Just as Jerome Bonaparte entered the Bourbon Palace to receive a welcome from various circles in Paris, a similarly discreet meeting was being prepared on the other side of La Manche Strait in the Kingdom of Britain.

The main figures of this meeting were the Crown Prince of Sardinian Kingdom, Victor Umberto (son of Victor Emmanuel II, the second King of Italy), and Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.

However, the initiator of this meeting was not Victor Umberto, but rather Count Cavour, hidden behind Victor Umberto.

Upon receiving a request from Victor Umberto, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert immediately realized that the diplomatic policy of the Sardinian Kingdom might change due to this meeting.

Adhering to the political principle of "the palace and the government as one", Prince Albert immediately informed Prime Minister Palmerston and Foreign Secretary Russell, who once again served as the Prime Minister of the British Kingdom, about Victor Umberto’s request for a meeting.

Prime Minister Palmerston, upon receiving the news, quickly sought out Foreign Secretary Russell, and the two fully exchanged opinions on Victor Umberto’s sudden visit.

Ultimately, Palmerston and Russell unanimously concluded that the sudden meeting of the Sardinian heir was likely a change in Sardinian Kingdom’s diplomacy, and also an important pawn to break France’s monopoly over Mediterranean sea power.

As is well known, since 1848, Sardinia has actively participated in all matters concerning France with the aim for the French Empire to help them overthrow Austrian Empire’s hegemony over the Apennine Peninsula, thereby establishing Sardinian Kingdom’s dominance in Northern Italy.

With the assistance of Sardinian Kingdom, the French Empire enjoys a near-hegemonic status in the Mediterranean Region.

Even though Britain’s Mediterranean Fleet has a slightly larger tonnage than the French Fleet in the Mediterranean (this is after Jerome Bonaparte and Prince Albert discussed and voluntarily limited the French Mediterranean Fleet, with some of the ironclad ships yet to be deployed), most of the British Kingdom’s Mediterranean Fleet consists of outdated wooden sailing ships, while France boasts a fleet of new ironclad ships.

If the two sides were truly to engage, the British Kingdom’s fleet deployed in the Mediterranean would not be a match for France.

Additionally, France holds the extraction rights of the Suez Canal.

Once the Suez Canal is connected, coupled with the French Empire controlling the linkage between the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea at Djibouti and Peel Island[1]

The interests of the British Kingdom will suffer unprecedented damage.

After all, the French Empire could completely deny the British Kingdom ships’ requests to enter the Suez Canal.

By then, British Kingdom’s merchant ships would need to cross half of Africa to reach the Cape of Good Hope.

The costs incurred in the process would show a significant increase.

In contrast, French ships can candidly pass through the Suez Canal into Aden Bay, then cross Mand Strait into the Arabian Gulf and Indian Ocean.

Though British politicians do not believe the French Empire has the audacity to do so, any farsighted politician must consider the worst-case scenario.

If the French Empire does indeed choose to openly confront the British Kingdom, it seems war would be the only solution for the British Kingdom.

However, fighting the French Empire in the Mediterranean is not an easy task.

Besides the fact that Britain’s deployed conventional fleet’s combat power in the Mediterranean is not overwhelming compared to the French Empire, more importantly, the Sardinian Kingdom remains in the French camp.

As long as Sardinian Kingdom continues to comply with the British Kingdom, France will always be undefeated.

Because the strategic position of Sardinia is simply too important.

The nearest distance from Sardinia to French Algeria is just 70 nautical miles (about 130 kilometers), and the French Empire’s fleet is fully capable of guarding this sea area.

As long as the Sardinian Kingdom is willing to cooperate with the French Empire, the entire Western Mediterranean could be blocked by the French Empire.

The British Kingdom’s Malta Island is like a piece of cake on a plate, sooner or later to enter France’s mouth.

The British Kingdom would never allow such a situation to happen, even if it is just a hypothesis.

However, the Sardinian Kingdom has yet to show any intention of abandoning the French Empire, causing the anxious British Kingdom to have to reach a verbal agreement through some "proxies" with Italian revolutionaries residing in London.

The British Kingdom provides some financial assistance to Italian revolutionaries and makes unrealistic promises.

(For example: if the revolutionaries can establish a pro-British government on the Apennine Peninsula, then the British Kingdom is willing to recognize their interests and help them resist the French Empire’s criticism.)

To those with even a slight political insight, these promises seemed almost impossible. However, for the revolutionaries dedicated to liberating themselves from the oppression of the Austrian Empire, Britain’s promises were better than none.

Moreover, the Kingdom of Britain indeed provided them with a certain amount of startup funding.

There is nothing more trustworthy than money.

(Since the British Kingdom Government’s choice of "agents" to connect with Italian revolutionaries was too direct, intelligence personnel dispatched by Jerome Bonaparte to Britain discovered it, and they reported Britain’s situation to France.

Jerome Bonaparte subsequently ordered De Luy to closely monitor the movements on the Apennine Peninsula.)

Unexpectedly, just as Britain’s politicians were exhausting their efforts over Mediterranean issues and resorting to cooperation with revolutionaries, the Sardinian Kingdom proactively expressed goodwill to Britain.

Perhaps after experiencing the incident of 1858, the rulers and ministers of the Sardinian Kingdom seemed to have recognized the greed of the French Empire and thus abandoned it, or perhaps the Sardinian Kingdom simply wanted to try its luck with the Kingdom of Britain.

In any case, the Kingdom of Britain was quite pleasantly surprised by Sardinia’s secret visit.

After discussing with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Prime Minister promptly went to Buckingham Palace to propose to Prince Albert that the meeting with Victor Umberto should be held at Windsor Castle.

Albert also agreed with Palmerston and others’ suggestions and proposed to Palmerston that they could arrive at Windsor Castle at an appropriate time to join the meeting.

Palmerston also expressed great agreement with Prince Albert’s suggestion.

The two parties agreed that once the telegram from Windsor Castle reached Downing Street, it indicated that Prime Minister Palmerston needed to make an appearance.

Palmerston must take a carriage to arrive as quickly as possible.

After arranging everything, Prince Albert then sent his trusted butler, John Brown, to secretly inform Victor Umberto at his hotel that Queen Victoria agreed to the meeting.

Upon receiving John Brown’s message, Victor Umberto showed a joyful expression and then asked John Brown if Count Cavour could accompany him to the meeting.

John Brown, not daring to decide on his own, immediately expressed that he would convey Victor Umberto’s request to Prince Albert.

Victor Umberto once again expressed his gratitude to John Brown and slipped a red gem into John Brown’s Scottish kilt.

Receiving the gift, John Brown immediately displayed extraordinary enthusiasm and promised Victor Umberto that he would do his utmost to help resolve his issues.

Victor Umberto expressed sincere thanks once more for John Brown’s efforts and assured him that there would certainly be more "thanks" after the matter was settled.

Upon returning to Buckingham Palace, John Brown immediately handed the red gem to Albert and narrated the entire process of Victor Umberto bribing him.

After listening to John Brown’s account, Prince Albert merely smiled. He glanced at the gem and then returned it to John Brown.

"Mr. Brown, please run again to tell Mr. Victor Umberto that Windsor Castle welcomes all friendly guests!" Albert instructed John Brown, "However, considering Mr. Cavour’s overly sensitive identity, I personally hope that Mr. Cavour could use a different name for the meeting!"

Following Prince Albert’s orders, John Brown once again secretly went to Victor Umberto’s hotel.

When John Brown knocked on Victor Umberto’s door, he was surprised to find that it was not the young Victor Umberto who answered, but a stout middle-aged man.

This caused John Brown to think that he had knocked on the wrong door. Just as he was about to apologize to the middle-aged man, he saw Victor Umberto standing behind him.

John Brown re-entered Victor Umberto’s room and conveyed Prince Albert’s message verbatim.

After hearing John Brown’s response, the stout middle-aged man immediately stated that he would not visit under the identity of Count Cavour.

Only then did John Brown realize that the middle-aged man before him was the Cavour Albert had mentioned.

Once all risks were eliminated, Prince Albert set a time for the meeting, which coincided with the day Jerome Bonaparte was to attend the welcoming ceremony.

[1] Historically, Britain occupied this island in 1857, thereby restraining the Suez Canal. Familiar with history, Jerome Bonaparte preemptively occupied this seemingly inconspicuous island before the Suez Canal’s official investment and construction began, also planning military actions to occupy the entirety of Djibouti.

When the Suez Canal’s official investment and construction began, the Kingdom of Britain realized that the island restraining the Suez Canal was in the hands of the French Empire.