To further contextualize our narrative, let us begin with the tale of Marie Quatre’s mother.
The imperial capital of Verseilles was ablaze in celebration with the grand party to celebrate His Imperial Highness’s fiftieth birthday. The court orchestra played a waltz and the tables were lined to the brim with extravagant dishes, all while the generals offered their congratulations with the war reports they had brought as gifts. A party so grand that it put all others to shame: they had invited not only influential aristocrats and notorious tycoons but even low-ranking nobles and their families.
Among the commoners at the foot of the table sat a breathtaking beauty. Her night-black hair and obsidian eyes were an avid contrast to her snow-white skin, making it appear even whiter in comparison.
And vying for the attention of this young woman going on sixteen was, of all people, the emperor himself, who had stepped down from the throne and parted the crowds to approach her.
“Would you care for a dance, mademoiselle?”
By the official record of the imperial scribe, Claudette Barthélemy gave a polite curtsey before replying:
“With pleasure, monsieur. To whom do I owe the honor?”
There are a number of theories as to why she had asked the emperor’s name. The theory that she just hadn’t noticed who she was talking with seemed far too insulting to be true. That she had noticed but persisted with the proper etiquette drilled into her, or was rather a brazen woman who dared to joke with His Majesty, were much more convincing speculations. The truth of the matter was one saved for her alone.
The black-haired beauty reached out her hand, which the emperor accepted with a smile.
“How rude of me. I am Liam Fernandi de Belgaria. The people address me as Liam XV.”
“Please, call me Claudette.”
After a moment’s hesitation, the conductor hailed as the best in the empire waved his baton, and the orchestra sprung to life.
This would later come to be known as the Claudette incident.
✦ ✦ ✦
Claudette, now seventeen, became the fourth concubine of the emperor. Her name was changed to ‘Mary Claudette de Belgaria.’ Rumors spread that she was pregnant even during the wedding.
Before the emperor greeted his fifty-first birthday, the concubine bore the empire’s fourth successor. As the fourth child, she was given the name Marie Quatre Argentina de Belgaria. While she was officially a legitimate daughter of the emperor, the world at large saw her as a bastard child.
When the grand chamberlain reported the birth of the fourth child, it is said Liam XV asked, “Is his hair red?”
The first emperor of Belgaria bore the moniker L’Empereur Flamme (The Flame Emperor). He was a man of crimson hair and red eyes, with a particularly muscular body. He crushed the surrounding barbarian tribes with his greatsword and carved the very foundations of the empire.
Liam XV himself, while now frail, was tall with crimson hair and red eyes. His three sons shared his eye color, but they had inherited the blonde and brown hair of their mothers and could hardly be described as well-built. While Liam XV had grown distant from both military and political affairs, it pained his heart to see the first emperor’s blood grow thin.
“Your Majesty, the baby does indeed have red hair, but she is a girl,” the grand chamberlain responded with a reverent bow.
That was seemingly where Liam XV’s interest in the fourth princess came to an end.
It was an unbearable disgrace to the prominent aristocrats that he would choose a mere peasant as his mistress. If Claudette’s child was born a man, perhaps he would have been nipped in the bud. As a matter of fact, rumor had it the first prince’s feeble body was the result of poison.
Fortunately for her, Marie Quatre was born female and thus grew up peacefully to the age of thirteen. While a princess, she studied swordplay and politics; her eccentricities did stand out, but they never escalated beyond a joke in the courts. Yet a problem was to arise when the time came for her to enter the social world.
Marie Quatre possessed a striking beauty that exceeded even that of her mother.
Around that time, a honey-faced bard with a baritone was gaining attention and popularity in high society. The empress had invited said man to the imperial court, but alas—the moment he passed by Marie Quatre, the minstrel broke into song in praise of her beauty:
“Oh, what a wondrous day it is,
A sun as bright as thee.
Thy rousing flames ensnare my heart,
And steal my words from me.”
This enraged the empress. The bard was immediately chased from the court and banished from high society.
But her problems did not end there. The empress’s own son—Second Prince Alain Deux Latrielle de Belgaria—was a man whose wit was sharp as a knife. While he was only appointed to command the First Army, by the age of twenty-three he had gained de facto control over the entirety of the imperial armed forces in place of the elderly emperor and feeble first prince.
Latrielle offered a proposal to his withered father.
“If the beautiful princess takes command, it will raise troop morale. I propose we entrust her with the stagnant northern front.”
With his decision, it was clear Liam XV’s affection toward Claudette had fully waned.