After much thought, Ernst finally went to Vienna at the end of May 1917, this time accompanied by only a dozen guards of the Royal Guard, but more than 30,000 elite royal soldiers were on the border between Austria-Hungary and the Czech principality, ready for war.

Ernst's defense was naturally seen by the nobles of Vienna, and at the same time, the nobles of Vienna were also a little disappointed, after all, this was really a good opportunity to take Ernst and recover the Czech principality.

In May 1917, there were several world-changing events, one of which was that the United States finally couldn't help but declare war on Germany, and it is conceivable that the First World War was basically coming to an end. At the same time, the Russian Provisional Government began to face its first crisis - the coexistence of the Soviets and the Russian aristocracy.

To tell the truth, the Soviet government was far less powerful than the Russian aristocracy at this time, but at this time the Russian nobility did something wrong enough to impress their overall strength, that is, the Provisional Government intended to continue the war until the Entente or the Allies were victorious.

In the face of such a result, the workers and peasants naturally expressed their dissatisfaction, the 300,000 Russian troops on the front line have already surrendered, and hundreds of thousands of Siberian troops have also chosen to surrender to the Siberian governor-general and former royal princess Maria.

The then Minister of Foreign Affairs, who advocated war amid the protests of the citizens, had no choice but to resign, and for the first time the Provisional Government was confronted with the discontent of the citizens, they had no choice but to invite the Soviet Government to form a coalition government with them.

Such a result is also a good thing for Ernst, he naturally does not want Russia to continue to participate in the war, after all, Russia's war potential is too great, and the United States has entered the war at this time, which can weaken the strength of Britain, France and the United States to the greatest extent is the right way.

It was in this complicated situation that Ernst came to Vienna - a place where he had mixed emotions, this was not the first time Ernst had returned here since becoming Count of Moravia, but this time the meaning of returning here was naturally completely different, and Ernst stood at the front of the funeral of Emperor Franz like the new Grand Duke Carter.

Ernst arrived a little late, it was the morning of the funeral when the train arrived in Vienna, and Emperor Franz's prayers had already been read when he hurried to the royal cemetery. Karl didn't say anything more and just nodded at him slightly, Archduke Ferdinand was among them, but he was no longer as tough and stubborn in a wheelchair.

The servant's leadership frightened Ernst to stand next to Karl and even in front of Archduke Ferdinand, which no one disputed, after all, Ernst still had the title of Grand Duke of the Czech Duchy on his head at this time, and with the heat of the First World War, the Czech Duchy also began to become famous in the war.

In the desolate atmosphere, the guests began to slowly disperse, and Ernst also saw a lot of acquaintances, including some nobles from England and France, war is war, but everyone is also a relative, at this time, there is no reason not to send Emperor Franz on his last journey.

In the corner of the garden, Ernst and Karl fought opposite each other, a cigar was handed to Karl, and after hesitating, Karl took it in his mouth without checking anything, and then Ernst personally helped Carl light it, and the two began to swallow the fog in the quiet garden corner.

"Dad said something before he died."

Leng Budingkar suddenly talked about Archduke Otto, and at the same time that Ernst was a little curious about what he would say to Karl, of course, the main reason for his curiosity was that Ernst knew that these words must have something to do with him.

Sure enough, after a while, Karl mentioned Ernst's name at the beginning of his mouth: "Dad said that you are the best candidate for the Austro-Hungarian Emperor in terms of ability and personality, but some of your actions will make the nobles very dissatisfied, even if Emperor Franz faces the protests of the nobles, he can only choose to compromise." ”

Taking a hard puff on his cigar, Ernst waved his hand and did not feel the slightest regret that he had missed out on the Austro-Plenum throne, at least on the surface.

"If I say that the outcome of this war was doomed from the beginning, do you think the situation at this time is better or that Austria-Hungary is better together?"

The Austro-Hungarian Empire as a whole refers to the Czech Duchy or the Czech region, and Ernst's words are not without the slightest usefulness, on the contrary, Ernst wants to fundamentally change Karl's attitude towards the Czech Duchy. It was a little strange for Ernst to say this, but after a moment of thought he understood what Ernst meant.

The throne is not stable and unshakable, such as Nicholas II, it is estimated that no one thought that the super empire across the Eurasian continent would collapse like this, and now Nicholas II is not in danger of his life for the time being, but the imperial power has been lost, who dares to say that he will be able to save his life in the future?

The First World War consumed too much energy from several major empires, and in the event of a defeat by the Allies, Austria-Hungary was likely to be divided, and the possibility of Habsburg losing its emperor was very high. The Czech Duchy was different in that it was firmly in the hands of Ernst and was truly at rest with the country, and one or two defeats in the war did not affect Ernst anything.

The transformation of the throne of a large empire into two monarchs was not a good thing for Austria-Hungary, but it was undoubtedly a retreat for the Habsburgs.

Although he thought that Ernst was right, Karl would admit it? The answer, of course, was no, and the only thing Karl did at this time was to remain silent, but this was also very satisfying to Ernst because his goal had been achieved.

"Look at Uncle Ferdinand! His mood is not very good during this time, and there is also Misimilian, I believe you don't want to see something you don't want to see. ”

The faint threat in those words Ernst naturally knew where it came from, and Mysimilian personally did not have much ambition for the throne, but he could not withstand the provocation and agitation of the diehard family of Archduke Ferdinand, and there were many undercurrents surging in the shadows of Vienna at this time.

Karl was an indecisive poster, but he knew very well that the situation in Austria-Hungary was already quite dangerous at this time, and he did not want to be unstable internally under such a dangerous external environment.

After a little silence, Ernst finally spoke: "There is still some misunderstanding between me and Mysimian, and I will have a good talk with him tonight, but I cannot guarantee the outcome." ”

Karl only smiled lightly at such an answer, but Ernst clearly saw a hint of killing in Karl's smile. With a faint sigh, Ernst knew that this time he had to stop some of Mysimian's moves, otherwise only Mysimilian and those who were loyal to Archduke Ferdinand would be unlucky.

Ernst was hesitant? He had to hesitate, because it was easy for Mesimilian to mistake him for wanting to seize these loyalists, or indeed to seize Archduke Ferdinand's most important connections. Although it is clear that this is likely to be the outcome, but Ernst has a way out?

Sophie, maybe Sophie is a good choice, and it might be better to have her in the middle as a buffer, but is Sophie willing to help herself? Ernst was very skeptical, after all, both the affairs of Archduchess Maria and his previous attitude towards Sophie had made him lose some confidence.

Massena said last time that Fred was a nice guy and that maybe he could get some help from him. Thinking of this, Ernst headed towards the old mansion of Archduke Ferdinand, who still lived in the palace despite losing his position as crown prince.

"Looking for me?"

In the guest room, Prince Fred was visibly surprised when he learned from the servant that Ernst wanted to meet him, but then he nodded quietly without knowing what to think.

"That's right, His Highness Ernst is waiting for you in the hall, do you want me to inform the Sufi Lord ......?"

"Not for now, I'll let you know in advance if necessary."

Waving his hand to reject the servant's offer, Prince Fred went to the hall with a hint of curiosity to meet. At this time, Prince Fred was very curious, not from Ernst but from Sophie, because yesterday Sophie had said that Ernst would meet him when he came to Vienna.

"Don't say you're a prophet, I wouldn't believe anything like that."

Prince Fred said a word to the Sufi lord in his heart, and then his slender figure appeared around the corner of the hall, and Ernst in front of him was completely exposed to him.