary was so panicked that she didn't know what to do. She even twisted the lanyard of the small bag unintentionally. When she found that Louis was walking towards her, she turned around and ran away without hesitation. She couldn't face it. He, at least not today, maybe not in the next few days.

   But just when she was at a loss, Louis came.

The king can refuse the visit of others, but in Richelieu's house, no one can refuse the visit of the king, Marie went to the king with a flushed face, Louis thought she had drunk too much, "This is you the bag," he took it back to Marie: "be careful, Mademoiselle Mancini," he said kindly: "Paris is full of people from the Inquisition now, and maybe there are some people with bad minds. Will do things that shouldn't be done."

  Mary thanked from the bottom of her heart. She also knew that she had made a mistake, but she still respectfully bowed to the king and thanked him.

This made Louis a little surprised. Miss Mancini was probably the most arrogant person around him. She didn't think of him as a king. He rides with him, and for this reason, among the many ladies, Marie Mancini is the one that impresses him the most. Louis is never angry at her disrespect. After all, she makes him lively. As if it was still in the past, maybe that's why he was willing to get along with her often.

Louis waited patiently for a while, Mary looked a little dazed, which made the king a little worried, he reached out and stroked Mary's forehead, and the cold fingers made Mary sober all of a sudden, she knew that she should curtsy. His Majesty the King, but she didn't want to see him before, and now she doesn't want to let him go.

   "What's the matter, Mary?" Louis asked. "Don't worry, I found this bag, and I didn't show it to the second person. Put it away and don't have another time."

   "Yes..." Mary said, her eyes downcast, barely daring to meet Louis, "I'll be careful."

   "Then I will go back," said the king, "tomorrow we may go to the market together."

   He was about to turn away, but was pulled back.

  Mary grabbed his shoulder straps.

   "What are you going to do? Mary," the king said angrily, "you are a little rude."

He was about to rebuke Mary, but the little girl raised her head, those bright eyes that could even calm the lion in a rage, "Okay," she said softly, "your majesty, okay, I I'd love to go anywhere with you."

  Louis reluctantly raised his hand and touched her curly hair.

   "Then you have to rest well," he said, "and stop worrying."

  ————

In fact, it was an idea of ​​Louis to go to the market. He wanted to know more about Paris and his people. Now because the black judges and monks of the Inquisition appear on the streets of Paris from time to time, the law and order of Paris needs to be It is much better than before. The market was reopened three months ago. In this era without much entertainment, the lively market not only attracts commoners and businessmen, but also noble officials cannot resist such temptation. Queen Mother Anne There was also talk of going to the market place, and the Duchess of Montpensier, who had been complaining about not wanting to stay at Richelieu all the time.

The king wrote a note for Bontang to pass on to the Queen Mother Anne, her brother Philip, his aunt Queen Mary and her daughter Princess Henrietta, and the Duchess of Montpensier, inviting them to the market tomorrow and replying Soon came, except for the Duchess of Montpensier, who said she was ill, very unwell, and had difficulty in walking, and had nothing but the kindness of the king.

Louis didn't take it to heart, but Philip came to thank him in person. Of course, after that he shared a bed with the king logically. Before he fell asleep, he gave the king an endorsed bill of exchange worth fifteen thousand A thousand gold louis.

   "What is this?" asked the king.

"Ten thousand louis for mother, and five thousand louis for mine," said Philip, "to you, Your Majesty, although we do not understand why you insist on it, if you want to do it, you can tell us what you want. ."

   "I didn't want you to pay," said Louie.

   "But we are much richer than you." Philip said bluntly: "Louis, this is not for the king, but for his son and brother."

   (end of this chapter)