Jero Bonaparte and the other two chatted in the study for a long ti, until the setting sun shone directly into the study through the glass window, and their discussion finally ca to a pause.
"Alright! It’s getting late! I should be leaving too!" Jero Bonaparte, sitting on the sofa, stood up and stretched his body while looking at the orange-red sunset through the glass window opposite, and said to Minister Vayan.
Sitting beside him, both Minister Vayan and Chief of Staff Nier also stood up, and Minister Vayan then spoke up and persuaded, "Your Majesty, why don’t you and Nier stay here for a dinner before leaving?"
"No need!" Jero Bonaparte raised his hand to decline Vayan’s invitation, "Augusta and Friedrich are still waiting for to return for dinner!"
Upon hearing Jero Bonaparte’s reason for declining, Minister Vayan had no choice but to relent.
He also politely offered his blessings to Augusta and Friedrich Bonaparte.
Subsequently, with Minister Vayan personally seeing them off, Jero Bonaparte and Nier departed from Vayan’s residence in the sa carriage they ca in.
The carriage sped towards the center of Paris, and Jero Bonaparte, sitting inside, took the opportunity to chat with Nier about Minister Vayan’s wife, Alein.
"Why do you think soone like Minister Vayan would marry soone over twenty years younger? Can his health handle it?" Jero Bonaparte curiously asked Nier.
"Your Majesty, I don’t know either!" Nier shook his head blankly and replied to Jero Bonaparte.
"Ah!" Seeing that Nier ended the conversation with just one sentence, Jero Bonaparte sighed and said to Nier on his own, "Nier, I think you really need to improve in the gossip departnt!"
"Your Majesty, I am a soldier!" Nier replied to Jero Bonaparte with a firm tone.
"Alright! I know! You’re a soldier!" Jero Bonaparte responded casually, suddenly feeling that discussing anything other than military matters with soone like Nier was a joyless endeavor.
Thus, Jero Bonaparte and Nier remained silent for a long ti.
Until the carriage stopped in front of Nier’s residence in Paris, Nier spoke again to Jero Bonaparte, "Your Majesty, we’re here!"
"Hmm!" Jero Bonaparte nodded, then watched as Nier entered the gates of his residence.
Thereafter, the carriage continued westward along the Seine River and quickly arrived at the Champs-Élysées.
The carriage proceeded along the Champs-Élysées, at the westernmost end, turned north into the Tuileries Palace Garden, and then headed straight through the garden to arrive at the Tuileries Palace.
Jero Bonaparte got off the carriage and walked up the steps leading to the hall of the Tuileries Palace, quickly arriving inside.
At this ti, Basilio, the Chief Steward of the Tuileries Palace, was walking from the depths of the palace towards the hall. Seeing Jero Bonaparte in the hall, he hastily ran to him and respectfully said, "Your Majesty, you are back!"
"Hmm!" Jero Bonaparte turned expressionlessly, then asked Basilio, "Did anyone co looking for while I was away?"
"Your Majesty, the Farokh Envoy arrived at the Tuileries Palace at around 2 PM." Basilio promptly responded to Jero Bonaparte.
"Hmm?" A puzzled expression appeared on Jero Bonaparte’s face, and then, with a stern face, he reprimanded Basilio, "Basilio, how could this happen! Why wasn’t I inford of such an important matter? Do you even want to continue as the Chief Steward?"
Basilio hurriedly explained to Jero Bonaparte that he did not notify him purely because of Her Majesty the Empress’s order.
"The Empress?" Jero Bonaparte paused, then frowned and asked, "Why would the Empress do such a thing?"
"Her Majesty the Empress said that the arrival of the Farokh Envoy at the Tuileries Palace wasn’t significant enough to disturb your hard-earned rest." Basilio answered.
"So the Empress had you send Farokh away?" Jero Bonaparte inquired further.
"No! Her Majesty the Empress personally received Farokh!" Basilio responded to Jero Bonaparte.
"I see!" Jero Bonaparte couldn’t help but feel a warmth flooding his chest, "Where is the Empress now?"
"Her Majesty the Empress is currently in the Crown Prince’s room!" Basilio replied to Jero Bonaparte.
"Alright! I understand! You can carry on with your work!" Jero Bonaparte waved his hand, ordering Basilio to leave, then went alone to Crown Prince Friedrich Bonaparte’s bedroom.
Standing at the bedroom door, Jero Bonaparte gently knocked. After a mont, Augusta’s voice ca from the other side of the door, "Who is it?"
"Augusta, it’s !" Jero Bonaparte replied to Augusta.
"The door isn’t locked, co in!" Empress Augusta responded to Jero Bonaparte.
Jero Bonaparte opened the door and entered the bedroom, where he saw both Friedrich and Augusta crawling around the room. He quickly approached Friedrich Bonaparte and gently held him in his arms, affectionately saying, "Co on, say ’Daddy!’"
"Dad... Dad!" Friedrich Bonaparte responded to Jero Bonaparte in French with a slight German accent.
Although Friedrich Bonaparte’s French was not the standard Paris dialect (actually, neither Jero Bonaparte, Augusta, Mathilde Bonaparte, nor Old Monfou spoke pure Parisian), it was enough to make Jero Bonaparte feel gratified.
Wasn’t all his effort in implenting military reforms back ho for Friedrich Bonaparte to enjoy a stable future?
Otherwise, he wouldn’t have risked provoking the backlash of the conservatives within the army by carrying out sweeping reforms.
"When did Friedrich learn to speak?" Jero Bonaparte turned his head to ask Augusta.
"Half a month ago!" Empress Augusta replied to Jero Bonaparte angrily, "I think you don’t care about our son at all!"
"Care! How could I not care!" Jero Bonaparte responded to Empress Augusta with a smile, "It’s just that I’m busy!
And why am I so busy? It’s all for Friedrich to inherit a vast empire after I’m gone.
So he won’t be as exhausted as I am!"
"Hmm!" Augusta snorted lightly, "I think you’re just doing it for yourself!"
"My fault! Friedrich, Dad was wrong. From now on, I’ll make sure to spend more ti with you!" Jero Bonaparte said to Friedrich Bonaparte in a soft tone.
"That’s more like it!" Empress Augusta’s expression softened visibly, and then she asked Jero Bonaparte, "By the way, have you decided on a teacher for Friedrich?"
"What teacher?" Jero Bonaparte asked Augusta with a bewildered look.
"What else could it be, a tutor! Friedrich is almost two years old; he should start learning!" Empress Augusta responded to Jero Bonaparte.
"Uh..." Jero Bonaparte’s expression was slightly awkward. He couldn’t understand why a child only three years old by a nominal age has to start on such a path so early; isn’t the pace a bit too fast?
Jero Bonaparte recalled that in his previous life, he started preschool at no less than four or five years old.
"Isn’t this a bit too early?" Jero Bonaparte cautiously asked Empress Augusta.
"Early? Early?" Empress Augusta questioned and then answered her own question, "I feel it’s just right now!"
"I think we should give Friedrich a relatively happy childhood!" Jero Bonaparte suggested to Empress Augusta again.
"Happy now, what about the future?" Empress Augusta argued forcefully with Jero Bonaparte.
"Won’t we still be around in the future?" Jero Bonaparte sidled up to Empress Augusta and said.
"Eventually, even we must face that ti, then what will Friedrich do?" Empress Augusta’s expression turned somber, her tone slightly downcast.
"By that ti, he will have grown up and be able to stand on his own!" Jero Bonaparte replied softly to Empress Augusta, "We don’t need to rush everything. Being too hasty can easily lead Friedrich down a radical path in the future!"
"But..." Empress Augusta hesitated.
"Moreover, Friedrich’s first lesson shouldn’t be within this Tuileries Palace but rather in the vast countryside of France, in the streets and alleys!
Only by bending down to observe the myriad happenings in the world can he truly beco a qualified monarch!" Jero Bonaparte earnestly advised Empress Augusta.
"Hmph! Friedrich will not be like you; he will beco a dignified monarch!" Empress Augusta pouted and said to Jero Bonaparte.
"Having dignity is indeed essential to being an excellent monarch. But in this era, a monarch must learn to lower himself to listen!
Even if it’s just for show!" Jero Bonaparte replied to Augusta, "This era is different from any past era, and all monarchs must adapt to the developnt of the tis!
Especially monarchs like ours in France, who must learn to listen to voices and then formulate appropriate plans.
Otherwise, the residents of Paris will resort to actual actions to resist.
So Friedrich’s classroom should not be in the Tuileries Palace but in the countryside and on the streets!
And those who should be his first teachers are the peasants living in the fields and the small vendors on the street!"
"Letting peasants be his teachers, is that really okay?"
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