Chapter 157 Winning and Losing

In another box on the second floor of the auction hall, Princess Maria recognized Clementine when she made her first bid. This chirping voice echoed noisily in the Palace of Versailles all day long. I can’t remember it. It’s hard to live in.

Maria didn't expect that she would come to compete with him for this necklace, and then she was relieved - didn't she come to Paris just to compete with him for his?

When Maria looked at the "Star Wish" worn by the Crown Prince, she suddenly felt that this might be a preview of the outcome between them.

Whoever gets the necklace will get him!

The thought flashed through her eyes, and a look of determination appeared in her eyes. She turned her head and whispered to the maid:

"Three hundred thousand livres."

The latter nodded immediately and shouted the price to the auctioneer.

Although there were still some aristocratic ladies from the Palace of Versailles in the auction house who recognized that the "Wish of the Stars" was worn on the oil painting of the Crown Prince, and eagerly planned to bid, but before they could react, the price had already been After being raised to an astonishing height, all of them suddenly stopped.

This of course does not include Clementine.

"350,000!" Her eyes widened, and she also increased the price by 50,000.

"400,000." Maria's maid continued almost without pause.

"500000!"

"550,000."

When Clementine wanted to continue to increase the price, she was suddenly stunned - she seemed to have no money.

After all, she is still a 10-year-old child and currently only has an annual annuity income. Including the 200,000 her father gave her when she came to Paris this time, her "total assets" total 560,000.

It’s no longer enough to add another 50,000 yuan.

"560,000 livres!" She gritted her teeth and reported her extreme price.

When Maria heard that she only added 10,000, she felt relieved and gestured to the maid: "600,000."

She is already fifteen years old, owns her own manor and a fishery, and is far wealthier than the little Lolita.

This time, she believed she should win the battle for the necklace.

Sure enough, after her maid shouted "600,000", the auction hall fell silent.

Clementine was so anxious that she just stamped her feet, but she could only listen helplessly as the auctioneer announced loudly: "600,000 livres, one time."

She bit her lip, tears filling her eyes. For some reason, she had a vague feeling that if she lost the "Wish of the Stars", she would lose the crown prince.

"Oh, honey, what's wrong with you?"

Queen Mary noticed that her niece's shoulders seemed to be shaking slightly, and she asked with concern. Then she saw the little Loli's somewhat red eyes.

"Do you really want that necklace?" She pointed to the "Star Wish" placed on the brocade in the auction house, but suddenly she was startled. This necklace seemed familiar...

By the way, isn't this the necklace on the oil painting?

The queen immediately understood why her niece was so persistent in raising the price.

Clementine looked at her aunt aggrievedly and nodded vigorously.

"Six hundred thousand livres, twice."

Queen Mary smiled and said softly: "My dear, you can increase the price. No matter how much it is, I will help you pay it."

"real?!"

The little Lolita was overjoyed. Seeing the queen nodding, she quickly wiped the tears from her eyes, interrupted the auctioneer and shouted: "Wait! 650,000!!"

With the support of Queen Mary, Clementine won the final victory without any suspense.

When the manager of the auction house came to the box respectfully holding "Wish for a Star", the little Loli immediately picked up the necklace impatiently, put it against her chest and rubbed it gently, squinting and enjoying the cold touch for a moment. Then he turned to Queen Mary, curtsied, and said with a sweet smile:

"Thank you so much, my dearest aunt! I love you so much!"

However, just when she happily raised the necklace and wanted to show it to the queen, the necklace caught a gem on her clothes.

The edge of the gemstone broke the rope that strung the necklace together, and then there was a "crash" sound, and dozens of crystal diamonds scattered on the ground.

Clementine subconsciously reached out to grab the diamond in mid-air, but found nothing [Note 1].

After being stunned for three seconds, she started crying: "Why? Why am I always so unlucky?!"

Several maids hurriedly lay on the ground, carefully looking for diamonds.

Queen Mary was also taken aback, but she soon calmed down, gently hugged her niece, stroked her back, and kept whispering soft comfort.

After an unknown amount of time, Clementine followed Queen Mary silently and walked out of the east hall of the Tuileries Palace. Although the auction house repeatedly assured her that the necklace could be restored to its original state, she was never happy.

In a corner of a corridor in the east hall, Princess Maria bit her lip hard, feeling like her whole body had lost all strength.

She had just seen clearly that Clementine was leaving with Queen Mary. Then the reason why the latter finally won the necklace just now after being unable to increase the price is very clear.

She felt empty in her heart. It was obvious that the Grand Duchess of Tuscany was the choice for the French Queen, not herself.

If this is the case, even if the crown prince likes him more, he can only marry that girl in the end.

It turned out that he had already lost from the beginning.

She raised her head, took a deep breath, and said to the maid beside her:

"Alissa, let's go home..."

The next day, the carriage of the Princess of the Two Sicilies faced the rising sun and drove alone on the King's Avenue in the southern suburbs of Paris.

Not long ago, it was on this road that the Crown Prince came with thousands of soldiers to welcome her arrival, but now, she was left alone to return. The Crown Prince was going to see her off, but she refused - it would be too inelegant to cry in front of him.

The sunlight stretched the shadow of the carriage very long, like a hand desperately reaching out to Paris, but it could never catch anything.

In the carriage, Maria hesitated for a long time, and finally put the letter in her hand back on the table.

On the corner of the envelope that was not pressed down, you can see her neat and beautiful handwriting: Dear Highness, these days in Paris are the happiest moments of my life. I pray to God all the time, let my life always stop at the moment when I danced lightly with you on the carousel! Although this is just a luxury, I at least still have this precious memory. After returning to the Two Sicilies, I will pray for your health day and night, and bless you and the Grand Duchess of Tuscany...

She wrote this letter crying last night, and planned to let the maid give it to Joseph this morning, but at the last moment, she gave up.

Perhaps, this girl's thoughts should be buried in her heart forever, rather than letting him be troubled by her.

...

In an office on the second floor of the Tuileries Palace, Joseph was reading the fashion week income and expenditure report sent by Fleiselle.

The report was a bit thick, and he couldn't find the total amount after flipping through several pages. He looked up at the chairman of the Fashion Week Organizing Committee next to him.

Viscount Fleiselle seemed to have guessed it, and hurriedly said: "Ah, Your Highness, the total income in these days is 4.62 million livres, and the expenditure is 310,000 livres."

[Note 1]: Reading comprehension (10 points).

After Clementine spent a huge amount of money to bid for this "Star Wish" necklace, the necklace broke inexplicably, and dozens of diamonds were scattered all over the floor. What kind of thoughts and feelings does this paragraph express?