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"What's wrong?" Victoria looked at Gisela for a moment, then realized the seriousness of the problem.
"Oh no! Oya, quickly snatch the notebook from her hand!" Victoria suddenly stood up and ordered the Indian maid beside her.
"Wait a minute, let me look at it a little longer." Gisela had never seen anything so interesting before and was naturally unwilling to give it up easily. She leaned back, flipping the sofa over along with herself, and then used the momentum to spin around and dodge the pounced maid. Of course, her hat fell to the ground as a result, exposing her adorable fox ears.
“Absolutely not!” Victoria frowned, then charged at Gisela with a furious look on her face, like a hungry tiger pouncing on its prey.
Gisela calmly dodged the lunging Victoria, while Her Majesty the Queen crashed into the wall and, as expected, fell to the ground with a thud. For some reason, Gisela seemed to see stars above her head.
"You two, don't be so enthusiastic, it'll make me shy." Gisela said playfully, waving her laptop in front of Victoria. Then, she opened it with a smug look on her face, ready to walk back to the sofa to continue reading. But karma soon caught up with her. She slipped on her own hat, and because of her high heels, she instantly did a split.
The pain from her ligaments caused Gisela to let out a mournful cry! The Austrian princess's shrill voice echoed throughout the theater, even drowning out the soprano on stage.
Ignoring her own pain, Victoria rolled up her sleeves and pressed down on Gisela, who was in so much pain that her eyes were brimming with tears.
"Ah fck! You little rascal, so naughty... I'll teach you a lesson on behalf of your mother, Sisi!" Just as Victoria pressed down on Gisela's chest and reached out to snatch the notebook from Gisela's hand, the door was rudely opened.
"Mother, are you alright!" The Prince of Wales rushed into the room, only to find his mother straddling a fox-eared girl, one hand pressed against the girl's chest in a harassing manner, while the girl beneath her was already crying. (Of course, the reason for the crying was lol)
"Your Highness!"
"Gisella!" Rita and Hana quickly arrived at the room, only to witness this scene, and everyone immediately had an answer in their hearts.
Immediately, dark lines and interrogative gazes were fixed on Queen Victoria.
The word "-" should be added when describing a crime in progress; even the Prince of Wales couldn't defend his mother.
"Your Majesty..." Hana rubbed her forehead helplessly and sighed again.
"Your Majesty, please give us an explanation as to why you...have such intimate interactions with Princess Gisela." Hannah carefully considered her words before finally saying this, as the other party was the Queen and she could not use vulgar language.
Gisela was lying on the sofa like a salted fish, while Rita was kneeling on the floor massaging her legs. The maid kept casting resentful glances at Victoria, as if she were the one bullying Gisela.
"It's a misunderstanding. I saw Gisela fall and tried to help her up, so I fell down too. You can ask little Gisela if you don't believe me." Victoria avoided mentioning the truth of what had just happened, since both sides were at fault.
"Yes, His Majesty was actually trying to help me up, but we both fell down. It was all a misunderstanding." Gisela nodded. After all, it was her own fault, and she had dragged Victoria into it as well. To be honest, she felt a little embarrassed.
“Alright, we should go now,” Gisela said to Rita, and then, with Rita’s help, prepared to leave.
"I'm sorry, Your Majesty, it seems I must leave today. Please allow me to return to Syria another day." Gisela, having recovered her composure from the pain, still maintained her elegance and grace.
"Okay, let's talk another day." Victoria nodded somewhat hastily, which was a response to Gisela's new invitation.
Today, both Gisela and Victoria seem to have seen a more authentic side of each other, though these are secrets that are difficult for the two of them to talk about.
"Watspastisprologe印另起司洽揪司韭群." (All that has passed is but a prologue) Just then, the actors performing "The Tempest" sang this line at just the right moment.
PS1: 1234567
Chapter 407 The Rebirth of the Two-Headed Eagle: Capter 26 Humanity Under Four Pounds (Vote Requested)
“Your Highness, as you requested, I will certainly send people to keep an eye on the information from the London and New York Stock Exchanges. If any problems arise, I will inform you immediately.” Guided by a servant, Hannah prepared to board the carriage prepared for her by her family and return to the Rothschild family’s manor in London.
"Then I'll trouble you." Gisela nodded to indicate that she understood, and then watched Hana board the carriage.
"By the way, congratulations on your marriage, Your Highness!" Hana smiled slightly as she offered her blessings to Gisela before the carriage departed. As one of Gisela's advisors and one of the three pillars of the Dove Chess Tribe, she naturally knew the truth about Gisela's wedding, but that didn't stop her from teasing Gisela in this way.
"Yes, thank you." Gisela responded to Hana's blessing with a forced smile.
Thus, Gisela's meeting with Hannah came to a temporary end.
"Would Your Highness like to return to your apartment by carriage or on foot? If you prefer, I can carry you." Rita looked at the somewhat tired Gisela with concern, her gentle tone making one feel exceptionally comfortable.
Let's sit for a while! Gisela pointed to a bench not far away.
“Yes, Your Highness.” Rita nodded.
Soon, the two of them were sitting comfortably on chairs outside the theater, enjoying the London night breeze.
"Rita, can I borrow your knee? I want to lie down for a bit." With these words, Gisela rested her head on Rita's lap like a salted fish, feeling the warmth of her thighs as she slowly closed her eyes.
The unique rose-like scent emanating from Rita wafted into Gisela's nostrils, instantly lifting her spirits. Rita gently placed her hand on Gisela's head, softly stroking her hair. To make Gisela more comfortable, Rita straightened her posture as much as possible, keeping her back upright and her toes slightly raised.
When was the last time she had a lap pillow like this? Six years ago? She was only 12 years old then, listening to her lullaby as she fell into a deep sleep. It was the first time in both her lives that she had such intimate contact with a girl, enjoying the unique benefits of being with a beautiful young woman.
“Rita, do you know? On the other side of the river is London’s largest slum, where tens of thousands of working people have to struggle to make a living. Children, women, the elderly—no one is spared. This is the tragedy of our times, the greatest flaw lurking in human society.” Perhaps influenced by her mentor, Gisela now felt a certain sympathy for the lower classes.
“Your Highness, while the goodness of humanity is important, unfounded sentimentality cannot fundamentally solve the problem. Our church can use religion to alleviate the suffering of the people, while a genius like Mr. Karl can provide the poor with weapons to fight.” The Karl that Rita was referring to was the person Gisela had met that morning. Influenced by Gisela, Rita had also read the works of that mentor.
Although in a sense, the two are part of the "old forces" that need to be overthrown.
“Mr. Carl?” Gisela looked up at the sky with a touch of emotion.
“I agree with his idea because it is similar to Jesus’ original idea, which is to redeem more people and bring happiness to the people. And I know that this imperfect world needs such a savior, but she seems ethereal, yet she is actually very close at hand.”
Rita has always been a very special person. She has a rebellious streak hidden beneath her respect, a sense of pride that is not content with the status quo. Of course, compared to the Rita who used to do things flawlessly like a machine and never revealed her emotions, she now seems more real.
“It’s getting late, we should head back.” Gisela said to Rita as she sat up, having decided to keep her opinion on the matter to herself.
"Okay, Your Highness."
Return journey dividing line
Although the distance from the theater to Baker Street wasn't far, it was still several kilometers, and you had to turn down countless streets along the way. Fortunately, there were street signs, so at least the two of them wouldn't easily get lost.
As night deepened, fog once again enveloped the city. Gisela raised her left hand; the hands of her watch pointed to 10:27, a rather late hour for this time of year. The dim light of the kerosene streetlights was clearly insufficient to illuminate the entire street, leaving it shrouded in darkness.
London's security isn't exactly good, and young women like Gisela face a variety of dangers when walking the streets. However, Gisela is no weak princess, and Rita is no frail maid, so dealing with street thugs isn't too difficult for the two of them.
Soon, the two walking on the road noticed that there seemed to be a large group of people gathered in the alley ahead, and judging from their attire, they could easily tell that they were all police officers.
Driven by curiosity, Gisela led Rita slowly into the alley, intending to ask the police for information. However, they spotted a figure Gisela recognized all too well—Sherlock Holmes.
At this moment, the detective was leaning against the wall outside the alley with a serious expression, her left hand holding her hat to her chest, her right hand clenched into a fist, looking extremely angry.
"Miss Holmes, may I ask what happened here?" Out of concern for the girl and to satisfy her own curiosity, Gisela approached Charlotte and asked.
“It’s you! Your Highness… Miss.” Charlotte slowly raised her head, smiling as she looked at Gisela and the maid behind her.
"Miss, it's best not to be curious about what happened inside. It's better for a kind-hearted lady like you to not know such things," Charlotte sighed, her mood quite low.
"Why do you say that?" Gisela glanced at the policeman in black in the distance and the little girl beside her before asking.
“Fine, I take back what I said earlier. Someone with a strong heart like you might be able to accept this,” Charlotte said, glancing at Rita behind Gisela.
"Four!" Holmes said slowly, raising his hand to make a four-pointed gesture.
"Four?" Gisela frowned slightly upon hearing this number, as it seemed strange to her, like a secret code.
"Four pounds, can you imagine? For four pounds, a grown man so easily murdered three poor children." Charlotte's expression turned to extreme rage as she said this...
PS1: The second day of the holiday, and it's true that the night before the holiday is the happiest!
Chapter 408 The Two-Headed Eagle's Rebirth: Capter 27 The Price of Kindness (Seeking Votes)
“Three children…” Even Rita, who never shied away from killing, frowned upon hearing this, because while she was ruthless towards her enemies, she had never laid a hand on children.
Four pounds, four poor children. Gisela's expression turned somewhat grim, because the coincidence was too much, and she had just given the little boy who delivered the letter four pounds that morning.
Could it be... Gisela's expression darkened at the thought.
"Please take me to the scene." Gisela suddenly grabbed Charlotte's wrist and roughly pulled Miss Holmes deeper into the alley. An unprecedented sense of frustration and guilt overwhelmed Gisela. A simple act of kindness had led to such a tragedy. Now, Gisela had no choice but to pray that it was just a coincidence.
“Miss, this matter has nothing to do with you, and you are perfectly free to stay out of it,” Miss Holmes continued to try to remind Gisela, but the only response she received was an even more determined stride.
Seeing the lady accompanying Holmes to the scene, the police did not stop her but allowed her to enter. After all, Ms. Holmes was Scotland Yard's savior and the chief's honored guest.
Gisela then came into view of three children lying in pools of blood in the alley.
One boy and two girls were lying in a corner. The boy had been stabbed in the chest and collapsed some distance away. The two girls were lying in a nearby corner. There seemed to be a trash can nearby, as if they were protecting something.
Gisela turned back to look at the alleyway and saw the dirty little girl. Suddenly, she knew the answer: her older brother and sister had willingly risked their lives to draw the attention of the criminals in order to protect their younger sister.
Upon seeing this scene, Gisela collapsed to her knees, utterly exhausted. She considered herself a strong person, but even this sight deeply affected her. Others might not know, but she knew perfectly well who had given them the four pounds, and the image of the children's smiles remained vividly before her eyes.
Good intentions don't always lead to good outcomes; so-called pity can sometimes bring about someone's death. Legally, Gisela was innocent, but morally, he felt guilty.
In her previous life, Gisela was a law student who used to dismiss Professor Luo's words because she "didn't believe that studying law would make one lose their humanity." But now it seems that it wasn't a loss of humanity, but rather an incurable disillusionment with humanity itself...
“Miss Charlotte, do you know? These four pounds were given to them by me.” Gisela looked up at the detective with a blank expression, her voice filled with regret.
"You gave them so much? Oh well, it's probably a small amount for you anyway..." Charlotte said, taking out her pipe with a hint of helplessness.
"Aren't you going to blame me?" Gisela desperately wanted someone to blame her at that moment, so that perhaps she could alleviate her intense guilt.
"Strange request. You're not the murderer, and your actions aren't inherently evil. Should we ignore the beauty of the process just because the outcome is bound to be bad? If everyone lived like this, would kindness lose its foundation? Just as I enjoy seeking the truth, I also enjoy the process of seeking the truth even more."
The discussion about good between Rita and Holmes is remarkably similar: doing good within one's means is better than doing nothing in the name of hypocrisy. A politician can be hypocritical or genuinely virtuous; the two are not mutually exclusive.
Charlotte's words aptly awakened Gisela's inner confusion. She then stood up and walked resolutely towards the little girl. To the astonishment of everyone present, she took off her hat, revealing her fox ears to the public.
“Kind sister…” The little girl, with tears in her eyes, noticed Gisela. She felt no resentment, but rather gratitude, because the person who killed her family was not the sister in front of her.
"Where will she be taken?" Gisela asked, looking up and stroking the little girl's head.
"Orphanage? Church? That depends on the arrangements." The policeman was surprised by the fox ears on the woman's head and became much more polite to Gisela, because the animal ears themselves indicated that she was a magic user.
While they expressed sympathy for the little girl's tragedy, they felt somewhat powerless to help, as the crime-solving rate in this era was not high, and they could only handle the orphanage issue according to procedure.
"Then can I adopt her?" Gisela asked in an unquestionable tone.
"Adoption is possible, but you must first verify your identity and whether she consents."
“You can take this to the Austrian Empire’s embassy in London to verify my identity.” Gisela took off the necklace and handed it to the policeman. This was just a formality, after all, the other party was a magic user, which could actually prove a lot of things.
"What's your name?" Gisela asked the little girl in front of her with a gentle expression.
“Mia,” the little girl answered softly.
"Mia, I am a magical sorceress. I can make you a princess. Would you like that?" Gisela gently raised a hand and extended it in front of the little girl.
"I do!" After a moment's hesitation, the little girl nodded in agreement. As she spoke, a white lily suddenly appeared in Gisela's hand. (Gisela had picked one from the bouquet to play with.)
“This is a gift for our beautiful little princess.” Gisela gently kissed the little girl’s forehead and wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes.
"Thank you, sister," the little girl replied happily.
“You can call me Mom, that’s fine too.” Gisela’s mood became unusually happy.
"Yes! Sister, Mom." Mia's way of addressing her was a bit strange, but not only Gisela, but everyone present chuckled in unison.
Mia will be Gisela's first daughter. Although Mia is not related by blood, this will not change the future Queen's love for her daughters.
"Are you really going to adopt her? Will your husband agree?" Holmes asked with some concern, watching the girl interacting intimately with Mia.
"Gisela and Leopold of Bavaria were husband and wife. Even though she was an adopted daughter, she enjoyed the same status as their children, since the couple did not have any heirs at the time."
“I’ll decide on this!” Gisela said seriously.
PS1: This is what the evil of human nature is like.
Chapter 409 The Two-Headed Eagle's Rebirth: Capter 28 Marital Conflict (Seeking Votes)
As sunlight pierced the darkness, a new day dawned in London. Nina slowly opened her blurry eyes, then turned her head to look around her bedside. Then, something strange happened: the person beside her wasn't Gisela, but a little girl with long black hair. The little girl was fast asleep, arms outstretched, saliva dripping from the corner of her mouth, and she was murmuring strange things in her sleep.
"Can anyone tell me what's going on?" Nina knelt on the bed, observing the little girl sleeping like a doll, and couldn't help but touch the little girl's cheek with her hand.
"Who exactly is she? And where did my annoying cousin go?" Nina felt increasingly puzzled, so she stood up, put on a thin shirt and slippers, and left the bedroom to go to the living room to get some water.
Nina quickly found Gisela in the living room after leaving the bedroom. Gisela was fast asleep on the sofa with her legs curled up, the blanket had slipped to the floor but still completely covered her.
"I don't know where you went yesterday. You look quite tired." Nina placed her water glass on the coffee table, propped her head up with her right hand, and observed the sleeping face of her beautiful cousin, who was also her nominal wife.
"Never mind, I'll make you a cup of coffee." After a moment, Nina stood up and prepared to go to the kitchen to make Gisela a hot cup of coffee. Nina wasn't a particularly diligent person; perhaps she was willing to make Gisela a cup of coffee to repay Gisela for the care she had received during this time.
Just then, the door to the opposite bedroom slowly opened, and a short-haired woman with gray hair, wearing only a black lace nightgown, walked out of the room. The two women looked at each other, and the atmosphere became slightly tense.
For some reason, when Nina saw this woman named Rita, several adjectives involuntarily popped into her mind: "seductive" and "scheming." Look at that outfit, which looks like it was prepared specifically for flirting. Who is she dressed up for? And she calls herself a maid? So indecent.
I'd heard people talk about this kind of clothing before, and I'd even seen it myself, but it was impossible for me to wear it.
Of course, Nina didn't know that this was Rita's usual style of dressing. How she liked to describe it was her own business, and how Rita dressed was her own business as well.
"Good morning, Your Highness." Rita greeted Nina with a smile and an elegant bow. Because of her hair, only one eye was visible to Nina, and Rita's expression was perfectly controlled.
"Rita, could you please tell me who the little girl in my bed this morning was?" Nina asked, hands on her hips, looking quite confused.
"Mom...Mom! I need to...go to the toilet." At this moment, a little girl named Mia came into the living room, and said softly while holding onto the wall, looking a little shy.
"Huh? Mom?" Nina's expression immediately became incredibly interesting.
"Shh! Mia, your mother is still resting. Shall I take you to the toilet?" Rita said with a gentle smile as she approached the little girl.
"Mmm." The little girl nodded obediently, then took Rita's hand and followed her to the restroom.
"What on earth is going on!" Nina rubbed her forehead, feeling both amused and exasperated. She then leaned weakly against the wall. The sheer volume of information from the scene had caused her brain to malfunction.
The apartment was supposed to house only the three of them, but apart from Rita and herself, the only other person still asleep was her cousin on the sofa, and the word "Mom" clearly referred to her.
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