As night falls, the quiet Schonbrunn Palace welcomes its own lively moment.
After this period of silence, this beautiful palace finally became sparkling again and ushered in a new public event.
Although no official announcement has been made, rumors have spread throughout the upper class society that Her Royal Highness Princess Sophie, who has just recovered from a serious illness, will also appear in attendance this time.
Her Royal Highness Sophie suddenly disappeared from public view, which aroused extreme curiosity from the outside world. The official explanation was that she was seriously ill and needed to rest. Well-informed people speculated that she was punished in this way because she offended His Majesty the Emperor.
.
But now that she has reappeared in public, she has finally shattered this rumor.
After nightfall, carriages drove along the bridge over the Vienna River and entered the palace gate, and among them was naturally the carriage belonging to Archduke Karl's family.
Soon, Teresa and her mother Henrietta stepped into the palace again.
Walking on the scarlet carpet, Theresa recalled her glorious night in a daze.
On that day, she came here to participate in a celebration, a coming-of-age ceremony that belonged to her. It was here that she accepted the royal arrangement, danced with the young man, and received the emperor and the queen.
The gifted crown…
In the dazzling light, boys and girls in gorgeous clothes danced selflessly. The memory that was once as gorgeous as a rose still shines in her mind to this day.
By the way, the crown that His Majesty gave to Theresa that night was also packed up by Theresa as a precious souvenir and collection. It would leave with its owner and be displayed to her favorite person again.
Just as she was remembering, Teresa followed her mother and other guests to the banquet hall.
She subconsciously looked around, but she couldn't find many traces of her own memory.
That's good, it saves you the trouble of getting hurt by touching the scene.
There is no His Highness here anymore. Even though the place is dazzling and everyone is jeweled, it is still so desolate and there is no trace of warmth.
Teresa noticed that from time to time, people recognized her and looked at her secretly, as if to judge her mood at the moment. When she inadvertently looked at these people, the other party would always reveal their expressions.
An awkward but polite smile, and then looked away as if nothing happened.
Although more than one person here has talked about the news about Princess Teresa in private, on this occasion, no one dares to show a little ridicule or pity in person. On the contrary, they are all respectful in front of the Grand Duchess, using friendly but kind words.
Killing time with irrelevant chats.
The series of sensational events that happened a while ago seem to have disappeared, and no one remembers those gossips anymore.
You vulgar people, who enjoy criticizing others all day long, how can you possibly understand your true aspirations? Teresa thought to herself.
Teresa didn't care at all about what these people were thinking. After she arrived at the banquet hall, she consciously hid in a corner and quietly waited for the purpose of her trip to be realized.
Her mother, Henrietta, was walking in the banquet hall, looking for an opportunity to get close to Her Royal Highness Sophie.
While people were chatting among themselves, "God Save Our Emperor Franz" was played in the hall, and then someone announced loudly.
"His Majesty the Emperor has arrived!"
With this shout, the hall suddenly became quiet.
Then, the door opened and His Majesty the Emperor appeared in front of everyone.
Because of the ravages of time, His Majesty has become increasingly older. Even wearing a gorgeous uniform cannot hide the wrinkles caused by declining energy.
According to etiquette, people stood on both sides and watched His Majesty arrive at the center of the hall.
However, unlike usual, this time the focus of people's attention was not focused on His Majesty the Emperor, but instead passed over his withered body and fell on the woman behind him.
Her Royal Highness Sophie is indeed attending public events again as rumored.
People who knew His Highness, the moment they saw her, compared her current appearance with the appearance in their own impressions.
Compared to the past, Her Highness Sophie is now a little thinner. At the same time, the skin exposed at the neckline of her skirt is unusually pale, as if she has been living indoors for a long time without seeing the sun.
Seeing her current appearance, most people immediately believed the official statement that she had been seriously ill before.
At this moment, Her Royal Highness the Princess was following His Majesty the Emperor calmly and calmly with a calm smile, but her eyes only fell on the void in the distance and never met anyone.
"Long live His Majesty the Emperor!"
Amid cheers, everyone saluted His Majesty the Emperor.
His Majesty the Emperor walked to the throne and nodded to everyone, "Thank you for attending tonight's event. I wish you all have a good time."
After saying a short sentence, he seemed to have no interest in saying anything more. He just turned his head and exchanged a few words with Princess Sophie beside him.
Princess Sophie listened to His Majesty's words calmly and nodded from time to time, indicating that she fully understood His Majesty's will. Then, she left His Majesty the Emperor's side and came to the crowd.
Then, the banquet officially started, and people returned to their normal rhythm and began to gather in twos and threes to chat.
Taking advantage of this gap, Henrietta walked to Princess Sophie without leaving a trace, and at this time, many people had gathered around her.
Many people wanted to take advantage of Princess Sophie's recovery from a serious illness to gain a good impression in front of her. However, seeing that Archduke Carl's wife took the lead, they had no choice but to give up and wait for the end of their conversation before coming to please Her Royal Highness the Princess.
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"Good evening, Your Highness." Henrietta smiled brightly and held up her skirt to salute Sophie.
"Good evening." Sophie responded with the same smile.
Although there was not much kindness in this smile, Henrietta couldn't care less at this time.
"Your Highness, on behalf of my husband and all my family, I congratulate you on your recovery from the illness. Thank God for your victory over the illness." Henrietta said respectfully to Sophie, "Your health is the most important thing to the empire.
It’s precious, please take care of yourself in the future.”
"Thank you for your concern, madam." Sophie nodded gently. "I also wish you and your family good health."
While saying compliments, Henrietta secretly looked at the princess who had not been seen for a long time.
She had not had much contact with Princess Sophie before, but she already had some impressions of this princess. In her impression, she was energetic, a little arrogant, energetic, and full of courage in every move she made.
But now she is different. Although she is standing here, she is out of place no matter how she looks at her, with an indelible sense of weariness. Her originally bright eyes seem to be extinguished at this time and are just mechanical.
And looked at everything in front of him indifferently.
The smile on her face was very gentle, but without warmth. Although the two people looked at each other for only a moment, Henrietta only felt her heart tremble.
What happened? She seems to be a different person... Henrietta thought to herself.
Could it be that his condition is too serious and he hasn't recovered yet?
No, it's not just a physical change, it's a mental change.
Are the previous rumors true... His Highness Sophie was severely condemned and punished by His Majesty because she helped that Highness escape?
Although there were so many thoughts running through her mind, Henrietta couldn't make too many guesses, let alone lose her manners in public, so she quickly put aside her shock and smiled.
"While you were recuperating, my daughter has been worried about your health, but unfortunately she has never had the chance to see you." Henrietta calmed down, and then said the purpose of her trip, "I heard today that you are going to
She faced the public again, so she also begged me to bring her here, saying she must see you."
"Huh? See me?" Sophie was slightly surprised.
Then, she curled up the corner of her mouth and laughed slightly mockingly, "Will she be worried about me? Then I really have to thank her for her mercy."
The smile on Henrietta's face fell instantly.
It seems that His Highness has not changed at all, and his venomous mouth has not changed.
As a mother, she was naturally a little angry when her daughter was said that. However, in order to fulfill her daughter's wish, she suppressed her anger and asked the other party again.
"Then are you willing to grant Teresa such an honor?"
"Of course, I also want to see how she is doing now." Sophie thought for a moment, nodded immediately, and then replied with a smile, "No matter what she thinks, everything that has happened has happened, maybe we two
There is still some resonance between these two unlucky ghosts."
Unlucky guy...Henrietta frowned secretly again, becoming more and more angry.
The other party's words sounded like they were mocking Teresa for being an abandoned wife who escaped from marriage.
Ever since that incident happened, she hated others exposing her daughter's scars in front of her. How could she not be angry now that she was being ridiculed in front of her face?
As the younger brother of the emperor, her husband had an aloof status. It would be fine if he was treated coldly by His Majesty the Emperor. It was really unbearable for a prince and concubine to be so arrogant towards his own family.
She decided to take Teresa away immediately after the two of them finished talking, so that she would never suffer this kind of disgust again.
"Thank you for your generosity." She decided not to say more, bowed and left immediately. "I will bring her to you later."
Soon, she returned to her previous position and returned to Theresa's side.
"My daughter..." After seeing Teresa, she first shouted, then picked up a glass of wine from the side and drank it angrily.
"What's wrong, Mom?" Teresa asked with concern.
After taking a sip of wine, Henrietta finally calmed down and looked at her daughter again.
"My child, in order to fulfill your wish, I just walked up to that Highness and made your request politely and diligently. She agreed."
"That's great..." Theresa breathed a sigh of relief, but then she immediately noticed something was wrong, "Then why are you so unhappy?"
"Of course it's because of her! She was sarcastic to me and secretly mocked you." Henrietta became angry when she thought of this and couldn't help but frown. "I thought she was recovering from a serious illness and I felt a little pity for her.
, I didn’t expect that she would treat us like this, it’s really too much!”
At this point, Henrietta couldn't help but draw an indignant conclusion. "She is still the same as usual, even worse than usual."
"Perhaps it's because her heart is so bruised that she no longer cares about caring about other people's feelings." Teresa muttered softly.
"What?" Henrietta didn't hear clearly.
"It's nothing." Teresa shook her head quickly, "Anyway, thank you, Mom, I'm really sorry for suffering such injustice for me..."
"Silly boy, what do you need to apologize for? It's not you who should apologize." Henrietta shook her head, "Anyway, she will see you later when she is free. You can finish the conversation quickly, and then we will go back
Go home, there is really no need to give her much face."
"Okay, Mom." Teresa nodded slightly.
As usual, everyone started dancing during the banquet, and the melodious music resounded throughout the hall.
Princess Sophie was not feeling well after recovering from a serious illness, so she did not dance, and no one was stupid enough to risk the recent public opinion by taking the initiative to invite Her Majesty Theresa to dance, so both of them were free.
Teresa waited quietly until,
A palace attendant walked up to her respectfully, and then bowed to her softly and elegantly.
"Your Highness, do you still have time? Your Highness Princess Sophie would like to see you."
Teresa had been waiting for this moment, so of course she didn't say anything more and nodded immediately.
"I'm honored."
Then, she stood up, followed the attendant out of the banquet hall, and then walked along the corridor to the door of a room.
The attendant knocked gently on the door.
"Your Highness, Your Highness Teresa is here."
"Come in." came the answer from inside.
So, he opened the door carefully and walked in with Teresa.
After Teresa walked into the room, she found Princess Sophie sitting on the sofa, looking at her proudly.
"Go out." Sophie waved to the attendant.
The attendant hesitated, but did not move.
"Get out!" Sophie yelled again impatiently, "Are you still afraid that the two of us are playing some conspiracy?"
Facing Her Royal Highness the Princess's anger, the attendant finally nodded slightly and left the room, so that finally only the two of them were left here.
Teresa finally came face to face with her up close again.
They don't meet often, but every time they meet they are unhappy, and this time is certainly no exception.
Only this time, she felt a little more pity in her heart.
"Long time no see, Teresa." Sophie looked at the girl in front of her with a smile, and then said hello in a low voice, "Although meeting you is always not pleasant, but thinking about it carefully, I am also relieved...
…How should I describe our meeting? The settlement of old scores, or the resonance of a hapless man?”