Steven ou l'Optimisme

Chapter One: Young Steven, Yearning to be Free

10 years later. November 1841.

The young boy Steven Diamond has grown into a young nobleman. Of eighteen years of age, he has grown to be a man of tall stature and has one of the greatest necks to be visible to the human eye. He is adorned in the typical aristocratic fair, suiting a black collar shirt with a white cravat on his neck. Over the under clothes was a pink frock coat, with buttons made of gold. The man may have the finest clothes of all Toontopia, but he is after all still the Steven of ten years ago. He has remained his optimistic spirit that was instilled in him in his younger years. And in those years he learned more of his ideology.

In 1835, he had the pleasure of traveling to Leipzig with his mother to watch a performance of Johann Sebastian Bach's Concerto in D Minor. In 1838, he and his mother traveled to England for the coronation of his mother's distant cousin Queen Victoria. And throughout 1837 and 1839, learned how to use rifles and flintlocks in his brief service in the imperial army. Besides weaponry, he has matured and learned a lot in the past decade. He learned of the modern philosophy of Utilitarianism, which maximized his happiness, and Positivism, the philosophy of positive knowledge. He taught himself how to play the piano and music studying the works of Beethoven and Mozart and is currently learning to play violin. He learned new languages from reading different pieces of literature of English, German, and French origin. On top of that, he has taken an interest in the new fangled technologies of the day, such as the steam locomotive (after attending a competition in 1840) and telegraph communications.

With all of this knowledge in young Steven's head, he is now at the age to rule over the land of River Village, of which the House of Diamond ruled over since 1805. And at the age of eighteen years, he is able to join his mother and the rest of the ladies of the manor (even though he is a bastard child) in ruling over the small village in the name of the glorious king. A ball is being held for his birthday and various lords and ladies around the kingdom have been invited for the celebration of his eighteenth day of birth. The Diamonds have gone all out for their new lord of the manor. The finest Viennese orchestra was hired to perform the great dance music of the day. The finest delicacies served on the finest china, and the finest wines imported from France. The Diamonds used the tax money from the commoners of the area to pay for the lavish banquet, for it was well within the nobles' rights to do so. Did God not intend for those who have wealth and power to take advantage of the less fortunate? Was this system not to give the nobility the rewards of their power? It was the poor who were not working hard enough for them. Commoners are the way they are, and the nobility are the way they are, as God has intended. The nobles thought it was the best system this kingdom could ever ask for. Even young Steven, who was instilled these ideals at a young age.

The birthday ball began with various dances, from waltzes to polkas, even some Baroque dances of the gavotte and minuet. The Diamonds watched as the young Steven took the fine ladies of the court and took turns with all of these ladies to dance. The Diamonds have not seen such energetic spirit from this young man before. By nine o'clock at night, the best was yet to come. The courtiers gather in the banquet hall, with the many lords and ladies sitting on long tables surrounding young Steven and the four ladies of Diamond manor. Then came in the feast. Various soups and appetizers were passed out to all of the guests, including white rolls made from the finest flour harvested. Next came various roasted meats and fish which only the nobility could afford. But it is here that only the finest cuts of beef, lamb, and salmon for the tables of the Diamond court. For desert, there were various jellies, pastries, meringues, macaroons, and the center piece of the dining table, the cake, a great big cake of five layers of sponge cakes covered in chocolate frosting, and spread out were strawberries, all created for young Steven. There was also many bottles of Champaign and Pinot noir for refreshment from all this rich food. The court ate as much as anyone could ever eat in one day. And Lady Wilhelmina, the eldest lady of the manor in white, ate more than that. That didn't stop her from being the strong woman to proclaim to the world of the new manor of the lord (at least for 1840s standards).