Eagle’s Glory

It was another usual winter night, and the town of Salenstein, on the Swiss border, was as quiet as ever.

Usually, the place is sparsely populated, and after nightfall, there is no one around. Everything was hidden in the darkness, waiting for the next day to come.

There is a lake next to the town called Lake Constance. At this time, the lake is frozen and slumbering because of the arrival of winter. But when the spring flowers bloom next year, people can enjoy the clear lake water, the surrounding green grass, and the picturesque scenery of the Alps in the distance.

Going along the trail, you can see the Arenenberg Castle (Arenenberg) on ​​the shore of Lake Constance.

The building is exquisitely designed and elegant in appearance, and everyone in the area knows that this is the retreat of Napoleon's stepdaughter, the former Queen of Holland, Princess Autensee.

This princess is a witness of an era. She was once a prosperous girl when she was young. She became Napoleon's stepdaughter because her mother Josephine married Napoleon in a second marriage, and was then betrothed by Napoleon to his younger brother Louis. Napoleon became emperor and became part of the imperial family.

In the most glorious years of the empire, she and Napoleon's sisters enjoyed a rare luxury life in the world. She spent a lot of money and also had a private lover. She even had an illegitimate child with her lover.

However, when the dream finally woke up, with the collapse of the empire, the former queen no longer had a place to live in France, and the Netherlands, which once ruled, had already changed its monarch and expelled all the monarchs under the order of the Bourbon family. After becoming a member of the Bonaparte family, Princess Autensee had to say goodbye to France and all the glory she had ever had.

She herself knew that nothing could be undone, so when her lover bid her farewell, she parted amicably and peacefully, and then she retreated to the castle of Arennan on the shores of Lake Constance, waiting for the death that fate would give her at any moment. .

Today, it has been ten years since she came to the hermitage. The hapless former queen said goodbye to the life of the past, living peacefully in this lonely villa, raising her own children to pass the time - she and her husband Louis' relationship had long since broken down, so he lived in two places after exile. The eldest son was taken care of by Louis himself, and the younger son grew up with her here.

Although she is only forty-three years old now, the rest of her life can only be reminiscent of the glorious past in the blue sky and breeze by the lake.

Although she has lived in seclusion, Aotangsi also has a lot of troubles - that is her worry-free son.

Her son, Charlie, was very young and very smart, and he learned everything quickly, but as he grew up, his mother found him very tired of this peaceful seclusion life. He was full of blood and eager to stand like his great uncle In his next big career, he also had a political consciousness and a desire for power.

Of course, the mother didn't want her son to have such dangerous thoughts, and repeatedly taught and persuaded her son, but everything was fruitless, and the son couldn't listen at all, and he had to make contributions.

He gave up his traditional studies, chose to become an artilleryman like his uncle, and tried to join the army of the Swiss Confederation. And just two months ago, he suddenly and mysteriously bid farewell to his mother, expressing his desire to go on a trip.

Although her son hadn't made it clear where to travel, Aotangsi had a bad premonition at the time. She instinctively opposed her son's delusions and tried to stop his actions, but she couldn't beat her 18-year-old son. Watching him leave.

In the days that followed, Aotangsi was always in fear, for fear that one day there would be bad news and she would not be able to sleep at night. After all, for her life with only ashes left, her son was the last remaining meaning.

She was also very worried tonight, and she fell asleep very late.

And in her sleep, she suddenly heard a sound next to her.

She opened her eyes groggyly, and found it was her maid who had woken her up.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"His Royal Highness is back!" the maid replied in a low voice.

"That's great...Thank God!" Aotangsi was relieved by the news of her son's safe return, but she soon discovered that the maid's expression was a little hesitant.

"What's wrong?" she asked again. "Did something go wrong?"

"You...you'll know when you go and see." The maid just replied with an expression she didn't know what to say.

With full of doubts, the sleepy Queen Aotangsi got up and put on her nightgown, and then came to the living room.

Since buying the villa, Queen Autense has spent a fortune to remodel it in the style of the Empire era, and the living room is also filled with family members such as her stepfather Napoleon, mother Josephine and so on. portraiture.

When she came to the living room, she found that three people had already sat down by the coffee table, drinking hot tea to keep warm.

She recognized immediately that two of them were her sons—the eldest son, Louis, lived elsewhere with her husband, but he had been in contact over the years, so she was very familiar with it.

Her sons all looked very embarrassed, their clothes were disheveled, and there were even a lot of snowflakes on their clothes, and they looked tired and had just arrived home after a long journey.

As for the other person, because of the dim light, she couldn't see the specific face for a while, but in terms of body shape, she should be about the same age as her sons.

"Louis! Charlie! Where have you both gone, why don't you even write a letter silently!" She yelled at her two sons, and walked in front of them step by step.

Then, her attention was drawn to a third person.

Although he is also disheveled and has messy hair, he can still tell that he is a handsome young man. His face is delicate and lovable, but his expression is calm and serious, with a hint of sternness that does not belong to his age.

Ao Tangsi looked at the boy carefully, and always felt that his face was a bit similar to his own son.

Under her gaze, the young man suddenly stood up and saluted her solemnly.

"It's a pleasure to finally see you again, Her Majesty the Queen."

Seeing his appearance, Aotangsi's heart suddenly shook, and a very absurd idea arose.

The sons suddenly disappeared and suddenly came back, the young man who came here with them, and his age... All kinds of pieces were pinched together and pointed to a very terrifying place.

But she still couldn't believe it, because it was so terrifying.

She suppressed the tension in her heart, and then looked at the other party and asked in a low voice.

"May I ask you are……?"

"Mom, he is our majesty." At this moment, Louis, who was sitting beside him, replied quietly, which confirmed the most absurd conjecture in Aotangsi's heart.

"My God!" Aotangsi's eyes darkened and she almost fainted.

Then, she subconsciously looked back at the portrait of Napoleon hanging on the wall, as if asking if the undead had witnessed this moment.

She didn't know how to accept this reality, or even if she should be happy about it.

She raised her hand tremblingly, pointed at Aigron, and asked her two sons.

"You're not kidding? You escaped from Austria with the Roman king?"

"I can testify to you that he's not joking." Aigron smiled, then apologized to the other party, "Ma'am, I'm sorry I couldn't inform you in advance, this disturbed your sleep... It seems that you don't welcome me too much?"

"No...No, child, how could I not welcome you?" Queen Aotangsi finally recovered a little bit of sanity, and then apologized to Aegron again and again, "I just...just don't know how to face this reality...God What...my sons, what have you done!"

Aegron understood the other party's reaction.

Queen Aotangsi has lived in seclusion for eleven years. She has long been accustomed to the current rhythm of life. Everything in the past has been too far away for her. Now that she suddenly appeared and she was unprepared, it was of course difficult for her to accept it. This mental shock.

Even, she may not think this is a good thing.

"Do you mind if I hug you? You are the first relative of an elder I have seen in many years." He asked.

Looking at the young man's face, Aotangsi suddenly had mixed feelings and almost cried.

Then she nodded and opened her arms towards Aegron, "Aegron, I didn't expect the day when I would be able to see you again!"

"Yeah, thanks to fate for us to meet again."

After Aigron finished speaking, he took a step forward and hugged Queen Aotangsi tightly.

With the help of candlelight, he looked at this middle-aged woman who was 28 years older than him.

Her hair has begun to turn white, and there are fine wrinkles on her face. Although her forehead is smooth, there is always a look of remorse in the corners of her eyes. Obviously, the seclusion life is not so wonderful for her.

How could Queen Aotangsi, who had enjoyed all the splendor, wealth, and much-anticipated attention, really forget her past glory.

Falling from the highest point, losing all the glory of the past, can only live in seclusion in the countryside and wait for death, letting pain and memories gnaw at his heart, how could it not be uncomfortable.

At the same time, Queen Aotangsi was looking at him, and reached out and stroked his face and hair gently.

"The passage of time is terrifying! You were still in your cradle when I first touched you, and in a blink of an eye you have grown up." So handsome... Seeing your current appearance, he must be very pleased with his spirit in the sky."

"Thank you for your compliment, but... I can't just rely on looks to inherit everything from him." Aegron replied with a smile, "So I don't think I'm happy enough for him."

"Inherit everything from him!" Aotangsi suddenly woke up, "You... what are you going to do?"

"Of course it is to rebuild the empire and let our family reign over the country again." Aegron replied decisively, "If it is not for this goal, then why should I escape?"

"Rebuild the empire..." Aotangsi was not infected by this sentence, but had mixed feelings and a very complicated expression. "Why do you add such a dreadful task to yourself?"

"Why, don't you want to rebuild the empire?" Aegron asked rhetorically.

"If the empire can be rebuilt, then of course..." Queen Aotangsi replied with a wry smile, "But what can we do now? France has calmed down, and you are just a few teenagers, how could it be possible Turn over a dynasty?"

"Mom, what you said is wrong." Louis couldn't help interjecting, "Now France is only calm on the surface, and internal dissatisfaction with the Bourbon family is spreading among all classes. I think there will be another revolution to overthrow. This family rules. At this time, His Majesty will be the savior of the French people."

"Your Majesty...why do you call your Majesty? Don't hypnotize yourselves, it's just childish madness! Look what terrible things you have done for these madness..." The mother glanced back at her son, then continued He looked back at Aegron again, "Aegron, don't force a mission that doesn't belong to you on yourself. Your father was full of sadness and pain when he died. If you let him choose, he would definitely want you To be able to live peacefully and happily, instead of chasing unparalleled power and eventually repeating his mistakes."

It appears that Queen O'Donnell was not a fanatical supporter of him.

Aegron sighed inwardly.

But it's normal, she's already old, and she no longer wants to pour her feelings into illusory things. She also doesn't believe that these young people alone can do any miracles.

Maybe she's not the only one who thinks this way, after all, in the eyes of normal people, what they are talking about to each other now is nothing but daydreaming.

But there is one thing these people forget, and that is that history is usually made by those childish people, because they are dedicated to their own goals.

If there is no childish madness, how could Napoleon, who came from a small Corsican landlord family, go all the way to the emperor? How could his nephew end up restoring the Empire with nothing, without a little childish madness?

If they can, then they can try it themselves, how can they know the result if they don't try it?

Aegron didn't go to argue with Queen Autons, he asked back.

"Don't you welcome me?"

"No... Where did you say that? You are my guest when you come, and you will always have a place in my home." Aotangsi shook her head, "However, Aegron, you escaped from Austria. ,Right?"

"Indeed." Aegron nodded.

"Then soon there will be news from Austria that it will come to Switzerland, and I... I will definitely become the most obvious suspect." Queen Aotangsi has regained her senses, so she thought of this, "When the time comes There will definitely be police closely monitoring me here!"

"Yes, you're right, so I'm just visiting you before the news spreads here." Aegron nodded, then looked at Queen Aotangsi. "You have lived here for many years, is there any place where you can safely contain me?"

Aotangsi looked at the young man's face full of ardent hope, and her heart became sour.

If he didn't trust himself, he wouldn't have come here in the first place.

Although she doesn't believe that the empire can be rebuilt, how could she reject her son and nephew?

Those were her last loved ones.

"Of course, but you can rest here for a while tonight."

After speaking, she hugged the young man tightly again to convey the excitement and warmth in her heart to him. "May God bless you."