Make France Great Again-Chapter 823 - 815: Never Without an Air Force
"Your Majesty, this... I’m afraid... is not very good! I must ensure your safety!"
Count Gneer’s response to Jerome Bonaparte was extremely tactful, not wanting to provoke a tirade from him over this matter.
The Anastasi incident led by His Majesty Emperor Jerome Bonaparte last night made Count Gneer realize what it means to accompany a monarch.
"Count Gneer, you needn’t worry about safety. Once outside the Hofburg Palace, how many people really recognize me and Augusta!" Jerome Bonaparte said carelessly, "On the contrary, if we make a big fuss about protection, that’s when a crisis might arise!
Doesn’t that just openly tell others, ’I am important, please come quickly to assassinate me’!"
Facing Jerome Bonaparte’s twisted logic, Count Gneer found himself unable to refute for a moment.
Seeing Count Gneer remained silent, Jerome Bonaparte seemed to have remembered something and hurriedly said to him, "By the way, there’s one more thing I need you to do!"
"Your Majesty, please go ahead!" Count Gneer promptly responded to Jerome Bonaparte.
"I plan not to return at noon, so could I trouble you to visit the kitchen now and prepare some lunch for us?" Jerome Bonaparte said to Count Gneer in a consultative tone.
"Your Majesty, I will prepare it for you immediately!" Count Gneer nodded to Jerome Bonaparte, answered briefly, and then turned to leave.
Watching Count Gneer disappear at the end of the corridor, Jerome Bonaparte turned to Augusta and Elizabeth and said, "The trouble that’s been bothering us is gone! We can set off now!"
Elizabeth’s face immediately lit up with excitement. Growing up in the countryside, she was a natural leader among children, adept at various activities, and despite the strictness of the Habsburg court, she had only slightly restrained herself.
Her rebellious nature, hidden in her very bones, couldn’t be effectively eradicated by the Habsburgs, and Jerome Bonaparte’s rebellious act struck a chord with Elizabeth.
Empress Augusta showed a trace of unease on her face, afraid of the unexpected situations that might arise from traveling alone.
After all, Jerome Bonaparte was the monarch of an empire, and his life was not just his own but the entire empire’s.
Having shared a bed for many years, Jerome Bonaparte quickly saw the reason for Empress Augusta’s anxiety and hastily added, "I think Count Gneer should be able to find us soon, so we must hurry!"
With that, Jerome Bonaparte left the Hofburg Palace and, led by Elizabeth, went to the nearby stables.
The staff responsible for guarding the stables immediately saluted upon seeing Empress Elizabeth.
"William, where is my horse now? I want to take it out for a ride!" Empress Elizabeth immediately asked William, the stable manager.
"Your Majesty, your horse is resting in the stable!" William said to Empress Elizabeth, then changed his tone, "However, without an order from His Majesty the Emperor, I don’t dare to take you over without permission!"
Empress Elizabeth, upon hearing this, turned a pitiful look towards Jerome Bonaparte.
Jerome Bonaparte knew it was time for him to act, and he stepped forward to William, "William, is it? May I take a horse from your stable?"
"And you are?" William looked at the imposing Jerome Bonaparte and asked him in a flattering tone.
"Emperor of the French Empire!" Jerome Bonaparte answered calmly.
"Of course!" William hastily responded to Jerome Bonaparte, "You are the most honored guest at Hofburg, and you can use any horse in the stable if you wish!"
"I don’t need all the horses in the stable," Jerome Bonaparte first shook his head and then responded firmly to William, "I only need three horses, one of which should be Empress Elizabeth’s horse! That shouldn’t be too difficult, right?"
"This..." William hesitated, unsure if he should follow Jerome Bonaparte’s orders.
"My brother Franz has already agreed, so you don’t need to worry about being held accountable for lending us the horses!" Jerome Bonaparte first reassured William, then sternly warned him, "If you delay our outing, you’ll bear all the responsibility!"
As soon as William heard about the responsibility, he panicked and quickly changed his attitude, leading Jerome Bonaparte, "Your Majesty, let me take you there right away!"
Under William’s guidance, Elizabeth finally found her red pony in a corner of the stable.
The pony affectionately nudged Elizabeth’s face upon seeing her.
Jerome Bonaparte and Augusta also found warhorses for themselves, and the three quickly set off, riding their horses.
"Your Majesty, I’ve found an excellent fishing spot before but haven’t had a chance to go there! Let me take you there now," Elizabeth said while urging her horse to gallop forward.
Like a wild horse that has lost its reins, Jerome Bonaparte and Augusta, following behind Elizabeth, had no choice but to speed up.
Shortly after Jerome Bonaparte left, Count Gneer, sweating profusely, rushed over to ask William if Jerome Bonaparte had been there!
"They came!" William answered without hesitation.
"Then why didn’t you stop them!!" Count Gneer stamped his foot fiercely, revealing a look of iron that can’t be made into steel.
"Your Excellency Count, you didn’t warn me in advance to stop them! I thought Her Majesty Empress Elizabeth was acting under His Majesty’s orders!" William’s face also showed a look of panic, and he began to shirk responsibility, ignoring the disparity in status between them.
If the Emperor and Empress were to encounter any mishaps, it would be a problem too great for anyone to bear.
"Alas!" Count Gneer also sighed. There wasn’t much he could do at the moment, except to send more people to search as much as possible.
To that end, he went to the door of Franz Joseph’s study and entered through Franz Joseph’s adjutant.
"What’s wrong? Has Jerome Bonaparte caused trouble again?" Franz Joseph did not lift his head, continuing to look through the reports from various places.
"Your Majesty, Emperor Jerome Bonaparte and the two Empresses are missing!" Count Gneer responded to Franz Joseph with a bitter face.
"What!" Franz Joseph put down the documents in his hand and looked at Count Gneer with a face full of surprise, his voice urgent: "Say it again, what exactly has happened?"
Count Gneer related the following events to Franz Joseph, who sighed with relief upon hearing.
He immediately issued orders to Count Gneer and his adjutant, instructing them to dispatch their men to search Vienna... more precisely, the pond near Hofburg Palace, where he was sure Jerome Bonaparte and they could be found.
"Your Majesty, I’m on my way!" Count Gneer saluted Franz Joseph and left.
Franz Joseph, sitting alone in the study, muttered quietly, "What’s going on? How does he always know Sisi’s likes..."
On the other hand, just as Franz Joseph expected, Princess Sisi had brought Jerome Bonaparte to a pond near Hofburg Palace.
"Your Majesty, this is the place!" Princess Sisi pulled the reins and commanded the little pony to stop; the obedient little pony quickly halted by the pond.
Jerome Bonaparte and the other two tethered their horses to a large tree and came to the lakeside, opening the bait box and disguising it adequately.
Then they cast the fishing lines as far as possible towards the center of the pond, quietly waiting for a fish to bite.
Since the three fishing lines were close to each other, this fishing session also had an element of competition based on luck.
After a while, Elizabeth’s fishing line began to show some activity.
"Here it comes!" Elizabeth exclaimed excitably, then pulled the fishing rod up and down to battle the fish that had taken the bait.
After a while, Elizabeth partially exhausted the fish’s energy, and the splashes from the big fish began to subside gradually.
"It is indeed a big fish!" Jerome Bonaparte also remarked.
"Help me!" As the big fish continued resisting, Elizabeth realized she might not have the ability to completely drag the fish out and quickly sought Jerome Bonaparte’s help.
"Got it!" Jerome Bonaparte moved behind Elizabeth, placed his hands on the fishing rod, and rested his head gently against Elizabeth’s shoulder.
"Take it slowly! Don’t rush!" Feeling Jerome Bonaparte’s warm breath beside her ear, Elizabeth’s face slightly flushed, but she maintained the calm demeanor of a professional angler.
After a while longer, the big fish finally gave up struggling, and Jerome Bonaparte and Elizabeth began to slowly reel in the line to drag the fish ashore.
Immediately after Elizabeth’s catch, Jerome Bonaparte’s mouth twitched slightly, and he couldn’t help but sigh internally.
Sometimes, the gap between people is even wider than that between a person and a dog.
Right after, Augusta also announced she had caught a fish.
Jerome Bonaparte looked over at the sound, and the fish Augusta had caught was slightly smaller than Augusta’s.
Seeing that the "Left and Right Guardians" both caught fish, Jerome Bonaparte had high expectations.
They say the greater the expectation, the greater the disappointment.
Jerome Bonaparte quietly waited for a fish to bite, but after an hour, not a single fish showed interest in the bait.
He began to fall into a stage of self-doubt.
