Eagle’s Glory

(In the previous independent world line, Aigron gave up fleeing, stayed and married Teresa and lived in seclusion)

The spring of 1833 came quietly as cuckoos sang throughout the fields.

Spring is naturally the season for the recovery of all things, and Italy, which is located on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, is even more beautiful in spring. Whether it is at the foot of the Alps or the coast of the Adriatic Sea, there are spring tourists everywhere, full of Italy. The peculiar laziness of people.

Just as people were racing to go out for an outing and sweep away the haze of winter, a convoy consisting of many carriages quietly went all the way from the north to the south to the territory of Italy.

This team is deliberately low-key, there is no identification mark on the carriage, except for the necessary rest in the inns along the way, it never makes many stops, let alone communicates with surrounding passengers - but from the size of the team and their expenses Looking at it, it is easy to see that the owner of the team must be rich or expensive.

The idle people along the way are all whispering, guessing the owner and whereabouts of the convoy and enjoying it, but they will never want to get the real answer.

Under the bright spring sun, these carriages went all the way south, and finally came to the city of Venice.

In the small square at the entrance of Piazza San Marco by the lake in Venice, there are two famous white stone pillars in Venice. This is the city gate of Venice. One pillar is carved with the patron saint of Venice in the Byzantine period, Todaro, the other one. The pillar is engraved with the flying lion of Venice, another patron saint of Marco - and the flying lion happens to be the city emblem of Venice. The flying lion is holding a holy book on its left front paw with the Catholic oracle written in Latin on it. : "My messenger Marco, rest in peace there!"

Every foreigner who comes to Venice to travel or do business enters this beautiful city from between these two stone pillars.

Venice, the name is still full of Mediterranean romance until 200 years later, she is indeed an ancient and magnificent city-state.

The history of this ancient city-state republic is much older than most of the existing dynasties on the European continent. They founded the country with commerce, and they rely on their own terrible power to expand their strength.

At its peak, her merchants and warships were scattered throughout the Mediterranean world, controlling the most lucrative trade routes in the world at the time, and fighting almost all powerful opponents.

Even the distinguished and prominent Eastern Roman emperors sometimes had to bow to them, allowing them to have concessions and trade privileges in Constantinople.

Even after the strong rise of the Ottoman Empire, and the whole of Europe was terrified, Venice never gave in, but fought against the Turks many times, repeatedly defeating the ambitions of the sultans.

However, all the glory will come to an end one day. The Republic of Venice, which once seemed to be able to maintain its prosperity forever, is also in the midst of changes in the world economic trend. It inevitably declines along with the Mediterranean world, and finally withdrew from the stage of world history.

Even after its fall, it couldn't even stand on its own—as Napoleon marched into northern Italy and swept all the way, the old Venetian republic finally lost its independence.

It was first occupied by the French, and then given to Austria by the French as a trade item, becoming an integral part of the Austrian Empire.

At this moment in 1833, apart from the exquisite buildings left in its heyday, where else can we see the wealth and glory of this city-state that spanned the world?

Perhaps because of the care, the convoy came to the outside of St. Mark's Square without any obstruction, and then the passengers inside got off the carriage one after another.

These passengers, most of them dressed as servants and guards, were surrounded by a young couple.

The young couple looked only in their twenties. The man had blond hair and was handsome; the woman was also very beautiful and luxuriously dressed. The two of them stood together and looked extremely harmonious.

Madame, with her fashionable curly hair and a velvet yarmulke on her head, looked curiously about Piazza San Marco as soon as she got out of the carriage.

"So beautiful..." After a while, she couldn't help but sigh. "Venice is such a beautiful city."

Then, she turned her head again and looked at her husband with a fresh look on her face, "Dear, what do you think?"

"I think it's pretty good too." The young man just glanced a few times, then nodded and replied, even a bit perfunctory.

Madam noticed her husband's absent-mindedness, so her smile couldn't help but stiffen.

"What's the matter? Aegron? Why are we so unhappy that we were able to travel with great difficulty?"

"Probably because this journey is a gift." The young man showed a slight sneer, and then replied in a slightly mocking tone.

"I'm sorry..." She whispered apologetically while hugging her husband's arm tightly, "I should have fought harder for you, Aegron, forgive me..."

This couple is naturally the young couple of Aigron and Teresa.

Although both of them are still young, they have been married for seven years this year, since they were officially married in 1826.

It is often said that after seven years of marriage, the original relationship between the couple will gradually fade, but this couple broke this common law. Even though they have given birth to several children, the warmth between them has been preserved. Full of tenderness and sweetness.

Especially for Teresa, family has become the central axis of her whole life, and she goes all out to create a more comfortable living environment for her beloved husband, so that he can focus on his pen and paper. talent.

The husband and wife travel together, which is the result of her application to Prime Minister Metternich through her father's relationship - this is also the first time they left Vienna to travel after their marriage. As for their children, they were naturally left to take care of their grandparents and would not interfere with their journey.

Out of political concerns, although the Austrian government agreed to their travel request, it did not allow them to leave the country, and had to send "escorts" to **** them all the way, so Teresa decided to take Venice as a journey after thinking about it. destination.

During the negotiation between the two parties, Aigron and Metternich had a very unpleasant quarrel, and Teresa couldn’t help but feel a little frightened in the middle.

For Teresa, it was naturally a joyous journey, after all, she had always had a good impression of the city, and the description of it in the book fascinated her; perhaps because of the quarrel with Metternich Because of this, Aigron was a little unhappy along the way, and he was not happy until he arrived in Venice today.

Seeing Teresa sobbing, Agron couldn't help softening, and he comforted his wife in a low voice.

"Teresa, I don't blame you, I just know a fact - although I am the emperor's grandson, although I am the Duke of Reichstedt of the Empire, although I have married a princess, I will always be a Po I will not be your own, Monsieur Nabal."

"What do you mean by 'you'?!" Teresa protested in a low voice, "It's 'we'! I'm a Bonaparte now..."

"Okay, except you." Agron shrugged and apologized to Teresa, "Those people don't treat me as their own, and my self-esteem doesn't allow me to bow my head to flatter them, so let's do it, I'd be more than happy to be a spectator of an empire...I'd like to see how long their good times last."

"Aigron, don't be discouraged. You and I are still so young, and we still have too long, long enough to let all those who are malicious to you leave the stage." Teresa comforted her husband, "Finally One day people will forget everything that came before and admit how high your talent and your dignity are..."

"Maybe there will be such a day, but I don't really care, it's enough for me to have you and the children by my side." Agron replied casually, "Teresa, you don't need to worry about me, it's hard for you to come here. Just go and have fun, it's really beautiful here."

"It's very beautiful and beautiful, and it fits my imagination. I feel that I can definitely open my eyes, and I'm already looking forward to it..." Teresa replied with a smile, and then she suddenly changed the conversation, "But... Aegron, its beauty is meaningful only when you watch it with me, otherwise what is the difference between it and the ruins of Babylon?"

After speaking, she stood on tiptoe and kissed her husband on the cheek.

Then she blushed slightly and looked at the young man in front of her. "If you're not happy, I'm not happy either."

Looking at his wife's face, Aegron was instantly moved.

All the unhappiness, grievances and anger accumulated during this period of time also vanished in an instant.

Yes, there are people in this world who will love me unconditionally and tolerate me.

As long as there is such a thing, it is worth it.

So he did not regret his original decision, and decided to continue to persevere.

So he hugged Teresa and kissed her like no one else was around.

The servants and tourists around him all looked sideways. But he didn't realize it.

After a while, the two's lips parted again, and by this time, Teresa's cheeks were flushed with shame.

But the gleaming look in her eyes was enough to reveal the excitement in her heart.

"I love you." She said it again.

Then, the two of them visited Piazza San Marco together.

Soon the tide began to rise and flooded the grounds of Piazza San Marco, so they walked up the arch bridge together and continued to enjoy the views along the way.

However, soon, they received an invitation from the Governor's Palace.

So they took a boat, walked through the dense water network in Venice, and drifted towards the Doge's Palace.

After 1815, with the collapse of Napoleon's Empire, Austria recaptured the Lombardy region centered on Milan, and established the Lombard-Venetian Kingdom on its own Italian territory, with the Austrian Emperor as the head of state.

Although Lombardy and Venice were incorporated into one country, in fact the two regions still had their own set of parallel governments, and the Austrian royal family sent a governor to oversee the operation of the kingdom.

The current governor is the Grand Duke of Rainer.

He was the twelfth child of the late Emperor Leopold II, and of course the younger brother of Emperor Franz and Archduke Karl, and since 1818 he has remained in the Lombard-Venecia kingdom as governor, representing The Emperor of Austria ruled this part of Italy.

As the governor, he usually stays in Milan with his family, but sometimes he comes to Venice to perform official duties. Today, because of the arrival of the couple, Archduke Reina received them as a matter of course.

It didn't take long for them to follow the waterway to the magnificent Doge's Palace in Venice. In the distant past, this was the political center of the Republic of Venice, and decisions that affected the whole of Europe were made here.

Even today, when Venice has declined into an Austrian province, the Doge's Palace is still magnificent enough.

Archduke Rainer, who had been waiting here for a long time, kindly received the couple.

Although he did not like the Bonaparte family, he had great respect for his elder brother, Archduke Karl, so it was naturally impossible to neglect his elder brother's daughter and son-in-law.

The Aigrons were treated with great courtesy and had lunch with the Governor.

After lunch, they resumed their sightseeing tour.

First of all, they naturally went to St. Mark's Basilica, not far from the Doge's Palace. This building is a condensed product of the entire glorious history of Venice, and it is also decorated with artistic treasures from Byzantium, which are part of the spoils brought back by the Venetians.

The walls and dome of the church are covered with magnificent golden mosaics, which is also the architectural style that Venice has absorbed from Byzantium. vision.

The two of them watched and chatted while walking, and they were both satisfied with their first long-distance trip in many years.

Aigron walked silently along the church promenade, until a moment later, he suddenly stopped.

"What's wrong, Agron?" Teresa asked curiously.

"Nothing..." Aegron shook his head, then replied, "I'm going to make it easier."

He then left Teresa where she was, and walked along the other side of the corridor to the bathroom, and just as he passed a room, there was a sudden soft noise.

Aigron immediately opened the door and walked in.

This is a confession room, the light is very dim, it is obviously the place where believers usually come to confess to the priest.

At this time, there was a person in the room. She was wearing a nun's costume, and her face was a little blurry.

Aigron looked at each other quietly, and then walked in front of her.

"Chanel, it really is you—" He was a little surprised and sighed.

That's right, this is Chanel, his former maid.

After he decided to marry Teresa and stay in Austria to be with her forever, Chanel was hit by a shattering blow. She tried desperately to persuade Aegron to change his mind and not give up his fate for a mere princess. great cause.

But Aegron had made up his mind and would not change anything.

Desperate Chanel bid farewell to Aegron. She hoped to go elsewhere to find an opportunity for the restoration of the empire. Aegron agreed to her request and gave her a large sum of money as a gift to send her away.

From that day on, Aegron cut off all ties between himself and the empire, and from now on he will only live for himself.

Chanel has not heard from her since then, but he did not expect to meet her in Venice today.

When he saw her gesturing to him in the church just now, he thought he was blinded, but he still decided to take a look, and it turned out to be her.

Aegron carefully looked at Chanel in front of him.

She is still so pretty, but perhaps because of her long-term practice and wandering outside, her face is a little more determined and calm.

At this moment, she looked very excited, her blue eyes filled with tears.

"Your Majesty... how are you?" she asked in a trembling voice.

"I...not bad." Aigron nodded, and then asked the other party, "Is everything that happened today a coincidence? Did you really come to Venice to be a nun?"

"No... Of course not, the empire has not been revived yet, how can I hide from the world?" Chanel shook his head with a smile, "We found out about your whereabouts and knew that you were coming to Venice, so we will wait here for you first."

"Wait for me, what are you doing?" Aegron asked calmly.

"We can take you away." Chanel replied.

Then, her breathing became more and more rapid, "Your Majesty, didn't you notice? Now is the best time for you to escape. There are countless places for you to hide in Venice, as long as you leave Venice, you can get complete freedom of movement!"

Although she spoke upliftingly, Aegron remained calm and showed no signs of being moved.

"Get out of here... for what?" he asked again.

"What?" Chanel smiled stunned, as if she didn't think it was necessary to ask. "Of course I'm going to revive the empire! Although I live in Austria, your news is definitely not blocked, right? The Bourbon Dynasty is over, and the Orleans family has ascended the throne, but their position is not stable, and now the people are everywhere. Missing the Empire, France is calling you, don't you hear it?"

"Sorry, I don't care about this anymore." Agron shook his head calmly, "I remember I made it very clear - from the day I married Theresa, I had nothing to do with France. , she can become whatever she wants to become."

Chanel's face suddenly turned pale.

"How can you say that?" she asked Aigron in a low voice, "you are the only son of the late emperor, the heir of the Bonaparte family, and the emperor who does his part in the empire... How can you abandon your obligations, abandon such a How willing are your followers to die for you?"

"It is their own choice that they want to restore the empire; and it is my choice that I want to live my own life. Since I respect your choice, I also hope you will respect mine." Aegron was a little unhappy, cold He replied coldly, "You can do whatever you want for the empire, but don't come to me... You have stayed by my side for so long, you should understand how persistent I am, so what did I think back then? What I am thinking now, I will not change my mind!"

After a pause, he asked again, "You just said 'us', who is that?"

"I found your cousins, they...they are all very happy to revive the Empire," Chanel replied.

Then, she reluctantly asked again. "Have you really not changed your mind?"

Aegron replied coldly, "I said it clearly enough."

"You..." A huge sadness suddenly made Chanel burst into tears. She covered her face, unable to speak for a while.

Aigron just stood there, quietly watching her cry.

After a while, Chanel finally controlled her emotions. She raised her head and looked at the handsome young man in front of her with a mixture of pity, reproach and helplessness.

"Your Majesty, I love you. Although I don't deserve to love you in my capacity, but I do love you. You are the first person in the world who treats me so well, and you are so talented that I am deeply impressed. The people I admire... those days when I stayed by your side were the happiest times in my life."

After saying this, a sense of disillusionment made her close her eyes, "But I didn't expect that you, who are so ambitious and eager for power, would choose to back down before a marriage! How easily did a woman bewitch you?! Could it be that you mocked your own ambitions so easily? You obviously could become an emperor, but you have shrunk yourself in a volute..."

"For me, this is the happiest volute." Aegron interrupted her, "You want an emperor? Yes, you want it, but what you want more is an idol! A response to you Your expectations, carry out your aspirations, the idol of revenge for you, you have imposed all your fantasies and fantasies on me, forcing me to give up the life I want and fight for a lost dream... no , I choose to live for myself, Chanel, unfortunately, but that's my decision."

Chanel knew that it would be useless to say anything since it was mentioned, so she lowered her head and sat on the chair to cry silently.

After crying for a while, she asked Aegron with red and swollen eyes.

"Then can you write a personal letter? You allow your cousin to act in the name of the family of Bonaparte, and your followers to swear allegiance to him."

Agron froze for a moment.

At this time, he understood that Chanel and the others also made preparations - the best result is to take themselves away, but if it is impossible, they ask for an authorization from themselves to obtain the name of acting alone.

Now that he has reached this point, of course he will not embarrass Chanel any more.

"Well, you can do whatever you want with confidence, as long as it doesn't involve me."

Aigron asked Chanel to take out the prepared pen and paper, and then wrote a short letter in the dim light.

Chanel accepted the letter, but there was no happy expression on his face, instead the tears were still flowing.

"Your Majesty, you...you can change your mind at any time." She carefully received the letter, then left such a sentence, and finally disappeared.

With a trance-like illusory feeling, Aigron walked out of the room and followed the corridor back to where Teresa was separated, while his wife was still waiting for him there.

As soon as he saw Teresa, Aegron's heart suddenly became calm.

He reluctantly pulled himself together and smiled, then walked to his wife's side.

"Sorry, Teresa, for keeping you waiting."

"It's okay, Agron." Teresa smiled, then reached out and stroked her husband's cheek.

Then, she asked in a low voice, "Did you have a good chat with Chanel just now?"

Aigron's expression suddenly changed.

"I actually saw her just now, but it was vague and unsure at the time... But from your demeanor and behavior, I naturally guessed it." Teresa explained to her husband in a low voice.

Then, as if afraid of her husband's worries, she added, "Don't worry, I didn't tell anyone... what just happened didn't exist."

Aegron was instantly relieved.

He was not worried about what happened to him, but worried that Chanel and the others would be arrested. Since Teresa hadn't uncovered the matter, then it wouldn't matter.

"Just now, we had a little quarrel." He explained to his wife softly, "but now the quarrel is over, she has left."

"Is she still not giving up? She's so persistent... This kind of loyalty is quite admirable." Teresa nodded gently, "You rejected them again?"

"Yes, the same as back then..." Aegron nodded, "Since I have made a decision, I should stick to it."

"Have you ever regretted it?" Teresa suddenly asked in a low voice.

Aegron did not answer immediately, but looked at his wife.

"It would be a lie to say that I have never regretted it for a moment. But I don't know what happened. When I saw you and touched you..." As he said, he stretched out his hand and stroked it gently. Wife's hair, "I have no regrets, I think it's pretty good, at least I can be satisfied."

"Really...?" Teresa asked in surprise.

Then, she hugged Aegron and buried her head in his arms, listening to his heartbeat. "Aigron, I know you have sacrificed a lot for me, so I am willing to sacrifice everything to repay you, I just hate that I don't repay enough, making you unhappy sometimes... So I am very worried and afraid. "

"What are you afraid of?" Aegron was a little surprised.

"I'm afraid that you will take back your original decision." Teresa replied in a sullen voice in his arms, "Sometimes I have nightmares, dreaming that you were bewitched by those careerists, suddenly left our home, and ran to a me where we couldn't find it, and then we parted... God, what would I do if this happened to me?"

Then, she raised her head again and looked at her husband with tears in her eyes, "Aigron, promise me...you won't leave me no matter what? Even if you want to escape from this, you must tell me, because I I would rather be a criminal who betrayed the Empire than be separated from you! I am on your side, and I am also Bonaparte!"

Aigron almost cried when he heard it.

He stroked her back gently, like a frightened kitten.

"Silly girl...I won't take it back, we'll be together forever, just like it's always been. You're right, we still have too long, long enough for us to slowly enjoy and reminisce, alright... let's continue Travel."

"Okay, dear." Teresa laughed.

There was no one around, except for the magnificent dome of St. Mark's Basilica, which echoed the tenderness of the young couple.