C5 Chapter 5

Ze He put his lips on that of the young woman. Then hugged her. This chaste kiss had made them happier than ever.

Gustave felt the little heart of his beloved pounding against his chest. He didn't want to go any further than this kiss before the wedding. He still had to propose to her. He didn't want to rush anything.

He walked her back to her room.

Adélie fell asleep like a baby that night.

The servants had finished setting the breakfast table. Adélie was going for the first time to eat with the royal family and important members of the court. Unfortunately it was up to the Queen Mother to make the seating plan, so she had placed Adélie as far away from her Son as possible.

When she had sat between a duchess and a courtesan, she had noticed that she would have to crease her neck if she wanted to see the King. Moreover, she imagined that Gustave surely preferred to keep silent about their follies of the old woman.

Adélie decided to remain discreet. She smiled politely when someone spoke to her at anything very rare. The King's court seemed to hate her.

The table was well stocked, rolls of all kinds and jams. There was even cocoa. Adélie had never tasted, she dared not help herself.

As she finished her sesame bun, she looked up and met the Sovereign's. Obviously he was staring at her.

Gustave found her definitely magnificent. He knew at that precise moment that he wanted her with him and this forever.

He cut short the meal to join her. He passed behind all the people at the table who got up as he passed to join the young woman.

She stood up to curtsy but he stopped her to extend his arm to her. She didn't have to beg to slip hers into it.

"Your hairstyle is lovely," observed Gustave "

Adélie blushed, she was the only woman in the court not to wear a wig and other extravagance. She simply pulled her hair up into a bun and left a strand in the back of her neck.

Gustave had decided to go for a horseback ride today.

"- Have you ever gone upstairs? He asked her.

-Rise ?

- Obviously no, he laughed, don't worry, it's very simple ”

Adélie did not understand what the King was talking about but when she arrived at the stables everything became clear.

"Oh I doubt this is a good idea, plus I'm not dressed for!" "

She contested, but Gustave just smiled as he took her to a room at the back of the stables.

He made her sit down on a small wooden bench and knelt at her feet. Adélie blushed, no man had done this before.

The King gently took his foot to remove his shoe. He noticed that they were really tiny, her skin feeling soft through the white stockings she was wearing.

He helped her put on cavalry boots and the waistcoat for riding the horses as an Amazon.

Adélie felt the stress rise and if she fell?

A groom had brought out their horses. The King had chosen a beautiful stallion Isabelle for Adélie and would show him his thoroughbred Arabian.

Adélie was trembling in front of the two huge animals. Their breath formed vapor with the cold.

Gustave approached Adélie's stallion.

" Can I ? he asked nobly "

The young woman frowned but nodded anyway without understanding.

The King grabbed her by the waist and lifted her with surprising ease to sit her in the saddle. Adélie gasped in surprise. The Sovereign's hands left a slight tingling on the young woman's sides.

Gustave then mounted his mount. And clicked his tongue. The two animals walked towards the forest roads.

Adélie remained so tense that the King noticed it.

"- Relax my dear, we are alone, he smiles

-I'm afraid of falling ... she confessed

- Let yourself go, there is only us, the Sovereign relaxed "

But how to relax perched at 1.50m on a horse? Adélie was not used to having this kind of experience. Despite everything she tried to relax, as her muscles relaxed, she enjoyed the ride and especially being alone with the man who made her heart beat.

"Have you ever fallen off your horse?" She questioned

-Hum ... Not really but when I was little I was so afraid of falling that I tied it to the saddle with a rope, during the ride I fell but as I was tied, the saddle slipped and I 'finished upside down'

Adélie laughed heartily, she laughed so much that she forgot to stand up straight and almost fell, Gustave stuck to her in time to avoid her falling.

Their bodies were so close to each other that they felt like nothing else existed when another horse came galloping up.

Baptiste came at a gallop near them. They instantly broke their contact. No one at the palace yet knew their attraction to each other.

“Your Highness, There is an urgent meeting at the castle, all your advisers are waiting for you. Cried the breathless valet

- Accompany Mademoiselle Adélie to her room, ordered the King before setting off again at a gallop "

Leaving the poor young woman alone on her mount. But Baptiste was luckily very understanding, he gently brought her back to the palace.

Gustave feared that a civil war had broken out. He galloped at full speed to the palace and didn't even take the time to change his boots to enter the meeting room.

All his advisers were standing there waiting for him.

The King was upset that he had to cut his ride short, he didn't risk mince words.

"-What's happening finally ?!

-Your Highness, revolts have resumed throughout the kingdom, since the death of your father, all Vésanese are against you. You must be appreciated or soon civil war will be upon us, said a man ”

Gustave seemed to think for a moment, how could he be appreciated by the people? He sat down at the end of the large table. Hands clasped under his chin.

"-You have any ideas maybe? He asked in front of all these men who were stamping with impatience

-Well your Highness, advanced an old man, I see only one and only solution to your problem. "

Gustave raised his eyebrows, puzzled.

"Marry you and give an heir to the crown"

The man's announcement was greeted by a hubbub in the room. Between the chief of the armies who wanted to make a show of force in order to discourage the most reckless, the ally ... the discussion had neither tail nor head.

But the Sovereign saw in this solution one more reason to marry his beautiful Adélie. He was already seeing the headlines of the newspapers: The King marries a simple peasant!

The people would feel even closer to him by having the impression of having an "infiltrator" in the palace.

"Very well, I would marry Adélie Bauduin, the former servants in charge of making the soup!" "

A silence passed in the room when another man spoke

"-Your Highness, I doubt that she is the Queen the country needs, moreover the people will not understand why her and not their daughter or their cousin."

-I read a tale a few years ago of a King who met his wife at a ball, so organize a ball and invited all the young women of the kingdom, so each family will have the impression of having had his chance, what do you think? "

The hubbub resumed, some shouted "It's madness" others shouted "What a fantastic idea"

Gustave silenced his assembly.

"Plan this ball for in a week" he announced as he left the room, urging to see his beloved again.

That same afternoon, hundreds of horses set off to the four corners of the kingdom to announce the news.

Gustave knocked on the door, but no one answered, he knew it was not well received, but he entered the room all the same.

He didn't see anyone at first, but he heard humming in the bathroom. He walked there without thinking for a moment.

When the sweet smell of roses came to his nose, it was too late, he had opened the door.

Adélie gave a shrill little cry, trying as best she could to hide her body in the bathwater.