Schönbrunn Palace, Vienna:

"I disagree!"

"You should respect the interests of the country, Archduke Ferdinand."

Franz Joseph I was very resolute, but then looked at Franz Ferdinand, who was sitting on the sofa in a somewhat depressed mood, and wondered why he suddenly remembered that his son Rudolph, who had committed suicide together because of mental illness, sympathet, and he could understand the pain of losing his son.

Suddenly, Franz Joseph I wondered if he was being too harsh on his nephew's family. Especially for the nephew's children......

"Slavic stability is also what you want to see. Ferdinand, I want you to remember that you are not just a father of several children, but also the crown prince of a country. ”

"I know what I should do, but I hope you can guarantee Ernst's interests and rights."

The Vatican grew up, but he did not say that he would stay in the Vatican forever, and Ernst would return sooner or later, so Archduke Ferdinand wanted to help his second son claim some benefits at this time, and at the same time break some of the restrictions that Austria-Hungary had on his children.

"I will make him Count of Moravia, and I will give him a piece of land next to Prague as a domain."

A piece of land, though not explicitly stated, but Archduke Ferdinand already understood. He was very satisfied, because the land was large and not very far from Germany, and in accordance with the relations and interests of Austria-Hungary with Germany, it was fully guaranteed its security and profit.

……

Ernst, who was still fantasizing about the future, did not know that he had become a lord of a land, but he was only a lord in name, because it was impossible for him to go to his own land.

In the few days since he came to the Vatican, Ernst has seen too many people and things, and every devout believer who left was very excited and respectful to salute him, but some left with a skeptical attitude.

Ernst had no idea how much benefit his arrival would bring to the Vatican, or to be more precise, to Leo XIII, who was slowly regaining the influence of the Papal States as the Vatican became more comfortable with the control of the Church everywhere and the number of devout congregants began to gradually increase.

But this situation did not last long, because as Ernst grew older and no longer showed any special talents, the divine aura on his body began to slowly disappear.

Some of the old ascetics may remember him, but some of the new ones don't even know his name, and Ernst disappears into the Vatican's miracles in a flash in the pan.

The nurse stayed with Ernst for a month, two months, a year, two years, and when Ernst began to walk, he was fluent in German, English, Hungarian, Polish......

Is Ernst a genius? Maybe! The crossing made his soul very strong and his memory was very good, and some words and sentences he had read could be easily memorized, which was the real reason why he was able to learn these languages quickly.

In a few years, he grew a baby into a teenager who could roll on the floor, he was not alone in the Vatican, and several ascetics were his most loyal servants, they were the ones who were completely convinced by Ernst's words when he was a child, and believed that even if Ernst let them die, these ascetics would not hesitate in the slightest.

Ascetics generally have some fighting ability, after all, walking around the world on foot cannot guarantee their own life without some force.

At the age of three, Ernst began to learn fencing and martial arts, and at the same time, he also used his own methods to carry out scientific physical exercises, and several bulging abdominal muscles were his main results.

In a few years, the nurses were much older, and some of the ascetics died, but they also helped Ernst to raise a group of loyal and capable guards. Of course, this was requested by Ernst on his own initiative, and for this part of the ascetics even gave all their energy and wealth.

Ernst also gave a lot, and a large number of gifts from the Pope, bishops and Catholics were sold by the ascetics and used as the main source of funds for the training of his own defenders.

At the age of six, Ernst's most loyal ascetic, who was also the chief of the guard, died, which made Ernst not relenting for more than a month, although he was a traverser, but he also had feelings, and he treated this ascetic as his own grandfather, and the ascetic loved Ernst in this way.

At the same time, this incident was also an important change for Ernst living in the Vatican, although the ascetic did not have any position and status, but his influence on the Church was extraordinary, which is why Ernst was able to live freely and freely in the Vatican even after having no use value.

It was true that Ernst was the second son of Archduke Ferdinand, but he would never have been treated like he was now, and everything was brought about by the ascetic and the hundreds of faithful guards in Ernst's hands.

On his first day as he came back to reality from his grief, Ernst was confronted with the effects of the ascetic's death, and the Vatican needed to reclaim his courtyard, where one of the Vatican's sages once lived.

The guards were furious at this, but Ernst was calm, he was already aware of his canonization of the earl, and at the same time understood that he owned a piece of land, and that the Vatican was no longer suitable for him to stay.

The reason why Ernst has not left until now is because the Vatican promised to let him leave only when he became an adult, even if he is no longer useful, but the Vatican does not want to break the agreement.

Although the Austro-Hungarian Empire received letters every year, Ernst had no intention of leaving, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire or Archduke Ferdinand did not deliberately ask for it, after all, the internal situation in the Austro-Hungarian Empire was not too clear. Perhaps in the eyes of Archduke Ferdinand, it was better to let Ernst return to Austria-Hungary than to stay in the Vatican, after all, the Austro-Hungarian killers did not dare to go to the Vatican to make a move.

But now it was different, Ernst felt that his life in the Vatican was no longer of any use, and if he was willing to leave on his own initiative, he believed that the Vatican would not stop him. But Ernst was not willing to leave like this, and he decided to blackmail the rich Leo XIII when he left.

Blackmailing Leo XIII? If it were someone else, it might not be possible to think of it, but after knowing Leo XIII for so many years, Ernst felt that his chances of success in blackmail were still very high.

With this in mind, Ernst walked with firm steps towards the place where Leo XIII had his daily activities, followed by two young Germanic guards who had not left since three years earlier.

It was 1900, 14 years before the First World War.