The Final Prince's Calling, 1800

[Fishy 2709]

Spoiler

 

 

The Final Prince’s Calling

 

The Duke and Family amidst the Augustine Gardens by Margaux Renée Helvets, 1797

8th of Sigismund’s End, 1800

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Obituary

 

On this day in the year of Our Lord, 1800, Henry Frederick Helvets, Duke of Cathalon, has passed into the Seven Skies at the age of 66. He is survived by his wife Blanche Thérèse, Duchess-Dowager of Cathalon, and their children, Margaux Renée Helvets (Age 10) and Thomas Andrew Helvets (Age 7).
Born to the King of Kaedrin, Adrian I, and Queen-Consort Annabelle Castor in 1734, Henry Frederick was the last of the Kaedreni royalty, following his sister, the Dowager-Grand Princess of Muldav, Margaret Antonia’s passing in 1797.
During life, Henry Frederick served the Imperial Crown faithfully, accompanying his Imperial Majesty, Peter III, on the Atheran Expedition and being inducted into the The Most Excellent Petrine Order of Humanity and the Empire. From then on Henry Frederick served as Governor-General of Kaedrin, inheriting the title of Duke of Cathalon from his brother Robert Castor and partaking in the Owynsburg Restoration and Reform until the Commonwealth’s disbandment in 1785.
After his tenure as Governor-General, Henry Frederick was appointed to the House of Lords of the 20th Imperial Diet, serving as an Imperial Grandee before being elected Lord Speaker. During this time Henry Frederick wed Blanche Thérèse of Helena, beginning his family late in life in the historical Haas House he had purchased decades prior.
In the transition to Providence, Henry began the Helton Company of Providence to provide shipping, resources, and labor to the city’s construction for which Helvets Avenue and Henry’s Wharf are named. Additionally, Henry took on the proprietary of the colony of Redenford, settling the Imperial Southlands in the name of their Imperial Majesty. 
Prior to his passing, Henry was once again appointed to the House of Lords in the 21st Imperial Diet and won reelection as Lord Speaker. His death is believed to have been the result of a stroke, brought about due to his advanced age. His body is set to be cremated as per the traditions of the House of Helvets, the urn kept as part of the Helvets Estate. 

 

May he rest in peace.

 

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Last Will and Testament

 

It is the final will of Henry Frederick Helvets, Duke of Cathalon, that all of my possessions, properties, and other resources be afforded into the Cathalon Estate, which shall be overseen by my wife, Duchess-Dowager Blanche Thérèse, until such a time that my son and heir, Thomas Andrew Helvets, comes of age as Duke of Cathalon.

IN NOMINE DOMINI

 

Henry Frederick Helvets, Prince of Kaedrin, Duke of Cathalon, Lord Speaker of the House of Lords, Imperial Grandee, Governor-General of Kaedrin, Proprietor of Redenford, Knight of the Petrine Order. 
 

[bumblefina 2766]

The Duchess-Dowager sat quietly in her apartments of the Augustine donning dark apparel, a blackened veil pulled down over her face. She sat on a finely upholstered sofa, each of her two children sat on either side of her. A slow stream of courtiers passed into and out of the apartments as the day drug onwards, leaving baskets and bundles of flowers, words of sympathy floating through the high ceilinged room as they went. She offered weak smiles and little nods, her young ones sniffling at her sides, but her attention was not in the room.

 

Henry had been a fine husband. A good, honorable man. A friend, even. This was a day I always knew was coming, a day where he would leave a young wife and children behind. So why do I feel so.. angry?

[marilka 552]

Wilhelmina Beatrix received word of the Duke's passing at dawn's break, dropped inconspicuously amid other, now meaningless, information. With a moment's notice, all were dismissed.

 

The ribbon 'round her throat grew much too tight, and her feet grew

wary as she sought out the katabatic. 

Today, it was decided, she would spend among the roses,

to bewail the uncle that seemed more like a father.

[ncarr 2806]

Cosette Eleanor scans over the missive with furrowed brows. She brings the paper to her chest with a deep sigh. Although she didn't know much of the man she still bears great despondency for his death upon her shoulders. She pouts a bit as she thinks about having met the man just a few saint's days ago......

[Marquesa_ 298]

The mother of the widow, Renée Antoinette, was informed of the passing later than most, due to her residence being worlds away from the lands of Oren. She then swatted away the hands of her bedmate, jumped up, and began to vigorously pen a letter:

 

While I may not have been your father’s wife, I was a young widow all the same. I knew when I asked our dear Wilhelmina to secure your marriage, your fate would be similar to mine, yet wholly different.

 

You have made me proud, Blanche. It is every mother’s deepest wish that her daughter becomes a greater woman than she, and you have become exactly that: you are benevolent, honest, and dignified.

 

You broke the line of dishonest women of which you descend from — fight through your sorrows and ensure that our Margaux upholds your legacy.

 

I love you with all of my heart,

Ta mère

 

@ShannonLeigh

[winterblood 11181]

The world was darkened for the young Margaux, literally, for she wore a veil of mourning over her eyes.  Her mother had dressed her in a blackened dress with long sleeves with white frills as an accent, fastened to her chest was a small clump of weeping willow flowers.  Their gentle pink petals made for a rather nice, colorful, addition to her rather dreary outfit.  

 

She wasn't quite sure how to feel about her father's passing, for the young Helvetti girl had never lost anyone closed to her before.  Would she ever see him again?  Does he miss her as much as she longs to see him again?  Would a day come where she would even have to go?  As these thoughts began to race through the girl's head, her heart began to beat rapidly and her hands fidgeted together.  The voices of the other courtiers paying visit to her family's apartment to pay their respects began to sound muffled and her body felt numb, though tears gathered in her distant eyes.

[Draeris 3124]

"Can't wait to meet this Thomas, who shall be identical to his father both in intelligence and character." Says Adrian Helvets, smoking a cigarette before his grave.

[bickando 3967]

Albert took the news poorly, even as he became ever more reclusive - for his friends continued to die of age or of illness, a reminder of his own approaching mortality.

 

As soon as would be proper, he visits the Cathalon Estate to offer his condolences to the family.

[TheNunnery 1853]

“Another Jewel from the Imperial Crown falls today, first our Imperial Majesty Anne and now His Grace the Duke of Cathalon. What might the future hold for the empire I once lived in.” Leana d’Emyth spoke while living the rest of her adult and elderly age in Aeldin, the political and city life too much for her as she’d be living in a nice country estate.

[Proddy 2415]

Word spreads quickly of the Duke of Cathalons death, and soon catches the ear of one Robert Foltest Helvets - the estranged eldest son of the Count Rochefort living worlds away from his father in the Palace Augustine. The young Robert, now of eleven years and sprouting into adolescence , ponders deeply on the inevitability of death and the futility of not being able to achieve all you desired in life. He shared no fond memories with his great-uncle Henry, having never even met the man formally - he only encountered him at several state functions, though no words were ever exchanged between the pair. All Robert knew of him were the hushed court rumours that circulated and what little his father would reveal to him in the letters he would send him some years ago; a tale of two familial lines torn asunder over envy and hate, and a silent war against the Lords Cathalon and Rochefort where one was intent to destroy the other completely.

 

That night before Robert retires to bed, he lights a small candle vigil at his windowsill - not out of any love or admiration for a great-uncle he'd never known, but out of a quiet respect for a kinsman now gone from the world.