Vini wonders the streets of France and sees a newspaper. Dated 19th May 1810. He was wondering whome he could possibly meet.
After roaming the streets for a little bit longer, he makes his way towards the townhall.
Suddenly a huge battalion of soldiers cross his path and in front of them, leading them was the First Emperor of The French.
Napoleon Bonaparte
Vini was in awe by the aura surrounding Napoleon,
Suddenly they both make eye contact.
"Oh! There you are.
I was looking for you "
Come with me now. We have a lot to talk."
Vini goes with Napoleon. They make their way towards Château de Fontainebleau, the palace where Napoleon resided.
Napoleon suggests they talk during lunch.
As the lunch is served, he asks Vini,
"So, how was it meeting Aurelius?"
Vini was shocked," How do you know about that?''
Napoleon responds,"Well, I know all about you.
So how was Aurelius?"
Vini starts to open up," To be honest, it was amazing." Vini goes on and on talking about Aurelius.
Napoleon finally interrupts him," oh my my,! You are quite the fan aren't you ?"
Vini gets embarrassed, " it's just....."
Napoleon ',"that's okay. I mean he was a great man afterall."
" you are also a great man " Vini says fanatically.
Napoleon looks at him," oh my! So you have heard of me?"
"Ofcourse I have, who hasn't?
You are the man who changed warfare in its entirety.
So much so that the warfare of this time period is named after you.
You won the coalition war six times even when most of Europe had sided against you. You alone were enough to make France the master of land warfare."
" Now, now.. that much flattery will get you nowhere." Napoleon laughs.
Vini laughs ," this ain't flattery sir, this is the truth. You are the Emperor of France "
Napoleon,"You know how I got here?"
Vini gets confused.
" I wasn't born of royalty. Neither were my parents high nobility. Hell I am not even French to begin with.
I was born on Corsica. A small, impoverished island nation near the coast of France. It was later acquired by the French. I hated it, in the beginning. When I moved to France I was bullied. Ofcourse I was. I was cosrican, I had an accent. I was short. But guess what,
I fought my way through it all of it.
Made my way through the military school but got stuck as a second lieutenant. Because of nepotism. They couldn't stand an outsider be a high ranking officer. But maybe because I was lucky. An opportunity knocked on my door. The French revolution. Because of which nobility was rendered useless and I could move up the ranks. Proving my worth to everyone. Crowning myself as the Emperor of France.
Now guess what would have happened if I kept on crying about my conditions.
Why I wasn't born a french noble?
Why was I Corsican ?
That would've landed me nowhere.
The road to success is not always a straight line. Sometimes there isn't a road to even begin with, even then you gotta build your own road and carry your burdens.
I was there, with my men on the frontlines loading the cannons.
That's what made me great I guess.
But I wasn't perfect. I was far from it."
Napoleon chuckles to himself
"I once gathered rabbits to hunt them. Let's just say things didn't go my way.
Neither was my marriage a perfect one. And history will never forget about that either. But it shall remember me for other reasons.
It shall remember me for being the man who conquered most of Europe. The man who re-established the constitution and financial system.
The man who introduced the civil code in 1804.
The man who defeated his enemies by simply marching towards them.
That's why I will be remembered.
And sure I get defeated eventually. But it took most of Europe and Britain's full might to stop this funny sized man.
This Little man with his big ambitions crumbled the European aristocrates.
Taking the Great Britain to the verge of Bankruptcy."
Vini was in a silence,
"..... I guess your stature doesn't really do you justice now. Does it ?"
"Hahahaha" Napoleon laughs
"Your a funny man aren't you."
As the day passes Vini and Napoleon discuss on various topics like politics, ethics, administration.
After talking to Napoleon, by the end of it Vini realises there really isn't a limit to ambitions. A man can dream as big as he wants. Only limit is himself. Napoleon dared to dream. But he also worked hard for it. Enough that no-one else could ever question his authority.
As the sun sets, they both bid each other a farewell.