Reincarnated as Napoleon II

Chapter 261: Family Time

Palace of Versailles, France

Late December 1837

Evening settled over Versailles in a way that felt certain and unhurried, as if the day itself knew exactly when to give way.

The light faded slowly, not all at once, but in layers. The last gray of the sky dimmed behind the tall windows, leaving the rooms inside the palace to rely on lamps and firelight. Outside, the gardens that had held a quiet sense of life earlier in the day now grew still again. The paths that had carried footsteps hours ago lay empty, their edges touched once more by frost forming in thin, uneven lines.

The cold returned without resistance.

Inside the west wing, however, the air felt different.

Warmer, yes.

But not only because of the fire.

There was a sense of ease in that part of the palace that did not exist anywhere else.

Napoleon pushed the door open without knocking.

He did not need to.

The sound reached him before he fully stepped inside.

Laughter.

Not loud, not wild, but free in a way that nothing else in the palace ever was.

Anna sat on the floor near the hearth, surrounded by a scattered arrangement of wooden figures. They were not placed with any order. Some lay on their sides. Others stood unevenly. One had been stacked on top of another in a way that made no real sense, but she seemed satisfied with it.

She looked up first.

Her face changed immediately.

"Papa!"

She jumped to her feet too quickly, her foot brushing against one of the figures before she caught herself and ran toward him.

Napoleon stepped forward just in time, lifting her easily as she reached him.

"You’re going to break something," Elsa said from behind, though there was no real frustration in her voice.

She sat near the window, a book open on her lap. The pages were still spread, but it was clear she had not been focused on them for some time.

"I didn’t," Anna said quickly, already settling against Napoleon’s shoulder.

"You almost did," Elsa replied, closing the book and setting it aside.

Napoleon glanced at her.

"Almost isn’t the same."

Elsa stood, brushing her hands lightly against her dress as she walked closer.

"No," she said, "but it usually becomes the same with her."

Anna frowned slightly.

"I’m careful."

Napoleon adjusted his hold.

"I believe you."

Anna nodded, satisfied.

Across the room, Elisabeth looked up from where she sat near the fire.

She had been working on something. Fabric rested across her lap, and a needle was still held between her fingers, but her attention had already shifted.

"You’re back earlier," she said.

Napoleon stepped further inside.

"For now."

She watched him for a moment, then set the fabric aside.

"That means it won’t last."

He gave a small, quiet smile.

"No."

Anna shifted slightly in his arms.

"Did you go outside?" she asked.

"Yes."

"Was it cold?"

"A little."

Anna thought about that seriously.

"Did you wear your coat?"

Napoleon glanced at her.

"Yes."

She nodded, as if that had been important.

Elsa folded her arms loosely.

"You always say it’s just a little," she said.

Napoleon looked at her.

"It was."

Elsa raised an eyebrow.

"You say that even when it’s freezing."

Napoleon did not argue.

Because she was not wrong.

Anna leaned back slightly to look at him.

"Can we go outside tomorrow?"

Elsa answered before he could.

"No."

"Why not?" Anna asked.

"It’s cold," Elsa said.

"I don’t mind."

"You say that now," Elsa replied.

Napoleon set Anna down gently.

"We’ll see," he said.

Anna smiled immediately.

That was enough for her.

The room settled again, but the quiet was different now.

Not empty.

Not distant.

Just shared.

Napoleon moved toward the fire and took a seat beside Elisabeth. She shifted slightly to make room, her movements natural, practiced from years of familiarity.

"You’ve been out more than usual," she said.

He nodded.

"And today?"

He leaned back slightly, his gaze resting on the fire.

"Less."

She studied him.

"That usually means more is coming."

He did not answer.

Because she already understood.

Across the room, Anna returned to her wooden figures, rearranging them with renewed focus.

"They don’t go like that," Elsa said.

Anna did not look up.

"They can."

"No, they can’t."

"They can if I want."

Elsa exhaled quietly.

"That’s not how they’re supposed to be used."

Anna picked one up and placed it on top of another again.

"Now they do."

Elsa looked toward Napoleon.

"See?"

Napoleon glanced over.

"They seem stable enough."

"They’re not," Elsa said.

Anna tapped the top figure lightly.

It wobbled.

Then stayed.

Anna looked at Elsa.

"See?"

Elsa shook her head.

"That’s just luck."

Anna smiled.

Napoleon leaned slightly toward Elisabeth.

"They’ve been at this long?"

"All afternoon," she said.

He nodded.

"That explains it."

Time moved differently in that room.

There was no urgency.

No weight pressing in.

Anna continued her quiet arrangement, shifting the figures again and again, never satisfied with a single position.

Elsa watched, occasionally correcting her, though not always successfully.

Elisabeth returned to her work, though her attention drifted often.

Napoleon remained where he was, letting the moment settle around him.

The fire burned steadily.

The air remained warm.

It felt still.

But not heavy.

Not like the stillness elsewhere in the palace.

Anna eventually stood again, walking over with two figures in her hands.

"Look," she said, holding them up.

Napoleon leaned forward slightly.

"What are they?"

"They’re walking," she said.

Elsa glanced over.

"They don’t walk."

"They do now," Anna replied.

Napoleon nodded.

"I can see that."

Anna smiled and returned to her place.

Elsa shook her head but did not argue further.

Elisabeth looked at Napoleon.

"They’ll argue about anything," she said quietly.

"Yes."

"And they both think they’re right."

"Yes."

She gave a small smile.

"That sounds familiar."

Napoleon glanced at her.

"Does it?"

She met his gaze.

"Yes."

He did not respond.

He didn’t need to.

The evening moved forward quietly.

A servant entered briefly to adjust the lamps, then left again without interrupting the calm. The fire was fed once, rising slightly before settling back into its steady rhythm.

Anna grew quieter as time passed, her movements slowing as she arranged the figures one last time before leaving them where they stood.

Elsa returned to her book, though she read more slowly now, her attention drifting.

Napoleon remained seated, his posture relaxed in a way it rarely was elsewhere.

For a while, nothing needed to be said.

And nothing was.

Eventually, Anna moved closer again, settling beside him instead of returning to the floor.

"Are you staying?" she asked.

Napoleon looked down at her.

"For a while."

She nodded.

That was enough.

Elsa looked up from her book.

"You always say that," she said.

Napoleon met her gaze.

"And I usually do."

Elsa considered that.

Then nodded.

"Yes," she said quietly.

Elisabeth set her work aside completely this time.

"You should rest," she said.

Napoleon leaned back slightly.

"I will."

She studied him.

"Not later," she said. "Tonight."

He gave a small nod.

"Yes."

She did not press further.

Outside, the night had settled fully.

The gardens were no longer visible, the darkness covering them completely. The frost had returned, spreading across the paths once more.

Inside, the warmth held.

Anna leaned lightly against him, her energy finally fading.

Elsa turned another page, slower now.

The room felt smaller.

Not confined.

Just closer.

Napoleon looked around once more.

The fire.

The quiet movement.

The stillness.

Everything remained.

For now.

He reached forward, adjusting one of the wooden figures that Anna had left too close to the edge.

It steadied.

And stayed.

Anna noticed immediately.

"Don’t move it," she said softly.

Napoleon paused.

Then pulled his hand back.

"It’s fine," she added.

He nodded.

"Yes."

The figure remained where it was.

Balanced.

For now.

And in that moment, with the fire steady and the quiet holding its place, nothing else pressed in.

Not the coast.

Not the reports.

Not the world beyond the palace walls.

Just this.

For a while, that was enough.

Napoleon did not move from where he sat. He let the moment stay as it was, without trying to shape it or push it forward. The fire continued to burn behind them, its steady warmth filling the room without effort. The light from the lamps softened the edges of everything, making the space feel quieter, closer.

Anna’s breathing slowed as she rested against him, her earlier energy fading into a calm stillness. Elsa remained with her book, though she had not turned the page for some time, her eyes lingering more in thought than in reading. Elisabeth sat beside him, her presence steady, not speaking, but not distant either.

Nothing demanded attention.

Nothing pressed in.

Even the sounds of the palace beyond the walls seemed to fade, leaving only the quiet of the room and the steady crackle of the fire.

Napoleon glanced once more at the wooden figures left on the table.

They remained where they had been placed.

Unsteady in appearance, but still standing.

For now.

And as he leaned back slightly, letting the quiet settle around him, he understood that moments like this did not last.

They never did.

But that did not make them any less real while they were here.