He Became Napoleon’S Genius Son [EN]: Chapter 451

(451) The Fontainebleau Palace is Hot

Unlike his title, the Duke of Parma spends more time in Paris than in Italy.

“Whew, it’s really tough being His Majesty’s adjutant, huh?”

Duke of Parma, Louis Charles, was organizing documents in the Emperor’s office at the Fontainebleau Palace when he was startled.

“Sister! No, Your Majesty the Queen. When did you get here?”

The woman who approached lightly and gracefully was Marie Therese.

Marie smiled at Louis Charles.

She felt somehow proud that the child who was once so young had grown into such a fine young man.

The time she spent trying to save this child felt as fresh as yesterday.

“You’re quite the soldier now, aren’t you? Our Duke of Parma.”

“Don’t tease me, Sister. You didn’t come alone, and Emperor Eugene must be here too.”

“Yes, perhaps he came to see your wife?”

Louis Charles replied with a troubled face to Marie’s slight sarcasm.

“Please don’t be like that. Emperor Eugene is someone who gave his life for you. And he will, if the same thing happens again.”

Of course, Louis Charles wasn’t suggesting that Eugene was chaste.

In fact, Louis Charles suspected that Pauline and Eugene had a past.

Suddenly, Marie shot back with a cold look.

“Of course, I know that men cheat.”

“No, that’s not what I meant.”

“But Eugene shouldn’t. That’s a betrayal to me, and it destroys the secret I share with him.”

It sounded like a threat to kill him if he got caught, and Louis Charles, feeling chilled, quickly changed the subject.

“What secret? Is there something I don’t know about?”

Marie was startled and closed her mouth.

Louis Charles felt strangely curious.

He had only said it to change the subject, but her reaction was odd.

Could there be a secret between Marie and Eugene that could never be revealed?

Just as Louis Charles was letting his imagination run wild, Marie shook her head and parted her lips.

“Never mind. I came because I wanted to ask you something. It’s not about your wife.”

“She treats me well in her own way. Honestly, I think she married me because she couldn’t get Emperor Eugene. But anyway, I like Princess Pauline.”

“I don’t want to hear stupid things, Charles. But this might be a question about someone even stupider.”

Marie, somehow annoyed by the fact that her younger brother was a pushover, asked sternly.

“Does the Emperor really think the Tsar will be taken down by the Crown Prince right now?”

Marie wasn’t interested in state affairs, but she wasn’t completely ignorant.

Besides, after coming to the Fontainebleau Palace, she noticed that the wives of the nobles were all fussing about Russia launching an invasion of India.

But as far as Marie knew, the Tsar had almost been overthrown by the Crown Prince in a coup once before.

In this situation, the two of them are embarking on a joint campaign?

It couldn’t be anything but extremely dangerous.

Instantly, Louis Charles looked around with surprised eyes, checking if anyone was outside, and asked.

“Did Emperor Eugene say that? Where did the information leak from?”

“So it’s true? Good heavens, a son attacking his father?”

“In the Middle Ages, France did that too. King Louis XI did that to King Charles VII when he was Crown Prince. Russia is still in the Middle Ages, isn’t it?”

Of course, this was the kind of prejudice Western Europe had against Russia.

However, it is also a reality that Russia is still a society dominated by medieval serfdom [a system where peasants are bound to the land and obligated to serve a lord].

But Marie felt strange at that statement.

In imperial France, which was not medieval, what would be the relationship between ‘father’ Napoleon and ‘son’ Eugene?

Marie shook her head and urged Louis Charles.

“Then, we have to talk to Russia and stop it. Why are you gathering the nobles like this, and even calling Eugene? Eugene is really busy coordinating the divided kingdoms in Seville.”

“Well, His Majesty wants to intervene in Russia.”

“What? How can France intervene in that distant Russia?”

Louis Charles once again checked if there were guards outside before lowering his voice.

“If the Tsar and the Crown Prince fight, then it’s possible.”

Marie rolled her eyes and widened them.

The Tsar and the Crown Prince head to India.

In the crowd, or separately, the Crown Prince starts a rebellion.

If the Tsar easily suppresses the Crown Prince, there is no room for foreign France to intervene.

But if the Crown Prince wins, Napoleon has the justification to interfere as Pavel’s ally.

But interfering in a foreign country ultimately means exercising military power.

Marie, realizing why Eugene was called, cried out in surprise.

“Good heavens, you’re not going to send Eugene to Russia, are you?”

“Don’t worry about that. Or, maybe you’ll go together?”

“Charles, what are you talking about?”

Louis Charles, who had been hesitating, finally answered with a troubled face at his sister’s urging.

“His Majesty never shares the glory of war with others. If he goes to Russia, His Majesty will go himself.”

Napoleon, both in the original history and now, wants to monopolize glory.

Even though that led to Napoleon’s defeat in the original history.

***

However, among the nobles and diplomats called in for the show, not all are just scarecrows.

“Duchess Caroline of Naples, is that really true?”

Metternich, the plenipotentiary ambassador of the Hungarian King, was startled and got out of bed.

Across from him was a woman who had just finished making love and was getting up to go to the dressing table.

It was Caroline, Napoleon’s sister and Marmont’s wife.

Caroline looked back at Metternich and smiled.

“What? That you’re much better in bed than Marmont?”

“No, that’s too obvious. I’m talking about the Russia issue.”

“Well? I only heard it from Marmont. No one knows if my brother will really intervene in the Russia issue.”

Metternich asked with an anxious face.

“It’s not that, did the Tsar really make the insane decision to go to India?”

In fact, when Metternich conquered Caroline after coming to Fontainebleau, he thought that the diplomacy of this trip was all over.

After being dispatched to Paris as an ambassador, Metternich had conquered countless noble ladies.

Half for pleasure, half for the national interests of Hungary.

The noble ladies themselves have no power, but they have the influence to move the powerful.

But while sleeping with Caroline, he heard surprising information.

The Tsar is embarking on the conquest of India, which is news that could shake Europe.

The Duchess Caroline shrugged her bare shoulders.

“I heard that. They might issue a summons to Marmont too. Marmont didn’t want to go, so he sent me. What a coward!”

“Why isn’t the Duke of Naples coming? It would be a golden opportunity to become king. He hasn’t obtained the throne yet, has he?”

“Marmont is a coward, but he’s quick-witted. He said that going to Russia doesn’t seem like it will just be as reinforcements.”

Caroline tilted her long neck and scoffed.

“What did he say, he has a feeling it will be a great war? Humph!”

If a great war breaks out, life is more important than the throne.

This is what really happened to those who followed Russia in the original history, so Marmont’s judgment cannot be said to be wrong.

But if you refuse adventure, you can’t get the throne.

Metternich narrowed his brows and approached Caroline.

“Can you find out one thing for me?”

“What is it?”

“Whether the Emperor or King Eugene is going to Russia.”

Feeling Metternich’s touch and making a suggestive expression, Caroline asked.

“Whether it’s my brother or Eugene, their movements will be announced on a large scale. Why are you curious about that?”

“If I know a little faster, I can prepare.”

“It doesn’t sound like good news for France. Why should I help? No matter how much you are the ‘Emperor’ in bed.”

Then, Metternich smiled and asked.

“Don’t you want to be the Queen of Naples, Caroline?”

Caroline blinked.

“What do you mean? I’m going to be anyway, if the Kingdom of Naples is created.”

“Your brother is a great man. But there are many variables in conquering a vast country like Russia. Many things can happen. But, what do you think will happen to Naples when a ‘sudden situation’ occurs?”

“…It will be difficult to maintain my position?”

Caroline is by no means a fool.

She is sensitive to her own interests and understands everything Metternich implies.

However, she is only forgetting one thing because her vision is narrow.

In the event of a sudden situation, such as Napoleon’s death, Naples can only maintain its position when it is with France.

Metternich smiled as he stroked Caroline’s body with his hands so that she would not broaden her horizons.

“If we receive the help of our Kingdom of Hungary, and furthermore, the Habsburgs [one of the most influential royal houses of Europe], the imperial family of the former Holy Roman Empire, the King of Naples is not just a dream. Bonaparte is not giving you the crown right now.”

Caroline trembled at Metternich’s sweet temptation and gave in.

“Okay. I’ll find out for you. Instead, you’ll have to comfort me tonight for being abandoned by my husband.”

Metternich smiled with satisfaction.

“There won’t be time to sleep tonight.”

Caroline and Metternich jumped onto the bed.

Just like it was in the original history.

***

Of course, in the night of Fontainebleau, Napoleon’s sister is not the only couple rolling around on the bed who are not married.

“Are you really going to Moscow?”

Napoleon frowned at Josephine’s chatter next to him.

“Josephine, since when have you been interested in state affairs? You should pay attention to the opera house. You don’t think I made you the owner of the opera house for nothing, do you?”

“I can’t help but worry when you keep going to your desk to look at letters instead of making love. You keep looking at letters sent by Danton, Caulaincourt, and Joubert.”

“Well, I can’t help it! If I could see and hear the situation in Russia in real time, I wouldn’t be anxious! Or, Danton would have stopped the Tsar properly!”

Napoleon, who was momentarily excited, shouted.

“That old hunchbacked pig! If the Tsar is talking nonsense, he should have stopped him sooner. Why did he let him march south with Alexander?”

Of course, he’s talking about Danton.

How much better would it have been if he had stopped the Tsar’s madness sooner?

There would be no need to gather the nobles and put on a show like this.

Above all, there is a problem that Napoleon cannot bear.

“So, I can’t help but drool!”

In other words, he’s going crazy because he wants Russia.

When a hegemon [a dominant power] sees a competitor showing a weakness, he naturally wants to stab them.

To Napoleon, Russia is a potential enemy that can threaten France’s sole hegemony, rather than a huge friendly country.

Just like it was in the original history.

Josephine Grassini, an opera singer and Napoleon’s closest lover, clicked her tongue.

“I wonder when you’ll ever grow up? You have one adopted son and one adopted daughter each, and already two biological children. I heard that fathers usually value their families.”

“What do you mean I don’t value anything? I’m doing everything I can for the kids! Besides, this is not something you should be talking about!”

“Yes, yes. I’ll take care of it myself even if I get pregnant, so don’t worry.”

Josephine sneered and asked as if she had remembered something.

“Oh, did you hear? Madame Foures is pregnant.”

Napoleon, who was naked and jumping around because he wanted the Russian Empire, stopped.

“What are you talking about?”

“Wow, you’re so irresponsible. Don’t Fouché or Savary report it?”

“That’s not the job of the secret police! No, when did it happen?”

Josephine giggled on the bed and asked back.

“It’s been a while. But if I know, you know how loose-lipped Madame Foures is, right?”

Napoleon’s face was turning pale.

-Clunk!

Josephine covered herself with a blanket on the bed at the suddenly opened door.

“Eek, you scared me!”

“No, Duroc! Who told you to come in now!”

“Your Majesty, something terrible has happened.”

As Grand Marshal Duroc reported with a pale face, Napoleon snorted.

“Why! Did the stupid Tsar already get overthrown?”

However, at Duroc’s report, Napoleon turned as white as a blank sheet of paper.

“The news that Your Majesty has an illegitimate child has been revealed! In the British Morning Post newspaper!”

“What?”

“A-and, now, Her Majesty the Empress is coming to Fontainebleau!”

The so-called ‘Emperor Scandal’ had broken out.

It was the work of Pitt’s spy master, Oberon.