HI HI HI !!! ok so like imagine a yan Napoleon with a darling who doesn’t speak the same language as him or is like form the United States (or some other country during the time) OKAY BYE !!!
⚠Warnings⚠ historical inaccuracies, soft yandere themes, paranoia and controlling behavior, self blaming! Reader, him being delulu,
✎Note✐ reader is a female in this. It's long as hell, I don't like how the last part turned out tbh 😔 might rewrite some things in it later (meaning 20 years later) 😜
࣪ ִֶָ☾.｡𖦹°‧✮⋆˙｡𖦹°‧✮⋆˙｡𖦹°‧✮⋆˙࣪ ִֶָ☾.࣪ ִֶָ࣪𖦹°‧✮⋆˙｡𖦹°‧✮⋆˙｡ ִֶָ☾.
How did you get into this scandalous mess in the first place? Where did it go wrong for you to be in such position? It's hard to pinpoint exactly where this mess began but let's rewind the story to understand better how you got here
It all began when you and your family moved all the way from Poland to Paris, in hopes of getting power and influence in the flourishing french court, it hadn't been long since Napoleon Bonaparte crowned himself emperor and that opened the door for foreign nobility to seek power and influence in this rising empire and your family happened to be one of these families
Moving there was easy enough but climbing your way to power isn't exactly as easy as Napoleon makes it sound like, while Poland and France are in good terms that doesn't mean it will guarantee your family anything really.. But your father is a determined man and would not leave easily, not without securing you or your siblings good matches!
Your father, may God forgive him, had tried pushing you and your younger sister into the empress's social circle in hopes that one of you will become a lady in waiting under the service of empress Joséphine. you two are well educated and well-mannered yet one giant problem stood in front of you specifically, your French is terrible
It's almost funny how that thought never came across your father's mind when he brought you into the french court.
When you can only manage one awkward conversation and nothing else due to your limited dictionary it's pretty clear that your chances at getting allies whom you can hardly communicate with will be from zero to maybe one or two percent
Your case is hard, really
Your sister, despite not being fluent either yet is better at french than you, had managed to make friends in court while your father is standing next to her proudly, you knew that her new social circle wasn't just due to the language abilities but also due to her being a social butterfly who mingled with everyone
You, even if we put the language barrier aside, you are socially awkward so yeah your case is really, really hard, especially when everytime you try to talk to someone the only thing coming out of your mouth is just nonsense no one can pick apart
You knew that even with a tutor it will easily take years until you can speak with french nobility and not even fluently at that, unlike your father you are aware that your place is no where near the french yet he is still determined that there is hope for youyou and sometimes you wish you had that trust in yourself
Things only got complicated when your sister's social circle extended to have some of the empress's friends in it, with that your father had decided that your shall not visit court till you had mastered the french language, you don't know if that's because of his disappointment in your tongue or fear of embarrassing your sister, you believe it's the latter but no one cares about your opinion, at least not your father
࣪ ִֶָ☾.｡𖦹°‧✮⋆˙｡𖦹°‧✮⋆˙｡𖦹°‧✮⋆˙࣪ ִֶָ☾.࣪ ִֶָ࣪𖦹°‧✮⋆˙｡𖦹°‧✮⋆˙｡ ִֶָ☾.
When you got a little better and what I mean by that is that you can now manage two awkward conversations instead of one your father calls that progress, I don't the ban has been lifted off and you were allowed to go with your sister only if you stick to her side and preferably not speak at all which you found ridiculous but dear papa refused to it from you unless you say it in perfect french
“I don't understand, what's the point of me being here if I'll just stand like a statue?” You could not help yourself but complain to your sister, helena, which only earned a sigh from her "so people can get familiar with you." You, not seeing the point still, wanted to complain about how this entire charade is ridiculous but the look she gave you made you drop it
After two months passing by and nothing of significance came out of your lessons your father has decided that this is a terrible investment ouch-, for you aren't making any actual progress and tutoring isn't exactly cheap. he decided that you probably will be better off at poland with your relatives and that you knew what that meant, going back there to your father's side who didn't like you because they disliked your mom is a living hell
That night you begged your sister to do something using her connections, anything, like get you in a group or throw in a word for a potential suitor, yes you're that desperate. You always knew that arranged marriages is how you will end up, there is no love in politics and you came to make peace with it long time ago so just anything but being stuck with people who don't even give you the courtesy of badmouthing your mother behind your back
After bugging her for hours till bedtime and her getting tired and wanting to sleep she gave in “I'll try to get something done but don't expect too much of me. now if you will, I need to sleep” 'now get out' is what she really meant but oh will now your chances are up from zero to.. Five? Well that's something I guess ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
࣪ ִֶָ☾.｡𖦹°‧✮⋆˙｡𖦹°‧✮⋆˙｡𖦹°‧✮⋆˙࣪ ִֶָ☾.࣪ ִֶָ࣪𖦹°‧✮⋆˙｡𖦹°‧✮⋆˙｡ ִֶָ☾.
It was a foggy morning in Tuileries Palace, Tension has been rising between Napoleon and Joséphine for the past few days or the past 3 years if we're being honest. Ever since he fathered a basterd son from eléonore denuelle, proving his family's claims that his wife of nearly 14 years is a barren, that marrying this 'old lady' as called by his family was terrible mistake. From the beginning they, especially his mother, have been whispering in his ears that he should do what his heart couldn't bear to even think about
That he should set Joséphine aside and take another to wife
“How is your schedule for the day?.” She asked, her voice sounding hopeful that maybe if she got to spend time with him away from his duties it would ease him “busy as always.” his tone is distant, he is clearly overthinking again, Sometimes he has been doing these days and obviously it's about their marriage, any blind man can see that
He noticed the frown on her face that his response has caused and he just sighs “what about you?.” he asked, trying to sound interested while his mind is somewhere else, she replied something about court and honestly he didn't hear her
His mind was focused on accepting the fact that his marriage is over and what's left is just making it official. He and Joséphine knew that it's just not working anymore..
Hours passed with Napoleon personally managing negotiations and Joséphine sitting between ladies of high birth and wealth, being there physically but not mentally, Mourning over a dead marriage of nearly 14 years
So she just nods her head along on a suggestion one of her ladies made about an addition to her ladies in waiting, not caring enough about who and what qualities this lady had. Not that she has much time left as empress anyway, so what's the harm?
࣪ ִֶָ☾.｡𖦹°‧✮⋆˙｡𖦹°‧✮⋆˙｡𖦹°‧✮⋆˙࣪ ִֶָ☾.࣪ ִֶָ࣪𖦹°‧✮⋆˙｡𖦹°‧✮⋆˙｡ ִֶָ☾.
When helena told you that you were accepted you made her swear on her soul that she is telling the truth, you were happy, really happy, According to your mother you had never smiled brighter before and how anyone could blame you? You had just escaped being shipped away to poland and your father side
‘This is worth a celebration’ you thought, till realization threw a prick at you without kissing it first, shattering your dreams into pieces
Even if you made it into the 'ladies in waiting' league, you'll be kicked out within a week because what use are you to a french empress when you can barely speak this cursed language? I guess you'll have to stick with your tutor till you can at least speak a little better...
You begin your service under the empress in early september, your speech abilities caught her off guard to say the least.. I mean your sponsor did lightly mention your 'limited speech' issue but at the time she had so much on her mind that she didn't ask follow up questions but she just shrugged this inconvenience off. She already has 12 other ladies in waiting, one who can't communicate properly won't hurt her that much
By now your situations with the french language got better due to your hard work and having companions you can talk to. Even though you still are no where near fluency and have a thick accent yet at last you can talk now to others and not stand in the background like a piece of furniture while all the others chat
With time your obvious accent had grown on her grace, reminding her of her husband's accent. Despite being the emperor of the french empire, he still had his damned corsican accent and sometimes at night joséphine would find this concept ridiculously funny and she would talk about it in a passive manner during her breakfast or supper with Napoleon, not that she found his accent silly dear, she's talking about yours
She did mention at least once if he remembers correctly about a lady in waiting of hers that has an accent, which made him raise an eyebrow because he himself has an accent but he just dismisses it, he already has a lot going on and didn't want to waste time on a frivolous matter
࣪ ִֶָ☾.｡𖦹°‧✮⋆˙｡𖦹°‧✮⋆˙｡𖦹°‧✮⋆˙࣪ ִֶָ☾.࣪ ִֶָ࣪𖦹°‧✮⋆˙｡𖦹°‧✮⋆˙｡ ִֶָ☾.
After a long afternoon of reading through letters and documents, trying to distract himself from his failing marriage and trying to run away from a conversation with Joséphine about it. He would have to be a fool to not notice her failed attempts at making this sinking ship stay afloat and it's killing him
With overworking himself he had finished all the duties he had on his schedule for the day, leaving him with nothing to focus on besides his thoughts and before he could stop himself he walked toward Joséphine's quarters, knowing that if this conversation doesn't happen he'll go mad
He entered without having his arrival being announced by the guards. There was no one inside the chambers except for one woman, a lady given by her fine clothe. Her expression is of shock and fear, she clearly didn't expect to see him here when the empress wasn't here
you never expected to ever engage in a conversation with the emperor himself, you were always in the background just like everyone else when he came by to see the empress “her grace isn't here, your majesty..” you had always paid attention to your accent but didn't think much of it since you didn't socialize that much anyway but now you wish you were mute instead
He just stared at you, letting the silence stretch before speaking “I could tell.” those three words felt like a personal attack which they are
You had always heard that the emperor is quite blunt at times or rude if you will, you even heard that he once told a noblewoman «Your dress is not of the cleanest. Do you never change your gown? I have seen you in that twenty times»
The emperor was never afraid of publicly humiliating others, you had always thought that these whispers were an exaggerations, you had never expected someone like him to be so.. Unmannerly
You had nothing to say which is for the better if we're being honest, you remained silent hoping he would leave or dismiss you but nothing ever goes like how we want so he stayed, probably waiting for the empress to return and you, oh miserable you, have to stay where you are until he dismisses you. You wanted to ask to be excused but after what just happened you're too stunned to speak
You stood there awkwardly as he paid you no mind and stared out the window to the landscape, the silence made you feel more awkward than you would have felt in a room full of french people. Then, without even turning back to look at you he asked “why are you not accompanying the empress? Isn't that your job?.”
Is he now seriously interrogating you?!
You feel offended by his questioning tone yet with no choice but to comply, you responded “I prefer to stay behind... Her grace allows it.” he just hummed in response then left the room which you made you feel relieved and were not shocked at all
After all, Napoleon had a habit of abandoning conversations he found boring, which again is unmannerly!
࣪ ִֶָ☾.｡𖦹°‧✮⋆˙｡𖦹°‧✮⋆˙｡𖦹°‧✮⋆˙࣪ ִֶָ☾.࣪ ִֶָ࣪𖦹°‧✮⋆˙｡𖦹°‧✮⋆˙｡ ִֶָ☾.
You had reported this incident to the empress to which she didn't pay any attention to it, so you just shrugged it off
But these incidents kept happening, the emperor kept coming to visit Joséphine and everytime she'd be somewhere else entirely and soon these brief chats you two shared became actual conversations, not long ones but definitely longer than before
These conversations were consistent of him talking about napoleonic stuff and you nodding along, for you know that Napoleon isn't someone who likes being disagreed with, becoming an emperor came with a huge ego in the full package in his defense
But you sometimes would share your thoughts, for some reason you felt more comfortable talking to him despite his status because he has an accent as well, it's silly you know that but it brings some sort of comfort that even the emperor of France has an accent and that it's not something to be insecure about
And despite his bluntness at times, he can be good company but you are not blind to what's happening. The relationship between the emperor and his wife is collapsing and tension is high as ever these days and you feel partly responsible even if you know that their marriage had died like years ago but still.. You feel like these talks you have with Napoleon is worsening his marriage situation even though there is nothing that happened between you two
And the guilty only ate you alive when you saw that the empress had fainted upon hearing the news of her divorce, even though you now lost the position you begged for on your knees according to your sister you didn't care, you should have been sent away from the start..
The divorce was finalized in December, 4 months since you started having these small talks with him. News of the empress's grief was the latest topic in court, and yes empress for Napoleon had allowed or rather insisted on her still using the title
Now you are back to your house, back to your father whining about marriage matches and the thought of living with your father's side. Back to normal where you barely left the house and rarely visited court
Until one evening you come down for dinner like you normally would, just for everyone on the table to be sitting still. No one is reaching for the bread or the wine, instead everyone stares into their plates with something you didn't understand at the time till your father broke the news that made the whole world stop spinning to you
A marriage proposal by the emperor himself, apparently he had approached your father in court and went straightforward to business, asking for your hand in marriage
Your father, despite his shock on his face had agreed, obviously. This.. all of this nonsense is making your head spin around..
࣪ ִֶָ☾.｡𖦹°‧✮⋆˙｡𖦹°‧✮⋆˙｡𖦹°‧✮⋆˙࣪ ִֶָ☾.࣪ ִֶָ࣪𖦹°‧✮⋆˙｡𖦹°‧✮⋆˙｡ ִֶָ☾.
Last time you saw Joséphine you were a lady in waiting following her around now you're an empress, the empress.. This title feels like a mockery more than anything else really. How can you be an empress when Joséphine is also called an empress?
You and Napoleon had been married for a few months to this current day, everything before the wedding felt like a blur except for one walk in the garden you had shared with him. You remember asking him ‘why?’ and him answering something along the lines of “you understand me better than most” as if that qualifies someone to become a wife, someone who he had few chats with and knew for a few months
With this position of yours, your family had been set for life. Soon after your marriage your sister had found a good match and your house rose up high, now courtiers who previously ignored you before are taking any chance to talk to you and the other ladies in waiting who you once served alongside with and had ridiculed your accent are now your ladies in waiting
Yet none of this ever felt right, you don't feel like you belong here... It's not your place or position.. Every time you try to ignore this growing pit inside you and just enjoy yourself as a fucking empress you just feel her gaze on you
Always in court, you can feel Joséphine's eyes staring at you... ‘she must think I seduced him.. Of course she would, why else would he chose a lady from a minor house over better matches..?.’ you'd think every night before going to bed. she's always there, of course it's court but she has never ever spoke directly to you, she's just there staring
One night your now husband came into your now quarters, giving the same look he gave on your first meeting, unreadable and stoic. “you've changed, you're not the same person I knew.” his audacity killed you, does this man ever feel shame?!
You had a good share of wine by then and you were tired, too tired to put on a mask and pretend everything is fine. Ever since you two got married and his presence has been suffocating you, you don't know if he is doing this to forget about his ex or what but you don't like how he is always acting towards you
He'd send you letters even when you two are in the same castle and oh boy those letters are long ass ones and he expects a reply, a written one and it should be ready half an hour since he sent the letter, not only that but he'd comment on the 'environment' you surrounded yourself with and how you should not interact with the courtiers ‘for they are wasting your time for their own goals’ and focus on your duties as empress more
Your family tells you to be grateful, ‘he did the same to Joséphine’, ‘this only proved his love to you’ but you know it's bullshit, someone who loves you normally won't hover over your head.. Besides, you're not Joséphine, he shouldn't love you like you're her
“how can you expect me to be warm when you're acting like this?. I don't know why you're doing this Napoleon but I'm not Joséphine.” you didn't raise your voice but your words had enough high volume and of course he'd just turn around and leave
A sign that he found this conversation boring
you believe that his huge ego had feasted on his sense of shame because there are no other explanations for this
࣪ ִֶָ☾.｡𖦹°‧✮⋆˙｡𖦹°‧✮⋆˙｡𖦹°‧✮⋆˙࣪ ִֶָ☾.࣪ ִֶָ࣪𖦹°‧✮⋆˙｡𖦹°‧✮⋆˙｡ ִֶָ☾.
Even as empress you stayed rather introverted, whether because of the language barrier or just disliking the noble company remains a mystery to modern historians, not that you yourself know why, you just find this court exhausting and rather toxic.. So yeah you rather keep your distance from these ‘leeches’ as your husband would call them
Of course this behavior of yours toward the court is something he found pleasing, while you like to think that you are doing this for your mental health he's convinced otherwise, he believes that you are doing this due to his influence over you, that you obviously came to your senses when he spoke to you about keeping distance with nobles. And the fact he thinks so baffles you, men really like to gaslight themselves into believing they are the cause of everything women do
His feelings for you are something hard to explain or describe, it's not love, at least not the love he knows and had for Joséphine. It's more of a fixation, not with you but rather with the image of a second chance and Innocence he has of you, it's cruel to say this but when he looks at you he sees only a second chance at life rather than you
When he glances at you during breakfast or dinner he only sees a second marriage that could fix everything and he's doing everything he can to not screw it over and unfortunately by that he doesn't mean focusing on you and less work, it just means controlling every aspect possible of your life, to him if he keeps everything running smoothly under his leadership then this marriage will flourish
His biggest fear is you cheating on him just like his ex did as if he didn't cheat as well, that's probably why he also has something to say about male courtiers talking to you and it irritates you to a degree but who cares?
There are few rare times where you two would take a walk around the garden during the morning if the weather is clear and talk about whatever, even if you hate him for the most part you could never deny that those walks bring somewhat comfort to you, it makes you feel like.. Just you, no people watching you or giving you quick glances and no Joséphine.. And honestly this corsican man isn't that bad to talk to when he isn't being 'blunt'
“Life was easier before I was empress, and Joséphine's constant presence does not help” you confess, without thinking twice about the words coming out of your mouth and he just stands still, watching you as your fingertips skim the fountain surface, not looking at him
So that's why you've been keeping distance? Guess he'll have to solve this problem before it blooms into something bigger he can't control
Rumors has it that Duchess Joséphine has fainted again once a edict has been issued, forbidding her from using the title 'empress' again, addressing her only as Duchess of Navarre
Even though you had not wished for it to happen, you can't lie and say that the weight on your shoulders has lifted a little, at least you don't feel mocked when addressed as empress
࣪ ִֶָ☾.｡𖦹°‧✮⋆˙｡𖦹°‧✮⋆˙｡𖦹°‧✮⋆˙࣪ ִֶָ☾.࣪ ִֶָ࣪𖦹°‧✮⋆˙｡𖦹°‧✮⋆˙｡ ִֶָ☾.
He had swore on the day he made the proposal to your father that this marriage will work, that this time he will do anything to make sure this ship doesn't sink. No one can deny that joséphine has a special place in his heart yet he won't allow even that to ruin his second chance
It pained him to write that edict but he knew that the acceptance from you about Joséphine will one day turn into resentment and that means another failed marriage, even if in the past decade and nearly half Joséphine's happiness has been his first thought when it came to such decisions yet now, yours took it place
Happy wife, happy life.. Right?
And honestly, after months passing by his love for Joséphine grew into resentment, if only she had been more like you none of this would have happened..
To word it better than before, he has this idolized image of you, probably because you're the literal opposite of joséphine. Where she's loud, you're quiet. where's she bold, you're reserved. Where's she charming, you're awkward. And you nod along with whatever he says, that's a plus in his mind
He only sees the parts he wants when looking at you, to him, you're what Joséphine could have been if she was less.. Joséphine...
Well, such a shame things went like that, now if you excuse him he'll be writing you a letter from his office about something he can say in person and you better reply within the next hour
Also, stop talking to the friendly courtier, don't be such a Joséphine!!
Just wait and see how under his control this marriage will thrive, this time everything will go according to plan
࣪ ִֶָ☾.｡𖦹°‧✮⋆˙｡𖦹°‧✮⋆˙｡𖦹°‧✮⋆˙࣪ ִֶָ☾.࣪ ִֶָ࣪𖦹°‧✮⋆˙｡𖦹°‧✮⋆˙｡ ִֶָ☾.
