Make France Great Again-Chapter 799 - 790: Leopold Takes the Bait

"Alright! Marguerite, my friend! I’ve come to you this time in hopes that you will contribute your strength for France!" Jerome Bonaparte paused, then said sincerely to Marguerite.

"Your Majesty, what do you need my help with?" Marguerite straightforwardly asked Jerome Bonaparte.

"It’s like this..."

Jerome Bonaparte candidly shared the entire situation of him bringing Crown Prince Leopold over and how Crown Prince Leopold was infatuated with her.

"Your Majesty, are you hoping that I can socialize with that crown prince?" Marguerite asked Jerome Bonaparte seriously.

"Yes!" Jerome Bonaparte nodded and said, "We are currently signing an agreement with Belgium, and Crown Prince Leopold’s stance will be a crucial part in the implementation of this agreement.

Therefore, I purposely came here in my personal capacity to ask you to consider this somewhat special method to achieve cooperation between the two nations!"

"Your Majesty, is this agreement truly important for us?" Marguerite asked Jerome Bonaparte again.

Jerome Bonaparte hesitated for a moment, then nodded and responded to Marguerite, "Marguerite, this agreement is indeed extremely important for the future of France!"

"Alright then!" Marguerite showed a gentle smile at the corner of her mouth and nodded to Jerome Bonaparte, saying, "Your Majesty, I agree to your terms!"

"I thank you on behalf of France for your contribution!" Jerome Bonaparte said to Marguerite with a slight guilt in his heart.

"However, Your Majesty! You also need to agree to a condition of mine!" Marguerite changed the subject and said to Jerome Bonaparte.

"What condition! As long as it is within my power, I will fulfill it!" Feeling guilty, Jerome Bonaparte wanted to make it up to Marguerite.

"It’s very simple!" Marguerite playfully stuck out her tongue and then responded to Jerome Bonaparte, "I hope Your Majesty can take a day to spend my twentieth birthday with me!"

"Twenty years old!" Jerome Bonaparte showed a surprised expression and asked in astonishment, "You’re only twenty?"

"That’s correct!" Marguerite nodded as a matter of course, saying, "And this year is also my first year on stage!"

"Alright! I promise you!" Jerome Bonaparte replied to Marguerite, "I will give you a special birthday gift on your birthday!

By the way, when is your birthday?"

"The day after tomorrow is my birthday!" Marguerite replied to Jerome Bonaparte.

"Alright!" Jerome Bonaparte nodded and said to Marguerite.

Subsequently, Marguerite requested Jerome Bonaparte to come to her rented apartment alone on her birthday, and Jerome Bonaparte also agreed to Marguerite.

After Jerome Bonaparte finished discussing the terms with Marguerite, Marguerite immediately asked him, "Your Majesty, when will you introduce me to him?"

"After all the plays have ended, I will find a reason to bring him over! Then you can get to know each other!" Jerome Bonaparte said to Marguerite.

"You better hurry up! The play is about to end!" Marguerite pointed to the only grandfather clock in the corner backstage and reminded Jerome Bonaparte.

Jerome Bonaparte turned his head to look at the time on the grandfather clock; there were less than 20 minutes left before the end of the third play.

"I must go! Marguerite!" said Jerome Bonaparte, then turned and left.

Once Jerome Bonaparte left the lounge, he saw the opera house manager who had been waiting at the lounge door all along.

At this moment, Jerome Bonaparte immediately understood why only he and Marguerite were in the lounge, as everyone else was directly stopped by the manager.

"You did well!" Jerome Bonaparte patted the manager’s shoulder and encouraged him.

"Your Majesty, this is what I should do!" The manager responded with a fawning expression to Jerome Bonaparte.

"I will bring someone over later! During this time, I do not allow Marguerite to see anyone, understood?" Jerome Bonaparte replied sternly to the manager.

"I... I understand!" the manager stammered in response to Jerome Bonaparte.

Afterward, Jerome Bonaparte returned to the box.

Entering the box, he found Crown Prince Leopold and Ludwig I idly drinking tea, clearly showing no interest in the third play.

"Your Majesty!" The presence of Jerome Bonaparte sparked the spirits of Crown Prince Leopold and Ludwig I.

"There was a sudden urgent matter that required my attention!" Jerome Bonaparte casually said, then deliberately feigned confusion and asked why Crown Prince Leopold and Ludwig I looked so listless.

Leopold and Ludwig I expressed that the third play was somewhat aesthetically tiring.

"Why weren’t you aesthetically tired during the last play!" Jerome Bonaparte asked jokingly, "After all, ’Romeo and Juliet’ is a story from hundreds of years ago!"

"It’s different!" Leopold shook his head and replied to Jerome Bonaparte.

"Yes! It’s different!" Ludwig I also agreed.

"By the way, just now the manager invited me to go backstage to meet the leading lady of the last play, but I refused!" Jerome Bonaparte said nonchalantly to Leopold and Ludwig I.

"Your Majesty, you refused too hastily!" Ludwig I responded to Jerome Bonaparte with a look of disappointment.

"I think it’s nothing," Jerome Bonaparte shrugged and replied to Ludwig I, then turned to Crown Prince Leopold, "Leopold, if you want, I can tell the manager to let you meet her!"

"This... this isn’t good!" Leopold replied to Jerome Bonaparte.

"What’s not good about it!" Jerome Bonaparte responded with a carefree demeanor, "The Opera House regards them as cash cows, isn’t it just to serve us!

If we don’t patronize them, no matter how good the opera is, no one will watch it!

Mr. Ludwig (since Ludwig I does not have the title of King, he is addressed as Mr.), do you think I’m right?"

"Your Majesty, you are absolutely right!" Ludwig I nodded decisively, "If those actors didn’t have us dignitaries to support them, how could they earn so much money!"

"Alright then!" Although Crown Prince Leopold still had some desire to meet Marguerite, he agreed to Jerome Bonaparte’s request to make the introduction, "Would this cause you any trouble?"

"Of course not! What trouble could an Opera House cause!" Jerome Bonaparte shook his head and replied to Crown Prince Leopold.

Thus, after the third play ended, Crown Prince Leopold went backstage to "make friends" with Marie Margaret Monroe under the manager’s lead.

Jerome Bonaparte and Ludwig I quietly watched Leopold’s gradually receding figure, then exchanged smiles.

...

Upon returning to the Tuileries Palace, Jerome Bonaparte saw the Belgian Minister of Agriculture and Commerce, Philip, in the hall. Philip immediately asked Jerome Bonaparte where Crown Prince Leopold was!

"Leopold probably won’t be back tonight!" Jerome Bonaparte smiled faintly, then instructed Mokar to prepare a suitable room for Minister Philip to stay in.

That evening, Jerome Bonaparte discussed the events at the Opera House with Empress Augusta.

"Aren’t you worried that Leopold will see through your actions?" Empress Augusta asked Jerome Bonaparte, concerned that Leopold might make an irrational choice upon discovering Jerome Bonaparte’s actions.

"So what if he sees through it!" Jerome Bonaparte replied fearlessly to Empress Augusta, "Could the Kingdom of Belgium possibly overturn the world! At worst, we’ll just go our separate ways, and moreover, Holland’s brother-in-law is already coveting the Kingdom of Belgium!

If necessary, let the Kingdom of the Netherlands deal with the Kingdom of Belgium.

After all, the relationship between them and the Orleans Clan is still ambiguous!

By taking them down, it would also be cutting off a tentacle that the Orleans Clan is extending towards France! (In fact, when Jerome Bonaparte said this, he was somewhat joking.)"

"As long as you are confident!" Empress Augusta nodded to Jerome Bonaparte, "By the way, Vilnius said she received another letter from Cavour!"

"Cavour!" Jerome Bonaparte immediately perked up, "How is Cavour persuading Vilnius in the letter this time!"

"He still encourages Vilnius not to give up on the dream of Italian unification!" Empress Augusta replied nonchalantly.

"That Cavour guy is really stubborn!" Jerome Bonaparte couldn’t help but sigh.

"Yes, indeed!" Empress Augusta also sighed, and then impulsively said, "Why don’t you just give them a hand!"

"Help? How should I help?" Jerome Bonaparte sighed, "The situation on the Apennine Peninsula involves a significant portion of Europe, so there’s no possibility of a nonviolent solution!

If we choose a violent solution, then we will face a hostile Austrian Empire, a hostile Pope State, and a hostile New Italy!

This offers no benefit to us at all!"

"That’s true!" Empress Augusta nodded and replied to Jerome Bonaparte.

Subsequently, Empress Augusta asked Jerome Bonaparte when he would depart for Poland.

Jerome Bonaparte told Augusta he would set off for Vienna in late September, and then travel from Vienna to Warsaw.