Drawing Cards in the Middle Ages to Rise in Ranks

Chapter 751 56: The Knight Returning from Prague

The afternoon sunlight spilled over the platinum blonde hair.

In the garden where marigolds bloomed, Viviana awoke suddenly.

She instinctively reached out her thumb to press against the sword guard, gently pushing it out, ready for defense, but then she realized she was clearly at the Hohenzollern family residence in Prague.

Is this...

Have I returned?

The previous experiences felt like a dream.

Thinking back now, apart from the initial fight alongside the Emperor against the Ottomans, the details of the following decades had become blurry.

"Miss Viviana!"

A maid suddenly exclaimed.

She dropped the tray in her hand and cried out loudly, "The young lady has returned!"

The mansion was in a joyous uproar.

The housekeeper hurried over and, seeing Viviana, heaved a sigh of relief, "Miss, you've finally returned. Where have you been this past month?"

A month?

Viviana's expression shifted slightly.

There was a hint of reproach in the housekeeper's voice, "You've always been sensible, how could you not know how important this tournament is? So many nobles and commoners came specifically just to catch a glimpse of you. The Elector was extremely anxious and took time from his busy schedule to come to Prague."

"If you don't appear soon, the Black Eagle Knight Order will be dispatched to Prague."

Viviana sighed lightly, "I didn't realize I was so important."

"Where's my father?"

"The master should be here soon."

Bam—

On the second floor, a window was pushed open.

A stern expression, a head full of white hair; the old man said, "Come up and see me."

Hearing this familiar voice, Viviana's heart instinctively tightened. She swore that even in Constantinople, facing the Ottomans' Demon Dragon, she hadn't been so nervous.

After all, this time she was truly reckless.

"Anna, you disappoint me greatly."

The stern old man, with meticulously combed hair, sat upright, looking every bit the old Junker officer: "As a princess of the Hohenzollern family, I allowed you to occasionally look at those miscellaneous books, but now it seems that was a mistake. Do you still value your own and your family's honor? You've been using the family's resources, the princess's status and position, yet at such a crucial moment, you left without warning. This behavior, if known, would shame the entire family because of you?"

Viviana pressed her lips together and whispered, "I'm sorry, Father."

The Elector let out a light sigh, and after his fury subsided, his tone also eased a bit, "Enough, missing this tournament is no big deal. I've said you were sick, don't let it slip outside."

"I hope this is your last act of willfulness. That old Franz valued you highly, and I don't want you to develop a capricious and self-centered nature like Princess Sisi, becoming the laughing stock among the Empire's princesses. The entire Ludwig is ashamed because of such a woman."

Mentioning the Emperor Franz, the Elector's face showed a bit of disdain.

To him, this Emperor raised by women was too weak.

He couldn't control his wife, his brother, his son, nor his nephew. He conceded to the Hungarians, to the Italians, internally barely unifying Germany, but the states below were still a scattered mess.

If Brandenburg wasn't too small, the great cause of uniting Germany wouldn't have fallen to Franz.

If Brandenburg had even half the foundation of the Habsburgs, he'd be confident he could accomplish something greater than Franz.

"Alright, let's just drop this matter, pack your things, I'll take you to Vienna."

Viviana's heart tightened with a foreboding suspicion, "Why go to Vienna?"

"The old Emperor hopes to find a suitable match for Ferdinand. Although I've always looked down on him, he is the Emperor, and such a marriage is beneficial for both our families."

"Ah?"

Viviana couldn't help but clench her fist.

"Franz's good-for-nothing nephew got involved with a Duke's Maid. To avoid the disgrace of the Habsburg Family, the old Emperor wishes for you to form a marriage contract with Ferdinand."

The Elector's tone was full of sarcasm, the issues with the Habsburg Family's reputation were immense.

As the Crown Prince, involved with someone of such humble status; it was barely a fallen noble, more like an ordinary woman, which was even more damaging to the Imperial Family's dignity than Franz's eldest son Rudolf's affair with a Baroness, resulting in a double suicide.

Viviana responded to this with silence. In her view, her father had always been like this, autocratic and firm in his decisions, allowing no change from anyone.

"Isn't Franz, the weak and useless one, supposed to value you highly? You should have expected this outcome as a princess of the Hohenzollern family."

The Elector's tone was consistently sharp and hard.

"You shouldn't speak of His Majesty the Emperor like that."

Viviana mustered the courage to speak.

In her eyes, the old Emperor had given her the few instances of fatherly love she had experienced in her life; this old man had endured much suffering, with his eldest son Rudolf's suicide, his wife Princess Sisi assassinated by the Veneto and Lombardy separatists, and his brother Maximilian forging ahead only to be executed as Emperor of Mexico.

He shouldn't have to endure her father's groundless accusations.

"You're already speaking on behalf of the Habsburgs before marrying into them?"

The Elector sneered, "Well, that's some progress. Franz is easily influenced, and if you please him, you won't suffer any loss when you enter the Habsburg Family in the future."

"Why are you still standing there? We need to get ready to depart!"

Seeing his daughter still unmoving, the Elector raised his eyebrows, somewhat displeased.

Viviana's unexplained absence from the tournament had already, in his view, severely damaged the honor of the Hohenzollern family. His accumulated dissatisfaction with his daughter was growing deeper.

"Father, I don't want to marry Ferdinand."

Viviana summoned the courage. She wasn't timid or cowardly, but for this father, who had been stern since her childhood and never showed a hint of warmth, she harbored a deep-seated fear of defying him.

"Oh? Explain your reason."

"The Rose Knight Order is a monastery."