The Little Girl and Her Mr. Mustache

The sun was shining brightly, the sky was blue, and the clouds were white; the weather was so nice that it lifted everyone's spirits. →

On the Paris Outskirts, along the same King's Road that the Two Sicilies Princess had visited, once again welcomed distinguished guests.

This time, the decorations along the roadside remained largely unchanged, but the soldiers on guard duty were all new faces, and their numbers were much greater than last time.

Because of the incident two weeks prior where "bandits attacked the Crown Prince," Queen Mary even summoned the King's Swiss Guard to escort her niece as she was about to arrive.

For a time, the Paris Legion in white Military Uniform and the Swiss Guard in Military Uniform took turns guarding both sides of the road, creating another striking scene with their contrasting colors.

Inside the Carriage, Clementine blinked her large eyes, which bore a resemblance to Joseph's, as she glanced over the densely packed Guard. She proudly raised her head and said to the Tuscany Ambassador in Italy, "Count Fanano, you see? His Crown Prince has personally led almost the entire army of Paris to greet me!"

"Hmm, he must have heard how cute I am from a lot of people, haha."

The square-faced middle-aged man shook his head slightly with a bitter expression, thinking to himself, "You've heard about the attack on the Crown Prince of France a while back. The increased security is probably not for your sake..."

Suddenly, a loud Bugle Call came from ahead.

The Grand Duchess of Tuscany quickly put away her playful smile, hurriedly straightened her clothes, put on her feathered hat, and then began to silently recite what she was about to say.

The car stopped, and Ambassador Fanano bowed and opened the car door. Clementine, adopting her most dignified posture, stepped down the Wood steps.

However, when she reached the Second Tier, she suddenly slipped, lost her balance, screamed, and fell to the ground.

Fortunately, the Guard nearby reacted quickly and leaped forward to grab her, narrowly avoiding the embarrassing situation of her face falling face-first into the mud. However, her beautiful feathered hat had already flown more than ten steps away.

Clementine blushed slightly, looked up and saw the handsome Crown Prince looking at her. She quickly broke free from the Guard's hand, lifted her skirt and stepped forward, curtsied, and said in somewhat broken French, "It is an honor to meet you, Your Highness the Crown Prince!"

"Um, well, I noticed everyone looked really serious, so I pretended to slip and fall to make everyone laugh, hehe..."

Joseph, watching the little girl, barely ten years old, talking to herself in a strange accent, couldn't help but chuckle. He quickly returned the greeting, patting his chest, and said, "It's a pleasure to meet you too. You're so funny, haha."

"Oh, right, to thank you for coming all the way to pick me up, I have a special 'gift' for you." The little girl said, taking a small Wooden Box from behind her back.

"You mean 'gift'?" Joseph asked, puzzled.

"Oh, yes, it's a gift." Clementine scratched her head and smiled. "My French isn't very fluent, so please don't mind it. Here, this is for you."

"Thank you so much." Joseph took the Wooden Box and opened it, revealing a slightly yellowed paper folding fan inside. "This is... a folding fan? For me?"

The little girl, with a profound expression, waved her hand and said, "No, dear cousin, this is an antique! I heard you're quite interested in the East culture, so I specially bought this for you. Oh, it's said to have been used by a very famous scholar from the Far East named ' Confucius '!"

"Confucius? A folding fan?!" Joseph sighed, rubbing his forehead. A paper folding fan from the Spring and Autumn Period... This is equivalent to a Ming Dynasty blue and white porcelain plate marked "Microwave Safe," or the four sheep on the bronze Four-Goat Square Zun representing Pleasant Goat, Pretty Goat, Lazy Goat, and Boiling Goat...

Although he knew it was somewhat impolite, Joseph couldn't help but ask, "How much did you pay for this antique?"

"Not expensive at all, 120 Ducat." The little girl said happily, "As long as you like it."

120 Ducat Gold Coin is nearly 800 Livre. Good heavens! Spending so much money on a fake... Joseph hesitated whether to remind her, but thinking that the girl meant well, he decided not to embarrass her.

He accepted Clementine's gift, exchanged a few more pleasantries with her, and was about to invite her into the car to return to the Versailles Palace when she skipped and hopped up to Kexer, beaming. "This is a 'farewell' gift for you; I hope you like it."

Then she sent gifts to Eman, to the Lord Chamberlain accompanied her, and to the officers of the Paris Legion...

Joseph sighed again. This little girl is way too arrogant!

Clementine was enjoying herself, a dark cloud suddenly obscured the sun, and a light rain began to fall from the previously clear sky.

Joseph quickly took the opportunity to call his cousin, She Niu, to get in the car. Only after welcoming the convoy did they set off again.

However, before they even reached downtown Paris, Clementine's Carriage axle suddenly broke. Joseph, seeing the raindrops dancing on the ground, quickly had Eman invite his cousin into his carriage.

The little girl wiped the rain from her arms and face with a handkerchief and said with a grin, "The car suddenly broke down. But it's okay, I often encounter these kinds of unlucky things, haha. One should always stay optimistic."

As she spoke, she magically produced a handful of candies from her person and placed them on the wooden table in front of her. Tilting her head, she looked at Joseph and said, "Cousin, I'll treat you to some candy. This Vanilla Peppermint Candy is my 'Tan' pastry chef's specialty; you can't find it anywhere else."

Fortunately, the rest of the journey went smoothly, and the rain gradually stopped when the convoy arrived at the Versailles Palace.

Queen Mary, with a warm and friendly smile on her face, waited with Louis XVI in the Marble Square outside the main gate.

The little girl got out of the carriage, skipped and hopped forward to bow to the King and Queen, then threw herself into her aunt's arms and secretly slipped her a handful of Vanilla Peppermint Candy: "Mr. Rena made these himself."

"Oh, thank you so much, my sweetheart! This really does taste like home."

As Clementine bowed and greeted Princess Therese, she saw the Blue-Gray Chartreux Cat in the princess's arms and immediately became excited. "Wow! It's so beautiful and cute! Can I touch it?"

"Wow, it's so cute. By the way, I have a cat too. I love it very, very much, its name is ' Mr. Mustache '."

"Oh, you must want to see Mr. Mustache too. I'll go get him, hee hee!"

Therese watched in bewilderment as the little girl turned and ran towards the Servant's Carriage, then returned carrying a black and white long-haired cat.

"Look, isn't it cute too?"

When Joseph saw Clementine’s Cat, he was almost amused—the cat's head was almost entirely white, with only a small tuft of black hair on its philtrum, making it look exactly like a failed art student.

No wonder it's called Mr. Mustache.

Unbeknownst to anyone, Mr. Mustache was staring intently at the Chartreux Cat in Therese's arms. Suddenly, he stretched out his paw and waved it in the air, meowing incessantly in a fawning manner. Therese's cat responded by wriggling its body with seductive eyes.

(End of this chapter)