Eagle’s Glory

"Jean-Antoine Poncena..." Edmond Dantès recited the name silently again, firmly remembering it in his mind.

"My uncle is very optimistic about this person. He thinks that this person will help us regardless of danger because of his past kindness. However, I am not naive enough to completely believe this. After all, people are unpredictable these days, and no one knows this person. Will he change his mind and defect to the false king... So, you have to be careful while contacting him, and be cautious." Aigron reminded again. "Test him first. If he is willing to help, that would be best. If he is not willing to help, it doesn't matter. Don't let him know too many secrets."

"I know, Your Majesty." Edmund immediately agreed, "Don't worry, I have enough courage and wit to achieve my goal!"

"Very good... then everything is left to you. I hope you will make preparations as soon as possible and go to Paris. Time waits for no one. We need to hurry up." Aigron patted Edmund's shoulder again, this time. No more comfort, but encouragement, "Edmond, wait for me in Paris. I will come to you soon. We will meet under the Arc de Triomphe!"

"Arc de Triomphe?" Edmond Dantès was stunned for a moment.

It's not that he didn't know the significance of the Arc de Triomphe, but that at this time, the Arc de Triomphe was not strictly a completed building.

In order to commemorate the glorious victory of the Battle of the Three Emperors in 1805, Emperor Napoleon ordered the construction of a magnificent triumphal arch in 1806. However, before the project was completed, Emperor Napoleon was overthrown. Of course, the subsequent restoration dynasty had no interest in commemorating Emperor Napoleon's glorious military exploits. , so the project can only be abandoned midway.

In the original historical line, after the Bourbon dynasty was overthrown in 1830, the July Monarchy restored the commemoration of Napoleon, and the project could continue. Therefore, after 30 years of on-and-off construction, the Arc de Triomphe was finally inaugurated on July 29, 1836.

Edmond Dantès had been to Paris, so he knew that there was only half-finished construction there at this time, and it would seem unworthy of His Majesty's dignity to return to Paris there.

But since this is His Majesty's will, he has no right to question it.

"See you under the Arc de Triomphe!" He puffed out his chest and replied loudly to Aiglon. "Your Majesty, I can imagine the glorious scene when you come to Paris, and I will cheer for you along with the crowd!"

"I allow you to stand at the front of the line." Aigron replied with a laugh. "This is an honor you deserve."

Both men burst out laughing.

In this way, after receiving Aigron's new order,

Edmond Dantès handed over the affairs at hand as quickly as possible within a few days, and then quietly left the Principality of Ioannina by boat.

He will not sneak into France immediately, but will first come to Italy, meet Queen Louisa with Aigron's autograph letter, and disguise his identity with her help, and then enter France through legal channels - the next step is It was time for him to act on his own initiative, and Aigron had no special instructions for this, but gave him full authority to represent himself and act at his own discretion.

After sending Edmund away, Aiglon spent some energy dealing with the affairs of the principality - of course, his main time was spent on accompanying Theresa.

As time went by, Teresa’s signs of pregnancy became more and more obvious.

There is no doubt that the birth of this child represents great significance, so Theresa secretly hopes that the child will be a boy - this is not patriarchal, but she needs a son to declare the main branch of the Bonaparte family. To continue, she needs to give her husband an heir, and other relatives in the family almost also expect the same.

This thought gave her some inexplicable pressure, and Aigron could only carefully comfort her.

At this time, Aigron finally received news from Greece—Prince Otto of the Wittelsbach royal family, who had just arrived in Greece, formally invited the Duke and Duchess of Lechstadt and the Grand Duchess Ioannina. Attend your own coronation ceremony.

After the War of Independence, Aigron finally chose to let the Bavarian royal family take over the crown of Greece. Then he visited the Kingdom of Bavaria and finally decided with the king that the second prince Otto would wear the crown.

After the two parties reached an agreement, Aigron wrote to the powerful factions in Greece to inform them of his decision; while King Ludwig notified the envoys of various countries of the good news.

In essence, no country has any interest in the ownership of the crown of the Kingdom of Greece. It's just that some people don't want to see the Bonaparte family wearing the crown. As long as it's not Bonaparte, it doesn't matter to anyone. No one is interested in embarrassing the Bavarian royal family. "Passion".

Therefore, after some wrangling among various countries, the Bavarian royal family soon received extremely positive feedback. King Ludwig was delighted to find that he had peacefully accomplished the important task of "opening up the territory", which was enough to comfort his ancestors.

In order to avoid unnecessary complications, he acted very quickly. After receiving positive feedback from Greece and other countries, he immediately sent his second son to Greece to prepare for his official coronation as king.

Before he sent his son away, he naturally had a long conversation with Prince Otto.

In addition to the emotional reluctance, the father also told his son many "rules of governance", the most important of which was to ask him to make good friends with the Principality of Ioannina, and then the two countries would help each other and watch each other. The pressure to unite against each other comes from the imaginary enemy Turks.

The most important thing is to continue to maintain a good relationship with Duke Lechstadt.

In terms of affection, Duke Lechstadt gave him this crown, and he needs to be grateful; in terms of practicality, since Duke Lechstadt had the means to lift him up, he naturally also had the means to overthrow him when he was not firmly on his feet. Not to mention that the newly arrived king will have to face many powerful factions, so he must please the duke and get his help, so that he can rule stably.

After Prince Otto came to Greece, he enjoyed the courtesy of the would-be king. Everyone was full of expectations for the future king. However, he did not get carried away because of this and forgot his father's warning. Instead, he wrote a letter to invite the Duke as soon as possible, doing enough etiquette.

Of course, Aigron would not refuse this hospitality. He wrote back and said that his wife was very happy to accept the invitation, but his wife was not suitable to leave because of pregnancy, so he could only go with Haidee.

So, after a period of calm days, Aiglon said goodbye to his wife temporarily and took Haidee south to Athens to attend the ceremony of Prince Otto's coronation of the Greek crown.

Aiglon was an important hero in the Greek War of Independence, and Haidee was the nominal monarch of Greece's most important neighbor. Naturally, these two people became honored guests at the coronation ceremony.

They themselves brought a large number of guards and honor guards, and after arriving at the border between the two countries, the Greek official even sent a guard to escort them, so a mighty team marched from the north all the way south to Athens.

This majestic procession aroused incomparable crowds and cheers wherever it passed. In the eyes of the local people, "Greece finally has a king", which heralded a good sign. This new country finally got rid of the difficulties that it had experienced for many years. The bloody shadow of war ushered in a new era, an era full of hope and blessings.

The Duke of Lechstadt, who brought about this new era, naturally received the respect and cheers of everyone. Some people even secretly regretted why he was not allowed to wear the crown.

All in all, amid the flowers and cheers along the way, Aigron finally arrived in Athens, and he is also a legend here - the people have not forgotten his grand wedding here more than half a year ago, and they treated him with almost the same courtesy. Celebrating the return of Duke Lechstadt.

Princess Teresa was unable to come because she was pregnant, which was admittedly a bit regretful, but people wished her a smooth delivery and a happy mother.

Aigron had many old acquaintances here, but he had no time to reminisce with them. Instead, he was first taken to the Greek Palace - of course, this was just a temporarily requisitioned mansion. The real Greek Palace had to wait until 1836 in history. Construction began after King Otto came of age and was not completed until 1843.

Soon, he and Haidee were taken to the reception room by the guards, and Prince Otto, who had already received the news, was already waiting here.

As soon as he saw Aigron, Prince Otto - soon to be honored as King Otto I - immediately walked up to him, and then bowed to him, "Duke Lechstadt, I am very happy See you again!”

Compared with when they met a few months ago, Prince Otto has grown taller, but now that he is only thirteen years old, he is still not tall. He can only reach Aigron's chest, and he looks even more tall when he salutes. Humbled.

"It's a pleasure to see you again, Your Highness." Aigron helped Otto up quietly. "I am very happy to be able to attend your coronation ceremony and witness every day when you rule this country. I believe it will be a great success." It’s going to be an unprecedented time for this country.”

After hearing Aiglon's praise, Otto was a little ashamed, but more of he was complacent. "I will, Your Highness, please believe me, I will become an effective king and make my kingdom peaceful and prosperous."

Aiglon didn't take such words seriously - after all, everyone can say it, but it's not that easy to do it.

He still maintained a friendly attitude on the surface, and then asked Prince Otto, "I saw a lot of guards along the way. How many people did you bring here from Bavaria?"

The prince felt a little baffled by this sudden question, but he still answered Aigron's question with a proud expression.

"My father sent me a guard of three thousand people to ensure my safety."

"You are very smart. You have learned the first step to survive in this country - to own an army and ensure your own safety." Aigron nodded and praised King Ludwig's generosity, "Hey, I really I envy your good luck, but my father didn’t leave me an army of even a thousand men, so I had to go and get them myself.”

Prince Otto laughed awkwardly, "But everyone will envy you for having a father like that."

After the two of them laughed for a while, Aigron became serious again, "However, to rule this unruly country, you can't just have soldiers, you also need some gentle methods. You can't wrap yourself in the barrier of Bavarians." Inside, after ensuring your own safety, you should go breathe the outside air, get closer to the Greeks, especially appease the most powerful Greeks. Only in this way will your rule be respected by people, otherwise you will Our power base is always floating in the clouds and may be blown away by wind and rain at any time.”

Eggron's warning was not without purpose. In the original historical line, after King Otto had ruled erratically and cronyically for thirty years, he was ousted by the Greeks in a coup and eventually died in exile.

At this time, Prince Otto certainly did not know his fate in history, and he was ignorant of Aigron's warning.

But even so, he could feel that this young man said this out of good intentions.

"I will keep in mind your previous and current teachings, Your Highness." So, he nodded and agreed.

Seeing his confused look, Aigron felt a little helpless.

After all, Prince Otto is only thirteen years old now, and he can't even be called a teenager now. He has lived in the palace of Bavaria since he was a child. Even though he has become the king of Greece due to a coincidence of fate, he has never been He is still just a German prince inside and out, and he doesn't think there is anything wrong with it, and he doesn't want to change.

He liked the crown of Greece, but he didn't like the people here, especially the powerful ones who had made meritorious deeds in the War of Independence - because that meant that these people would hinder his royal power.

What he trusted most were the several Bavarian advisors his father sent to him. These advisors not only helped him make plans and govern the country, but in a sense were the last link between him and his homeland. Spiritually, he was unwilling to alienate these advisors. cronies.

He was promoted to the throne before he learned how to use royal power. Is this really a good thing?

However, all the words of persuasion have been given, and it is up to the other party whether to listen and how much they can listen. Aigron felt that he had done his best.

Although he was the one who put Otto on the throne, he had no obligation to keep the prince safe from the throne for the rest of his life.

Let him do whatever he wants.

While he was still thinking, Prince Otto turned his attention to others.

He looked at Haidee, who was standing next to Aigron in silence, and then looked at Aigron inquiringly.

Aiglon reacted immediately and introduced Haidee to Prince Otto.

"This is the Grand Duchess Ioannina, Her Highness Haidee."

"Your Highness, I am very happy to meet you!" Prince Otto immediately became energetic and saluted Haidee again, "I have heard of your name in Bavaria, and I am finally lucky enough to meet you today... As expected, As beautiful and lovely as the rumors say.”

Compared to Prince Otto's enthusiasm, Haidee was much more reserved. She looked at the prince timidly, and then saluted him, "I am very happy to meet you, Your Highness. I have always heard from Duke Leichstatt I highly praise you, so I firmly believe that you can become an excellent king and be praised by the people——"

"Same for you." Prince Otto's face turned slightly red, and then he replied softly.