Djerba

The man able to translate for them became the guide for the only survivors of the wreckage; they all had to climb mountains the place, and the newest city of the kingdom is actually in the middle of the mountain range.

Felipe realized that getting to Bogota, the Capital of the New Granada would be like that. The country we will rule over one day will be harder to transport than it is going up to the city where the king of Haiti lives.

It took a lot for them to arrive; by then, his clothes were already somewhat dry. Though the whole place is quite hot, the fact is that the amount of humidity in the air does not let anything dry quickly.

They met with some soldiers on their way to the city, and so the man that translated for them quickly went back and left them in the hands of the soldiers; the soldiers were also respectful but at the same time looking at them.

The Haitian Revolution had already happened for a while. There are no white men on the Island anymore. They were either killed or kicked out. Only scarce instances of European teachers would be seen with curiosity by many.

Now many white men go through the countryside; many curious children follow them due to curiosity. This has created a large gathering following and occasionally touching them. Felipe could see the soldiers' discomfort when connected, but they had enough insight to not antagonize them.

"Father, don't worry. The king of this kingdom is known to hire people from Europe. He relies on the fact that the world is friendly with him, and he will probably lend us a ship and leave us in New Granada." Felipe talked in a low voice.

"I am not worried about this. I am more worried that this looks like a signal from god. Like we should not go to Granada. Who knows if the Bolivar was able to conquer that colony." Luciano said, very weary of the people around him.

Even though the USA fought a civil war to end slavery, racism in the USA did not change much. To the British was not even a question. They only see everyone else as a colony, not a settlement, a place to make money to exploit.

And Luciano was just like that, though his thought process would be seen as very progressive at the time.

'I forgot, we are mistaking whether basic human rights are guaranteed. People in 2023 really had it easy.'

Felipe was born in high society and raised in the high neighbourhoods of England; his contact with poverty and human rights violations was not that prominent. He knew about child labour. He wrote some articles at age 2 and became an activist in early 19th century Britain. That is how his newspaper business started.

They quickly arrived at a very luxurious palace. It was too grandiose, with multiple floors and many more things. It is just something to marble at.

"…That is a nice house," Luciano said as he was also impressed. He suddenly felt the urge to be king as well.

"A black king, huh." One soldier laughed a bit as if it was a funny joke.

"Shut up. He is a king; nonetheless, it is the only way to escape this hell hole." Another soldier said as he was already annoyed about the mosquitos targeting his exposed neck.

The British held lands in South America, Guyana in specific; they tried to colonize them, but it failed miserably as their people were not accustomed to the jungle, especially malaria.

The soldiers spoke with the guards, so one went inside the palace, and they were left to wait along with other guards. They all feel sticky due to the seawater vaporizing and leaving salt on their hair and skin.

"Mesiure can come in, but their weapons can not pass here." The guard said in perfect French. "His royal majesty the king is eager to host you all in his palace."

"No weapons," Felipe said to the soldiers.

"Young Lord Felipe, I don't think that will be possible." The de facto leader of the soldiers said, quite skeptical of the whole country and palace.

"They will be hosting us. If you want a change of clothing and a bath with fresh water, I recommend you give up your weapons. We are not coming out of this Island any time soon." Felipe said, very eager to get a shower. The sensation across his body was killing him.

"We would like to go in," Felipe said as he was alongside his dad.

"And the soldiers?"

"They will stay out here," Felipe said in English before repeating himself in French.

With annoyed faces, the soldiers began to unarm themselves. They were also annoyed at the fact that they were sticky.

The soldier named Jackson is always at the end of the group, so he doesn't cause much annoyance to the young lord. Still, in the future, Felipe doesn't ask for any action against him. He felt pity for him, especially being a victim of mental health, probably with PTSD.

In no time, they got to the palace door, where they found multiple servants. The servants looked at them and wondered if they were really distinguished visitors.

"This way, please." One finally said as they decided to treat them as distinguished guests.

Inside the palace were decorations and luxury over luxury on said age.

'What a waste, he accumulated all his riches while his people are so poor… if I get hold of Colombia, I will make sure I make laws to prevent the social inequality of people.' Felipe knew he needed the power to change a country, and he couldn't really rely upon democracy to do so. A hybrid monarchy would be perfect for him to enforce his influence over the said government. 'People like Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk will not appear in my new kingdom.'

"Please, this will be your room. The king does not meet with anyone in your conditions… baths will be brought up in a bit, and appropriate clothing will be provided." The male servant explained to everyone. He did it in French, so Alexander had to translate it.

In the early 1800s, a bath was a massive container with water and a soap bar. And that is what they got after 10 minutes of waiting in their large bedroom.

Multiple servants arrived with the large tub made of wood with many buckets filled with crystal water and some sponges with dark bar soap made with natural ingredients. Felipe could smell the coconut scent when he held it in his hands. In the 21st century, people will pay extra for stuff like that; he was also no exception.

"If you need something, please ring the bell." The last servant to go out said, bowing politely and closing the door behind me.

30 mins later.

He and his father gave themselves quite a long shower as they cleaned everything. In the middle of bathing, the servants actually brought more water. They took their clothing to wash it and bought their change clothing, and to his surprise, one that matched him.

Finally, they got dressed. Felipe found himself in tight pants and a beautiful vest, clearly worth it for a noble or a royal in Europe. Though he detested such fashion, especially in a warm place like Haiti.

"So much luxury. Who would think that former slaves would have good taste." Luciano said as they finally exited their room, dressed like European nobles.

"Black people in Haiti were able to become nobles. They have been nobles for a long time. They try to imitate the people from Europe, so they have copied their culture." Felipe explained that he was annoyed about his father's racism; even though it was not as bad as the average person in the UK, it was bad enough to annoy him.

"If you say so… but this palace is like Djerba, a paradise in a rough world." Luciano thought awhile and said, "We are like Odysseus and his crew, and these people are Lotus-Eaters."

According to the tail, Djerba is a Mediterranean island where the Lotus-Eaters lived—their source of food was Lotus Fruits, which had the effect on which lets you forget about all your problems and giving the user a state of dreaminess and idleness. And as an educated noble, Luciano was familiar enough to make the reference.

"Father, you know what happened in the French Revolution? All the nobles gathered all the wealth, and the peasants stroked them down. We must never be like this; we cannot have the luxury as long our future kingdom is hungry, or our heads will roll." Felipe has been trying to imprint his morals and ideas on his father.

"I guess you are right…."

"Let's just hope we don't get stranded for too long like Odysseus," Felipe said as he began to go downstairs to meet the king for an improvised lunch.