War Palace and Knee Pillow, Austria’s Destiny

With a few explosions, petals and candies fell like rain. Countless cameras flashed at the same time, freezing time at this moment.

Due to the advancement of photography technology in the Austrian Empire, in addition to the royal photography team, countless people also recorded this moment.

Fortunately, Franz and Olga were also used to being tools for posing, and the two walked into the church hand in hand.

24,800 candles were lit in the church, and the red carpet had been laid out leading directly to the altar. Countless lights fell on Franz and Olga through the stained glass on the top of the church, contrasting with the surrounding candlelight. Olga's wedding dress looked even more dreamy at this moment.

The most magical thing was that the sunlight seemed to be attracted by the two and moved slowly with their footsteps.

"Miracle! My God!"

Someone shouted loudly, and at this time there were more clergymen who fainted than ladies.

This was certainly not a miracle, but science. Someone was controlling the direction of the glass to adjust the angle of the sunlight.

However, this technology was no different from a miracle for most people at this time.

After arriving at the altar, Olga opened her mouth in disbelief, and Franz was also a little stunned, because the person who presided over the ceremony was not Archbishop Rauscher, who had been scheduled before, but Pope Pius IX.

But the people and the guests attending the wedding obviously didn't know. They just thought it was a supreme honor. After all, no emperor's wedding in history could be presided over by the Pope.

The former pope was not a synonym for weak, powerless and pitiful. The former pope was a real monarch with real power, an unattainable spiritual leader, and a spokesperson for God walking on earth.

This was the first time since the written records that the Pope of Rome presided over the wedding of the emperor. Being able to witness this historical moment was enough to make everyone present proud.

At this time, Pius IX smiled and spoke first.

"Sorry, I came uninvited. As an apology, I will give you a gift later."

Franz smiled.

"It is our honor to have the Pope come in person."

The best men and bridesmaids on both sides didn't know what was going on. They thought it was a surprise specially prepared by Franz.

Franz was not happy. There was such a major change in this occasion, but he didn't know it. If the person in front of him was not Pius IX but an assassin, would his life come to an end?

It seems that some people have indeed reached the age of retirement

At this time, the best man is more of a bodyguard's duty, mainly to prevent someone from stealing the bride. The duties of the bridesmaids are similar, and their main role is to pass off fakes as real ones.

"I hope the Queen's love can free the Emperor from the worries of ruling and lead him into a quiet oasis in the wild and raging waves.

Let the smiling roses and charming violets bloom" (a thousand words are omitted here)

"Beside Franz Joseph I, the savior and hero of Austria, the wise and benevolent monarch who made laws, and the pioneer fighter who fought for the honor of God and the welfare of mankind.

The glory of Her Majesty the Queen as the mother of the country comes not only from the crown on her head, but also from her character, just like a ray of kind light shining on the head of every subject of the empire."

Pius IX took a deep breath. Obviously, it was still a bit challenging for him to say so many words in one breath. Pius IX looked at Franz.

"In his prime, he did not flinch in the face of the devil who attempted to destroy all human conscience, and he crushed the violence that wanted to destroy all virtues.

But victory did not leave him, and from now on, they will become a model of the Christian family!"

A gorgeous speech finally ended, and then Pius IX led Franz and Olga to exchange vows.

However, there was no exchange of rings, because according to the tradition of the Austrian Empire, the emperor presented the jubilee gift to the queen.

These gifts included a wedding ring, which was inlaid with an extremely rare purple diamond weighing 15 carats, which was still dazzling even in such a dreamy scene in the church.

After that, there were matching necklaces, bracelets, and crowns, but most of these jewelry did not use diamonds, but their gorgeousness was far beyond diamonds.

Olga's breathing gradually became heavy. She never imagined that one day she would hate these jewelry so much.

When Franz put the crown on Olga's head, everyone cheered.

"Long live Emperor Franz! Long live Queen Olga! Long live the Austrian Empire!"

At this time, Pius IX walked in front of Franz again, and the whole church fell silent again, and everyone held their breath.

Pius IX took a key from the tray beside him and handed it to Franz.

"Your Majesty Franz, this is the key to the gate of Rome. I handed it to someone who is more qualified to own it today.

May you guide the world and not be harmed by external evils."

This scene was even more shocking. I didn't expect that Pius IX would give the city of Rome to Franz as a gift, but it was undoubtedly a blessing for the Habsburg family and the Austrian Empire.

"Long live Emperor Franz! Long live Queen Olga! Long live the Austrian Empire!"

The sound of the tsunami drowned everything. The ceremony was over, but the wedding had to continue.

Franz and Olga boarded a special carriage and started their journey around the world.

Olga's eyes drifted to Franz.

"I never thought getting married would be so tiring."

"It doesn't matter, it's my first time too."

The two looked at each other and smiled, and Olga poked her finger at the bulletproof glass aside.

"Do you have to be in a transparent cage like this every time you travel?"

Franz nodded.

"almost."

"That's really hard for you."

"With you here, I don't have to work so hard."

Olga pouted.

"Do you always lie to girls like this?"

"Not always."

The parade finally pushed through the crowds and arrived at the pier, where the world's largest inland steamship "Franz Joseph" was moored.

In fact, the Austrians did this in history, but they customized them from the UK.

And in the end, it was tricked by the British. The original number one in the world became the ninth in the world. It was expensive but suffered frequent breakdowns. What was even more frightening was that only the British could repair it, so it had to be scrapped in the end.

At this time, the "Franz Joseph" was completely independently developed by the Austrian Empire. It was ranked first in the world in terms of tonnage, technology, and even luxury.

However, Franz did not build this ship just to show off. Since the technology of large steamships was just in its infancy at this time, many people could not imagine how big the ships of the future would be.

Of course, this included officials from the Austrian Empire, and even those technical officials, who united and argued with Franz that it was completely meaningless to continue to widen the river.

So Franz built this giant river cruise ship. This time the officials of the Austrian Empire finally had nothing to say.

(Actually, this so-called giant cruise ship only appeared huge at this time, and was far less huge than the most luxurious ship on the Danube River in later generations, the "Ama Magna".)

I thought about it for a long time and wrote several versions. I even asked high-end wedding officiants. In the end, I used a magically modified version of the historical original version.