章 37: Chapter 37: Cross Family III
"What's got my dear sister's knickers in a twist?" Maquis Christopher Cross, who just got back to their ducal mansion in the capital, asked jestingly after seeing Annalys fuming in their drawing room.
"Language, Christopher." His mother, duchess Emma Cross, slightly reprimanded.
Annalys, hearing her brother's voice, turned to face him. Quickly, she walked over to where he was. "Brother, what took you so long? You have to see this." She said as she handed him a letter.
Christopher received the letter and opened it to read its content. Then he laughed. "Why are you so worried over this matter? Leonard asking to escort you to the Charlotte's ball, you ought to be flattered."
"Excuse me?" Annalys exclaimed. "Why should I be? He's just a pauper with unknown origins."
Christopher shook his head. "I am not insinuating otherwise. However, you can simply turn his offer down." he replied as he entered the room. Facing his mother, he greeted her and asked, "Mother, has father returned?"
"He's inside his study. By the way, you should not belittle your sister's concern. Crown princess Serena alluded that she will be involved in your sister's match. Then this morning, the letter from Leonard arrived. Obviously, her intention is clear to see." duchess Emma stated.
"What did you expect when you agreed to have Annalys marry Geoffrey as his second wife?" Christopher retorted as he sat down. From the beginning, he never expected much from Annalys' plan. Yes, the result so far has been beyond his expectations and might he say worked in their favor, however, he still believes that later, Geoffrey would still choose to abandon Serena regardless of how delicately sumptuous she seems to be.
Duchess Emma frowned. "Your father agreed, and you know that we can't place all our eggs in one basket."
Annalys, who has been informed of the matter beforehand, grimaced. Though she still has hopes to marry Charlton, if need be, then she would marry as Geoffrey's second wife instead. Of course, she did not want it to come to that point so she's hoping that this Season would be in her favor. The king has been sending envoys to Suffox and she was hoping that Charlton would attend this Season's festivities.
Christopher sighed. If Annalys were to marry Geoffrey, then everything they have worked for would all be gone to waste. He did not want that to happen for he has bigger aspirations for himself. Truthfully, after his father decided to place his bets on his sister's plan, he already knew that if he doesn't take a step forward, his ambitions would only be that. A pipedream.
His father has always been playing safe that's why they were unable to move forward. Aside from that, his means have long been archaic to that point that he was even willing to gamble their years of effort in Annalys' plans.
To be fair, Annalys efforts were not in vain for it did help. However, to rely solely on that, gods. Their dreams and aspirations all in the hands of women's squabbles.
Thus, unbeknown to his family, he decided to take matters in his own hands.
In cooperation with Marquess Klaus, he began making their movements. Having the position vice minister of justice was very convenient and crucial in executing their plans. What his father could not do, he did. The death of grand duke Charles Daniel was necessary if they wanted to succeed and so, he made it happen.
Now, why was it necessary?
First, although the Daniels only held 20% of military power in the kingdom, their soldiers have experienced war. If they decide to stand with the royal family, which most probably would still be the case because the grand duchess was the king's sister and grand duke Charles was a loyalist, then it would be difficult for their faction, the radical faction, to win once they decide to start the rebellion.
If they can get Charles out of the picture, then that means that they can compete in terms of military power with the royal family. Though visually, the royal family had 60% of the total military forces, one should not forget that though only 20% was held by the Cross family, they still had private armies plus the ones Klaus has been nurturing.
Second, they can get Charlton, his son, to play neutral, or perhaps even join their cause.
Without a doubt, Charlton would want to return to the capital and investigate what happened. If they can lead Charlton to believe that the cause of his father's death was instigated by the royal family, then all the better.
Given Christopher's position as vice minister of Justice, he can present his help to Charlton and help him conclude that it was the king or even Geoffrey who did it.
In this case, since everyone still believed that the Cross family was in the neutral zone, or some may even assume they were leaning towards the monarchist because Annalys was the crown princess' lady-in-waiting, Christopher knew that he could use that to his advantage. He was still thinking of how to go about it without being obvious though.
Now, they didn't want to hope too much because Charlton's mother was still the king's sister. So, at the very least, the result they wanted was Charlton to keep his arms crossed. It's not completely necessary that they combine forces to defeat the royal family, though it would place them at an advantage.
Third, by using the death of grand duke Charles as one of their causes, they can avoid any backlash after they oust the royal family.
Once they have placed Charlton in the neutral zone and incriminate Geoffrey or the royal family, then they can proceed with the coup. Why the timing? Because Geoffrey was too well loved by the masses that the only way that they can avoid a civil war from happening after they win was if their cause was justified.
Grand duke Charles was a war hero, and it was no secret that the king has been targeting him for ages. The injustice he faced would be enough to instigate people to believe that their monarch has been abusing his power by suppression and so, it was necessary for a revolution to happen.
After all those, they can establish a republic which was the main objective of the radical faction.
And then, finally, he would reap the benefits.
--
TBC
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