From Corsica to the Fourth Rome

Around nine o'clock in the morning, the breakfast banquet in the castle was basically coming to an end. The nobles who had had a good meal here cheered up and began to adjust their longbows and sharpen their hunting knives, preparing to dive into this vast forest farm again.

For many nobles who returned empty-handed yesterday, it would be quite shameful if they could not prove themselves in this last day of hunting.

Of course, with the injuries Lawrence showed in front of everyone, he obviously could not join the hunt again, so he had to stay in the castle and wait for the hunting team to return.

But that doesn't mean Lawrence has nothing to do.

After just deciding to help Crown Prince Louis take revenge on Count Falcone, the question before Lawrence became how to carry out a revenge on this noble dandy that both Crown Prince Louis and the Duke of Choiseul would like to see.

Before Prince Louis left, Lawrence also got some information about Count Falcone from him:

"He is a playboy who disgusts the ladies. Even for Parisians, he is too romantic. A different girl comes in and out of his mansion every two days. He is not yet twenty years old, but he already has a wife. A bunch of illegitimate children, I dare say there are not enough illegitimate children in his mansion. "

Crown Prince Louis couldn't help but become angry when he said these words. When Lawrence asked how the two of them had a grudge, Crown Prince Louis became even more angry and said angrily:

"That was a few months ago. I was walking in the garden west of the Palace of Versailles at night when I heard something moving in the garden. At that time, I thought it was some blind thief, so I called the guards directly. As a result, The guard took a look at the flowers and saw that our Count Falcone was jogging parallel to a sexy girl. Of course, she was naked. "

When Prince Louis said this, he shrugged helplessly and added:

"And you know, Count Falcone felt that this was a great disgrace caused by me, especially since he left his companion and ran away without even wearing trousers, which also won him a "night run" in the social circle Of course, you must not call him that in front of him. This arrogant man can't stand such humiliation. He even had a duel with a baron last week. "

"Well" Lawrence recalled Crown Prince Louis' description and mentally labeled Count Falcone:

"An arrogant and careless playboy. Judging from his duel with the baron and his performance just now, he seems to be a little irritable."

Such a character is not uncommon among the heirs of big families, especially when they are in their teens or twenties, which is when they are most impulsive and public.

For Lawrence, as long as he knew this, it was easy to make the young and frivolous earl pay the price.

Just as Lawrence was rubbing his forehead and thinking about revenge against Count Falcone, there was a sudden sound of brisk footsteps behind him, and then the man patted Lawrence on the shoulder and asked with a smile:

"What's the matter, M. Bonaparte, why do you look so sad? Is there anything that's bothering you?"

Lawrence turned around and saw that Crown Princess Mary was looking at him with a smile. There was an entourage standing behind her. It was probably Crown Prince Louis who had left his German translator to the Crown Princess.

In the breakfast hall, as the men went out to hunt, the ladies began their own activities. Judging from the plates of exquisite desserts served by the castle servants, it was probably a tea party.

Even with an interpreter, Crown Princess Marie obviously had not yet integrated into the circle of these French ladies, so she had to come to Lawrence to kill time.

Lawrence was about to stand up and salute, but Princess Mary gently pressed his shoulder, shook her head with a smile and said:

"You are still injured, just sit still."

Lawrence smiled bitterly and said:

"Thank you, Your Highness. I have nothing to worry about. I'm just thinking about something."

"Oh? Tell me about it?" Princess Mary asked enthusiastically, taking the initiative to pull out a chair opposite Lawrence and sit down.

"You may have also seen that the young nobleman who was rude to Prince Louis just now is Count Falcone."

Lawrence shrugged and said casually:

"I was thinking about him."

"Count Falcone...? I think I heard someone talking about him yesterday."

After hearing this, Crown Princess Mary pursed her lips slightly, poked her chin and thought for a while, then said uncertainly:

"It seems that Miss Elvi mentioned it. Are you interested in that earl? I can ask Miss Elvi to talk to you."

After Lawrence nodded in agreement, Princess Mary waved to her entourage and asked him to invite Miss Elvy over.

After a while, a glamorous young lady in her twenties walked over with elegant steps.

Lawrence looked at Miss Elvy with interest. It seemed that she had a good relationship with Crown Princess Mary.

This also made Lawrence a little curious. After all, Lawrence thought that the French aristocratic ladies had not yet accepted the foreign crown princess.

Miss Elvey briefly raised her skirts to Lawrence and Princess Mary, and then sat next to Princess Mary.

She first said hello to Crown Princess Mary in fluent German, and then introduced herself to Lawrence with a smile:

"It is a pleasure to speak to you, Monsignor Bonaparte. I am Hervé Francois."

At first, Lawrence was a little surprised by her fluent German, but after hearing her surname, Lawrence understood. Francois was the surname of the Duke of Choiseul.

So Lawrence looked at Miss Elvy and asked:

"It's also an honor for me. So, you are the Duke of Choiseul?"

"I am the Duke's daughter." Miss Elvy said with a smile.

Lawrence nodded in understanding. No wonder Princess Mary was the only one she could chat with, Miss Elvy.

On the one hand, this is because Lawrence yesterday used the name of Duke Choiseul to win over Crown Princess Marie. On the other hand, it is also because Duke Choiseul and Crown Princess Marie are already related.

The Duke of Choiseul's father was an advisor to the Duke of Lorraine at the time, and the Duke of Lorraine was also the father of the later Holy Roman Emperor and Crown Princess Mary, Francis I.

Both the Duke of Choiseul and his younger brother once served in the Austrian army and served as attendants of Francis I. In this sense, the Duke of Choiseul can be regarded as the old subordinate of Crown Princess Marie's father.

It is therefore not surprising that Miss Hervé speaks German and is able to chat with Princess Mary.

But from this point of view, the European aristocratic circle is indeed a circle.

"I often hear about you from my father and he says you are a nice guy."

Miss Elvy's eyes had a breathtaking charm. She looked at Lawrence and said slowly:

"What do you want from me?"

"Nothing important, just chatting with you. I heard that you know Count Falcone well?" Lawrence asked, looking into Miss Elvy's eyes.

"Oh Count Falcone"

When Miss Elvy heard this name, the smile on her face disappeared in an instant, and she turned to an expression of disgust, shook her head and sighed:

"Just hearing this name can make me feel irritable. Oh, I'm not blaming you, Your Excellency Bonaparte. This pervert is really disgusting."

Lawrence asked caringly: "What happened? Miss Elvy."

Miss Elvy gritted her teeth, patted the table irritably and said:

"He has been clinging to me like a fly recently, and he has shamelessly openly expressed his pursuit of me. This arrogant maniac has also launched several duels with my other suitors. It really makes me feel sick."

"Well, no wonder."

Lawrence nodded in understanding. No wonder Count Falcone, as the grandson of the Duke of Richelieu, came to participate in the hunting organized by the Duke of Choiseul. It seemed that he came for Miss Elvy.

Lawrence looked at the beautiful Miss Elvy in front of him again, and roughly guessed that Count Falcone's pursuit of her had nothing to do with political purposes. It was simply that his lower body began to feel restless.

After all, in terms of marriage, it is impossible for the grandson of Duke Richelieu to get together with the daughter of Duke Choiseul.

However, what Miss Elvy said about Count Falcone challenging other suitors to a duel made Lawrence's eyes light up.

"Can you tell me about his duel with others?"

Lawrence asked immediately after echoing Miss Elvy's expression of disgust for Count Falcone.

"Duel? There's not much to say. He might still think he's quite masculine."

Miss Elvy shook her shoulders and curled her lips and said:

"In just the past few months, he has initiated at least ten real sword duels."

"He won them all?"

Lawrence frowned and asked. In real sword duels, everyone is conceited about life and death. If Count Falcone can really win so many duels, it means that he is really capable.

"Based on the results, yes. But..." Miss Elvey said nonchalantly:

"Half of the people he challenged to a duel did not accept it at all, and the remaining half, even if they accepted it, they would surrender after just two moves. Who knows that he is the grandson of the Duke of Richelieu. He actually relies on this Use it as a shield to challenge others to a duel even more brazenly."

"Yeah."

Lawrence listened patiently and almost had a plan in mind, so he smiled and waved to Miss Elvy, motioning her to come closer, and then whispered in her ear.

The hunting on the second day went without any accidents. All the teams rushed back to the castle before it got completely dark.

The nobles and ladies gathered in the banquet hall again, communicating or showing off today's harvest. Many young nobles would offer their prey as gifts to their favorite ladies to show their bravery.

"Miss Elvy!"

Count Falcone was the last one to enter the banquet hall, but he was also the most flamboyant. As soon as he stepped through the door, he shouted towards the inside, eager to make everyone notice him:

"Please allow me to offer you my prey, a majestic stag. I hope you will accept it."

The nobles looked at Count Falcone in surprise. He did hold half an antler in his hand as a symbol of the stag, and ladies would only accept a symbol like this when accepting prey. After all, they could not Let the ladies carry back the bloody animal carcasses.

Count Falcone raised his head proudly, accepting everyone's looks mixed with envy and jealousy. He wished he could raise the antlers in his hands above his head, because not every hunter can come back with a stag.

For ladies, half antlers of a stag is undoubtedly the gift they are most willing to receive during hunting activities.

However, Count Falcone stopped and waited for a long time, and Miss Elvy did not come up to accept the gift he offered.

In an awkward atmosphere, Count Falcone frowned and searched the crowd for a long time before he found Miss Elvy.

He saw that the lady he was attracted to was actually talking to the Corsican country bumpkin with a smile on her face. The two people's fingers even touched each other intentionally or unintentionally, and Miss Elvi was even more interested in Count Falcone. The tribute fell completely on deaf ears.

Upon seeing this, Crown Prince Louis grinned even more, and took the initiative to hold his throat and let out a burst of boos. Soon, the crowd also heard boos and laughter one after another.

They all also noticed this embarrassing scene, and they couldn't help laughing after seeing Count Falcone standing there like a clown, proud of his hunting but frustrated in love.

Count Falcone, who was ridiculed, couldn't help but growl, then he held the antlers in his hand tightly, walked towards Lawrence angrily, and said sternly:

"Your Excellency Bonaparte, please step aside. I want to speak to Miss Elvy."

Lawrence laughed contemptuously, walked up to Count Falcone, patted his shoulder with his bandaged right hand, and said in a voice that everyone could hear:

"I walked away, but Miss Elvy doesn't seem to want to talk to you."

Under everyone's gaze, Miss Elvy turned her head and glanced at Count Falcone, but her eyes did not even stay on him for more than two seconds, and there was no trace of smile on her face.

Seeing this scene, the crowd jeered even louder.

"You! You country bumpkin, you bastard!" Count Falcone was so angry that he smashed the antlers on his hand to the ground, pointed at Lawrence and cursed without caring about his grace.

Lawrence silently bent down without changing his expression, picked up the antlers thrown by Count Falcone on the ground, held them in his hands and examined them for a while, put on an expression of disbelief, and said loudly:

"Wait! Count Falcone, is this the prey you want to offer to Miss Elvy?"

"What do you want to say, Your Excellency Bonaparte?" Count Falcone asked with a voice trembling with anger. He had never been so angry several times since he was a child.

"Tsk tsk. I really shouldn't have. I didn't expect it. Oh, I really didn't expect it."

Lawrence had a sad expression on his face, and he caressed the antlers in his hand in a mysterious way, and said sadly:

"You, even if you want to attract Miss Elvy's attention, you can't do anything false."

Upon hearing Lawrence's words, the nobles in the banquet hall immediately became energetic and gathered around to look at the antlers in Lawrence's hand.

"What?! What are you talking about?" Count Falcone was stunned, and then angrily snatched the antlers from Lawrence's hand, not knowing what Lawrence meant.

"well--"

Lawrence let out a long sigh, looked up at Count Falcone, then lowered his head and sighed, whetting everyone's appetite before speaking loudly:

"Your antlers are fake. Fresh stag antlers are darker than the antlers you have and will not have spots. Your antlers are either bought from the market or prepared in advance. Anyway, they cannot be from just now." Cut from a hunted stag."

“Hiss——” There was a sound of inhalation immediately in the banquet hall. After hearing Lawrence’s explanation, people shook their heads and looked at Count Falcone with very strange expressions.

"What?! You damn beast! What are you talking about?! The deer's carcass is still outside! Do you dare to come out and take a look!"

Count Falcone's face turned red, and he pointed at Lawrence's nose and cursed incoherently.

Lawrence just shrugged helplessly, looked at the other nobles and said:

"I'm not interested in how you faked it. Anyway, this antler has betrayed you."

Miss Elvy also walked up to Lawrence in time, looked at Count Falcone with disgust and said:

"Oh my God, I really didn't expect you to be such a person. Please stop pestering me. You can't even do the most basic integrity, what else can you do."

"you you!"

Count Falcone was trembling all over. He turned his head and looked around. Almost everyone looked at him with a look of regret, having already confirmed the fact that he was committing fraud.

"Well, how dare you slander my reputation like this."

Count Falcone's voice was already squeezed out from his teeth. He put the damn antlers under his feet, stepped on them hard and broke them into pieces. Then he pointed at Lawrence and said:

"Laurence Bonaparte, in order to defend my honor, I will fight you in a duel!"

Before Lawrence could reply, Miss Elvy took a step forward and scolded:

"Are you serious! You don't even look at the injuries on Monsignor Bonaparte's body, and you actually want to duel with such a wounded person? I really recognize you completely."

Miss Elvy's words immediately aroused a warm response. People looked at Count Falcone with boos, thinking that his behavior of challenging the injured to a duel was simply too despicable, even for a furious person. Said, this is also a completely inappropriate gaffe.

"me."

Count Falcone was speechless for a moment, but he did not want to postpone the duel, because by the time Laurence recovered from his injury and was able to accept the duel, rumors about his fraud had already spread throughout Paris.

Just when Count Falcone was about to give up the duel, to everyone's surprise, Lawrence stepped forward two steps to block Miss Elvy behind him, and said to Count Falcone seriously and clearly :

"I accept a duel with you."

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