The Shadow of Great Britain

In his youth, Bozo traveled to Paris as one of two representatives of Corsica, requesting the National Assembly to incorporate Corsica into the territory of France. Subsequently, he became Corsica’s representative in Paris’s legislative assembly, consistently occupying a seat on the right-wing before the August Revolution of 1792.

However, when the Jacobin-led National Assembly attacked the Tuileries Palace and deposed Louis XVI, Bozo not only refused the National Assembly’s summons but also fled from Paris overnight back to Corsica, completely breaking ties with the Bonaparte family that supported the Jacobins.

Subsequently, Bozo joined forces with Corsican military leader Pasquale Paoli to declare Corsica’s independence, and with the help of Britain, established the British Corsica Kingdom, becoming its Prime Minister. When Napoleon’s army occupied Corsica later, due to his poor relationship with Napoleon, Bozo was excluded from the amnesty list, forcing him to flee to Rome for refuge.

Yet the French authorities demanded the Roman authorities expel Bozo and ordered his arrest in Northern Italy.

Under Napoleon’s relentless retaliation, Bozo had no choice but to leave Rome and seek political asylum in London.

In London, he met an old friend, Gilbert Elliot, the first Count Minto, who had been the governor of the British Corsica Kingdom.

With his old friend’s assistance, Bozo accompanied Count Minto on a mission to Vienna, where he lived for six years and was treated courteously by Austrian political elites like Metternich. Unfortunately, as Austria suffered consecutive defeats in the Anti-France War, Metternich had to subtly advise his old friend Bozo that staying in Vienna was no longer safe, as Napoleon could demand extradition at any time.

Hence, Bozo embarked on his path of exile again, ultimately being introduced by Russian Foreign Secretary Prince Adam Czartoryski (now the leader of Polish exiles) to Tsar Alexander I.

Perhaps it was precisely because of these turbulent experiences that Bozo bore a deep-seated hatred towards the Bonaparte family.

For the next decade, he remained the most resolute opponent of Napoleon in Russian politics. To defeat Napoleon, he represented the Russian government in successive missions to Prussia, Austria, the Ottoman Empire, and Britain, doing his utmost to promote the Anti-France Alliance.

Since Britain played an indispensable role in the Anti-France Alliance, Bozo naturally stayed in London the longest.

And having spent a lengthy period in London, the handsome and extraordinary Bozo inevitably developed emotional entanglements with ladies in high society.

”Count Pozzo di Borgo’s Portrait” painted by Russian artist Karl Pavlovich Bryullov in 1833.

As for who Bozo’s lover actually was...

It so happened that his lover was connected to both Viscount Melbourne and Viscount Palmeston.

Indeed, Bozo’s lover was Lady Emily Cooper, Melbourne’s Viscount’s sister, who is now Viscount Palmeston’s lover.

Moreover, there have always been rumors that Bozo could very likely be the biological father of one of Lady Cooper’s children.

Of course, rumors are ultimately just that, and the truth might only be clear to those involved.

However, after a thorough investigation and meticulous analysis by Ledley, upon verifying the dates of Bozo’s stay in London and the birth date of Lady Cooper’s eldest daughter, Miss Emily Cooper, this Chief of the Intelligence Bureau’s Section Five highly suspected that Miss Cooper might very well be Bozo’s offspring.

Still, he couldn’t rule out the possibility that Miss Cooper’s biological father might be Viscount Palmeston. After all, looking at her appearance, Miss Cooper seemed to differ greatly from her nominal father Earl Cooper.

”Childhood portrait of Miss Emily Cooper” painted by British artist Thomas Lawrence in 1813.

”Portrait of the Fifth Earl Cooper, Peter Leopold Nassau Cooper” painted by British artist John Hoppner in 1786.

”Portrait of the Third Viscount Palmeston, Henry John Temple” painted by British artist Thomas Heaphy in 1802.

Regardless of who Miss Cooper’s biological father was, just considering her mother’s romantic history, it should be easy to understand why Palmeston made Bozo wait outside the Foreign Office for two hours when the Russian Envoy sought an audience with him.

Although in diplomatic policy terms, Bozo often stood on Russia’s side representing the French sentiment and frequently made his Russian colleagues suspect him of communicating with France, Bozo’s bias towards France invariably drew the ire of the anti-France policy advocate Palmeston.

But even overlooking this aspect, the mere fact of Bozo’s ”frank interactions” with Lady Cooper was enough to disgust Palmeston.

As is widely known, someone prominent at Scotland Yard has always been narrow-minded, yet he felt obliged to speak up for fairness at this moment: Although he has always respected Viscount Palmeston, His Excellency was indeed too petty in this matter. As the Foreign Secretary, how could he make the Russian Envoy wait outside the Foreign Office? This was entirely unprofessional.

Arthur contentedly finished reading the background investigation report on Bozo and suddenly felt like the entire world had become wonderful.

He slowly closed the document, lightly tapping his fingertips against the table, as if savoring the aftertaste of fine red wine sliding down his throat.