Chapter 219 Traveling Through the Middle Ages 219

Chapter 219: Crossing the Medieval Era 219

Of course, Elizabeth would be dissatisfied. While her relationship with the Philip couple was strained, the unity of interests between husband and wife was another matter entirely. In this era, noble couples who shared affection were few; most marriages were alliances, where duty outweighed personal feelings—thus, after the initial disappointment of unfulfilled romantic ideals, she accepted her situation with composure.

However, Philip's power, reputation, and wealth were also hers, unaffected by their marital relations. Especially concerning 'wealth,' as she had brought a substantial dowry (as part of the defeated party's indemnity), even though it was customary for the dowry to be under her husband's control, she could not help but feel a sense of ownership.

Therefore, when François asked Philip for money for his wedding, Elizabeth naturally felt aggrieved.

If François only had Philip as a brother to rely on, it might have been understandable. In small noble families, resources were limited, and the eldest son who inherited the title could often ignore his younger brothers. But in large noble families, there were certain expectations. Being from one of the six major secular noble families of Vasson, and specifically from the Fuging lineage, Elizabeth understood this well.

But François was not in such a situation. He was a prince of the royal family, supported by the royal clan, with a brother who was king, a mother who was a wealthy dowager queen, and even a rich fiancée! Even if he desired a lavish and grand wedding, there was no reason to turn to Philip, who was not particularly wealthy.

Indeed, compared to the powerful kingdom's princes, Philip was not considered wealthy. He became independent during the reign of Louis III, receiving some assets. However, Louis III, despite his various issues, regained clarity at the end and did not intend to create a powerful younger brother for the future heir.

Perhaps, due to Louis III's frail health and Guillaume's undefeated military prowess, which instilled considerable fear, Louis III dared not risk Guillaume overreacting, leading to this outcome.

In any case, the land Philip received was more symbolic than practical, and his financial resources were meager, given the depleted state treasury at the time. Although Louis III provided him with some items from his private treasury upon his death, the majority of the royal private treasury belonged to the next king—though no one thought Philip was mistreated because of this.

Guillaume won the battle against the Duke of Fuging, and the largest share of the spoils went to him... The substantial dowry that 'Elizabeth of Fuging' brought, including a significant piece of land (which granted Philip an earldom), was not something a common prince would receive, nor even a king.

Who didn't know the inside story?

This merely made Philip a typical, wealthy noble, bringing him up to par with other princes of the powerful kingdom. To say he was wealthy would be a stretch.

As the bride who brought Philip his main fortune, Elizabeth was acutely aware of this. Now, with Queen Mother Anna's request implying a substantial financial outlay from Philip, she naturally felt the pinch.

"Mother, the treasury, His Majesty, and Her Majesty the Queen can together provide nearly 6,000 pounds, which I believe should suffice. Not many weddings cost upwards of ten thousand pounds; those that do are either for the king or crown prince, or there is some other reason." For instance, using a wedding as an occasion for a gathering of nobles.

"If you think this is insufficient, you can certainly ask the bride's side to contribute more. I remember that both His Majesty's and Philip's weddings were funded this way." Elizabeth knew why her mother-in-law hadn't considered this approach—it was because she viewed the entire fortune of the future daughter-in-law and her mother as François's property, so using this money would essentially mean using François's own funds!

Thinking of this, she felt even more that her mother-in-law was partial, and thus became even more dissatisfied!

Elizabeth’s words were very ‘accurate,’ leaving Queen Anna speechless. Of course, she could say that 6,000 pounds was far from enough for a wedding that truly matched Prince François Vasson’s status. Compared to Philippe’s wedding, it was indeed a far cry, which was unfair. However, the problem was that the subsequent remarks were too difficult to counter.

Yes, in noble marriages at the time, it was much more common for the bride's side to pay before the non-heir elder brother contributed. If Queen Anna were to openly admit that she was saving money for her younger son, thus needing the elder son to subsidize, it would be impossible—everyone had seen through the underlying meaning, but no one dared to say it outright.

Those uninvolved had no need to offend by speaking up, and as the beneficiary, François showed some backbone by wanting to refuse. But he was not yet independent, and his opposition was dismissed by Queen Anna as youthful recklessness, quickly suppressed.

As for Philippe, who was one of the parties involved, he was in the best position to expose the truth. However, as a son and a brother, it would be difficult for him to point out his mother’s favoritism without embarrassing her. Moreover, given his character, he might not really care about the financial gain or loss. It wasn’t that he was indifferent to material things, but compared to what weighed on the other side of the scale, money was insignificant.

Even if we set aside the role of family affection, from a practical standpoint, this arrangement would help his mother rely more on him as the eldest son and make his younger brother trust him more as an older brother... This was somewhat akin to the relationship between a feudal lord and a vassal. A feudal lord, to gain the loyalty of a vassal, needed not only legal support but also had to provide land and money to the vassal, as the saying goes, "even an emperor doesn’t starve his soldiers."

Unless he had no ambition at all, he should take on some responsibility among his ‘allies’—and judging from his actions in the original story, how could Philippe have no ambition? While he certainly didn’t have the ambition to succeed as King of Vasson due to Guillaume’s early death and lack of heirs, he did have the ambition to be a powerful lord, gaining more power and the ability to decide his own fate.

Therefore, to some extent, Elizabeth’s act of breaking the silence was not what Philippe wanted to see.

This wasn’t because Philippe lacked appreciation; rather, it highlighted Elizabeth’s lack of ‘political acumen.’ She couldn’t see through such a simple matter—while Queen Anna’s request for Philippe to contribute money might have been partly due to her favoring her younger son, there was a genuine reason behind her confidence in making this request!

In her view, she would definitely rely on Philippe in the future, and her younger son would naturally look up to his elder brother. Given this premise, it was only right for the elder brother to contribute to the younger brother’s wedding. How else could he be a ‘big brother’? This logic was similar to why Guillaume and Louise contributed nearly 6,000 pounds—to gain respect and establish authority, one couldn’t be stingy with contributions.

"Dear, don’t put Mother and François in a difficult position," Philippe quickly said to Elizabeth. "Alicia and her mother left Baron many years ago. Do you want Alicia’s uncle, the current usurper of Baron, to pay for François and Alicia’s wedding?"

Alicia and her mother were wealthy, and when Elizabeth spoke of contributing money for the wedding, she meant them. But Philippe deliberately framed it in the most traditional sense of the ‘bride’s family,’ shifting the focus to the current King of Baron—expecting the King of Baron to contribute was, of course, impossible, but this allowed him to defuse Elizabeth’s remarks.

To prevent Elizabeth from saying anything inappropriate (given Philippe’s understanding of her temper and lack of sophistication, it was quite possible), Philippe used a very serious, almost intimidating gaze to make her fall silent.

This prevented Elizabeth from saying anything more at the banquet, but the aftermath was that their previously ‘harmless’ cold war turned into a ‘hot war’ after they left the palace. After a one-sided argument by Elizabeth, the two felt as though they had developed a deep-seated enmity. They seemed more like enemies than a married couple.

There was no way around it; ‘Elizabeth of Fuying,’ the youngest daughter of the Duke of Fuying, had grown up pampered, always getting what she wanted, and her character was indeed spoiled and her pride extremely strong. When she was ‘scared’ into silence by Philippe, the humiliation made her quiet, but once she came to her senses, she couldn’t let it go so easily.

So, as everyone lamented her youth and capriciousness, and speculated when she would finally realize that, as a woman, no matter how noble her birth, she must ultimately submit to her husband, Elizabeth and her husband, Prince Philip, had ceased to see each other. Elizabeth, relying on the castle that came with her dowry, was even planning to move out.

While it was not uncommon for noble couples to live apart in those days, it was rare for a wife to leave her husband of her own accord before they had an heir, especially when there was no practical need for separation.

Frankly, this move was a bit of a slap in the face for Philip. If not for his good nature (which was indeed commendable for the times), Elizabeth would have faced severe consequences. Perhaps sensing Philip's character, Elizabeth felt emboldened enough to act so 'boldly.'

Philip did try to persuade Elizabeth not to go through with it, at least to maintain appearances and avoid becoming the subject of gossip in the high society of Cité. But how easy was it to dissuade a spoiled young lady? His efforts were ultimately in vain.

However, perhaps fate still favored this 'hero' named Philip. Just when he had given up, even finding some relief in the idea of living separately from Elizabeth, an unexpected turn of events changed everything—Elizabeth discovered she was pregnant.