As soon as Jero Bonaparte finished speaking, Saint Arnaud imdiately retorted tactfully, "Your Majesty, I do not believe this is God’s doing; our army is the key driving force behind the Russian Empire’s fall from grace!"
"You’re right!" Jero Bonaparte nodded and then swiftly shifted his tone to argue, "But how do you know God wasn’t secretly hastening the decline of the Russian Empire? Our world is built on a multitude of coincidences! Any small change can transform the entire situation! So, Saint Arno, you must believe that miracles exist in this world!"
Jero Bonaparte’s encouragent did not improve Marshal Saint Arnaud’s mood. He knew that the likelihood of waiting for a miracle was almost zero.
"Let’s hope so!" Marshal Saint Arnaud let out a wry smile and then asked Jero Bonaparte why he had appeared in Constantinople.
Jero Bonaparte was stunned for a few seconds before asking Marshal Saint Arnaud, "Didn’t Valvesky tell you?"
"Valvesky Envoy did not tell !" Marshal Saint Arnaud shook his head and responded to Jero Bonaparte.
Subsequently, Jero Bonaparte turned his gaze towards Valvesky, who imdiately apologized to Jero Bonaparte, explaining that he had been too busy with official duties and forgot to report to Marshal Saint Arnaud.
"You, you! I don’t even know what to say to you!" Jero Bonaparte first rebuked him and then explained to Marshal Saint Arnaud, "The main purpose of my arrival in Constantinople this ti is to bestow the honors due to those soldiers who fought valiantly for the French Empire."
Marshal Saint Arnaud also recalled that the Ministry of War requested a list of ritorious officers from their Near Eastern operations. They submitted their nas with great anticipation, hoping the Ministry of War would award them dals; however, the Ministry was slow to respond.
In stark contrast to the French Empire’s Ministry of War was the British War Departnt; their Minister of War imdiately, upon receiving Lagren’s award list, granted Commander Largren the rank of Marshal by the Queen’s order, and subordinates like Earl of Cambridge, Count Lungan, and Duke of Cardigan were also awarded dals of various levels.
However, since Commander Largren was conducting operations on the Cria Peninsula, Britain would dispatch an envoy to personally award him the Marshal’s Staff and dals.
Moreover, the Minister of War of the Sardinian Kingdom, a junior ally of the French Empire, was also given the title of Marshal by the Sardinian Kingdom.
Of course, his title as Marshal was even more inflated than Commander Largren’s.
Seeing Britain and Sardinia comncing their awarding actions, the French Empire’s Ministry of War remained inactive, prompting the French Army in the Cria Peninsula to write nurous letters complaining about the Ministry’s procrastination.
It was the Ministry of War that initially requested them to submit a list of award recipients, yet they beca the last nation to award honors.
It turned out that the Emperor himself would bestow the honors!
"Your Majesty, on behalf of the soldiers on the Cria Peninsula, I thank you for your arrival!" Marshal Saint Arnaud imdiately expressed his gratitude to Jero Bonaparte.
"Bestowing honors upon those deserving is what I, as a monarch, should do; there’s no need for thanks!" Jero Bonaparte, fully aware of the principle of "honors and authority should not be delegated to others," shook his head and responded lightly to Marshal Saint Arnaud, then continued to converse with him.
The two engaged in conversation for about two hours, during which Jero Bonaparte, through Marshal Saint Arnaud, learned about the conditions and morale of the French army on the Cria Peninsula.
However, during Jero Bonaparte’s conversation with Saint Arno, Marshal Saint Arnaud consistently hinted that he hoped to return to the Cria Peninsula to contribute his efforts to the Empire!
Jero Bonaparte, on his part, gave various perfunctory responses to Marshal Saint Arnaud, while also hoping Marshal Saint Arnaud would return to Paris for treatnt, a suggestion that was decisively refused by Marshal Saint Arnaud.
Throughout the conversation, Jero Bonaparte and Saint Arnaud could not reach any consensus on this issue.
"We can discuss this matter at a later ti. The most important thing now is..."
Just as Jero Bonaparte was changing the subject, the sound of a door opening ca from behind him, followed by a surprised voice, "Your Majesty!!!!"
To Jero Bonaparte, this voice was all too familiar!
Indeed, the person standing at the door was Vilnius with a kerosene lamp.
At this mont, Vilnius had just completed her rounds of all the hospital beds, ensuring there were no other issues, and she brought the kerosene lamp to Marshal Saint Arnaud’s room to remind him to rest early!
When Vilnius pushed open the door, she saw soone in the room she never expected!
"You... Aren’t you supposed to be in Paris right now? Why are you here?" Vilnius’s curved brows revealed sheer joy.
eting Jero Bonaparte in such a setting was sothing she had never anticipated.
Jero Bonaparte turned his gaze towards Valvesky, his eyes showing a hint of displeasure as if questioning Valvesky about what was going on.
"Your Majesty, it was my oversight!" Valvesky imdiately apologized to Jero Bonaparte.
So, Valvesky explained to Vilnius why Jero Bonaparte was here.
"Now you understand!" Jero Bonaparte responded to Vilnius.
"I understand, Your Majesty!" Vilnius imdiately grasped the situation.
Subsequently, Vilnius inquired about how Marshal Saint Arno was feeling.
"The situation is quite alright at the mont!" Marshal Saint Arno shrugged, pretending to be relaxed as he answered.
"In that case, you should rest early! Staying up late isn’t good for your health now!" Vilnius once again advised Marshal Saint Arno, also subtly suggesting that Jero Bonaparte and Valvesky should not disturb Marshal Saint Arno’s rest.
Receiving Vilnius’s hint, Jero Bonaparte imdiately took his leave from Marshal Saint Arno.
"Your Majesty, Envoy Valvesky, be careful on your way back! I won’t see you off!" Marshal Saint Arno replied to Jero Bonaparte.
After Jero Bonaparte and Valvesky left Saint Arno’s hospital room, Marshal Saint Arno slowly maneuvered himself from the chair back to the bed and pulled the quilt over himself.
Still standing in the hospital room, Vilnius walked swiftly to the table with the kerosene lamp, extinguished it, and held it in hand as she left.
As Vilnius left Marshal Saint Arno’s room and was about to return to her bedroom, Jero Bonaparte’s hand drooped onto Vilnius’s shoulder.
This startled Vilnius, causing her to almost scream, but Jero Bonaparte quickly covered her mouth and whispered, "Shh! Lower your voice; you wouldn’t want to disturb them either, right?"
Upon seeing that the hand’s owner was Jero Bonaparte, Vilnius’s frightened heart finally cald, and she nodded in response.
Jero Bonaparte slowly released Vilnius’s mouth, and the two stood together, gazing at each other for a while, seeing mutual affection in each other’s eyes!
Even though they were separated by thousands of miles, this affection would never vanish and would even grow stronger because of the distance, causing more longing.
After a little while, Vilnius leaned closer to Jero Bonaparte, burying herself in Jero Bonaparte’s chest.
"Give the kerosene lamp!" Jero Bonaparte said as he took the kerosene lamp from Vilnius’s hand.
With her hands freed, Vilnius hugged Jero Bonaparte tightly, resting her head on Jero Bonaparte’s chest, remaining silent for a long ti.
"You’ve worked hard! Have you been very tired recently?" Jero Bonaparte said to Vilnius.
"Actually, it’s nothing," Vilnius replied to Jero Bonaparte, "I just need to check all the wards once more, and then I can rest!"
"Check all the wards?" Jero Bonaparte smacked his lips, realizing this was a considerable "project," which would take at least an hour.
It was already 11 p.m., aning Vilnius would have to work until past midnight before she could sleep.
"I’ll go with you!" Jero Bonaparte said to Vilnius.
"How can that be!" Vilnius shook her head in response.
"Why not?" Jero Bonaparte retorted, "Is it just because I’m the Emperor?"
"Yes!" Vilnius nodded in response.
"Then I’m not the Emperor now! I’m Jero Bonaparte, so that should be alright!" Jero Bonaparte blinked gently as he spoke.
Unable to resist Jero Bonaparte, Vilnius had to agree, and the two of them, hand in hand, each carrying a kerosene lamp, inspected the wards.
In most of the wards they checked, the soldiers and officers had fallen asleep; only a few soldiers were still awake and, upon seeing Jero Bonaparte, subconsciously took him for a hospital doctor.
After checking all the beds, Jero Bonaparte and Vilnius together arrived at her bedroom. The whole room was much simpler compared to her ti in Paris, with just a bed, a desk, a kerosene lamp, and a heap of dical records and patient information, forming the entirety of the room.
"You live here?"
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