Eagle’s Glory

While Prince Metternich and His Majesty the Emperor were discussing, Aigron strolled down the long corridor, preparing to return to his bedroom.

Because of the quarrel with Prince Metternich just now, he was in a bad mood, but he didn't show any signs on his face. For many years, he had been accustomed to keeping his thoughts in his heart.

Just as he walked outside his room, he suddenly found that there seemed to be another person beside him.

This is a woman of about twenty years old.

She was wearing a long dress. Although she was not tall, she still looked tall because of her slender body. Her neck was also quite slender, making her movements and expressions quite elegant and agile. Her brown hair was curly in a fashionable style.

He was looking at him with a smile that was not a smile. His blushing face was full of youthful charm, but because he was a first-time wife, he had the charm of a young woman.

"Aigron! Good morning." When Aegron looked at her, she greeted him with a smile.

"Good morning, Your Highness." Agron stopped and saluted her.

She is Princess Sophie.

She was the daughter of King Maximilian I of Bavaria. She was born in 1805. In 1824, when she was 19 years old, she married Archduke Franz Karl, the youngest son of His Majesty the Emperor (that is, Aigron's younger uncle), Since then, they have lived in Schönbrunn Palace, and the two of them have gotten to know each other since then.

Aigron had a pretty good relationship with her, and he liked the smile when she greeted him.

This is not only because of her beautiful voice, but more importantly, she is the only person in this huge palace who can call herself by this nickname in French at the same time.

In addition, although the prince concubine is his aunt, she is only 6 years older than him. Compared with other people in the court, this newly met princess has much more in common with him.

It is worth mentioning that her sister, Princess Caroline, born in 1792, married the widowed Austrian emperor in 1816 as a sequel, so she became his nominal "grandmother" - although only older than him. Just 19 years old.

What's more worth mentioning is that their eldest sister, Princess Augusta, born in 1788, married Napoleon's adopted son Eugène de Beauharnet in 1806.

Therefore, according to the strict order of seniority, the three sisters of the princess are counted as his "brother and sister-in-law", "grandmother" and "aunt" respectively.

The chaos of political marriage in the aristocratic world, and the efforts of the Napoleon family to assimilate desperately into the royal family of European countries when in power, is also evident.

From the first day I saw her, Aigron didn't bother about "what should I call her". After all, in this luxurious and leisurely court, these royal family members who were born with fine clothes and jade food, why should they care about the so-called so-called What about the turn order?

From the moment they met, Princess Sophie was very friendly to him, and there was no Austrian prejudice at all.

After all, Bavarians do not hate Napoleon. After all, in the era of Emperor Napoleon, the giant founded the Rhine League and promoted the Elector of Bavaria to the Kingdom of Bavaria, making it another power in Germany.

In order to thank the Emperor Napoleon, the Bavarian king married his adopted son and followed Napoleon to fight until 1813, when Napoleon was at the end of his life.

At the same time, although the empire was destroyed, the king took in his son-in-law Eugene, who had nowhere to go. Until Eugene's death in 1824, he had been enjoying a fairly good life.

And Eugene and Princess Augusta are also very loving, which is a rare loving couple in political marriages.

Princess Sophie, who grew up in such a living environment, naturally did not have any hostility towards the Bonaparte family. After marrying in Austria, it was normal for her to be friendly and kind to Aegron.

After the two got acquainted, Princess Sophie called him directly by you, which shows that she really looked at him differently.

"I heard that our dear Prime Minister has just found you?" Princess Sophie asked as she approached.

"Your news is really well-informed—" Aegron smiled helplessly.

"It doesn't look like you were having a good time chatting. Did he reprimand you?" the princess asked again.

"It's not even a reprimand... It's just a bit embarrassing." Aegron continued to smile bitterly.

"This lousy old man is probably trying to figure out something else." Princess Sophie said with some dissatisfaction.

Aegron did not continue, after all, this topic is not convenient to discuss in the corridor.

"Well... this is not a good place to talk." Princess Sophie squinted to the side, then raised her eyebrows, and her cleverness revealed another charm. "Come with me-"

After she finished speaking, she turned around and left, her skirt fluttering while leaving a slender figure behind the boy, and Aigron had to follow behind her.

The two walked out of the grand palace, and then walked down the steps to the fountain at the door. Because of the sound of running water, they didn't have to worry about the partition wall having ears.

"Aigron, what did he say?" the princess asked again.

"He said he wanted me to go to a military school, and I didn't want to," Aegron replied honestly. "Then we had some arguments."

"Is that so..." Princess Sophie lowered her eyes slightly and thought, "He's not someone who can change his mind easily."

"This is where I am embarrassed." Aegron nodded, "I really don't want to go at all, but I don't want to blatantly go against his wishes."

"Then reject him forcefully. I think you should have this freedom." Princess Sophie curled her lips in displeasure, "No matter how powerful he is, he can't dominate all the actions of the royal family, right?"

"But he can persuade His Majesty to do so..." Aegron shook his head. "If His Majesty is persuaded by him, it may be difficult for me to refuse."

Princess Sophie was dumbfounded.

Indeed, His Majesty the Emperor is both the supreme emperor and the unquestionable patriarch of the Habsburgs. His orders to the members of the royal family are absolutely not to be offended, not to mention that Aigron is still such a special and embarrassing identity, even if he wants to refuse, I am afraid It's hard to do.

"If this is the case, then I will also go to Carl and let him intercede with you. His Majesty the Emperor is not a mean and ruthless person. As long as our husband and wife intercede together, there will always be a turnaround." Princess Sophie said The voice became softer, apparently comforting Aegron.

Agron was silent.

Her Royal Highness, the prince and concubine, standing next to the fountain, although the distance between the two of them is very close, but because of the steam that spreads everywhere, her side seems to be covered with a halo, which looks hazy and real.

"Thank you," he stammered after a moment, "I'm not saying I'm grateful for your help, but... I'm very grateful for your kindness, it's really something I cherish."

"Haha...cute child." Seeing his reaction, Princess Sophie couldn't help laughing, "Don't be so restrained, after all, we are a family now, aren't we? Of course I should do my best to help you."

"You're not a few years older than me—" Aegron retorted in a low voice.

"But I'm already married, and I'm destined to take on this place. I've lost the qualification to stay young, and you haven't." Princess Sophie's expression became serious, and then she raised her hand and pointed at two The grand palace opposite the individual. "Aigron, do you know why I am so kind to you?"

"To be honest, I do have some doubts sometimes..." Aegron replied.

Her Royal Highness raised her head, looked at the sculpture at the top of the fountain, and sighed sadly.

"Before I got married, my brother-in-law and your brother were dying. He told me when he was seriously ill that he was happy enough in his life, that he had never betrayed anyone, even if he went to heaven, he was worthy of Heart, he can face that person in an upright manner. But he still has one regret that has never been resolved, and that is his younger brother. He is already destined to be unable to save the poor child who was trapped in the cage. The pain can't stop, so he begged me to do my best to take care of you after I got here, so that you don't die early because of despair..."

After saying this, Princess Sophie withdrew her gaze, and then looked at the young man in front of her seriously.

"I don't want him to die with regret, so I will keep this promise. Aegron, you can treat me as your sister here, and it will help you grow up safely and happily."

Aigron listened quietly to her words, and suddenly felt a little pain in his heart.

Obviously this is not actually his own business, but he somehow feels a sense of sadness.

Not only for the late Eugène de Beauharnet stepbrother, but also for the princess Sophie in front of her.

The two world lines that had already diverged seemed to have an intersection in her.

Historically, the relationship between the two was very close.

After she was married to the Austrian court, the Roman king, who lacked friendship all his life, regarded her as one of the few close friends in Schönbrunn Palace, and Princess Sophie also seemed to have an extraordinary view of the Roman king. emotion.

The two often danced together at balls, and they interacted a lot at ordinary times. Because of their mutual affection, they caused a lot of rumors in the court. Some people even suspected that Maximilian, the youngest son of Her Royal Highness, was the king of Rome. 's illegitimate child.

Such rumors are of course unfounded, but when the Roman king died prematurely in 1832, it was a common fact that the princess was distraught.

Perhaps in the eyes of Princess Sophie at the time, the King of Rome was her real relative in the strange Austrian court.

"I will also do my best to protect you, Your Highness." In the midst of his emotion, he assured the other party in a low voice.

Suddenly, there was a little more sentimentality between the two.

"Aigron, don't be discouraged, these bad days will eventually pass." After a while, Princess Sophie adjusted her emotions and comforted the boy, "I said... I will have the final say here one day, And then is the day when you are completely free, no one can bully you anymore, you can do whatever you want... Just wait until then, trust me!"

Aigron knew that Her Royal Highness was right.

Although she married the emperor's youngest son, Archduke Karl, it is well known that the emperor's eldest son Ferdinand suffered from a serious congenital disease and lost his fertility. To the side of Her Royal Highness.

Historically, Ferdinand ascended the throne in 1835, and abdicated in 1848 because of a serious illness and was unable to handle state affairs. The son of Princess Sophie, Franz Joseph, succeeded at the age of 18. Since then, the Queen Mother Sophie has been named His own willpower dominates the Austrian court, and he has truly become a man of his own.

However, it was already 1848, and now it is 1826.

Even if Her Royal Highness Princess Sophie does not change her mind in the future and is really willing to fulfill her promise, it will take at least 20 years for her to have the final say in the court.

How many twenty years of life can be wasted here?

He didn't want to wait that long.

He also didn't have that much time to endure.

"I believe in you, Your Highness." Aigron closed his eyes with great emotion, "I will wait for that day."