Eagle’s Glory

Chapter 877 Extra (28) Better than others

[An independent world line in which Agnes becomes the queen, the plot continues from extra chapters 16 and 17]

June 23, 1837, the day after the summer solstice.

Although the temperature is rising significantly in various places, you still don’t feel much heat at the Palace of Fontainebleau, which is far away from the hustle and bustle.

The dense green shade and flowers and plants everywhere isolate the hot sunshine; the ever-flowing and gently meandering Seine River gently takes away the excess heat with its calm water flow, gently giving warmth and coolness to the people in the palace.

Looking around, the blue sky is dotted with large white clouds, as if there are large majestic palaces hidden in the sky, stretching to the far end, and on the earth, everything you see is dazzling enamel painted windows. With various lifelike marble reliefs, this palace, which had been carefully restored by successive Dharma kings, has become even more dazzling in the hands of its new owner. Its exquisiteness and grandeur have impressed the whole world.

At this time, the empire seemed to have entered an era of prosperity just like this beautiful palace.

The economy has developed rapidly, the social outlook is changing with each passing day, employment is abundant, and the national treasury is abundant, creating a prosperous scene. The throne of the Bonaparte family seemed to be a blessing from God to the entire country, and it also received the heartfelt support of the people across the country.

Both His Majesty the Emperor and His Majesty the Queen received thunderous cheers wherever they went during their tours. This kind of cheers and joy came from the heart, and could only be achieved by those kings who lead their people to prosperity and abundance. eligible to receive this treatment.

If we make a careful comparison, Her Majesty the Queen may be more popular among the people, because although Her Majesty has a pleasant appearance and outstanding achievements, it is inevitable that she still has a bit of the majesty of an emperor, while the approachable Queen Agnes is She never made anyone feel unattainable and fearful. She seemed to come from among the people, and she seemed to be able to mingle with the people at any time.

In addition to being approachable, she also has the advantages of loyalty, low-key, simplicity, etc., and has admirable swordsmanship. In addition, she is native-born without any foreign ancestry. These valuable advantages make her highly popular among the people. Popular, she was considered "our own Queen of France" and was deeply respected.

As seen by the outside world, Her Majesty Queen Agnes does not like luxurious ostentation, and would rather live in seclusion and be unassuming when there are no public events; she only has one hobby that can be called "expensive", and that is collecting all kinds of things. Cold weapon.

From the perspective of an aristocratic woman, this is definitely a strange quirk. However, since it is Her Majesty the Queen's quirk, it cannot be called "weird", but rather a unique elegance.

No matter how eccentric Her Majesty's hobbies are, there will always be people who fall in love with her for various reasons. So over the past few years, Queen Agnes's palace has an armory out of thin air, filled with her treasures. various swords. In her daily leisure time, Her Majesty the Queen often spends time in this arsenal.

Admire these easily acquired treasures of hers.

Today, Her Majesty Queen Agnes spent another leisurely afternoon in the palace in her collection as usual.

She was sitting next to a desk, and on both sides were weapon shelves with various precious swords hanging on them. Their blades shone with a dazzling cold light, which made people feel chilling.

Weapons require special maintenance. The more expensive the sword, the more delicate it is. Her Majesty the Queen will always maintain these treasures herself and refuses to let others do it for her.

At this time, Her Majesty the Queen was carefully dripping special oil on the weapon on the table. Then she gently shook it with a powder bag to let the powder drip on the weapon. The powder quickly absorbed the oil and turned into At this time, Her Majesty the Queen gently picked up the white cotton cloth on the table and carefully wiped both sides of the sword until the oil was evenly applied to the blade, making it look shiny. until it lights up.

After time passed quietly, Queen Agnes finally breathed a sigh of relief, and her tense fingers relaxed.

It's done... She looked at the weapon in front of her with eyes filled with admiration and pride, as if a watchmaker had completed her beloved handiwork.

And this weapon is a knife.

It has a slender body, slightly curved, and is bladed on one side. The blade has dark light patterns, and there are square inscriptions on the blade that Her Majesty the Queen does not recognize, which adds a bit of exotic mystery. The handle and tangs are also decorated with exquisite patterns and decorations.

The whole knife has a beautiful shape and extremely exquisite workmanship. Rather than saying it is a weapon for killing people, it is better to say that it is a work of art among weapons.

Yes, this is an Oriental sword.

In this era, as the Oriental island country gradually became known to Europeans, its artworks, such as pottery, ukiyo-e and swords, gradually flowed to Europe. Because of their exotic customs and unique aesthetic culture, These became all the rage and soon became a must-have in the homes of collectors and wealthy individuals.

In the original history, many Western Impressionist painters liked Ukiyo-e and absorbed many fresh elements from it.

However, Queen Agnes has no idea or care about other works of art, but she is very fond of this kind of knife. As a queen, she only needs to reveal a few words, and naturally someone will collect it and offer it with both hands.

The knife on the table was her latest collection. It looked like it was made by a famous craftsman and was worth a lot of money.

After taking care of it, she took the knife in her hand and played with it carefully, even waving it a few times when she was excited.

At this time, there was a gentle knocking outside the door.

From the knock on the door, Agnes knew who was coming, so without raising her head, she shouted, "Come in!"

Then, the door was opened, and then a young figure in a skirt slipped in quietly.

This young girl with blond hair and blue eyes is dressed luxuriously, has curly hair and bangs, and a delicate face. She looks like an exquisite doll. However, she seemed to be flustered at this time, and stood tremblingly in front of Her Majesty the Queen, looking like she was reluctant but had to come here.

Yes, she is Her Majesty the Queen's favorite niece, Miss Charlotte de Treville.

Her Majesty the Queen looked at the little girl in front of her with a smile, and was once again envious that her sister could have such a lovely daughter.

"Xia Lu~" She raised her eyebrows and shouted with a smile.

"Yes, Your Majesty the Queen." Although she looked reluctant, Xia Lu naturally did not dare to neglect Her Majesty the Queen's greetings, so she gently rolled up her skirt and saluted her aunt gracefully, then lowered her head and remained silent. Waiting for aunt's orders.

Looking at Xia Lu's appearance, Agnes became more and more satisfied. Since Xia Lu was born, she has always loved this niece very much. Even after she became the queen, she always took Xia Lu by her side as if she were her biological daughter. treat.

Miss Xia Lu was naturally extremely proud of this kind of treatment at the beginning. Her Majesty the Queen's doting was also her biggest asset for running rampant in the palace. She looked domineering in front of every child, even His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. You don’t have to give face.

However, this kind of "favor" has become an unbearable burden for Xia Lu in recent times.

Because, starting from a certain day, Her Majesty the Queen had a sudden idea to make her niece the successor of her skills. From that day on, disaster struck Xia Lu, and she had to accept cruel training from her aunt.

How can a young lady who has been pampered since childhood endure such hardship? She has complained endlessly from the first day, and she has never felt that it is necessary for her to endure such hardships - after all, as the most powerful socialite in the future empire, she has countless people who are willing to do it for her at her fingertips. She served, and she fought with others with her own sword. What kind of trouble was that? Neither elegant nor appropriate.

However, Her Majesty the Queen seemed to be determined to accept this "disciple", even if her own sister Alice interceded, it would not work. Therefore, Xia Lu had no choice but to accept her aunt's teaching and training. Naturally, I feel miserable inside.

But it was useless no matter how painful or aggrieved she was, she could only endure it.

In front of her niece, Her Majesty the Queen stood up. Her tall figure combined with the knife in her hand was full of pressure in an instant, as if the air had instantly turned cold.

Then, she gently waved the knife in her hand. The blade slid in the air in an irregular route at a neither fast nor slow speed. The soft light of the knife connected in a line. It was not so much murderous, but rather something different. of beauty.

After playing with the knife in her hand for a while, she showed it to the young girl in front of her like a treasure. "Does it look good, Xia Lu?"

"It's very beautiful." Although she didn't have any special interest in swords, this sword looked so beautiful, so Xia Lu could only give this answer.

"It's very beautiful..." Agnes nodded, and then continued leisurely, "Think about it, it started from a piece of forged steel and was tempered thousands of times in a foreign country thousands of miles away, and the craftsmen carefully Isn’t it very legendary that it was built and finally turned into this beautiful appearance, and finally traveled across the ocean to come here?”

Xia Lu could only nod her head and agreed with her aunt's statement.

"So, here it is for you!" Agnes stared at the clean and translucent blade with fascination, and then placed it horizontally in front of Xia Lu.

"Huh?" Xia Lu was unprepared for this and was at a loss.

Of course she could see that her aunt really liked this piece of collection, so she changed hands and wanted to give it to herself. Even if she was arrogant, she would feel "flattered".

"That's not okay...don't you like it very much..." She shook her head timidly.

"What, are you questioning my honesty? Now that I have said it, I will not take it back." Agnes laughed again, "Take it, because I like it, so I gave it to you. It reflects my expectations and cherishment of you..."

After all, it was Her Majesty the Queen, and since she had given an order, it could not be disobeyed, so Xia Lu had no choice but to take the knife from her aunt's hand tremblingly.

She had received a gift before. Her aunt gave her the sword she used when she first practiced swordplay. From then on, she seemed to have become an official "master and apprentice". But this time, her aunt gave her her most cherished sword. One of them was given to herself. Does this mean that she is satisfied with the progress of her swordsmanship? Xia Lu thought slightly proudly.

Although she still has no love for swordsmanship to this day, the intelligent Xia Lu is equally talented in swordsmanship. Coupled with the strict supervision of her aunt, Xia Lu's progress has been rapid in the past two years, although her aunt has few He praised her in person, but Xia Lu could see from her aunt's eyes that she was satisfied with herself.

After all, children are children, and even if they have a city, they will inevitably get carried away. So after Xia Lu took the knife, she immediately asked Queen Agnes, "Your Majesty, is this a reward for me? Because my progress is very impressive to you. satisfy?"

As she spoke, she held the knife and made a decent pose.

"hia!"

The blond girl in a gorgeous dress, coupled with the knife in her hand, has a strange and fierce evil aura in her cuteness. It can be seen that Xia Lu has indeed made great progress during this period.

"Don't be so proud, you cunning little thing!" Agnes couldn't help but chuckle when she heard this, then stretched out her hand and pinched her niece's ear, "It's still early for you to leave the army! The current situation is just I just started on the road——"

Xia Lu's ears hurt after being manipulated by her aunt like this, but she didn't dare to resist or struggle. She could only look at her aunt with aggrieved eyes, and her tearful look soon had an effect, Agnes Instead of tightening her grip, she gently caressed Xia Lu's little ears. "My child, you did learn well, but no matter how well you learn, you are still not a swordsman until you actually see blood on your hands."

Xia Lu suddenly felt horrified when she heard this.

Sword training has already made her miserable. According to her aunt, she still wants her to fight with others and see blood?

This is simply terrible. This is not the trajectory of her life at all. Shouldn't she be the most dazzling rose blooming in the palace? How could it become like this?

"Aunt... what are you talking about!" She was so panicked that she couldn't speak at all. "It's too scary."

"Scary? Maybe it is indeed scary, but it is also an indispensable experience~ To become stronger and worthy of the sword in your hand, you must do this." Agnes continued to caress Xia Lu gently, and then said to She explained, "Don't worry, based on my experience, you are numb at that moment, with no tension or mercy. You just want to use your fastest speed to kill your opponent and avoid the fear of death... … And then in that moment, it was all over.”

"But why should I be worthy of the sword in my hand!" Xia Lu retorted aggrievedly, "I can live a good life without these... With you and my mother here..."

"But your destiny shouldn't be pinned on others, right?" Agnes answered her gently, "I love you, Xia Lu. I watched you grow up, and because I love you, I want to So that you can become a rose that blooms proudly, without having to turn into a gorgeous parasitic vine. I don't know anything else. I only have this skill in my hand, so for this heart, I can only hand it over completely. Here it is. Maybe you can't control your own destiny simply by relying on it, but at least you will have a little more confidence when facing the challenges of destiny, and this will be in vain for all my hard work..."

Faced with her aunt's gentle reply, Xia Lu was stunned. She didn't know whether she was moved or surprised, but the original resistance in her heart seemed to have disappeared a lot.

"Don't worry, it's too early to say this now! You are still far away from the army, so you don't have to worry about getting blood on your hands." Agnes laughed again, and then grabbed Xia Lu's hand, "Come on, let's Keep practicing! It’s so fun today, we have to have fun!”

"Ah!" Xia Lu could only let out a helpless cry, and then let her aunt drag her away.

Growth always comes at a price.