Chapter 3: Chapter 3 – The Military Star, Archduke Charles

Having said all he could, Franz somehow managed to convince his mother to let him arrange his own schedule.

Courses Franz believed to be useless such as religion, language, and art were trimmed down. Even time spent studying politics would have been diminished if not for the persistent objections of Archduchess Sophie.

The main reason Franz believed these subjects to be useless was that they had remained unchanged from a hundred years ago: nobility was supreme, chivalry was holy…

There wasn’t much left that interested Franz save for the exaggerated might of supremacy. Work on kingcraft was shortened, and underhanded trickery was totally removed.

His studies concerning said included lines such as: “An emperor who showed his wrath could bring even warlords to their knees…”

Was this meant to develop an emperor's character, or to sway the subjects?

If an emperor were nurtured based on such an idea, then in the current complicated internal political situation of Austria, he would surely be sent to the guillotine before long.

If nothing got in the way, Franz would inherit the throne of this ancient empire within two years. It was 1846 already, which meant time was running out for him.

‘Should I take part in politics early?’

This was obviously risky. Anything that would change the big picture of history would also bring uncertainty to the future, so Franz was not going to take risks before the succession.

He could try, of course, if he insisted, but he couldn’t expect to have much of a voice in important matters as a wimpy 16-year-old kid. Though an heir to the throne he may have been, Franz couldn’t change his age, which remained a weakness in politics.

However, this didn’t stop him from stirring things up. More often than not, a man behind the curtain had the edge over a soldier on the front lines. For example, Franz was about to visit an Austrian military legend: .

As Austria’s most revered general, he had defeated various generals under , and had been promoted to the post of Marshal at the age of 23. In addition, he was the only general in the Coalition whom Napoleon feared as he had even thwarted the French Emperor personally in a few battles. Not to mention, he was the son of and the younger brother of .

If it hadn’t been for the incompetence of the Vienna government by failing to make use of the good hand they’d drawn, the would have been ended before the Russians stepped in, and Austria wouldn’t have had to lose the Netherlands. A man who highlighted the emperor’s incompetence undoubtedly led to no good, especially when that man was Archduke Charles, his own younger brother.

Fortunately, the Austrian Emperor Francis I, Franz’s grandfather, was not ruthless, allowing this stalwart Marshal to remain active. However, ability in military science didn’t equate to effectiveness in politics; after they used the Archduke to reform the Austrian army, his political opponents played a little trick to make him quit and return home.