On the 22^nd day of December of the year 1897

Hofburg Palace, Vienna, Austrian Empire

“Your Majesty, the Tsesarevich of the Russian Empire, Grand Prince Aleksandr IV Romanov, has arrived.”

“Let him in.”

Emperor Karl Franz together with his trusted advisers and cabinet is waiting for the Russian delegation to arrive and discuss the renewal of the old alliance between the Austrians and Russians. Even Crown Prince Justinian is included in the meeting even though he has no large direct contribution to making the negotiation happen. He is just tasked by his Grandfather the emperor to observe the Russian Grand Prince.

The large door opens and a tall man, with brown hair and sharp blue eyes, is in front leading a delegation of the Russians in getting inside the meeting room. The tall man is the Russian Grand Prince, Aleksandr IV Romanov, and with him are important men with high authority and influence in the Russian Empire. It shows that Grand Prince Aleksandr IV has a large pool of supporters and he is showing his regal majesty and might to the Austrian host.

The Grand Prince knew that it is important to show his power and superiority to the Austrians even if he is here for an important alliance negotiation. He believes that the Russians should be the ones who will lead the alliance like in the olden days. Russia is still a strong world power even after the defeat while the Austrians are reduced to a regional power in the Balkans and Central Europe, so it is correct to assume that Russia should be the big brother of the alliance.

Emperor Franz Joseph also wants to show the Grand Prince and the Russians that Austria is not a country that can be undermined and underestimated. He had bid for a long time to strengthen the Austrian Empire while also buying time to make it possible. He had ruled the Austrian Empire since 1842 and he is already considered a veteran and master in this kind of field.

Both the two highest-ranked leaders representing Austria and Russia are trying to outmaneuver each other in this meeting. One is the thirty-year young adult man who has less experience but the country he is representing is a world power while the other one is an older man who ruled his country for more than fifty years and has a lot of experience in this kind of dealings. Both of them have confidence in their strength and power over the other.

“It is my honor to be in your presence, the radiating great Sun of the Austrian Empire, Your Imperial Majesty Franz Joseph.”

“It is also great to see the future Sun of one of the stalwart friends of Austria. You are welcome here Grand Prince Aleksandr. I hope you will enjoy and will continue to enjoy your stay in Vienna.”

“Thank you for such kind words Your Imperial Majesty.”

Both the Austrian Emperor and the Russian Grand Prince start the negotiation with kind and pleasant greetings to each other. The two are continuing to gauge the other one, thinking about how he can take advantage of the other. The Russian delegation then sits on the opposite side of the long table that the Austrians have prepared for the negotiation.

“Good day to all gentlemen who are present in this negotiation. The meeting now would come to order.”

The one who began the meeting is the Austrian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Count Richard von Metternich, who is very thrilled in hosting the meeting. As the foreign minister of the host country, it is in his hands to ensure that the negotiation would be successful and would be to the advantage of Austria.

As part of a proud lineage of statesmen and politicians and bearing the surname of Metternich, the Count is eager to prove his qualifications and his skills as a Metternich. Carrying this last name needs to be an acumen in politics and dealings like their proud ancestor, Prince Klemens von Metternich, who helped shaped the world during and after the Napoleonic wars.

Then after a few introductions and talking, both sides started to write and present their own terms and demands to each other. While preparing, both sides are trying to gauge whether the opposite side would accept their terms and demands.

The Austrians tried to show the Russians that they were not desperate to seek help and support from the Russians in case the Ottomans would invade them. They know that showing any weakness and desperation would be a nail to a coffin whether the alliance would be an equal alliance to both countries or one would become a subordinate to the other.

And based on the power between the two, Austria has a greater chance to become just a subordinate country in the alliance and the Austrians don’t want that to happen. For them, being a subordinate in an alliance would make their country a vassal to the Russians, which would hamper their international relations with other countries. For every move they would undertake, they would need to make Russia’s stance a priority.

The Austrians' goal is to make their relationship with the Russians equal between the two nations. An equal strategic alliance with the Russians would ensure that the Austrians have the flexibility to make decisions that could benefit Austria and not become a subordinate or a vassal country of the Russians.

“Your Imperial Majesty, I have a question to ask.”

“What is your question, Grand Prince?”

“Is it true that you would soon sign a treaty with the Kingdom of Siam, Qing Empire, and the Japanese Meiji Government?”

While the delegates of Russia and Austria are continuing to make new adjustments and concessions on the negotiation table. The Grand Prince asks Emperor Franz Joseph for something unrelated to the negotiation. The Austrian Emperor didn’t expect that the Grand Prince would ask a such question during the negotiation.

Such a question soured the atmosphere in the negotiation. The people in the meeting know that this topic is a very sensitive issue not only in Austria but throughout all European powers.

For decades, the European nations have maintained a lot of treaties that are more beneficial and advantageous to them than their non-European counterparts. For a lot of non-European people, the treaties are unfair and powerful nations are just taking advantage of the weaker nation. And a lot of European countries would like to continue that way, they could not afford to lose a major source of income and profit by exploiting other nations.

If ever the Austrians would sign any treaty that would give equal rights and treatment to those three Asian countries the same the European countries are enjoying in Austria. That would send shockwaves across Europe and would undermine the system that the Europeans imposed around the world.

“Where do you hear such news, Grand Prince?”

“My men have just heard rumors when we arrived in the city that there are a lot of foreign delegates from those three countries and it seems there are also some negotiations that are happening secretly between your country and theirs, Your Imperial Majesty. I just want to be enlightened if it is true or not Your Imperial Majesty, I hope you will not see this as an insult.”

Everyone is silent in the meeting room. Every person in the room is staring at the Austrian Emperor and what would his response be. Would he be angry, insulted, or indifferent to the question of the Russian Grand Prince?

But they were shocked when the Emperor just genuinely smiled at the Grand Prince. The Emperor seemed not insulted or angry by such a question by the Grand Prince.

“What do you think Grand Prince?”

“Uhmmm…”

The Grand Prince is out of words when his question is replied to by the Emperor by another question. He can’t make a scene in front of an Emperor of another nation for it would ruin his goal. He didn’t expect that his curiosity would bite him back.

The people in the meeting feels that there is a need for someone to break this impasse so that the negotiations could continue. Having a deadlock in the middle of a negotiation due to an unrelated thing would be unthinkable and a disaster. All the people are processing and thinking about what would be the most optimal way to break this silence and stalemate. They wished that someone in position could intervene and break the deadlock.

“To answer your question, Grand Prince… Yes, there are some deals and negotiations that our Empire is having with the three far east nations. We believed that it is better to have a better relationship with other nations that are not European, and not exploit and take advantage of them. Austria believes that we can build a better Austria through improving our international standing in the world, and this would be our first step to achieve such aspiration.”

It is the Austrian Crown Prince, Karl Franz Justinian von Habsburg, who breaks the ice in the meeting. He senses that he should be the one who ends this impasse so that the meeting could continue.

He smiled at the people around him and asks them to continue the negotiation. Both his grandfather the Emperor and the Russian Grand Prince are thankful for what he had done and that the meeting could continue.

The atmosphere has slowly returned back to normal and positive for everyone knows that they should need to make the meeting pleasant so that they could continue. With that, they could continue the negotiation and they were able to make great strides in their progress in the meeting.

After the meeting, everyone is satisfied with such progress and they could end the meeting on a positive note and can still continue it for the next few days. Everyone feels that the Austrian Crown Prince has saved the meeting and were thankful for his action to break the deadlock.