Versailles is worse than being queen

◎Your Highness, don't you mean...? ! ◎

Hearing this voice, the Russian empress in a black dress glanced at the face of the little girl under the steps, and then lost her mind for a moment.

"If my Anna was still alive, she would probably be as old as you..."

Yekaterina murmured, couldn't help standing up, walked up to Antanya, and stretched out a hand to her.

The little princess looked a little surprised, raised her head and gave her a sweet smile, and then held the queen's cold hand.

The queen turned around, and Antanya stepped up her short legs and followed her directly to the sofa covered with cashmere wool fabric with black background and red pattern, and then she jumped into the air and was embraced by the queen.

Such an intimate act is actually not very polite, after all, although the little princess is young, she represents the monarch of another country.

It's just that this scene was too warm and beautiful. Empress Ekaterina was obviously very close to the little princess because she thought of her daughter who died young, so even the very cautious Earl Mercy didn't say anything.

"On behalf of me, I would like to convey the greetings of Her Majesty Maria Theresa, Grand Duke of Austria, Holy Roman Empress, Queen of Hungary and Bohemia, to Her Majesty and his Majesty the Russian Tsar and his wife, expressing my deep condolences on the passing of Empress Elizabeth."

According to the etiquette, Earl Melsey said what he was supposed to say to Peter III—of course, the part congratulating the emperor on his enthronement was deleted.

"Please convey my thanks to Queen Theresia." Ekaterina nodded.

After the complicated and lengthy diplomatic etiquette, the Earl of Mercy was about to retire.At this moment, Antanya raised her face and shook the queen's hand: "Your Majesty, may I sit with you for a while?"

Ekaterina was taken aback, and her eyes couldn't help showing a bit of tenderness: "Of course it's okay."

She looked at Earl Melsey with a smile: "I wonder if Mr. Earl can rest assured that His Royal Highness Antania will stay with me?"

Mercy glanced at Antanya hesitantly, as if she wanted to say something, but in the end she just bowed deeply: "I'm troubling Your Majesty."

After the members of the Austrian mission left the hall one by one, Ekaterina pinched Antanya's chubby face: "It's too empty here, go to my room, where the fireplace is warmer."

"Okay, Your Majesty." Antania was obediently led down the steps by the queen and through the corridor—it was indeed a bit cold here, and the queen's hands were always cold.

The queen's room is small and exquisite, the walls and floor are made of rosewood with clear texture, the ceiling is inlaid with an oil painting of the Virgin Mary in an angel frame, the window is hung with golden drapes of Tull silk lace, and there is a hollow carving in front of the bed. The lacquered wood screen with gilded Chinese patterns completely blocks the scene behind, and a dazzling flame burns in the fireplace made of white marble beside the wall.

It is indeed much warmer here than in the hall.

At the queen's command, servants soon brought up silver trays decorated with silk and satin. Inside were a few small plates of fried quail, steaming cheese patties, and white sorrel, beet greens, and sorrel floating in white porcelain bowls Deep red beetroot soup with fish meat, as well as various nut crisps and shiny citrus jelly served in small transparent glass cups,

Antanya was a little dizzy from the sleigh carriage, and barely ate anything during the last half day of the journey. At this moment, the appetite was aroused by these brightly colored and richly scented delicacies, and her stomach could not help but growl.

Ekaterina chuckled, took the silk napkin from the maid, and wrapped it around the little girl's collar with her own hands: "Don't worry, I'll let them bring it if there's not enough."

Antanya was a little embarrassed for a moment—grumbling stomach is really indecent for a queen.

But she immediately realized that the French queen had died, and she was only a seven-year-old girl, and people around her would always be more tolerant to her.

The queen's thin fingers touched her neck, bringing a cool but very gentle touch.

Antanya's heart skipped a beat.

She turned her head obediently, and smiled at the queen: "Your Majesty, it must be a very happy thing to be your child."

Yekaterina didn't know what to think of, and shook her head with a wry smile: "My child can't even see his own mother."

Antanya thought for a while, stretched out her small hand and patted the back of the Queen's hand, and looked at her seriously: "Your Majesty, you will be very happy in the future, and so will your child."

That is the happiness that I never got.

Antanya reminisces about the past while quietly enjoying her snacks.

She took the initiative to ask to come to Russia, on the one hand, because this is an opportunity to travel far away - which means that, compared to being in the Austrian imperial palace, there may be a chance to "disappear", get rid of the royal status and gain freedom.

On the other hand, she really wanted to come and see what kind of person this woman who would become the "Emperor" in the future was.

In her previous life, she had never met Ekaterina, and only wrote her a letter asking for help after the outbreak of the Great Revolution—then she was mercilessly ridiculed by the queen's reply.

In fact, she is very similar to the starting point of her destiny.

It was also married to a foreign country, the husband and wife were also at odds, and she had not given birth to an heir for many years. In the end, Ekaterina became a king from an unfavored queen, and she herself went to the guillotine with her infamy on her back.

Even if she wanted to stay away from the turbulent royal life in this life, Antanya couldn't help but wonder why.

Just as she was thinking endlessly, Ekaterina suddenly covered her mouth and retched a few times, and then her breathing became short of breath, her chest heaved violently, and her face soon flushed red.

"Your Majesty!" The maid rushed forward, "Is the corset too tight?"

In a flurry, someone helped the queen to lie down halfway back, someone was busy loosening the tie behind her, and someone hurriedly moved the screen to block the door.

After a short period of doubt, Antanya suddenly realized one thing—the queen was pregnant.

But is this something shameful?

Why did she squeeze her stomach so tight?

If it weren't for these sudden manifestations, even Antanya, who had relevant experience, wouldn't be able to tell that she was actually a pregnant woman.

At this moment, the sound of the door being opened suddenly came from outside the suite, and an unpleasant hoarse voice came: "Ekaterina! Where's Ekaterina?"

Antanya saw that everyone in the small room panicked instantly.

"Your Majesty, the queen is in the room..."

There was a clatter, as if something had been overturned to the ground, and the emperor shouted unceremoniously: "Hasn't she finished receiving the Austrian mission? Tell her to come out! Accompany me to receive the Prussian mission!"

"Ekaterina!" the emperor roared from outside, his voice getting closer, "I know you are inside! Come out!"

"Don't untie it!" Ekaterina took a deep breath, clenched her teeth and grabbed the maid's hand, "Tighten it!"

"Your Majesty!" The maid was so frightened that her hands were shaking.

The inner door also opened with a bang.The emperor only needs to take a few more steps, and he will bypass the screen and see the chaotic scene here——

The chaotic candlelight flickered, revealing the bean-sized beads of sweat on the queen's forehead.

In the blink of an eye, Antanya's expression turned cold, and she yanked the napkin under the silver plate——

There was a loud crackling sound, and the porcelain shattered to the ground.

For a moment, everyone inside and outside the screen was stunned.The emperor even jumped back in fright when he saw the red vegetable soup seeping out from under the screen.

The next second, Antanya burst into tears.

"What's the matter..." Peter III stuttered a little from the surprise, and asked with a frown.

For aristocratic men who have received years of court education, it is instinctive to retreat first when encountering chaotic scenes with ladies and children.

While crying, Antanya quickly squeezed the Queen's hand tightly.

Ekaterina instantly understood what she meant.

She calmly replied: "Your Majesty, the servant accidentally spilled vegetable soup on the Grand Duchess just now. We need to change her clothes."

The emperor scratched his head sullenly, "Okay, after you finish changing her clothes..."

Antania cried "wow" again, and said while crying, "Your Majesty! Can Her Majesty the Queen accompany me... The soup is so hot, I am in pain..."

"...All right, all right!" Peter III clapped his hands helplessly, "Ekaterina, treat the little princess well, and quickly ask someone to clean up the place. I'm leaving."

He turned around and quickly left this messy scene, not wanting to stay for a second longer.

Behind the screen, except for Antanya who was out of breath from crying, everyone held their breath nervously until they heard a "bang" and the outer door closed.

Surprisingly, the emperor left.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, and the little princess's crying stopped abruptly.

Antanya didn't shed any tears, she just howled loudly.

Fortunately, it has been more than half a month since she became a child again, and she finally overcame the psychological barrier of embarrassment.

It was the seven-year-old Austrian princess who was crying loudly. What did she have to do with Queen Antoinette?

Antanya opened her short arms, hugged the queen comfortingly, and whispered, "Don't worry. I won't tell anyone."

She thought for a while, stood on tiptoe again, and wiped Ekaterina's sweaty forehead clumsily with a handkerchief: "You really need to have a good rest. I shouldn't bother you anymore. I wish you good night."

She understood that the empress was obviously not the emperor's child.

Although Antanya herself was a little bit clean under the influence of her mother, and could not accept this kind of customary atmosphere in European courts, she always didn't like to pry into other people's private affairs.

At this moment, she just felt a little distressed - she knew that the queen was at the most vulnerable and painful moment at this moment, but she had to cover it up like walking on eggshells in order to save her life.

Ekaterina stared at the little princess with a complicated expression for a while.

Then sighed, stroked her soft blond hair, and whispered, "Thank you, Antanya."

……

The visit experience in the Russian court was lacklustre. After all, Peter III almost focused all his attention on the ambassadors sent by his "good brother" the King of Prussia, and he didn't even bother to pretend to the envoys of other countries.

Antanya attended the condolence ceremony of the Russian Empress with Earl Melsey.

The former supreme ruler of this country lay peacefully in the coffin, with his hands folded on his chest according to the Orthodox etiquette, a holy long dress woven with silver thread, and a golden crown on his head.

But neither these majestic attire nor the shiny gold gems inlaid around her could cover her lifeless appearance, showing everyone that no matter how lofty her status was before she was alive, she was just a dead person at this moment.

Wake up, your appearance after death is not as decent as hers.

Antanya hooked the corners of her lips slightly.

When it comes to the head of state, especially the succession to the throne, the courts of all countries have a lot of red tape, and Russia is no exception.

The most important agenda for the dignitaries arriving from various countries is to attend the coronation ceremony of Peter III. However, it is said that because the fireworks were consumed too much when welcoming the Prussian mission, and the golden crown of Peter III has not yet been cast, the Tsar himself cannot accept it. A less than perfect ceremony, so the ceremony was far off—the new tsar seemed more interested in rushing off with the King of Prussia, fearing that he would not be crowned until he returned from the battle.

Although the coronation ceremony has not yet been carried out, various other ceremonies are also proceeding like flowing water.

Antanya felt like a marionette, dressed up as a decent and beautiful doll every day, led to participate in such and such ritual activities, listened to a lot of incomprehensible nonsense, and silently looked at Mercy During the period, the count took time to contact envoys from other countries—especially the French ambassador, Baron Beretelli.

Austria will still ally with France after all, Antalya sighed in her heart.

She absently fiddled with a flintlock pistol inlaid with exquisite silver carvings-a gift from the little Russian prince Paul.

Well, a gift in the style of both his father, Peter III, and his mother, Catherine.

Recalling Earl Mersey's face that was about to turn liver-colored when he saw this gift for the first time, Antanya laughed rather mischievously, picked up the gun and aimed at a black bird's nest on a white pine in the distance outside the window , made a "bang" sound with his mouth, and pretended to blow the smoke from the muzzle of the gun.

Although the gift was strange, it was a good reminder—after experiencing the rebellion in her previous life, perhaps she should seriously consider improving her self-protection ability in this life.

Paul is eight years old, only one year older than Antanya.Because the two are about the same age, they quickly met under the greetings of adults.

Unlike the laughter and laughter of children everywhere in the Austrian court, the Russian court was extremely short of children, so Paul was very interested in this little princess from the south.But Antanya has other plans for approaching him-she has already acted as a messenger between Queen Ekaterina and the little prince.

Peter III did not allow the queen to meet the prince. The queen could only imagine her child playing through Antania's description, and she conveyed her thoughts on the child on her behalf.

For this reason, Antania has also become a frequent visitor to the queen.

Earl Melsey saw it and was very worried.

After watching silently for many days, he finally found a suitable opportunity. When the little princess was fiddling with the unloaded gun with great interest, he cleared his throat and sat opposite her.

"Your Highness, I think there is something I have to tell you." He looked serious, and couldn't help but twitch his eyebrows when he saw the little princess trying to pull the trigger.

"Well, you said." Antanya resumed the most elegant sitting posture and put the gun away.

Lord Mercy breathed a sigh of relief.

In any case, at least the little princess has a good attitude.

"As the Grand Duchess of Austria, you represent Austria in the Russian court." He considered the language, thinking about how to use simple and easy-to-understand words to let the little princess understand the stakes of this matter.

"So, if you get too close to the queen, it may make the emperor dislike you, which in turn makes him dislike Austria. Given what he has done... If he doesn't like Austria, it will be very bad for us things."

Mercy thought that these words should be on point—he believed that, as the queen's child, the little princess should still have a certain degree of political understanding.

Antanya naturally understood what he meant.

She smiled slightly: "But, my lord, this might make the queen like me, and then make her like Austria."

Mercy persuaded patiently: "Your Highness, you should know that the Queen's likes and dislikes are not important. The real emperor of Russia is Peter III, if he..."

He was talking, but found that Antania was always looking at him with a smile, and there seemed to be something deeper in her eyes flickering.

Reminiscent of the vague hints from the French ambassador, an extremely absurd idea suddenly emerged from his mind.

Mercy clearly knew that it was almost impossible for a seven-year-old child to have this kind of thinking, but he still opened his eyes wide in fear in an instant: "Wait, Your Highness, don't you mean...?! "

The author says:

Antanya: I'm just thinking about it, take it easy, my lord.