"I know how to be grateful, even if this kind of kindness is not pure."
After hearing the young man's promise, Mrs. Louisa finally smiled. "Franz, you are indeed very, very sensible. When you decide to anger someone, you can do it easily; but when you decide to please someone, you can do it easily." The same is true when the time comes.”
Then, she sighed again, "Sometimes, I even think that you grew up too fast and lost your innocence at such a young age. It's a pity."
"This does not seem to be my responsibility. My living environment and philosophy of life are not all determined by myself. Others also bear certain responsibilities - especially those who brought me here." Aiglon replied calmly.
Of course Louisa could hear the sarcasm hidden in his words. An angry light flashed in her eyes, but in the end she did not get angry.
"Okay, I admit that I can't forgive you for this. But, sir - ask yourself, in that chaotic situation, if I didn't take you back to Austria, the ending you would get would be much better than now. ? Even though you are restricted here, you still have enough food and clothing, and you are nominally a noble highness. You are much better than that poor Louis XVII."
During the Revolution, Louis XVI tried to escape with his family, but was stopped at the border and taken back to Paris. After Louis XVI was beheaded, his son was honored as the new king by the exiled nobles who fled abroad. No. Louis XVII - However, when he was young, he never received any treatment as a king. He was assigned by the revolutionary government to be the guardian of a shoemaker. The living conditions became extremely poor. In the end, he died silently of tuberculosis at the age of ten. .
Although it seems a bit unreasonable, Louisa's rebuttal seems to be correct.
When Louis XVI and Napoleon were finished, their only sons suffered surprisingly similar fates, and both eventually died of tuberculosis, but the Austrians at least did not treat Napoleon's sons badly in terms of living conditions.
"Although the Austrians have a grudge against Napoleon, at least they don't hate Napoleon to the point of sworn hatred. However, the Bourbon family is different from those royalists. They have a blood feud to avenge. If it falls into their hands, it will be terrible. This is God's ultimate test of human morality. Are you sure they can pass the test and repay evil with kindness and raise you well?" Louisa asked again.
"You are right." Aigron did not argue with his reasoning, but nodded directly, "In this regard, I have nothing to blame you. Napoleon has to pay the price for the destruction of the empire, and as the former crown prince, I also have to pay the price for the destruction of the empire. The same is true. Compared with Louis XVII, the price I paid is not unbearable."
"I'm glad that you can discuss this issue with me rationally." Louisa smiled bitterly, "When I was your age, I didn't know how to think about problems at all, so I married your father and gave birth to you in a daze. 1814 What can I do in 2018? The coalition forces from various European countries are pressing on the border. Bonaparte's empire is about to end, and some of the coalition forces even come from my natal family! What do you expect me to do? I have never experienced the burden of carrying a child. Training in a country, what could I do at that time? I could only obey my father's call and bring myself to Austria with you - I couldn't think of a better idea at the time."
After a pause, she added in a low voice, "I said this not to expect you to forgive me, nor to beg for your understanding. I just told you how I felt at the time. Don't think that you were the only ones that year."
The father and son were suffering. Your father was dazzled by power and ended up messing up all our lives. Murat and Ney were both shot because of him! It took a lot of effort for me to find my own
Life, I have a family that I love, I don’t want to be associated with that name anymore, I just want to spend the rest of my life quietly, and try my best to let my children have a brighter future, you can
Laugh at my mediocrity, sir, I don't care."
Aiglon was silent for a moment.
Although his heart was still filled with anger and resentment that she had ignored and forgotten for many years, even so, he understood that he could not truly get her guilty apology.
Everyone has their own position and logic of action, and they move forward within the scope of their own vision. Occasionally they will meet other people and interpret their own stories.
But if you take the wrong path from the beginning, even if you are as close as mother and son, you will become strangers in the end.
After returning to Austria, the Queen of the French Empire decided to abandon the nightmare of the past and find her own life as the Grand Duchess of Parma, so in the end their life trajectories became two parallel lines.
It's nothing to regret, it's fate.
He was only the son of the Queen of France, not the son of the Grand Duchess of Parma, so what reason did she have for asking her to place so much maternal love on him?
After thinking about all this, Aigron lost his original resentment.
This was not his mother originally. It was just because of the original mental influence of the King of Rome that he had subconsciously expected it. But now that he has truly confirmed that she has lost her, there is not much loss and pain.
Besides, I also received compensation from others.
When he thought of this, a person's voice and smile suddenly appeared in his mind. Even though it was the person he had just said goodbye to, he suddenly wanted to see her again.
"I won't dictate other people's lifestyles, madam." He tried hard to suppress the rising desire in his heart and looked at Louisa as calmly as possible, "I won't put too high expectations on you either.
I will repay you as much as I have. If you were indifferent to me before, then I would be equally indifferent to you; now that you are trying to help me, then no matter what your purpose is, I appreciate it and will respond accordingly.
Although I can't repay you now, I will repay you if I have the opportunity in the future - and this is what you are looking forward to, isn't it?"
"The reward depends on how much I help you?" Louisa asked.
"Of course." Aigron shrugged coolly, "No more, no less, fair and reasonable."
Then, he took two steps forward, picked up his mother's right hand, kissed it gracefully and then let it go. "Madam, I look forward to your care."
Louisa didn't say anything more, she just looked at her son's outwardly diligent but indifferent behavior calmly.
Her eyes were a little disappointed, but she was not disappointed. She knew that this seemed to be the maximum thing she could get from her eldest son.
Perhaps it would not be a bad thing for her complicated entanglement with the Bonaparte family to be resolved in this way.
As the mother and son interacted like ordinary friends, the atmosphere between the two people also relaxed.
Undoubtedly, there was no reconciliation between them, but at least they were relieved.
"It's great that we can open our hearts to each other today." After a moment of silence, Louisa spoke again, "Before I say goodbye, would you like to hear a piece of advice?"
"Please tell me." Aigron nodded.
Louisa looked around subconsciously, and after making sure no one was eavesdropping, she leaned closer to her face and lowered her voice, "Please pay attention in the future. There are rumors about you and Sophie everywhere. I have only been here for a few days."
I just heard that this is very detrimental to you."
Aigron's expression froze. "What do you mean?"
"You now have the hope of becoming Archduke Karl's son-in-law. There is no need to give up all your efforts for some unnecessary reasons." Louisa looked at him calmly, "Elegantly bidding farewell to past relationships is what young men and women learn in upper class society.
The first lesson. Things now are very important to you. If you want to have a romantic affair, there will be plenty of opportunities in the future..."
"Okay, I ask you to stop, madam." Aigron bowed to the other party and ended the conversation politely.
Seeing that he didn't listen to advice, Louisa could only shake her head helplessly. "You have too much pride and are unwilling to listen to others' advice. Then there's nothing I can do about it."
"This has nothing to do with self-esteem. I am a realist person, and my self-esteem can be temporarily abandoned if necessary." Aigron looked at his mother and replied unhurriedly, "There is only one reason why I don't want to hear it.
In my mind, she is more important than you, madam. From the perspective of an ordinary friend, your advice is a bit over the line."
Louisa's face suddenly turned pale and her body trembled. These words really hurt her.
"Okay, you can think about your own affairs. I have nothing to say." Then she turned and left.
Aiglon finally ended the conversation that he had become impatient with. He could no longer restrain his desire and walked straight towards Princess Sophie's bedroom on the other side.
The reason why he rejected his mother's opinion so forcefully was not only based on emotional reasons. Currently, Princess Sophie was his biggest support for realizing his plan, and he could not throw it away voluntarily - besides, if he
If he takes the initiative to stay away from Sophie, and then things with Teresa fail to be negotiated, then he will face the worst situation, and it will be extremely difficult to think of a solution again.
No, we will discuss these considerations later, now he just wants to see her...
Soon, he got the permission of Her Royal Highness the Princess again and met with her.
Just like in the morning, Her Royal Highness the Princess was half-lying on the sofa to rest, but this time she was holding the script he had just written in her hand.
After seeing the boy, she put down the script in her hand and looked at him carefully.
"Aigron, your expression is ugly." Then she spoke, "Did His Majesty the Emperor reprimand you just now?"
"No." Aigron shook his head, "He just asked me something."
"Then what's the matter with you?" Looking at his expression, Princess Sophie became a little anxious, "Is it your mother?"
"There was no quarrel, we just exchanged opinions with each other. On the positive side, our relationship is now straightened out." Aigron shook his head, "Okay... don't mention this, I just want to see you.
Thank you for taking care of me all the time."
"You said it as if you were about to say goodbye." Princess Sophie couldn't help laughing in surprise, "It's okay, you're welcome."
Then, she pointed to the seat next to the sofa and said, "Okay, sit down and take a rest. I think your condition is really bad."
Aigron did not follow her suggestion, but continued to stand in front of Her Highness the Princess, looking at her all the time.
"What's wrong with you?" Her Royal Highness the Princess was even more surprised.
"Your Highness... I want to hug you, is that okay?" the young man said suddenly.
Her Royal Highness the Princess opened her eyes wide.
She looked at the young man doubtfully to determine his current mental state.
Under the young man's gaze, she hesitated at first, but finally sighed helplessly.
"All right."
Then, she stood up leisurely. "I'm really curious about what your mother did to you, why you suddenly look like a child who has lost his soul..."
"I lost my soul...but I also found it..." Aiglon muttered softly.
"What?" Princess Sophie didn't hear clearly, so she asked, but her question was quickly interrupted.
"ah……"
She suddenly felt someone hugging her tightly around her waist.
Although she had been mentally prepared, she suddenly felt a little hard to breathe because the boy held her so hard.
"Be gentle..." she complained softly.
However, the young man seemed not to hear it, and still hugged her tightly, with his head buried in her shoulder and his eyes slightly closed.
This moment made him feel sincerely happy.
"It's okay." Princess Sophie sighed helplessly, and at the same time reached out and patted his back. "Don't be afraid, no matter what happens, at least I still support you."
"Yes, I firmly believe so..." Aigron murmured in reply.
Then, the two people hugged each other and were silent for a long time.
"Does this make you feel better?" After a long time, Her Royal Highness the Princess asked.
"It feels so good." The young man looked at her with a smile on his face.
"Then let me go." Princess Sophie frowned, "I can't breathe!"
It was a lie when she said she couldn't breathe, but it was true that her face was hot and her breathing was short of breath at the moment.
She looked at the face of the young man in her arms and suddenly felt her heartbeat speed up.
He has indeed grown up, how handsome he is.
Then, she reluctantly raised her hand and carefully pushed the other person away.
"I'm just trying to comfort you because you're so lost..." She tried to calm down and look more natural. "Aiglon, get well."
"I know." Aigron looked at Princess Sophie solemnly, "I...I will remember this moment forever."