The War Court and Lap Pillow, Austria's Mandate of Heaven

Chapter 1344 Wedding Dress
Olga was dazzled by the exaggerated number of jewels, but she noticed one problem: there seemed to be no diamonds and pearls in the collection of Schönbrunn Palace, but instead some strange jewels.

"Miss Audrey, aren't there more common jewels in the royal collection?"

Olga expressed her doubts, and Audrey pursed her lips. The latter found the word "ordinary" very interesting.

"Your Highness Olga, you are talking about diamonds and pearls, right?"

Olga did not deny it.

"excuse me."

Audrey, the jewellery maid, walked up to Lady Sophie.

"Grand Duchess, can I take Princess Olga to see that?"

Madame Sophie smiled and nodded.

"Your Highness Olga, please follow me."

Audrey led the way, followed closely by Olga, who was somewhat curious about what was going on so mysteriously.

Soon the two arrived at another palace, and Princess Olga was stunned when the door opened.

There is only one pure white wedding dress in the whole palace, which is emitting a dazzling light at this moment.
"The entire wedding dress is eleven meters long, inlaid with thirty thousand pearls and ten thousand diamonds. It was sewn by thirty tailors using platinum and silver threads, and the lining is made of velvet and the finest oriental silk."

Olga quickly recovered as she realized that she must not lose her composure. After all, she would be the queen of this country in the future, and Madame Sophie and Franz might be watching her performance.

But Olga was really excited, she used her hands to feel the wedding dress carefully. Olga finally understood why wearing a wedding dress is every girl's dream.

This wedding dress was enough to satisfy all her vanity and fantasy. At this moment, she thought of that tall, handsome figure, that solid chest, that strong heartbeat, and that intoxicating smell.
Olga's face couldn't help but blush, and Audrey, the jewelry maid beside her, reminded her.

"Your Highness Olga, this wedding dress weighs 71 kilograms. You will need at least four maids to change your clothes, and at least eight escorts to walk with you."

Olga couldn't help but frown when she heard this. 71 kg? Can I really walk in this wedding dress? The so-called pre-wedding preparation is not to let me practice how to walk in this wedding dress, right?

Olga couldn't help but complain in her heart.

"It's impossible no matter how much you practice, right? Unless you're a brown bear, no one would walk around in a wedding dress like this!"

In fact, Audrey was also very embarrassed. After all, when Lady Sophie designed this wedding dress, she only considered how to shock the European royal family and did not consider the issue of the Queen.

(Plate armor before the 18th century generally weighed no more than 30 kilograms.)
At this time Audrey continued.

“Because of this wedding dress, it would be a bit monotonous to use pearls and diamonds as jewelry, so it is recommended that you use other jewelry as accessories.

If you really like diamonds and pearls, we also have some colored pearls and diamonds for you to choose from.”

The reason for such extravagant wedding dresses and jewelry was certainly not just to shock other European royal families. On the one hand, it was for publicity and to show financial strength, and on the other hand, it was to digest inventory. In fact, the Austrian Empire had plundered a considerable amount of gems over the years, but the rise of Britain and France led to a deviation from the mainstream aesthetics of Europe.

So rubies, sapphires, emeralds and the like suddenly became outdated, while pearls and diamonds became fashionable and trendy.

Franz naturally would not suffer this loss in silence. He knew very well that the so-called fashion and trends were most often a scam woven by second-rate businessmen and third-rate politicians.

If they can do it, Franz can do it too. Isn't it just a competition of advertising fees?
Franz was very confident that he could defeat the British and the French. After all, if the Puritans who advocated frugality wanted to compete with the Catholics who were famous for their extravagance and waste, they would be courting death.

Even if the British really wanted to compete with Austria, they had to consider whether they would be scolded to death by the Puritans at home. As for luxury and waste, it was the glorious tradition of the Habsburg family. After all, "if the rich are not extravagant, the poor will starve to death."

Rather than letting these outdated products pile up in his hands, he might as well use them for advertising. Franz couldn't put all the jewelry in his hands into the market, because once too many products were put into the market, it would cause a large-scale depreciation, and luxury goods would become cabbages.

This would not only make Franz no money, but also cut off his future financial resources. So he decided to change the trend and become a real trend-setter.

As an empire, Austria also needs its own cultural influence. If Austrian subjects were allowed to follow the thinking of the British and French all day long, that would really be a problem.

Therefore, whether for himself, his family, or his country, Franz must finish the book.

Olga certainly had no idea that Franz was going to use her wedding to advertise, and Madame Sophie certainly didn't ask Olga to come just to show her wedding dress, jewelry and other wedding supplies.

Olga needed to undergo all-round training as a queen. She had to learn how to be a queen. The first thing was Olga's poor Prussian German, which was unacceptable to the court and upper society of the Austrian Empire.

Olga's mother was from Prussia, so she had a natural advantage in learning German. However, in Austrian upper class society, the Prussian accent was at the bottom of the contempt chain, second only to the Bavarian accent before Madame Sophie arrived.

Before Madame Sophie married into Vienna, the Bavarian accent was at the bottom of the contempt chain in aristocratic circles and was also known as the country bumpkin accent.

However, since Madame Sophie could be called "the only man in the Habsburg family" in history, one can imagine her fighting power. After her unremitting efforts, she finally made the Bavarian accent rise to the second place in the contempt chain.

But Madame Sophie would not speak with a Bavarian accent in public. She usually spoke in the Viennese court language.

Olga should be thankful that Franz conquered Hungary in 1848 and she no longer had to learn Hungarian.

In fact, there is a small episode in this. According to Austrian tradition, the queen must be proficient in Hungarian.

But Olga obviously didn't like Hungarian very much. However, she didn't dare to be too willful. It was just that resistance that made her learning progress very slow.

Franz naturally saw this, so he did the Queen a favor and exempted her from the obligation to learn Hungarian and Hungarian culture.

Although Franz had planned for a long time with ulterior motives, Olga truly felt loved. An emperor broke the old and outdated rules for her, making her feel valued, respected and loved.

It must have taken a lot of courage for Franz to break the old, outdated rules.
Today's chapter

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