Aiglon's warning was serious and thoughtful, but the young Prince Otto was not discouraged by this, nor did he fear his possible future career as king.
He is only twelve or thirteen years old now. Although he has received education from the royal family, he does not really understand what "ruling" means, let alone the actual logic of the operation of power. He is just looking for a crown that will accidentally fall on his head.
Just feeling excited.
He knew that as the second son, if he had not been lucky enough to see his eldest brother die young, the best future would have been to become a prince of Bavaria in the future, and he would not be able to truly command a country. But now he is
There is hope of becoming the king of a new country, even if the country is far away, it is definitely a big leap in his life.
This piece of good news has already made him forget about it, so why should he worry about anything else?
Besides, from Prince Otto's point of view, his family has strong branches and deep roots. He only needs to bring people from Bavaria to assist him, which is enough to manage the country of Greece.
However, the smug little prince also had basic sense, and he also knew that he must have a good relationship with the young man in front of him.
Although no one said it publicly, everyone knew that this crown was given to him by him, and even if he gave up the throne, he still had great influence in Greece. He single-handedly created the Principality of Ioannina
It is also next to his own kingdom, which means that as long as he has the intention, he can cause great trouble to his rule.
In other words, without the cooperation of this "king chooser", he would never be able to safely be the king of Greece.
Therefore, under the advice of his father and teachers, he had already made up his mind long ago to establish a good relationship with Duke Lechstadt.
Moreover, as a newly passionate young man who admires heroes the most, Duke Lechstadt happens to be the best among the royal nobles of the same generation. After learning about his deeds, Prince Otto himself has a deep understanding of the heroes.
He was full of admiration.
Because of many considerations, Prince Otto paid respectful attention to Aigron in front of his father, "Your Highness, I have been paying attention to your heroic deeds. You saved a suffering country and a great civilization."
The remnants have accomplished what all Christians want to do... I only regret that I was too young and did not have time to join your service as a volunteer and create great achievements with you.
But God has favored me very much and given me the opportunity to be a follower of your great deeds and to lead that nation out of the trauma of years of war. In this case, I am willing to follow God's teachings and your expectations and shoulder the responsibilities that a member of the royal family should have.
Responsibility! I also promise you that I will work hard to learn the knowledge required to be a king, abide by the proper principles, and use my whole life to seek the welfare of my future people!"
This passage was the result of discussions between his father and his teachers, and Prince Otto had already memorized it by heart. Therefore, the little prince spoke it very skillfully, in one go, and at the same time, it was full of the lofty ideals of a young man, which made him very happy.
The mediocre face also has a bit of immature kingly aura.
After listening to Prince Otto's words, Teresa glanced at Aiglon, and then nodded gently, indicating that she was quite satisfied with the little prince's attitude.
Since his wife didn't have any objections, Aigron didn't have any objections either.
He did not feel sad about the loss of the Greek throne. After all, subsequent history had already proved that Greece was a chaotic place with a poor country and a weak people. It was really not worth worrying about.
So as long as the future king does not infringe on his legitimate interests, it doesn't matter to him.
So, he walked up to the little prince, stretched out his hand, and patted him on the shoulder condescendingly.
"Very good, Otto." He deliberately called the prince's name to close the psychological distance between the two people. "After hearing what you said, I was very moved. It seems that you have completely understood.
As a king, I hope you will remember everything you said today, and then rule your future people with justice and mercy, and do not let down their expectations."
Aigron's pat was a little heavy, causing the little prince's body to sway slightly, but neither he nor his father minded this small offense. On the contrary, both father and son had an unconcealable flash in their eyes.
The joyful young man's move was tantamount to showing that he had no objection to Prince Otto, and as long as he had no objection, the crown would undoubtedly fall on Prince Otto's head.
As a thousand-year-old aristocratic family in Germany, the Wittelsbach family has always been one of the most important princes. Various branches of the family have successively ruled places such as Palatinate and Bavaria, profoundly affecting the history of the HRE Empire.
However, in the past few hundred years, the family has slowly slipped into decline and been weakened in a series of wars.
The biggest blow came after 1740. In this year, the HRE Emperor Charles VI of the Habsburg family passed away. However, he left no male heirs and was forced to let his eldest daughter Theresa inherit his Austrian throne.
ancestral heritage.
The then Elector of Bavaria, Karl-Albrecht, stood up as the leader of the princes and opposed Theresa's inheritance. In 1742, he was elected by these princes as Emperor of the Holy Roman Emperor, with the title Charles VII.
However, Theresa did not give in to women, won the Austrian Succession War, and sent troops to invade Bavaria, leaving the "Emperor" disgraced.
After falling into a desperate situation of internal and external troubles, Emperor Charles VII died of depression, and his successor, forced by the situation, also voluntarily withdrew from the election of the new emperor. In this way, the Wittelsbach family ended its three-year rule.
The throne of Rome returned to the hands of the Habsburg family. However, in order not to cause interference from other countries, Queen Theresa chose to let her husband, Duke Franz of Lorraine, take over the throne, while she actually implemented the imperial power.
After this catastrophe, Bavaria collapsed, and the Wittelsbach family also encountered disasters such as the Succession War and the Napoleonic War. Although they barely maintained their ancestral business, they were in decline, let alone fighting for Germany.
It takes a lot of effort just to maintain one's own position of leadership.
But now, this declining family saw an unexpected surprise: the crown from Greece fell on their head inexplicably.
The crown means land, population, increased family prestige and strength, and the great contribution this generation of kings have made to the family's prosperity.
How could such a wonderful prospect not excite King Ludwig?
He seemed to have seen a future in which he would be praised as a wise king by his descendants, even though he actually did not put in any effort or price for this crown.
The more he thought about this, the more pleasing he looked at Aigron.
This young man has already achieved great fame. Although he gave up the crown of Greece, he still holds a principality in his hands. Even if he does not become an emperor in the future, his current performance alone is enough to show off.
Complacent.
It's a pity that he is already married, otherwise it would be appropriate to become his brother-in-law...
His Majesty the King didn't know why his sister Maria suddenly asked him to see him alone. According to her, it was because she was quite curious about this young man when she was corresponding with Sophie and wanted to see what kind of person he was.
.
This request made King Ludwig a little confused, but he still complied, satisfying his sister's curiosity. He didn't know what Maria's real thoughts were, and he didn't bother to care so much.
His father, the forefather King Maximilian I, married twice. The first marriage was to Princess August Wilhelmine of Hesse-Darmstadt. They had 2 sons and 2 daughters who survived to adulthood.
, including the king himself, and Princess Augusta, the wife of Prince Eugène; and the second marriage was after the death of his first wife, to Princess Frederick Caroline Wilhelmine of Baden, a total of five
The daughters lived to adulthood (two of them were twins).
Therefore, Sophie and Maria are his half-sisters.
King Ludwig and his stepmother were not close, let alone such a half-sister. Apart from polite greetings, there was not much emotional communication.
He didn't expect Maria to have such a request, but considering that her twin sister Sophie and the Duke of Lechstadt had been together, and it was said that Sophie took good care of the Duke, it was not enough for Maria to have some curiosity.
Surprising.
Since Sophie married to Austria, King Ludwig has never cared about Sophie at all, but now he is full of gratitude to Sophie. After all, it is obvious that the reason why Duke Lechstadt is so accommodating to his family,
The biggest reason must be the care she took for the Duke back then.
A man who ignored his sister after getting married because of a political marriage did not expect to make great contributions to the family while he was silent!
Thinking about it, the king felt a little sad. How many generations of his family had worked hard and participated in so many wars. However, the territory did not increase much, but they were beaten to disgrace countless times. However, he did not expect that a married daughter would
, but inadvertently, the territory of his family has more than doubled... Even if the Greek national power is weak, the land is still there.
Should I be happy or smile bitterly?
Never mind it! No matter how bad a joke fate plays, the quality of the crown will not be devalued because of it.
When he thought of this, His Majesty the King's mood became unprecedentedly good, and the eyes he looked at Aigron were full of hospitality and joy.
"Your Highness, I will never forget the favor you bestowed on our family today. No matter what happens in the future, you will always be our family's friend. Moreover, I think my sister who is far away in Austria will hear this news.
Afterwards, I will definitely feel very gratified, and she will definitely be grateful to you! After all, you have lived up to her love and care for you..."
As soon as he heard the king mention Sophie, Aigron suddenly became serious. "I said before that when I was in the most difficult time, it was Her Highness Sophie who took care of me selflessly and gave me the courage to face life and persevere.
After that, my heart has been full of gratitude. At that time, I was thinking that if I could repay the Wittelsbach family in the future, I would definitely do it. After I escaped from Vienna, she was even more favored by His Majesty the Emperor.
I think I owe her too much. Thank you to fate... I finally got such an opportunity. I hope she can forgive me a little for the pain I caused her after learning about it."
Teresa lowered her gaze and looked at the table, not letting her unhappiness leak to others.
She knew that Aigron's thoughts were very normal and inevitable; she also knew that choosing a member of the Wittelsbach family to wear the Greek crown was the best choice for the current situation.
However, just because she knew this, she always felt a little unhappy in her heart.
She knew that the lingering love after marriage made the young man feel very happy, but it could never dispel the memories that had always stayed in her husband's heart.
Those touching moments were deeply ingrained in his heart. Even if she felt unhappy, there was nothing she could do about it. Who knew that woman was already taking care of him before they met? This was probably the helplessness of fate.
Fortunately, now that she has been left in Vienna forever, she and her husband will be far apart from each other in the future, and she does not have to worry about her coming back to hinder her and her husband's happy life.
In this case, of course I can be more generous.
I wish her a happier life in the future~ Giving her family a crown to compensate for her victory is enough to show her generosity.
Fortunately, the two people mentioned Sophie and changed the subject soon after, and Teresa's inner torment did not last long.
"I'm very happy that Otto is not alone in Greece. He also has the Principality of Ioannina as an ally, always watching and helping each other." King Ludwig took the initiative to propose a motion, "Your Highness, I have an idea."
From his tone and expression, Aigron felt a little ominous inexplicably.
"You can just say it."
With a smile on his face, His Majesty the King pointed to his second son, Prince Otto, and said, "Look, Otto and Grand Duchess Haidee are similar in age. It's like God's arrangement. What do you think about getting him engaged to Haidee?"
In this way, the two newly born countries will have a closer bond with each other and will be able to help each other in the future."
Aigron's shock only lasted for a moment, and he immediately understood the other party's intention.
As a nominal ruler, Haidee had no actual power, but a ruler was a ruler after all, and she had no brothers or sisters, so her children were the natural heirs.
If Prince Otto marries her and gives birth to an heir in the future, then this means that the Principality of Ioannina can be incorporated into the future Kingdom of Greece without any bloodshed, further expanding the Wittelsbach family's ruling territory.
The worst-case scenario can also be the Junhe model. Anyway, the family can further expand.
Huh, it’s a beautiful thought. But for Aigron, although the Principality of Ioannina is not the place where he will stay forever, it is still his first real territory after all, and he is not willing to give it to anyone in the future.
Only in name.
Just as Aiglon was about to politely refuse, Teresa suddenly spoke.
"Your Majesty, Haidee is still too young, and it is too early to talk about these things. Moreover, her previous experiences have left her lacking a lot of education. It is really difficult for her to be qualified to discuss marriage with the oldest royal family in Europe, so
…I think we can take a look first and talk about it later.”