What They Wanted

Seeing the serfs sprawled on the ground and the troops closing in, the nobles who had been cowering moments before suddenly puffed themselves up with courage, gesturing as if they were ready to fight the serfs on the ground to the death.

Franz gave the poor wretches one last, pitying glance. They had managed to get beaten this badly by their own serfs, even with outside support. They were something else.

Franz rode forward and called out.

"Everyone, get up! People of Austria!"

Franz deliberately didn't speak German. Instead, he repeated himself twice, once in Polish and once in Ruthenian, since the people of Galicia were mainly Poles and Rusyns.

But the serfs remained sprawled on the ground, as if they hadn't heard him. This puzzled Franz, so he sent someone over to ask them.

(Franz had already breached protocol by coming to the front lines. It was extremely dangerous and irresponsible. If he dismounted and went into the crowd to question them, many people around him would be in trouble.)

Naturally, this was a job for Colonel Bordeaux. He was happy to take it on. His attitude was still as bad as ever, but there was no denying that he got things done quickly.

The answer was somewhat surprising. According to Colonel Bordeaux, the serfs had seen the Double-Headed Eagle Flag of the House of Habsburg, and that was why they had refused to get up.

Only then did Franz realize just how arrogant and ignorant the nobles of Galicia were. The serfs could recognize that enormous Double-Headed Eagle Flag, yet these nobles couldn't.

Or perhaps the nobles in these borderlands simply didn't care. After all, the last time a member of the royal family had visited Galicia was seventy years ago: none other than the celebrated Joseph II.