Chapter 74

“Idea! Idea! Idea!” Seo Yeon was banging her head on the table. Hoping that ideas will eventually came inside her head. Her head was going to hit the table again when a hand palming it.

“That will make you dumber than you already are.” He sat down in front of her and placed some book on the table. Seo Yeon was shock to see him.

“Let me help you,” he spoke. “But it won’t be Shakespeare this time.

“Then?”

“Napoleon.”

“Napo what?”

“Napoleon was a French military and political leader who rose to prominence during the latter stages of the French Revolution and its associated wars in Europe.”

“Already? Wait!” she logged in her laptop and started to type right away. Ji Min silently scoffed seeing her clumsy action.

“Okay, next?”

“As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1814 and again in 1815. He implemented a wide array of liberal reforms across Europe, including the abolition of feudalism and the spread of religious toleration. His legal code in France, the Napoleonic Code, influenced numerous law jurisdictions worldwide. Napoleon is remembered for his role in leading France against a series of coalitions in the Napoleonic Wars. He won the majority of his battles and seized control of most of continental Europe in a quest for personal power and to spread the ideals of the French Revolution. Widely regarded as one of the greatest commanders in history, his campaigns are studied at military academies worldwide. He remains one of the most studied political and military leaders in all of history.”

“Hey, hey. Slow down. I’m not a robot or a very fast type-r myself.”

“Okay,” Ji Min put down the book a while and looked at her for a while.

You don’t know how sorry I am, Seo Yeon. I’m missing the old days every day.

Seo Yeon was still typing, unaware of the eyes that staring at her.

“And… done!” she pressed the last letter. “Next?”

“Oh, yeah.” Ji Min took back the book and continued to read.

“Napoleon was born in Corsica in a family of noble Italian ancestry that had settled in Corsica in the 16th century. He spoke French with a heavy Corsican accent. Well-educated, he rose to prominence under the French First Republic and led successful campaigns against the enemies of the French revolution who set up the First and Second Coalitions, most notably his campaigns in Italy.”

“How to spell Corsican?”

“C-O-R-S-I-C-A-N.” Ji Min spelled, impossibly fast.

“Okay.” She typed it down. While waiting, Ji Min fished out is phone and he got endless messages from Ji Hyun. He sighed heavily and tch-ed.

“If you have something going on, you can leave, you know.” She said, without looking at him.

“No,” he denied. “It’s nothing. Finish?”

“Y..yup.”

“Okay, he took a power in a coup d’état in 1799-”

“Coup what?”

“Coup d’état.”

“Alright.”

“In 1799 and installed himself as First Consul.”

“He made himself as the consul? First consul? What the-” she laughed.

“No interruption.” He said, seriously.

“Okay,” Seo Yeon looked down on her keyboard quickly. Ji Min chuckled seeing her reaction.

That kind of act still scares her until now.

“In 1804 he made himself emperor of the French people. He fought-”

“Oh, it’s emperor this time?” She started to laugh again but seeing Ji Min’s death glare made her shut her intention down.

“He fought a series of wars, the Napoleonic Wars, that involved complex coalitions for and against him. After a streak of victories, France secured a dominant position in continental Europe, and Napoleon maintained the French sphere of influence through the formation of extensive alliances and the elevation of friends and family members to rule other European countries as French vassal states.”

“Ugh,” she sighed and stretched her neck and arms. “Is there a lot more to go?”

“A lot.”

“.” She cursed before started typing again. After a while,

“Next?” she asked, tiredly.

“The Peninsular War which was 1807 until 1814, along with the French invasion of Russia in 1812 marked major military failures. His Grande Armée was badly damaged and never fully recovered. In 1813, the Sixth Coalition defeated his forces at the Battle of Leipzig and his enemies invaded France. Napoleon was forced to abdicate and go in exile to the Italian island of Elba. In 1815 he escaped and returned to power, but he was finally defeated at the Battle of Waterloo in June 1815. He spent the last 6 years of his life in confinement by the British on the island of Saint Helena. An autopsy concluded he died of stomach cancer but there has been debate about the cause of his death, and some scholars have speculated he was a victim of arsenic poisoning.”

“Damn, arsenic poisoning is always the best to make murder looked like suicide.”

“Are you interested?”

“A little.”

“It’s about finding relation right? I think this would do.”

“What?” she scoffed. “Are you expecting me to present my thesis by saying that one day I will drink a whole bottle of arsenic poison and I will die with the autopsy result of stomach cancer but there is still some smartass testifying my death and actually prove the actual cause of my death?”

“That’s sounds good.”

“Ugh.” She made a face.

“Shall we continue?”

“There’s more?”

“There’s more.” Ji Min answered.

“Holy crap.” She muttered before sat up straight to freshen up her mind. And fingers.

“Josephine de Beauharnais was Napoleon’s spouse. Napoleon was a Major General in the French Army, a man with lofty ambition. To achieve his goals, though, he needed a rich wife. Josephine in turn saw him as a possible patron, and cultivated his friendship. They became lovers in 1795.”

“You mean, she used him? I mean, they used each other?”

“It’s a win-win situation though.”

“But they used each other?”

“They are sorta yeah.”

“They are sorta yeah.” She rolled her eyes.

“He proposed in January 1796, and they wed on March 9, 1796, just prior to his taking command of the army in Italy. She was hesitant at first to marry him, because he was "silent and awkward with women, was passionate and lively, though altogether strange in all his person.”

“Next?”

“Done.”

“Done?”

“Yeah.”

“Christ! Finally!” she threw her hands in the air.

“How about you try to Google more about Josephine. Since you are assuming they used each other in the first place.”

“Nah, I don’t have time.”

“C’mon. Tell me later.” He picked up his books and took his sling bag.

“By the way,” he smiled tenderly. “Good luck on your thesis presentation.”