Chapter 41: Chapter 40: Heavy "Love" (Bonus Chapter)

1836, Vienna, Schönbrunn Palace.

Franz celebrated his sixth birthday. Following royal custom, Franz had to leave the nursery.

As Franz left the nursery, Maximilian stared at him intensely, wishing with all his might that Franz would leave his kingdom immediately.

As the second son of the family, Maximilian was constantly overshadowed by Franz.

Everyone who entered the nursery would visit Franz first, whether they were servants or family members. It seemed as though everything was prepared for Franz, while he could only ever be second.

The first time Maximilian entered the Hall of Mirrors, he was captivated by the bright and spacious hall. Seeing Franz II sitting upon the high throne, Maximilian felt a surge of turbulent emotion within him.

He instinctively wanted to walk up to the throne, but he was stopped by Franz II.

"Little Maximilian, do not go any further. You cannot sit in this seat."

But Maximilian had no intention of listening to the old man, prompting Franz II to speak in an even sterrier tone.

"Louis, take him away. Let him go play somewhere else."

Archduke Louis intercepted Maximilian and said, "Grandpa Louis will play with you. Do you want to watch a military parade, or do you want to go horseback riding?"

Maximilian did not answer; he only looked back at the throne with resentment, seeing as Franz was clearly sleeping right there on it.

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

BGM: Snowflakes drifting, the north wind howling. The world is a vast, desolate expanse.

After leaving the nursery, Franz gained a room of his own. The benefit was having his own territory; the downside was that he could no longer sleep hugging Talia's leg.

Talia was also forced to leave the little nest she had lived in for five years and move next door to Franz. After all, as his tutor, she had a duty to look after him.

Franz felt that the greatest benefit of leaving the nursery was being able to escape the harassment of Madame Sophie.

However, reality proved that Franz was still too young; he did not know how terrifying a woman could be when she decided to become Spartan.

She had already lost all hope regarding her husband's cowardice, mediocrity, and incompetence.

Consequently, Madame Sophie focused all her energy on Franz.

The first thing Madame Sophie did was order the large bed in Franz's room to be moved out, replacing it with a cold military cot.

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

Madame Sophie clearly intended to infect Franz with her passion, but Franz, deprived of his soft bed, was very unhappy.

"But what does that have to do with the bed?"

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

"...That's terrifying, Mother. But this cold iron bed will make me sick. Harsh environments make people irritable, lead to premature satisfaction after success, and easier depression after failure..." Franz explained. To be honest, he didn't truly believe that the more hardship one endured, the more likely they were to succeed; it was certainly true that they were more prone to extremes.

"You talk too much. As your mother, you must listen to me." Madame Sophie pinched Franz's face.

Covering his face, Franz thought to himself, *If you had said that earlier, I wouldn't have bothered explaining.*

If it were just a bed, it would have been an understatement of Madame Sophie's methods.

Franz's meals also deteriorated significantly. Previously, his meals were personally overseen by the royal chef.

Now, Madame Sophie had taken over Franz's diet, hoping he could experience the hardships of the common people.

Thus, various inexplicable foods began appearing on Franz's dining table. Blood sausage and stuffed tripe were mere trifles.

There was even a food similar to porridge. Franz found it familiar, but the taste was truly difficult to swallow.

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

This was a food from the Austrian countryside, made by boiling wheat bran with cabbage, fern roots, and water.

Wheat bran is a byproduct of wheat processing, often used as animal feed nowadays; it has a poor texture and is somewhat scratchy on the throat (I have eaten it).

After several days of torment, Franz thought it was all over.

Unexpectedly, Madame Sophie intended to let Franz learn about the customs and cultures of various countries.

First, it was England: gazing at the starry sky.

Looking at the plate of small fish that had died with their eyes wide open, Franz felt a complex mix of emotions.

Next came the Swedish Surströmming. The kitchen chef, fearing Franz might get an upset stomach, had specially heated it up...

Then, an epic disaster struck... the stench spread everywhere, forcing the servants to thoroughly clean the kitchen and replace all the cookware.

Spanish cheese...

Japanese katsuobushi...

However, the first one to succumb was not Franz, but Talia.

As Franz's tutor, she also had the duty of taste-testing.

Therefore, Talia was the first victim of every one of Madame Sophie's "dark cuisine" dishes.

In the past, she never refused a grand feast, but these current dark delicacies were truly more than she could handle.

Finally, one day, Talia was poisoned by Madame Sophie's dark cuisine; first came diarrhea, followed by an unyielding high fever.

If Franz had not prepared Allicin beforehand, Talia might have already met her Maker.

However, once Talia regained consciousness, the first thing she did was ask Franz what he had fed her.

Just as Franz was about to introduce his new product, Allicin...

Talia stopped him.

"Don't say it. Let me vomit for a while first. I am no longer pure."

Franz was left utterly bewildered. He had actually prepared Penicillin as well, but for one, the yield was too low, and for another, Franz lacked the tools for injection.

Unable to endure this horrific food, Talia informed Madame Sophie of her intention to resign.

She would rather spend the rest of her life in prison than eat these terrifying foods again.

At this point, Madame Sophie finally realized that her culinary skills might be lacking and that her choice of foods might have been a bit excessive.

Madame Sophie did not punish Talia or send her to prison; instead, she gave her 500 Florins and a week's vacation to eat well and relax.

500 Florins was not a small amount at this time, equivalent to three years' wages for a worker.

Madame Sophie granted Talia her leave, but Franz assigned her a new task.

Since Franz now considered himself Talia's savior, she had no choice but to comply.

With her tutor gone, Franz felt he didn't need to do any homework. How free!

But Madame Sophie had no intention of letting Franz off the hook. She brought in a linguistics professor—a true master who was proficient in over a dozen foreign languages.

Perhaps because the original owner of the body possessed extraordinary linguistic talent, Franz quickly mastered the eight most important languages within the Austrian Empire.