Archduke Franz Ferdinand, now 51, had only one thought as he reviewed the Austro-Hungarian troops stationed in the Sarajevo suburbs.
This was a sluggish, outdated, and insular army.
While seemingly massive in size, it was, in reality, unwieldy and inefficient.
The backwardness was not only in weaponry and tactical doctrine.
More fatally, this multi-ethnic army lacked a single common language for internal communication.
In some units, there were even cases where soldiers could not understand the commands of officers from Vienna…
In Archduke Ferdinand’s view, an army like this was barely capable of fighting.
In just a few years, the Serbian army would completely surpass this stumbling giant, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, in combat power.
And he believed the Serbians were already restless.
The ‘Black Hand’ chapter destroyed in Bosnia a few months ago already indicated that the Serbians were continuously attempting to infiltrate the Austro-Hungarian Empire… using ethnic tensions to incite the Serbian population within the Empire to take radical actions.
This was what certain factions in the Kingdom of Serbia had been pushing for over the years.
Even though he had defied strong opposition to restore trade relations with the Kingdom of Serbia and offered loans with extremely favorable terms…
Serbia’s hostility toward the Austro-Hungarian Empire had not diminished in the slightest.
Thinking of this, the Archduke couldn’t help but recall the conflict he had with Field Marshal Franz Conrad von Hötzendorf, the Chief of the Army General Staff, before leaving Vienna…
“We must launch a preemptive strike, Your Highness!”
Conrad had excitedly waved his arms in his office.
“Serbia is a continually expanding time bomb! If we do not resolve it now while it is still weak, the entire Empire will be shattered by it when it fully expands!”
“Conrad, can’t you talk about anything besides war?”
Archduke Ferdinand had wearily rubbed his temples. He had always been one of the strongest voices against war within the Empire.
“Declaring war on a neighboring country will only cause more severe loyalty issues within our multi-ethnic Empire!”
“Conrad, have you considered what the soldiers of the other ethnic groups within the Empire will think if we go to war with a neighboring country? Will they charge for His Majesty the Emperor, or will they turn their rifles on us?”
Despite this, Conrad remained firmly convinced that Serbia would militarily surpass the Empire someday.
At that point, the Empire would face total destruction!
Thus, he advocated for a ‘preventive war’—that is, taking military action preemptively to prevent a potential military threat from the Kingdom of Serbia.
Through this war, the Austro-Hungarian Empire must proactively and definitively resolve the problem of Serbia and the entire Balkan Peninsula once and for all.
The collapse of the Russian Empire was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Without the Russian Empire to back them, even if the Gauls or the Britannians wanted to interfere in the Balkans, they would be too far away to exert meaningful influence.
After their argument ended badly and Conrad angrily departed, the Archduke couldn’t help but sigh.
His relationship with the Imperial Army Chief of Staff had not always been this conflicted.
Conrad’s appointment as Chief of Staff in 1906 was due to his own recommendation and support.
And it was he who helped the ‘warmonger,’ who was dismissed in 1911 for being excessively belligerent, to be reinstated in 1912…
During that period, both Archduke Ferdinand and Conrad viewed themselves as working parallel to advance the Empire. The Archduke was a key driving force behind Conrad’s attempts at internal military reform…
However, their increasingly evident political differences gradually soured their relationship.
Conrad was a well-known hawk, which was no secret in the entire Empire and the Balkans.
He consistently advocated resolving the issues with Serbia and the Balkans by force, a position Archduke Ferdinand opposed.
The Archduke himself, after orchestrating the peaceful annexation of Bosnia, had been attempting to introduce Bosnian representatives into the center of power.
His goal was to transform the Austro-Hungarian Empire into a ‘Trialist Monarchy’ and ultimately a federal state…
But this vision not only directly contradicted Conrad’s agenda but also faced strong opposition from other factions within the Empire—especially those in Budapest.
And the move to annex Bosnia had earned him the deep hatred of the Serbians…
Seeing her husband sigh with worry, his wife, Sophie, gently tugged his sleeve.
“Franz, please don’t be like this. The soldiers are watching you,” she whispered in his ear.
His wife Sophie’s gentle voice pulled Ferdinand out of his troubled thoughts.
He saw his wife’s eyes indicating that he should not display such a troubled expression in front of the troops being reviewed.
Looking at his wife’s concerned gaze, a faint smile finally appeared on the Archduke’s face.
His wife, who came from a Bohemian noble family, was unfortunately marginalized in the Vienna court and forbidden from jointly attending most official events due to her birth not meeting the standard for an Austro-Hungarian royal marriage.
But she was a composed woman with strong opinions, and she always offered him timely reminders and advice at crucial moments.
This was why he had endured enormous pressure to marry her.
This invitation to Sarajevo to review the troops was a rare opportunity for the couple to appear together in public.
Ferdinand composed himself, regaining the solemnity appropriate for the heir apparent.
As the review ceremony concluded, General Oskar Potiorek, the Governor of Bosnia, approached him with a beaming smile.
“Your Highness, the citizens have been waiting for a long time at the City Hall Square. They are all eager to catch a glimpse of you and the Duchess.”
The Archduke, having suffered permanent damage to his eardrums from years of hunting, was a beat slow to respond.
The Governor called his name several times before he snapped back to attention.
“General Potiorek, I have told you repeatedly, choosing June 28th was not an appropriate date.”
The Archduke’s tone was somewhat displeased.
“You know what day this is… it will only stir up intense anger among the Serbians.”
“Your Highness, please rest assured!”
Governor Potiorek patted his chest confidently:
“With the ‘Black Hand’ completely eradicated in Bosnia, I guarantee you, Sarajevo is safer than Vienna right now!”
Hearing the Governor’s assurance, the Archduke said no more.
He nodded, then boarded the open-top car with his wife.
The motorcade slowly drove into the city. The streets were packed with welcoming citizens, waving flags and cheering loudly.
In that moment, the Archduke could feel the genuine warmth of the Sarajevo residents toward his visit.
Perhaps his vision of transforming the Empire into a federation was not impossible after all?
While the Archduke smiled and greeted the crowd, a Royal Arcane Guard of the Austro-Hungarian Empire sitting in the front passenger seat was extremely tense.
The Austro-Hungarian Empire, like the Saxon Empire, suffered from a severe scarcity of spellcasters.
But unlike the Saxon Empire, which used its spellcasters primarily as researchers, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, much like Britannia and Gaul, trained its spellcasters as combat personnel.
The Royal Arcane Guard was a Guard unit composed of 3rd to 4th-Circle spellcasters, specialized in protecting members of the Imperial family.
Although he had already cast a [4th-Circle Spell – Stoneskin] on the Archduke before departing, granting him high resistance to physical damage.
For some reason, as he looked at the enthusiastic crowd, he felt the environment was extremely dangerous.
“This is too exposed, too prone to accidents…”
The Arcane Guard couldn’t help but think this, then glanced at his comrade in the car behind.
Two Royal Arcane Guards were accompanying the Archduke on this trip: one in the front passenger seat of the Archduke’s car, and the other on standby in the car behind.
As the motorcade reached Franz Josef Street, the Royal Arcane Guard, who had also received extensive bodyguard training alongside his spell studies, suddenly noticed an anomaly in the crowd.
It was an ordinary-looking man who seemed to be cheering along with the surrounding crowd…
But the rapid movement of his lips made the Arcane Guard realize—the man was casting a spell!
“Your Highness, please do not resist my casting!”
The Arcane Guard roared, his voice barely audible over the crowd’s noise.
The mana in his body surged. He prepared to cast a [3rd-Circle Spell – Protection from Energy] on the Archduke.
He instinctively raised his clenched right fist, sending a warning signal to the car behind.
The Arcane Guard’s attention was fully focused on the suspicious man.
But in that instant, he saw the man suddenly smile at him, then quickly perform a standard casting gesture.
The next moment, the Arcane Guard felt the mana he was channeling suddenly go out of control. The [Protection from Energy] spell, on the verge of forming, instantly collapsed and dissolved into the air.
“This is bad, it’s a spell counter!”
The Arcane Guard’s heart sank. He immediately realized the enemy had tricked him.
The man was not preparing an attack spell at all!
He was waiting for the Guard to begin casting, then used a [Counterspell] to precisely interrupt him!
This realization sent a chill down his spine. It meant the man was not only a spellcaster but one with extensive combat experience and extremely strong psychological fortitude!
“Alert! Assassin!”
He roared, simultaneously trying to draw the pistol at his waist.
In the car behind, his comrade had already leaped out and was frantically sprinting toward them.
However, it was all too late.
The man, having successfully countered the Guard’s spell, did not hesitate and raised his hand again.
This time, his target was Archduke Ferdinand, sitting in the rear seat.
An invisible arcane light flashed around the Archduke’s body. The Arcane Guard could clearly feel the effect of the [Stoneskin] spell he had cast on the Archduke instantly vanish.
(End of this Chapter)
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