When Laszlo woke up in the morning, he felt dizzy, had a splitting headache, and a burning sensation spread from his stomach to his throat. He felt like he might be close to death.
However, one thing pleased him—the pillow was soft, and a refreshing fragrance lingered at the tip of his nose, making him wonder if he had already stepped halfway into heaven.
Then, he performed a human instinctual action—he tightly hugged the soft, comfortably warm "pillow."
"Mm~" A light groan made Laszlo pause slightly. He slowly lifted his head and finally saw clearly what was in front of him.
Ah, it was the Empress's fragrant and soft embrace. Case closed. It really was just that she usually wore more clothes.
Wait a minute! Laszlo realized something was wrong. He was mostly sober now, even having the presence of mind to ponder the three philosophical questions.
Who am I? Where am I? What am I going to do?
No, my throat still feels so bad!
Laszlo exerted a little force to break free from the older sister's embrace. *Hiss*, suddenly he was a bit reluctant again.
But if he didn't drink water soon, he really wouldn't be able to hold on.
Thirsty and desperate, Laszlo stumbled out of the room. Two maids were waiting at the door.
"Your Majesty, you're awake." (Portuguese)
Laszlo was utterly bewildered. Where did they bring me? Is this still my country? What kind of gibberish is this?
"Water—" he croaked hoarsely, and both maids were startled by him.
Another maid brought a glass of water, and Laszlo took the glass and drank it all in one gulp.
He finally felt alive again.
Laszlo let out a long breath and even burped.
He looked at the maid who handed him the water. He recognized her; it was Helena, his mother's personal maid. He didn't know the other one who spoke gibberish, nor did he know when she entered the palace.
"Who is she?" Laszlo asked, looking at the unfamiliar maid.
"The Empress's dowry maid," Helena explained.
"Hmm? How many dowry attendants came to the palace?"
"Frederick only allowed the Empress to bring two maids into the Imperial Palace. The rest are staying in an inn. Frederick seems to intend to dismiss them all."
"Dismiss them? Why dismiss them?"
"Frederick said that there are enough servants in the palace and there's no need for these foreigners to enter. It's better to dismiss them and save money. The Empress Dowager also agreed with his idea."
"Huh?" Laszlo truly didn't expect his uncle Frederick to be "frugal" to this extent.
He felt that Frederick's idea couldn't be that simple; there might be a deeper meaning behind it.
For example, if all these Portuguese were dismissed, the Empress would be isolated in the palace, with no choice but to rely on him, her husband. She would have almost no contact with the outside world, naturally greatly reducing the possibility of palace intrigues.
But if that were truly the case, the Empress, left alone in a foreign palace, would surely suffer from homesickness, which made Laszlo feel a bit sympathetic.
After all, his future affairs would certainly become more and more numerous, and his time with the Empress would probably be quite limited...
If he knew that Frederick intended to dismiss these people purely out of a desire to save money and a dislike for the Portuguese, he wondered what Laszlo would think.
"How many of these attendants are there?"
"Around twenty or so."
Laszlo pondered for a moment and said, "Pick ten clever ones from them, teach them etiquette and our language, and let these people continue to serve as the Empress's attendants. Dismiss the rest. Tell my decision to my mother. I'll have to trouble her with this matter."
The Empress Dowager was originally the mistress of the Harem, so this could be considered Elizabeth's responsibility.
"Speaking of which, why are you here?" Laszlo finally noticed the crucial point.
Helena showed an aunt-like smile and replied in a low voice, "The Empress Dowager asked me to check Your Majesty's bedsheets."
"You came too early!"
Laszlo left with that remark, blushing and fleeing in disarray.
Laszlo, having finished washing up, hadn't even had breakfast when he received news that someone had come to the palace to request an audience.
The visitor was his brother-in-law, Charles.
"You came at just the right time, eat with me!" Laszlo pulled Charles to the dining table.
Charles didn't refuse and had breakfast with Laszlo.
"What's the rush this early in the morning?"
"Your Majesty, I came this time to—"
"Charles, we're friends, right? I told you that in private, you can call me Laszlo."
"Alright, Laszlo. I came this time to invite you to my father's upcoming feast—oh, by the way, this banquet is jointly hosted by my father and His Holiness the Pope."
"A feast? The Pope? What is this banquet celebrating?"
"It's not for celebration, but for a call to action."
Laszlo was still confused when the long-unseen event panel suddenly popped up.
[Event: Feast of the Pheasant]
[With the fall of Constantinople and the demise of the Eastern Roman Empire, large numbers of Eastern refugees poured into various European countries. They brought advanced Byzantine culture and technology, and at the same time described the strength of the Ottoman Empire to various monarchs. This caused widespread panic in European countries.
Meanwhile, the Kingdom of France gradually emerged from the shadow of the Hundred Years' War.
Not long ago, the people of Paris gathered at Notre Dame Cathedral to clear the name of Saint Joan of Arc.
France, having regained its strength, began to turn its attention to the primary culprit who caused Joan of Arc's death, Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy.
The Burgundy was originally a vassal of the French King. During the Hundred Years' War, it colluded with England to attack the French King, taking the opportunity to greatly expand its territory and force the French King to sign a treaty, placing Burgundy in a de facto independent state.
To divert French anger and enhance his prestige, Philip contacted the Pope and decided to launch a new Crusade. For this purpose, he spent a huge sum of money to organize a Feast of the Pheasant, to showcase Burgundy's power and wealth to all of Europe, and to call upon various countries to form a new Crusader army to march directly on Constantinople, with the goal of restoring the Eastern Roman Empire.
Everyone in Europe knows that your attitude will directly determine whether this Crusade can be successfully launched, not only because you are the esteemed Holy Roman Emperor, but also because the Habsburg Family has always been the core force and front line against Ottoman invasion.]
[Option One: Focus on Bohemia]
[Compared to attacking the powerful Ottoman, dealing with domestic heretics is clearly easier. Let them play by themselves at this Feast of the Pheasant.]
[Gain Modifier (Cowardly Emperor): All Feast of the Pheasant participants' favorability -20, Pope's favorability -50, Stability of all governed territories -1, Loyalty of all Hungarian social strata -10%, Hungarian separatist rebellion tendency +20%, Army morale -10%, Bohemian independence rebellion tendency +1000%, Ottoman Empire favorability +50]
[Option Two: Join the Glorious Holy War]
[This is a great opportunity to solve the border problem. The Habsburg Family alone cannot defeat the Ottomans, but with the support of the Crusade, it might achieve ideal results. At this Feast of the Pheasant, I will be the protagonist!]
[Gain Modifier (King of the Crusade): All Feast of the Pheasant participants' favorability +20, Pope's favorability +50, Loyalty of all Hungarian social strata +10%, Army morale +10%, Ottoman Empire favorability -1000, Imperial reform progress +10%, Territorial tax revenue +10%, Gain battlefield command of all Holy Roman Empire princes' Crusader coalition army]
[Option Three: Heretics and Heathens, Both Must Be Eliminated]
[Bohemia and the Ottoman, internal and external troubles, both should be eliminated together. Participate in the Feast of the Pheasant, but promise to provide only limited assistance. Fighting on two fronts is a terrible feeling, but it is necessary.]
[Gain Modifier (True Eldest Daughter of the Church): All Feast of the Pheasant participants' favorability +30, Pope's favorability +100, Loyalty of Austrian and Hungarian social strata +5%, Army morale +15%, Ottoman Empire favorability -1000, Bohemian independence rebellion tendency +1000%, Imperial reform progress +5%]
Such a long event. Laszlo then remembered that there indeed seemed to be such a thing. These three options each had their pros and cons.
Although the first option seemed to be all debuffs, it was actually the least risky, guaranteeing Bohemia while preserving strength.
The second option looked glorious, but only those who had actually fought the Ottomans knew how terrifying the Ottomans were. Those little Western European nobodies probably hadn't even seen the power of the Janissaries in their lives, had they?
Sigh, the Emperor protected them too well. These babies actually fantasized about defeating the Ottomans with a Crusade full of ulterior motives?
As for the third option, it was even more absurd. Didn't they know that once the Germans started fighting on two fronts, they basically lost? This event panel had malicious intentions; it actually wanted to harm me!
To be honest, if he could, Laszlo didn't want to choose any of them. This event was practically force-feeding him history, purely disgusting.
He really wanted to choose 1. Now was not the time for a decisive battle with the Ottoman. Even if he squeezed every last drop from all Habsburg Family territories, the chances of defeating the Ottoman were still quite low.
But 2 seemed not impossible to try. He had Janos the White Knight, and Janos had defeated the Ottomans numerous times, though mostly in defensive battles, which was still enough to prove his strength.
As for 3, whoever chose it was an idiot.