The Ottoman palace coup and Majid's sudden death had caught Franz off guard. He even found himself instinctively suspecting a conspiracy.
Too many things didn't add up. If Abdulaziz had decided to rebel, why hadn't he simply killed Majid? What was the point of fighting with a bunch of eunuchs and palace maids?
Even if he couldn't pull off a Xuanwu Gate Incident, he could have staged a Duo Men Incident instead. He could have simply won over powerful ministers and launched a revolt. Even if Majid came back from the dead, what could he do?
Then there was the timing of Majid waking up and suddenly dying. It was far too suspicious. Could all of this have been part of his plan?
The first was meant to eliminate internal threats; the second, of course, was meant to deal with external ones.
Franz couldn't help but break into a cold sweat. Otto I was among the troops at the front. Franz's cousin wasn't particularly clever, and Franz had withdrawn Austria's army to the rear to cover his retreat, just to stay out of danger.
If this really was a trap, wouldn't Otto I be in serious trouble?
By the time the news reached Vienna, however, it was already too late to do anything. Fortunately, the British envoy had arrived as well.
Franz was naturally willing to accept mediation. After all, the Austrian Empire was a peace-loving country. If its territory and people hadn't been threatened, he wouldn't have wanted to declare war on the Ottoman Empire.
Franz put on quite a performance in front of the British ambassador. The latter was grinding his teeth in frustration, but there was nothing he could do with countless reporters and guards already standing by all around them.
According to the British Government's propaganda,