“Happy Birthday, Duchess Sophie!”

  “Happy Birthday!”

  “Happy Birthday!”

  Nobles arrived one after another, bringing presents to the now nine year old Duchess!

  They were piling up in the parlor!

  “Thank you! Thank you! Gods Bless! Stay French!”

  Sophie had the biggest birthday girl smile on her face!

  All the nobles were happy, too.

  Sophie deserved to have a birthday party!

  And there hadn’t been a party in quite some time…

  But here they were!

  And it was all thanks to the little girl from…

  Wisconsin?

  Texas?

  Appalashia?

  It was hard to tell!

  “I’m from Three Creeks Village, in the Kingdom of Appalashia!” Lily insisted.

  “And not Texas? You have their Medal of Freedom…” an elegant Countess asked.

  “The Great and Everlasting Free State of Texas,” Lily corrected out of habit.

  “Non non, look, she has the Order of Friend of Peoples, too! She must be from ze Friendly Commonwealth of Wisconsin!” a burly Baron pointed out.

  “No, I really am from Appalashia!”

  Lily met dozens of new people, really fast!

  Thankfully, they all introduced themselves before she could accidentally guess their names…

  Phew!

  But they were all confused where she was from!

  She had been to so many places, and picked up habits and awards while solving problems…

  And now she was wearing a French style dress, and a tiara, and hosting a birthday ball for her new friend, Sophie!

  Lily’s identity was getting a little thin!

  Sophie helpfully(?) chimed in.

  “Lily’s a culinary genius! She invented two new kinds of food, which we’ll be serving for lunch today!”

  “Oooh!” Everyone ooh’d and ahh’d.

  “Zo she must be French!”

  The French national identity was strong!

  It was trying to claim Lily, too!

  “Mademoiselle Lily, this is my son, Pierre! He’s ten years old.”

  “Bonjour, mademoiselle,” Pierre said with a dashing grin.

  “Mademoiselle Lily, meet my son, Jean-Luc! He’s eleven, and he also loves cooking!”

  “Bonjour, mon cherie,” a slightly… wider young boy said.

  All the nobles were trying to introduce their sons to Lily!

  Nobles loved arranged marriages!

  They were trying to set something up, but…

  It all went over Lily’s head!

  And Lily had her eyes on the prize!

  She was too focused on her goals for romance!

  She was also eight years old!

  All the noble parents’ hearts fell when they saw their sons get deep into a discussion on the best games to play, and then the discussion turned to the finer points of golf…

  Lily turned it into networking!

  Sophie giggled to see the nobles’ plans come to naught!

  Serves them right!

  It was her birthday party!

  “Now announcing, the arrival of her Majesty the Queen of France, Marie, and her cat companion, Mimi!”

  All the nobles bowed or curtsied, and Lily copied Sophie!

  “Please, rise, everyone,” Marie said.

  “Mew,” Mimi added.

  A butler was carrying Mimi on a pillow.

  Marie was wearing her fancy dress and Queen’s crown! And in her arms she held the scepter of the King!

  She was going all out for her first party in weeks!

  It was a diplomatic event, after all.

  “Happy Birthday, Duchess Sophie.”

  “Thank you, your Majesty.” Sophie curtsied, and a maid handed Sophie her present.

  A diamond necklace!

  It would go perfectly with her dress!

  “Wow, thank you so much!”

  “Go ahead, put it on… Oh my, aren’t you just gorgeous, Sophie! Once again, happy birthday.”

  Sophie was all smiles as another maid held up a mirror, and she saw how she looked in her new diamond necklace.

  Next, the Queen turned to the little girl from Appalashia.

  “And thank you for hosting this party, Miss Lily.”

  “You’re welcome! Stay Friendly!”

  The corner of Marie’s lips tugged up. “Yes, indeed, we shall stay Friendly.”

  That was the Wisconsin way!

  With greetings out of the way, the Queen and her attendants swept into the ballroom, and started telling the musicians what kind of music the Queen wanted!

  “I want Haydn’s La Reine, and then some Mozart, perhaps some Menuets to dance to…”

  The Queen loved music, and she loved to dance!

  Next to arrive was…

  Max Robesy-P!

  The Head of Police for the Revolution!

  “Ahem, yes, happy birthday, comrade Sophie.”

  He didn’t use her title as Duchess…

  He was a Revolutionary, through and through!

  “Thank you, monsieur Robesy-P…”

  But, he did have a present!

  It was a wooden carving of Justitia, the Goddess of Justice!

  It was surprisingly beautiful, and well-crafted!

  “Oh my, this is gorgeous! Did you make this yourself?” Sophie asked.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  Max Robesy-P…

  Blushed!

  Just the tiniest bit, but Lily saw it!

  “Ahem, yes, just something I made in my spare time!”

  He then hurried away, without saying farewell.

  “Thank you! Gods Bless!” Sophie called after him.

  “Stay French!” he said gruffly, making his way into the ballroom, where he started lurking in a corner.

  Max Robesy-P had a goal tonight…

  Learn the Lilyburger secret formula!

  And even though he was a bit of a wallflower, Lionel the Baker found him, and they were able to have some good conversation.

  Lily saw this, and nodded.

  Good!

  Everyone should have some fun at a birthday party!

  Hopefully Max Robesy-P would loosen up…

  Next to arrive was Napoleon!

  “Je suis Napoleon!” he declared. He was wearing a military uniform with a big hat, which he doffed grandly as he swept into a big bow towards the birthday girl.

  “Bonjour, General,” Sophie said.

  Napoleon stood up again, put his hat back on, and gave Sophie her present.

  A collection of embroidered handkerchiefs! They were really fancy!

  “Thank you! Gods Bless!” Sophie said with a smile.

  “Oui! Napoleon!” Napoleon said, and then he strutted into the ballroom like he owned the place.

  Last to arrive was Gilbert, the Marquis de Lafayette. He was double invited, both as a noble, and as a member of the Revolutionary Council!

  “Happy Birthday, Duchess Sophie,” he said with a tight smile.

  And then he handed her her birthday present.

  It was a book!

  “This is an advance copy of my book of political philosophy, the Declaration of the Rights of Man. I worked on it with a Texan…”

  Sophie took it with a practiced Duchess smile.

  She knew books of philosophy were popular among all the French…

  But she was eight, no, nine years old!

  Philosophy was something French boys and girls grew into as they grew up…

  “Thank you, Marquis Gilbert…”

  And Lily…

  Leaned over, and looked at the cover!

  “The Rights of Man? What about the Rights of Women?”

  The Marquis…

  Gasped!

  Sophie looked closer. “Hey, that’s right, is it only about the rights of men?”

  Gilbert started sweating.

  “Er, well, uh…”

  Lily and Sophie narrowed their eyes at him.

  So did all the maids in the parlor!

  “Ahem, well, uh, it applies to men and women, of course. You know, liberté, égalité, fraternité? Equality!”

  “Uh huh…”

  Sophie wasn’t convinced!

  “Maybe you should change the title…” Lily suggested.

  “You might be right…” Gilbert said.

  He left to join the party, and with that, Sophie had received almost all her birthday presents!

  The birthday girl and the party’s host joined everyone else in the ballroom, and there was a round of applause for them both!

  Sophie stepped onto a raised platform, so everyone could see her.

  “Thank you for coming to my birthday party, everyone! And a special thank you to the diplomat from the Friendly Commonwealth of Wisconsin, Lily, for hosting it!”

  There was another round of applause for Lily!

  “Lily is a culinary genius from the Kingdom of Appalashia, and she invented the cuisine for this party, and her mother baked all the cakes!”

  The Revolutionaries frowned, but all the nobles applauded.

  “And Baker Lionel graciously agreed to bake all the buns for today’s Lilyburgers! Thank you, Lionel!”

  There was a little less applause for the Revolutionary Baker, but everyone still clapped at least a little!

  Even the Queen did!

  Next, Lily got up!

  She was gonna give a little speech, too!

  “Hi everybody! Thank you for coming to celebrate Sophie’s birthday party!”

  She paused while everyone clapped.

  “Lunch today is Lilyburgers and Friendly Fries! I learned how to make them thanks to the God of Death’s blessing, and they rely on wheat grown in Franc to make the buns! It’s kinda messing up my business, so I hope you can end the Revolution soon and go back to selling wheat like normal. Thanks!”

  A business focused plea!

  There was a smattering of applause, and then Lily went to the serving table, near the door to the kitchen.

  A chef brought up a platter of Lilyburgers and a stack of sliced cheese, and another brought up a platter full of plates of french fries!

  Sophie was going to serve juice and tea to everyone at a table next to her.

  First up was the Queen!

  “Hi Queen Marie! Would you like a regular Lilyburger, or a Lilyburger with cheese?”

  Queen Marie huffed a little!

  “I will take it with cheese! Although calling it a Lilyburger with cheese is still a bit of a mouthful…”

  Lily put the cheese on the burger! Then she put the burger on a plate with fries and handed it to the Queen’s maid.

  “Well, regional franchise managers can rename the dishes how they like in their region. In the Great and Everlasting Free State of Texas, they’ve invented a new Texan Burger, and they call their fries Freedom Fries…”

  The ballroom fell completely silent.

  “We can… rename the food?” someone said.

  “Yes! But we can’t open franchises here in France until the Revolution is over!” Lily declared.

  Suddenly, all eyes were on the Queen and the Revolutionaries!

  People started whispering.

  “Hasn’t the Revolution gone on long enough?”

  “Maybe it’s time to compromise…”

  “Sophie almost didn’t get a birthday party…”

  “Ahem, well, we shall think about it. Oh, and Mimi wants extra Friendly Fries,” Queen Marie said.

  “Okay!”

  Lily gave her an extra serving of fries.

  They had plenty!

  And, all the nobles copied the Queen!

  They all wanted cheese on their Lilyburgers!

  Lionel and Max Robesy-P both wanted two burgers, one with cheese, and one without.

  Lionel was interested in how the taste changed.

  Max Robesy-P was pulling them apart and looking at all the ingredients!

  “He’s after that recipe…” Ghostly Mac muttered, looking at him.

  “Is he even gonna eat ‘em?” Ghostly Rich asked.

  But, eventually, he put his burgers back together and took a bite.

  “Magnifique!” he cried.

  He liked them!

  He really liked them!

  Tears streamed down his face as he ate!

  Napoleon got his Lilyburger with cheese, just like the Queen did.

  “Napoleon!” he smiled.

  And then he walked over towards where the Queen was eating and feeding Mimi Friendly Fries.

  Last up was Gilbert, the Marquis!

  “I’m getting a lot of pressure to end the Revolution, now,” he frowned at Lily.

  “Good! I need the Revolution to end for my business! Plus, Sophie almost missed her birthday party!”

  Gilbert dipped his head.

  “True,” he acknowledged. “But that doesn’t solve the problem of the Queen being too bossy.”

  Lily…

  Shrugged!

  Gilbert sighed.

  “I’ll take my Lilyburger without cheese.”

  “Okay! Gods Bless!”

  “Gods Bless. Stay French!”

  All around the ballroom, everyone was eating their Lilyburgers and singing their praises!

  “The buns are so good! They make it really easy to pick up and eat…”

  “The beef patty is delicious! So much flavor from a modest bit of meat…”

  “The ketchup and pickle add so much to the flavor profile!”

  “Purr purr…” Mimi was purring as she ate one Friendly Fry after another!

  Mr. Cat had also found his way over there, and the Queen was alternating feeding him and Mimi fries.

  “Purr purr…”

  “Purr purr…”

  And, eventually…

  The Queen was out of Friendly Fries!

  “Oh dear, I’ve run out…”

  Mimi gave her a look.

  “Oh, don’t look at me like that, Mimi! Let’s get you some cake…”

  Chefs and maids were bringing out the cakes!

  Lily’s Mama had made a whole bunch of them, in a bunch of different flavors!

  Everyone got to have their favorite!

  Once everyone had their slice of cake, they put nine candles in Sophie’s whole personal cake, lit them, and sang her Happy Birthday!

  “Make a wish!” Lily’s Mama said.

  Sophie paused, and then blew out all the candles at once.

  Everyone clapped!

  And then, everyone took their first bite of cake in weeks.

  The nobles were brought to tears!

  “So good!”

  “It’s been far too long!”

  “We really must end this silly Revolution immediately. We can’t go on without cake any longer!”

  The Queen was getting a lot of pressure!

  Everyone was shooting her looks!

  Mr. Cat and Mimi mewed at each other, back and forth, and finally…

  Mimi put a paw on the Queen’s arm!

  Everyone stopped talking to watch and listen!

  “Marie… please end the Revolution already. I want more fries…”

  “Le gasp!” Marie said.

  This was a royal emergency!

  “Miss Lily!”

  The Queen called Lily over.

  “As the host, please prepare a private room. I want to negotiate with the Revolutionary Council, immediately!”

  Sophie gasped when she heard that.

  Was her birthday wish coming true so soon?