The chaos in Paris continued, and it was still unknown who would emerge victorious. Yet Franz had already begun worrying over the choice of a new King of France.
The candidates would undoubtedly come from the three great royal houses. No one outside those three families could hold the situation together.
The Bonaparte Family was the first to be eliminated. Although they had the most supporters in the military, Napoleon IV was the leader of the French resistance movement.
The facts proved that passing the blame was no easy task. Political slogans could not simply be shouted at random either. Since Napoleon IV had refused to shoulder responsibility for defeat and selling out the country, raising the banner of "punish traitors within, defend sovereignty without," he could only carry the banner of resistance to the bitter end.
Even if Napoleon IV were willing to change his stance and seek compromise, the Anti-French Alliance would never agree.
Though the Bonaparte Dynasty had not ruled France for long, aside from the short-lived Napoleon II, who had caused no trouble, the other three emperors were all formidable figures.
The lessons of history were still vivid before everyone's eyes. No one wanted another Anti-French War. Against this backdrop, the restless Bonaparte Dynasty naturally became the first to be ruled out.
The range of choices had shrunk by a third, yet the difficulty of choosing had not diminished in the slightest. In theory, the Bourbon Dynasty and the Orleans Dynasty were much the same, but in reality Franz had to support legitimacy—or at least appear to support it. The seat beneath him dictated it.
If France had been calm and peaceful, any rubber stamp could have stabilized the situation, and Franz would not have needed to rack his brains over it. He could simply have