Eagle’s Glory

[This article is an independent world line, following the first sideline, that is, the world line where the protagonist chooses to stay in Austria and marry Teresa after hesitation and live in seclusion.

Also, happy Tanabata everyone~]

A summer day in June 1847

In the manor on the outskirts of Vienna, it was a rural scene at this time.

In the mountains and forests in the early morning, there are some faint mists that have not yet dissipated, changing in the morning light, just like the dancing veils of fairies in the forest.

The grass is green on the hillside, and the lush leaves cover the country paths and cool the air. Clusters of wildflowers bloom in the morning light. Bees come to dance with them.

Birds chirped happily among the trees, and the quiet mountain forest was thus full of vitality.

In the depths of the forest, there is a small but quite delicate white building, which carefully hides itself in the natural scenery.

On the second floor of this mansion, there is a room with the widest view, which has been opened up as the master's study. In the study at this time, there is a middle-aged man in his thirties, sitting on the desk. , quietly looking at the green scenery outside the window.

There are some manuscripts and books in front of him, and a cup of coffee that has just been drunk and is still steaming on the right hand side, and in the wastebasket next to him, there are a lot of crumpled up. The manuscript paper is obviously the residue produced by middle-aged people in the creation.

Although it looks like he is staring at the scenery outside the window, his brows are sometimes furrowed and sometimes stretched, and his expression is fluctuating. It is obvious that he has fully devoted himself to his unique spiritual world.

After a long time, he finally made a move-he picked up the pen, then moved quickly on the paper, and wrote down in one breath. The creativity and passion pour out cleanly as well.

Time passed quickly, and after a while, the manuscript paper in front of him had accumulated a stack, and at this time he finally poured out his passion, so he let out a long breath and put down the pen.

Only then did he realize that he was sweating profusely.

In any era, creating is very hard work.

At this moment, a melodious piano sound came from the room next to him, and he knew that it was his wife Teresa who was playing music with her daughter Emily.

He stood up, picked up the remaining half cup of coffee, and walked silently to the window, then drank it while looking at the scenery.

At this moment, there was a soft knock on the door of the study.

"Aigron, do you have time? The guests are waiting for you!"

"Come in!" Aegron replied after hearing who was speaking.

Immediately the door was opened, and a woman in a white taffeta dress with velvet ribbons came in.

She looks about thirty years old, her skin is still smooth and smooth, her cheeks are white and red, she always seems to have a faint smile, and her eyes are also rippling with joy, as if the whole person exudes The light of happiness.

She is Her Royal Highness Princess Teresa and his wife.

Although the two of them are not very old now, they have been husband and wife for nearly twenty years.

And today is their 20th wedding anniversary.

Although the couple did not plan to hold a big banquet, on this important anniversary, their family members and their closest relatives and friends will naturally attend to celebrate the couple.

Since his marriage, Aigron and Princess Teresa have lived in seclusion in the countryside, actively isolating themselves from the world. The only thing that keeps him connected with the world is the plays, poems and historical monographs he silently wrote.

Disputes from the outside cannot spread to this isolated island, and the family is as harmonious as ever. The couple rarely quarrel, and every time the couple disagrees, it ends with a mutual understanding--of course, most of them. At that time, it was Teresa who accommodated her husband.

Just as Teresa swore when the two first got married, she seemed to take "taking care of His Royal Highness's life so that he can create without distractions and display his talents" as her mission, and she persevered happily. The married life of personal closeness continued in this way, and twenty years passed by inadvertently like a flick of a finger.

Perhaps, this calm "inadvertent" is happiness itself.

"His Royal Highness..." Teresa called out softly, then walked to the desk and sorted out the manuscript paper that Aegron had just written. "Let's go down together after resting, everyone is waiting for us!"

While recognizing the handwriting, she moved her fingers skillfully, and put the manuscript paper in the special booklet - and on the bookshelf beside the study wall, there are too many similar manuscripts in different categories, and there is a note on it. time and keywords so that the owner can retrieve it at any time.

These scattered and scribbled manuscripts, sometimes even Aigron herself can't figure it out after her passionate creation, and she is almost the only one who can sort it out.

"Teresa." Just as she was sorting out, Agron suddenly turned his head and looked at his wife.

"What's wrong?" Teresa asked with her head down.

"Is Francois here?" Aigron asked in a low voice.

Teresa's movements froze for a moment, and then her expression became gloomy.

Finally, she shook her head slightly.

"This ignorant bastard!" Aegron couldn't help shaking his head and sighed, "Why does he have to do something stupid?"

"Of course you know why he does this..." Teresa also sighed. "Haven't you imagined something similar over the years?"

Being refuted by his wife like this, Aegron froze immediately.

Although he is quite satisfied with his current life, when he occasionally looks back on his own life or hears about major events in Europe, there is occasionally a flame of ambition in his heart - which is deeply rooted in Bonaparte The desire for power in the family blood.

The thirst for glory and power is like a ghost in his body, running out from time to time to make trouble, reminding the prince, who is approaching middle age, that he still has a destiny that has not yet been completed.

But every time he reminded himself that since you have chosen this path, you should go without hesitation.

He has always been a resolute and decisive person. Since he has made a decision, he must persevere to the end, so he used this stubbornness to forcibly extinguish the flame in his heart, and then spent 20 years of marriage with He Meimei and his wife. Life.

To him, Teresa and her children were God's best compensation for what he had lost.

However, his self-control can endure the flame of that ambition, but his descendants may not be able to do so——

In the past 20 years, he and Teresa have had six children, and their eldest son François is now almost an adult.

Under the care of his mother and grandfather, this young man has never suffered any hardships, and although his grandfather has never been by his side for a second, his grandfather's prestige has been haunting him ever since the young man became sensible. his mind.

This young man was as smart as his father was, but when he came to this vigorous age, it became more and more difficult for him to endure the lonely life that his father voluntarily chose. The flames in his blood seemed to be urging him all the time. Let him do something big.

The "big cause" in his mind was not in Austria, which belonged to the Habsburg family, but in France to the west - to be precise, the French Empire once briefly ruled by the Bonaparte family.

In this day and age, the Bourbon dynasty had already been overthrown by the July Revolution in 1830, and the Orleans family that replaced it was also showing signs of instability at this time.

Because of this, those long-dormant Bonapartists also began to move, hoping to overthrow the increasingly unpopular King Louis-Philippe and allow the Bonaparte family to return to France.

In order to achieve this goal, they secretly sent someone to contact Aegron, but Aegron, who had already made a decision, would of course not change his will, so he refused their request.

For him, being an Austrian Duke of Leichstedt is not a wonderful thing, but at least life is enough for now.

But his son is completely different - although the Bonapartists did not persuade Aigron, they hit it off with his eldest son. The ambition and blood of the young man made him readily accept their support, and he also hoped to use His own actions, so that his family can return to the top of Europe.

After he made such a choice, the father and son had many quarrels about this. The father blamed the son for risking his own life and others' lives, while the son blamed the father for indulging in a secluded life, his will was wiped out, and his destiny was forgotten. obligations.

In the quarrel between father and son, this originally happy and harmonious family also split, until finally, François left a sentence: "You and your mother just stay in the country, and I will go and give the honor that belongs to our family. Take it back and give it to you!" and then ran away from home.

What the parents did to their son was helpless and powerless, and could only watch him do his own thing.

And to this day, François did not come back on this important day, which is enough to illustrate the extent of the rift between father and son.

Aegron stopped speaking, but stared out the window blankly.

"His Royal Highness, don't be angry about Francois anymore. Young people will always be a little ignorant. When they hit a wall in reality, they will know what to do." Teresa walked to his side and comforted in a low voice. Husband, "At least we're still together now, that's enough... As for François, he'll be back when he's exhausted."

"No, Teresa, I'm not hurting for him." Aigron reached out and covered his face, then sighed again, "I was thinking, maybe... maybe François is right. Yes, I did lose too many important things!"

Teresa's face froze instantly.

"So do you think I'm delaying you?" She lowered her eyes and asked cautiously.

"No, I didn't think so." Aigron shook his head quickly, "Being able to marry you and spend the rest of my life together is enough to make up for all my losses, but, Francois... Now my son is serving my family for our family. Isn't it absurd to fight and I'm standing here looking at the scenery?"

Teresa saw the hesitation in her husband's heart, and her heart was aching along with it, but now she knew that she had to be strong, comfort her husband, and let him come out of the hesitation.

"You don't have to change your mind for him, Your Highness. Now that he is about to become an adult, he can naturally choose his path. We can't control that much, so we can just let him go." She stretched out her hand and tightened her grip. Holding her husband's hand. "His Royal Highness, I love Francois and all our children. Children are the happy fruit of our married life and the most important treasure in my life, but... to me, you are life itself, more than children. , more than anything."

Teresa's voice trembled a little because she was fully devoted, "I love you and every day I spend with you, so I don't need you to **** anything at all. If you reach the top of power, then Of course it's good, I can be dazzled and maybe even put on a crown, but then, will my life be better than it is now? I'm afraid not! The crown may not make me more dazzling, and if that is the case, it is destined that there will be too many interests and trade-offs between us, and the original candid love between us will be dusted, so..."

Teresa hugged her husband, then closed her eyes slightly, "Now this is the best, we are together, no one disturbs us, you quietly dedicate your talents to the world, and I spend my life I am by your side to relieve you of all your worries, so that you can devote yourself to the magnificent career in writing... Your Highness, sometimes I really feel that God is too partial to me, so that I can get what I want without suffering. Everything, to be able to live so happily! Aegron, my dear, I am very satisfied with everything, if there is any wish, I only wish that it can all continue peacefully, without changing anything, until we Both of them die."

Teresa's words were so emotional and her eyes were watery, that Aigron was both joyful and moved.

Yes, his heart that occasionally trembled because of his ambition was melted by this incomparably warm love.

He reached out and stroked his wife's still-smooth cheek.

"Teresa, you're right. In this day and age, it's ridiculous to think about those boring things. I only need you by my side, go to his empire!"

Then he lowered his head suddenly and kissed his wife heavily, as if to express his determination.

And Teresa also closed her eyes happily and opened her red lips to welcome her husband's tenderness.

After a long time, the two people parted their lips, and then Teresa looked up at her husband slightly.

"His Royal Highness, let's travel and relax in a while. You can go wherever you want, Rome, London, Petersburg, or even the ends of the earth...anywhere!"

Yes, after 20 years, the Austrian authorities have already had very few restrictions on Aegron, and since Aegron published his works under his real name, it has also caused a sensation in Europe.

Now he has book fans all over Europe, and if he wants to, I am afraid that he will be warmly welcomed everywhere.

"Yeah." Agron just nodded slightly.

Then, the middle-aged couple, whose love was still fresh, walked out of the study holding hands and came to the living room where everyone gathered, enjoying everyone's blessings to them.