King Franz Karl's Thoughts

Franz Karl had watched the wedding with a serious face and narrowed eyes. The consternation was mostly what he felt in regards to this wedding. The boy had turned down a chance to wed one of his daughters. His lost. But that wasn't what was bothering him the most.

As he stood alone in the elegant quarters set for him late into the night, he gazed at the map he had brought with him. It was a map of the continent. But not how it looked at present but how it planned for it too look in the future; the near future if he could help it.

Like most kings or any other lord in the Confederation, Franz Karl wanted to properly unify the Confederation into one realm. No more loose alliances, no more fractured and rivaling states, no more division. Just one realm. He had already set his sights on Bohi. Bayern, Baddemburg and Wurten were already under his heavy influence. It would not take much to one day declare the annexation of those states.

Then there were the more southern states located in the northern region of the Italian Peninsula. Franz Karl had plans for them as well and the other states of the peninsula not part of the Confederation. He had everything planned out. But then came the boy-king.

His cousin Franz Jacques had offered his state as a dowry for the boy's mother. Lothelsabourg was vital in his plans. Franz Karl slammed his fist on the map. He knew he should have brought Franz Jacques into the plan from the start! Then the boy-king went on and annex Toscana as an exclave. A minor problem, he surmised, that would be solved another day. But Lothelsabourg, it was essential in his plans. He had to find away to get the boy to relinquish control of the state before it could be fully integrated into Ostgrenze.

He had contemplated sending assassins to kill the boy. And how grand a plan that would be. The boy had no heir yet. His child with Duchess Eliza could not inherit its father's throne. That would lead to a succession war by higher standing lords in Ostgrenze. Oh yes, that sounded so delightful to him. A civil war that will tear Ostgrenze from the inside. Then he will come along, play the benevolent king who seeks to intervene in a pointless war between brothers. He'd vilify the warring lords and convince the people to accept him as their king. Thus adding another territory to his realm.

Oh yes, the plan sound so good, so alluring. But he'd be severely underestimating his opponents if he thought that. The Ostgrenze Royal Family had been his family's unofficial rival since Ostgrenze became an official Kingdom within the Confederation. Their people will not take too kindly to having him as their ruler even if he did come to stop war and feed the starving masses.

"DAMN IT!" He shouted. He violently pushed the table his map was on to a wall, breaking apart the table and damaging the wall. Franz Karl took a deep breath. Things were not as bad as it seemed. He can still carry on without Lothelsabourg. He laughed a little maniacally. Maybe Lothelsabourg was not as vital as he first thought. As his laughter died down some three minutes later, he remembered what was prominent about his family. They did not excel in war and the spilling of blood. But more rather on diplomacy and the propagation of blood.

It would not be much to bring his cousin Francois and the King of Asturias into his plan. The two Kings both had something to gain from this campaign.

"Maybe I've been a bit over ambitious." He said to himself. He would forget about unifying the Confederation and focus on what he could unify: The southern Almain states and the Italian States. He'll give the boy-king the north and Lothelsabourg. But Franz Karl intended on getting Toscana. Nothing will stop him from uniting the Italian states into one unified Italia.

That will be his legacy and his gift to his family. A shame the boy-king refused his offer of marriage to his daughter. He could have been added to that legacy. But maybe it isn't too late... to arrange an accident for the new Ostgrenze Queen.

KNOCK! KNOCK!

"Enter!" came in was a trusted man. "Sire, I bring news. Scandalous and potentially civil war causing news." Franz Karl's eyebrows raised in intrigue and curiosity.

"Speak it, my good man." The King of Sudreich ordered. Franz Jacques anti-spy network may have reduced the number of spies he had in Ostgrenze. But his spies still operated.

"Best I whisper it to you, Sire." the man respectfully advised.

"Very well. You may approach and say your piece." What the man said to him caused his eyes to widen and the most devious and sinister smile crept into his face. The news the man had relayed to him could yield so much devastation to those involved. Especially the boy-king. "Scandalous and potentially civil war causing indeed." Things were starting to look up. Now what to do with this new info and how to go about it.