Olga asked with a worried look on her face.
"Is the quality of our country's bicycles really that bad?"
Franz had no answer, because what was lacking might not have been quality at all, but something as abstract as character or morality.
Soon, when the opening ceremony began and Franz saw that the contestants from the other states were all wearing plate armor, he suddenly felt that his own side had not prepared nearly enough.
Franz then looked toward the royal families and dignitaries of the various countries on the reviewing stand. Seeing every one of them brimming with confidence, he realized that he had misunderstood.
The prelude to Song of Germany began, and a swath of people in the Austrian Empire's stands rose with a rustle. Then they suddenly realized it was not Emperor's Hymn and sat back down.
Denmark had actually prepared quite a few performances as well, but they could basically be summed up in two words: "utterly dull."
When the Pro-German Faction in the Danish government took the stage, they catered rather too eagerly to the concept of "Germany," making many actual Germans feel distinctly awkward.
The only ones delighted were those Germanized Danes and half-Danish Germans. In their eyes, this was what the German Confederation ought to look like.
Then there were the common folk at the bottom, who had little concept of nationality. They only knew that they could see many important figures, eat nearly free food, drink nearly free alcohol, and watch a new kind of spectacle.
To most people, it felt like a festival, which had been Franz's original intention.
Many within the German Confederation had heard of the Austrian Empire's celebrations, but most had never seen one with their own eyes. Now, at last, they did.
In fact, to enliven the