Vienna, Schönbrunn Palace.
Franz was being forced to study, so he could no longer point to places on a map and dictate their fate.
The gentleman who came today wore a tall top hat, a brown high-collared coat, and a pair of riding boots.
Upon meeting Franz, he removed his hat and bowed.
"Greetings, Your Highness Archduke Franz. I'm Aaron Aberdeen. It is an honor to have been invited by the Habsburg royal family. Starting today, I'll be your tutor."
Franz nodded in reply. It wasn't that he was arrogant; court etiquette required that those of higher rank not speak first to those of lower rank, unless issuing an order or making a request.
In truth, European education in this era had nothing in common with so-called "joyful education."
Every clergyman carried a cane or a switch. If a student made a mistake or couldn't answer a question, they would "enjoy" a severe beating.
They wouldn't dare lay a hand on Franz, but Thalia at his side would suffer instead.
After all, she was Franz's tutor.
Thalia had originally been full of confidence. She was one of the few women in this era to have graduated from university, and she had even ranked first in the Prime Minister's Office clerks' examination.
After several years of teaching Franz, Thalia felt she had already passed on everything she knew.
But she had never imagined how cruel people could be. These university professors, so concerned with their own dignity, would actually give a little child questions straight from university exams.
What Thalia could never have guessed was that Franz was deliberately getting them wrong.
Mr. Aberdeen was no exception. When he realized that addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division posed no challenge to the child before him, he couldn't help cursing the female tutor