1611 Summer

War, no, a hunt has started. A hunt to capture only one person - the Lioness, Elizabeth the regent queen mother of France - has begun.

400,000 troops were gathered in all. 110,000 were from Great Britain, 25,000 in the Netherlands, 165,000 in Iberia, and France gathered 100,000. Wasn't this too much? No, it may have been too little to capture the Lioness.

On one hand, Louis XIII - my grandson and my son-in-law, and son of the Lioness - was 17 years old now. Since he's of age now, he can wield his rightful power as the legitimate king of France as the eldest, legitimate son of late Henry IV. Now, he wishes to take back his power which his mother abused till now. So, he has a just cause and rightful ruler of France.

On the other hand, there's the Lioness. Surely, she's done many reforms to capture the heart of Paris citizens - and has brought many victories to France. But, it's not 21C, but the Middle age. So, she can't be like George Washington, Charles de Gaulle, or Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, who claimed power with one's militaristic feat. She's just a witch that abused her son's rightful power till now and still clinging to it. In short, she has no just cause and is a rebel against France.

Madrid, Royal Seat of San Lorenzo de El Escorial

"Foolish girl! Don't you still get it? We, aristocrats' - including the royals - last resort is the other nobles! Not the citizens!"

Even if I knew that my words can't reach her, since she's currently in Paris, I had no choice but to mutter to myself, out of heaviness.

'How can she be so stupid?'

For a noble to rule as a noble, only citizens' support is not enough. Of course, the aristocrat's biggest enemy is another aristocrat. But, ironically, just as you can see in the French Revolution in the original history, the aristocrat's biggest friend is another aristocrat, too.

If you wish to make your country wealthy and strong, you crush the other nobles and be friends with the citizens. However, making a nation wealthy and strong isn't necessarily a good thing for a king. If he can't control the nation which he made great, he would be kicked out by that nation itself. Just like Wilhelm II, who couldn't control the Jingoistic Junker, military, and the media before and at the start of WW1.

So, since she deserted all the other nobles and sided with the Bourgeois, even if she wins at the end, then she will be purged by the very citizens she has cared for.

"It's my last mercy for you, as your old enemy, my daughter. Before the citizens of Paris desert you, I'll kill you and make you an everlasting legend of France, just like Napoleon or Joan of Arc."

So, that was my last respect for her. Yes, I may have been a lousy father, but I do have my respect for my deadly enemy! A deadly enemy, who has always stood in my way when I've plotted something, by achieving an overwhelming victory, even at the lowest odds. As long as I - Edward VII/Eduardo I, king of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Iberia - will be remembered in history, so would she.

So, she must shine like the sun. Why? If my deadly enemy's reputation gets worse, so would mine. Thus, she must die in this battle.

"Oh, so you're now trying to use my half-sister's death as your political gain, father?"

That's what Prince of Wales - my eldest son - Richard said to me cynically.

I　just ignored his words and ordered the generals

"Prepare the snipers. You must kill her on the spot."

"Understood, your majesty."

It was Elizabeth the Lioness who started the first move. She immediately swept into the French palace in Paris, to capture her eldest son and King of France, Louis XIII. Of course, he managed to escape, thanks to secret passages that he has prepared just in case.

At the empty palace in Paris, Elizabeth appointed her 2nd son, Charles, as the new king of France. And Charles wore the crown of France, with the archbishop of Paris - who has surrendered at Elizabeth's threat - handing him the crown. It was just putting lipstick on a pig.

Of course, not a single noble in France considered Charles as a legitimate king of France. The French feudal lords were hostile towards the English regent queen mother, who acted as an empress of France till now and gathered under Louis XIII, who has temporarily taken sanctuary at Provence.

I too gathered the Iberian soldiers - who were led by Marquis Don Juan - at Aquitaine and ordered the Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex - who led the Dutch and British soldiers - to march the troops of Great Britain(*England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, and Netherlands in this novel) to Calais.

The cause? Needless to say, to help my son-in-law - who wed my 2nd daughter Jeanne/Jane - and my grandson, Louis XIII.

On the other hand, the Lioness had only Paris in her hands. Because the Duchy of Lorraine was annexed to France only 4 years ago, in 1607 summer, they were not ready to pay either tax or gather an army.

So, that means, she had to fight with entire France - except Paris - and the United Kingdom, with only Paris.

But we - I and Louis XIII - were on the defense mode. Why? It was too dangerous to attack first when you're fighting with the Lioness, even if she's outnumbered several times.

I've experienced her militaristic talent several times during the last war - the War of Iberian Succession. I've had it with losing precious soldiers and losing battle, because I've attacked first, believing that I can beat her, only trusting numerical advantage.

And so was Louis XIII and the French feudal lords who've gathered under him. No, they were more cautious - or cowardly -to be more exact. They still remembered the nightmare that happened 3 years ago in 1608 summer, with 6 noble families of French aristocrats - who were at least barons - had their family lines broken and dozens of aristocrat families had to bring a new head from the collateral family since their direct descendants were all wiped out, after taking Louis XIII's side at the last "Family Feud".

So, it was the Lioness who attacked first, even though she was outnumbered by 20 to 1. Out of 20,000 troops she had, she left 4,000 in Paris and attacked Calais with the remaining 16,000. In short, she picked a fight with 80,000 British troops, even though she had only one-fifth of soldiers of her foe.

But it was not 'just' one-fifth. She has previously defeated the late Sidney, even when she had soldiers that were one-tenth of his troops.

Therefore, in this case, it should be 'even' one-fifth.

So, I've sent the Earl of Essex a message, saying

"Don't dare to fight with the Lioness, but just keep her stuck in Calais."

And I've ordered the Don Juan to march the Iberian troops - which were located at Aquitaine - to Paris.

'If Paris falls, the Lioness will have nowhere to go. And in the end, she can't fight a single battle, and have no choice but to surrender.'

But, I was too naive.

"So, we've lost again?"

"I...I'm sorry, your majesty."

What the hell. Elizabeth again split the troops. From 16,000 soldiers she has brought to Calais, she left 10,000 troops at Calais to keep British soldiers busy, and took the remaining 6,000 soldiers with her, and led them from Calais to Orléans, in just a week! And on the outskirts of Orléans, she crushed the Iberian soldiers.

How can this be possible? The Iberian soldiers were not like those who were always on strike, from having their salaries unpaid during Felipe III's rule! They were fully paid, and well treated all fired-up Tercio troops! The mightest of all Iberian troops! But that 76,000 Tercio troops were defeated by only 6,000 French soldiers led by the Lioness!

Of course, Don Juan had his excuse, too.

"T...The battlefield was not cut out for the Tercio, your majesty!

It was not plains, but a forest, and we were caught in an ambush attack!"

"I know, Marquis Juan. Thank god we only had 4,000 casualties."

'My daughter, are you an incarnation of Ares or Thor? If you were an incarnation of Athens or Odin, you won't have been in this tight spot - winning the battle, but losing the war.'

"How's the soldiers' morale?"

"We...we can still fight, your majesty! But...if this kind of situation continues..."

"I've got it. Don't fight with the Lioness, but just try to surround her. We must lock the Lioness up in Orléans."

"Yes, your majesty."

In the end, I had no choice, but to order the Iberian troops to stop marching to Paris and have them surround the Lioness' troops in Orléans.

'Just surrounding them won't be a trouble, would it? We're not fighting her, and we outnumber her in 10 to 1.'

"Even if you're an incarnation of Ares or Thor, you can't push the already tired soldiers, who've marched from Calais to Orléans in just a week, my girl!"

And it worked. The Lioness' troop, who were worn out with 1 week's rush of 339km(or 210 miles, the distance of Calais and Orléans) and an ambush attack, couldn't advance further and went into Orléans.

While the Lioness gathered 4,000 additional soldiers at Orléans, the 72,000 Iberian troops surrounded the Orléans. In the meantime, French soldiers led by Louis XIII marched from Provence to Paris.

In short, I've lost the honor of entering Paris first, but who cares.

My purpose was to kill the Lioness, not capturing Paris, you know.