1836, Vienna, Schönbrunn Palace.
Franz celebrated his sixth birthday. According to royal custom, he had to leave the nursery.
As Franz was leaving the nursery, Maximilian stared daggers at him, wishing he would hurry up and leave his kingdom.
As the second son in the family, Maximilian was always a step behind Franz.
Everyone who came to the nursery visited Franz first, whether they were servants or family. It seemed everything was prepared for Franz, while he could only ever come second.
The first time Maximilian visited the Hall of Mirrors, he was captivated by its bright, spacious halls. Francis II sat atop the lofty throne, stirring a storm of emotions in Maximilian's heart.
Without thinking, he tried to approach the throne, but Francis II stopped him.
"Little Maximilian, don't go any farther. You can't sit there."
But Maximilian had no intention of listening to the old man. Francis II's voice grew sterner.
"Louis, take him away. Let him go play somewhere else."
Archduke Louis stopped Maximilian and said,
"Grandpa Louis will take you to play. Do you want to watch a parade or ride a horse?"
Maximilian didn't answer. He only looked back at the throne resentfully. Franz was sleeping on it, of all things.
They had been born from the same womb. Why was Heaven so unfair?
BGM: Snowflakes flutter, the north wind howls. The world lies bleak and boundless.
Once Franz left the nursery, he got a room of his own. The upside was that he had his own territory. The downside was that he could no longer fall asleep clinging to Thalia's leg.
Thalia, too, was forced to leave the little nest where she had stayed for five years, moving into the room next to Franz's. After all, as his tutor, she was responsible for looking after him.
Franz thought the greatest benefit of leaving the nursery was that he could finally escape Lady Sophie's harassment.
But as it turned out, Franz was still too young. He had no idea how terrifying a woman could be once she went full Sparta.
She had already given up hope on her husband, with his cowardice, his timidity, and his incompetence.
And so Lady Sophie devoted all her energy to Franz.
The first thing Lady Sophie did was order the servants to haul the big bed out of Franz's room, replacing it with a cold army cot.
"Franz! From now on, you must not be weak! You must fight like a man! This family needs you, and so does this country!"
Lady Sophie was clearly hoping her enthusiasm would inspire Franz, but Franz was miserable without his soft bed.
"But what does that have to do with the bed?"
"A warm bed will wear down your will and snuff out your soul!"
"That's... terrifying, Mother. But this cold iron bed will make me sick. Harsh conditions can make people irritable. Once they succeed, they're more likely to become complacent; once they fail, they're more likely to lose heart."
Franz explained. Honestly, he didn't think people who had it harder were more likely to succeed. They were more likely to go to extremes, that was true.
"You talk too much. I'm your mother, and you have to listen to me." Lady Sophie pinched Franz's cheek.
Franz covered his face and thought, If you'd just said that from the start, I wouldn't have bothered explaining.
If it were only a bed, that would have been underestimating Lady Sophie.
Franz's meals got much worse, too. Before, the royal chef had personally taken care of his food.
Now Lady Sophie had taken over his meals, hoping Franz would get a taste of the hardships of ordinary people.
And so all sorts of baffling foods appeared on Franz's table. Blood sausage and tripe were nothing.
There was even a porridge-like dish. It looked quite familiar to Franz, but the taste was truly hard to stomach.
And calling it porridge was generous. It was more like a sticky, semi-solid mush.
It was a food from the Austrian countryside, made by boiling wheat bran with sauerkraut and things like fern roots.
Wheat bran was a by-product of wheat processing, now often used as animal feed. It tasted awful and scratched your throat a little (I've tried it).
After days of torment, Franz thought it was finally over.
But Lady Sophie had another idea: she wanted Franz to learn about the customs and cultures of countries around the world.
First came Britain: Stargazy Pie.
Franz looked at the plate of little fish, their eyes staring blankly at the heavens, and felt a jumble of emotions.
After that came Sweden's canned herring. The kitchen chef was afraid it might upset Franz's stomach, so he went out of his way to heat it up.
Then an epic disaster struck... The stench spread everywhere, and the servants had to scrub the kitchen thoroughly and replace all the cookware.
Spanish cheese.
Japanese bonito.
But Franz wasn't the first to reach his limit. Thalia was.
As Franz's tutor, she was also responsible for tasting his food.
So with every one of Lady Sophie's culinary atrocities, Thalia was the first victim.
In the past, she'd gladly eaten whatever grand meals were served. But these dark dishes were simply too much for her.
At last, one day, Lady Sophie's culinary abomination poisoned Thalia. First she suffered diarrhea, then a high fever that wouldn't go down.
If Franz hadn't already prepared Allicin, Thalia might have gone to meet God.
But once Thalia regained consciousness, the first thing she asked was what Franz had given her.
Just as Franz was about to tell her about his new product, Allicin,
Thalia stopped him.
"Don't say it. Let me throw up first. I'm not pure anymore."
Franz was left utterly baffled. He had also prepared Penicillin, but first, he had very little of it; second, he had no injection equipment.
Unable to bear the terrifying food any longer, Thalia told Lady Sophie she wanted to resign.
She would rather spend the rest of her life in prison than eat that horrible food again.
At that point, Lady Sophie finally realized she might not be much of a cook, and that perhaps she had gone a little too far in choosing the food.
Lady Sophie didn't punish Thalia or send her to prison. Instead, she gave her 500 Florins and a week off, so she could eat something good and relax.
Five hundred Florins was no small sum at the time. It was equivalent to three years' wages for a worker.
Lady Sophie gave Thalia time off, but Franz assigned her a new task.
After all, Franz now considered himself Thalia's lifesaver, so she had no choice but to do as he said.
With his tutor Thalia away, Franz thought he wouldn't have to do his homework. He felt so free.
But Lady Sophie had no intention of letting Franz off the hook. She found him a professor of linguistics, a true master who was fluent in over a dozen languages.
Perhaps the original Franz had an astonishing talent for languages. He quickly mastered the eight most important languages in the Austrian Empire.
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