Palace of Versailles, France
March 3rd, 1836
The office was already active before Napoleon II arrived.
Maps had been laid out across the central table, extending beyond its edges where additional boards had been placed to accommodate the scale of the campaign. Pins marked positions across northern Italy, stretching from the Mincio line toward Verona, then further east toward the Austrian frontier. Lines had been drawn over them—routes of advance, supply corridors, rail connections, and projected movements based on the last confirmed reports.
When Napoleon II stepped inside, Marshal Berthier was already there.
So were several officers from the general staff, each positioned near a section of the map, reviewing updates as they came in through telegraph dispatches stacked along the side table.
No one spoke immediately.
Napoleon II walked straight to the center.
"Report," he said.
