Purely violent means meant war, and the reason Floyd had not revealed that Austria had already assembled an army stationed within the Papal States was that the Papal States were completely transparent to the Kingdom of Italy.
Contrary to Pius IX's assumptions, the Austro-Hungarian Empire's intelligence network in Italy could not be said to be nonexistent, but it was practically the same as nonexistent.
Yet the Kingdom of Italy could easily infiltrate the Papal States and learn their exact circumstances. The Papal States had a system where church and state were one; since it was a religious country, it naturally could not bar worshippers from coming to pay homage. Moreover, the people of the Papal States were Italians as well, living deep in Italy's heartland, making it impossible to cut off the movement of people and commercial trade.
Under such circumstances, the Kingdom of Italy only needed to bribe a few people within the Papal States to obtain the intelligence it wanted, or simply send some people into the Papal States. The Papal States had no way to verify their identities.
"Sir Floyd, I think I understand your country's intentions. As for your country's methods, all I can say is—excellent, truly excellent! Hahaha." Pius IX, believing he had learned the truth, laughed heartily.
Pius IX's words left Floyd deeply vexed. Had Pius IX guessed the existence of the Austro-Hungarian expeditionary force?
So what if he had guessed? It did not matter anyway. As long as Pius IX did not tell anyone, it would not be much of a problem.
Floyd said, "Your Majesty, understanding it in your heart is enough. It would be best not to mention this matter to anyone else. I am personally rather uneasy about certain people within the Papal States. You only need to first prepare