Versailles is worse than being queen

◎I can give you stars, Your Highness. ◎

Before Antanya could say anything, their conversation was interrupted by the sound of galloping horseshoes.

"Your Majesty! Your Majesty!" The chief guard panted, "The Winter Palace is on fire!"

Ekaterina stood up suddenly: "Where did the fire start?"

"Yes, it's the northwest corner of the third floor... The Hermitage Guards are already fighting the fire!"

The queen got on her horse and nodded to Antanya: "I have to go back first. Don't go to the Winter Palace, go directly to the mansion."

As the new Russian tsar, she should not be seen to be too close to a foreigner.

Antanya stood where she was, watching the queen's robes fluttering on the galloping horse and gradually disappearing into the distance.

At this time, she realized that the palm of her hand that was tightly holding her was full of tides.

On the way back to the mansion from Seiso Forest, she couldn't help but think back to the time she spent with Ekaterina—she shouldn't have revealed anything, right?

However, even if she told others that she was reborn after more than 30 years, I am afraid that others would not believe it.

Antanya consoled herself.

When the carriage returned to the vicinity of the Winter Palace, it was already dark, and the raging fire could be seen from a distance illuminating half of the sky, making the originally bustling Nevsky Prospekt dim.

Antanya ordered the coachman to avoid the Winter Palace block which was closest to the fire.She didn't want to join in the fun.

Carriages drove through the empty Nevsky Prospekt - people ran to fight the fire or watch the excitement, and then turned into the shadowy Tam Lane.It was even more silent here.

As she walked, Antanya was suddenly taken aback.

"Sir, please stop!" she yelled, pushing open the car door.

"Ni..." Before she could finish her greeting, a silver-black figure passed by like a ghost, covering her mouth.

"Oh!" Antanya widened her eyes in astonishment, and saw the black-haired boy who jumped into the car in an instant make a "shh" gesture to her.

This was obviously her carriage, but he closed the curtain very skillfully.

This is not clear.

"I'm sorry to offend you again," Nicholas said politely, but he didn't relax the action of covering her mouth at all. "However, I really need you to do me a favor right now."

He thought for a while, and added another word, "Your Highness."

You cover my mouth and still want my help?

Antanya glared at him.

"Your Highness, what's the matter? Shall we continue walking?" the coachman asked in front.

As if he couldn't discern the anger in Antanya's eyes, the boy continued slowly, "If you promise not to call anyone else, then I'll let you speak—you can blink."

"..." Antanya was restrained by others, and she blinked her eyes in humiliation.

It made her feel stupid.

Fortunately, the boy kept his promise and let her go.

Antanya immediately distanced herself from him, and relaxed a little when she saw that he was no longer approaching.

Is he so sure that he will keep his promise?

For a moment she stared at Nicholas coldly.

Then she calmly tapped on the front beam.

"It's all right. Go ahead, sir."

Sure enough, the carriage started to move again, and the corners of Nicholas' mouth slightly hooked.

Antanya studied him for a moment.

There was a trace of burnt marks on the boy's cuff, and there seemed to be a little blood on his elbow.

She said cautiously: "What are you doing?"

She wasn't afraid.She has always been very sensitive to people's emotions, and can feel that this child has no malice towards her.

And, truth be told, she wasn't afraid of dying.

"Did you see the fire in the Winter Palace?" Nicholas shrugged, "I should have died in that fire."

Antanya frowned slightly.

Because of the storms she had experienced, she understood what he meant in an instant.

It seems that something big has indeed happened in Serbia.

Someone wanted the life of this kid who was being held hostage in a foreign land.

— They probably thought they had succeeded.

"So, how can I help you?" she asked knowingly.

"Maybe, take me away from this dangerous place, let me hide in the mansion...and take me to Vienna?"

There was a strange light in the boy's deep eyes.

"You're dreaming." Antanya snorted coldly.

"I also helped you hide it before." The boy reminded her kindly.

"I'm sorry to say that you don't seem too smart if you're trying to use that as a cover." Antanya raised her chin and folded her arms across her chest.

"The enemy who threatened me then is no longer there. Your threats are meaningless, Monsieur Count."

"It's not an excuse, Your Highness." Nicholas smiled, "I just want to tell you that I can still be useful in places where you don't expect it."

"For example?" Antanya asked bluntly.

In fact, she is very polite to strangers, not to mention he is her benefactor.

But somehow, she just didn't want to have a good talk with him - it must be because he offended her.

"For example," Nicholas blinked at her, "I can do divination, and I can help you avoid the greatest disaster in your life."

"Thank you, there's no need." God knows how much self-control Antanya used to not roll her eyes. That's too unsuitable for a queen.

She knows what the greatest catastrophe in life is, and she can avoid it by herself, thanks to him.

Antanya had a soft and hard attitude, and the boy looked at her silently for a few seconds.

At this moment, she staggered suddenly——the carriage braked suddenly.

A hand immediately grabbed her arm, holding her in place.

With a few creaks, the carriage stopped.

Bright torch light was thrown into the carriage from the curtain, and there were chaotic footsteps and voices: "Which adult's car is this?"

"Archduchess Maria Antalia of Austria," replied the coachman in front.

Antanya's expression turned cold, and she pushed the boy who had been holding her all the time: "Get down! Under the seat!"

There are two opposite rows of seats in the luxuriously decorated carriage, all decorated with deep purple velvet. There is a narrow space under the seats, which can hold a small suitcase or accommodate a young child to curl up sideways inside. .

When the light of the torch moved to the door of the carriage, the people outside knocked on the door very politely, and then opened the door.

"Your Highness?"

The tall man in the lead did not poke his head into the carriage rudely, but quickly looked around the carriage carriage from the outside with a pair of sharp eyes.

It was clean, except for a little princess in a light blue dress sitting by the door. The skirt bloomed like a bouquet of flowers and dragged to the floor.

She poked her head out curiously: "What's the matter?"

"Oh, it's nothing." The man smiled amiably, "You came from the block on the west side of the Winter Palace. I heard that there were some logs that fell off due to the fire. We routinely check all the passing vehicles so as not to leave a trace. A safety hazard."

"Sorry to bother you, have a nice evening."

"Thank you, and you too." Antanya smiled obediently.

The door was closed again, the carriage started to move slowly again, and the sound of footsteps and horseshoes gradually disappeared.

a block.

two blocks.

Antanya's expression changed from calm to leisurely, and she gradually leaned comfortably on the soft back of the chair, as if nothing had happened just now.

A breeze blew on her neck, and a voice came from behind: "Your Highness?"

Antanya trembled and almost rolled off the seat.

Fortunately, this was the second time, and she was somewhat mentally prepared, and she came back to her senses immediately.

"..." She turned her head angrily, "Can you stop being scary every time?"

"No way, I don't want to wait for you to fall asleep from boredom before coming out, wouldn't that be more scary."

The young man smiled and shrugged his shoulders, then put his hands together, flipped over the back of the chair lightly, and flipped from the back of the seat to the front - when he was hiding just now, he found that the bottom of the seat and the back were connected, and there was a piece at the back that was big enough for one person to stand on. from the space.

He half-kneeled in front of her, so as not to stand up and kowtow on the roof of the carriage: "I asked you not to, so I will ask you seriously now, what do you want?"

The little boy asked her seriously, although there were still a few embarrassing bloody bruises on the side of his cheeks, but his facial features were as delicate as a Cupid sculpture, and his angelic face was lit up with a smile.

After the accident just now, Antanya actually stopped being angry a long time ago.

She pretended to think seriously for a moment, then looked at him with a smile: "I like stars."

Nicholas nodded without hesitation: "Okay. I can give you stars, Your Highness—not one or two. I can light up the sky full of stars for you."

Antanya finally couldn't help raising her eyebrows, she couldn't care less about maintaining her image.

This little boy is quite good at coaxing little girls, as expected he was brought up from the Russian court.

The young man thought for a while and added: "Actually, those stars are made up of the smallest particles, and those particles also make up the air, land and people here—you are the stars yourself, Your Highness."

Antanya snorted and laughed: "You understand it so clearly, could it be that it came from the stars?"

She clearly knew that the child was full of nonsense, but the nonsense came out of his mouth so beautifully, like poetry.

"Someone said that." The boy replied solemnly, "Unfortunately, it's not true."

At this moment the carriage passed the brightly lit lighthouse of the Peter and Paul Fortress, and bright lights fell into the carriage.

In Antanya's field of vision, the boy's deep eyes suddenly lit up, as if they had instantly turned into a disturbed galaxy.

From this angle, his pupils are silver-gray.Like smoky quartz in the depths of the starlight.

At this moment, Antanya suddenly remembered what the Queen said to herself: "You don't know whether you met a knight or a devil."

After a while, she retracted her thoughts with a snort, and stretched out her hand to him with a smile: "Deal."

She had received gifts from the devil, so how could she be afraid of walking with the devil.

The boy took her hand.

Then, holding it solemnly - like two politicians just agreeing on a big conspiracy.

Antanya finally couldn't help raising her eyebrows, and gave him a foolish look.

Does this silly boy really not know what etiquette is?

The next moment, the boy raised the corners of his lips and leaned down to kiss the back of her hand: "Thank you, Your Highness."

……

There is always a way, as long as she thinks.

Antania only played some little girl's petite and willful little tricks, and then persuaded Earl Mercy to let her go back home alone.

——Of course, this "alone" is still based on no less than twenty attendants.

Perhaps Ekaterina soon understood the real target of the fire after she came back, and the matter was suppressed silently.

It is not known whether the person who set the fire came from Ottomans or Serbia, and what private deal was reached with the empress—perhaps it was a new hostage, or some promise of land or tribute.

This also made Antanya understand why Nicholas asked her for help.

—Even if those people thought he was dead, Russia was no longer safe for him.

Antanya had no chance to ask the queen about the situation, because the queen had been preparing for the coronation ceremony since that day.

To order a gold crown, a red robe, and arrange all the cumbersome Orthodox etiquette at the Ascension Cathedral in the Kremlin in Moscow, she has become a ruler of a country on her shoulders, and no longer has any time to indulge in love for her children.

Three days before the Queen set off for Moscow, Earl Mercy sent a letter to the protocol officer for Antania, politely explaining that the Grand Duchess will leave early the next morning because of Queen Theresia's call. Apology for attending the coronation of the Empress of Russia.

The queen didn't have any special reaction, but routinely sent the protocol officer to reply to the Austrian mission, saying that she would send officials to see her off.

Apart from giving the Archduchess of Austria a Rembrandt painting, there was no special courtesy.

In the early morning three days later, Antanya stepped into the dew and boarded a carriage that was spacious enough to sleep many of her.

The horseshoe smashed the dawn, and St. Petersburg was shrouded in hazy morning fog, which had not yet woken up.

Antanya lifted the curtain of the car, glanced casually, and suddenly looked up with a feeling——

Inside the floor-to-ceiling windows on the highest floor of the Winter Palace, a figure in a bright crimson robe stood silently by the window, like a classical oil painting.

As the carriage receded, the vague figure disappeared into the rose-colored mist.

The author says:

Nicholas: On July 1762, 7, Antania said that I don't seem too smart. (Smile)

There is indeed a fanatical follower of Tesla who said that he was born on Venus, came to earth to benefit mankind, and can predict the future-he is tired of these mystics.