Time passed by unconsciously, and December 24th came in a blink of an eye.
Tomorrow is Christmas. Although it is still daytime, people everywhere in the palace are decorating with lights to welcome the arrival of this grand festival.
However, Aigron will not appear in the palace celebration this time. He will be invited by the Archduke Karl and his family to go to the Albertina Palace to spend Christmas with their family.
Just like the last time he visited Archduke Karl's manor, Chanel helped him pack up his gifts, but this time the atmosphere between the two people was completely different.
Because after today, Chanel will bid farewell to Aigron temporarily and be exiled from the palace.
According to Eggron's arrangement, she will be escorted to Vienna, and then she will have complete freedom of movement.
Everyone believed that the palace maid who had offended His Royal Highness Sophie would bid farewell to the wealth and prosperity of the world, leave the country in despair, and would never appear in people's memories again; no one would have thought that she Together with the traitors from foreign countries, they will be lurking in the capital of the empire, waiting to escape with His Highness.
Although this was part of the plan, Agron was still a little uneasy - since the two met, he had already become accustomed to Chanel being by his side, and her loyalty and diligence saved him too much energy. , and the days of getting along day and night also cultivated the relationship between the two people.
To him, this feeling might not be called love, but it was enough to make him care about Chanel's safety.
If everything goes well, that's fine. They will meet up in a few days and then escape the country together; but if everything goes wrong or even fails, then everything will be unpredictable, and maybe Chanel will even pay the price with his life.
He absolutely didn't want to see this happen.
So... we have to get it done no matter what.
As he watched silently, Chanel helped him pack his things.
"Your Highness, I wish you all the best." She turned around and greeted Aigron, "I will take the first step, and I just ask God to let you return to us safely as soon as possible and lead us to victory!"
Although she intended to make her words seem exciting and passionate, her expression looked quite melancholy and she looked like she was about to cry. It was obvious that she was more reluctant to separate the two of them than the young man.
No rare treasure can repay this kind of loyalty! Aiglon thought.
"Chanel, don't worry, we will succeed." He stretched out his hand and patted Chanel's shoulder to encourage him, "You just left before me. This is not sad. On the contrary, it means that we are only one step away from success! And we will have more and greater successes in the future, just wait and see, I will do my best to reward you."
"Yes, Your Highness, I firmly believe... I believe in you more than anyone else in the world." Chanel nodded, looking up at the person she admired with extremely sincere eyes, "I said, the greatest reward I wish for is , that is, with your permission, I can always be by your side and take care of you. I want to stand closer than others and watch you succeed. This is the greatest honor that God can bestow on me."
"Well, if you wish, you will get it." Aigron nodded in emotion and agreed to the other party's request.
"By the way, I have something else to give you." Chanel suddenly remembered something.
"what?"
Aigron asked as he watched Chanel walk to a cabinet and carefully opened the mezzanine inside.
Then, he was shocked to find that Chanel was actually holding a pistol!
This pistol is quite compact, with beautiful lines and carved patterns on the wooden handle. It is more like an art craft than a weapon.
But even so this is something that can kill.
"Why do you have this thing?" Aigron was shocked.
"His Highness wanted you to have a backup self-defense tool when you escaped, so he insisted on me bringing it to you." Chanel replied in a low voice, "I hid it under my skirt and brought it in."
Then she added, "Your Highness, it is always a good thing to have multiple preparations. You can use them to deal with emergencies..."
If there really is an "in case of emergency", what's the point of having an extra pistol in your hand? Aiglon smiled bitterly in his heart.
But he still accepted the gift. After all, multiple weapons are better than none.
"Okay, Chanel, thank him for being so considerate for me when I see him." He nodded, and then hid the pistol with his own hands.
Then he looked at the time.
It's time to say goodbye.
"Goodbye, Chanel." He said goodbye briefly.
"Goodbye, Your Highness!" Chanel bowed deeply and saluted, then walked out of the room.
Next, she will go to Vienna, escorted by Captain Foresti, Egron's teacher.
With a complicated mood of heavy yet inexplicable relief, Aigron stood by the window sill and witnessed Chanel boarding an inconspicuous carriage and embarking on the road to leave Schonbrunn Palace.
Regardless of whether she wins or loses, this is her final farewell to this palace.
And I... there is no way out.
After a while, Aigron walked out of the room with his suitcase, then boarded another carriage and headed to the Albertina Palace in Vienna.
After a short journey, he arrived at the palace in the city center.
He stepped off the carriage and walked up the stairs to the palace gate.
Not long after, Teresa, who had been notified, came to the door to welcome His Highness.
"Your Highness!" Teresa called, quickening her pace and walking in front of the young man, then raised her head and looked at him with a smile on her face. “Welcome to visit us!”
Today, Teresa was just like the previous palace ball, wearing a luxurious dress and a diamond necklace around her neck. Against the backdrop of the jewels, her whole body looked radiant.
Seeing this smile, a lot of the tension that had accumulated in Aigron's heart suddenly disappeared.
"I should be thanking you for inviting me." Aiglon replied with a smile, while looking up at the palace behind her, "You guys are really grand here."
"It doesn't get any more grand than the Royal Palace. You grew up in Schönbrunn Palace, how could you ever meet someone less grand?" Teresa replied with a smile, "Okay, I'll take you in. My father and mother are waiting. and you!"
So Aigron followed Theresa into the door.
As soon as they entered the porch, Aegron saw the statue of Athena standing on the opposite wall.
This goddess of divine wisdom and extraordinary martial strength was holding a spear and wearing a helmet, looking sideways at the visitors with awe-inspiring eyes.
Under the guidance of Teresa, Agron passed by the statue of the goddess, then walked into the door to the left of the statue and entered a long corridor.
There is a long red carpet in the middle of the corridor. There is a Roman-style marble column at a distance on both sides, and there is a statue of Mars, the god of war, at the entrance of the corridor.
He had short curly hair and wore a Roman-style robe. He sat upright on the stone with his body naked, and beside his feet were stone-carved helmets and shields.
There are many busts placed between the columns in the corridor. When passing through the corridor, it is like admiring the sculpture art gallery.
Teresa deliberately slowed down her pace so that Aiglon could have enough time to appreciate these sculptures. She was also happy to spend more time alone with His Highness in this name.
While strolling, the two people came to the end of the corridor, and there were two sphinx statues at the end - the upper body was a girl, and the lower body was a lion, which looked quite enchanting.
"Does it look good?" Teresa asked.
"It's pretty good-looking." Aigron nodded.
"Then you can come often in the future. After all, there are many collections here, which will be enough for you to look at for a long time!" Teresa said with a smile.
Then, the two people climbed the high steps to the second floor of the palace, where the Grand Duke, his wife and their children lived.
In the same style as downstairs, there are two statues of Muses in the front hall on the second floor, the one on the left holding a lyre and the one on the right holding a flute.
After entering the front hall, they passed several rooms and then came to a small room.
The tapestry in this room is mainly red in color, and there are sofas and coffee tables. It looks like a place where families usually gather together to drink tea. There are also several portraits hanging on the walls.
"Your Highness, let's wait here, they will come right away!" Teresa said to Agron.
"Okay." Aigron nodded and agreed.
Then, his eyes couldn't help but look at the portrait on the wall.
The two largest paintings are portraits of a man and a woman. The man wears a military uniform, has pigtails popular in the eighteenth century, and wears ribbons and medals; while the woman wears a luxurious skirt popular in the Rococo era and holds a An ivory folding fan, her hair was tied up to an exaggerated height, and she also wore a blue bow hair accessory.
"These are the Duke and Duchess of Cieszyn of the previous generation, my father's adoptive parents." Teresa explained to Agron when she saw this. "They adopted my father because they had no heirs, and finally passed this place to him. . In the future, the portraits of my parents will be hung side by side here for future generations to admire."
"The painting is very good." Aigron complimented smoothly.
"That's natural. This is the work of Alexandre Roslin." Theresa took his casual politeness seriously, so she explained to him seriously, "This painter is the great French painter François Boucher." He is a disciple who is particularly good at figure painting. At that time, it would have cost a lot of money to invite him to paint."
Although Aigron is not very interested in painting and sculpture, the education he received since childhood naturally included the art field.
Of course he had heard of the names of master and disciple.
Francois Boucher himself was also a famous painting master in the Rococo era and was highly sought after by the upper class. The most famous portrait of Madame Pompadour in the world is his masterpiece.
The female portraits painted by this pair of masters and apprentices are lifelike, noble, and possess the unique charm of women. They are truly superb and have become a distinct mark of the magnificent Rococo era.
It's a pity that that magnificent era has long gone forever. Although there are only a few decades between the current era, after the baptism of Europe by the Great Revolution, the two eras seem to be as if they were separated from each other in the future. There are no such exaggerated and gorgeous architectural styles and decorations.
Even people's hairstyles and clothing have changed. Men have basically had short hair, and women no longer have the exaggerated hairstyles they used to.
While Aiglon and Teresa were chatting, there was another sound of footsteps at the door. Then, the door opened, and Archduke Karl and his wife appeared in front of them.
Aigron did not dare to neglect and saluted them quickly.
Archduke Karl did not speak, but glanced at him indifferently, and then nodded slightly as a greeting.
The Grand Duchess Henrietta was much more enthusiastic.
"Franz!" She happily called the boy's name, then walked up to him and hugged him, then put her arms around him and looked at the young man carefully.
Then she smiled and sighed, "Ah, it's been a long time since we last met, but our little Highness has become more handsome!"
Henrietta's enthusiasm made Agron a little uncomfortable, but of course he wouldn't show it.
"You are as beautiful and as amiable as the last time I saw you, Your Highness." He complimented the lady with a smile. "I would be more than happy to be your guest."
"Don't be so polite! We don't want to treat you like a guest." Looking at the young man's smile, Henrietta nodded happily, and then laughed herself. "This holiday, I'm afraid our whole family will be happier if you are here."
"I am very happy to be accepted into a happy family to celebrate the holidays. This is a novel experience for me, and it is even a dream opportunity." Aigron looked at the lady with expectant eyes, "Your Highness, Although this is only the second time we have met, you are much kinder to me than my mother."
This is not a lie. After all, it is a well-known fact that the relationship between him and his mother is bad. Anyone who knows the inside story will not blame the young man for being ruthless, but will only pity him for lacking maternal love since childhood. .
"Who could be unkind to a delightful child like you?" Henrietta replied with a smile.
Then, the lady winked her right eye and said to him as if joking, "If you like, I can treat you like a mother."
Then she looked at her husband again, "My dear, please say a few words to His Highness. Tonight is Christmas Eve. Do you still want to continue your inexplicable anger and make everyone unhappy?"
Under the intense gaze of his wife, Archduke Karl had to force himself to smile ugly. "Franz, I hope you enjoy your stay with us."
"He just has a childish temper recently." Henrietta explained to Agron again, "Actually, he is very concerned about you and is always trying to help you."
"I will always remember the help the Grand Duke gave me." Aigron replied with a smile. "Besides, I can understand his mood. If I had a daughter as cute and smart as Teresa, I would also hate my inexplicable behavior." From the guy who ran over.”
"What, are you talking about love in front of us?" The Grand Duchess pretended to be annoyed and glared at him.
Then, she looked at Theresa again, as if she was teasing her.
Although Teresa blushed slightly, she did not avoid her mother's gaze, as if she was very proud of the young man's words.
"Teresa, go and make us some coffee -" the lady said with a smile, "let your highness try the skills you have recently learned."
