Chapter 4 A Play With Joseph's Friends

Five minutes later. Napoleon and Joseph already felt the sweltering heat of the sun beating down on them as they head towards the location where Joseph is waiting.

Napoleon wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand and looked at Joseph.

"Do you think this is a good idea brother? Playing under the sun like this?" he asked, concern etched on his face.

Joseph shrugged. "I'm used to the heat," he replied with a small smile. "Besides, I don't want to miss out on the fun. Speaking of which."

Waiting for them were Joseph's friends. Napoleon counted them in his head. There are six of them. All are about the same age as them.

"We have been waiting for you, Joseph. I thought you were not going to play with us," said one of his friends.

"Sorry, sorry. I was speaking with my brother when you came. Oh, here is my little brother Napoleon. He'll be playing with us today."

All of his friends turned to look at Napoleon.

"Ah...so that's your brother huh?" One of his friends walked forward. "Hello! My name is Albert, nice to meet you."

Napoleon nodded and shook Albert's hand. "Nice to meet you too, Albert," he replied with a smile.

The other friends also came forward to introduce themselves. There was Pierre, France, Jacques, Antoine, and Michel. Napoleon tried to remember their names as they greeted him warmly.

"So, what do you guys want to play? Honestly, I'm tired of hide-and-seek. Let's try something different?"

"Then, why don't we tag?" Antoine suggested.

"We already played that," Michel shook his head.

"Napoleon might have an idea," France looked at Napoleon, who was suddenly taken aback.

He hadn't expected to be asked for suggestions that early. He glanced at the group, who all looked at anticipation.Updated from novelbIn.(c)om

"Uhm...Well, have you guys ever played 'Capture the Flag'?" he asked tentatively.

The boys looked at each other, considering the suggestion.

"Sounds interesting, how do we play?" Jacques asked.

But to his surprise, Joseph remained calm and composed, despite the other boy's aggressive stance. "I'm not looking for a fight," he said evenly. "But neither are we going to let you bully us off this field."

"Oh, you have some guts in you huh? Wait...I think I know you. Are you the son of that traitor? Who sold us out to the French?"

Ivan's friends who were standing behind murmured at one another. Napoleon could hear them snicker and mock. but he didn't let it distract him from the situation at hand. He stood up, placing himself between Joseph and Ivan.

"Look, we don't want any trouble," Napoleon said firmly. "If this field is really yours, we apologize for intruding, but we didn't see any signs or markers indicating that it was off-limits."

Ivan glared at him, sizing him up. "And who are you supposed to be?"

"Napoleon," he replied, meeting Ivan's gaze without flinching.

There was a moment of silence as Ivan and his friends exchanged glances.

"He is my little brother," Joseph spoke. "Now, just as my little brother said, we don't want any trouble. So why don't you leave us alone peacefully?"

"How dare you, a child of a traitor, tell us what to do?"

Joseph took a step forward, his eyes flashing with anger. "My father was not a traitor."

"Hoh? But my father said your father received a high position in the French Court..." Ivan glanced at his friends who were looking at him warily. "And why are you all lumping with a traitor's son? Have you no shame? His father is the reason why we are being oppressed by the French."

"Just go away, Ivan," Pierre said.

"Not before you leave our turf," Ivan said before flickering his gaze back to Joseph.

Joseph sighed. "Come on guys, we finished playing the game anyway so let's go."

Napoleon, Joseph, and their friends reluctantly began to gather their things and make their way off the field. As they walked away, Ivan and his friends laughed.

Napoleon could feel his blood boil at the way Ivan and his friends were treating Joseph. He clenched his fists, feeling a surge of anger that he hadn't experienced in a long time. But he knew that fighting back would only make things worse, so he gritted his teeth and kept walking.

As they walked, Joseph spoke quietly to Napoleon. "I'm sorry about that. Ivan and his friends can be really aggressive sometimes."

Napoleon shook his head. "You don't have to apologize for anything. You did the right thing by not letting them intimidate you."

Joseph smiled faintly. "Thanks. Well I try my best to hold back not to resort to violence. So guys? Let's play a game tomorrow."

"I'm in!" Jacques said.

"Me too!" Michel followed, and the rest of them.