Chapter 40: Heavy "Love" (Bonus Chapter)

1836, Vienna, Schönbrunn Palace.

Franz celebrated his sixth birthday. According to royal custom, he was required to leave the nursery.

As Franz walked out of the nursery, Maximilian stared at him intently, wishing he could force Franz to vacate his kingdom immediately.

As the second son of the family, Maximilian was overshadowed by Franz in every aspect.

Everyone who came to the nursery would visit Franz first, whether servants or family members. It seemed everything was prepared for Franz, while he was relegated to second place.

The first time Maximilian went to the Hall of Mirrors, he was captivated by the bright and spacious hall. Emperor Francis II sat high upon the throne, sending turbulent waves through young Maximilian's heart.

Unconsciously, he wanted to walk up to the throne, but Francis II stopped him.

"Little Maximilian, do not step forward. This seat is not for you to sit on."

However, Maximilian had no intention of listening to the old man, whereupon Francis II said in a sterner tone:

"Louis, take him away and let him play somewhere else."

Archduke Louis intercepted Maximilian and said:

"Grandpa Louis will take you to play. Do you want to watch a military parade, or would you like to ride a horse?"

Maximilian did not answer; he only looked back at the throne with reluctance. Clearly, Franz was just sleeping up there...

Born from the same womb, why was heaven so unfair?

(Background Music: Snowflakes fluttering, the northern wind wailing. Heaven and earth a vast expanse...)

Upon leaving the nursery, Franz finally had a room of his own. The advantage was having his own territory; the disadvantage was that he could no longer sleep holding onto Thalia's lap.

Thalia was also forced to leave the little nest she had inhabited for five years and moved right next door to Franz. After all, as a tutor, she had the obligation to look after him.

Franz felt the greatest benefit of leaving the nursery was getting away from Archduchess Sophie's harassment.

Yet, facts proved that Franz was still too naive. He had no idea how terrifying a woman could become once she went full Spartan.

She had already grown completely despairing of her husband's cowardice and mediocrity.

Consequently, Archduchess Sophie poured all her energy into shaping Franz.

The first thing Archduchess Sophie did was to order the large bed in Franz's room to be removed, replacing it with a cold, Spartan camp bed.

"Franz! From now on, you must not be weak! You must fight like a man! This family needs you, and this country needs you!"

Archduchess Sophie clearly wanted to infect Franz with her enthusiasm, but Franz, having lost his soft bed, was deeply unhappy.

"But what does this have to do with a bed?"

"A warm bed will erode your will and stifle your soul!"

"...That is terrifying, Mother. But this cold iron bed will make me sick. Harsh environments easily make people irritable; success achieved too easily breeds complacency, while failure makes one more prone to despair..."

Franz explained. To be honest, he really didn't think that the miserable were more likely to succeed—though it was true they were more likely to be driven to extremes.

"You talk too much nonsense. As your mother, you must obey me." Archduchess Sophie pinched Franz's cheek.

Franz covered his face and muttered inwardly, "If you had just said that earlier, I wouldn't have bothered explaining."

...

If it were just a bed, that would be vastly underestimating Archduchess Sophie.

Franz's meals also deteriorated significantly. Previously, Franz's food was personally handled by the royal head chef.

Now, Archduchess Sophie took over his meals, hoping that Franz would experience the hardships of the common folk.

Thus, some inexplicable dishes began to appear on Franz's dining table. Blood sausage and beef tripe were minor matters.

There was even a dish resembling porridge. Franz found it somewhat familiar at first glance, but the taste was truly difficult to swallow.

Moreover, rather than porridge, it was more like a paste—a sticky, semi-solid substance.

This concoction was a food item from the rural areas of Austria, made by boiling wheat bran with shredded cabbage and bracken roots in water.

Wheat bran, a byproduct of wheat processing, was commonly used as animal feed. It had a poor texture and scratched the throat (I have tasted it).

After a few days of torture, Franz thought it was all over.

Little did he expect Archduchess Sophie to want him to understand the local customs and traditions of various countries around the world.

First came England, with its Stargazy pie.

Franz looked at that plate of dead fish staring blankly at the ceiling, truly filled with mixed emotions.

Next came Swedish surströmming. The chef in the kitchen, terrified that Franz might ruin his stomach, specially heated it up...

Then an epic disaster struck. The stench permeated everywhere... The servants had to thoroughly sanitize the kitchen and replace all the cooking utensils.

Spanish cheese...

Japanese bonito...

However, the one who broke down first was not Franz, but Thalia.

As Franz's tutor, she also had the duty of test-tasting.

Therefore, every single one of Archduchess Sophie's culinary abominations claimed Thalia as its first victim.

She had naturally welcomed the lavish feasts of the past, but the current dark cuisine was simply too much for her to endure.

Finally, one day, Thalia was poisoned down by Archduchess Sophie's horrific cooking, suffering first from diarrhea and subsequently a persistent high fever.

Had Franz not prepared allicin in advance, poor Thalia likely would have gone to meet God.

Yet, when Thalia finally regained consciousness, her very first question was what kind of poison Franz had fed her.

Just as Franz was about to introduce her to his new creation, allicin, Thalia stopped him.

"Don't tell me. Let me throw up for a while first. I am no longer pure."

This left Franz completely baffled. In fact, he had also prepared penicillin, but firstly, the yield was too low, and secondly, Franz lacked the injection tools.

Unable to bear this terrifying food any longer, Thalia informed Archduchess Sophie that she wished to resign.

She would rather spend the rest of her life in prison than eat these horrific meals ever again.

At this point, Archduchess Sophie finally realized that her culinary skills might be subpar, and the foods she selected might have been a bit too extreme.

Instead of punishing Thalia or sending her to prison, Archduchess Sophie gave her 500 florins and a week's vacation so she could eat something decent and relax.

Five hundred florins was a substantial sum at the time, equivalent to three years' salary for a worker.

Archduchess Sophie granted Thalia a holiday, but Franz assigned her a new task.

After all, Franz now styled himself as Thalia's savior, and Thalia had no choice but to comply.

With Thalia, the tutor, away, Franz thought he wouldn't have to do homework—such freedom!

However, Archduchess Sophie had no intention of letting Franz off the hook just like that. She brought in a linguistics professor, a true master fluent in more than a dozen foreign languages.

Perhaps due to the original host's extraordinary linguistic talent, Franz quickly mastered the eight most important languages within the Austrian Empire.