In 1896, the year Karl turned nine, many changes occurred.
Another member was added to his family.
His brother Maximilian, eight years his junior, was born.
The relationship between Karl’s father and mother had long since turned sour, but they likely still wished to fulfill their imperial duties, ultimately bringing this child into the world.
For an imperial family like the Habsburgs, the matter of offspring was of paramount importance; even a man as dissolute as Archduke Otto clearly could not completely ignore it.
However, with the good comes the bad.
Karl’s father had also added a half-brother to the family on the outside.
With all his philandering abroad, he had inevitably stirred up trouble.
Upon learning of this, his mother, Maria Josepha, merely sighed and said, “As expected,” without making a scene.
In this era, it was commonplace for wealthy and powerful noblemen to keep one or two illegitimate children; even as a princess of royal birth, there was little she could do to change it.
Then, Karl’s grandfather, Archduke Karl Ludwig, died of typhoid fever, causing a major shift in the empire’s line of succession.
It passed to Karl’s uncle, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, while Karl’s father, Otto, became second in line.
The sudden shift in succession must have brought a great sense of crisis and tension to the aging Emperor and the entire imperial household.
Small wonder: Crown Prince Rudolf had long since committed suicide at Mayerling; the current Emperor Franz Joseph I’s brother, Maximilian I, who had once gone to Mexico to reign as Emperor, had long been murdered; and now the second brother, Archduke Karl Ludwig, had passed away from illness.
With direct heirs falling one after another, who could possibly feel at ease?
Naturally, the status of Karl’s father and Karl himself rose accordingly.
Before long, the Emperor ordered their family to be summoned to the imperial capital, Vienna.
While the castle in the forest by Lake Wörthersee was satisfying with its fresh air and pleasant scenery, one must eventually move toward the center of power.
After all, everything in this ancient empire would ultimately converge upon the capital.
“From today on, this will be our home.”
Upon arriving in Vienna, they were greeted by a magnificent palace located within the city.
If their previous residence was like a fairytale castle in the woods, then the Palais Augarten before them unashamedly displayed the majesty of the Habsburg royalty.
The building’s exterior was elegant and grand, with a soaring central dome.
Nearby stretched a French garden with rigorous lines; its geometric flowerbeds and straight paths seemed to carve authority and order into the earth, stroke by stroke.
It was said that Emperor Franz Joseph I had specifically allocated this residence for their family and provided special funds for a large-scale renovation.
As expected of an Emperor who had ruled the empire for nearly half a century, his generosity was indeed lavish.
“How is it, boy?”
Archduke Otto scooped Karl up and asked triumphantly, as if he had earned the palace himself.
Karl grinned and gave a thumbs-up toward the palace.
In the imperial capital, how many people could live in such a grand and magnificent place?
This feeling of being more special than anyone else, of standing above the clouds, always filled Karl’s heart to the brim.
There was a reason why he wanted to save this crumbling empire.
Intoxicated by such ultimate glory and privilege, how could he possibly give it up easily?
If he were to let go, this palace before him and everything it represented would vanish along with it.
If he could ascend the throne in the future, countless imperial buildings and vast properties like Schönbrunn Palace and Hofburg Palace would fall into his hands.
Ah—how could he ever give that up?
Moreover, credit must be given where it’s due.
The fact that Karl’s father could obtain all this from the Old Emperor was a talent in itself.
In Karl’s eyes, his father was a worthless playboy, yet he still enjoyed the deep favor of Emperor Franz Joseph.
It was said that Archduke Otto had received the attention and favoritism of the imperial family since childhood, thanks to his handsome looks and mischievous nature.
That was why such a luxurious palace had been bestowed upon their family.
There were even rumors that it was more spacious than Archduke Franz Ferdinand’s residence in Vienna.
“Karl, isn’t it time you started school this year?”
As Karl and his father looked toward the future at the new palace, his education-minded mother, Maria Josepha, spoke with great anticipation, as if she couldn’t wait to see her son enter Vienna’s top school and shine there.
Naturally.
For a mother, what could be more gratifying than seeing her son—praised as a genius by numerous tutors—go to a school full of elites and “teach a lesson” to the other noble children?
That was no ordinary place; it was a so-called “high-end hunting ground.”
The school Karl was to attend could hardly be ordinary.
As a member of the imperial family, he naturally had to enter an educational institution befitting his status.
There, Karl would have to play the role of the “perfect child” to achieve his own goals and, incidentally, meet his mother’s expectations.
With the experience of two lifetimes, Karl was better than anyone at being the top student who dominated everyone else.
After all, the country he came from in his past life was famous for its motto: “Study hard and make progress every day.”
Jiejiejie, little ones, just you wait!
I, who not only survived but completely devoured the kind of frenzied education that could erode a nation, am coming!
Such a thought flashed through Karl’s mind.
“Of course, Mother.
I will work hard at school as well.”
Karl was a “good son,” so he gave the answer his mother most wanted to hear.
“Truly my good son.”
His mother gave Karl a smile full of trust and pride, just as she always did.
Obedient and academically outstanding, she never had the slightest doubt about her eldest son.
The things to be learned at school were merely an extension and systematization of his previous tutoring sessions.
Karl’s inner goal was to skip grades as quickly as possible, graduate early, and gain more free time and resources.
He knew perfectly well how this peaceful time, known as the “Belle Époque,” would end.
From now on, he could no longer afford to idle about while slowly studying.
For a Great War capable of setting the old world ablaze and completely rewriting all order was slowly approaching like dark clouds on the horizon.
How many resources he could seize and how many connections he could build during these few years in the capital, Vienna, would directly determine his future and that of this empire.
In short, Karl felt more and more that no one but him could save this country.
…
The Theresian Academy, originally a summer palace of the Habsburg Family, was converted under the patronage of Empress Maria Theresa into an educational institution aimed at training talented young men destined for public office.
Today, it has naturally become an elite school for the children of royalty, high-ranking nobility, and the wealthy upper-middle class, holding significant influence among the many educational institutions of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
It is an undeniable fact that countless individuals holding key positions within the empire, particularly in Austria and Hungary, are alumni of the Theresian Academy.
And within the Theresian Academy, there was indeed one most conspicuous presence.
“To be so young, yet his demeanor is so dignified and composed.”
“I truly look forward to seeing what kind of grace he will display once he reaches adulthood.”
“Judging by his knowledge and temperament, he might become a wise monarch in the future, wouldn’t he?”
“Shh!
How can you mention such sensitive topics so casually in public?”
Even the academy’s teachers and staff often couldn’t help but whisper when they saw that young student.
The young Archduke Karl, or Karl von Habsburg-Lothringen.
Anyone bearing the surname “Habsburg” was naturally a center of attention, but his humble demeanor and the natural noble aura he exuded—far beyond his years—made him stand out even more.
Furthermore, he had entered the Theresian Academy at an age younger than usual, yet his grades were excellent, and he had even skipped several grades, causing the attention on him to soar.
Although he was from a collateral branch, he was already third in the empire’s line of succession.
First was Archduke Franz Ferdinand, and second was his father, Archduke Otto; thus, ascending the throne was not entirely impossible.
Currently, in the courts and high society circles of Vienna, a rumor was spreading with increasing intensity: Archduke Franz Ferdinand might marry a commoner woman of non-noble birth, regardless of the consequences.
Should he indeed contract such an unequal marriage, he would most likely lose his succession rights according to the strict traditions of the Habsburg Dynasty’s ancient House Law regarding marriage rank.
In that case, this young royal following closely behind would very likely move toward the throne.
Consequently, the attention Karl received was already quite different from that of an ordinary royal child.
—Such were the rumors about Karl currently circulating within the Theresian Academy.
Well.
To be honest, academy life was not entirely easy for Karl.
After all, the world is vast, and geniuses are as numerous as clouds.
Vienna, Austria, at that time was by no means an insignificant city.
For centuries, it had been the cultural and political hub of Central Europe, steeped in history and home to a gathering of luminaries—artists, writers, musicians, and thinkers.
How could the capital of an empire be anything less than grand?
Because of this favorable environment and active intellectual climate, figures who would later dominate the world stage and stir global affairs, such as Adolf Hitler, Leon Trotsky, and Joseph Stalin, all briefly stayed or lived here a few years later.
Hitler and Stalin…
thinking of this, one might even wonder if that subsequent period of tragically intense world history was somewhat inextricably linked to this capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Vienna truly was a strange and pivotal transit station for talent and ideas.
In any case, it was only natural for all kinds of talents to emerge in such a city; children who showed their brilliance early on and were called prodigies were not few in number.
In the academy, there were indeed some children with special talents beyond Karl’s common sense, such as being exceptionally sensitive to numbers or having an amazing gift for languages.
But in the end, Karl still firmly held onto his evaluation as the “most outstanding student.”