While the abdication of the emperor and his flight might to many have meant a return to the republican system, the widespread elimination of the old political order in the conflict that saw the Emperor rise to power meant there also really wasn’t much of a republic to go back to. In that power vacuum the central government was mostly a weakened shell while on the regional level a mix of strongpersons and old rulers asserted dominance. Of course each of these little fiefdoms then engaged in their own wars to expand until only seven kingdoms were left, with the exception of Ile-de-France which through its status as a power centre and cultural capital was deemed neutral territory by all parties and as such left to govern itself.
By initial appearances one could be excused for ignoring the Kingdom of Acquitaine. Even now the Occitans weren’t truly considered French by the country at large and its leader was often dismissed. In the words of the King of Burgundy, the daughter of a whore and a deserter. Jeanne Thérèse Phénix was all of those things, but more importantly she was determined. Her life had been one of pain and struggle but it had made her stronger, from her humble beginnings she rose up through the city, then the province and now the Kingdom that dominated south-western France. She didn’t rely on existing networks or old house names, she built her own order and her own house. Carolingia, Plantagenet, Capet, Valois, Bourbon, Bonaparte, Orleans and now Phénix. She was going to reunify her country and rule over that unified Kingdom. Rallying behind her resolve, charisma and beauty many considered her the new Jeanne d’Arc, a woman chosen by God to defeat those who had destroyed the purest Kingdoms of all. One by one the Kings that had dismissed her, ridiculed her, humiliated her bent the knee. While conquest alone already made her Queen of France, the status was soon confirmed after the coronation following the conquest of Reims. Only a final barrier stood between Jeanne and the price she had worked so hard for. As her armies surrounded Paris, the city government had gotten used to self-rule and were reluctant to give it up. Things changed quickly when the first shots were exchanged and most of the city council fled, however not before leaving France in flames. With her country unified, her appointment made final by God and the will of the people behind her it was time to show the world France was one again. As she walked down the hallway to where her armies were waiting Jeanne could feel a certain excitement inside her. Her divine quest was complete, now she could embark on the next one. In front of multiple cameras which were to broadcast her address throughout the nation and world she could still be seen unchanged from the completion of the battle. She wanted the world to see that she was a fighter and that under her France would give no quarter.
“People of France! The humiliation is over! Through blood, sweat and tears our country is whole again. The crooks and charlatans that weakened the purity of our state have been put in their place and the entirety of the realm is once again governed from Paris. Throughout the war I have been assigned many names by my enemies. A bloodthirsty tyrant, a weak girl that should return to the kitchen, a witch sent by the devil to corrupt the men of France, the destroyer of the realm. All these men now serve me, were I those things I would have likely chosen to execute them here and now but what I want is a better France. A France that serves its people and a France that can stand against the foreign forces that have throughout history sought to restrict our greatness. My Kingdom will be one where each man, woman and child can walk the streets in peace, where the rule of law is enforced by a state and not a crime syndicate. A France that can defend its borders. A France that is once again a great power. The France of before the empire is no returning. The centralized republic is from an era long gone, this France needs to be ruled from the region. The seven kingdoms are a great model for this rule, while I will not tolerate any other King or Queen in this land I will welcome the Lords and Ladies Paramount to rule them. The Kingdom shall be led from Paris but it shall also be led from Nantes, and Marseilles, and the five other former capitals. Now the war is over we will rebuild what was lost and return stronger than ever before.”