By 1859, constitutional government had become Austria's hottest topic—even the birth of a little prince had been reduced to a backdrop.
There was no helping it. The eldest son, Friedrich, was already over two years old, and his position as heir to the throne was settled. As the second son, he naturally drew far less attention from the outside world.
The Vienna Court still held a celebration as usual. With the limited medical standards of the era, every family attached great importance to the next generation.
Almost every time a core family member was born, a celebration was held. It was a sign of the family's flourishing prosperity.
The Habsburg Family had fought its way out from among Europe's countless noble houses and built a vast empire by relying on having many children and many blessings.
It was not only the Habsburg Family. In fact, all long-established families shared one trait: they were highly capable of producing offspring.
Europe's nobles were not merely rice-eating parasites. Even in the nineteenth century, they had to be ready to take the battlefield at any moment. That was their responsibility and duty.
For families with few descendants, that was far from wonderful. If someone got knocked about on the battlefield, then with the medical conditions of the era, they might very well go straight to meet God.
Then all that remained was to let others reap the benefit. There was no need to doubt it—intermarriage among nobles was tangled and complex. As long as a noble family had lasted for centuries, it could basically find an heir among its relatives.
This time, Franz had learned his lesson. He directly put all the candidate names together and drew lots. Yes, he was going to let the little fellow pick one himself.
It could not really