Hunt

Alexander, having arrived to the hunt sees many other nobles there, All of them carrying a flintlock musket.

He also notices...Elizaveta? Among the crowd.

"Eliza, what are you doing here?"

"Well, as you can see your highness i'm carrying a rifle with me, since i'm participating in the hunt."

"And your father gave you permission?

I thought noble woman abstained from participating in hunts and physical activities, since its not "lady like"

"I love participating in hunts, though I mostly hunt small game like rabbita or birds, its honestly exhilirating, but your highness, what are you doing here?"

"Well the hunt seemed like a good excuse to come and see you, I would never miss the chance to interact with a beautiul lady such as yourself."

before Elizavte can respond they both noticed the nobles getting ready,

It seems like the hunt is about to begin.

"Looks like its starting if you don't mind, would you like to hunt together my lady?"

"It would be my pleasure your highness."

So, Alexander and Eliza enter the forest.

Going through they pay attention to their as well as making sure to mark trees.

Russian forest are huge and its easy to get lost.

As walk there is an awkward silence, so to brwak the ice Alexander starts a conversation.

"Eliza, how many times have you attended hunting events?"

"I don't quite remember your highness, but I do know I attended more then 14, i've also gone huntin by myself, although I stopped since its a lot more dangerous, and my fathers worried as well."

"Honestly thr amount of times I've gone hunting is less then yours, as the cro-"

They heard a rustle so Alexander stopped talking.

Looking in the direction of the sound, they see a rabbit.

Immedaitly Elizaveta pulls up her musket aiming at the rabbit and then

*Boom!*

A gun shot is heard and the rabbit is dead.

It was flawless. Alexander is impressed

The rabbit, now dead is picked up by Eliza and put inside a bag.

"Well, I've got my kill so its time to kill yours your highness."

"Indeed I hear some birds northward we should head there"

Heading a bit north they find ducks swimming in a lake.

Alexander, getting his musket ready and aims.

Waiting for the big duck to reach the shore and...

*Boom!*

A gun shot is heard once again, he picks up the body and puts it in the bag.

"Should we head back?

Hunting anymore will be pointless."

"Well, it hasn't been long since we left your highness, it would be a pity if we left now.

Its better to enjoy nature for some time and then go back, After all there is much to see."

"You have a point"

---

"You have a point,

The turks are our biggest enemy and every tsar has fought a war against them at least once.

But declaring war on the ottomans is a horrible idea, sure, the motherland is strong and given enough time we will defeate the turks."

"But will the other great powers agree?

None of them want to see russia expand and the moment they notice that we want to conquer the ottomans, not only the british but austria, prussia, and even france, they will form a coalition.

As it looks right now its better to bide our time until the moment is right.

Its in out interest to keep the balance of power in europe."

Currently the tsars advisors are arguing on whether to declare war on the ottomans.

Thankfully even the densest people can see the the diplomatic situation that russia is in.

"Instead of expansion into europe its better to focus on central asia For example, persia.

If we can conquer persia we will have a warm water port unobstructed by anyone."

As they are talking Nicholas I is a bit irritated.

This has been going on for hours already and he wants to rest.

"Silence!

We will continue the discussian next meeting, now head home."

The advisors, hearing the words of the tsar wuiet down and prepare to head back after all, He is the absolute monarch.

After they leave Nicholas I massages his temples. He simply doesn't know how to bresk the diplomatic dead lock.

His dream, and the the dream of the tsars that came before is to conquer the city of the worlds desires, Constantinople.

It was the capital of the eastern roman empire, where orthodox christianity originated.

If russia manages to bring it under its management it could truly be called 3rd rome.

But alas, thats just a dream.

'Alexander...

If he were here what would he do in my place?"

---

"What would you do in my place?"

"I'd just do as asked, what other options are there?"

Hearing his words Elizaveta becomes bit emvarassed and says.

"Throwing a tantrum and trashing the place"

Alexander is speechless, throwing a tantrum for not being allowed to go on a hunt?

"Pff, hahaha

Thats hilarious honestly, i'd never in my life would dare to do that."

Elizaveta, becoming even more emberassed when Alexander laughs at her wants him to stop

"Please stop laughing"

"Fine i'll stop, well I could tell you something well not exactly embarassing but funny.

6 years ago, when I was 12 and taught by my tutors I fell asleep.

My tutor, teaching me math thought I wasn't paying attention so he woke me up and asked me to answer a hard question, Unsurprisingly, because of my intelligence I managed to answer correctly.

The teacher got a bit mad since he wanted to punish me but couldn't, you should have seen his face"

Having heard the story on Alexanders past Elizaveta chuckles

"Wish I could."

Noticing the time of day, it seems like a couple hours went past.

"Eliza we should head back now, else the others might worry"

"Yeah, we should, The bags are starting to smell bad as well."

[End Of Chapter]

A/N I want to flesh out the characters a bit more, to show more sides and nuances to their personality hope it worked.

Anyways, good day.