"Archduke Franz, we'll die if we go to the battlefield. We're nobles."
"You're nobles? Are the nobles at the front holding back the fleeing soldiers not nobles? Are there not plenty of nobles among our frontline commanders?"
"But—" Before the playboys could put up a defense, Franz continued.
"You care only for pleasure, fear death, and spread gossip everywhere. You want to enjoy the benefits that come with power, but refuse to shoulder the responsibilities of being nobles. You call yourselves nobles? You're a bunch of damn frauds! You've disgraced the entire nobility!
Pick up a gun and prove on the battlefield that you're not cowards. Otherwise, get out of the Allied Forces and stay home like good little boys. Don't let me see you again!"
Just as expected, all the playboys ran in the opposite direction from the battlefield. With so many good-for-nothings drawing a salary without doing a thing, how could the dynasty not decline?
Franz firmly resolved an internal crisis among the gentlemen, but the society ladies learned nothing from it. Holding parasols and linking arms, they headed toward Franz's tent (cabin).
On the battlefield at Sélestat, Fanny Cotte rose from the ground and silently walked toward an Orléans Army flag someone had dropped.
She took off her gloves, clasped the flagpole with her jade-white fingers, then raised the great banner of the Orléans Army high above her head and waved it with all her might.
"Warriors of Orléans! Charge with me!"
Fanny Cotte never looked back. She charged straight toward the barricades held by the French.
Behind the barricades, the French skirmishers looked to their commanding officer for guidance. After all, their opponent was an officer and a noblewoman, and she carried no firearms. By the rules, they weren't supposed to shoot her.
But the French