Royal Reception

[Congress Aresura]

Palace of Kings
Corpus Christi ~ Oltremare
12:58 Local Time​

It seemed that a hangover from the Royal Feast two days ago was still plaguing Oltremare, its new King especially. True, it was a feast to be remembered for a long time, with the entertainment and food and length, but still, the time of hangovers was yesterday, how could it continue to today?

The day was overcast and cool, the sun hidden behind the clouds like a child underneath his blankets, refusing to face the world, choosing instead to stay right where it was, warm and comfortable. His Most Serene Majesty, King Francesco VII, pre-coronation Giuseppe Ceretto, wanted to do exactly that, but it was completely impossible. There was an important meeting to be had today, a meeting with the Queen of Belmont herself.

Swallowing the two tablets of high-strength aspirin, the young royal rubbed his temples wearily. He certainly looked the part of an uncertain leader resigned to his duties, standing a little over five feet and nine inches, dressed in a black business suit that had naught a speck of dust upon it, he was lean in structure, and had an odd tendency to lean subtly to his right, leaving his left shoulder just barely higher than his right. Having pale skin, hazel eyes now slightly bleary from sleep and holding contact lenses, and somewhat unruly though for now tamed brown hair, no amount of work from his attendants could hide the fact that he was very tired already, moreso mentally.

Being a king was harder work than he had thought. The very next day, at a time when all he wanted to do was rest, he found himself up to the eyeballs in paperwork and issues both national and international. There was the issue of his successor to the Duca of Firenze, there were the Oikawans bombing the bejeezus out of the communist in Ratomkira. The appointment of the new Chrestomanci would happen soon and his input was needed. The three Estates making up the legislature of Oltremare needed to be dealt with. This damnable meeting with the Queen of Belmont, the next still-unscheduled damnable meeting with the Cassiopeians. And of course, the mother of them all: finding a queen of Oltremare.

"How was I so damn stupid as to accept this? Let the Kammerschens take this seat, let them deal with these issues." Giuseppe thought to himself as he shook himself out of his inner monologue of woes, making his headache slightly worse. He needed to focus, prepare for this meeting with the Queen of Belmont.

The offer had come as somewhat of a shock, even to the unmovable Giuseppe Emmanuel, his Royal Chancellor. Shortly after the announcement of the abdication of Giacomo IV, the Queen had requested a meeting with him shortly after the coronation, in fact asking to be present to the coronation. She was one of the few foreigners who were present, aside from the Cassiopeians who by this point were considered brothers separated by fate rather than foreigners, and many eyebrows had been raised, courting many mutters of confusion and some of irritation.

Belmont was a Catholic nation after all, and Catholics never got on well with the "heretical" Oltremaren. They had even participated in a couple of "Crusades" against Oltremare, to no success, thank God. As to what could be gained, aside from an opening up economically, Giuseppe "Francesco VII. I am Francesco VII now..." could not see it, but perhaps that was because of his ill condition.

The herald came into the room, which was fairly simple for a room for diplomats, albeit now filled with luxuries due to the status of these "diplomats", but that was how the Royal Chancellor liked it. Simple, straight, to the point. He should be here dammit, not himself, but Francesco VII had gotten into this, and he would see it through. That's what a king would do.

Standing out of courtesy, he put a smile on his face, and received his counterpart royal.

 

[Serenierre]

Palace of Kings,
Corpus Christi.

Queen Diana I entered the room, she looked at the young man standing in front of her, the new King of the nation, and smiled. She shook his hand firmly and took her seat. The bloody history of Oltremare was no new tale for the Queen, she knew well what extremities Belmontien troops had committed in that nation during the past centuries. Since ascending to the throne, in 1981, Diana had been looking to repair ties with the nation but the previous King had not been in favor of any such attempt. Now, with a new King, Diana had taken the initiative and had dived in without any haste. Thanks to her sources, Diana knew that the Oltremaran's were confused by the gesture of the Belmontien Queen, they had all the reasons to be.

"So," she began, softly and looking straight at her Oltremaren counterpart, "I know this is slightly awkward... but, let me say this, I'm here to take our ties into a new realm, a realm of mutual understanding and mutual respect. I know, the excesses of the past can not be forgotten and will be hard to forgive but I say that we should at least try."

 

[Congress Aresura]

Francesco leaned back into his chair, sitting only a few feet apart from the Queen of Belmont, and listened intently, his chin resting on his hand. So the Queen was looking to try again to repair the deep divide between Oltremare and Belmont, was she? He remembered accounts given by his Royal Chancellor, who had been a senior diplomat at the time, of how his father had reacted to the offer.

"Needless to say, it almost brought war." Emmanuel had said with a dark grin, and from that alone, it was hard to tell if he was exaggerating or not. The official records showed that Giacomo IV had bluntly refused the offer, and tensions with the Catholic world reached a new high in recent memory, already strained by the anti-Catholic policies Giuseppe's father had committed.

But what did he think? True, he had little if any of the venom his father possessed in regards to Catholics. It wasn't his character, perhaps helped in part by his mother, who had been a Catholic herself before converting (it still baffled many Oltremaren why the royal couple married in the first place). Still, he had also been raised by his father, and his schools and churches were not friendly towards the Catholic faith, influenced no doubt by his father.

To sum up, he was skeptical, but unlike his father, would not dismiss it out of hand. "Jesus has taught all of us to forgive those who trespass against us, in your faith and mine. I regret though that, although we strive to be like Him, we are still a sinful people, and it is hard to do it. Many injustices were committed over the centuries, since the beginnings of Christianity. Injustices that, for some, can still be felt today."

A stab of pain in his head threatened to consume him, and it took a second of control to keep it from being obvious. "I admit, I tire of hating others for their past deeds. But although I might be ready, and you might be ready, to begin this painful process of forgiveness, are our people ready? Yours, and mine? We in Oltremare are still plagued by radical Catholics who seek to do what the Crusades in the past could not: take away our freedom to worship what we believe to be true. We in turn destroy them, and perhaps others who are more moderate in their beliefs, turning them radical as well. And the leader of your faith, your Pope, has shown no signs of forgiveness of any kind, though this is perhaps greatly influenced by our past actions. True, economically, we trade with one another, as we in Oltremare trade with whoever is willing to buy our goods, but we do not trust one another, and our current relations go only as far as that. Currently, it is only greed that overcomes hate, as it has for the past couple of centuries. A sin to bury another sin."

He shook his head sadly, and slowly with a great care, to keep the pain from returning. "Many things need to take place, many deeds need to be done by Catholics not just in your realm, but all over Europa, before my people can begin to even consider forgiving some, let alone all, of the crimes in the past. I myself have taken a huge step of doing what my father could not: receiving you and listening to your words, before a decision is made."

"And so, I go back to my question, the first half of it rhetorical. Are my people ready to forgive? I do not know, but as things stand, the signs are not good. Are your people ready to ask for forgiveness?"

 

[Serenierre]

Diana knew the brutalities inflicted upon her host's countrymen by her catholic brothers, she had read all of that. She shifted in her chair, put her elbow on the right armrest and looked at the new King with a reserved gaze. Clearly the new King had to be told what exactly Belmont had done during those bloody days. She cleared her throat and began, carefully, "While our past remains greatly unpleasant, its filled with great bloodshed and brutality against your people and excesses which know no end but I must say, Belmont has always been against those wars. If you were to check the records, you'll see Belmont contribution was mainly Hospitaller Orders... charged with providing equal treatment to all. I am not answerable for what other Catholic realms did, if there is anything Belmont did during those times, I am ready to issue an official apology."

Diana paused for a moment, considered what to say next. She leaned back into the sofa and took a sip of water. "While its truly unfortunate that His Holiness hasn't done anything to repair the damage and that there are people in Oltremare who are radical Catholics and practice medieval ideologies but, let me say, Belmont is different. Our ties to the Holy See have long been marked by roughness and throughout the Catholic realms Belmont is the most secular. And, as you say, greed overcomes hate, that too is greatly sad. And if this tradition of hate passes over to another generation then we have failed at our duty. I come here sincerely and what I have said... I meant it."

Diana leaned back into the sofa and waited for the host to respond. Clearly, if they were going to remain stuck at the status quo, Diana would stop trying to mend the ties, she didn't need to obsess over a country like Oltremare but at least she could say, "I tried". Her features hardened and she looked at the King. Clearly, his father had instilled in the boy a sense of anti-Catholicism. She thought, it would be hard for such an ideologically driven person to be important, in the 21st Century, internationally.

 

[Congress Aresura]

Francesco VII listened, and pondered, a small frown appearing momentarily with a small stab of pain in his head. Admittedly, history of who had participated in the Oltremaren Crusades and how was a bit generalized. Much of the information had been lost to time or, more recently, the communists during the Great War. It had made clear, though, that many Catholic realms participated, in small numbers or large, and far too many times they came close to success, if not for the courage of Oltremare's defenders, and later the alliance with the Sarmatians to the north that held strong to this day.

Francesco VII knew that the more hot tempered of his people, like his father, would not give a damn how little Belmont participated, for it had participated. They would perhaps care a little more about their turning towards secularism and away from the Pope, but would it be enough? More importantly, would the apology be enough? 'There's only one way to find out...'

"I find no reason to believe your sincerity is false." He said after a long pause, "Make your public apology for whatever injustices Belmont may have committed, and I shall accept it. Whatever happens after, is in His hands," he said with a small, but notable upturning of his head to the ceilings. Then a small smile, "Or if you wish to be secular, in my people's hands."

The smile quickly faded and he leaned back in his chair, hands folded on his lap. "Should the reaction go well enough, an expansion of trade between our two nations is not out of the question, perhaps also a melting of the political ice. Understand though, Your Majesty, that if this occurs, it will take some time to run its course. I refuse to be a tyrant who presumes to be the will of all his people at all times, especially in times such as this. All I dare do here, is get the ball rolling, and see where it is destined to go."

Reaching for his water, he continued, "Who knows? Perhaps this meeting will begin the official end of animosity between Oltremare and the Catholic world. Let us have a little faith, then, that my bold claim comes true." He raised his glass, that small smile returning once more, though was it mocking, or sincere? "To forgiveness."

Truth be told, the smile was because the aspirin was finally taking effect, and it was a smile of relief. No need, though, to trouble the Queen with his woes that had been knocking his head around for some time now.

 

[Serenierre]

Diana smiled, "I'm not the pope, I simply here as Queen of Belmont and Belmont alone." She thought what to say, for a few seconds she remained quiet, thinking what to say to the young king. "If you expect to mend ties with the Greater Catholic realm, I do not know how successful you shall be, for many in that realm hang onto a more right-wing opinion on the issue. But what you say is correct. We need to get the ball rolling. At least from my side, the people would support these measures. While majority of my people are Catholics, devoted ones at that, they do feel that the Papacy should focus more on spiritual matters rather than political ones. The apology will be issued, I assure you.

 

[Congress Aresura]

"And I will accept it." Was Francesco's initial response, then after a second of thought, continued, "I regret I cannot make further assurances about my people responding positively to an apology, though I do not see why a majority shouldn't. As I have frequently implied, only time will tell in that respect."

Sensing that all that could be said on this topic was said, Francesco leaned forward, "Now then, are there any other, hopefully less prickly issues you wish to discuss or clarify?"

 

[Serenierre]

Relieved that the toughest issue had been dealt with, Diana smiled at the young king and said, "Its no secret, Belmont's interests are primarily economic driven... so I would like to bring this talk to economic matters. Businessmen in Belmont want to expand here, but I am not sure if it'll be possible until there is some thawing of hostilities between the populace."

 

[Congress Aresura]

Francesco nodded. "You are correct. While nothing is officially stopping you from expanding at this time, it would be far easier during warmer political and social relations. Perhaps... say... a month at most after your apology is issued, you can give the green light to those corporations willing to expand. If some are impatient, two weeks would be the safest minimum. Oltremaren corporations will be given the same by me at around the same time. We always want to expand our economic horizons. It's the social horizons that hold us back."

 

[Serenierre]

"Seeing that anything else depends on the public reaction to an apology, I suggest the Premiers of our two realms meet in Paris in a month, if the public reaction here has been favorable."

 

[Congress Aresura]

Francesco paused and pondered for a few seconds, then nodded. "I believe it's possible to convince my Royal Chancellor to travel to Paris if things go as we hope. I warn you, he's more of my father and a bit... rougher in his views than I, but he's also a diplomat and loyal, so there should not be any major difficulties. He and your Premier should have an interesting discussion regardless, and hammer out any details... again, assuming things go well."