Make France Great Again-Chapter 913 - 904: How Pitiful the Hearts of Parents Everywhere
Jerome Bonaparte and the other two chatted in the study for a long time, until the setting sun shone directly into the study through the glass window, and their discussion finally came to a pause.
"Alright! It’s getting late! I should be leaving too!" Jerome 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!" Jerome Bonaparte raised his hand to decline Vayan’s invitation, "Augusta and Friedrich are still waiting for me to return for dinner!"
Upon hearing Jerome 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, Jerome Bonaparte and Nier departed from Vayan’s residence in the same carriage they came in.
The carriage sped towards the center of Paris, and Jerome Bonaparte, sitting inside, took the opportunity to chat with Nier about Minister Vayan’s wife, Alein.
"Why do you think someone like Minister Vayan would marry someone over twenty years younger? Can his health handle it?" Jerome Bonaparte curiously asked Nier.
"Your Majesty, I don’t know either!" Nier shook his head blankly and replied to Jerome Bonaparte.
"Ah!" Seeing that Nier ended the conversation with just one sentence, Jerome Bonaparte sighed and said to Nier on his own, "Nier, I think you really need to improve in the gossip department!"
"Your Majesty, I am a soldier!" Nier replied to Jerome Bonaparte with a firm tone.
"Alright! I know! You’re a soldier!" Jerome Bonaparte responded casually, suddenly feeling that discussing anything other than military matters with someone like Nier was a joyless endeavor.
Thus, Jerome Bonaparte and Nier remained silent for a long time.
Until the carriage stopped in front of Nier’s residence in Paris, Nier spoke again to Jerome Bonaparte, "Your Majesty, we’re here!"
"Hmm!" Jerome 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.
Jerome Bonaparte got off the carriage and walked up the steps leading to the hall of the Tuileries Palace, quickly arriving inside.
At this time, Basilio, the Chief Steward of the Tuileries Palace, was walking from the depths of the palace towards the hall. Seeing Jerome Bonaparte in the hall, he hastily ran to him and respectfully said, "Your Majesty, you are back!"
"Hmm!" Jerome Bonaparte turned expressionlessly, then asked Basilio, "Did anyone come looking for me while I was away?"
"Your Majesty, the Farokh Envoy arrived at the Tuileries Palace at around 2 PM." Basilio promptly responded to Jerome Bonaparte.
"Hmm?" A puzzled expression appeared on Jerome Bonaparte’s face, and then, with a stern face, he reprimanded Basilio, "Basilio, how could this happen! Why wasn’t I informed of such an important matter? Do you even want to continue as the Chief Steward?"
Basilio hurriedly explained to Jerome Bonaparte that he did not notify him purely because of Her Majesty the Empress’s order.
"The Empress?" Jerome 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?" Jerome Bonaparte inquired further.
"No! Her Majesty the Empress personally received Farokh!" Basilio responded to Jerome Bonaparte.
"I see!" Jerome 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 Jerome Bonaparte.
"Alright! I understand! You can carry on with your work!" Jerome Bonaparte waved his hand, ordering Basilio to leave, then went alone to Crown Prince Friedrich Bonaparte’s bedroom.
Standing at the bedroom door, Jerome Bonaparte gently knocked. After a moment, Augusta’s voice came from the other side of the door, "Who is it?"
"Augusta, it’s me!" Jerome Bonaparte replied to Augusta.
"The door isn’t locked, come in!" Empress Augusta responded to Jerome Bonaparte.
Jerome 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, "Come on, say ’Daddy!’"
"Dad... Dad!" Friedrich Bonaparte responded to Jerome Bonaparte in French with a slight German accent.
Although Friedrich Bonaparte’s French was not the standard Paris dialect (actually, neither Jerome Bonaparte, Augusta, Mathilde Bonaparte, nor Old Monfou spoke pure Parisian), it was enough to make Jerome Bonaparte feel gratified.
Wasn’t all his effort in implementing military reforms back home 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?" Jerome Bonaparte turned his head to ask Augusta.
"Half a month ago!" Empress Augusta replied to Jerome Bonaparte angrily, "I think you don’t care about our son at all!"
"Care! How could I not care!" Jerome 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 time with you!" Jerome Bonaparte said to Friedrich Bonaparte in a soft tone.
"That’s more like it!" Empress Augusta’s expression softened visibly, and then she asked Jerome Bonaparte, "By the way, have you decided on a teacher for Friedrich?"
"What teacher?" Jerome 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 Jerome Bonaparte.
"Uh..." Jerome 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?
Jerome 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?" Jerome 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!" Jerome Bonaparte suggested to Empress Augusta again.
"Happy now, what about the future?" Empress Augusta argued forcefully with Jerome Bonaparte.
"Won’t we still be around in the future?" Jerome Bonaparte sidled up to Empress Augusta and said.
"Eventually, even we must face that time, then what will Friedrich do?" Empress Augusta’s expression turned somber, her tone slightly downcast.
"By that time, he will have grown up and be able to stand on his own!" Jerome 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 become a qualified monarch!" Jerome Bonaparte earnestly advised Empress Augusta.
"Hmph! Friedrich will not be like you; he will become a dignified monarch!" Empress Augusta pouted and said to Jerome 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!" Jerome Bonaparte replied to Augusta, "This era is different from any past era, and all monarchs must adapt to the development of the times!
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?"
