Seeing what the Grand Duke said, Major Hench also knew that there was no point in saying anything more. The other party had already made a decision.
Although he had only met him once, he had a pretty good impression of Duke Lechstadt. Even if His Highness later committed the "crime" of absconding abroad, his impression still did not change.
After all, everyone knows that His Highness is called a member of the royal family, but in reality he is no different than a prisoner. It is natural for him to be resentful and want to regain his freedom.
Archduke Karl asked him to help His Highness, and he had no resistance in his heart - the Grand Duke was right. His Highness is indeed not an enemy of the empire now. Even if he wanted to do so, he didn't have the ability, so he could help him himself. Not treason.
Although everyone knows that he definitely wants to be restored, he is still far from the throne at the moment...
Even if his innocent dream comes true someday in the future and he really wants to avenge the humiliation of the past, it doesn't matter if everyone comes back to decide the outcome.
The safety of Her Royal Highness Princess Theresa is more important now.
After making up his mind, he no longer held back, but looked at the Grand Duke sincerely and made a guarantee. "Your Highness, please rest assured. Since this is your request, and since Princess Teresa needs help, it is my duty to do so. I will make arrangements now, and I will definitely fulfill your wish to the letter."
"Very good." Looking at his sincere expression, Archduke Karl was slightly moved, "Then I'll leave it to you. You act quickly, the sooner the better."
"Okay!" Major Hench whistled, his smile becoming more ferocious due to the pull of the scar. "Okay, you go to have lunch with me first, everyone is waiting for you to appear!"
"Yes." Archduke Karl nodded.
Then he sighed again, "It would be great if he stayed here, how much trouble you and I could save..."
After having lunch with the veterans, Archduke Karl ended his inspection and returned to his manor in a carriage.
And his wife, Grand Duchess Henrietta, had long been looking forward to her husband's return.
As soon as he got home, his wife immediately came to him.
"Honey, how are you?" she asked slightly nervously.
"It went smoothly." The Grand Duke nodded slightly. "Hengqi was easier to talk to than I expected. He agreed to my order after a little hesitation. He said that he would select people immediately and leave as soon as he is ready."
"That's great... The people you sent there must be veterans, so Teresa's side will be much easier to deal with." Madam let out a long sigh of relief, her brows filled with joy. "His Highness will definitely be very grateful to us."
"Does it mean anything to me whether he is grateful or not?" Archduke Karl asked impatiently, "Okay, I've finished what you asked me to do, just let me take a break."
After finishing speaking, he sat down on the sofa angrily and closed his eyes to rest.
Henrietta knew that her husband was unhappy at the moment, so she let him rest. She walked to the desk, picked up paper and pen and started writing a letter to her daughter who was far away.
She was so focused, sometimes smiling, as if the tip of her pen could gather and pour out her own emotions.
It is this lady who works secretly, advocating for His Highness while trying her best to provide support for her daughter. She is strategizing like a real general. A mother's love for her children is really touching.
After finishing the letter, she looked at her husband who was still concentrating with his eyes closed.
"Judging from the letter Theresa sent me, His Highness's career is going quite smoothly! While recruiting his own forces, he has also established relations with the locals... It seems that his abilities are not limited to poetry and swordsmanship. It’s not easy for us to find such a son-in-law.”
Although he was unwilling to admit it, Archduke Karl also knew that his wife was right. His prospective son-in-law was indeed unrivaled among his peers and was worthy of Theresa.
It's a pity that such talents cannot be used by the empire... If he was willing to act according to his own ideas, wouldn't everything be perfect?
"I have said before that our daughter might be able to become the queen." At this time, the wife's words came to Archduke Karl's ears again, and the tone was quite firm, "It seems that one day it will come true."
"Don't mention whether the queen is a queen or not. Let's save herself now." Archduke Karl replied angrily, "That bastard is dreaming. Are you going to dream too?"
"Can't you send even a few good wishes to our daughter?" The lady frowned, looking like she was about to scold her husband again.
Just when the couple was about to quarrel again, fortunately, a servant knocked on the door and solved this small crisis.
"Come in!" the lady shouted.
Then, a servant came in, first bowed respectfully to the Grand Duke and his wife, and then respectfully handed over a letter. "Madam, this was just sent from the palace."
The grand duke and his wife looked at each other, then asked the servant to leave. Then the lady picked up the envelope and opened it directly, then took out the letter paper and read it carefully.
The content of the letter seemed to be quite short, and the lady read it in one go. However, she seemed very surprised, raised her head, and looked at her husband blankly.
"Whose letter is this? What does it say?" Archduke Karl couldn't help but asked anxiously.
"It's... it's a letter written by Her Royal Highness Sophie." Madam came back to her senses and replied softly, "She requested us to visit here tomorrow."
"What?" Archduke Karl was also very surprised. He took the letter and looked at it carefully.
And the content is exactly what the lady said, she hopes to come and visit her.
Although he had never seen Princess Sophie's handwriting before, judging from the texture of the letter's paper and the wording, it must be that of the prince and concubine.
However, he had no interaction with her at all. What did she want to do when she came to visit?
For the couple, this was an unexpected development.
For a moment, both the couple were a little confused, and no one knew how to deal with it.
"I remember that Teresa made a special trip to visit her before she left." After a moment, the lady said slightly suspiciously. "Although I didn't know what the two of them said at the time, they didn't look like they were having a pleasant conversation..."
That's even more strange. Since the two of them don't have a good relationship, why do they still come to visit? The Grand Duke was getting more and more strange.
"Maybe they have a relationship." Madam whispered.
"The two of them rarely meet each other, so where does their friendship come from?" Archduke Karl asked.
"How do I know? Maybe our daughter has some contact with her in private?" Mrs. Henrietta shook her head, "Anyway, there is no point in guessing so much. Let's prepare."
It was obvious that as Princess Sophie, although she was only asking for a visit, she could not refuse as a matter of etiquette - and they could not think of any reasonable reason for refusing.
-------------------------------------------------- --
The next morning, as a palace carriage slowly drove into the manor, Princess Sophie arrived as promised, and she was naturally given a grand reception by Archduke Karl and his wife.
Under the guidance of the maid, Her Royal Highness came to the living room of the Grand Duke and his wife.
In the eyes of the couple, Her Royal Highness Sophie today is wearing a light blue silk dress and a hat decorated with ribbons on her head. She is beautiful and elegant, but her expression is calm. There was a bit of gloominess, and the slightly frowning brow seemed to be filled with uncontrollable sadness.
Although the Grand Duke and his wife belong to the same royal family as her, their interactions with each other are limited to various ceremonial occasions and they do not have much contact with each other. Judging from their previous impressions, His Highness has always been energetic and even a little arrogant. , it is indeed a bit strange to look like this now.
I heard that she had been seriously ill before, maybe it was because of this.
"Your Highness, Madam, I took the liberty of coming to disturb you. I'm really sorry..." As soon as she saw the couple, she lifted her skirt and saluted gracefully, "I ask for your understanding."
"It's our honor that you can visit us." Archduke Karl replied politely, "I'm just worried that our hospitality is not good enough, so that you won't be able to return happily."
"Happy..." Princess Sophie suddenly smiled bitterly, "You don't have to worry about this, because I am not happy anywhere, so it is definitely not your responsibility."
Before the Grand Duke and his wife could ask her what she meant, she suddenly changed the subject, "I heard that you are a big and happy family. Can you let me see your children?"
The Grand Duke and Madame looked at each other again.
Princess Sophie's sudden visit and sudden request were both unusual.
Could it be that the palace already knew that Teresa was away, so they came here specifically to question her?
"I really made you laugh. Our children are still young and at an age where they like to make noise, so I let them stay in their own rooms so as not to disturb your mood." Archduke Karl replied calmly.
"Well... maybe the other children are still young, but Theresa is old enough. I think we will have a lot to talk about." Princess Sophie replied with a smile. "Can you please come and have a chat with me?"
Archduke Karl frowned slightly.
It seemed that the palace was aware of Theresa's departure.
Although he didn't expect this matter to be hidden from the world for long from the beginning, when he really faced the reality, it still made him feel a little unhappy.
But this is not right. After all, it stands to reason that even if His Majesty the Emperor wants to accuse himself, Sophie does not need to come over.
Besides, even if you ask questions, what can you do to yourself? Archduke Karl thought to himself as he looked at the other party proudly.
"Then I'm really sorry. Teresa was very depressed because of some previous things, so in order to relax her, I arranged for her to travel elsewhere. It may take a long time to return home, which disappoints you." Since At this point, he didn't care about his attitude anymore, so although his tone was polite, his expression was no longer very polite.
Contrary to the Grand Duke's expectation, Princess Sophie's expression did not show any anger, but instead was mixed with bitterness, helplessness and confusion.
"So... she has indeed gone. She did what she said." She sighed softly.
Then, she looked at the Grand Duke and his wife, "To tell you the truth, when I met Theresa before, she told me that she wanted to leave our country and go to the Duke of Lechstadt."
"What?!" The Grand Duke and his wife looked at each other, shocked by the sudden news.
They never thought that their daughter would have the courage to talk to this highness about such a thing. Is there really any friendship between them?
Archduke Karl thought for a moment, but couldn't figure it out, so he didn't intend to make any detours.
"She...why is she telling you this?"
And when he asked this, it was tantamount to admitting that it was true.
"Why?" Sophie's smile showed a little mocking.
Of course she knew why, but she wasn't going to tell the parents right now - because she still wanted to use their help and didn't want the relationship to break down.
"Well... maybe we have very different personalities, so we appreciate each other." She made up a reason casually, "When she told me about this, I wanted to stop her, so I scolded her... I didn’t expect that she would be so stubborn and insist on doing this.”
Archduke Karl was speechless for a moment.
"Hey, this girl is so willful, what can I do!" In the end, he could only sigh with a wry smile.
Then, he looked at Sophie again, "Okay, now you can see that Teresa has passed. The two of us have been worried all day long, but there is nothing we can do."
"I'm afraid it's more than that..." Sophie asked, "Is there no news from Theresa?"
"What are you implying?" Archduke Karl asked.
"I didn't imply anything, Your Highness." Sophie shook her head gently, "I only know that loving parents like you will never throw their daughter away and just ignore it... so you must still have a relationship with her. There will be correspondence.”
Archduke Karl looked at the princess and couldn't help laughing after a moment.
"That's wonderful! You have some potential to be a police officer!" He laughed and praised, "Maybe, maybe not, so what? Are you here to interrogate me on behalf of His Majesty today?"
"Don't get me wrong..." Sophie waved her hand quickly, "I'm just asking a hypothetical question -"
"Hypothetical?" Archduke Karl was a little confused.
"Assuming that you do have contact with Her Majesty Theresa, and assuming that you really intend to maintain this contact, then you will definitely have a messenger to find Theresa." Princess Sophie said unhurriedly, "Then suppose I want to If I want to send some gifts to Teresa, I can also go through you."
Archduke Karl was stunned again.
"Give her a gift?" he asked in surprise.
"Yes, it's just a thought." Sophie smiled and nodded, "Although I don't agree with her willfulness, I admire her determination and courage, so in order to express this respect and hope for her bright future I wanted to send her some gifts - so I came to you. Oh, by the way, these are all hypothetical and do not involve any reality."
Of course she didn't want to give Theresa a gift, it was just a pretense.
But she needed this cover as an excuse.
Otherwise, she would have to explain the reason... She was not afraid of others knowing about the affair, but God knew how the parents would react now that it was revealed, so she could only play tricks for the time being.
"What do you think?" Sophie looked at Archduke Karl calmly with a smile.
