In Louis Philippe and the House of Orléans's eyes, carving out a territory of their own was clearly more realistic than launching a counterattack against France.
Alsace-Lorraine was protected by the German Confederation, and the million Germans living there were their best shield.
After all, if the French government tried to forcibly reclaim control of Alsace-Lorraine at this point, it would turn into a war between two peoples.
As long as the House of Orléans still bore the title of German duke, the French government would have to think twice.
Compared with the interests of the entire family, Louis Philippe's life was insignificant.
In truth, at seventy-five years old, Louis Philippe was not particularly concerned about his own safety.
By contrast, leaving a greater inheritance to his descendants was what he wanted most now. So, after receiving Franz's promise, he agreed without hesitation.
Everything went far more smoothly than Franz had imagined. Louis Philippe formally transferred the House of Orleans's right to protect Belgium to the Frankfurt Parliament.
Frankfurt, National Assembly of the German Empire.
When Speaker Eduard Simson and Deputy Speaker Gabriel Riesser saw the transfer document, the corners of their mouths twitched at the same time. This was no transfer of rights; it was plainly a death warrant.
But in this gathering place of nationalists, they had to put on a look of delighted surprise and accept the death warrant with a smile.
On the surface, this resolved the legal basis for the German Confederation to support Belgium, but in reality, it left the Frankfurt National Assembly trapped in a dilemma.
The unauthorized actions of the Luxembourgers and the Dutch had now become officially sanctioned support. In the French view, this was nothing less than a conspiracy, everything prearranged by Belgium and the German Confederation.
Even more frightening,