I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 1396 The Turbulent Royal Hunting Grounds
Joseph stood for more than half an hour in the weeds, enduring the stench of the wild boars that had been hunted, until he finally heard the first painter's heavenly voice, "I'm all set here, Your Highness."

"Thank you!" Joseph nodded to him, then immediately jumped onto his horse and "fled away."

The other artists shook their heads in regret.

The servants behind him began to prepare the game. Charles spurred his horse to catch up with his brother, and after much hesitation, he finally mustered his courage and said:

"Brother, look, I'm not young anymore."

Joseph tightened the reins, turned around, and gave him an "I understand" look:

"You've fallen for a young lady, haven't you? I can talk to your mother for you."

Charles's eyes widened, almost thinking his brother already knew "Louise," but he quickly realized that his brother had said "Miss" instead of "Madam."

He hurriedly shook his head:
"Um, no, you misunderstood."

"Actually, I wanted to become the governor of Essens..."

Joseph looked at Charles with some surprise:

"Eisens? Why do you want to go there?"

Essens is a small region located in the northeastern Netherlands, adjacent to Hanover.

Previously, Lefebvre had launched an attack from the Netherlands and occupied Emden. After the war, Joseph ceded western Emden to the Netherlands and southern Emden to Oldenburg, while France retained a colony of less than 180 square kilometers from Dornum to Essens.

The main reason was that the surrounding German states feared a British landing at Emden to retake Hanover, so they unanimously demanded that France station troops there. Essens was, in effect, a French military camp.

Later, with funding from the Netherlands, the French General Staff built two bastions here and stationed a thousand soldiers.

The entire colony had fewer than 4 residents, including the garrison. Governors were generally sent there with the feeling of being exiled.

Ciel, however, volunteered to go to this godforsaken place.

Charles lowered his head somewhat guiltily and said:

"I... want to leave Paris, this safe haven, and get some experience outside."

“Yes, it’s training! You see, Essens needs to train the army, deploy coastal defenses, and also conduct diplomacy with the surrounding Netherlands, Oldenburg, and Denmark.”

Of course, only he knew that the real reason was that he could see Louise from Essens in a day and a half.

"Training?" Joseph nodded slightly. It was indeed good that Charles was so ambitious, but Essens was really not a good place.

"Perhaps you could become the Grand Duke of Piedmont. The nobles there are in dire need of a king."

After the Sardinian royal family was driven back to Sardinia by the Mediterranean Security Organization, the Duchy of Piedmont, consisting of four and a half provinces in northwestern Italy centered on Turin, was formed.

However, the major families there have been constantly vying for power, which has prevented them from electing a king.

Joseph had once considered implementing a parliamentary system in Piedmont, but now he suddenly realized that sending Charles there would be a good option.

The nobles of Piedmont certainly wouldn't dare to put on airs in front of the French prince—the Palace of Versailles doesn't even need to say a word; Parma, which shares the same surname, can easily crush them.

Xiadun immediately broke out in a sweat.

Turin is more than a thousand kilometers away from Louise! And that's through Austria, and if you go around Bavaria and Switzerland, it's another 200 kilometers.

He hurriedly said:

"This... I can't possibly manage such a large country..."

"It's not even as big as Milan." "No, no, please let me start training as the governor."

Joseph, seeing that he seemed genuinely nervous, assumed it was due to excessive pressure on him, thought for a moment, and nodded, saying:

"Alright, then you shall become the governor of Ravenna."

"There are more troops there, and excellent generals to guide you. Not to mention the diplomatic aspects, it's practically the center of the northern Italian states."

Following the Battle of Mantua, France maintained a large military presence between Mantua and Ravenna. To facilitate administration, the Governor-General of Ravenna was established there early last year.

"I……"

Charles was on the verge of tears. He simply couldn't find a reason to refuse—Ravenna was a better fit than Essens in every way. He even considered saying he loved the sea, but Ravenna was just north of the Venetian Bay…

Joseph raised his riding crop at his younger brother as encouragement:
"Then it's settled. You'll depart next month to hand over duties with Marquis Cedric for six months. There shouldn't be too much going on there right now."

"I believe you can do a great job!"

"But, that..."

Just as Charles was about to find an excuse to refuse, his father approached, holding up his binoculars and saying:
"God is my witness, you are absolutely the most skilled hunters I have ever seen!"
"Especially that big boar, if it gets hit, it will probably be worse than being hit by a twelve-pound cannon."

"But you took it down with one shot! Oh, and there were other wild boars too, how many did you hit in total?"

Joseph spurred his horse forward and smiled:

"Seven in total, Father. A modern hunting rifle shouldn't be too difficult to deal with them."

Louis XVI glanced behind him and, seeing that Queen Marie Antoinette hadn't caught up yet, muttered to himself:

“I’d like to hunt like that too. Next time I definitely won’t bring your mother, and then we’ll go together…”

Queen Mary's voice interrupted him:
"Look! Our Apollo is back. That was absolutely amazing..."

In Greek mythology, Apollo and Artemis were both gods of the hunt.

Joseph was about to greet his mother when he noticed that her face was pale and she was practically panting as she spoke the last part of her sentence.

Joseph quickly stepped forward to take her hand and asked with concern:
"Are you alright? Is there anything wrong with your body?"

Queen Mary wiped her sweat with a handkerchief and waved her hand, saying:
"It's alright. I've been in the hunting grounds the whole time and haven't had much water, so I'm just a little tired now."

Alexandra followed, first bowing to the King and Queen, then pointing excitedly to the carriage in the distance:
"I heard from Colonel Kersold that we're having a barbecue later, is that right?"

Queen Mary smiled weakly and nodded:
"Yes, my dear, I've had Mr. Boneva prepare something in the rest area. There's roasted wild boar, pigeon soup, and desserts that I brought."

“Oh, that sounds wonderful!” Alexandra also noticed the Queen’s unusual appearance and leaned closer, saying, “You don’t look too well.”

"It's probably been a long time since we've gone hunting. We just need a rest."

Queen Mary was chatting away with her son and daughter-in-law when, just as they reached the rest area, she suddenly fell backward.

Joseph reacted quickly and caught her.

The people nearby were slightly taken aback, then immediately gathered around and helped the queen down from her horse.

"Mother, what's wrong?" Joseph called out, but Queen Mary just closed her eyes and didn't respond.

　Thank you to Haiyuemingfan, Laotianjisheng's High Elf Trinket, and Book Friend 20241006175139469 for their generous donations to this book! Your support is my greatest motivation! Muah!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)