Days after the assassination attempt on Hadrian, the young Emperor was indeed kept busy at the desk, filling in and signing countless of documents that have piled on top of each other in a span of only a day as his butler and his brother oversees the final preparations for his visit throughout the whole realm. He was growing tired and sleepy when his hands stopped working as he read a single ream of paper. What he read seemed to have pleased him his lips curved to a gentle smile.
“Expansion of the Educational System in Hungary”
He felt euphoric, like he wanted to jump for joy over that single law. But he knows it is too early to be
Hadrian sat in the desk inside the study which he borrowed from a mayor in a town of Styria, Count Mikhail von Stubenberg. He scratched his head in exasperation as he continued to read and sign paper after paper. Anton stood nearby and watched as his master work to the point of exhaustion, Hadrian looked outside and saw that the sun is still high up in the sky, he looked at Anton who was looking at the opposite direction and silently laid his pen down to sneak out.He was already tired from training with his own regiment, the 4th Galician Uhlans, and he kept himself awake throughout the whole journey from Vienna to Graz, Styria.‘Your Majesty.’ Anton called, not even bothering to look at the young Emperor. Hadrian flinched and sat back on his chair. ‘I know what you’re trying to do. A lot must be done and was left when you suddenly left for Pressburg.’‘Already, I’m missing the point of this excursion of mine.
In Carinthia, Alexia's husband, Duke Friedrich went out of his mansion to inspect the mercenaries that his wife hired.‘Are we really going to overthrow the Emperor?’ he asked his wife, standing beside him smiling satisfied at the sight.‘There is no other way to the throne.’ She answered. ‘Only this.’‘And what about his siblings and Albert?’ he asked again referring to Josef and Marianna since Austria allowed women to inherit the throne.‘That will be up to me. We will free Edmond and our line will be restored.’‘We must not forget that the army that Hadrian commands is a formidable one.’ Friedrich said again to which Alexia replied with a scoff. She may have failed to kill off Hadrian, but she is determined to finish what she has started in one fell swoop. Indeed, the Imperial Army is strong, but they have not seen battle in decades and this, to her, is their advantage. She
Hadrian woke up at the sound of thebreaking pot and cups. Anton looked at his master and they stared at each other for a while. Hadrian realized what Anton was holding and immediately thought up excuses in his mind to keep Anton from prying further. To no avail.‘Your Majesty, what is this?’ Anton asked and Hadrian looked away, infuriated at his own carelessness. ‘Emperor Franz was murdered?’‘Anton,’ the young man said, standing up from his chair.‘It is something I’m still investigating. I do not plan to make it known to anyone yet.’
Hadrian drew his sword and fought along with his men in the front of the battle. He breathed; this was different from what he trained for. He trained with his soldiers for a time like this. And it all came down to this one moment. 'As I thought,' he thought. 'A real battle is indeed different.' He looked ahead as both sides clashed. He clashed with the Alexia's men. His drawn sword glimmered and blurred as he swung it to his adversaries. He felt as if time has slowed, men are shouting on all sides at once and pointing their muskets and swords at the men opposite their sides. As his sword descended, time sped up and everything was going too fast for him to keep up. He kept pushing forward and he found himself in the middle surrounded by his guards.
Catherine looked unbelievably at her grandfather, she thought her grandparents have already accepted her engagement with Hadrian, but what she heard is different. ‘This not what was agreed!’ she not raising her voice, but the aggravation in her voice is evident. ‘Emperor Josef Hadrian is my betrothed, is he not?’ ‘I have retracted my stance on that matter, Catherine.’ King Henrik answered, looking at her strictly. His voice stern and unmoving. His wife, Queen Agnetha, looked at him and then at her granddaughter. She briefly shook her head and looked down sadly.
As soon as they returned to the capital, Hadrian was met with paperwork after paperwork, and he was again buried in a mountain of paper in his office. He sighed exasperatedly and almost has his head on the table as he fills in what needed to be changed in the document he is reading. He had wanted to tend to his garden as soon as he arrived, but Anton has been driving him to work since. He looked out the window, his heart has been pounding in his chest. He felt like something bad is about to happen, but he does not know what. He wanted to ask Anton, but the man was out preparing his afternoon medicine. He went back to work and when he is about to finish the days' worth, the emerald pendant Catherine gave him fell from his neck. He looked at it and immediately picked it up; he made sure there was no damage on it and to his relief, none was found. As he sat back down on his chair, he heard a commotion coming from outside his office and Anton rushed through th
Hadrian was feelingdejectedwhen he went to his garden to tend to it. He looked around and he thought that the gardener dida good job. This should have made him happy, but his chest feels heavy that he could not even smile. Finding no motivation to do what he came to do, he just sat on the bench looking at the trees and then he stood up to walk. After a while he found himself in the fountain, he blinked and looked around wondering what he was doing there.‘Ah, there you are.’ A familiar voice called out and Hadrian turned to see Albert approaching him. ‘I was delayed for a bit, sorry to have kept you waiting.’
Henrik paced back and forth waiting for news of Catherine’s whereabouts; agitated at his men’s slow response, he kept asking his butler of news from the search party, he gave orders after orders and after more than a half hour later, the soldiers that came and he received reports from soldiers who were scurrying in and out of the office. Valdemar stood beside him just looking at the men as they talk to the King. His eyes were angry, but not because of the soldiers, but because of Catherine running away. His plans to finally become a royal have been thwarted. He went to a man standing close to him and whispered something and left soon after. In his mind he planned to make Catherine marry him when she returns.
Hadrian fired a shot at Musaf Pasha and the serasker just stared at the young emperor. He screamed from the top of his lungs and charged at Hadrian once again only to fall short, toppling over dead on the ground. With the death of the serasker, the Ottomans sounded the retreat.Hadrian panicked and tried to keep Albert awake.‘Hadrian!’ Josef cried, running to them. ‘What happened to Albert?’‘He was shot!’ Hadrian answered holding Albert close.‘Don’t you dare die, Albert!’ Hadrian cried. ‘I forbid it!’ Albert breathed deeply, feeling his breath leaving him by the second, he tried to speak but he could not even groan. Josef looked around for someone to help them, and he saw a soldier tending to the wounded.‘You! Bring a stretcher! Quick!’ he ordered. The soldier immediately followed his command and carried Albert back to their camp.~~In Vienna, the Ottomans prepare to sack the city upon hearing that the serasker has been killed during the battle at Kahlenberg. But they were stoppe
Hadrian ordered his men to halt on the other side of the hill and he and his commanders went up and looked at the other side.This is the first he had laid eyes on the force of the Ottomans. Their numbers exceed his expectation, he breathed in and gathered his wits. He promised his people victory, and he is determined to deliver. He looked over his shoulder and saw Albert, sitting on his horse and looking seriously at the other side, Hadrian remembered Albert’s joke.‘You still have to marry Princess Catherine.’ Hadrian recalled. His face flushed beet red as soon as the memory came. This made Albert look at him.‘What is the matter?’ Albert asked, taking his blush for another thing. ‘Jittery?’‘No, it’s not that.’ The young emperor answered, looking at the other side. ‘If…’‘Don't even begin, Hadrian.’ Albert interrupted him before he even finished what he was going to say, leaving Hadrian slightly gaping at him. ‘I know what you are going to tell me. And I am going to answer you with
Albert jumped back in surprise, as everyone in the tent did and at the fact that none of them noticed her come in. The woman in question, donning a military uniform of an officer just chuckled at their surprised expressions. They are looking at Archduchess Ilse Mari Johanna von Habsburg, his younger sister and the commander of the Landwehr’s Twenty-second Infantry Division based in Graz. ‘My, my, what interesting faces.’ She told the group in front of her. ‘I could behold them for the rest of the day, but unfortunately, we all have a job to do.’ She glanced at Hadrian and her lips curved up in a smirk seeing how dumbfounded he is. ‘Don’t we, Your Majesty?’ ‘Ilse, how did you get here?’ Albert asked the woman who continued to snicker at them. ‘Just now, Your Highness.’ She answered formally, looking at her older brother. ‘I ordered my men to rush to Vienna as soon as we heard the news, but it turned out we were several days too late so we waited for what will happen next before we d
Géza Farkas rallied his soldiers to the grounds in front of the Upper Belvedere Palace, following the Turk’s suit back in Hofburg, he also met with the mercenaries he had hired from different countries. He looked content with their numbers and strength, and he feels confident that they would win side by side with the Ottoman forces. They have already received reports that soldiers from different nations are gathering in Count von Hofkirchen’s manor, and the one who must have called them out is most definitely Hadrian. He gritted his teeth after remembering how Musaf Pasha has scolded him for letting two of their hostage escape. He gritted his teeth and clenched his fists angrily. ‘Prepare all our forces!’ he shouted. ‘We will move out after the Ottomans!’ the soldiers exchanged looks. It was clear to him that they were feeling perplexed about fighting the main army. ‘But my Lord, the main army is surely stronger than us.’ A soldier voiced out. ‘Are you a coward? Do you call yours
An Austrian messenger rode out to Vienna bearing a white flag, he was let in the city and allowed to meet with the serasker where he read the message he bore from Hadrian ‘Our emperor challenges you to meet in battle at the foot of Kahlenberg mountain where your countrymen were defeated more than a century ago.’ The messenger reads. ‘Let this decide the fate of Vienna.’ ‘Why should we accept your challenge?’ Musaf Pasha asked. ‘We already have Vienna.’ ‘Then we will siege you.’ the messenger answered calmly. ‘I am sure you know who have gathered to fight you.’ ‘If you siege us, then we will kill your people.’ ‘If you kill them, then you would be marching to your doom.’ the messenger answered and the serasker sat back, looking at him. ‘I am sure you know what I mean.’ The serasker groaned at him. His fist balling up tightly, wanting to strangle the man until his last breath. But one look from the men around him tells him they’re worried and with good reason. The city that th
Hadrian was taken to the dungeon in Hofburg, Hadrian looked around and saw the whole place littered with Ottoman soldiers, and none are Hungarian. He found this strange, it seemed to him like the Ottoman are going to take over the country. ‘This sounds like someone is betraying someone.’ Hadrian thought to himself. ‘Looks like these people are not going to honor their deal with the person they talked with in Austria, or so I think.’ They took him to a room and tied him to a chair. An officer came inside and looked carefully at him. He was lucky that the palace was full of Ottoman soldiers who does not know what he looks like. And he decided to pretend to be a commoner. And he started by glaring at the soldier. He kept his glare at any soldier that came in to ask him questions and he always answered the same thing: that he is an ordinary Viennese that wanted to take the invaders out of the city. This answer earned him a beating and another soldier took
Hadrian led Günter through Ottakring and into Neubau, everything is going according to Hadrian’s plan until they got into Burggasse. As he expected, the road is heavily guarded. He looked over at Günter who seemed fine but the tension in the air made them feel like they’ve been walking and running for hours. They needed to take a break. He looked around and saw a drinking fountain in the nearby alley and they silently slipped through. ‘We will take a break here.’ Hadrian said as Günter drank from the fountain. Hadrian heaved a sigh and sat down on the ground. While he could not afford to take a break, he must consider Günter who a commoner and is not a trained uniform personnel. ‘Francis,’ Günter called, making the young emperor look at him. ‘Are you not going to take a drink?’ Hadrian looked at the drinking fountain and thought that they might not get another chance to drink even after arriving to Wiedner and getting out of Vienna. He stopped and thought that only G
Five years earlier, Hadrian sat on his coffee table beside the gardens in Blauer Hof with a book in his hand. He carefully sipped the tea from his cup and cast his eyes left and right. His lips cracked a grin and stood up, casting off his coat and revealing his plain white shirt and brown vest. He wore his beret cap and scooted away from the gardens. At a distance, Albert glanced over and saw Hadrian sneaking out and shook his head. He instantly sighed heavily casting his head down in defeat and stress. ‘Good Lord. Not again! I swear if he gets into trouble again, God help me, I will tie him up in his chair!’ he sighed slapping himself in his forehead. ‘How long is he going to keep this up?’ he stood up laboriously and followed Hadrian into the town. Hadrian met a middle-aged man waiting for him at the corner of the market. Albert looked over and saw that the man was teaching Hadrian everything about the market. He scratched his head. Is he learning how to grocery shop this
Hadrian rushed back to Austria without waiting for the rest of his entourage. He stood on a vantage point over-looking Vienna, wearing commoner’s clothing at the behest of Albert. ‘Have you gotten word from Lady Csilla yet?’ Hadrian asked Albert who is standing beside him. ‘Nothing yet.’ The Archduke answered. ‘I have sent the message to her two days ago. We should have received her reply already.’ Hadrian clenches his fists tightly. He wanted to go there and look for his siblings himself. ‘Josef, Marianna…’ he thought, sighing heavily and casting his eyes at the sky. ‘Please be safe.’ Albert looked at his cousin and then at the city below. From the information he received, Vienna was sieged two days earlier and it was staged by some of the Hungarian officials aided by the Ottoman Turks. They took the opportunity of Hadrian’s absence and attacked. Csilla has told him everything about Géza’s activities beforehand, but how this slipped from her grasp is beyond