Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

France's fate was already decided, and only then did Solovyov go to Mont Blanc to see Madame Récamier and her two daughters.

Clara will always be her father's sweetheart; she's the most charming and adorable of all his daughters.

His attitude of keeping his distance from his wife was quite different.

And she was a bit audacious, riding on her father's shoulders. Solovyov loved children and even put his bicorn hat on Clara's head.

"Dad, I can't see anything."

"That's because Dad's head is too big. You're a girl, so you probably wouldn't have a head like that to wear a hat like that."

Will Dad come to see Mom often in the future?

"When I come to France, I will definitely come to see you."

“My mother has her own home, my father has Aunt Catherine and Sister Lisa, as well as brothers, but I only have a sister.”

The even smaller Eugenie could only eat and sleep, eat and sleep.
Or she would be surrounded by noblewomen who came to visit Mrs. Recamier, all praising how beautiful her two daughters were.

Clara has the potential to become a great beauty like her mother, but Eugénie is still a little chubby baby.

"Having a younger sister is a good thing. As an older sister, you should act like one."

Solovyov loved pinching his daughters' cheeks; they felt so good.

"Squeeze."

"father!"

Clara snuggled into her father's arms to avoid him pinching her cheeks.

Seeing this, the lady interrupted her daughter, who had already opened her little mouth to bite Solovyov's neck. The little girl, realizing her mother was about to get down to business, stopped baring her teeth and, taking advantage of her father putting her down, leaped onto the sofa.

"That's fine, but what's the next step?"

Since returning to Paris, Madame Récamier has stopped discussing politics in her salon and instead focuses more on literature, a practice she adopted during the Napoleonic era.

"Perhaps we should let the bankers in Paris do something, but that's for later. I'm going back to St. Petersburg, and I'll miss you all."

"Think more about your two daughters, and do you think I'm still beautiful?"

"Of course you are still very beautiful, your skin is as delicate as a young girl's."

"You're lying. You've been intimate with that girl, you can feel the touch of a young girl, and you're still trying to coax me with these words."

However, the lady also liked this kind of flattery. Although she still looked beautiful after having two daughters, she always felt that she no longer looked like she did when she was 25, when she was the most beautiful woman in Paris.

"I still love you, Julie. It's just that I'll only be able to see you when I'm passing through Paris from now on."

“When Sylvia’s eldest daughter gets married, you must give her your blessings and hand her over to her groom. When Clara and Eugénie have husbands in the future, you must come to Paris in the same way.”

"That's for sure. They're all my daughters, and I need to keep an eye on whether that kid is only here for the money."

After all, Demid and Octavia were childhood sweethearts with a strong emotional foundation, and their relationship was entirely voluntary. Moreover, Sylvia's wealth was far less than Polina's, and Octavia was an illegitimate child.

This is true love. Even after seeing his daughter and son-in-law, Solovyov wouldn't be angry; he would only scold Demid for being too hasty.

“You must come, Michelle.”

Don't worry about that.

"And you mentioned money. I think you can have a good talk with Mr. Lafayette and Mr. Gao Dan in the future."

“There’s no need for that right now, but Russia and France must be allies. I’ll find a way, after all, your shares are still in the Bank of France and the Récamier Bank.”

"what are you up to?"

"Increase your wealth, and do something that benefits both France and Russia. The current Empress Dowager is a Russian princess and also the fiancée of my close friend. You should also know about the three Dolgorukov brothers."

Another point is that Maria repeatedly asked Solovyov to take care of her fourth sister, with whom she grew up.

That is to say, the distance was very far, otherwise he would have had to take care of the bed very quickly. Napoleon always wore the green uniform of the harpooner underneath, so that he could wear it inside out.

This was the only way he could manage; before he could go back, there was his daughter's wedding.

The wedding was held in a church, but the person who officiated at the wedding was the young emperor's great-uncle, Bishop Fish, who was also the emperor's uncle.

Demid also had to call him his great-uncle; it was very convenient since family members were clergy.

Solovyov held his daughter's hand and supported her while Octavia supported her pregnant belly with her other hand as they slowly walked toward the altar.

Of course, because of her special circumstances, her mother was also by her side.

This combination seemed a bit strange, but Katya knew about it even when she was a young girl, so she didn't mind. Besides, her husband was very charming with other women outside the home, and before the new housekeeper Mihrima came along, he only loved her.

In Rome, they still traveled as a family of three, with the parents holding the hands of their young daughter in the middle.

Now, in the blink of an eye, this girl is about to get married, and the process is happening at a very fast pace.

There were also relatives and friends from both sides in the church. Napoleon had not yet embarked on his path of self-exile, and he was also sitting in the front row. However, among the French relatives and friends, there were quite a few people from both sides who were hostile to each other.

When Jérôme saw the two of them, he was reminded of his American girlfriend, still waiting for him foolishly across the Atlantic, with her son, and who hadn't remarried. Although her life was happy, she always lacked a man; she really was a silly girl.
But then something significant happened: after Jerome's brother-in-law died, his widow married Wellington's older brother.

What's explosive is that the Battle of Saint-Jean and the Battle of Bettina were both internal conflicts within the same family!
“Napoleon, look how well this newlywed couple is matched. If you hadn’t been so eager to start a war, you should have been the one to officiate their wedding.”

Seeing that her son was alright, the old lady started teasing him.

But Napoleon was also about to set off for the Caribbean islands some time later.

After Letizia, now practically the Empress Dowager, worried that her son might contract yellow fever like her unfortunate son-in-law Leclerc. However, given Napoleon's protagonist-like aura and immense resilience, nothing could take him away except for his family's hereditary stomach cancer or natural aging.

"But this is also good. My uncle has a good relationship with the Pope, which will be beneficial to my son in the future."

"You're overthinking things. Why not just wish the happy couple well?"

As for the flower girls behind him, Giuseppe looked to both sides. One was his brother, and the other was his sister. They knew more than his younger sisters who were still quite naive. But the two of them could get married, while he couldn't allow himself to like his younger sisters.

This is the power of blood ties; he's still very young, and it's quite awkward for him. After all, this explosive situation is the result of the combined actions of his lustful mother and his amorous father.

But Sylvia's daughters, except for the youngest one in her mother's arms, were all happy because their older sister would also be happy today.

Camillo, being the son of Prince Borghese and even younger, just kept grinning foolishly.

If he falls for any of his cute little sisters, it might not be impossible, but that's for the future.

As for the troops from various countries who remained in Paris after the war, they all had their own arrangements.

Solovyov is going home, and he will have an important position in the future.

He is now an infantry general, having reached this position at the age of 34 through his military achievements.

Octavia is due to give birth in December, and if he rushes home now, he'll probably have to hurry back to Paris in November by the fastest carriage. He can't miss the birth of his first grandchild, and he's always worried that his daughter is too young.

Although many people in Europe get married and have children at this age, it is more dangerous. Letizia also said that she was pregnant with her first child when she was younger than Octavia, but she was unable to raise it.

However, he wasn't without a mission. As a matchmaker in St. Petersburg, specializing in acting as a matchmaker for his students, the unfortunate Prince Orange, sitting in the bride's family and friends' group, was about to marry Anna Pavlovna, which would eventually lead to Paulownia having connections with his wife and father-in-law.

We'll be holding a wedding for this guy, which will inevitably involve a trip to Western Europe.

Even if there were no war, Solovyov would worry that, since he was a matchmaker, he would still have to take on funeral work.

On his way back, he would carry the Black Duke's coffin to Brunswick for burial.

Poor Mary, though she became the Queen Mother of Belgium, also lost her husband.

As for the Black Duke's last wish, it was that, on his deathbed, he hoped to be buried in the family cemetery in Brunswick with his father and his simple-minded older brother.

He didn't even want Mary to remain a widow for him, like Basil II's mother, and to be able to remarry. This idea was very Eastern Roman.

Such a good husband, apart from being a bit short-tempered and looking a bit fierce, is not bad at all.

Solovyov met the Black Duke before their marriage and they became friends.

Now all we can do is take his coffin back, which is quite a regret.

Even when he was on the battlefield, he was unaware that he was actually the King of Belgium.

Europe will likely have many queens in the 21st century, but many of the current monarchs are young boys, the youngest being Napoleon II.

He even sat on the throne, a little too deep, so that the soles of his shoes were almost touching the adults.

There's nothing we can do; the child is too young.

But the young emperor ruling as regent is also a good thing for France.

Louis XIII was nine years old when he became king, but he had Cardinal Richelieu, the greatest prime minister in French history, who made France rapidly powerful.

When Louis XIV was king, he was only slightly older than Napoleon II. He was the Sun King, and this was the most powerful era in French history.

His great-grandson, Louis XV, was beloved in his early years but hated in his later years.

During this king's reign, France was actually quite strong; otherwise, Louis XVI wouldn't have been able to sell his body to the United States.

Even in his prime, France was stronger than before, except for its navy, which had been severely weakened by the Duke of Orléans.

In the early years of their reigns, France was able to govern without interference because of the presence of regents, which made things relatively stable.

The little boy might cause trouble in the palace at most, and might play pranks on his sisters, but his destructive power is much less than that of an adult monarch.

Talleyrand was extremely excited about this position. He was able to become the prime minister of the young monarch, just like Bishop Richelieu and Bishop Mazarin. This was a time when he could really make a difference.

Without the king's interference, the ministers were free to do as they pleased. Those who wanted to pursue their ambitions could do so, those who wanted to make money could do so, and those who wanted to slack off could do so.

Without a strong monarch, that's how it is in France.

Surprisingly, it seemed to be quite joyful.

Alexander was satisfied and prepared to return home.

The situation in Europe currently appears more stable, and there are even more outrageous monarchical configurations.

The King of England has gone mad, and the Regent, Prince George, the Prince of Wales, is an unambitious man.
The new emperor of France was Napoleon II, a cute little boy with rosy cheeks like an apple, a limping prime minister Talleyrand, and a mother, Catherine the Great, who loved hunting.
Prussia is a weak king who only knows how to deal with domestic affairs and his strong but estranged wife, Queen Louise. The queen now only cares about what wives her sons marry and how well her daughters are married.
The Austrian emperor, as always, was a shut-in with no ambition, while Metternich was always keeping an eye on the neighboring countries, worried that they might cause trouble.

The new Queen of Spain was a pregnant French woman preparing to give birth. As a noble French princess, she had suffered greatly from the French Revolution since childhood. She had chosen to forgive those who sent her parents to the guillotine and also had to take care of her two troublesome uncles. Although her husband was one of the two most powerful generals in Europe after Napoleon, the couple were only concerned with having children and maintaining stability in Spain; they were simply people who lived a simple life.

The remaining kingdoms were either too weak, or like Sweden and Belgium, had kings who were children.

Finally, there was the Russian Tsar Alexander, who preferred to play the messiah rather than rule the country. His mindset changed somewhat after he defeated Napoleon.

In addition, his mother, Queen Maria, only occasionally worried about her own family affairs, whether her married daughters were happy in their marriages, and she always inquired about her grandchildren. Politics was not her business. Making a few beads for the children as toys was more interesting than politics.

Louisa was weak-willed; although knowledgeable, she made no decisions, only caring about the lives of her seven daughters and several adopted daughters—a typical virtuous wife and loving mother.

From this perspective, Europe is quite peaceful, a rather peculiar balance. (End of Chapter)