He Became Napoleon’S Genius Son [EN]: Chapter 6

(5) Succeeding as a Royal Page

Originally, even in the original history, Alexandre tried to get his son in as a page.

Of course, ‘Eugène’ never became a royal page.

So, in fact, he remained safe even during the French Revolution.

Then, why did he fail?

A very simple reason.

“Hmm, is this child the son of that woman from the ‘New World’?”

In the King’s private space, the Petit Trianon retreat, a beautiful woman parted her lips.

Ash-blonde hair, porcelain-white skin, and a noticeably fair complexion.

But what stood out most was her slightly protruding underbite.

Although she had it corrected quite a bit, it was hard to avoid noticing.

It was proof that she inherited the blood of the most famous noble underbite in the world, the Habsburgs.

In this era, perhaps even more famous than Napoleon, a woman quietly looked at Eugene.

Marie Antoinette.

It was the moment when the Queen of France met Eugene.

Louis XVI nodded, with a slightly apologetic attitude.

“Ah, yes. Rose, was it? I heard she’s the daughter of a soldier from Martinique.”

“The rumors aren’t very good. Hmm.”

“Hahaha! Still, he’s the grandson of the Marquis de Beauharnais. My friend who served as the Governor of Martinique. They’ve been the backbone of the Royal Navy for generations!”

Eugene understood Marie’s attitude.

It was more surprising that Louis XVI knew the history of the Beauharnais family.

When you think about it, they were quite a rare navy career noble family in France.

Anyway, Marie Antoinette seemed a little wary of Eugene.

It was understandable.

Marie frowned slightly and glared at Alexandre behind Louis XVI.

“Isn’t his father also playing around with the Duchess of Saxe-Hildburghausen? And they’re not even formally married.”

“Huh? Oh, is that so?”

“Why do you even ask? Or would the Duchess of Saxe-Hildburghausen have bothered to come all the way here to talk about it?”

His mother was from the New World, a ‘bourgeois’ and a beautiful woman famous for being a flirt.

His father was a soldier who looked bad at a glance and a man who played around with the Duchess of Saxe-Hildburghausen.

And they’re putting his son in as a royal page?

Even if he’s a ‘prodigy,’ any normal queen would be wary.

Then, the princess, Marie Thérèse, who was watching from the side, got angry.

“Ugh, Maman [French for ‘Mom’]! Treat him first before talking about that!”

Here, ‘Maman’ is a French word for mother.

But the nuance of this word clearly feels full and extremely embracing.

It seems that the French feel the same way.

Eugene clearly saw it.

The moment Marie Thérèse spoke, Alexandre, the Count of Artois, and Louis XVI all admired the Queen’s exposed skin.

Of course, the Queen was so surprised that she was looking at Eugene’s wound and didn’t notice.

“Oh my, when did he get hurt like this? You didn’t do it, did you? Our princess?”

“Disby did it! Bad!”

“Why did she do that? She’s usually such a gentle child.”

Marie Thérèse grumbled, glaring at the small dog in the Queen’s arms.

“I don’t know. Why would she hurt this cute child like this?”

The Queen looked embarrassed, looked at Eugene’s wound, and then averted her gaze.

Even if he was the son of a lower-ranking noble, he was still a noble.

Moreover, it was an injury inflicted by the royal dog, so she couldn’t just ignore it.

Of course, the Queen couldn’t treat him directly.

For times like this, there were countless maids in the Palace of Versailles.

The Queen called Madame Campan, one of the head maids.

“Madame Campan? Tell the doctor to bring some medicine. And bandages too.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. Anything else you need?”

“Hmm, still, he’s a guest, so bring brioche and juice too. No, I’ll pick them out myself.”

Marie Antoinette suddenly smiled and said to Eugene.

“The royal brioche is made by me; it will be delicious.”

Eugene’s eyes widened slightly, and he bowed politely.

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Marie Antoinette’s brioche.

It was the pastry from that famous remark, ‘If they have no bread, let them eat cake.’

Of course, this was just a rumor that spread during the Revolution in the original history.

But hearing this from the Queen’s mouth was surprising.

The Queen and the head maid, Madame Campan, left to get the brioche.

In the meantime, the Count of Artois wiped his sweat with a handkerchief and asked the King.

“What is it? I just came back from playing tennis. It seems like Her Majesty the Queen doesn’t like him?”

“What did I say? We have to wait for Marie’s judgment, didn’t I?”

“I thought that was about the princess.”

The princess ‘Marie’ Thérèse snorted and pulled on Eugene’s cheek.

“Hmph, I like him. Ah, cute. Even if you can’t be a page, can’t you come and play often?”

“Ugh, stop pinching my cheeks.”

“Ah, like brioche. It stretches well?”

Eugene barely avoided Princess Marie’s touch and grumbled.

“They really like brioche in this family.”

It seems that even if it was a fabricated remark, it didn’t come out of nowhere.

Anyway, it was clear that the Queen didn’t like Eugene very much.

At this rate, he would fail to become a royal page.

“What to do?”

Eugene thought, stroking his swollen cheeks.

He needed something to attract the Queen’s attention.

***

This place, the Petit Trianon, is not only where the royal family lives, but also other people.

To be exact, ‘children’.

“Hey, are you also a child that the Queen brought in?”

Eugene was taking a walk in the garden of the Petit Trianon, lost in thought.

A cute-looking girl spoke to Eugene.

Her clothes looked luxurious, but not as dazzling as the princess.

Eugene smiled, recalling historical records for a moment.

“No, I’m not an orphan.”

“Hmph! Do you think I’m an orphan? My adoptive father is the King!”

“Really? Are you Ernestine?”

The girl, Ernestine Lambriquet, widened her eyes.

“Oh, you know me?”

This was the Queen’s hobby.

If the King’s hobby was locks and clocks, the Queen’s hobby was raising children.

Marie Antoinette ‘adopted’ and raised as many as four adopted children.

Of course, they were not formal children with inheritance rights but just grew up being educated with the royal family.

Still, becoming the royal adopted daughter was a great honor for a commoner.

Also, they were all orphans without parents.

In the case of Ernestine in front of him, she was the daughter of a dead royal maid.

Eugene looked at Ernestine lightly and made an excuse.

“I originally mistook you for the princess.”

“Really? Well, the princess and I do look a lot alike. Hehet!”

“That might not be such a good thing.”

It was also the reason why Ernestine remained in the historical records.

She looked too much like the princess.

So there were rumors that she was the King’s illegitimate child.

Of course, historians deny it, but the King Eugene saw didn’t seem like a man who would have an illegitimate child.

Having illegitimate children requires stamina and energy as much as power.

Seeing him groveling before the Queen, Louis XVI was definitely not someone who could have an illegitimate child.

Just then.

“Hey, are you that gambling prodigy?”

This time, a rather large boy approached Eugene.

He was probably about 15 years old.

Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette’s prince was definitely a child, not someone this big.

Besides, he wouldn’t be the type to sneer at someone as a ‘gambling prodigy’.

Eugene still smiled and asked back.

“It’s the first time someone has come in so accurately. Who are you?”

“Show some respect to your elders. I’m Armand Ganay. The Queen’s first page.”

“You look too old to be a page. Wait, Armand?”

Eugene’s eyes widened.

“The royal family’s first adopted son?”

Armand Ganay, the first adopted son of Queen Marie.

Originally, when Armand was 5 years old, he was almost killed by the Queen’s carriage.

Because of that connection, the Queen adopted Armand, who was an orphan.

But Armand was not a prince and was said to have been ostracized in the royal family.

It seems he didn’t like being forcibly adopted into the royal family.

In the original history, it is known that he even joined the revolutionary army.

Seeing the protagonist of the historical anecdote, Eugene felt new.

Of course, Armand got angry.

“I’m not an adopted son.”

“No, everyone knows that.”

“Shut up! I definitely have a grandmother!”

Armand, who was grumbling, looked around at the nobles and maids, then glared at Eugene.

“Well, fine. Anyway, you might become a page?”

“No one knows that.”

“Hmph, let’s see your skills. I’m pretty good at card games too!”

Eugene felt that the members of the Petit Trianon were looking at him.

The King and Queen, noble ladies and maids made up of virgins, and servants.

At that moment, Eugene’s eyes sparkled.

He thought of a way to attract attention.

A way that the Queen would definitely have to pay attention to.

“Well, then. Shall we play trick-taking, or Piquet [a two-player card game]?”

A trick-taking card game.

The name sounds like a game of cheating, but it’s just a card game that has been popular since the 18th century.

Among them, ‘Piquet’ is a two-player game that has swept France since the 16th century.

The first to reach 100 points, or the one who is more dominant after six rounds, wins.

But this card game was actually a game that Marie Antoinette liked when she was young.

Of course, Armand, who didn’t know that, smiled, revealing his teeth.

“Good, let’s see if you’re a prodigy or a fake!”

The card game between the gambling prodigy Eugene and the royal adopted son Armand began.

***

The Queen, Marie, witnessed this scene while bringing the brioche.

“Count, you incited Armand, didn’t you?”

The Petit Trianon is a small garden palace that Queen Marie renovated.

In front of the palace is a neatly arranged garden.

Now Eugene and Armand were spreading out cards on a temporary table set up in the garden.

Seeing that he brought cards to this place, it seems that Eugene is definitely a gambling prodigy.

But Marie looked at the game and saw through the situation behind it a little.

The fact that the game was not caused by Armand’s childishness but was instigated by someone.

At Marie’s question, her brother-in-law, the Count of Artois, shrugged his shoulders.

“What do you mean? Your Majesty the Queen.”

“I know everything. That child named Eugene, you specifically listened to the story of the page. You were going to use him as a player when you play card games in the palace, weren’t you?”

“Hehehet! As expected, our Queen knows me too well.”

Queen Marie covered her chin with a fan and glared at the Count of Artois.

“Have you forgotten that you always lose when you play card games with me?”

So the situation is like this.

Eugene is surprisingly famous in French society right now.

In the first place, the street where Eugene gambles is the Faubourg district where nobles live.

Jean-François Thierry [likely a misspelling of Thiérry], who lost to Eugene in a card game before, is also a French nobleman.

It’s not for nothing that the Duchess of Saxe-Hildburghausen recommended Eugene to the royal family.

However, the King’s brother, the Count of Artois, is one of the most famous gamblers in royal society.

No, in the first place, the French royal family, nobles, and clergy society are now in a gambling craze.

What gamblers covet most is, of course, a ‘player’.

But a gambling prodigy, so the gambling royal family can’t help but be interested.

Even if he doesn’t have the skills, he might be able to take him around like a trophy.

Of course, unlike when she was in her 20s, the Queen, who has now quit card gambling, didn’t really like it.

That was the moment.

-Chak!

Eugene started shuffling the cards with truly professional skill.

“Well, I’ll go first.”

The skill of spreading the cards is unusual.

Without realizing it, Marie Antoinette felt her eyes go to the card table.

When she first came to France, she used to spend all night playing card games.

Suddenly, Queen Marie felt a slight throbbing in her heart.

So, not Eugene, but card gambling.

Gamblers can endure gambling, but there are no gamblers who can quit.

The Count of Artois, who was still gambling, whistled.

“Ah, Piquet. It’s a very nostalgic game. We played a lot when we were young. Your Majesty the Queen.”

“The rules are simple. Unlike Ombre or Whist.”

“No, it’s surprisingly difficult. That ability is revealed when exchanging hands.”

The Count of Artois, who was still active, muttered, watching the game closely.

“It’s not just a game where you win by exceeding 100 points.”

A trick-taking card game usually proceeds like this.

Cards are dealt, hands are laid out, and then points are earned again.

Then, points are calculated until all the hands are gone.

Finally, when the number calculation is finished, it goes back.

But Piquet is a little different because it’s a 1-on-1 game.

The total number of cards is 32.

If you turn 2 cards 6 times, you will each have 12 cards, and 8 cards will remain on the floor.

But when turning the card hand, the opponent of the presenter can exchange up to 5 cards.

The problem is when you exchange.

If the presenter really uses a trick, he can only have very bad cards.

But now the presenter is Eugene, and Eugene was a ‘professional’ gambler from his previous life.

“Huh?”

Armand, who had exchanged the 5th card, widened his eyes.

No matter how he looked at it, it was a bad card.

If this happens, the opponent is more likely to get 100 points first.

Armand said urgently.

“Change the card.”

“All 5 cards have passed?”

“Change it anyway!”

At that moment, Eugene smiled, covering the card hand on the floor with his palm.

“Let’s do this. Let’s change the rules.”

“What?”

“I’ll pick a card here. And if that card is Queen.”

Eugene said, flashing his eyes.

“I’ll let you win.”

It’s still the words of a 7-year-old child.

But there was an unusual force.

To the point that everyone in that place was overwhelmed.

Queen Marie was about to look at the card table, holding her breath, when Armand screamed.

“Hey, that’s a disadvantageous game for me!”

“If you don’t like it, I can’t change the card.”

“This, really!”

At that time, the pet dog, Disby, in Queen Marie’s arms barked.

-Woof! Woof! Woof!

Everyone’s eyes were on the Queen.

The Queen smiled embarrassedly.

She’s usually a very quiet dog, but for some reason, she seems to hate Eugene.

“Disby only barks when she sees him.”

Marie patted Disby lightly and looked at Eugene.

“Well, son of a New World woman. Then, if you pick a Queen, is there anything you want?”

Sometimes, when you’re a queen, you know it, but you go over the opponent’s number.

The card game that is happening now is a game to buy the Queen’s attention.

Maybe the Count of Artois wanted it.

But the child who is playing the game, Eugene, happened to talk about Queen.

In French, it’s ‘Reine’, that is, the Queen.

In the end, he called Queen Marie.

Eugene smiled and replied.

“Of course, Your Majesty.”

“What is it?”

“In return for picking the Queen of cards, I would like to ask the Queen, who is the Queen, to bestow grace upon me.”

Queen Marie looked at Eugene quietly and smiled strangely.

“Good. Well, Armand? Give it a try.”

Armand was pressing his lips tightly, then turned his gaze to Eugene.

The adopted son who resents being forcibly adopted into the royal family, being caught up in the Queen’s hobby, and not being able to escape the court.

He suddenly burst out that anger towards Eugene.

“Pick it!”

In an instant, Eugene looked at the card and shone his eyes.

The third.

The Jin Eun characters came to mind.

-Seuk.

In fact, there was no need to use ability.

From the beginning, Eugene switched the cards with ‘trick’.

The gambling skills of a 21st century gambler are definitely not at a level that 18th century royal figures can recognize.

But to those who watched, a scene like magic unfolded.

Queen.

The Queen’s card was in Eugene’s hand.

Suddenly, Princess Marie Thérèse, who was watching with bated breath, shouted.

“Wow, it’s the Queen! Maman!”

The Queen, who was quietly looking at the card, finally burst into laughter.

“Kalkal! Yes. A page must be good at talking. Where, is your name Eugene?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“The name is taken from General ‘Eugen’.”

Eugene von Savoy.

He was from a French noble family, but he succeeded in Austria and defeated the Turkish Empire.

His real name is ‘Eugène’ in French, but in English it becomes like this.

Eugene.

Marie Antoinette, who was the princess of the Holy Roman Empire’s Austrian royal family, smiled kindly.

“I like the boy. By my daughter’s side.”

At that moment, Eugene’s eyes sparkled.

He succeeded in gambling.

1788, 1 year until the revolution.

It was the moment when Eugene de Beauharnais entered as a page of the Bourbon royal family.