Though the merchant wore a beaming smile, Batthyany himself felt an indescribable loathing for Opium Wine.
In truth, it was because he had spent too long in Vienna. Under the Austrian government and the Church's propaganda, Opium Wine was practically synonymous with slow poison.
No one liked quenching their thirst with poison, but outside Austria, people knew so little about opium that they genuinely used it as a "health tonic."
Opium Wine's effects were obvious. The two grievously wounded men who had been groaning nonstop soon drifted off to sleep.
While Batthyany was still hesitating, news of the Opium Wine had spread throughout the entire camp, and the wounded soldiers gathered in front of the general's tent.
"Please, General!" cried a gravely wounded soldier leaning on a crutch.
"Please, General!" the other wounded soldiers echoed.
Looking at the soldiers before him, whose arms and legs the doctors had crudely sawed off, Batthyany felt deeply ashamed. He had never imagined Hungary would suffer such heavy losses, much less that Austria would reject Hungary's peace proposal.
Just as Mr. Lajos Kossuth had said.
"The Austrians fear the freedom of the Hungarians! They fear the strength of the Hungarians! They envy our freedom, they envy our strength. They want to keep us shackled forever!"
Budapest, the Grand Assembly.
Lajos Kossuth's impassioned speech won thunderous applause, and delegates from all over lavished him with praise.
"Mr. Lajos Kossuth spoke beautifully!"
"Mr. Lajos Kossuth! When can we march into Vienna?"
The ill-timed question instantly froze the atmosphere in the hall. Many of Lajos Kossuth's most fervent supporters practically wanted to tear the newcomer who had asked it to pieces.
But that rash newcomer had asked exactly what everyone wanted to know: what lay ahead for the Hungarian Republic?
The new Hungarian government had proposed many