Losing and winning

In another box on the second floor of the auction Hall, Princess Maria recognized Clementine's voice the moment she first called out a bid—that chattering voice echoed all day in the Versailles Palace, impossible to forget.

Maria hadn't expected her to come and compete with her for the necklace, but then she was relieved—hadn't she come to Paris just to compete with her for it?

When Maria looked again at the "Wish of the Stars" that the Crown Prince had worn, she suddenly felt that this might be a rehearsal of the outcome of their competition.

Whoever gets the necklace will get him!

The thought flashed through her mind, and a resolute look appeared in her eyes. She turned her head and whispered to the maid:

"Livre."

The latter immediately nodded and called out the price to the auctioneer.

Although some Nobility ladies from the Versailles Palace recognized the "Wish of the Stars" pendant as the one worn by the Crown Prince in the painting and were eager to bid, they were all immediately silenced before the price had been driven to an astonishing height.

This certainly doesn't include Clementine.

"350,000!" Her eyes widened, and she raised the price by another 50,000.

"400,000," Maria's maid replied almost without hesitation.

"500,000!"

550,000.

When Clementine wanted to raise the price further, she suddenly froze—she seemed to be out of money.

After all, she is still a 10-year-old child, and for the time being, she only has an annual pension income. In addition, her father gave her 200,000 when she came to Paris this time, so her "total assets" total 560,000.

That's not enough; we'll add another 50,000.

"560,000 Livre!" she gritted her teeth and quoted her absolute limit.

When Maria heard that she had only added 10,000, she felt a sense of relief and gestured to her maid, "600,000."

She was already fifteen years old, owned her own Manor and a fish farm, and was far wealthier than the little girl.

She believed she had won this battle for the necklace.

Sure enough, the auction house fell silent after her maid called out "600,000".

Clementine her feet in frustration, but could only helplessly listen to the auctioneer announce loudly, "600,000 Livre, once."

She bit her lip tightly, tears welling in her eyes. For some reason, she had a vague feeling that if she lost "Wish of the Stars," she would lose the Crown Prince.

"Oh, darling, what's wrong with you?"

Queen Mary noticed that her niece's shoulders seemed to be trembling slightly, and she asked her with concern. Then she saw that the little girl's eyes were a bit red.

"Do you really want that necklace?" She pointed to the "Wish of the Stars" necklace displayed on the brocade in the auction room, but suddenly paused, realizing the necklace looked somewhat familiar...

By the way, isn't this the necklace from the oil painting?

The Queen immediately understood why her niece was so persistent in raising the price.

Clementine looked at her aunt with a wronged expression and nodded vigorously.

"Livre, twice."

Queen Mary smiled and said softly, "My dear, please raise the price as you wish. No matter the amount, I will pay for it."

"Real?!"

The little girl was overjoyed. Seeing the Queen nod, she quickly wiped away her tears and interrupted the auctioneer, shouting, "Wait! 650,000!!"

With Queen Mary's support, Clementine won the final victory without any doubt.

When the auction house manager respectfully carried the "Wish of the Stars" necklace into the private box, the little girl immediately picked it up, pressed it against her chest, gently rubbing it, squinting her eyes to enjoy the cool touch for a moment, then turned to Queen Mary, curtsied, and smiled sweetly:

"Thank you so much, my dearest aunt! I love you so much!"

However, just as she happily raised the necklace to show it to the Queen, it caught on a Gem on her dress.

The edge of the Gem snapped the string holding the necklace together, and with a "whoosh," dozens of sparkling diamonds scattered all over the ground.

Clementine instinctively reached out to grab the diamond in mid-air, but grasped nothing [Note 1].

She froze for three seconds, then burst into tears. "Why? Why am I always so unlucky?!"

Several maids hurriedly lay down on the ground, carefully searching for the diamonds.

Queen Mary was also taken aback, but she quickly calmed down, gently embraced her niece, patted her back, and softly comforted her.

After an unknown amount of time, Clementine silently followed Queen Mary Antoinette out of the East Hall of the Tuileries Palace. Although the auction house repeatedly assured her that the necklace could be restored to its original condition, she couldn't feel happy at all.

In a corner of a corridor in the East Hall, Princess Maria bit her lip hard, feeling as if all the strength had left her body.

She had clearly seen that Clementine had left with Queen Mary. Therefore, it was very clear why the latter had ultimately won the necklace despite being unable to raise the price further.

She felt empty inside. It was clear that the Grand Duchess of Tuscany was the Queen of France's choice, not herself.

If that's the case, even if the Crown Prince prefers her, she will ultimately have to marry that girl.

It turns out that I had already lost from the very beginning.

She tilted her head back and took a deep breath, then said to the maid beside her:

"Alisa, let's go home..."

The following day, the Carriage of the Two Sicilies Princess traveled alone along the King's Road in the Southern Suburbs of Paris, bathed in the morning sun.

Not long ago, on this very road, the Crown Prince had greeted her with thousands of soldiers, but now she was returning alone. The Crown Prince had originally come to see her off, but she refused—it would be too inelegant to cry in front of him.

The sunlight cast the Carriage's shadow long and thin, like a hand desperately reaching for Paris, yet grasping nothing in the end.

Inside the carriage, Maria hesitated for a long time before finally placing the letter back on the table.

On the uncovered corner of the envelope, her neat and beautiful handwriting was visible. "My dearest Your Highness, these days in Paris have been the happiest time of my life. I have prayed to God every moment that my life could be frozen in time at that moment when we danced together on the carousel! Though this is but a wishful thought, at least I have this precious memory. After returning to the Two Sicilies, I will pray for your health day and night, and bless you and the Grand Duchess of Tuscany..."

She wrote the letter in tears last night, intending to have the maid deliver it to Joseph this morning, but at the last minute, she gave up.

Perhaps, this girl's feelings should remain buried deep in her heart, rather than causing him any trouble because of her.

In an office on the second floor of the Tuileries Palace, Joseph was reviewing the Fashion Week financial report sent by Flesselles.

The report was quite thick; he flipped through several pages but couldn't find the total amount. He looked up at the chairman of the Fashion Week Organizing Committee standing to the side.

Viscount Flesselles, as if guessing, hurriedly replied, "Ah, Your Highness, the total income for the past few days was 4.62 Livre, and the expenditure was Livre."

[Note 1]: Reading comprehension (10 points).

After Clementine spent a fortune to purchase the "Wish of the Stars" necklace, it inexplicably broke, scattering dozens of diamonds across the ground. What thoughts and feelings does the author express in this passage?

(End of this chapter)