CHAPTER 585: CHAPTER 576: PREACHING BY WORD AND EXAMPLE

"Elizabeth, what’s wrong with you? Why are you always so absent-minded?"

Franz Joseph’s reprimanding voice reached Elizabeth’s ears, and her expression immediately tensed. Her slender little hands unconsciously clenched, "I’m sorry, Your Majesty, I was just distracted!"

Damn it! Why did I speak to her like that just now!

Looking at his tense fiancée in front of him, Franz Joseph couldn’t help but feel regret. He hadn’t given up Helen to choose Elizabeth just to vent his anger on her.

However, based on the Emperor’s pride, Franz Joseph didn’t choose to apologize to Elizabeth. Instead, he spoke to her in a slightly firm tone, "Be careful next time!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Elizabeth responded, then finished the last part of the dance with Franz Joseph.

After the dance ended, Elizabeth withdrew her hand from Franz Joseph’s grasp.

Under Franz Joseph’s astonished gaze, Elizabeth looked around, searching for Jerome Bonaparte’s figure.

A few seconds later, Elizabeth spotted Jerome Bonaparte.

At that moment, Jerome Bonaparte was holding a graceful noblewoman with one arm, while his other hand was tightly entwined with hers, incredibly suggestive.

Pah! What an adulterous couple!

Elizabeth couldn’t help but curse internally, feeling it unfair for her sister Augusta.

"Elizabeth! Elizabeth!" Franz Joseph’s voice reached Elizabeth’s ears once again.

Snapping back to reality, Elizabeth hurriedly responded to Franz Joseph, "Your Majesty, what are your orders!"

"The second dance is about to start! You mustn’t be like you were just now!" Franz Joseph reminded her.

"Yes!" Elizabeth replied to Franz Joseph.

The second piece began once again. This time, Elizabeth didn’t make frequent mistakes like before, but Franz Joseph keenly noticed that her gaze kept drifting in a certain direction.

Thus, during the interval between the second and third pieces, Franz Joseph followed Elizabeth’s line of sight while dancing, and at the end of it, he spotted Richard Metternich.

Could it be that Elizabeth is interested in him... Impossible! They don’t even know each other!

Franz Joseph shook his head, dispelling his absurd thoughts.

Poor Richard Metternich had no idea that his unintentional standing position almost ensnared him in the monarch’s suspicions.

After a few more dances, Elizabeth gradually lost all hope.

In her heart, Jerome Bonaparte had changed from a family-oriented monarch to a deceitful villain.

"Elizabeth, I’m afraid I can’t join you for the next dance!" Franz Joseph said apologetically.

"Why?" Elizabeth asked Franz Joseph in confusion.

Franz Joseph informed Elizabeth that he had received a request to dance from Madam Valerovsky.

"Countess Valerovsky? Is she very skilled?" Elizabeth asked quietly.

Franz Joseph nodded and replied to Elizabeth, "Her husband is a favorite of Jerome Bonaparte, and Valerovsky is likely to succeed De Luy as the Minister of Foreign Affairs, so I can’t refuse the invitation!"

"I understand!" Elizabeth nodded understandingly.

After Franz Joseph had left, Elizabeth stood alone.

Many who wished to invite Elizabeth to dance were stopped in their tracks by her status.

Looking at the elegantly dressed gentlemen around her, Elizabeth’s face showed a disappointed expression.

Just as Elizabeth was about to leave the dance floor, Jerome Bonaparte’s voice reached her ears, "Princess Elizabeth, are you also without a dance partner?"

Elizabeth turned around to look at Jerome Bonaparte and nodded.

"May I have the honor of being your dance partner?" Jerome Bonaparte asked politely, extending his hand to Elizabeth.

"It would be my honor, Your Majesty!" Elizabeth respectfully replied, then placed her hand in Jerome Bonaparte’s.

As Jerome Bonaparte’s hand grasped Elizabeth’s, the band once again struck a joyful tune, this time selecting a piece by the late music master Chopin.

Jerome Bonaparte and Elizabeth began to move together in rhythm.

"Little one, you seem unhappy!" Jerome Bonaparte whispered to Elizabeth as they danced.

"Your Majesty, I am not a little brat!" Elizabeth emphasized with a pout; she didn’t like being viewed as an immature child.

"Then what should I call you? Elizabeth? Sisi?" Jerome Bonaparte asked Elizabeth with a smile.

Still just a little girl!

"Sisi, I suppose!" Elizabeth thought for a moment and responded to Jerome Bonaparte.

"Sisi, why do you look a bit unhappy? Did Franz upset you again?" Jerome Bonaparte curiously asked Elizabeth.

"No!" Elizabeth shook her head and then glanced at Jerome Bonaparte.

"Then why did you look so troubled just now?" Jerome Bonaparte continued.

"It’s because..." Elizabeth hesitated for a moment and didn’t speak.

"Because of what?" Jerome Bonaparte inquired, puzzled.

"You are all liars!" Elizabeth said something that made Jerome Bonaparte feel helplessly amused.

"When did I become a liar!" Jerome Bonaparte pretended to be wronged and said, "I risked my life to dance with you!"

"Hmph! Weren’t you just talking about Augusta in the room earlier?" Elizabeth’s tone carried a slight accusation.

"That’s right! I do love Augusta!" Jerome Bonaparte paused for a few seconds and answered confidently.

"And yet you were holding someone else’s waist, making such intimate gestures!"

At this point, Elizabeth’s face blushed slightly.

All this fuss, this little girl had barely experienced any dances.

"Is it intimate?" Jerome Bonaparte slightly adjusted his position so that Elizabeth could see Franz Joseph.

At this moment, Franz Joseph also had one hand on Madam Valleski’s waist, making a gesture that appeared very intimate to Elizabeth.

Elizabeth momentarily lost her composure, and her previously orderly steps suddenly became chaotic. If Jerome Bonaparte hadn’t quickly supported Elizabeth by the waist, she might have embarrassed herself at the dance.

"Thank you!" Elizabeth expressed her gratitude to Jerome Bonaparte, then immediately realized that their current posture was also somewhat ambiguous.

Their bodies were almost touching, with Jerome Bonaparte bending down to meet Elizabeth’s gaze.

"Sisi, this is social dancing! Physical contact is, of course, essential!" In such a situation, Jerome Bonaparte didn’t find anything inappropriate.

In his eyes, Princess Sisi was no more than an endearing little sister.

In terms of cuteness, she was definitely the best in the hall.

However, when it came time to contest the hardware, whether it was Augusta, Marchioness Aile, Eugenie, or Madam Valleski, they all surpassed this little girl in front of him, even the first-time meeting, Vilnius’s front was far more imposing than Elizabeth’s.

Seeing Princess Sisi reminded Jerome Bonaparte of his first meeting with Vilnius.

"Moreover, how do you know I was sneaking around behind Augusta’s back?" Jerome Bonaparte continued to ask.

"Ah!" Elizabeth couldn’t help but gasp softly, "Are all French people so bold?"

"I am not a pure Frenchman!" Jerome Bonaparte switched to German to respond to Elizabeth, "In fact, I’ve lived in Wurttemberg longer than in France! Augusta is also my childhood friend!"

Elizabeth also switched to German and said to Jerome Bonaparte, "Even if you’re not a pure Frenchman, you shouldn’t..."

"Sisi, you don’t understand France!" Jerome Bonaparte explained to Elizabeth, "This country exudes a carefree romanticism from its bones, so to become its Monarch, one must embrace romance! A conservative Monarch could never rule this country. My love for Augusta is the same as my love for Tuileries Palace!

Only children make choices!"

"Then you shouldn’t deceive Augusta!" Elizabeth spoke up for Empress Augusta.

"I’m not deceiving her!" Jerome Bonaparte told Elizabeth, "All of my lovers are known to Augusta, and they get along quite well!"

"Ah!" Elizabeth was once again astonished by Jerome Bonaparte’s statement.

"I cherish everyone I love and everyone who loves me!" Jerome Bonaparte solemnly responded to Elizabeth, "Though I can’t give everyone the same status, my love for them is the same, and I respect all their choices!"

"Hmph! In the end, how are you different from other Monarchs!" Elizabeth accused Jerome Bonaparte.

"In this world, the hardest thing is to treat people as people!" Jerome Bonaparte replied to Elizabeth, "Which of the Monarchs you’ve seen truly respect women? They merely regard women as their possessions or gifts!"

"And what about you?"