The entrance to the mansion on Quser Street was more lively than usual, and there was a constant stream of horse-drawn carriages coming and going. However, the gorgeously dressed guests who got off the parked carriage only entered the mansion for a few minutes, and then came out, and boarded the carriage with a serious expression and drove away.

Only one carriage was parked on the side of the mansion in a low-key manner, and it had been parked since early in the morning. The black carriage with the slightest obscenity, the powerful coachman, no one would have thought that the owner of the carriage was the master of the Second Empire, Napoleon III.

He stood outside the living room of the mansion, and the servant who had already replaced him with a third cup of coffee. He also understood his cousin's distress, and the death of Prince Jérôme meant that the last remaining old man of the First Empire was gone, and an era had truly come to an end.

In boredom, Napoleon III picked up the newspaper on the table, opened it a few times, and fixed his eyes on a report on Germany. Originally, Napoleon III was just using it to pass the time, but when he read the whole article, he took a deep breath.

The hand on the sofa clenched instantly.

A strategy report-style document that would have only appeared on his desk was now published in the newspaper with great fanfare, but he had never heard of it.

"Fortunately, this article was not finished, and this kind of great power trick should not be written in too much detail. The Minister of the Interior should have informed him that the guy who wrote this kind of article was not so much a strategic analysis as he was writing about the rise of Germany, and his heart could be punished. ”

Napoleon III breathed a sigh of relief, but involuntarily frowned, and this incident left him to put the newspaper back in its place, quietly waiting for Princess Mathilde to appear.

At the end of the third cup of coffee, Princess Mathilde finally appeared in the drawing-room, her eyes red and swollen, and her appearance was pitiful, which made Napoleon III involuntarily stand up and take a few steps forward.

The impulse in his heart is stopped, and he and Princess Mathilde are no longer lovers, and both are people with other families. He endured the love and pity in his heart, looked at his cousin in front of him, and comforted, "I will definitely hold a grand funeral for Uncle Jérôme." ”

"No, my father, he's lucky."

Princess Mathilde soothed her emotions with a wave of her hand, and she muttered to herself, "He has finally ended this shameful life." When he looked back on the past before he died, he realized that it was all shame. disobeyed his brother's advice and fell in love with a woman, but when she was pregnant with a child, she decisively abandoned the other party. He ruled the kingdom of Westphalia, but was in a bad mess because of his incompetence and pleasure, and when the Russian army approached, my father abandoned his duties when Uncle Napoleon needed him most, and even when His Majesty Napoleon established the Second Empire, he indulged in wine and women, and never thought about the future of the family. ”

Princess Mathilde sighed and said slowly, "I haven't thought about my country, I haven't thought about my family, I haven't even thought about myself, I'm really a failed man." And it is a great irony that such a man can be buried in Les Invalides after his death, buried with his brother who is admired by the world. ”

Napoleon III gave Princess Mathilde a hug and said in a deep voice, "Let him pass the past, the funeral will be held the day after tomorrow, you can have a good rest." ”

"That's right."

Napoleon picked up the newspaper on the table and asked curiously, "Do you know who wrote this article?" ”

"Huh?"

Princess Mathilde glanced at the newspaper and said with a complicated expression, "Oh, this article was written by a young man named Garion. ”

"Galion?"

Napoleon, feeling as if he had heard the name from Princess Eugenie, asked, "Wait, that young man who drove Mérimée into the dead end?" I heard him from Eugenie. ”

Princess Mathilde did not expect that even Napoleon had heard his name, so she bowed her head and said, "Originally, I wanted to show this article to Your Majesty, but then many things happened, and I forgot about it." ”

Napoleon III exuded a look of rare surprise.

"I've read the article, and it's much more interesting than those guys who can only talk to each other. Some of the insights can even be compared to the report submitted by the Military Council. But I disagree with him about Prussia. Obviously, Vienna is the enemy we should be most wary of. By the way, he's also your guest? ”

Princess Mathilde nodded.

"I'm going to have someone say hello to the censorship department, destroy all the articles in the newspaper, and ban the publication of this article on the rise of Germany."

"Huh?"

Princess Mathilde was dissatisfied with her cousin's performance and asked, "Why can't it be published?" The article doesn't violate the laws of the Empire, does it? Your Majesty, is this a bit excessive? ”

Princess Mathilde was outraged by her brother's unreasonable arbitrariness.

Napoleon III waved his hand and explained, "Don't you think that this article is like a strategic development report tailored for Germany? What would they think if it spread out and Vienna or Berlin saw it? This is for the sake of France's national security, although an article can't make waves, but I'm also "

Napoleon III held his chin and said slowly, "This young man is remarkable, and I would like to meet him if I have the chance." Well, these are all off-topic, so you should rest early. ”

With that, Napoleon walked out of the mansion on rue de Cusell, leaving Princess Mathilde alone in her room. She refused to be accompanied by her husband and lover, and even Flaubert was not informed, and only wanted to be alone and quiet.

But the peace did not last long, and the maid Nana entered the room and said to Princess Mathilde, "Your Highness Princess, someone has asked to see you. ”

"I don't want to meet anyone else right now, tell him another day."

Distraught, she took a picture of herself with her father, and although she had resented Jérôme for marrying her off to a rude Slav for money, it was her own father after all, and when he died, a woman would not want to hate it anymore.

Nana said embarrassed, "But he insisted on seeing you." ”

"Who?"

Princess Mathilde wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes and looked at Nana in front of her with red and swollen eyes. The other inconsequential people who had come to the house before refused, but when the servant said the name, Princess Mathilde could not say no.

"It's Lord Garrian here."