After her father's reminder, Teresa adjusted her mood, and then cheered up to celebrate the holiday with her family. Christmas at the manor was spent as joyfully as in the past.
Beforehand, in addition to the special gifts for their father, Agron and Teresa also specially prepared some gifts for their wife and children. She distributed them one by one on Christmas Eve, which also made the children cheer for it.
After Christmas, people were quietly waiting for the arrival of the New Year in a few days, but for Teresa, she was already preparing to pack for her departure.
She had already discussed with her father before that she would leave once the New Year was over. As time went by, the longing for her husband was tormenting her and making it more and more unbearable, so she decided to leave on the first day of the New Year. We set off directly the next day in order to reunite the couple as soon as possible.
As for her son, she will stay here for a while - firstly, she is in a hurry, and it is not convenient to take a baby with her; secondly, this is also in response to the father's request, so that he can stay with his grandson for a while.
At this time, other family members finally knew Theresa's plan. Albrecht persuaded his sister to stay a little longer, but Teresa politely refused. Everyone knew her thoughts and stopped persuading her. I brought along the greetings from my family members to His Highness.
And just as the New Year is coming, another unexpected guest comes to the manor - Her Royal Highness Sophie visits again.
Although it was a bit unexpected, guests who came to visit on the first day of the new year should of course be well received according to etiquette, so the Grand Duke and his wife warmly welcomed Her Royal Highness Sophie in.
Just like the last visit, Sophie's attitude was very humble and polite. She just said that she was impatient with the deserted Schönbrunn Palace, so she wanted to visit Teresa's family during this festival to experience the long-lost excitement.
Both Archduke Karl and Theresa were a little skeptical about this statement, but they didn't dare to ask more questions, so they had to cheer up and entertain Sophie. After a while, Sophie hinted that she wanted to talk to Theresa alone.
So Theresa took Sophie out of the living room and came to the study - exactly where the two of them talked last time.
"Your Highness Teresa, are you leaving soon?" Seeing that no one was around, Sophie asked straight to the point.
"Why did you say that?" Teresa was shocked. She managed to maintain her composure on the surface and immediately denied it. "I finally got home this time. Of course I have to spend some time with my parents -"
Sophie didn't answer, just smiled lightly and looked at Theresa, as if to say, "Oh, why would you tell such a lie in front of me?"
This look made Theresa even more nervous.
After all, her main purpose when she returned home this time was to hide her whereabouts from others - if His Majesty the Emperor knew all this in advance, what was the point?
Could it be that the emperor already knew this, so he sent Sophie to beat him?
"Don't worry, this is all my own guess. I haven't told anyone else." As if she saw what she was thinking, Sophie said with a smile, "And don't worry, I won't do it." If it’s something that makes things difficult for you and your wife, don’t worry that I will get in the way.”
"Why do you guess so?" Theresa secretly breathed a sigh of relief, but she was still a little confused.
"Isn't it obvious? Teresa, you love him, your eyes sparkle when you talk about him, and you are willing to abandon everything for him - so why are you willing to leave him for so long? I started from the beginning I never believed that you would stay here to accompany your parents for a long time. Of course your parents are very important to you, but your husband is even more important." Sophie stated what she saw with a calmness that seemed to have nothing to do with her, " The emperor doesn’t understand love, and neither does Metternich, so they won’t think about it, and you don’t have to worry about what they will do.”
Then, Sophie added, "I was just guessing at first, but after coming here today, I confirmed that your mother and brothers don't seem particularly happy. They obviously know that you are leaving soon. "
At this time, Theresa felt that she could no longer resist, and she no longer evaded, but nodded directly, "Your Highness, your insight is really sharp...Okay, let me tell you the truth, I plan to leave here. And tomorrow, just to show to the outside world that I am still here... I will tell you everything, so I ask you to keep it secret, not for my sake, but for his sake, because it is for him It’s really important.”
Teresa felt that in a certain way, Sophie did understand her. If it weren't for the joke of fate, maybe the relationship between the two of them would be better.
"I said, I will not interfere with your actions." Sophie emphasized again, "After all, I am still waiting for you to complete your work, and then I will rescue my poor daughter."
"Please rest assured about this." Teresa nodded heavily, then she took out a sketch from a corner of the study and placed it in front of Sophie.
Sophie took a closer look and found that this was the sketch of Crystal.
Although it was drawn with a pencil, it still outlines the general appearance of Kristel, and you can feel her cuteness even more.
"After I go back, I plan to give your highness the portrait of Crystal - at least let him know what this child looks like, otherwise it would be too cruel for a father." Teresa explained in a low voice.
Sophie was speechless.
"Thank you," she finally thanked Teresa after a long time, "I owe you a favor and I will remember it."
"It doesn't need to be so serious. I'm just out of sympathy for Crystal... After all, it is too cruel to let an ignorant child not see the light of day after birth." Teresa replied, "Our lives as a couple should not be left with such a stain."
"I really asked you to arrange everything properly..." Sophie curled her lips and smiled again, with too much helplessness and self-deprecation in it.
Then, she slightly bent her knees and said goodbye to Theresa, "I'm so glad I caught up and wanted to say goodbye before you set off. Have a nice trip, Theresa, and give me a few scoldings about that bastard when you get there. Then we settle the account.”
"I will definitely scold him severely." Teresa agreed insincerely.
Then, she also knelt down and saluted Sophie, "Goodbye, Your Highness. I believe that after you put everything down, you will be able to play your current role well, and the empire will prosper because of you in the future."
"Let God decide everything. Anyway, what can I do now?" Sophie shook her head and replied dejectedly, "Okay, I have to go. There is no need to send me away. Let me be alone in the wind." Be quiet."
Since Sophie said so, Teresa naturally had no choice but to do as she was told. She stayed where she was and watched Sophie walk out of the study, then walked along the corridor and down the stairs.
Just when Sophie walked to the corner of the stairs, the common blind spot upstairs and downstairs, Chanel, who had already been prepared, quietly passed by here, and the two passed by each other very reasonably.
At this moment, they exchanged looks and said goodbye to each other.
Just now, in front of Teresa, Sophie gave so much analysis about her next departure - but in fact, the more important thing is that Chanel had already informed her of the news, letting her know about Teresa. Sha planned to leave as soon as possible, so she took the time to come over for a visit on the first day of the New Year so as not to miss this group of people.
And the information they exchanged was obviously more than that.
Just as the two of them were crossing each other, Sophie took out a few rolled pages of paper from her sleeves without hesitation and handed them to Chanel, who also took the pages at a very fast speed. Then he put it inside his cuffs.
In this way, the warm paper was quickly passed between the two people, and it was only exposed to the light for a short moment, as if it had never existed.
"Leave it to you, Chanel." Then, Sophie spoke in a low voice at a volume that only two people could hear, "Tell him that I can live, and I can live for a long time. I can wait for that day."
After she finished speaking, she immediately walked down the stairs without waiting for any reaction from Chanel.
Then, she respectfully and gracefully bid a friendly farewell to the Grand Duke and his wife, then stepped onto the carriage again and left the manor.
It wasn't until she got into the empty carriage that she breathed a sigh of relief.
The long-lost excitement made her heart beat wildly. She looked out the car window with nostalgia and greedily breathed the air outside the palace.
She succeeded, at least at this stage. She wrote down all the key points she had thought about during this period on paper, so that her younger sister could play her in the future.
Next, there is another long wait.
Of course she knew that even if this step was successful, there would be too many difficulties ahead and the hope of success would be slim.
But she still felt the long-lost excitement.
Because she saw hope.
She felt the hope of living.
Ever since that young man left her cruelly, she seemed to have entered an endless nightmare, and the mental pain was almost impossible to eliminate. For her, the night was long, and the despairing night was so dark that she couldn't even see her fingers. She could hardly breathe. Don't get angry.
But now, she knew that the young man had never forgotten her. He was trying to save her and relive his old dreams. Even if his efforts might not work, it was enough to give her a glimmer of hope.
This glimmer of hope was like a thunder that cut through the night of despair, allowing her to feel the joy of survival again.
It turns out that I have not been abandoned by the whole world. It turns out that all these disasters may stop...
Having this hope is enough.
She must live well and live until the day her dream comes true.
There is no doubt that this means that she has deceived Theresa, and even the word "deceive" is not enough to describe the nature of it.
But, I'm sorry, she has never been a sympathetic person. What's more, she has been tortured by despair and anger for so long. She is lucky to not collapse. She can't control so much anymore.
She must overcome the torture and disaster that fate has given her and find what she has lost.
With this long-lost hope, Sophie closed her eyes slightly, and the carriage slowly started to take her back to the palace.
Inadvertently, tears rolled down her cheeks - only God knows how many tears of grievance, sadness and expectation were mixed in them!
====================
The day after Sophie said goodbye, Theresa also said goodbye to her family.
This time, in order to keep the secret secret, Archduke Karl made careful arrangements early.
He called two inconspicuous carriages, and then selected a few of his closest men to escort Theresa and Chanel away - after they left, he would act as if everything was business as usual, pretending to be his daughter He still stayed by his side to cooperate with his daughter and son-in-law's plan.
Obviously, this won't deceive the world for long, but he can help one day at a time.
In the early morning, because it was winter, the visibility was still quite low. It was snowing outside, and the snow dyed the surrounding area white. Only the road leading to the outside world was exposed, like the warp and weft woven on a white blanket.
Everything was ready, Teresa watched the servants load her simple courtesy into the carriage, and then she said goodbye to her parents.
Teresa looked at her parents with mixed feelings.
On the one hand, she was indeed very reluctant to leave her relatives and regretted that the short reunion came to an end so quickly. She also knew that after her farewell, she didn't know when she would come over again; but on the other hand, But she was eager to return to her husband as soon as possible and be reunited.
Two completely opposite emotions made her feel guilty and depressed, and her mother even burst into tears.
"Teresa..." Madam hugged her daughter reluctantly, "How about staying a few more days? Mom really hates to let you go."
"I'm sorry, Mom..." Teresa apologized to her mother in a low voice, "I had to do this."
"Teresa, have a nice trip." Compared to the mother and daughter, the Grand Duke was much calmer, and he solemnly said goodbye to his daughter.
As a father, he certainly didn't want to see his daughter endure hardships and take risks, but on the other hand, he was vaguely proud of her.
Teresa has tenderness in her body, but not weakness; she is decisive, but not cruel in treating others as nothing. She loves her family and life, and has the courage and ability to protect her with all her strength.
Being able to raise such a daughter at least shows that his education has been successful.
Maybe he really gave birth to a queen? At least Teresa does deserve it, the Archduke thought.
"Dad, take care of Francois for me during this time." Teresa waved to her father, "I will miss you all the time!"
"I can do it too." The Grand Duke nodded, and showed a rare expression of reluctance. "That's all I can help you with. I hope you can walk steadily on your next journey!"
"Yes, I will!" Teresa solemnly promised her father, and then stepped into the carriage before she cried.
She didn't know the specific location of Aiglon now, so the destination she chose could only be Queen Ortense's mountain villa. Once there, the queen would naturally help her arrange everything and send her back to her husband. around.
Yes, His Highness is waiting for me...
The carriage started slowly, gradually moved away under the reluctant eyes of the parents, and finally disappeared into the blank world.
