In the Middle Ages, people drew cards to be promoted to nobility. - Chapter 692

c689 The Knight Returns from Prague

The afternoon sun shone on her long platinum hair.

In the garden corridor where marigolds bloomed, Viviana was tickled by the vines hanging on her cheeks.

She suddenly woke up and subconsciously stretched out her thumb to press against the sword guard, gently pushed out the sharp blade, and was on guard, but then she realized that this was clearly the Hohenzollern family’s mansion in Prague.

Am I…

Back again?

She was stunned for a long time, looking at her new battle uniform. Her previous experience was like a dream, not real at all.

Now that she thought about it, except for the experience of fighting side by side with the emperor and resisting the Ottomans, the details of the next few decades were blurred.

Is it just a dream?

She couldn’t help but feel lost. Sure enough, how could someone like me achieve such a great achievement.

“Miss Viviana!”

Suddenly a maid exclaimed.

She threw away the tray in her hand and shouted loudly: “Miss is back!”

The mansion was full of joy.

The housekeeper came hurriedly, and when he saw Viviana, he breathed a sigh of relief: “Miss, you are finally back. Where have you been for this month?”

One month?

Viviana’s eyebrows relaxed slightly. It was not a dream…

It’s good that it’s not a dream.

There was no lack of complaints in the housekeeper’s tone: “You have always been sensible, how could you not know how important this competition is? So many nobles, merchants and civilians came to Prague just to see you. During your disappearance, the Elector was very anxious and put down the government affairs at hand and rushed here.”

“If you don’t show up again, the Black Eagle Knights will go to Prague.”

Viviana sighed lightly: “I didn’t know I was so important.”

She raised her eyebrows slightly: “Where is my father?”

The housekeeper looked at Viviana with some doubts, always feeling that his lady had changed a lot.

I don’t know where she has been during this time. Could it be that she eloped with a poor boy full of sweet words like described in knight novels?

The housekeeper was shocked by his sudden sensational idea.

Bang——

On the second-floor attic, a window was pushed open.

The old man with a cold expression and white hair said: “Come up to see me.”

Hearing this familiar voice, Viviana’s mood subconsciously tightened. She swore that even in Constantinople, when facing the Ottoman dragon, she had never been so nervous.

After all, she was really willful this time.

“Anna, you disappoint me so much.”

The cold old man, with a meticulously combed hair, sat upright, and acted like an old Junker officer: “As a princess of the Hohenzollern family, I allowed you to occasionally read those miscellaneous books, but now it seems that this is a wrong decision.

Anna, do you still have the honor of yourself and your family in your eyes? Enjoying the family’s resources, the identity and status of a princess, but walking away at such a critical moment, this behavior, if it gets out, the whole family will be ashamed because of you!”

Viviana pursed her lips and whispered: “Sorry, father.”

The Elector walked out lightly He took a breath, and after the rage, his tone was slightly relieved: “Forget it, if you miss this competition, you miss it. Anyway, it’s just some insignificant social interaction. I found an excuse for you to be sick, don’t tell anyone.”

“I hope this is the last time you are so willful. The old man Franz originally thought highly of you. I don’t want you to develop the kind of jumping and self-centered personality of Princess Sissi, becoming a laughing stock among the princesses of the empire. The entire Wittelsbach family is ashamed of having such a woman.”

When it comes to Franz, the emperor above him, the face of the Elector is quite disdainful.

In his opinion, this emperor who is good at women’s hands is too weak.

He can’t control his wife, his brother, his son, or his nephew. He makes concessions to the Hungarians and the Italians. Internally, he barely unifies Germany, but the states below are still a mess.

If Brandenburg was not too small, the great cause of unifying Germany would not have been Franz’s turn.

If Brandenburg had the foundation of the Habsburgs, even if it was only half of the foundation, he would have been confident that he could do a better job than Franz.

“Okay, forget about this matter. Pack your luggage and I’ll take you to Vienna.”

Viviana’s heart tightened, and she had an ominous guess: “What are you going to Vienna for?”

“The old emperor hopes to find a woman of equal status for Ferdinand. Although I have always looked down on him, he is the emperor after all. Such a marriage is a good thing for both of our families.”

“Ah?”

Viviana couldn’t help but clench her palms.

“Franz’s useless nephew got together with a maid from a duchess’s house. In order to avoid the disgrace of the Habsburg family, the old emperor hopes that you can enter into a marriage contract with Ferdinand.”

The tone of the Elector was full of sarcasm. The family style of the Habsburg family was too big.

As the crown prince, he was having an affair with such a lowly woman, who was more like a commoner than a declining noble. This was even more damaging to the royal dignity than when Franz’s eldest son Rudolf had an affair with a baroness and both committed suicide for love.

Viviana just responded silently to this. In her opinion, her father had always been like this, arbitrary and independent, and once he decided something, he would not allow anyone to change it.

“Franz, this weak and incompetent guy, doesn’t he always think highly of you? As the princess of the Hohenzollern family, you should have expected such a result.”

The Elector’s tone has always been harsh and cold.

“You shouldn’t say that to His Majesty the Emperor.”

Viviana mustered up her courage and said.

In her eyes, the old emperor gave her the few fatherly love she had ever felt in her life. This old man endured countless pains. His eldest son Rudolf committed suicide, his wife Princess Sissi was assassinated by separatists in Veneto and Lombardy, and his younger brother Maximilian insisted on going his own way and ran to Mexico to become emperor, but was shot by the Republicans.

He should no longer be subject to baseless accusations from his own father.

“You haven’t even married into the Habsburgs yet, and you’re already speaking for them?”

The Elector sneered: “You have made some progress. Franz is a soft-hearted person. If you please him, you will not suffer any disadvantages if you join the Habsburg family in the future.”

“What are you still waiting for? We are getting ready to go!”

Looking at his daughter who was still motionless, the Elector raised his eyebrows, feeling a little displeased.

This time Viviana was absent from the competition without any reason. In his opinion, it had already greatly damaged the honor of the Hohenzollern family.

“Father, I don’t want to marry Ferdinand.”

Viviana mustered up her courage. She was not a timid person, but she had a fear in her heart that she did not dare to disobey her father, who had been strict since childhood and never showed any tenderness.

“Oh? Tell me the reason?”

The Elector sneered: “I don’t want to hear anything about pursuing true love. That would make me think that you haven’t even made the slightest progress over the years. My daughter is still living in a fairy tale.”

For a noble at their level, marriage can only be a political marriage.

For example, the precedent of Franz’s eldest son Rudolf who committed suicide for love with a lowly baroness, in his eyes, was quite similar to the former Princess Sissi, who was known as the most beautiful woman in Germany. She was both weak and selfish.

Viviana’s voice was a little weak: “The Knights of the Rose are an order.”

“Very well, from today on, you are no longer a member of the Order of the Rose.”

The Elector said coldly.

After the Reformation, the church had no authority left. Even the Holy See was driven out of Rome and became a powerful clan of dark creatures, a paradise for wolves. Is there anything more embarrassing than this?

“Okay, now the only problem is solved.”

As he spoke, he stood up and ordered: “Come here, take the lady to pack her bags, and send someone to the station to charter a special train. We will try to dine at Schönbrunn Palace tonight.”