"Your Majesty, is there anything I can do for you!"
Prince tternich’s response surprised Emperor Jero Bonaparte. He hadn’t expected tternich to agree to his terms so quickly.
Given tternich’s wisdom, he should have been fully aware of the risks he was undertaking by agreeing to Jero Bonaparte’s request.
However, since tternich had already agreed to serve Emperor Jero Bonaparte, Jero Bonaparte naturally would not use the power of the French Empire to "kidnap" Prince tternich.
"Mr. tternich, what I’m asking you to do is very simple! I hope you can use your influence to secure a certain degree of freedom for Qianqian!" Emperor Jero Bonaparte straightforwardly stated his request.
Indeed...
After hearing Jero Bonaparte’s terms, tternich couldn’t help but think to himself.
"Your Majesty, may I venture to ask you a question?" Prince tternich opened his mouth to ask again.
"What question?" Jero Bonaparte was stunned for a few seconds, then inquired of Prince tternich.
"What exactly is the relationship between you and our Empress Elizabeth?" Prince tternich gently asked Jero Bonaparte.
"What else could it be?" Jero Bonaparte openly said to Prince tternich: "Of course, it’s a friendship!"
"Just a friendship?" Prince tternich gazed skeptically at Jero Bonaparte, suspecting that the relationship between Emperor Jero Bonaparte and Empress Elizabeth was not as pure as it seed.
However, this was quite typical.
Marriages among European nobility were mostly political or economic alliances; a romantic foundation was unnecessary for the parties involved, so both n and won were allowed to have affairs.
Extramarital affairs, even between emperors and empresses, were not unusual.
However, the precondition for noble affairs was ensuring the birth of heirs for the family.
Affairs within the royal family were only permitted when an male heir had been born.
As for whether the parties would engage in affairs depended on personal intentions.
Hence, tternich was not surprised by Empress Elizabeth’s "affair" with Emperor Jero Bonaparte; he was even pleased by the Empress’s affair.
But the Empress having an "affair" without having given birth to a male heir truly worried Prince tternich about the Habsburg clan’s lineage.
"tternich, can’t you use your decaying brain!" Jero Bonaparte scolded angrily, "I couldn’t possibly be interested in soone as young as eighteen (Vilnius: ow, ow, ow), not to ntion Qianqian still hasn’t fully developed!
The only reason I asked you to help her is out of sympathy!"
Now that Jero Bonaparte vehently denied any romantic involvent with Empress Elizabeth, Prince tternich felt a slight tinge of disappointnt. He nodded and apologized to Jero Bonaparte, "Your Majesty, I was being presumptuous earlier! Please forgive !"
"Mr. tternich, I forgive you!" Jero Bonaparte replied casually, waving his hand at Prince tternich, "By the way, I’m leaving this matter to you! Make sure you accomplish it for !"
"Rest assured! For the sake of the friendship between the French Empire and the Austrian Empire, I will give it my all!" Prince tternich pledged to Jero Bonaparte.
"Let’s leave it at that!" Jero Bonaparte nodded in satisfaction, and then he suddenly thought of sothing and asked Prince tternich again, "By the way, did you send Pauline von tternich over there?"
Prince tternich paused, nervously answering, "Your Majesty, I did not send Pauline von tternich to visit you! That should be her acting on her own; I hope she hasn’t troubled you!"
"There was no trouble at all!" Jero Bonaparte replied with interest, looking at Prince tternich, "It’s just that, are you really planning to have Richard tternich marry her niece?"
"That’s right, Your Majesty!" tternich replied decisively.
"Does Richard tternich know about this?" Jero Bonaparte asked again.
"My son is not aware of this yet!" Prince tternich said to Jero Bonaparte again, "I plan to tell him about it next year!"
"Tsk, tsk, tsk!" Jero Bonaparte shook his head slightly, replying to Prince tternich, "You are truly autocratic!"
"Your Majesty, this is not autocracy!" Prince tternich retorted, "This is precisely how marriages among the nobility should be arranged!"
"Poor Richard!" Jero Bonaparte murmured, "I hope he won’t be too surprised when he learns about this!"
Prince tternich remained silent, waiting for Jero Bonaparte to conclude the topic on his own.
"Alright! Let’s not talk about this anymore!" Jero Bonaparte, not wanting to delve into the tternich family affair, decisively ended the topic, "It’s getting late, let’s head back!"
Jero Bonaparte and Prince tternich turned and returned to the Hofburg Palace.
Opening the door to the ballroom, Count Gneer still stood diligently at the entrance.
"Your Majesty, Prince!!" Count Gneer imdiately kneeled before Jero Bonaparte and Prince tternich.
"Mr. Earl, I wonder if you’ve let anyone know my whereabouts!" Jero Bonaparte promptly questioned Count Gneer.
"Your Majesty, I haven’t revealed anything to anyone!" Count Gneer quickly responded.
"You’ve done well!" Jero Bonaparte nodded in satisfaction, "I hope one day, you can visit Paris! I will give you a warm welco at the Tuileries Palace!"
"Your Majesty, I surely will!" Count Gneer responded excitedly.
Jero Bonaparte and Prince tternich continued walking inside, then parted ways at a crossroad.
Prince tternich returned to the hall he was in before and continued his conversation with Marshal Radetzky, while Jero Bonaparte returned to where Empress Augusta was.
Upon Jero Bonaparte’s return, he was surprised to find that Empress Augusta’s spot was now occupied by an unknown lady.
Jero Bonaparte approached the lady slowly and gently asked, "Beautiful lady!"
The lady, upon seeing Jero Bonaparte, thought he was there to invite her to dance. She imdiately showed an expression of delight, "Your Majesty, do you have any requests!"
"May I ask where my wife Augusta is now?" Jero Bonaparte asked the lady.
"Your Majesty, I don’t know where the esteed Empress has gone!" The lady replied with a slight hint of disappointnt on her face, "When I sat here, Her Majesty the Empress had already disappeared."
"Thank you for your answer!" To express his gratitude, Jero Bonaparte held the lady’s hand and gave a gentle hand-kiss, then left.
The lady was left with a starry-eyed expression, gazing after Jero Bonaparte as he departed.
...
After leaving the lady, Jero Bonaparte searched the dance floor again but never found a trace of Augusta.
Not only Augusta but Elizabeth’s figure was also missing.
Only Franz Joseph remained dancing in the center of the dance floor.
Thus, Jero Bonaparte sought out Count Gneer again to ask if he knew where the Empress went.
"Your Majesty, I also saw the Empress! However, for that question, I think you should ask Countess Raphaelt!" Count Gneer answered Jero Bonaparte.
"Countess Raphaelt, what does she do?" Jero Bonaparte frowned and asked Count Gneer.
"Madam Raffalat is the lady of Your Majesty the Empress Elizabeth’s court etiquette, as well as the manager of this ballroom!" Count Gneer hurriedly explained to Jero Bonaparte.
"Then where is she now?" Jero Bonaparte said to Count Gneer.
"Your Majesty, please follow !"
Guided by Count Gneer, Jero Bonaparte finally t Countess Raphaelt.
"Your Majesty, you co to ask about Her Majesty the Empress, right!" Before Jero Bonaparte could speak, Countess Raphaelt took the initiative to ask.
"Indeed, do you know where Augusta is right now?" Jero Bonaparte curiously asked Countess Raphaelt.
"Her Majesty Empress Augusta is currently with Her Majesty Empress Elizabeth, and they should be in Princess Sophie’s bedroom!" Countess Raphaelt replied to Jero Bonaparte.
"Princess Sophie?" Jero Bonaparte pondered for a mont, then asked again, "You an Elizabeth’s daughter Sophie?"
"Correct!" Countess Raphaelt responded to Jero Bonaparte, "Your Majesty, shall I take you there!"
"That would be helpful!" Jero Bonaparte replied to Countess Raphaelt, as he also intended to see what Princess Sophie looked like.
Jero Bonaparte and Countess Raphaelt proceeded forward, passing several "checkpoints," and finally reached a large door.
"Your Majesty, Her Majesty Empress Augusta and Her Majesty Empress Elizabeth are just behind this door, in the fifth room from the left!" Countess Raphaelt said to Jero Bonaparte.
"Won’t you go with ?" Jero Bonaparte curiously asked.
"Your Majesty, Empress Dowager Sophie has issued orders! No one is allowed to enter Princess Sophie’s room without permission!" Countess Raphaelt explained to Jero Bonaparte.
"Alright then!" Jero Bonaparte nodded, and then entered alone.
The lady behind the door, upon seeing Jero Bonaparte’s attire, stared at him with a stern expression and asked, "This is not where you should be!"
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