King Henry VI sat in the Imperial Palace of Rio. After the Second World War ca to an end, Brazil found itself among the losing side. And in doing so were subjugated to treaties that imdiately humiliated the republican governnt.
Brazil found itself entering the sphere of Portugal once more. A shadow of a colonial past that had seed so distant until just a few years prior.
Seeing opportunity for restoration, the House of Braganza weaponized its familial ties to the House of Orleans, and the newly reconstituted Kingdom of France as a way of regaining it’s long-lost crown.
The Empire of Brazil was reborn, but it was far from a sovereign or powerful entity. Currently, the Emperor of Brazil, Pedro Henrique of Orléans-Braganza sat with the King of France in his ho as they sipped on coffee together in quiet.
Pedro sighed and shook his head as he reflected on what Henry had just told him?
"It is truly a sha... I was hoping that our two houses could stand together in the next generation, and in doing so restore so bit of sanity and security to our realms."
Henry sighed, taking a long sip from his teacup. Even after the tea was gone, he continued the gesture.
He had dreaded this trip to Brazil. And the reason was simple: he wanted to give the bad news to Pedro in person.
"I understand... and believe , this is not a matter of personal preference."
"It is pressure...." Pedro responded with a silent nod of his head. Only to be interrupted by Henry in the next second.
"No... it is a matter of survival...."
The words clung to the edge of silence, like a thinly laced venom.
"Though the official agreent hasn’t been signed in ink, I have no doubt that Grand Prince Bruno von Zehntner intends for my eldest daughter to marry one of his grandsons."
The re ntion of the old lion caused the hairs on the back of Pedro’s neck to stiffen. His hands jolted ever so slightly as he sipped from his coffee once more before placing the cup down entirely.
"If that is the case, then consider my offer formally withdrawn. I hold no animosity towards you, as your circumstances cannot be helped."
The two n sat in bitter silence over the matter. Pedro was on paper an emperor, but a re Grand Prince from across the Atlantic held higher prestige, authority, and dread surrounding his na than he could ever command even if he were given a hundred lifetis.
One did not reject an offer of betrothal from the man who had brought the world to heel throughout the course of two of the world’s most brutal wars in history.
"Does your daughter, Isabelle, know?"
Henry shook his head and looked out the window of the palace down upon the city of Rio and its natural beauty. He didn’t quite understand why, but it helped ease his distress.
"Not in the slightest... Bruno and I have barely even discussed the idea. But I have known the man for close to a decade, if not more so. He will bind France to his house so that it never again gains the chance to challenge the German Reich."
This statent provoked a raising of Pedro’s brow and a shift in his tone.
"Why his house? Why not the House of Hohenzollern?"
Henry scoffed and shook his head. The idea was almost ludicrous to him, but only because he had spent so much ti studying Bruno, his history, his actions, and most importantly his personality.
He was by no ans an expert on Bruno’s thoughts. But one thing remained stark about the man, that he felt was sohow subtle but at the sa ti starkly distinctive.
"He wouldn’t permit it... The idea of a French princess marrying into the House of Hohenzollern implies that France has a standing equal to the Reich. At best, we are fit to marry into one of the other German royal houses. And by marrying my daughter to his grandson, he’s making a statent. That France is bound to him, for he was the one who vanquished the republic."
Pedro reflected on the statent, thinking of it from every angle he could conceive. And in the end, he posed a question that even Henri had not thought of.
"Have you considered the idea that maybe you’re overthinking things? Far be it from to lecture you on the man, but what you suggest hints that he has so kind of intense disdain for France and pride in its conquest. But from the brief interactions I have had with the man, he seems almost uncaring about the world beyond the borders of the German Reich. Maybe he just trusts his own line more than the Kaisers to keep yours in check?"
Henry was quick to dismiss the idea with a scoff and a roll of his eyes. At least at first. But then he looked back on their conversations. And then it dawned on him... Perhaps Pedro was right.
He didn’t imdiately concede to this shift in perspective. Not after everything he had studied about Bruno, not after everything he thought he knew about the man.
But he was not defiantly in opposition either. Instead, he simply accepted that matters may not be as complex as he had once believed.
"I suppose I will learn the truth from the man the next ti we et."
Pedro nodded his head and said no more on the matter. Instead, he shifted the conversation elsewhere.
"So, if not your daughter Isabelle, then what about Helene or Anne?"
Henry suddenly realized that Pedro had a point. He had many sons and daughters... And that ant that marrying his elder daughter to the heir to Brazil wasn’t the only option he had available to him.
The two would continue the negotiations until the matter was settled upon. And though Isabelle would not be marrying into the House of Braganza, the ties between France and Brazil still managed to grow closer.
And in doing so, hopefully keep the other minor powers of the world like Spain and Portugal from taking advantage of their individual weaknesses.
User Comments
0 comments from readers