That's about it for today.
I ran out of bottles for the targets.
Okay
I'll bring the horses.
Okay
Hey, Oscar! Want a bite?
I'll take it!
Here.
Who is it?!
Sorry about that nice apple!
But I also wanted to show off my skill to both of you!
How're you doing, Oscar François?
You look fine as always, André!
Hans Axel von Fersen, reporting he'sjust returned from the American continent!
Fersen...
Fersen...!
Fersen...
Fersen!
The Rose of Versailles
Kusamurani namo shirezu
The flowers blooming in the wilderness
Saiteiru hana naraba
they are without names
Tada kaze wo ukenagara
A gentle breeze
Soyoide ireba iikeredo
makes them sway
Watashi wa bara no sadame ni umareta
My destiny is of a rose
Hanayakani hageshiku ikiro to umareta
Born to live in glory and passion
Bara wa bara wa, Kedakaku saite
Roses, oh roses, blooming with dignity
Bara wa bara wa, Utsukushiku chiru
Roses, oh roses, withering with regret
Bara wa bara wa, Kedakaku saite
Roses, oh roses, blooming with dignity
Bara wa bara wa, Utsukushiku chiru
Roses, oh roses, withering with regret
Episode 25
A Minuet of Unrequited Love
Merci, André.
You're welcome.
It's already been 2 years since the War of Independence ended.
Everyone came back right away.
What have you been doing?
Sorry if I caused concern.
Right before I started for home, I came down with a fever.
So I stayed alone in America, in and out of bed.
It took longer than I expected to recover.
I see.
Ah, delicious!
I haven't eaten real French food like this for such a long time.
It really makes me feel that I've come back to France.
Oscar, there's only one path that I should take:
To become a betrayer!
I'm going to run away. Thousands of miles away!
Oscar, please take care of Lady Antoinette!
I'm really glad that you came back safe.
Mademoiselle Oscar, I've prepared a bed for Lord Fersen in the guest room on the second floor.
No, Oscar, I'll go back to my estate.
I'll send a message to your estate tomorrow.
"The Jarjayes guarantee to cure the Count's travel fatigue."
For a week or month... make yourself at home.
Oscar...
Please do.
It's already been 7 years.
I'd like to hear your stories about America, too.
Thanks.
I'm surrounded by such wonderful friends...
Thanks!
I went to the battlefield, thinking I could abandon everything... even my life.
I'm really fortunate to be alive!
Let's toast again.
To the return of Count Fersen from hisjourney of a thousand miles!
Yes, Cheers!
Cheers!
Thank you.
You're up pretty early. Did you sleep well, Fersen?
Yes, very well!
It's become my habit to wake up early from the battlefields.
I still haven't gotten over it.
I see. So that's it.
You should let her know you're back as soon as possible.
Her Majesty must be worried about you, too.
Sooner or later, I thought but...
I intend to go back to Sweden without seeing her.
Seven years ago, I ran away from Lady Antoinette.
Cowardly and selfishly.
And that was the end.
It was a romance best ended.
I only stopped in France to confirm it to myself.
Not to burn with love, not to fan the flames again.
As you've suggested, I've decided to stay here for a week or two.
People will learn about my return if I go back to my estate.
Please, Oscar. Don't tell the Queen that I'm back.
I understand.
Come on, André!
Get ahead of me, if you can!
I've never expected this.
But Lady Antoinette is no longer in Fersen's heart.
Can that be possible?
But if that's really the case...
Now, with Fersen right here in front of me...
I feel he is the only man I could allow myself to love.
Hans Axel von Fersen...
By the way, Oscar...
I hear you were promoted from Colonel to Brigadier for your marvelous job in the Necklace Affair.
Your Nanny told me this morning.
Uh, yes...
Congratulations!
I would have promoted you all the way up to a General.
It's such a wonder that God created you as a woman.
André, are you all right?! Are you hurt?
No, I'm all right.
How could they be so vicious?!
Who were they?
Probably harassment by the citizens of Paris.
Citizens? Why?
It happens quite often these days.
The estates of other nobles have also been targeted.
Ever since the Necklace Affair, more and more people have come to hate the nobles and the royal family.
Even among the nobles, some abandoned the royal family to join hands with the citizens.
I can't believe it.
I'd heard the rumors, but...
During the seven years you were away, Paris, Versailles, and all of France have been gradually changing.
What has changed?! How?!
The Era of Nobles is coming to the end soon.
We no longer think that the royal family is everything in France.
If we're eating bad food, the Queen and her ilk should eat bad food, too!!
Right! Only they get to eat good food!
And with our tax money!
That's right!
If they eat good food, so should we!
Yeah, that's right!
Yesterday, a child died in Grandvillier.
A child died because he couldn't buy a bread.
The day before yesterday, a woman in Temple died.
A woman died because she worked too hard to nurse to her child.
Die! All the fat pigs should die!!
It's changed...
France definitely changed.
When I was still here, the royal family was still loved, despite some slanders.
The people still loved Her Majesty.
Oscar, I've decided to go to Versailles after all.
The royal family is now facing a crisis.
The only thing that I can do at such time is...
For someone that I could not forget even if I tried.
For someone that I love...
is to be by her side.
No matter what anyone says...
I just can't watch the misfortune of the woman that I love!
I'm so glad you're back safely.
Your Majesty still seems well.
Oscar! It's time for shooting practice.
Are you going?
Yeah, I'm coming.
Wait for me downstairs.
Okay!
Here!
New movements can rise with the power of a blazing fire.
I learned that through my own experience in America.
Some small fires are beginning to flare up in France as well.
They must be put out before the sparks fall onto the royal family.
If you would allow me...
I am ready to serve by Your Majesty's side for the rest of my life.
I've learned after 7 years.
How ignorant I was to let my heart burn passionately.
How dangerous it was!
I'll never let it flare up again.
Instead, like the quiet, eternal flow of the River Seine...
I will keep my feelings for you lit in my bosom.
Like the flow of the River Seine...
Yes.
Look, Oscar. Migrating birds.
They're heading back south.
No matter how freely they fly in the sky, they eventually go back to their destined place.
Nobody can stop it.
Nobody...
Your Majesty!
I must offer my opinion as your loyal servant.
Please leave this villa and come back to Versailles Palace!
I heard many nobles broke away from the royal family since Your Majesty moved here.
Please come back to Versailles promptly and call back those nobles!
It's necessary to keep at least the nobles on your side.
And please cut your ties with Mme. Polignac and her group.
It causes discord with the People as well as within the Court...
to have the nation's queen listening to the opinions of only one clique.
Instead, I, Hans Axel von Fersen, will abandon my homeland Sweden!
I will dedicate all of myself to France for Your Majesty's sake!
Have you heard about it, Madame?
Yes, about Her Majesty.
She's coming back to Versailles from the villa, I heard.
Why did she have a change of mind all of the sudden?
I don't know.
And, did you hear the latest about Mme. Polignac?
Oh, what could it be?
There's a post available for the Finance Minister right now.
Yes.
So, Mme. Polignac asked Her Majesty appointed one of her relatives.
Oh, like she always does.
Yes, but Her Majesty said...
"I've decided I shouldn't decide such matters on my own. "
"Ask His Majesty through the proper channel. "
My!
The influence of Mme. Polignac and her entourage is getting weaker everyday.
Anyway, it is a felicitous occasion.
Lady Antoinette is finally coming back to Versailles from the Villa today.
And will resume the audience with the nobles and her other duties.
She probably took the suggestions from Count Fersen.
The Count is now officially a colonel of an army regiment,
and visits Versailles Palace everyday.
Have a nice day, Mademoiselle.
March 3 steps forward!
The Royal Guards will guard Her Majesty from the Trianon to Versailles Palace.
If you find any abnormalities, report immediately.
Stand by until I give out orders.
All right, take positions!
The nobility must die!!
Emergency positions!
One escaped!
Capture him!
Vive la France!
Snap out of it, Oscar!
What are you thinking at a time like this?!
Oscar, what's wrong?
Are you wounded?
André, tell Gerodere to take charge.
I'm going home.
Oscar...
Fersen...
You went back to someone who needs you more than anyone else...
and who loves you more than anyone else.
After the 7 years of separation, and 7 years of suffering, you still went back.
I think that's wonderful.
I think you're wonderful...
With all of my heart...
as a woman for the first time.
A corset...
Ah, pannier, pannier!
And... stockings...
What are you doing, Grandma?
It was worth the wait and the effort to make a dress after all!
A dress?
Mademoiselle Oscar said she's going to wear it to the ball tonight.
What?! Oscar's wearing a dress?!
Don't make it so tight, the waist will tear!
Please stay still!
Ouch!
Are you trying to rip off my scalp.
It's a hairdo!
There are styles in hair!
Are you serious, Oscar?
Our Oscar wears a showy dress and dances with other men?!
Hmph, Oscar wearing a dress?
It's like putting a cloth on a tall scarecrow!
It would be unbearable to see!
André! Come here!
All right, all right!
André!
All right, all right!
Come, take a look at Mademoiselle in a dress!
All right, all right!
Oh, look, Madame.
Oh...
Who is she?
She looks like a Greek statue come to life.
She's a countess from a foreign country.
Her rank is so high, her name will be kept secret.
Oh, a foreigner?
I've seen her somewhere...
Madame!
May I dance with you once, please!
Oh, what lithe movements!
Such a slender figure!
Even Lord Fersen is enchanted.
Countess, where are you from?
I know someone who resembles you very much.
She's beautiful, and her hair is also blonde.
Kind hearted and well educated.
She's not afraid of risking her life for her beliefs!
Normally, she wraps up her fragrant skin in a gold braided military uniform,
Rejecting men's looks like an icy flower.
She's my most precious and beautiful friend.
Please pardon me.
Could you possibly be...
Could you possibly be?!
Fersen's arms embraced me.
Fersen's eyes engulfed me.
His lips spoke words about me.
I can give up now.
Now I can give it all up!
Ai ga kurushimi nara
lf to love is to suffer
Ikurademo kurushi mou
I will take any suffering
Sore ga kimino kokoro ni
Until my love reaches
Itsuka todoku made
To your heart someday
Kimi wa hikari, Boku wa kage
You are the light while I am the shadow
Hanre rarenai futari no kizuna
We share a bond that can never be broken
Kurushimeba kurushimu hodo
The more pain I suffer
Ai wa, ai wafukamaru
the deeper is my love
Black Knight, the phantom thief, only targets nobles.
Ajewel disappears from the house of a Marquise.
And Oscar happened to see the jewel shine in André's pocket.
The Black Knight...
André?
It can't be!
Next Episode on Rose of Versailles:
Next: Episode 26: "I Want to See The Black Knight!"
I Want to See the Black Knight!
Next: Episode 26: "I Want to See The Black Knight!"
See you.