( * draconian.

ARNAULD D'ORLEANS THE KING OF FRANCE

[davidjgandy]

David Gandy for Marks & Spencer FW 2016

[arnauldorleans]

“It’s truly a pleasure to see you again,” he told her as he quickly gave her brief kisses on her cheeks as a greeting. He gestured her to sit down as he seated himself in an armchair. “I took the liberty of ordering us some coffee.” He made himself comfortable and rested his hands on the arm rests. “How are things in Amsterdam?”

( @femkelotte )

[arnauldorleans]

xuepuren:

Xue tilted her head before nodding. His reply had not been the most straight and narrow but it made sense. “I suppose you have a point there.” She had never feared admitting that she had been wrong. “Making a change happen is an onerous job. The weakest people cannot handle it, i think. One of the reasons I never bothered with politics. My passions lie elsewhere.” She smoothed out her skirt and crossed her legs. “But you, you had been ready to become king years ago?”

“Are you implying that you are not up for the ‘onerous’ task or that you are one of ‘the weakest people’?” he asked, a small amused look on his face. Not even Xue Puren would speak of herself so poorly but it was always fun to find something to tease about her. “I was. At least I was skilled enough.” There was no such thing as boasting in Arnauld’s world. “The circumstances just... they weren’t ideal, one might say.” 

[arnauldorleans]

cosettelorraine:

“Of course my king. Your presence is indeed an honor.” Though Cosette would have liked nothing more than to roll her eyes at him she knew that he needed to have his ego stroked at times. He seemed to be in a mood. “I do hope that you did not come here for the sole purpose of chastising me needlessly about the boy. You should know that I would never do anything to put France in a less than desirable situation. Or has my king lost his faith in me?” Her voice held the hint of a challenge as she stared him down.

She took his words too seriously. While there certainly had been an edge to his tone, he had not quite expected her to step down  immediately. It was pleasing to know that she had not grown too cocky. "No, it was not,” he told her. He was not going to just tell her that he had actually sought her company for the sake of it. “Have you given me a proper reason? Unbeknownst to me,” he asked, a subtle smirk playing on his lips. “I think I need you to talk some sense into Lisette,” he eventually admitted. 

[arnauldorleans]

xuepuren:

“Isn’t that a bit naive?” she asked, sincerely not to condescendingly. “People rarely act selflessly. There’s almost always an agenda, sometimes it’s in plain view, sometimes not so much. Even if you want to be altruistic, you still have something to gain from it.”

“Not at all,” Arnauld replied and shook his head. “I don’t have an illusion about it. Most people are in it for the money and power. The other people just tend to be too modest and settle for smaller achievements. But those people have a selfless bone in them. Maybe people always have something to gain but it doesn’t always mean that what they gain is worth more than the cost.”

[arnauldorleans]

cosettelorraine:

Cosette looked up from the book she was reading as her favorite piece of classical music played in the background. A quirk of an eyebrow and a small smirk forming on her lips the only answer he truly deserved to such an odd question. “Arnauld. How lovely of you to stop by unannounced. You are fortunate that I adore you. As for the question about young men. I have a thing for any beautiful man. Regardless of their age. As for Mateo he adores me but nothing has happened and nothing will. I enjoy his wit but he not in the same league as me. Besides I have never encountered a problem with anyone who has shown such clear adoration for me. Are you jealous?”

“You are fortunate that I voluntarily decided to pay you a visit,” he pointed out to her with a scoff. Surely there was some humour in his voice but the hint was very subtle. He sat down diagonally from her and shook his head. “As long as appreciation doesn’t change into a messy entanglement,” he told her. “If something happens to the alliance between Norway and Spain, we lose Norway immediately. Without a doubt.”

[arnauldorleans]

xuepuren:

“Integrity,” Xue repeated. “I think that’s the first thing they lose.” Needless to say, her opinion on politicians was not too great. “The lot I’ve met have all been sycophants,” she said with a shrug. “Oh this time? Curious case of nepotism.”

He cracked a smile, a genuine one, and leaned back in his chair. “It’s a real pity though, the sycophants I mean, I’d sleep better if I knew that the people working for the people actually did it from the goodness of their heart.” 

[arnauldorleans]

lisettemarguerite:

She didn’t answer his first words looking down at the table as if visualizing the letter- how she would talk about it. How should she ask her brother if he had been a part of their parents’ death. It wasn’t exactly anything she had ever been prepared for. Yet she’d been prepared for diplomacy. She lifted her gaze looking at her brother “We need to do rumor control- it’s not fully out yet thankfully. But we must be ready for when it is.” she started looking over his face- she had never tried to study her brother. She never found it necessary. He was her king after all. “There seems to have been found documents linking you to father’s accident.” she finished, giving him a chance to correct her. To have the same reaction she had- to be angry someone could be trying to link it to it. Hoping for it.

Arnauld tensed the minute the words were out of Lisette’s mouth. He knew what she’d say next, what rumours she was referring to. His facial expression remained the same regardless, this wasn’t the first time someone had confronted him about it after all. The old Lisette had returned in a blink of an eye: politeness, repressed emotions, soft spoken words. She distrusted him. Him. A cold anger swelled inside of him. He felt insulted and betrayed. She had been the one pawn that had been supposed to be on his side regardless the circumstances. “I thought those rumours died a long time ago,” he stated. If there was something he had learnt, it was that lying worked best when you lead the other person to the lie with the help of schemata. He let others fill in the blanks. “You aren’t considering them true, are you?”

[arnauldorleans]

“What is it with you and young men?” Arnauld asked abruptly. “The Spanish prince,” he added. If anything he found it quite amusing but a thing that might turn into a nuisance rather quickly.

// @cosettelorraine

[ebbv]

“Sometimes I feel politicians can’t do anything right, not even when they are about to lose the support of the people,” Xue muttered as she scrolled down her news feed. “Luckily it is not my problem. I’m more than glad to see those people go.” Her fingers tapped the desk. “I pity the people who work in PR. I imagine they always have their hands full.”

[arnauldorleans]

Arnauld chuckled and shifted his eyes to look at the woman, she had certainly earned his interest. “I quite agree with you. They manage to turn anything into a scandal, it is as if they are not aware of a thing called integrity,” he mused. “What’s the scandal they managed to create this time?”

[arnauldorleans]

lisettemarguerite:

Lis could feel a small bit of anger growing in her as her brother looked around her. Studying her as he done many times before to others. A small anger that came from the small part of her that believed the reports- that believed him capable. She looked away, down at her plate to stop herself. “I’m eating,” she answered simply grabbing a napkin and cleaning of her hands and chin before looking up at him once more. “I’ve- actually been meaning to look for you.”

He crossed his arms and leaned his shoulder to the door frame. His eyes narrowed briefly but he controlled himself and tried to convey an aura of nonchalance. “Say what you will but this isn’t exactly your regular behaviour,” he pointed out, trying to sound somewhat soft. He feared that she had once again succumbed to her weaker state. A state he had had a hard time pulling her away from. “And why is that?”

[arnauldorleans]

andraslazaar:

“Not really, no. I’m all for feeling pathetic if everyone else thinks I won.” Andras answered almost too quickly, as if to prove a point. He wasn’t entirely sure if he believed what he had just said, but he couldn’t go back on it now. “How others perceive you is much more important than how you perceive yourself. Wouldn’t you agree?”

“How do you think I would perceive you if I knew you won merely because I let you win?” Arnauld asked frowning slightly at the ridiculous statement. “And I disagree. How you perceive yourself is the most important thing, you can affect other people’s opinion of you only to a certain extent. Sometimes not much, it would be ridiculous to anything just to impress or please others.”

[andraslazaar-blog]

“Are you any good at card games?” Andras asked, tapping the seat next to him as an invitation to sit down. “If I lose again today, I will genuinely cry. Basically, I’m asking you to let me win.”

[arnauldorleans]

“I’m rather good at a handful of card games. It really depends on which one you want to play,” Arnauld told him, his eyes narrowing briefly at the other man’s boldness. “If I lost on purpose, wouldn’t that just make you feel pathetic?”

[arnauldorleans]

&&. is that ( david gandy )?? no, it’s just ( arnauld d’orléans ). he is the ( king ) of ( france ). he is ( 36 ) years old and his birthday is the ( 30th ) of ( september ) which makes him a ( libra ).  he is ( educated, patient ) and ( determined, calculative. ) but, unfortunately, also ( cruel & manipulative ). those traits just make him a ( slytherin ) and in scientific terms an ( entj ). he is ( heterosexual ) and the plaza’s ( deceitful ).  his theme song is ( money, power, glory ) by ( lana del rey ). his interests include ( history & french literature ). he is a ( roman catholic ) and a supporter of ( the monarchy ). his quirk is ( that he can’t stand beans ) and favourite quote is ( "he who builds on the people, builds on the mud” ) by ( niccolò machiavelli ) because ( arnauld is very mistrustful and perfectionist, he doesn’t think very highly of people ). last but not least he ( does not ) believe in true love.

[arnauldorleans]

aesthetic: arnauld & lucrezia

@lucrezialouisa

[arnauldorleans]

“I was wondering how long it would be until they sent you here,” Arnauld stated as his eyes fell upon his goddaughter. A polite smile was etched on his lips: he had always rather liked the girl. She reminded him of her parents, definitely not of her aunt. Fortunately. “How are you settling in? I’m under the impression that you know a good handful of people here. It cannot be horrible with numerous friends around?”

// @lucrezialouisa

[arnauldorleans]

moodboard: [ 1/??? ]

feat. @cosettelorraine