"Major General Niel!"
Baron Lagren called out Niel's name in a friendly and amiable tone.
"Sir, you mentioned?" Niel nodded, responding to Baron Lagren with measured composure.
"Forgive my bold question, where did the map behind you come from?" Baron Lagren pointed at the map hanging on the background behind Niel. Clearly, compared to the landing plans, he was more interested in the Near East military map that took nearly four years to complete.
Niel did not speak, instead glancing at Jerome Bonaparte.
"This map was ordered by me from the Ministry of War to specifically seek out remaining maps of the Ottoman Empire from the time of the First Empire. I didn't expect to actually find them!" Jerome Bonaparte gave a perfunctory response to Lagren, unwilling to admit his longstanding ambitions in the Near East.
Of course, Baron Lagren did not genuinely believe Jerome Bonaparte's words.
