Prince Alexandre, Duke of Alençon

Alexandre
Prince of Derita Prince of Naples & Sicily
File:Alexandre, Duke of Alençon.jpeg
Duke of Alençon
Reign	December 25, 2079 — present
King of Mantara
Reign	November 18, 2080 — October 28, 2081
Coronation	January 5, 2081
Predecessor	Anthony Rodrigue as president
Successor	Anthony Rodrigue as president
Born	April 9, 2062 (age 18) Fontainebleau, Derita
Spouse	Prince Adrian of Wied (m.2080)
Full name Alexandre Henri Albert Marie Léopold
House	Volonté
Father	Crown Prince André
Mother	Queen Marié Thérèsa
Occupation	Military Officer
Military career
Allegiance	Derita
Service/branch	Amperiale Armed Forces
Years of service	2079–present
Rank	Colonel
Unit	Prince Alexandre’s Regiment
Battles/wars	Seidanese War Battle of Vung Bang Battle of Cape Bien Lâng 2nd Siege of Bayakina Battle of Chiathon 3rd Battle of Hai Binh Siege of Phan Rong An 2nd Siege of Paphon 3rd Battle of Paphon Battle of Dien Giang Battle of Kon Trang Battle of Lào Ly Battle of Há Bai

Prince Alexandre, Duke of Alençon (Alexandre Henri Albert Marie Léopold; born 9 April 2062) is a member of the Deritain Imperial Family. He is the younger son of Prince Régent André, and Queen Marié Thérèsa of Naples, and is third in the line of succession to the Deritain throne.

Birth

Marie Theresa, Queen of Naples and Sicily, and the doting, faithful, and loving good wife of Crown Prince Andre of Derita have birth to Alexandre, the couple’s second childin Palace of Fontainebleau. Prince Alexander of Derita, Naples and Sicily was born today on his great-great-grandfather's 167th birthday. Amidst celebration on the national holiday the King-Emperor's eldest son's wife went into labor and delivered a small but healthy little baby boy. Prince Alexander, Count d'Artois was weighed at 5.7 pounds. His birth was sadly not witnessed by his father, who hurried to see it, but arrived shortly afterwards (much like the situation with King Ferdinand II of Romania). However Prince Alexander's mother was surrounded by his uncle and many aunts ( though not his Aunt Josefina, then Crown Princess of Espana), and his grandparents Christopher II and Alara-Elizabeth I of Russlande.

Prince Alexander was given the courtesy title of Count d'Artois by his grandfather as the second born son of the future King-Emperor of Derita. He was given the courtesy title of Count of Oran by his father, who himself is the Duke of Berry. From his mother, the young prince received the title of Duke of Salerno and Prince of Aletis. Even Prince Alexander's older brother and cousin, the five year old Prince Andre, Duc d'Normandy and 7 year old Nicholas I, King of Denmark-Norway gave small sentimental gifts to the little child. As the second son of Andre, Duc d'Berry, the baby Prince Alexander was from his birth and currently automatically 3rd in line to the throne.

55 canons were fired off around the country and the nation was covered in lights of blue, gold and gray to celebrate the birth of the baby boy and prince.

Early Life

Prince Alexandre was raised alongside his siblings and cousins, as well as several notable foreign royals in Fontainebleau. He was followed by a younger brother; Prince Antoine, Duke of Anjou and two younger sisters; Princess Angéle and Princess Alara. In 2068 Alexandre meet Prince Adrian of Wied who was sent to Fontainebleau by his mother, Marie of Wied, former Queen of the Netherlands. Alexandre and Adrian very quickly became best friends, constantly seem together. Alexandre would also become friends with hiscfuture sister-in-law, Adelaide II of Scotland and her two sisters Adela and Sofia.

Named after the conqueror Alexandre the Great, the young prince quietly became noted for his amazing beauty. At the age of just 6 it was noted that “the young second Prince is quiet a sight, an adorable child with lovely hair, charming eyes and a build of a person twice his age.” This was in sharp contrast to his elder brother, the Duke of Normandy who was notably small for his age as a child. His looks became one of his defining features as he was known at the “Beau Prince” or “Beautiful Prince” by the public and “Bello Nipote” or “beautiful grandson” by his grandmother, Antoinetta of Parma. There were even some who called for Alexandre’s name to be changed to Adonis of Derita to better suit him.

Despite the constant praise of his looks, or perhaps because of, Alexandre began to take very little interest in his appearance. He was, from a young clever enough to know that he could use it to get his way. There is almost no evidence of him being punished, but plenty of accounts of Alexandre behaving in a manner that other children his age would have been punished for, such as: in 2072 Alexandre fired a ceremonial cannon into the hull of the ship, the Victoria, causing his great-grandmother Mother Empress Sara to faint. In 2073, Alexandre let loose twenty-five horses from the Imperial stables before hijacking a holiday parade. In 2077 Alexandre reportedly snuck out of the palace to attend a concert. In 2078 Alexandre directly got involved in the command of the Amperiale Forces in the Seidanese War by “bullying the leading officer”.

In none of these situations and more was the Prince ever punished, to which eye witnesses attributed to him using his looks to charm any authority into letting him off. Alexandre did come close to danger, and expressed his amazing competence and wit, in 2074 when while out with friends, he was briefly kidnapped. His kidnapper was one Edmée Dieulafoy and two men she’d hired. The two men were able to grab and make off with the prince on May 6 at 2:48pm. They took Alexandre to an abandoned warehouse where they bounded and gagged the fourteen year old before placing him in a cage. Here Dieulafoy revealed that she was madly in love with Alexandre intended to hold him hostage until he was old enough for her to marry him. When the prince’s guards arrived on the scene at 3:33 pm, the found Alexandre waiting for them, having broken his bounds, escaped the cage, and sitting with the three captors unconscious with one of the men shot through the stomach. He’s only thoughts on the incident were to the guards saying “We’re late for tea.”

Seidanese War

When the Seidanese War broke out between Derita and Seidang, Alexandre was in Nagakita, the capital of Asakura, a protectorate of the Celestial Empire following its swift conquest. Alexandre and his siblings, along with the Queen and Princesses of Scotland and the Prince of Wied we’re enjoying a traditional Asakuese meal around a chadbudai at the former Dokuragosha when his brother the Duke of Normandy was called to discuss the war. The Duke of Normandy left the meal to have a meeting to discuss the war with the princes of Asakura. Alexandre, although not having been invited as well, joined the meeting as well. Here Alexandre outshined his more cautious and pacifist brother by angering the young and arrogant Prince Aki, yet inspiring the rest of the council of princes to proudly serve the Celestial Empire.

Despite his young age, Alexandre took a keen interest in the war, and while there have been some that claimed that Alexandre “bullied” his way into being involved in military command, it also appears that he holds a genuine passion and excellence for and with conducting warfare. Educated by some of the best military experts of the day, including his own grandfather, with a great love of the study of his great-grandfather, Almahn the Conqueror, who never lost a war, Alexandre threw himself into the act of winning the Seidanese War. Count Ōyama, a high ranking commander in the Asakuese forces during the war often looked for the prince’s “valued input” and “appreciated his great enthusiasm”. There does appear to have been a bit of competition between Alexandre and Prince Aki, with Aki refusing to work with the prince up until December of 2078 when he was finally one over by the Prince for some reason, though many have suspected because of charm, that Alexandre inspired hope and faith into his heart.

However he may have done it, Alexandre gaining Aki’s loyalty to the Celestial Empire extremely boosted the war effort and Aki’s loyal soldiers would make up a large percentage of the soldiers fighting under the glorious banner of the Celestial Empire following this and onto the rest of the war. In January of 2079, Alexandre along with the Duke of Normandy attended a military ceremony in Nagakita, honoringvthe soldiers going off to fight in the war, in which a unidentifed military officer did “attempt and fail to succeed in antagonizing Prince Alexandre”. After this point Alexandre became more and more eager to join the fighting, wishing to fight for the glory of the Celestial Empire and bring a swift end in a form of victory to the fighting. However he was hindered in his path of doing so by his brother and father, who both felt him too young to fight, being only 16 years old. The group, save Alexandre, the Duke of Normandy, the Queen of Scots and the Prince of Wied; was sent back to the ever present safety of Fontainebleau.

Following the victory by Elisé Soga at the Second Battle of An Giang, Prince Alexandre and Prince Adrian went on a hunt together in the wilderness of Asakura. Alexandre, who is widely known for his love of Big-game hunting, though he was reportedly disappointed with the relatively small nature of the Asakura native game; was seen with the Atmoran-Dutch prince as he closely taught him how to fire a gun and search for one’s prey. At the end of the hunt Alexandre was seen playfully posing with a deceased deer before it was to be skinned and eaten, Alexandre being one to believe in finding usage in whatever one hunts. The picture, believed to be taken by Adrian, was later edited to look as if the deer was a Saola, the National animal of Seidang. This was used as war propaganda against Seidang, becoming viral as it symbolized the inevitable victory of the Celestial Empire over the republic of Seidang.

Court of Bledapestra

Following the hunt, Alexandre was suddenly plucked from Asakura by his father and was sent to Polonge, where the Prince Régent hoped Alexandre would sway the policies of Empress Maria Anna of Polonge, who could field the most soldiers in the war, and was the most serious threat to the interests of the Celestial Empire.

Alexandre arrived at Bledapestra on January 11, 2080, where he was immediately given a respectable greeting. He was then brought to to be presented to the Imperial Family, that being the Empress of Polonge and her daughters Crown Princess Maria Christina and Archduchess Maria Amalia. The archduchess said when she saw Alexandre, 'Ah! Here is my real Prince Charming!' The rest of the family did not say a word to Alexandre among their first meeting. The rest of the day Alexandre was taken under the wing of Maria Amalia, known as Amalia among the court, took him to a tour of the Palace of Bleda, with the two not leaving each other’s side.

It was no secret in Polonge that Amalia was madly in love with Alexandre and quickly began to spread around the two. While no official statement was put forth by either Bledapestra or Fontainebleau, it became very clear that the two were engaging in a courtship. Alexandre often payed Amalia visits at her card-games, and each time she was said to make little speeches that were full of good-will and charm. When someone offhandly mentioned Alexandre’s Deritain uniform, a not military one but instead one used for ceremonies, she expressed a wish to see him in it. Alexandre was then instructed to go dressed, not to Court, but to the archduchess’s apartments. Alexandre was treated quite well as a visiting royal and dined with the family.

Despite this closeness, aside from Amalia, Alexandre was not well liked by the rest of the Imperial Family. Empress Maria Anna loathed his presence as she feared that he was attempting to act as a spy for her actions in Seidang. Alexandre attempted several times to speak with the empress alone, but she refused him on several occasions. Amalia’s great-grandmother former Empress Alanna too was strongly against the pairing. His relationship with the Crown Princess was also rather unfortunately managed, with Maria Christina feeling that Alexandre was not a good match for her history and wished him gone from Bledapestra. Maria Christina went as far as to go to the empress to call off the engagement. To this Maria Anna expressed horror at her daughter, promising not to stand in the way of her daughter (Amalia) and Alexandre should they truly be in love.

While Amalia was clearly heads over heels for Alexandre, he remained aloof and while he at times entertained her passions, he rarely spoke of her in a way more than that of a friend. Whether this was because of lack of interest or in a simultaneous relationship is unsure. While unable Amalia’s family, he was however quickly able to win over the Court of Bledapestra and Nickolaus von Hopfer, the then Prime Minister of Polonge. While attending a ball, the Prince and the Archduchess “engaged in a dance so provocative that the marble required laving” while “several of the women, Her Imperial and Royal Highness included, fainted with ecstasy.” The following day Alexandre meet with Hopfer privately, during which they discussed the Montaigne Canal under construction. Three days later 3,000 new Polongain labors arrived at the construction site.

Alexandre’s attempts to sway the Empress continued to be failures, however it soon became clear that she had no desire to continue the war, yet at the same time refused to pulled them back from Seidang, much to Alexandre’s frustration. Maria Anna’s and Maria Christina’s utter contempt for Alexandre proved to be one of the few things that the mother and daughter agreed on. Alexandre’s anger was expressed by minor destruction in the palace, with several vases, chairs, glasses and windows found destroyed via gun rounds. In February 2080 Alexandre and Amalia left Bledapestra for Schellenburg Castle, where the two stayed with chaperones for three days. They were forced to return to Bledapestra after a fire started and they had to jumped out of flaming castle. While two servants were killed, Alexandre and Amalia remained unharmed, though it was believed that the fire was an assassination attempt by Maestro.

Upon returning to Bledapestra, Alexandre was confronted by Maria Christina in a silent fury. Rumors had gone around that Alexandre was accepting money from women to dance with him and that he was engaging in depraved actions with the Archduchess and members of the court. Alexandre admitted to receiving gifts from several noble ladies and having dances with them at several parties that he had attended with Amalia. As for the rumors of his affairs with various members of the court, this turned out to be from information from the so called “Szenvedélyek” a pornographic book detailing the affairs of members of the court. The book itself was dated back from the late 2020’s but had been added to for decades. However the graphic nature of the entries regarding Alexandre and the Archduchess and others were deduced to be “Nothing but smut” that was fictional. This is in part do to that several of the encounters with him in it were written before Alexandre’s arrival. The Szenvedélyek was consificated by Alexandre and the Crown Princess from three noble women who’d been found with it and it was handed over to the Empress, where it remains in her custody safely out of causing harm. While the scandal was cleared and an apology given to the prince, this did not improve the Crown Princess and his relationship.

In March 2080, the Crown Princess and her husband went to the cathedral to honor the Passion of Saint Perpetua, Saint Felicitas, and their Companions’s saint’s day, along with the Empress. Alexandre however neglected to arrive, along with the Archduchess, a rarity given Maria Amalia’s pious nature. This was the final straw for the Crown Princess and she raised against Alexandre and his lack of faith. Alexandre responded by attending the saints day mass for John of God carrying a rifle and a first aid kit, in reference to Saint John of God being a soldier and a health care provider. The Crown Princess attempted to have the prince removed by force, but this resulted in three guards being left with broken arms and the pews left covered in bandages and gauze. Maria Christina declared to Alexandre that “You make a mockery of faith!” To which he responded “Your faith is a mockery!”

Alexandre crossed the line for the final time when secret messages were discovered to have come from him to Fontainebleau contain sensitive information about the naval power of Polonge. During a ball Maria Anna brought Alexandre to the side and spoke with him in the hall. Maria Anna accused him of using her daughter to betray Polonge while Alexandre accused her of using him to betray the Celestial Empire. Their conversation devolved into yelling and screams until sudden silence. Alexandre infamously said to the empress, as she later recalled, , “tread carefully Your Majesty. With me, you may very well lose your crown... and your head.” Maria Anna immediately demanded Alexandre’s removal and he was banished from Bledapestra, leaving quietly that same night while Maria Amalia was left to break down in tears.

Titles, honours and arms

Titles

• 9 April 2062 — 25 December 2079 His Royal Highness Prince Alexandre of Derita, Count of Artois
• 25 December 2079 — present His Royal Highess The Duke of Alençon

Military Ranks

29 April 2079: Officer cadet
14 May 2079: Second lieutenant
12 June 2079: Captain
21 September 2079: Major
25 September 2079: Lieutenant colonel
28 September 2079: Colonel

Honours

Derita
File:Ordre du mérite chez.jpg National Order of Merit
Legion of Honour
Order of Military Merit
Deritain Commemorative Medal of 2079 Hoadao Campaign
Combatant’s cross
Médaille militaire
Croix de Guerre
Cross for Military Valour
Medal for the War Wounded

File:EmpireofSeidangb.gif Seidang
Liang Mala Medal for Gallantry in Action
Bravery Medal
Victory Medal
Order of Liang
Order of the Crown of Seidang