Accompanied by the "enthusiastic" police chief, Jerome Bonaparte strolled out of the detention center.
Outside the detention center, a carriage marked with the Bonaparte family emblem was parked on the side of the road, driven by the "imperial" coachman, Fleury.
"Chief, I hope to meet again next time!" Jerome Bonaparte reached out a hand to bid farewell to the police chief.
The police chief, who inwardly hoped never to meet Jerome Bonaparte again, still politely responded, "I hope we can meet again next time!"
The two hands reluctantly parted, and Jerome Bonaparte turned and walked toward Fleury.
"Your Highness!" Fleury saluted Jerome Bonaparte and inquired, "Did they do anything to you?"
Jerome lightly dusted off his dusty trousers and calmly said, "Our current value to the United Kingdom determines their level of tolerance towards us. As long as the London upper echelons do not act against us, how dare those small fry do anything! Let’s go home!"
Jerome opened the carriage door and got inside the carriage, with Fleury ambiguously seated in the driver’s seat.
The carriage carrying Jerome wound its way through several main roads and soon arrived at the Louvre Mansion.
Fleury, pulling the reins tight in front of the Louvre Mansion, called out to the drowsy Jerome Bonaparte inside the carriage, "Your Highness! We’re home!"
"Hmm? We’re back!?" Jerome Bonaparte yawned, opened his sleepy eyes, and got out of the carriage.
From the external view, the Louvre Mansion looked much the same as before. Jerome Bonaparte walked slowly up the steps and pushed the door open to enter the mansion.
"Your Highness, welcome back!"
Almost the moment Jerome Bonaparte stepped inside the mansion, a loud and orderly celebratory sound came from within the mansion.
Following the sound, Jerome Bonaparte found that everyone inside the mansion was also looking at him in unison.
Percy had a smile on his face, while Talan’s eyes glistened with tears...
From their faces, Jerome Bonaparte saw "loyalty."
This was the charm of Bonaparte.
Jerome Bonaparte opened his arms to embrace Talan and other Bonaparte Faction members, then said light-heartedly, "Everyone, I’m back! Let us complete our unfinished business! Long live the Empire!"
"Long live the Empire!" Under Percy’s lead, everyone shouted, "Long live the Empire."
After a brief moment of inspiration, Jerome Bonaparte dismissed the other Bonaparte Faction members, leaving only Percy.
"Percy, is there any news from France?" Sitting on the sofa, leaning forward at a 30-degree angle, Jerome Bonaparte immediately asked Percy.
"According to reports from our Bonaparte Faction member in France, Eugène Roué, the head of the Second Republic Government, Lamartine, has sent a special envoy to negotiate the return of His Majesty’s remains to the country!" Percy reported excitedly to Jerome Bonaparte.
Returning Louis Napoleon to France as a hero was Percy’s wish, and now it was getting closer to realization.
"Mr. Roué has done very well!" Jerome Bonaparte nodded in satisfaction.
"Also, Mr. Roué has expressed the desire to apologize to you in his letter!" Percy continued to explain.
"Oh?" Jerome Bonaparte looked at Percy quizzically, half-jokingly asking, "Did our friend Roué think he wasn’t doing enough?"
"No... not at all!" Percy hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth and said, "In his letter, Roué mentioned that to ensure the smooth progress of the plan, he made an unauthorized agreement with Thiers from the Order Party without your consent!"
Then Percy quietly added, "According to Roué, Thiers also put in a lot of effort in the matter of returning His Majesty’s remains this time!"
"Thiers?" Jerome Bonaparte furrowed his brow, muttering gravely under his breath.
No one understood the "old fox" Thiers better than Jerome Bonaparte. A former Orleans Prime Minister with both the traits of a chameleon and a ruthless nature, his image as the butcher of the Paris Commune even 18 years later in history (referring to Jerome Bonaparte’s past life timeline) remained vivid.
This "prodigy of the heavens" of the 19th century had only ever lost in a game against his own cousin, and that defeat was caused by his negligence and underestimating his cousin.
Jerome couldn’t ensure that even with his knowledge of history, he could confidently outwit the old fox.
He hoped that the terms Roué agreed to weren’t too outrageous!
Jerome silently prayed to himself.
Since the situation had already occurred, the most important thing now was to find responses and countermeasures as best as possible.
"What conditions did Roué agree to with Thiers?" Jerome Bonaparte asked, his tone far more grave than before.
The atmosphere in the entire room reflected Jerome Bonaparte’s shift in tone, growing increasingly tense.
Percy swallowed and looked at that face, which bore a 50% resemblance to Emperor Napoleon.
No matter when, facing that face always made Percy feel a kind of inexplicable pressure.
At this moment, he could only brace himself to articulate the conditions Roué agreed to with Thiers.
"Form an Order Party Cabinet? Become their puppet on a string?"
Hearing the condition, Jerome Bonaparte displayed a look of disbelief.
"Exactly!" Percy swallowed again, trying to explain, "Your Highness, as long as we can take the position of President, at that point we can..."
Before Percy could finish, Jerome Bonaparte immediately stood up, lightly slapped his thigh, and said, "Good! Roué has done well!"
"Your Highness, you...are alright!" Percy looked cautiously at Jerome Bonaparte, fearing that Jerome Bonaparte’s mind wasn’t in the right state.
"It’s nothing!" Jerome Bonaparte took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down.
A fitting twist of fate: Roué, inadvertently, managed to resolve a significant problem for him.
The cousin had originally underestimated him because Thiers had done so; in this life, Thiers was still the same old fool who underestimated him.
Thiers, the old fox, was probably now smug about being able to control him!
Let’s allow them a few months of gloating, but once the Presidential election is resolved, I will send every one of them up to the heavens!
Jerome Bonaparte encouraged Percy with a few words and handed a certificate of 100,000 francs to Percy as a reward for Percy and the faction members within France.
At this moment, on the Thames River, at London Dock.
A ship sailing from Calais to London was slowly approaching the dock.
In the cabin, Tocqueville, who was writing vigorously, paused his work and looked through the cabin window at the London dock.