France, Paris.
In the corridors of Versailles Palace, Parma's Crown Prince Ludovico glanced rather nervously at the doors ahead, then turned his head and said to Bayei beside him, "In a moment, I must ask you to explain the advantages of the new trade policy to His Highness as much as possible."
"I will, Your Highness."
Ludovico followed Eman into the Crown Prince's reception room, and could not help thinking again of the painting he had received more than a month ago.
At the time, he had just returned to Parma from attending the World Expo in Karlsruhe, and had been beaming with pride as he bragged to his father and wife that, by relying on his own wisdom, he had obtained the full set of railway patent technologies from his wife's younger brother, while only needing to pay a modest sum.
However, once he finished recounting the process, the king immediately tore into him head-on with a blistering scolding.
Only then did he realize that he had brought down a terrible disaster upon himself—the model of railway technology sub-licensing might cause France to lose hundreds of millions of francs in patent revenue.
Other countries had saved money because of his actions, but most of the Crown Prince of France's fury would fall on his head.
Just as the Parma royal family was racking their brains over how to salvage this hellish situation, Versailles Palace sent over a painting.
The painting depicted the banquet in Karlsruhe. The Crown Prince of France held a wineglass in his left hand, his face flushed with drink as he laughed and chatted with the crowd, while his right hand held a pen, preparing to sign the document before him.
Part of the contents of the Railway Patent Sub-licensing Agreement could be seen on the