When Brigadier General Fleurie and his entourage boarded the steamship, Jero Patterson stood at the bow, smiling and reaching his hand out to Fleurie and the others.
"Patterson... Your Highness!" Brigadier General Fleurie hesitated as he shook hands with the young Jero Patterson, uncertain about how to address this "unusual" mber of the Bonaparte Clan. Ultimately, Fleurie decided to call Jero Patterson "Your Highness."
Since the Emperor had chosen to send him to receive Jero Patterson, it indicated that the Emperor himself had a friendly attitude towards him.
Furthermore, Fleurie had heard so rumors that the Emperor planned to appoint this visitor from afar to an "important position."
Although Fleurie wasn’t particularly fond of Jero Patterson, he didn’t want to offend this mber of the Bonaparte Clan.
"I’m not a digital copy yet, just call Jero Patterson!" Jero Patterson said with a kindly smile and a calm tone.
Before Jero Patterson arrived in France from the United States, he had learned from his grandmother about the "difficulties" faced by his branch in their desire to return to the orthodox Bonaparte Clan, given that the current head of the Bonaparte Clan was his enigmatic "uncle"! His grandmother had told him that only by doing his utmost to please his uncle could they be allowed to return to the Bonaparte Clan.
Jero Patterson could understand Fleurie’s conundrum about how to address him and didn’t wish to cause them any trouble.
After all, the ruler of this country was his uncle Jero Bonaparte.
Without a formal acceptance into the Bonaparte Clan by Jero Bonaparte, it was entirely normal for others to avoid extensive contact with him.
Jero Patterson’s empathetic words caused Brigadier General Fleurie to feel a slight fondness for this "Prince" before him, and he quickly said to Jero Patterson, "Mr. Patterson, the carriage to welco you has been prepared!"
"Thank you very much!" Jero Patterson nodded lightly and followed Brigadier General Fleurie off the ship.
After leaving Calais Port, they hadn’t walked far before they ca upon a four-horse carriage. The carriage was entirely black and adorned with the Eagle Flag emblem representing the House of Bonaparte, obviously ant for Jero Patterson. Beside his carriage were a few smaller ones for Fleurie and his entourage.
Jero Patterson looked at this carriage with a hint of surprise. From the style and model of the carriage, it seed only Queen Victoria’s carriage could compare. It was apparent that his uncle living at Tuileries Palace had a largely friendly attitude towards him.
With this in mind, Jero Patterson couldn’t help but feel a bit more favorable towards his uncle whom he was about to et, and he was also filled with expectations for his future.
Seeing this, Brigadier General Fleurie appropriately elevated the Emperor’s image, saying, "His Majesty knew you were coming and specifically ordered to bring this carriage! Usually, His Majesty himself often rides in it!"
"Hmm!" Jero Patterson grew even more curious about his uncle.
Subsequently, Jero Patterson invited Fleurie to ride in the carriage with him.
After repeated refusals, Brigadier General Fleurie couldn’t resist Jero Patterson’s invitation and agreed to ride together.
During the carriage ride, Jero Patterson, who was intent on pleasing the one in power within the Bonaparte family, frequently asked about Jero Bonaparte’s character and preferences, while Brigadier General Fleurie, sitting opposite Jero Patterson, cautiously answered his inquiries.
The journey from the port to the temporary station wasn’t far, and the convoy soon reached the temporary station near the Calais Railway Station.
At the temporary station, soldiers were everywhere, surrounded by boxes of cargo waiting to be loaded. The steam train sat silently on the tracks, with all but one passenger car dedicated to freight.
Once Jero Patterson’s carriage arrived, soldiers began loading the train, carrying the boxes and stacking them in the freight wagons.
After Jero Patterson and Brigadier General Fleurie disembarked and handed over the carriage to the station’s soldiers, they sat in the passenger car behind the steam train.
When all the cargo was loaded, the soldiers also drove the carriage into the freight car and pulled the door shut.
As the steam engine let out a loud whistle, a large cloud of white steam spewed from the locomotive, and the powerful force generated by the internal steam pushed the pistons in the cylinders back and forth, causing the steam train to slowly start moving, gaining speed.
Sitting inside the car, Jero Patterson curiously inquired about the types of cargo loaded in the rear freight cars.
Fleurie, careful not to reveal the true nature of the situation, could only vaguely reply that it was local specialties from the Calais Region.
Jero Patterson clearly did not believe such a response.
Still, since Fleurie was unwilling to divulge the truth, Jero Patterson was also unwilling to continue pressing the matter.
At present, his identity is rather sensitive; knowing too much can be unwise.
The train raced along the tracks at over 40 kiloters per hour, and Jero Patterson arrived in Paris that night.
Upon disembarking at the Paris Railway Station, Jero Patterson was inford by Brigadier General Fleury that he would be taken to the Saint-Gratien Mansion by Angangi Lake without any rest.
"Your Majesty, isn’t the Emperor at the Tuileries Palace?" Jero Patterson asked Brigadier General Fleury with a puzzled expression.
Looking at the sowhat adorably naive "heir," Brigadier General Fleury responded helplessly, "Your Majesty has concerns about your safety; that’s why it’s specially arranged to et you there! The owner of the mansion is Your Majesty’s sister, Princess Mathilde, who is your aunt!"
"I understand!" Jero Patterson nodded to show his understanding.
The carriage departed from the temporary Paris Railway Station, following the winding course of the Seine River into the Paris Inner Circle and soon arrived at the gates of the Saint-Gratien Mansion.
At this mont, the entrance of the Saint-Gratien Mansion was illuminated by two exquisite gas lamps burning brightly, their glow spreading outward from the pale blue core to light the path at the mansion’s entrance.
Standing at the gate and looking into the garden beyond the fence, one could faintly see the distant stars coming from the mansion.
That was Jero Patterson’s destination—the Saint-Gratien Mansion.
Led by Fleury, Jero Patterson slowly walked down a path paved with cobblestones, listening to the chirping of crickets from the grass on both sides.
"Knock knock knock!"
Arriving at the main entrance of the Saint-Gratien Mansion, Jero Patterson gently knocked on the door. Shortly thereafter, a woman dressed as a maid appeared at the door, glanced at Jero Patterson and Brigadier General Fleury, then bowed and said, "You must be Mr. Jero Patterson!"
"Yes, I am!" Jero Patterson nodded in response to the maid.
"Please follow !" The maid invited Jero Patterson into the mansion and then asked if Brigadier General Fleury wished to enter as well.
Fleury decisively declined the invitation to enter the mansion, turned around, and disappeared into the night.
Fleury’s departure imparted a surge of fear within Jero Patterson. As he followed the maid into the second floor of the mansion, he could only continuously reassure himself that it was rely a routine eting, just like when he t the Duke of Wellington with his grandmother.
As Jero Patterson was lost in thought, the maid’s voice reached his ears, saying, "Princess and Prince are inside!"
"Oh! Oh!" Jero Patterson nodded with a simple expression and watched the maid depart.
After a while, Jero Patterson’s mood returned to normal from apprehension, and he gently pushed open the door.
An elderly man and a woman in her thirties appeared in Jero Patterson’s view.
With the words from the earlier maid, Jero Patterson imdiately understood that the two people before him were his grandfather, Prince Monfort, and his aunt, Princess Mathilde, one showing a loving glance, the other a hostile deanor.
Upon entering the room, Jero Patterson was promptly subjected to Mathilde Bonaparte’s sharp questioning. Mathilde, in an unabashedly arrogant manner, said to Jero Patterson, "Are you Jero Patterson? The grandson of that woman?"
Faced with his domineering aunt, Jero Patterson couldn’t help but feel a bit angry.
Just as he prepared to counter Mathilde with the sa attitude, his grandmother’s words once again surfaced in his mind, and he could only suppress his humiliation and respond humbly to Mathilde, "I am Jero Patterson! My grandmother is Elizabeth Patterson!"
In stark contrast to the harsh Mathilde, Prince Monfort spoke with a trembling voice to Jero Patterson, "Child! Co to , let have a look!"
Jero Patterson obeyed Prince Monfort’s command and approached him.
Prince Monfort looked at his grandson, who bore so resemblance to him, and through Jero Patterson’s eyes, which had traces of resemblance to Elizabeth’s, he recalled once again the scene from decades ago when he abandoned Elizabeth Patterson, causing his heart to fill with a sense of pity.
"Good child! Good child! You’ve had a tough journey!" Prince Monfort spoke to Jero Patterson with a trembling tone while holding his hand.
"It’s nothing!" Jero Patterson responded to Prince Monfort while half-squatting.
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