At those words, Empress Olga immediately felt the thrill of discovering a hidden quest. Franz, beside her, merely looked at her with an awkward expression.
She knew that whenever her husband—normally a man whose feelings never showed on his face—actually started making expressions, it meant the matter was of very little importance.
Olga could not help feeling a little disappointed, but it did not matter. Since it was unimportant, this was the perfect chance for her to stretch her limbs and show what she could do.
Franz trusted Olga greatly. She herself was a very measured person. Besides, this was an age without surveillance cameras or recordings; things said in private did not count for much.
Only Anna was somewhat pitiful. What should have been a wonderful day had now become entangled with politics again.
Moreover, judging from Anna's assessment of the situation, no matter what deal Lakshmi Bai wished to propose, she would not receive an answer immediately—much less the answer she wanted.
After all, His Majesty Joseph I, his elder brother, would certainly wait until the timing was most favorable to the Austrian Empire before making any trade.
By then, Jhansi Principality would probably already be tottering in the wind and rain.
Outsiders could not imagine this, or perhaps would never think that way at all. After all, every one of Franz's actions had saved many people, many nations, many kings. Even the Church had held him up as a saint.
But Anna, who had once studied under Franz, knew that the timing of every one of his brother's actions had been repeatedly calculated. Some of those opportunities had even been planned by him personally. Franz liked to call it heroes creating the tides of the age.
Before such a hero, one capable of creating the tides of