Steven ou l'Optimisme

Prolouge

10 years ago. 1831.

"Mother, can you tell me more about our great kingdom?" The young boy asks. The young boy of eight years is a thick, stocky child with curly dark brown hair, dark brown eyebrows, and full black irises. In his nightgown, he lies down on a very comfortable bed in a large manor where he is very fortunate to live in. His mother you see is one of the four young ladies of the Diamond Manor, a Chateau located 10 miles away from the kingdom's capitol of Galicula. Lady Primrose Diamond was the youngest and had more freedom to have her way with some of the commoners, and thus was born the boy out of wedlock, being refereed as a bastard child. Fortunately, the Diamonds didn't seem to care, so the boy was treated much like royalty, riding the finest stallions, eating the finest foods, and learning philosophies from the finest tutors Europe offered. He was one of the many nobles that embraced Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz's theory of optimism and truly beloved that all is well and perfect in this kingdom in the best of all possible worlds.

"My precious little Steven" Lady Primrose says to the boy Steven. "I thought you already know all the things that made the great kingdom of Toontopia".

"I know mother, but I want to know the secret that makes it so great!"

"Is that so?" Primrose says, sitting down beside her child. "Alright, I'll tell you the secrets of the kingdom. I'll start with why this kingdom is great, can you guess why my child?".

"I haven't the slightest clue mother".

"This kingdom was blessed by the grace of God to be ruled by a king of French descent! Now Steven, do you remember what I've told you about the dark age?"

"That was when King Thomas II the Cruel ruled wasn't it?"

"That's right my child" Primrose said grimly, "and such a cruel king he was. He raised our taxes on property, goods, and on our estates. He spent his time with arts and crafts, and he didn't pay attention to our military. Such a disgusting man deserved to meet a disgusting end".

"Didn't he though mother?"

"Yes he did Steven, and that was by the graciousness of the French in 1805. Do you remember who led the French at that time?"

"Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte"

"Wonderful my child. When Napoleon invaded Toontopia in 1805, he deposed King Thomas and instated a dukedom apart of the greater French empire".

"Napoleon appointed his uncle's cousin's brother's lover's son's friend to rule it right?"

"Yes, Lord Richard of Grayson became the duke of the territory and immediately began to pass reformation after reformation. He lowered our taxes, built up our military, and established the system of power we enjoy today. What is that order young Steven, from lowest to highest?"

"That's easy! The commoners, the military, the nobility, the clergy, then the government, and of course, our gracious king!"

"Correct child. And with the fall of Napoleon in 1815, Richard became our new glorious king, and he ended up saving this kingdom from disasters, he saved us from the plague and from famine. He took care of social unrest in the capitol".

"Wow!" Steven exclaimed, "he sounds like a wonderful king!"

"He is! Now unfortunately, we can't say that everything was the work of the glorious king. Do you know the philosophy of Leibniz?"

"All is for the best in the best of all possible worlds!"

"And Toontopia is at the center of the world!" adds Primrose. "God has planned this universe from the beginning. There are many things to consider. First of all, all commoners are lazy, therefore they are driven further into poverty. Second, children who are naughty to their parents deserved to be orphaned. Third, believe in all women no matter the circumstance. And finally, never complain about the government nor the king. Give praise to the glorious king and everyone reaps the rewards of happiness in the kingdom! You like to study hard don't you?"

"Yes mother, I do!"

"And you love me don't you?"

"A lot mother!"

"You believe in women don't you?"

"No matter what mother!"

"And you love our king don't you?"

"As much as you mother! I give praise and thanks to him everyday!".

"Excellent dear boy! Oh! There is one more thing I need to tell you dear Steven. Always answer God's plan. I don't care if he tells you to give up the decadent lifestyle, if he calls you to become a writer, a musician, or a farmer, then you go do whatever God calls you to do. Just never ever get lazy, or you'll end up like the commoners".

"I would never mother".

"And when God calls you back home, you'll be embraced by those who love you". Before Primrose can continue to talk to Steven, a servant of the house enters the room.

"Oh Lady Primrose, Lady Yohanna is waiting for you in downstairs in the lounge" the servant girl says.

"Thank you, tell her I will be down there soon".

"Yes my Diamond" she says before leaving the room. Primrose tucks in Steven into bed, kissing him on the forehead.

"Goodnight my child, sleep soundly that God blesses us, and the great kingdom of Toontopia".

"I love you mother"

"I know you do", Lady Primrose leaves Steven's room as Steven enters into deep sleep. For one, she was right.

Toontopia may be small kingdom on the European Continent on the border between France and the German Confederation, but is was relatively strong, or at least stronger than Luxembourg, or at least Liechtenstein. But the truth is that Toontopia has fallen into deep poverty and dispair. The mysterious plague that was discovered a year earlier killed a good portion of the commoner adult population, leaving many children orphaned amongst their poverty. And on top of that, a bad harvest plus all food rationing going to the military has caused a kingdom wide famine that is expected to last for a good long while. This is not to mention that King Richard has the most authoritarian rule among the major crown-heads of Europe. Many of the poorer children were sent to work in the new factories and coal mines across the kingdom to fill the coffers in this new industrial revolution. The wealthy were fortunate to have inherited wealth during the wars and kept it during crisis, but unfortunately, the poor did not. The aristocracy kept their heads away from commoner issues, and the commoners keep plunging deep into destitution, starvation, and suffering. Whist people like Steven sleep soundly in the manors of the rich, those in city slums begin to show discontent and when the time is right, revolution will spring in the air paving way for a brave new world.