Versailles is worse than being queen

◎Queen's Chess Game◎

In 1775 great events took place on the Continent—many years later it will be known what part these events played in each fork in history.

In this year, almost the entire continent can be said to be ruled by three queens - Russian Tsar Catherine, Austrian Queen Theresia, and French Queen Antalya.

It is precisely because of this that this period was later called the "Queen's Chess Game".

Until one night in April 1776, there were hurried footsteps in Vienna's Schönbrunn Palace.

"Quick, go find the priest..."

"Her Majesty wants to see the Grand Dukes."

There are many children of the Queen of Austria, but most of them who are still alive at the moment are married to other countries, while the unmarried Anna and Elizabeth are in the monasteries of Prague and Innsbruck, and the only child still in Schönbrunn Palace is Antani ya.Also, there are Theresa and Christina, daughters of the Queen's son Joseph, and Leopold's children.

These children are so young, the Queen of Austria sighed deeply.

She struggled to sit up, gently stroked each child's hair, smiled and told them to love each other and grow up safely.

When these children, who still couldn't understand what death meant, left in a daze, she saw her little daughter standing by the door.

Thearesia's vision was a little dazed.

She had been very ill before, and her mind was dizzy. Real scenes and hallucinations together disturbed her memory.

But this scene was very clearly imprinted in her field of vision - the girl standing there was no longer the rebellious and stubborn little girl in her memory, she stood quietly in the morning sun, although there was sadness in her eyes , but introverted and quiet.

At this moment, Teresia really realized that her little daughter had grown up.

This child whom she paid little attention to, this child who was chosen to marry to the most powerful country because of her beauty, was no longer a little princess belonging to Austria.

In her gaze, Antanya walked up to her mother and took her hand: "Your Majesty."

Facing her dying mother, she didn't know what to say for a moment.After a moment of silence, she whispered, "Silesia...we have taken it back."

"Silesia." The queen sighed, her eyes wandering to a distant place.

In the war caused by her succession to the throne, Prussia took Silesia, which was an eternal pain in her heart.

Her father promulgated the "National Edict" early on, emphasizing that the territories of the Habsburg family Austria, Hungary and Bohemia are indivisible, and she also obtained the right to inherit the throne because of this edict.

For the stability of the country, her parents considered letting her marry the crown princes of Prussia and Russia, but in the end they all gave up because of the death of the crown prince or the opposition of some forces.She was thus blessed with the good fortune of marrying the one she loved—"I've sacrificed once for my country, and now I'm just a widow," she declared as a teenager. "I have every reason to dictate my second marriage."

She finally got her wish and married Franz Stefan, Duke of Lorraine who lived in the Vienna court. Franz even gave up the family territory of Lorraine for her and replaced it with Italy's Tos Grand Duchy of Cana.

"Lorraine has now returned to France," Theresa murmured, looking at her daughter, "If you can reunite it with the territory of the Habsburg-Lorraine dynasty, I miss your father I will be very pleased. The Habsburg children are all entrusted to you..."

Antanya suddenly looked up at her mother.

The aging queen clenched her hands tightly, her eyes flashing with the majesty she had been in power for decades: "Antania, you can't refuse me, just like you can't refuse your surname and identity, you will always With this imprint..."

"Your Majesty," Antanya finally couldn't help but she saw tears welling up in those eyes.

"Antania... I once had a dream, when you left Vienna..." the queen said in a sleepy voice, "I dreamed of another history, no, I don't know if it is history or the future ..."

"And now that I'm about to leave, that dream has returned..." She choked up, "I've never been so frightened, as if it was an incomparably real reality... I saw your terrible fate, I saw a cruel And the crazy storm..."

Antanya opened her eyes slightly.

Her mother, the monarch of this kingdom, had never shown such a flustered expression in front of her.

In her last life, she never saw her mother again in the 24 years after she left Vienna.She had never seen her aging mother, nor heard her dying words.

There has never been a moment like this, the first time that Antanya realized so clearly-it turns out that her mother will also grow old one day.

"Antania," Teresia held her daughter's hand, her voice trembling slightly, "I have a hunch that I should ask you... What does this mean? Will you have anything...?"

In the moment of silence, Antanya's expression was very calm, only her eyelashes slowly drooped: "It's nothing, it's just a nightmare."

She lowered her head and kissed the back of the Queen's hand lightly.

"I'll be fine, don't worry...Mom."

After Queen Theresa's breathing gradually calmed down, she stood up and nodded to the priest at the door.

Mother is a devout Christian, she needs confession and prayer before dying.

Everyone at the Viennese court bowed their heads in awe as Antalya emerged from the Queen's bedroom.

She is the youngest princess of the Queen of Austria, but she is far more than a princess.

No one noticed that her graceful steps seemed to be a little faster than usual, and her cold hands unconsciously clenched her skirt.

Until the fragrance of starlight narcissus in the garden of Schönbrunn Palace rushed towards her face with the damp and cool breath of the night, a hand suddenly grabbed her sleeve.

Under the hazy moonlight, the tall figure that blocked the moonlight shrouded in a floating halo, making him look like some kind of existence between reality and illusion.

He didn't speak, but just lowered his head, took out a handkerchief and gently wiped the corners of her eyes, and said softly, "I said, you are still a little girl... there is no shame in crying."

Antanya looked at him blankly, and tears suddenly flowed down her cheeks uncontrollably.

It seems that since a long time ago, she has been used to measuring everything with indifference and reason - in those chaotic years, tears and showing weakness will only give others more opportunities to hurt her.

She persevered until the last moment with an arrogant, decisive, and indifferent attitude. No one could see her tears, and no one could see any trace of her pain from her calm expression.

Now that she has worn the crown, even to the point of death, she must maintain the composure that matches it.

But why doesn't she hate it?

If there were no restrictions on everything, she would also want to hate everything, hate her mother for marrying her to a foreign country, hate those insidious villains who plotted and slandered... But she hates herself even more for being so stupid.

Perhaps death is the best ending.

Rebirth brings a new life and body, but it can never erase the imprint of the past.

For more than ten years, she seemed to have been very calm, and she told herself so—but only the deepest part of her subconscious knew that she was always walking on thin ice.

The curse of fate hangs over her head like a huge sword of Damocles at any time and place.Ever since she made up her mind, she never thought of backing down, but that doesn't mean she won't be in pain.

... And there is a person in the world who understands her pain.

She was embraced into a warm embrace, and the sound of a steady heartbeat came from her ears, which also covered the crying that she finally could no longer hold back.

Over the years, all the accumulated feelings have broken through the barriers, and there is no longer a trace of concealment.

"It's passed."

With a sigh, he patted her thin back, "I'm here...don't be afraid."

……

On a continent full of nations, any war draws the attention of other nations - how does this war affect me?Which side should I support, or which side should I oppose?

Or, how to take advantage of the war between these parties to maximize their own interests?

The battle of the Holy Roman Empire was coming fiercely, with an momentum that seemed to sweep the entire continent, making all the surrounding countries, large and small, hold their breath.

But no one expected that it would end in less than a year, followed by an unprecedented reshuffle of power.

At the junction of new territories by the Black Sea, two of the most important monarchs of the war met - the Russian Tsar and the French Queen met here to sign a peace treaty.

This historical meeting was coordinated by Voltaire, the only figure who was on good terms with both monarchs and had sufficient prestige to mediate, and was guaranteed and witnessed by the newly independent Ottomans. King Nicholas I of Serbia—Although this country has only been independent from Turkish rule for a year, its military strength is already well known to all countries.

On this continent where the artillery fire is almost never extinguished, no one knows how long the peace can last, but at least now, people see a new hope.

In any case, the reputations of these several monarchs are very good, and there is no such thing as eccentric or cruel kings that have ever existed in history.

"The little girl back then has grown up and can come and shake hands with me." Ekaterina said with a smile.

Antanya also smiled: "I couldn't think of it back then."

"Speaking of which, you still earn more," Ekaterina shook the wine glass in her hand, "Russia is already very big, I just got a few more territories..."

"And you, I count, you are now Queen of France, Hungary, Bohemia, Croatia and Slovenia, Weimar and West Prussia, Grand Duchess of Austria, Duchess of Lorraine, Tuscany, Milan and Luxembourg... There are so many, I must have missed them. Of course, a title of 'Holy Roman Empress' is enough to cover them all."

Speaking of this, Ekaterina glanced at her with a half-smile: "That's very interesting, just like the Eastern and Western Roman Empires reappeared in our hands. But... the Holy See of the Orthodox Church is under my control, but I I heard that the Holy See and those Electors don't always seem to be so obedient. Is it?"

"Oh," Antanya took a sip of the wine lightly, "The electors are all near my territory, and the Papal State is after all on the Apennine Peninsula."

"I just reminded the Pope kindly that the queen of Naples and Sicily in the southeast of the Papal States is my sister Johanna, the Duchess of Parma in the northwest is my sister Josepha, and the west is my Tuscany. The island to the southwest is Corsica."

The author says:

It is expected that the main text will be finished tomorrow, and then there will be a few episodes of the timeline~