He Became Napoleon’S Genius Son [EN]: Chapter 294

(294) The Wedding of Bonaparte and Habsburg

In June of 1801, a banquet was held at Schönbrunn Palace for the first time in a long while.

-Bbaam, bbaam-bbaam, bbaam-bbaam-bbaam!

The famous Vienna Imperial Orchestra played a majestic tune.

The one playing the piano at the center was the Kapellmeister [music director], Haydn.

He had been traveling to England after his retirement, but he hurriedly returned for this wedding.

Conversely, Beethoven, the pianist who recently represented Vienna, was nowhere to be seen.

Considering that this marriage was a union between the First Consul’s family of revolutionary France and the old imperial family of Austria, it was a very significant event.

“Unbelievable. I have to marry a commoner! Why me!”

Of course, there were those who didn’t care about the master’s performance.

That was the bride who was getting married today, Maria Clementina, an old maid by royal standards at the age of 24.

It was a marriage that took place like a lightning bolt, only a month after the decision, so there was no time to stop it.

In the bride’s waiting room, the maids approached the bride, who was getting ready, and Maria offered her comfort.

“Still, didn’t you like him, Clementina?”

“Like who? I just used him as an errand boy. You did too!”

“I did?”

The maids were startled and tried to stop her, but Clementina shouted with fire in her eyes.

“Yes, he used to be a page! Freischütz [a nobleman’s son serving as an attendant]! So, aren’t you still hung up on him?”

The fact that the other person was a commoner was truly humiliating for a noble archduchess.

It was also hard to bear that her status had been lowered to ‘Princess’ instead of ‘Empress’.

Moreover, the other party was the younger brother of the enemy’s leader.

So, she was venting her anger on the innocent Maria.

On the other hand, Maria smiled brightly without getting angry at the insult.

“Clementina, Eugene is not a page.”

“Well, yes. He’s a baron, right? His status is too low to marry into the royal family. But he’s better than the guy I’m marrying today!”

“There is no royal family in France anymore. Nor nobles.”

Maria replied in a firm tone, still smiling.

“I’m just a commoner. I accepted it, and I’m going to marry Eugene, who is a commoner.”

Only then did Clementina flinch and remember one thing.

The cousin in front of her had ‘virtually’ lost her father to the revolutionary army.

Yet, she became the lover of a revolutionary general and was walking around with him.

It was not something that could be lived with ordinary determination.

Even so, Clementina still insisted.

“It’s not Österreic [Austria], Marie Thérèse Charlotte de Bourbon.”

France may have abolished the monarchy, but Austria has not.

Maria may not be a princess in France, but Maria is clearly a princess in Austria.

Although the two people cannot be distinguished at first glance, their inner selves are completely different.

Nevertheless, Maria felt a strange sense of kinship with Clementina.

If she really hated ‘Bonaparte’, Clementina would have caused a suicide scare.

“Then, think of it differently. The House of Orange-Nassau also marries into royal families, right?”

“They were originally a ducal family. Now I’m marrying a country bumpkin from an island I don’t even know?”

“Now the Bonaparte family from that island will become the ruling family of France.”

Maria whispered in a slightly lower voice.

“I’m going to become a member of the Bonaparte family, too.”

Maria still doesn’t fully understand the revolution.

It is strange that the ideology and reality of the revolution are different.

But one thing was certain.

Her beloved Eugene was riding the storm of the revolution, helping Napoleon rise to the top.

As a result, ‘Bonaparte’, which Eugene also uses as his family name, will become the best family.

Maria was hoping.

That she too could use Bonaparte in her family name with Eugene.

Maria Clementina quietly looked at the girl named after her grandmother.

“You are really strong, Marie Thérèse.”

“So, are you going to run away today?”

“Are you crazy? I’m also a royal, no, a princess of the royal family. My brother is already in a bad situation, so if I run away from here, what will happen? Will they even strip him of his kingship? The self-proclaimed revolutionaries of France?”

This is actually a problem being discussed in the center of France.

Napoleon only demanded the demotion of the King, fearing the chaos in Austria, but if a problem arose, he could demand abdication.

Conversely, today’s marriage is also to guarantee the position of ‘King’ Franz II.

Maria nodded, fixing Clementina’s decorations.

“Then, live as the Duchess of Bohemia instead of the Queen of the Kingdom of Naples. Prague is also nice.”

Clementina snorted.

“Hmph, I’ll have to live by tormenting Louisa. She’ll listen to me well, right?”

Maria, who was smiling, left the bride’s waiting room.

Walking through the corridors of the huge Schönbrunn Palace, Maria suddenly stopped.

There was a young man waiting for Maria.

“How is it?”

Maria looked at the young man and thought.

When will Maria be able to have a wedding like this with the young man?

Feeling envious for some reason, Maria smiled brightly again.

“I think she will be fine.”

Towards Eugene Bonaparte.

***

In fact, the Corsican rural aristocrat was also in a state of panic over the arranged marriage.

“Good heavens, am I, am I really getting married?”

The still bewildered groom, Louis Bonaparte, muttered blankly.

First of all, his third older brother, Lucien, was still unmarried.

Also, Louis, who was not particularly enthusiastic, was friendly to the Republic as a member of the Revolutionary Army.

But suddenly, he was getting married to an archduchess he often met, and now he was being told to become a Grand Duke.

Louis, who was still dumbfounded, was gracefully handed a letter by Talleyrand.

“This is an order approved by the First Consul. Lieutenant Louis Bonaparte. No, now you are Grand Duke Louis.”

“Minister of Foreign Affairs, did my brother really approve it? Isn’t the Consulate Government not tolerating nobles?”

“Of course, in France, you are just a commoner. It is just that it is inevitable to have a title abroad. Because domestic law does not apply.”

Suddenly, a strange smile appeared on Talleyrand’s face.

“But if these exceptions pile up, the public’s perception will change.”

Louis is not particularly talented or clever like his brothers.

But he is not a fool.

What Foreign Minister Talleyrand implied was clear.

This exception may also apply to Napoleon.

But would the French people really accept it?

It was when Louis was trembling with fear.

In the palace lounge, a large man appeared in front of Louis, who was lost in thought.

“Hey, Lieutenant Bonaparte. You’ve made a big hit.”

“Vice Commander-in-Chief?”

“Now call me Commander-in-Chief of the Bohemian Royal Army. Of course, I have to serve you as His Highness the Grand Duke.”

Bernadotte, the former Vice Commander-in-Chief of the Austrian garrison, said arrogantly.

“At the same time, I am French, so I hope you will treat me with respect.”

Louis took a deep breath.

No matter how much Louis was the First Consul’s brother, there was a huge difference between a lieutenant and a general in the army.

Although Louis had become his superior by accident, it was difficult to treat Bernadotte carelessly.

It might be easier to say it so openly.

“Of course. Vice Commander-in-Chief, no, Commander-in-Chief.”

“Good. Let’s do well. Until I go to the next position.”

“Yes? Aren’t you going to keep watching over me?”

Bernadotte laughed and patted the shoulder of his new superior, [Grand Duke Louis].

“Why would I? An exception has been made. I became a duke too. Then, can’t I go higher than that?”

Suddenly, Bernadotte left with a meaningful remark.

“Especially since your brother and nephew will make exceptions first.”

This time, it was another implication.

He mentioned the exception again.

Louis, the son of the Bonaparte family, a fallen aristocrat and just an ordinary citizen after the revolution, became a Grand Duke.

Then, could First Consul Napoleon become something more than that?

This is a rare case not only in the age of revolution, but also in the days of the monarchy.

It would only have happened in the chaos of the Middle Ages.

Just as Louis was shaking his head violently in a still confused state of mind.

“We must hope that the exception becomes real.”

Louis jumped up from his seat and paid his respects.

“Your Majesty the Emperor.”

“Now I am just the King of Austria. Even the monarch of a small kingdom that rules a small territory. It is the world that your brother and nephew have created.”

“Yo, Your Majesty. I, I’m sorry.”

The former Emperor Franz, who had lost the Holy Roman Empire and even the Austrian Empire, said with a stiff face.

“But now you are also my brother-in-law.”

It was an expression that he would never have forgiven if he had been his son-in-law.

It was clear that he was sending her off because she was an old sister.

King Franz of Austria coldly told Louis, who was at a loss.

“Please take good care of the Kingdom of Bohemia. Your position is only a Grand Duke, but it is originally a country with a kingship held concurrently by the Emperor.”

“Yes, I, I will do my best.”

“It is a place with good people, fertile land, and many resources. Become a proper monarch there. So.”

In an instant, Franz whispered very softly in French.

“When the time comes, choose. France, or Austria.”

This time, it was another implication.

Before Louis could even answer, Franz left.

Forcibly loosening his tense hands, Louis wiped away his cold sweat.

The time was approaching when he had to go out for the wedding.

But just as he was about to step out into the hallway, Louis saw a young man waiting behind the door.

“Wow, you’re popular. Your Highness the Grand Duke?”

“Huh, who! Hippolyte?”

“But don’t go too far. We’re watching too. Haha!”

Looking at Hippolyte, who was laughing it off even after hearing the story, Louis asked urgently.

“Just tell me one thing, Hippolyte. Really, will the [exception] become a reality?”

The exception, that is, the return of the monarchy.

But that monarch is not the Bourbon family.

It will be the Bonaparte family.

So far, Talleyrand, Bernadotte, and even Franz have implied it.

Will it really become a reality?

“Maybe. Eugene will make it happen. But the problem is that it won’t be the end.”

Louis was surprised by Hippolyte’s meaningful words and asked.

“What do you mean by that?”

“Hey, Louis Bonaparte. How did your brother become First Consul? Why is there no monarch in France? What kind of army are you?”

“Revolution?”

Hippolyte whistled and turned around.

“Yes. It’s harder to protect than to restore the monarchy. That’s the problem.”

As with all regimes, the [Napoleon] monarchy that Eugene will create is the same.

***

Now, the French First Consul’s special envoy, who had just arrived in Vienna, laughed heartily as he looked at his brother and his bride.

“It’s gorgeous! I don’t know what the Austrians will think. Hahaha!”

Eugene smiled at the special envoy, Joseph.

“The bride and groom have not run away. Uncle Joseph.”

“Hmm, I came instead of Napoleon, but Napoleon liked it very much. He really wanted to come, but he said he couldn’t leave his seat.”

“Did another accident happen in the country?”

Joseph, who was now serving as the head of the Lombardy Republic, shrugged his shoulders.

“I only heard about it in Lombardy. But as you know, there is a parliamentary election, right?”

It seems that the situation is worse than what I heard from the outside.

Still, now that we have acquired Austrian Netherlands, Napoleon’s approval rating will have risen a little.

However, it seemed that Eugene needed to take the lead in the election.

Anyway, Napoleon was a pro in governing even in the original history, but he was not a pro in elections.

“I have to go back quickly. Huh?”

Then, a familiar face was seen entering the banquet hall of Schönbrunn Palace where the wedding was being held.

Eugene rubbed his eyes and hurriedly headed there.

It was none other than Laharpe, the veteran of the Italian Army, who was coming.

“Who is this? General Eugene Freischütz!”

“Laharpe? What’s going on?”

“Haha! General Moreau has been newly assigned as the commander of the Helvetic Republic [Switzerland], right? Thanks to that, I returned to France, so I came to attend the wedding as a greeting.”

Only then did Eugene remember that Laharpe was originally from ‘Switzerland’.

In the original history, Laharpe died early, so there was no need to return to Switzerland.

But because Eugene intervened in the Italian expedition, Laharpe did not die.

Thanks to that, he was returning to his hometown of Switzerland and acting as the commander of the garrison.

The difference from Austria is that the Swiss garrison is a small army funded by local finances.

So Eugene also agreed to Moreau going to the garrison.

But because of that, Laharpe had lost a seat.

Feeling a little sorry, Eugene apologized to Laharpe.

“The predecessor was a general. I’m sorry about that.”

“You’re welcome. I didn’t have anything good other than going back to my hometown for a while. It’s better to return to France and receive a position in the military. By the way, I have a friend to introduce you to.”

“Who is it?”

Laharpe gestured, looking outside.

“Antoine, this way!”

Then, a young man who looked about Eugene’s age quickly entered the banquet hall.

Because he was wearing a French military uniform, even the soldiers could not dare to stop him.

Just as Eugene was tilting his head, the young soldier saluted and shouted in a cheerful tone.

“Hello, General. My name is Antoine-Henri Jomini!”

In an instant, Eugene’s eyes widened.

“Jomini?”

The man who was called the [artist] of war theory was now appearing before Eugene’s eyes.