"What about you?" Elizabeth looked at Jero Bonaparte curiously.
"Didn’t I just say that!" As the lody gradually reached its climax, Jero Bonaparte quickened the pace of the dance and said to Elizabeth with a serious expression, "I cherish everyone I love and everyone who loves ! I respect them, just as they respect !
Qianqian, you must rember that the most difficult thing in this world is mutual respect!"
"Why do you say that?" Elizabeth blinked in confusion, "I think it should be very simple!"
"Qianqian, let ask you!" Jero Bonaparte said solemnly to Elizabeth, "Are you really willing to lower yourself to listen to the voices from the bottom? Can you endure staying in a dark and damp environnt, communicating with a pauper who emanates a foul sll?"
Upon hearing Jero Bonaparte’s words, an instinctive look of disgust appeared on Elizabeth’s face.
Although Elizabeth herself did not despise the poor, the inherent perception of the poor in her class subtly influenced her perception.
In this world, there are far too many people who stand exalted, and far too few willing to lower themselves to listen to the voices from below.
"See that!" Jero Bonaparte chuckled lightly, "People simply cannot achieve mutual respect! Nobles and commoners, the rich and the poor, n and won... all the sa!"
"That’s... that’s not true!" Elizabeth, feeling guilty about her previous behavior, blushed slightly and refuted, "You’re twisting the argunt!"
"How am I twisting the argunt?" Jero Bonaparte maintained his dance steps and asked Elizabeth, "Qianqian, are you truly willing to beco the Empress of the Austrian Empire?"
Elizabeth was speechless. She herself definitely did not volunteer to beco the Empress of the Habsburg family. The one who was supposed to beco the Habsburg Empress was her sister, but because the Emperor did not like her sister, she was forced to take her sister’s place as the future Empress of the Habsburgs.
From the mont she was told she would beco the Emperor’s fiancée until now, not a single decision was made of her own volition; everything was decided by her mother and Empress Dowager Sophie.
From start to finish, Elizabeth had no right to regret.
As for calling off the engagent, that was even more impossible. Not just her, even the Bavarian Wittelsbach Royal Family could not bear the cost of breaking off the engagent with the Habsburgs.
At this thought, Elizabeth couldn’t help but feel a wave of sorrow for her future. This is the fate that a royal must face.
Elizabeth’s dance steps also beca increasingly disordered along with her inner turmoil, so much so that Jero Bonaparte had to follow her steps to adjust his movents.
A few seconds later, when Elizabeth regained her senses, she realized her mistake and hastily apologized to Jero Bonaparte, "Your Majesty, I’m sorry!"
"It’s nothing!" Jero Bonaparte shook his head and replied to Elizabeth, "In fact, your future husband loves you dearly! However, you must be careful of Empress Dowager Sophie!"
"Why?" Elizabeth asked Jero Bonaparte, still in confusion, "I think Empress Dowager Sophie is quite..." Elizabeth suddenly thought of Empress Dowager Sophie’s previous attitude and reluctantly praised, "Quite a nice person!"
"That’s because you haven’t married into the Habsburgs yet!" Jero Bonaparte advised Princess Sisi in the tone of soone with experience, "The vast majority of mothers-in-law hold hostility towards their daughters-in-law!"
"Why would there be hostility?" Elizabeth asked.
"Think about it! After nurturing your precious child for more than twenty years, suddenly one day an unfamiliar woman cos to compete with you for him, what would you do?" Jero Bonaparte tried to explain to Princess Sisi in simple terms.
"But sons are people, not possessions!" Elizabeth argued with Jero Bonaparte.
"To a woman with a strong desire for control, there’s no difference between a son and a possession!" Jero Bonaparte responded sharply to Elizabeth, "Empress Dowager Sophie was able to convince her husband to abdicate the throne, allowing your husband to inherit it! This shows she loves her son far more than her husband! Your presence makes her feel her position is challenged!"
"Why ?" Elizabeth asked in confusion.
"Because you are more willful than your sister!" Jero Bonaparte responded to Elizabeth.
Historically, the reason Empress Dowager Sophie disliked Princess Sisi was because Princess Sisi was inherently different from her sister Helen, making her more difficult to control.
"I refuse to be like my sister!" Elizabeth pouted and responded to Jero Bonaparte.
"To an old woman with overpowering desire for control, your existence is an unstable factor!" Jero Bonaparte continued, "I conclude that after you marry Franz Joseph, Empress Dowager Sophie will certainly go to great lengths to trouble you! Your husband... allow to say sothing irresponsible!"
"Your Majesty, please speak!" Elizabeth responded to Jero Bonaparte.
Jero Bonaparte said calmly, "Your husband might not be able to handle your conflict with Empress Dowager Sophie at all. He is likely to attempt to ease your conflict by staying neutral, but this seemingly neutral stance is actually unfriendly to you! As soone new to the Habsburg Court, you simply do not have the capability to counter the Empress Faction that has been cultivating in the court for decades."
History unfolded just as Jero Bonaparte predicted. From the ti Princess Sisi married into the Habsburg family until the end of the Franco-Austrian War, the powerless Princess Sisi was consistently suppressed by Empress Dowager Sophie’s Bohemian Party, to the point where she had to escape to Hungary to find solace. During this period, she made many Hungarian friends, and the Hungarian Faction surrounding Princess Sisi began to form.
However, because of the empire’s suppression of Hungary, the Hungarian Faction beca significantly reduced.
After the end of the Franco-Austrian War, in order to alleviate dostic conflicts, particularly those with Hungary, Franz Joseph issued the October Edict. The long-oppressed Hungarian nobility not only received amnesty, but the properties confiscated by the empire in Hungary were also returned to the Hungarian nobility.
Many Hungarian nobles returned to the Austrian Empire and rallied around Princess Sisi.
Only then did Princess Sisi’s influence beco sufficient to counter Empress Dowager Sophie. From the ti of the Franco-Austrian War to the Prussia and Austria period, Princess Sisi even acted as Hungary’s spokesperson in Vienna.
After the war between Prussia and Austria ended, the fad Austro-Hungarian Compromise officially began, marking the complete victory of the Hungarian Faction led by Princess Sisi over the Bohemian Party.
From that ti on, Empress Dowager Sophie no longer engaged in politics.
In this tiline, the Franco-Austrian War will not occur, which ans that Princess Sisi cannot leverage Hungary’s power.
If Jero Bonaparte is unwilling to help, her fate may be even more tragic than in history.
However, the monopoly of the Bohemian Party led by Empress Dowager Sophie is also not in Jero Bonaparte’s best interest.
"What should I do then?" Elizabeth’s face turned pale; she could already foresee her future fate.
"To oppose Empress Dowager Sophie, you must have a force that supports you!" Jero Bonaparte advised patiently, "The court is like a battlefield; a single misstep could lead to a complete loss!"
"Who can be my support?" Elizabeth asked Jero Bonaparte.
"In the Habsburg Court, anyone with even a little influence will choose to side with Empress Dowager Sophie! You must choose those who are politically frustrated!" Jero Bonaparte advised Elizabeth, "For example: Prince tternich!"
"Prince tternich? Would he be willing to help ?" Elizabeth hesitated for a mont before speaking.
"Qianqian, rember this: there is no deal in this world that cannot be made! The success of a deal depends on your bargaining chips!" Jero Bonaparte confidently said to Princess Sisi, "Currently, Prince tternich is an elderly man who longs to return to the political arena!"
"But he is so old already!" Elizabeth responded to Jero Bonaparte.
"A politician never cares about their age; what matters is whether they can continually hold power!" Jero Bonaparte explained to Elizabeth, "Moreover, the relationship between Prince tternich and Empress Dowager Sophie isn’t too good! If you are willing to win them over, they would gladly join the Empress Faction!"
After Emperor Franz, the first Emperor of the Austrian Empire and last Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, passed away, a Regency Council was established to help the intellectually disabled Emperor Ferdinand I (literally an invalid) establish his rule, and it was within this council where Prince tternich’s conflicts with Empress Dowager Sophie gradually accumulated.
"How should I win them over?" Elizabeth asked Jero Bonaparte for thods.
"Prince tternich has a daughter!" Jero Bonaparte said, while standing still and watching Elizabeth twirl around him holding his hand, "You can apply to your husband to have Prince tternich’s daughter teach you etiquette. This way, you can gauge Prince tternich’s attitude!"
After twirling around Jero Bonaparte once, Elizabeth again placed her other hand in Jero Bonaparte’s hand, curiously asking, "Your Majesty, why do you want to help ?"
"Think of it as compensation!" Jero Bonaparte vaguely replied.
"Compensation? But you haven’t done anything to !" Elizabeth looked at Jero Bonaparte quizzically.
"You can see it as not being able to bear seeing a young girl being bullied alone in the court!"
The dance ended, Jero Bonaparte gently took Elizabeth’s hand, kissed it, and then turned and left.
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