Eagle’s Glory

[The protagonist stays in Austria to marry Theresa and then lives in seclusion to become a literary giant, taking over the extra chapters 1, 5, and 8]

February 11, 1849, a cold winter day.

The bleak cold wind is blowing through the streets of Paris, making even the frivolous Parisians listless and just want to get back to the warm indoors as soon as possible.

Of course, the cold and bleak weather cannot obliterate the bustle and bustle of the world. In those upper-class social places, luxurious banquets and dances still last all night long, and wealth is enough to make people not fettered by the weather.

In the old royal palace, the Tuileries Palace, a grand banquet was being held at this time.

The host of the banquet was His Excellency Louis Bonaparte, the President of the Republic, and the recipients of the banquet were the Duke and Duchess of Lechstadt who came all the way to visit France.

At this time, the Duke and Duchess, who were nearly forty years old, were still radiant, but obviously seemed a little absent-minded. They ignored the compliments and curious glances from around them, and their main attention was focused on a young man sitting next to them. .

And this young man is handsome and energetic. Under the gaze of his parents, his eyes are bright and there is a challenging smile at the corner of his mouth, as if he is asking his parents - you see, I did it, right?

In 1845, Francois, who was only 17 years old at the time, chose to run away from home after a big quarrel with his parents, sneaked out of Austria, and then ran to England to join his cousin Louis who settled here at the time. , working together for the "sacred cause of the family".

And their efforts were indeed not in vain. Three years later, with the revolution that swept across Europe in 1848, the rule of the Orleans family completely collapsed in France, and France became a republic.

Prince Louis did not waste this opportunity. He took the opportunity to run back to France with his followers, and then, with the support of the empire's supporters, he vigorously built momentum to recruit souls for the empire.

At this time, people who were feeling the chaos in the country were also remembering the glory of Emperor Napoleon's era. So under the influence of this mentality, the prince who had been in exile for many years actually participated in the presidential election and was elected as the second choice with an overwhelming vote. President of the Republic.

For him, becoming the president of a country is by no means the end of his ambition. What he dreams of is the throne that once belonged to his family, and now, everything seems to be within easy reach.

[In order to distinguish the two brothers of Nasan, I called Nasan's brother Louis and Nasan himself as Charlie. However, as the timeline has not changed, at this time,

Nazareth's brother had died long ago, so he just called Louis, so it wouldn't be out of the ordinary. 】

From the moment he ascended to the position of President of the Republic, he has been intensively plotting to end the Republic and turn this country into the private property of his family. History will prove how terrifying and unstoppable his efforts are. .

And this time, the young Francois Napoleon Bonaparte also helped a lot in his career.

He is the eldest son of the emperor's only son and the undoubted direct descendant of the Bonaparte family. When a parliamentary candidate needs him to stand up, he will appear in front of the crowd and deliver an impassioned speech. Almost every word he says will cause a stir on the stage. The audience cheered - not so much that the audience was impressed by his speaking skills, but rather that the audience cheered for the shadow of the emperor.

Although the young Francois did not reach the minimum age to run for president due to his age, he had already shown the ambition and conqueror's temperament of the Bonaparte family.

There is no doubt that he fully supports his uncle's plan, and in his view, after the plan is implemented, he will be the emperor of the empire, at least the legal sole successor.

Seeing their son's unruly look, the couple looked at each other again, and then looked helpless at each other.

After receiving the invitation from President Louis Bonaparte, they originally did not want to take this trip into troubled waters, but because they could not worry about their son, the couple weighed it again and again and applied to the government to visit France. This time the Austrian government They didn't make any more trouble, and the couple were quickly released.

Paris is a city that both the couple have always dreamed of and have never been to before. As soon as they arrived here, they were warmly received by the president. Those old people who were full of affection for the emperor were also very happy to see the King of Rome appear again after more than 30 years. Paris, but the couple had no interest in traveling at this time because they still had unspoken worries in their hearts.

After looking at his son for a moment, the Duke finally spoke.

"Francois, do you have time? I want to talk to you alone."

Facing his father's order, Francois nodded slightly.

Although he went against his parents' wishes and challenged his status, his father still had power in his heart, and now he also had something to talk to his father about.

So, under the guidance of the attendant, the two people quickly came to a small room.

Saying goodbye to the dizzying lights and noise, the Duke took a deep breath of cold air to clear his mind a lot.

"Francois, I congratulate you on your success."

"Thank you, but this is what I should do." Francois replied proudly, "As a son, I should finish what my father should do."

Looking at the arrogant young man in front of him, the Duke felt a little bitter smile in his heart.

Before Francois fled, the father and son had a big quarrel. Francois criticized his father for being greedy for a mediocre life and forgetting about the family business, and he wanted to change everything.

In the end, the father and son broke up. François ran out of Austria alone, while the Duke and his wife continued to live in seclusion in the countryside and live a family life without fighting against the world.

"We are not slaves to the family business. No one has ever said that I must be the emperor." The Duke seemed to be refuting his son, but also seemed to be defending himself. "Everything your mother gave me is more precious than an empire." Much more.”

"...Of course I have no problem with my mother. She loves you so much. I have seen too many women in the past few years since I came out, but I have never seen anyone who loves her husband so much and takes care of her so meticulously." Francois Wa shrugged and seemed a little disapproving, "This is enough for everyone, but it is not enough for you! Because you were born to become an emperor, your stage should be the entire Europe, how can you be obsessed with a building several miles away?" Where is the wide manor?! Even if you want to do this, you can't trap me there for the rest of my life, because I am the blood of the emperor, and I want to fulfill my innate mission, and I want to rule this country. , otherwise what’s the point of my existence?!”

Francois became more and more excited as he talked, and for a moment the father and son seemed to have returned to the time when they had quarreled a few years ago.

Seeing his son's current state, the Duke stopped arguing.

Now that things have come to this, what's the point of trying to persuade him again?

In his eyes, timid parents are not worthy of imitation, so it is useless for him to say anything now.

More importantly, his son's words seemed to be torturing his own soul, as if there was a restless soul deep in his heart, blaming himself with the same words.

Aren't you born to the emperor in order to find a successor for himself? Why are you giving it all up?

He himself was speechless.

This is the choice of life. In Teresa's tenderness that melted everything, he finally chose to indulge in it and willingly gave up the so-called "mission." Now they have been married for more than 20 years, and he has never regretted it until now. , as her son said, Teresa was the best wife, taking good care of him and allowing him to indulge in his writing.

Only at rare moments, in the dead of night, did he seem to be questioned by his soul.

But now, everything has been revealed by his son.

The Duke was silent. He followed the window and looked out at the scenery. The cold wind whistled through the Tuileries Garden in front of him, as if to remind him that this is not your palace, and this is not your country. .

Yes, he has made his choice, so there is no turning back now. The sweet life of the couple for twenty years is like creating an invisible cocoon, comfortable and airtight.

"Now that things have reached this point, I will no longer advise you to stop. Son, I can only wish you well in Austria. I hope everything goes well for you. I believe that with the efforts of you and your cousin, You can take over this country... Our family has always had such talent. But I still want to advise you, be careful!"

"Watch out for what?" Francois asked.

"Beware of your cousin," the Duke replied coldly.

Francois was stunned for a moment.

"What promise did he make to you?" the Duke asked his son again.

Francois felt that at this moment, his father's eyes seemed to become much sharper, as if he had broken out of his ordinary cocoon.

He felt flustered for no reason, and then subconsciously answered his father, "He promised me that after he restored the empire, he would be the emperor for a while and then pass the throne to me. Because he doesn't have any legitimate children now. There is no heir, so it is natural that the throne will be passed to me when the time comes..."

"Of course..." the Duke sneered, "Well, young sir, what if he is just trying to trick you? What if after he becomes the emperor, he goes to find a woman to marry and give birth to a legal child? Where are the heirs? At that time, were you still sure that you were the rightful heir to the throne?"

Francois was struck by lightning at his father's question, and he subconsciously refuted his father fiercely, "He is over 40 years old, and his physical condition is not very good. He may not be able to give birth to a son at all! Besides, he is now Even if he wants to get married, how can any princess be willing to marry him?"

"You obviously want to be the emperor of France, but you still have some Austrian habits, my son." The father sneered. "Yes, your grandmother and your mother are both princesses, but is your great-grandmother a princess? The Bonaparte family did not become emperors by blood. That kind of outdated view has long been destroyed by the Great Revolution. Broken, the French are not that particular.

Not to mention that when he becomes the emperor, he will have all the means to seduce various royal families to marry him. Even if he can't find a suitable princess, can't he just find a noble woman to marry? As long as he gives birth to an heir, he is the legal heir of the emperor. What can the French not accept? "

"No!" Francois still refused to accept his father's prophecy, "He promised me...he can't afford to break his promise. This will divide the entire family and our entire party. When the time comes, Everyone is at a loss as to what to do, and our empire may collapse."

Seeing his son's violent reaction, the Duke could only sigh secretly.

Obviously, although this child who grew up in a greenhouse has strong ambition and power of action, he is too young and has too little experience after all. He will not understand what kind of monster ambition and power can turn a person into.

"You are right, what he does will cause turmoil, but for a power monster, turmoil is not enough to make him give up taking risks. He will hold the power firmly in his hands and hand it to his successor-Napoleon The emperor clearly has a nephew who can succeed him, but he still wants to divorce and marry your grandmother at the age of 40. Why do you think he will not follow suit? Power is always exclusive. Even if he doesn't plan to break his promise now, sooner or later he will I will do the same thing——"

All this was expected by the Duke. In his opinion, this was not a prophecy but a fact that was bound to happen.

No matter how valuable a nephew is, how could he be as valuable as a biological son? As soon as Louis Bonaparte comes to power and becomes emperor, he will definitely find ways to get himself a legitimate heir as his heir. He just wants to use Francois, so he does this It's just all kinds of sweet promises. As long as you give him a little time, he will slowly realize his plan - to turn the throne of the Bonaparte family into the exclusive property of his branch.

When the time comes, Francois's situation will become awkward and dangerous - now he is a good helper to his uncle, but when the emperor has a successor, he will become the one whose bloodline is closer to the late emperor. Obstacles, not to mention Francois himself is ambitious.

And when that time comes, I'm afraid there will be a showdown.

Although they belong to the same family, how much is family affection worth in front of the throne?

Precisely because they had the foresight to see all the consequences, the Duke and Duchess were secretly worried about their son.

After hearing his father's words, Francois's face gradually became gloomy, and a bit of evil began to appear on his young and immature face unconsciously.

"I don't believe your prophecy, father." He finally spoke after a long time, "However, I can't deny that this is indeed a possibility. If that is the case, I will never give in. As a family member, I take it for granted. As his successor, being able to tolerate him becoming emperor first is already the biggest concession. If he wants to privately grant the throne to his chosen successor, then I will fight for my rights. No one can follow me. Take away from your hands what I am destined to have!”

Seeing his son's impassioned response, the Duke's eyes flashed with a little pity and unspeakable sadness.

He could foresee what Francois's statement meant, and he also knew that if everything went as he guessed, Francois would definitely face great danger.

But even if he knew, he was helpless because his home was in Austria, and because he had been indifferent to the Bonaparte family's business for many years, he voluntarily gave up his influence. He could not change anything, and he could not interfere with the development of the situation.

His son has broken free from his shackles and chosen his own path in life. He cannot hold him back, and he has no qualifications to hold him back.

Because this is your destined career, isn't it?

After being silent for a long time, the Duke sighed softly, "When I asked you to come out, I knew this would be the result, so just think of it as reminding you that we may not be able to meet each other for many years to come. , you should take more care."

Seeing his father's decline, François felt a sudden pain in his heart. Although he had strong opinions on his father's political choices, his respect and love for his father still remained deep in his heart. "Dad, I'm sorry... please forgive me for my willfulness. I will be careful. When you go back, you can live a good life with your brothers and sisters. Maybe one day I will ask them to be princes and princesses."

The Duke shook his head slightly, then turned and left the room.

The walk back to the banquet hall was not long, but the Duke walked very slowly. His son's sight behind him gradually faded away, which made him feel extremely heavy.

"He... really didn't listen to your advice?" At this time, his wife's voice came from beside him.

The Duke slowly turned his head and looked at his wife.

Although the lady's youth is gradually fading with age, the years have also given her a mature and calm charm. The dignified lady is as beautiful as ever. This is the person destined to spend his life with him, and the source of his happiness. .

"Everything is expected." Although he was sad, he answered calmly.

A trace of disappointment flashed across Teresa's face, and then she sighed, "Well, we have tried our best. If he abandons us, let him go. We can't control that much."

"No, it's not that they abandoned us, but that we abandoned them." The Duke corrected softly.

"Your Highness..." Teresa suddenly turned pale, and then hugged her husband tightly, as if she was afraid that her happiness in this life would slip away, "Stop thinking about this, let's go back as soon as possible, there is still a There are a lot of unfinished manuscripts... We will be as happy as ever."

"Don't you miss your son?" the Duke asked.

"He is our son. Of course I am worried about him. Growing up, I have put as much effort into him as you have!" Teresa sobbed softly while defending herself. "If I had a choice, of course I would. I want to live together as a family in harmony until we die of old age, just like mom and dad... But I have no choice!

Francois has made his life choice. He is old and we can't control him. What else can I do? I can only let him be free. He may be in danger in the future, but this is his own choice, right? In this case, let him be, we have other children to take care of, right? ! "

Looking at his wife with blossoms in her arms, the Duke took out his handkerchief and wiped her gently.

Yes, this is Teresa, she is very rational, even for her son she can be so rational, but she can surpass this rationality only for herself.

This is enough.

"We will go back, Teresa. But before that, I want to meet with my cousin for a while. I want him to know that my son will not be at his mercy."