"I will arrange a room for you and we will talk tomorrow."
Perhaps because the conditions brought by the other party were unsatisfactory, Teresa suddenly became harsh and was ready to terminate the talks.
Compared to Her Royal Highness the Princess's anger, Alfred von Mayrhofen was calm and collected.
Although he is young, he has been engaged in diplomatic work for many years. He has already seen all kinds of lies, threats and intimidation packaged in politeness. Her Royal Highness cannot scare him.
Anyway, he still has time now, so he is not in a hurry to reach a consensus at the moment. In the worst case, it would be okay to delay it for a while and let the princess calm down and accept the reality.
"I am very grateful for your kindness, Your Highness, and I really need to rest now." After making up his mind, von Mayrhofen bowed to Teresa again, "However, I have to inform you with regret,
The Duke and you cannot be allowed to ascend the throne of Greece. This is the bottom line drawn by Prime Minister Metternich. Don't talk about me. Even the ambassador himself cannot change it. You can't change it even if you leave me here for three days or even a week.
The opposite result will only waste your and the Duke's precious time. Therefore, I sincerely request you to make a rational judgment as soon as possible. This will be beneficial to all of us. After all, although we are destined to be unable to satisfy you with this condition, there are still many
Things can be negotiated..."
After finishing speaking, he lowered his head and remained silent.
He believed that he had hinted clearly enough, but Princess Teresa seemed to be angry and showed no sign of changing her mind. She just made a gesture to her maid to take him to a rest room.
It seemed that she would not talk anymore today. Von Mayrhofen couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.
Hey, what can you expect from a little girl like this? After all, she is only a teenager, and she has never received proper diplomatic training...
Under normal circumstances, he might not be able to help but laugh at her now, but considering that Princess Theresa is the daughter of Archduke Karl after all, he can only swallow this sigh of relief.
"I am waiting for your summons at any time." He could only leave these words, and then followed the maid away.
After von Mayrhofen left, Theresa's tense face finally relaxed.
Although she seemed relaxed and natural in the conversation between the two of them just now, she knew that she had concentrated almost all her attention on the other person and she needed to leave the impression she wanted to leave in the other person's mind.
Judging from the opponent's performance, her current performance is pretty good.
Undoubtedly, both Aiglon and she could accept the result of not being able to wear the Greek crown, but she did not want to admit it easily.
The key to negotiation is to hide your true intentions while trying not to make others feel that you can suppress yourself.
Anyway, the person who ultimately decides the outcome of the negotiation is Aigron. She can try to be as domineering as possible, and then Aigron will make the "concession".
After seeing off von Mayrhofen, Theresa calmed down and prepared to get involved in daily affairs as usual.
However, at this moment, there was a rapid and exciting knocking sound on her door.
"What's the matter?" Teresa asked.
"It's a good news! Your Highness Princess!" The maid's excited shout came from outside, "The Duke is writing to you to tell you a good news!"
"Come in!" Teresa was overjoyed and quickly let the maid in.
Then, she took the autographed letter from Aigron from the maid's hand, and then quickly opened it and read it.
"Dear Teresa:
At this moment, I am writing this letter to you from the Mesolonghion Fortress.
Yes, just an hour ago, the commander of the fortress presented me with a saber, which also meant that he and all his men surrendered to me.
This is really the long-awaited victory. Our army has made huge sacrifices and sufferings for this. Fortunately, all our efforts were not in vain. We finally won and enjoyed the fruits of victory alone.
After completing the surrender ceremony, I immediately wrote to you to share my joy...because you are the most suitable person in the world to share this glory with me.
Teresa, I am very excited and happy at this moment, but I must maintain the dignity that a king should have in front of others. I cannot sing and dance like a child, but there is no need to hide myself in my letter to you. I want to look up to the sky and scream.
, I can’t wait to hold you tight and kiss you right now!
I have won the victory I dreamed of, and we have a smooth road ahead. I thank God for blessing me with such luck, allowing me to lead so many people who are loyal to you and me, and create a legend that belongs to us...
Messolonghion is not the end point, but it is also suitable as a resting place on the way. Teresa, it is still close to ruins, and the scars of the war are shocking, but I will let the prisoners serving in labor renovate it as soon as possible.
Let it return to its original appearance.
We had agreed to commemorate the place where Byron died together, and now this place finally belongs to us... It will be the same in the future, we will definitely be able to do anything we want to do, and our union is destined to be invincible.
At this moment, from the high wall of Messolonghion, I see the sea with all its rays of light. That is our glorious future and the great achievements we can leave for mankind! Thank you for following me along this journey.
, I will hold your hand tightly and never let go.
Love and miss you Aiglon.”
Teresa quickly read this short but affectionate letter, but her eyes remained on the letter paper, as if just reading it once was not enough.
It was obvious that His Highness wrote the letter to himself as soon as the fortress fell, and counting the distance, it should have happened a day or two ago.
Great... Congratulations to you, Your Highness!
Teresa suddenly couldn't help but pick up the letter and kissed the letter gently.
Perhaps because Aigron was in such a good mood, his words were much more affectionate than usual, and Teresa was naturally delighted.
At this moment, the little resentment she had accumulated in Aigron's heart could not help but disappear.
Your Highness...I'm going to come to you, and I'm going to hug you tightly, she thought happily.
Yes, she is going!
And she wished she could rush to His Highness right now, immediately, to share his joy, and hug him tightly to comfort him for the pain of separation during this period of time.
She had already made preparations to leave, and there was only one important thing left that she had not finished.
And now, it is time to complete it and rush to His Highness without any worries.
=
The next morning, Theresa sent her maid to call von Mayrhofen to her.
Although he was unhappy after being left out all day, von Mayrhofen was relieved to see Her Royal Highness change her mind so quickly.
"Mr. von Mayrhofen, I thought about it carefully yesterday." Theresa spoke first in a cold tone, "Although I feel extremely uncomfortable, I am willing to compromise on the basis of the conditions you proposed.
"
Von Mayrhofen was overjoyed and quickly questioned her.
"Your Highness, it's great that you can look at the problem so rationally... Sometimes taking a step back does not mean disaster. On the contrary, it may be an opportunity to move towards the bright future, and I am happy to provide you with this opportunity."
"Wait a minute." Teresa suddenly changed the subject, "I have a message I just received to tell you."
"I'm all ears." Although he was a little surprised, von Mayrhofen naturally wouldn't stop him.
"My fiancé just captured Mesolonghion and wiped out the fortress and surrounding Turks."
"Oh?" Von Mayrhofen opened his eyes in surprise.
Before coming here, he had already had a rough understanding of Greece's geography and social situation, so of course he knew what Messolongion represented.
Soon, he responded, "I would like to congratulate the Duke and you. I firmly believe that his achievements will be remembered forever."
Although this was an obvious polite comment, Teresa was still very happy after hearing it, and even a small smile appeared on her tense face.
"This victory was hard-won. His Highness told me personally that he was very grateful to so many warriors who followed him loyally... Therefore, in order to prevent the sacrifices of these warriors from being in vain, His Highness and I should do our part even more.
Things to do.”
"What do you mean by this?" Von Mayrhofen asked with some confusion.
"I am willing to accept that I cannot wear the crown of Greece. This will definitely be a tragic loss for me and His Highness, and it will definitely severely dampen the momentum of those followers, so of course we need to get the compensation we deserve." Theresa
His expression became serious again, and then he looked at the other party with an extremely stern look, "So I thought about it last night and listed several conditions. I hope to get your permission. If you don't have the permission, at least
This should be conveyed to Mr. Ambassador."
Of course von Mayrhofen could feel that the decisive moment had arrived. Although he was already sophisticated, he couldn't help but feel a little nervous at this fateful moment.
"Please tell me." He managed to calm down, "I have a good memory and can remember everything."
Teresa paused for a moment to allow herself to breathe evenly, then spoke again and continued in one breath.
"The first item is that His Highness has previously reached an agreement with his Greek allies. He financially supported them, and his allies promised to use some silver mines in Greece as guarantees in the future and hand them over to him for long-term management after the war.
.This agreement should not be affected in any way."
"Of course, we are all civilized people and must abide by the agreement." Von Mayrhofen agreed without thinking.
This item was within the scope of his authority, so he naturally agreed to tell the truth easily. Who cares about the ownership of the silver mines, whether it is Metternich or the leaders of other major European countries.
"The second item is that His Highness does not ask for the throne of Greece, but he does ask for the right to choose and let him decide who becomes the king of Greece." Teresa continued immediately.
"This..." Von Mayrhofen immediately showed a troubled expression, "I'm afraid it's a bit difficult, after all, countries will discuss with each other..."
"What I'm telling you is not a request, but a reality, sir." Teresa looked at the other party calmly, and then continued in a polite but cold tone, "You can see that in this situation,
, if my fiancé is unhappy, he can make anyone who wants to be king in Greece not become a king."
Good guy!
For a moment, von Mayrhofen let out an exclamation in his heart.
The princess changed her gentle face and turned to treat him with a stern attitude. Although her attitude was still reserved, her aura was already compelling enough at this moment, and there was a hint of murderous intent in it.
Seeing her eyes and momentum, von Mayrhofen could not help but immediately believe that if the result did not satisfy her, she was really prepared to make everyone look bad.
At this point in time, if there really was a falling out, it would be really troublesome. After all, no one cares about who gets the throne of Greece, but everyone is very afraid of the Russians marching into Byzantium.
Damn it, why did His Majesty choose her to marry Bonaparte... He cursed in his heart.
Von Mayrhofen used the wit he had cultivated over the years and thought quickly in silence. After a moment, he had an idea.
"I understand how you and the Duke feel, but we also have our principles and difficulties... So Your Highness, how about we adopt a compromise?" He asked in a low voice, "The Duke can choose a king, but he must be with us.
Choose one of the several candidates proposed, not a member of the Bonaparte family or any unsuitable person."
He was playing a little trick. If Metternich and the great powers were to decide, it would be to select a collateral prince from the ancient royal families in Europe to be the king of Greece. There are many people who meet the conditions.
After delineating several candidates, asking the Duke to "pick one" is tantamount to letting his right of choice exist in name only, but it takes care of the face of both parties.
After he finished speaking, he looked at Princess Teresa nervously, fearing that Her Royal Highness would act out of anger and let the conversation collapse again.
Fortunately, Princess Teresa looked much more controlled today. Although she was obviously a little angry, she did not have an attack in the end.
After pondering for a moment, she seemed to have compromised and nodded gently, "Okay... let's do it."
"On behalf of the Empire, and all the Greek people, thank you for your magnanimity!" Von Mayrhofen immediately complimented her.
Because he was afraid that Theresa would ruin things out of her anger, he paid great attention to taking care of her mood. Anyway, such compliments did not cost anything.
"Do you have any other conditions?" he then asked.
Teresa nodded slowly. "There is also the third and final condition."
Then, with von Mayrhoven's expectant eyes, she continued, "I hope His Excellency Metternich will apologize in writing to my fiancé for his previous indifference and contempt towards His Highness.
Moreover, he must ensure that he will not threaten His Highness’s personal freedom in the future.”
"This..." Von Mayrhofen frowned in embarrassment.
He did not expect that on such an important occasion, Her Majesty Theresa would actually put forward such an emotional condition.
Does it matter?
It doesn't matter at all. For someone like Prime Minister Metternich, he doesn't care at all about the curses of all mankind, and he won't care about lowering himself if necessary.
Back then, he flattered Napoleon and offered to marry the princess to him, but now he doesn't care if he is asked to write ten letters of apology.
But this is not something I can agree to.
In the end, von Mayrhofen could only shrug.
"I will convey this request to you. As for how the Prime Minister will do it, I cannot guarantee it."
"Thank you, sir." Teresa nodded.
Everything is done...
At this time, her heart was no longer here, but drifted to Aigron's side.