Mismatched Pairings

Ambrosius walked alone through the long corridor, the surrounding scenery failing to pique his interest in the slightest.

Suddenly, a figure darted out from around the corner of the cloister.

Ambrosius fixed his gaze on the person and hurriedly covered his face.

"Respected young lady, please, don't hit the face! I don't know how I have offended you, but I offer you my apologies." Ambrosius still possessed his manners.

"I didn't come here for your apologies," Thalia replied righteously.

"Who is it?" Ambrosius asked.

Thalia stepped aside, and Ambrosius saw the little boy he had already met twice before.

"You must be Franz, I am Ambrosius. You should call me Uncle."

"Uncle Ambrosius, if you are truly looking for a princess to marry, I actually have a suggestion."

Ambrosius looked at the child in front of him, then glanced at Thalia standing to the side.

"You must be joking with me; that is not how a good child behaves."

"I am serious." Franz put on a very earnest expression.

Ambrosius pointed at Thalia.

"Is she a princess?"

Franz shook his head.

Ambrosius let out a long sigh of relief.

Thalia's expression was as if she had bitten into an unripe tomato, and she glared fiercely at Ambrosius.

"There is a real princess in Southeast Asia who needs your rescue. Her country is in the midst of internal strife and external threats; she needs a true knight to protect her."

"After I save her, will she marry me? And then, with her country as a dowry, once I inherit it, I can annex it into Austria. Wouldn't I be bringing glory to my family while expanding the territory of the Empire?"

Franz felt a wave of embarrassment; this Archduke's train of thought was rather peculiar, but that was fine—it saved him the trouble of brainwashing him.

Thalia, standing to the side, confirmed once again that not a single person in this family had a normal brain.

"Where is that princess?" Ambrosius asked impatiently.

"Chenla," Franz replied.

"My God, how am I supposed to get there?"

"You can apply to be an army observer and then take a church ship."

At this time, the Austrian navy had barely ventured out of the Mediterranean, let alone as far as Chenla in Southeast Asia.

Furthermore, the Austrian navy would not dispatch warships to escort a miscellaneous Archduke.

However, the Catholic Church had long since penetrated the interior of Chenla; they could not only transport people safely but also provide first-hand information about the region.

"Then how will I meet that princess?"

"That will depend on your own abilities."

Ambrosius was speechless and took a deep breath.

"How is it that you don't know anything?"

"I am just a child passing by."

"Fine! Then at least tell me her name."

"An Mei."

At this time, Chenla was essentially a colony of Siam and Vietnam.

As for the King, Ang Chan, his last resistance against foreign aggression had been in 1816, eighteen years ago.

Both sides had built countless fortresses in Chenla, intending to carve up the land, but as the saying goes, two tigers cannot share one mountain.

Siam and Vietnam were locked in constant slaughter on the soil of Chenla.

The combatants were the enlightened monarch Rama III of Siamese history, and his opponent was the eternal Emperor Minh Mang of Vietnam.

Chenla is modern-day Cambodia, and Siam is modern-day Thailand.

However, while Siam and Vietnam were frantically invading Chenla, they forgot the importance of the hearts and minds of the people.

Both sides were crazily conscripting the people of Chenla as forced labor, intensifying their plunder of the land.

This left the people of Chenla in misery, and those who longed for peace pinned their hopes on the King they had not seen for over a decade.

Every time the people of Chenla rose in rebellion, they did so under the banner of saving the royal family.

There were over a dozen insurgent armies within Chenla, but they were more interested in protecting their own property or becoming local warlords than in saving the royal family.

King Ang Chan was controlled by the Vietnamese, while his brother Ang Em was controlled by the Siamese.

The Chenla government was loyal to Ang Chan, but the Vietnamese general Zhang Mingjiang was the actual ruler of the Chenla government.

However, within the Chenla government, there were many high-ranking officials who hoped for Ang Em to become King, so they could borrow troops from Siam to expel the Vietnamese.

Of course, there were also those who hoped to welcome back Ang Chan and drive the Siamese out of Chenla.

The Chenla insurgent army, meanwhile, hoped to slaughter every official, as well as the invaders from Siam and Vietnam.

The level of cowardice possessed by Ang Chan could only be described as inconceivable.

Emperor Minh Mang of Vietnam once intended to send Ang Chan back to Chenla to join forces with him and reverse the unfavorable situation against Siam.

Yet, Ang Chan actually refused, and his reason was incredibly simple: he was afraid of death. He boasted to Emperor Minh Mang of Vietnam, claiming that he could command the Chenla army remotely.

Ang Chan summoned a group of sorcerers to perform rituals within the royal palace, which ended up setting the palace ablaze.

Emperor Minh Mang, Nguyen Phuc Kieu, flew into a rage and had all the sorcerers brought by Ang Chan executed, then imprisoned Ang Chan himself on a luxurious pleasure boat.

A few months later, Ang Chan would pass away due to illness, and his eldest daughter would be assassinated by the Vietnamese due to her pro-Siam leanings.

Ang Chan's second daughter, An Mei, would then inherit the throne.

An Mei, having inherited the throne, did not receive the treatment due to a monarch; she was merely kept in the Chenla capital as a figurehead.

When Emperor Minh Mang, Nguyen Phuc Kieu, felt that everything was under his control, he sent men to murder An Mei and her four sisters.

However, his actions did not completely extinguish the resistance forces in Chenla; instead, they incited the people of Chenla to revolt.

In just one month, the flames of the uprising against the Vietnamese spread throughout all of Chenla.

The King of Siam seized the opportunity to send troops and installed Ang Chan's brother as the King of Chenla.

In less than half a year, the Vietnamese's twenty years of effort had all vanished into thin air, and the Vietnamese were driven out of the entire territory of Chenla.

Afterward, Chenla became a colony of the Siamese until the arrival of the French.

One month later, St. Stephen's Cathedral.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!" The ancient doors of the cathedral emitted heavy, rhythmic thuds.

Several priests shouted with great impatience, "Stop knocking, we heard you!"

Because Archbishop Rauscher resided permanently at this cathedral, they had seen many dignitaries and nobles here, and naturally, they had developed a sense of arrogance, looking down upon ordinary people.

Anyone coming to the cathedral this early certainly wasn't a dignitary; they were likely just sinners coming to repent.

They were long since tired of listening to the confessions of those sinners and wished they could call the police to haul them away right then and there.

"We have all come to spread the gospel of the Lord; why do you show such contempt for the children of God?"

Archbishop Rauscher had appeared at the doorway at some point, dressed in his vestments embroidered with gold and silver thread.

The Archbishop usually slept off his hangovers until noon; why had he risen so early today?

At this moment, the priests finally realized that Archbishop Rauscher only wore those vestments for major ceremonies or when meeting members of the royal family.

The priests, who had been so arrogant just a moment ago, were now dumbfounded, lowering their heads as they hurried to unlatch the cathedral doors.

Standing outside was Ambrosius, who had changed into a clean uniform, his hair and beard neatly groomed.

In truth, Ambrosius was not bad-looking. However, because he was accustomed to poverty and lacked decent clothing, combined with his constant disheveled appearance, he had possessed absolutely no presence.

His previous approach had only invited the mockery of others.

Now, with his neat attire, handsome features, and extraordinary bearing, coupled with his royal status, Ambrosius naturally commanded a sense of respect that arose spontaneously in others.

Archbishop Rauscher was also very satisfied with the young man before him; he was certain this man could spread the gospel of the Lord, and he felt at ease handing the Combat Brotherhood over to him.