Viscount Stratford was not at all surprised by the Tsar's answer. It fit his stereotype of Russians perfectly: ignorant, greedy, barbaric.
"Would you reconsider? Wallachia's lands are quite fertile, and more importantly, this land will not belong to the Austrian Empire."
After speaking, Viscount Stratford glanced at Archduke Albrecht. His meaning was plain enough: acquiring Wallachia would be more advantageous than acquiring Moldavia.
The Russian upper ranks, who possessed a deep understanding of geopolitics, had already turned their spearheads toward the Austrian Empire. After all, as long as the Austrian Empire withdrew from the contest for the Balkans, Russia could dominate the field alone.
By that logic, even if Russia suffered some losses, as long as the Austrian Empire could not profit—or profited less—that was still an advantage for Russia.
Though turning one's neighbor into a ditch to drain one's own floodwaters was considered short-sighted, in truth it had been the choice of most nations for thousands of years.
After all, in many cases, spreading rumors, suppressing, and smearing one's competitors was far more effective and far quicker than improving oneself.
At that moment, Russia's high-ranking officials were also watching Albrecht closely, hoping to read the Austrian Empire's attitude toward Russia from him.
Albrecht merely gave a disdainful smile. He had no interest in such a low-grade sowing-of-discord scheme. Had he not spent some time tempering himself in the War Department, he might not have been able to suppress his temper, giving others something to seize upon and deliberately misinterpret.
Yet Albrecht simply watched it all as if nothing had happened. Franz had long instructed him that if Russia went back on its word, they were to fall back to Wallachia, prioritize defense in all things, and leave the aftermath to Franz.
Maintaining the status quo in the Near East