Timeline

News has reached Italy that Bernadotte has entered the war on the side of Russia and Prussia. I do not pretend to understand whatever madness was put forward to compel his entry into the war. Perhaps some promise of land, as he seemed rather concerned about Pomerania at the Congress. Regardless of his reason, it has made our gambit in Piedmont pay off. With Sweden's entry into the war, Austrian diplomats have finally reached out to the Italian courts. The Emperor seeks our aid in the war! While I shall leave most of the negotiations to Ferdinand, my assent to any final agreement is most significant, as it would be my troops mostly that would be marching North to assist them. Given their resistance so far, it is unlikely that we shall win any significant concessions of land, though we may be able to extract a fair amount of diplomatic concessions instead.

It would likely be one of my last campaigns.

I have given it much thought and decided to revive my agreement with Ferdinand from the Congress.

The duties of the crown are exhausting. Too many afternoons left politicking and too few with my family. The scheming, the betraying, the demands for war. I find myself divided between my duties as a Father, as a King, and as a believer in the dream of Italy. Ever since I accepted the crown Naples, the joys that entered my life, Achille, little Letitia, Lucien, Louise, and even Caroline, have been obscured, disrupted, and corrupted by the burden and allure of the crown. I have held it tightly even after Napoleon began to fail, falsely believing that only its prosperity and status could repay my debt to my family.

Accepting Ferdinand's offer would have me passing the crown of Naples to him and assisting his reintegration to Neapolitan politics, yet the benefits of doing so cannot be understated. The two rich duchies outlined in our original agreement would provide more than enough combined to guarantee to my family a political and economic affluence quite similar to what they currently enjoy as the family of a King; sure to only grow in their position as the years go by. Alongside this, I would find myself freed of the burdens of the Crown so that I may finally delight in the joys of fatherhood fully and certainly much more freely. Even in achieving the dream of Italy, this agreement would be a gaiety. Sicilian subjugation under a British thumb would be a perhaps insurmountable obstacle for Risorgimento, but the guns of Naples would grant Ferdinand the diverse power base needed to see British influence utterly subverted. Furthermore, the reunification of Naples and Sicily would forge a substantially strong and independent Italian state, well-positioned and motivated to pursue the cause of Risorgimento in the future should the Italian faction persevere through Ferdinand's return.

The future is hopeful for my family, Italy, and myself.