Chapter 89: But Is Everywhere Else Safe? (3) "Ugh, my whole body's stiff."
"You marched nearly two weeks from Vienna to Cologne, so it's only natural you'd be tired, Your Highness Archduke Karl. And it was your first march, yet you held up quite well."
As Archduke Karl worked the stiffness out of his neck on horseback, turning it this way and that, Radetzky spoke with an approving look, as if watching a younger brother.
"General Radetzky, do you have any discomfort anywhere?"
"Thank you for your concern, Your Highness. But I—ever since my younger days, didn't I serve in wars against the Ottoman infidels? This much doesn't bother me anymore. Hoho."
"…Sometimes, General, you don't feel like someone my age. You feel far away—like an old grandfather."
"Hoho, I'll take that as a compliment, Your Highness."
Karl was only five years younger than him—twenty-four—so why did he feel so prematurely aged?
At that moment, a soldier approached the two of them from the front of the column, saluted, and spoke.
"Your Highness, General! We'll be arriving in Bonn shortly."
"So, what do you intend to do, General Radetzky?"
Karl turned his head and looked at Radetzky beside him as he asked.
"…It's late today, so I think it would be best for you to spend the night at the palace where the Elector of Cologne resides, and then draw up a detailed suppression plan tomorrow morning."
"Mm, understood. We'll do as you say, General. Soldier?"
"Yes, Your Highness."
The soldier bowed his head and answered at Karl's call.
"Deliver my order to the officers of each battalion. After entering Bonn, citizens may be frightened, so causing any disturbance is forbidden. Likewise, drinking is forbidden, in case of unforeseen situations. Instead, secure lodgings and let everyone rest properly. I will pay all lodging costs for the soldiers. And, General Radetzky?"
"Yes, Your Highness?"
"Do you know what local specialty dishes Bonn has?"
"Probably… I recall pig's trotters being quite famous."
"Oh? Is that so? Soldier—did you hear that too?"
"Y-yes?!"
"Pig's trotters."
"Ah, yes! I heard, Your Highness!"
Karl grinned at the soldier, who nodded without understanding what was going on.
"Pig's trotters—what do you think?"
"Yes?"
"Doesn't it sound delicious?"
"T-that it does, Your Highness!"
"Ha ha! I think so too—so we're on the same page, eh? Tell all soldiers: at their lodgings or inns, they must order pig's trotters and eat it. I will cover the meal costs."
"B-but money…"
"Ha ha! Listen, soldier. I am an imperial prince and Duke of Austria. I have more than enough money to buy my soldiers a bite of meat. Now go back to the column and tell your comrades. Tonight's dinner is pig's trotters!"
"Yes, yes, Your Highness! I will carry out the order!"
The soldier—who had slept on the roadside for nearly two weeks—swelled at the thought of a proper meal and a bed at last, shouted loudly, and hurried off toward the front of the column.
Early May 1790.Holy Roman Empire, Electorate of Cologne, Bonn.Poppelsdorf Electoral Palace.
"You are Karl Ludwig Johann Joseph Lorenz, Archduke of Austria and Duke of Teschen of the Holy Roman Empire, correct?"
Before the Elector of Cologne's palace—yellow walls under a black roof—the officer on guard saluted and asked the question to Archduke Karl on horseback.
"Ha ha, I am."
"It is an honor to meet a noble personage, Your Highness! Your uncle, Maximilian, Elector of Cologne, awaits you."
"Good. You will guide us."
Following the officer who had been standing guard, Archduke Karl and Brigadier General Radetzky headed into the palace reception room.
"You may go in, Your Highness."
"Mm. Thank you for the guidance."
When they reached the reception room, the officer opened the door and bowed his head.
Inside the plainly decorated reception room, Elector Maximilian—Karl's uncle—stood with his hands clasped behind his back.
Archduke Karl extended his hand with the crisp bearing of a soldier and spoke.
"Uncle, how do you do?!"
Elector Maximilian clasped Karl's hand and replied.
"…For His Highness Archduke Karl, an imperial prince, to personally bring troops all the way to this distant frontier of the Empire—perhaps the new Kaiser is quite concerned about this matter."
"Ha ha, is it not all thanks to you, Uncle?"
It felt as if his uncle's grip tightened on his hand, but Karl grinned anyway, then spoke while looking at Radetzky standing rigidly behind him.
"General Radetzky?"
"Yes, Your Highness Archduke Karl."
"I have something to say to my uncle alone. Could you step aside for a moment?"
"As you command, Your Highness. Your Highness Elector Maximilian, then I will take my leave."
With those words, General Radetzky opened the reception-room door and went outside.
When the sound of Radetzky's booted footsteps faded into the distance, Archduke Karl dropped into a chair with a thump and spoke.
"Uncle, please understand. I've been on a saddle for nearly two weeks, so everything aches."
"I understand, you brat."
Elector Maximilian dropped into the chair opposite with a thump as well.
At his uncle's words, Karl grinned and said with a playful face.
"Uncle Maximilian—how about we clear the air properly, just once, as family?"
"…Your father wouldn't like us chatting and laughing together like this, Karl."
"Sure, that's true, but Father isn't here right now, Uncle."
"You take after your father perfectly—black-hearted, you brat."
"Ha ha. They say blood doesn't lie."
Maximilian sighed at his nephew's voice.
"Fine. What is it you want to say?"
"Uncle—what on earth are you thinking?"
"What are you talking about?"
"No, I phrased it poorly."
Karl's playful expression turned serious in an instant.
"What do you want, that you've smashed the Empire to half-ruin like this?"
"…Your father didn't tell you?"
"As you said, he's black-hearted. Even my eldest brother, the crown prince closest to him, probably doesn't fully know what's in Father's heart."
"…Even so, our late brother Joseph was warm to family. But your father really…"
"You grew up in the same palace—why are you like this, Uncle. Don't tell me… you're about to insult Grandmother Maria Theresa, are you?"
"Anyway, you're a nasty brat."
Elector Maximilian took a deep breath in and out, then looked Archduke Karl straight in the eyes.
"…Whew. I believe Brother Joseph was right, Karl."
"Hm."
"The times are changing, Karl. Tell me—why do you think those Prussian bastards we mocked as north German bumpkins were able to build such tremendous influence under that warmonger homosexual, Friedrich?"
"…Potatoes?"
"P-potatoes are part of it, yes, but…"
"Ha ha. I'm joking, Uncle."
Why did this brat swing back and forth between joking and serious instead of picking one?
Maximilian shook his head internally, then cleared his throat and spoke.
"Ahem. I think the biggest reason is that both commoners and nobles united with one mind and one purpose."
As he stroked a jaw that, Habsburg-like, still wasn't so different from others, Maximilian continued, watching his nephew listen.
"Think about it. The last time nobles alone could display valor and rule the world was a hundred years ago. In a hundred years, how much has the world advanced? Even if it's the life of a noble, on the battlefield it has long since become no different from a commoner's life before a lead ball."
"You're right."
"And Prussia exploited that point the best."
"Of course."
"But going further than that, in France, citizens overturned nobles and began to steer state affairs as they pleased. And from what I've watched over the past year, state administration has become smoother, if anything—certainly not worse than when nobles and kings wielded absolute power."
Maximilian tipped back a glass of water that had been set on the table in advance, moistening his dry throat, then continued speaking.
"…That man Guillaume said this: that 'the age of citizens' would come. I think he's right, Karl.
"At the very least, some among the citizens will have awakened to their own power through France's example. Starting with them, the power of citizens will, in an instant, grow larger than all the nobles of the entire Empire combined."
"So you mean you intend to lead that change?"
"Of course! Look at Louis XVI and Louis XVII. Louis XVI refused the change of the times and was abdicated, becoming Louis-Auguste, while Orléans accepted and led the change and became Louis XVII, did he not?"
"…I agree with part of your view, Uncle, but the direction seems a little different."
"Oh? Then what is your view?"
"Even if you do that, the Empire will not change."
"Why not?"
"It's simple. Because there is no military power that can encompass everyone."
"…."
"The Empire is a doll sewn from ragged scraps. No matter how fine a cloth you dress it in, the essence—ragged scraps—doesn't change."
"Then?"
"So the army comes first. If we reorganize the old, stale imperial army into a powerful, unified new-style army and resew the doll, we can push back all dissatisfaction inside the Empire. The citizens' actions can follow after that—it won't be too late."
At his uncle's silence, the nephew continued.
"Friedrich raised his country with the army. There's no reason our Empire can't. If the officer corps is enlightened, then soldiers; if soldiers are enlightened, then citizens. We must advance like a wave. Even if we speak different languages, at least the imperial army is spread across the entire territory. Other than that, there is no method that can enlighten this vast, shattered Empire all at once."
"…Then what will you do if the citizens rise up before the army reforms, Karl?"
"Well. I think you'll find out tomorrow morning."
"You're saying you'll crush the people of the Empire with guns and blades?!"
"No. Not the people of the Empire—this is a declaration of war on the stale trash throughout the Empire. A declaration that we can clear you out at any time."
"What?"
"The regiment I brought is a unit I raised with painstaking care since my days in Florence, trained in the Prussian style. If Father maintains the Empire by tossing carrots to those nobles, then I will be the whip that holds the Empire up."
"…If you try to harm the citizens of Bonn with guns and blades, do you understand that I, too, will have no choice but to oppose you as a prince of this land—even if we are family?"
"Isn't that rather fortunate? It will look like I have no sanctuary. Then have a good night, Uncle."
Leaving his uncle seated there, frowning, Archduke Karl rose with a smile.
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