Water vapor filled the small bathroom, isolating it from the outside world, and everything seemed to be plunged into a hazy mist, both real and illusory.
Agron and Teresa sat side by side in the bathtub, letting the hot water and steam soak into every inch of their skin, enjoying the intoxicating comfort.
They weren't talking, just enjoying each other's space.
Originally, Aigron just wanted to enjoy his own leisure for a while, but now he found that with Teresa by his side, this feeling was also very good, even more wonderful.
Although it seems ridiculous to talk about "lifetime" at this age, he has already determined in his heart that this is the partner he will spend his life with in the future - he believes that Teresa recognized this earlier than he did.
Therefore, he not only has an obligation to create a better future for himself, but also for her and their future families.
This gave him a whole new level of motivation.
"Your Highness...?" At this moment, Teresa suddenly opened her eyes and looked at him.
"Well, what's the matter?" Aigron asked.
"What are you going to do with those Greeks next?" Teresa asked in a low voice. "As far as I can see today, the Kolokotronis family is not completely in control of the situation. Although they launched a coup and temporarily took control of the government and parliament, they probably don't know how many people support them."
When Aiglon came ashore and talked with Panos Colokotronis, Teresa also mixed in with the crowd and looked around.
She keenly discovered that although the scene to welcome the young people was grand, there was no participation from the local people and the guards were tight everywhere. In addition, she also inquired with Edmond Dantès and learned about the current status of Colocotronis and his son.
The more she learned about the situation, the more worried she became.
Although they are invited to Greece as distinguished guests at this moment, no one knows how long this glory can last - if the Kolokotronis family suddenly loses power, wouldn't Aiglon be in an embarrassing situation next?
"Theresa, don't worry, Greece has always been like this. There are many factions among them, fighting with each other, and no one obeys anyone." After hearing Theresa's worries, Agron laughed instead, "At least we are not It didn’t make the situation worse.”
"Then how do you plan to prevent it?" Teresa asked, "You can't just ignore everything and just rely on luck, right?"
Aigron hesitated.
Finally he decided that he would not hide anything from Teresa.
"Teresa, in fact, I have just ordered Edmond to continue to maintain contact with the opposition. I will not just bet in one place. If Kolokotronis and his son can maintain their status, then we will cooperate happily; if they are not worthy of continuing to cooperate, then I will find someone else who is willing to support me. In short, now that I am here, it is not that easy to drive me away. "
"If that's the case, that would be best." Teresa immediately felt relieved, "Your Highness, as long as you are not dazzled by the temporary success and can continue to act rationally, then I will be relieved. We are still In a harsh environment, there is no time to celebrate or relax, so please continue to be as prudent as before."
Theresa's words touched Aigron's heart - Theresa was probably the only one around him who dared to say these words to him now.
Since gaining freedom and beginning to expand his power, he has used both soft and hard tactics to subdue all his subordinates and cousins. They have all been loyal to him and recognized his authority, but this also means that they will deliberately avoid those who You might not be happy hearing about the topic.
If a person stays in such an environment for too long, he may lose his prudent judgment over time, become arrogant, only believe in his own judgment, and disregard the opinions of others.
Therefore, in order to avoid this situation, he needs someone around him who dares to speak out to him at any time - Teresa is just the right person.
At least he definitely didn't have to worry about the starting point of Theresa's actions.
"I will, Theresa." He nodded.
Then, he took another deep breath and stood up from the pool.
"Your Highness, are you leaving?" Teresa asked reluctantly.
"Yes, I have been here for so long, and time waits for no one. Next, Panos Colokotronis will host a banquet for me - this must be a very boring event, but I have to be there.”
"I understand." Teresa nodded, "Those Greeks will definitely flatter you."
"It would be nice if they just flattered me." Aigron laughed disdainfully, "They will also try to find out my true and false status in every possible way, and try to get benefits from me. If I don't pay attention, I will fall into the trap. Let Byron end up like that."
"Byron's situation?" Theresa immediately became interested and asked quickly.
"Yes, Theresa." Agron shrugged, "You read and read poetry in a study in Vienna, so you may have a lot of romantic imagination about Mr. Byron's experience in Greece, but I'm sorry that in the real world Much uglier than the romantic dream world..."
Then, he briefly explained Byron's experience to Theresa.
Byron's experience, simply put, does illustrate the poet's confusion after coming into contact with the real world.
He went to live in Genoa, Italy. At that time, the Greek War of Independence was just beginning, and a like-minded friend persuaded him to participate in this great cause.
After hesitating for a while, he finally decided to join the war.
Then, he devoted himself to it with the full enthusiasm of a poet. He rented a ship and came to Greece, and then used his own money to sponsor the fleet of the Greek rebels, desperately trying to help the Greeks' independence cause.
However, as time went by, he gradually discovered that the Greek independence movement was not as wonderful as he imagined, and there was no Greek nation that was united and enthusiastic about revolution to regain freedom from the invaders.
The revolutionary army was divided into many factions, fighting each other openly and secretly, and sometimes even fighting with swords and guns. Byron had to spend a large part of his energy on convincing the rebels of these different factions to unite.
And these different factions did not respect the poet too much. They saw a naive British rich man spreading money everywhere, and completely regarded him as a scapegoat. They also wanted to use the poet's reputation as their own brand to win over the European powers. support.
As a result, various factions rushed to win over him. The leaders of each faction wrote to Byron, hoping that Byron would join their faction, saying that only they were the real revolutionaries, and other factions were fakes or bandits, so Byron We can only cooperate with him and then seek financial support from him.
Receiving such quarrelsome letters every day made Byron dizzy. He didn't know which faction was right, but he correctly judged that the Greeks were in disarray and spent more time fighting among themselves rather than fighting against the Ottoman enemies. He believed that no one of them could win Greece's independence. , Later Byron even witnessed the fighting between the two factions of the Revolutionary Army, and then sighed helplessly in his documents.
Since the "revolutionaries" could not afford his ideals, and he was unwilling to back down from the battle, he had to bite the bullet, shoulder various responsibilities, build an army and maintain the expenses of the army, and even find ways to solve the problem. Supply of military supplies.
The revolutionary leaders had no money to pay their soldiers, so many soldiers came to Byron for money. He spent most of his wealth on military pay alone. Later, the revolutionary cause did not progress smoothly, and Byron almost ran out of money. In order to raise funds for the revolution, he sold his ancestral estate in Scotland and planned to use all the money for the Greek independence movement.
In a poor place like Greece, when a rich British man suddenly fell from the sky, people naturally wanted to get benefits from him, so inexplicable people often flocked to Byron and asked for money under various pretexts. In the end, he had no choice but to complain in letters to his friends and business agents, admitting that he was overwhelmed.
Finally, after spending all his wealth and going through untold hardships, he finally formed an army that began to take shape. He planned to use this army to attack the Turks and add glory to Greece's independent cause. However, in this battle, Before the military operation began, he unfortunately contracted pneumonia due to exposure to the rain and eventually died.
Therefore, in order to realize his ideal, the poet Byron actually paid a heavy price until he paid his own life, and his independent career could only end in an anticlimactic manner.
After taking a moment, Agron briefly described Byron's experience to Theresa, and then he summarized it rather harshly -
"So Teresa, I will learn from Byron's lesson. I will never take their flattery seriously, and I will never open my wallet for them easily. No doubt I am happy to support my friends, but if I If I agree to the demands of these people, it won’t be long before I end up in the same predicament as Byron.” Aigron sneered and said, “No amount of money can make up for the greed of human nature. This is a bottomless pit. These Greeks People are by no means worthy of my spending all my money to support them, I just want to get corresponding things from them."
Teresa listened quietly to Aigron's description, with mixed feelings in her heart.
I both admire Byron's sacrifice and courage, and feel sorry that his efforts were so let down.
In the end, she could only sigh helplessly.
"I see... I understand. It seems that the people here are worse than I thought... God knows how their great ancestors now have such descendants? They once created a great civilization, and now But to be in such a situation..."
"If future generations fail to live up to expectations, what can the ancestors do? Time will change a lot of things, Teresa." Aigron shrugged and replied with a sneer. "So, I don't expect much from them. I just want a fair deal, give what I have, and then use them to achieve my purpose. And that's enough! They really don't deserve my high hopes."
Then, he waved his hand again, "I know very well that the only people I can really rely on are the members of the Knights I selected. These people are truly loyal to me and are willing to go through fire and water for me. In addition to glory and wealth, they also work for others. They gathered under my command. When encountering difficulties, most of them will unite around me and follow me to overcome those difficulties instead of disappearing in droves. Therefore, I will never let those Greeks If it interferes with the command between me and my knights, my force can only be used by myself, and no one can ever get involved!"
In the hazy mist, Teresa silently looked at the young man's proud and arrogant expression.
She has always been fascinated by young people, and now she is even more fascinated by them.
She was convinced that His Highness would do better than Byron.
Because His Highness has this talent.
"You are absolutely right, Your Highness." She couldn't help but sneer, "But you'd better put on your clothes quickly, it won't be good if you catch a cold."
Only then did Aigron realize that he was posing naked. He felt a little ashamed and quickly picked up a towel from the side of the bath and wrapped it around himself.
It's time to end this short break and devote himself to his career again.
He was neither excited nor timid, he simply performed his duties as naturally as breathing.
"I'm leaving first. You can continue taking a bath, Theresa." He waved goodbye to Theresa. "I'm sorry that I can't bring you to everyone to introduce you now, but there will be a day soon when everyone will surround you and flatter you."
"No amount of flattery can compare to a conversation with you." Teresa replied, "Your Highness, let me tell you one more news."
"What news?" Aigron asked.
"I have written to my mother." Teresa lowered her voice again. "I told her that I have come to Greece with you and that we are going to fight for a great cause. I begged her Try to help us who are far away, say something good for our cause, and if you have any news, tell me as soon as possible.”
It is conceivable that now that Aiglon has publicly landed in Greece, the news will spread immediately, and it will soon become sensational news spreading throughout Europe - maybe at this moment, there are many Couriers are already on their way to European capitals.
So Teresa doesn’t think this is a leak.
On the contrary, if he can get the secret support of her mother, then at least he will have one more source of information through which he can understand the movements of the Austrian government.
This is indeed a huge help.
In addition... there is another thing that Aigron is more concerned about.
"Does your father know?" he asked hesitantly.
"I didn't know before, I didn't tell him, but he will definitely know after mom receives the letter." Theresa replied, "As for whether he will help you next, I don't know."
"I don't dare to count on this." Aigron replied with a wry smile, "However, if I can get his forgiveness, I will be very happy."
"What can't be forgiven now? He will definitely do it." Teresa asked confidently.
Then, she lowered her head dejectedly, "However, I think he won't be able to attend our wedding... I hope mom can come."
"It doesn't matter, he will see me one day." Aigron replied, "I will tell him that I will never live up to his expectations."
