Somewhere near Vienna, Austrian Empire

“Merry Christmas, Your High… Justinian”

“Merry Christmas, Lin.”

It’s been a day after the imperial ball and it is Christmas day. The Sun is shining brightly upon the sky making the day of Christmas have good and fair weather. Even if it is the cold season but it is comfortable for the Austrian people. It seems that the Christmas season this year is good and not awful.

Crown Prince Justinian and Lin are walking around the large flower garden of one of the large villas the Habsburgs owns near the city of Vienna. Different types of flowers and even orchards are planted in the garden that which looks like a beautiful masterpiece. Lin and her family stayed here since they arrived here in Austria and enjoy the beautiful and peaceful time and space they experience.

“How’s your stay here in Vienna Lin? I’m sorry that I can rarely meet you this time, I’m just fully loaded with my pending duties and responsibilities that I have barely enough free time to meet you.”

While Lin and Crown Prince Justinian are enjoying the holiday, Prince Alexander Friedrich of Schwarzenberg is approaching the two. The Minister of Defense was not left unnoticed by the Crown Prince and the girl he is with. It is rare for the Minister of Defense itself to come personally to meet the Crown Prince, especially on Christmas day.

“I Greet the Crown Prince of Austria, Archduke Karl Franz Justinian.”

“At ease Sir Alexander.”

Minister Alexander Friedrich immediately salutes the Crown Prince as a sign of respect for the royal family. Crown Prince Justinian tells the Minister to be at ease and sit with him. The Minister then looks to the foreign girl and then to Crown Prince Justinian.

Crown Prince Justinian perceives the looks and gestures that the Minister is communicating with him. He wants to be alone with the Crown Prince for an important matter.

“Lin, can I ask you to fetch the food we had left in the villa? You can ask for help from the maids to carry the basket. Thank you.”

Lin just silently nods and stands from where she is sitting. She knows that the two men had important things to discuss and that her presence is not needed. She then slightly bows to the men and walks towards the villa.

The Minister then looks around if there are other people near them. He can only see the guards and soldiers in the distance guarding and protecting them from any harm.

“Your Highness, General William de Gui together with other former French Foreign Legion officers have arrived in South Tyrol to train the first batch of recruits for our Austrian Foreign Landsknechte. They have started training and organizing the recruits the same way with the French Foreign Legion.”

“That’s good news, Sir Alexander. This would bolster our military size with foreign recruits and soldiers. How many recruits does the AFL currently training?”

“There are exactly 23,467 recruits Your Imperial Highness. Most recruits are from the United States of America, British India, and the Qing Empire. There are also a large number of recruits from the countries in South America.”

“Did you follow the specific order I sent?”

“Yes, Imperial Highness. We are currently not accepting people from the Ottoman Empire or anyone who is Muslim.”

“Yes, we need that to avoid complications during the coming Ottoman invasion. I hope you will understand Sir Alexander that this war would be a fight to the death. The only way we can survive as an empire is by having lands that can connect us to the world and not be trapped in this large bathtub called the Mediterranean sea.”

Crown Prince Justinian planned to establish a different military order with the same structure as the famed French Foreign Legion. That’s why they tried to convince former Foreign Legion soldiers like General William de Gui to be the Head of the new military order and trained the men the way the French Foreign Legion had done.

The way the Legion trained recruits from different countries that have different cultures, backgrounds, and races is unique and interesting for the Austrian Crown Prince. A large military organization that acts like a mercenary and would do the hardest and impossible operations for the French Empire is something a necessity for the Austrian Empire, besieged by strong powers around.

The power and size of the French Foreign Legion currently are huge. With about 75,000 men under the Legion makes it the largest armed group in the world with different nationalities. Crown Prince Justinian wants that kind of man who is willing to die and fight for the Habsburgs and the Empire of Austria.

Also, a way to combat nationalism and independence of different ethnicities and races in the empire is to create a sense of internationalism and belief in one empire for the world world. Nationalism is a deadly poison for those who are pursuing world domination and conquest. The divide between people of color, races, ethnicities, and cultures is the poison for an Empire that would span large territories across the world.

The European powers were able to maintain their empires and colonies through their military and technological might but the time would come that the advantage would be not enough to overwhelm the underlying problems of an empire.

The solution that Crown Prince Justinian was able to come up with after a few years is to make the people believe that they are all the same and it is better to band together under one banner than to be divided. He knew that there are still flaws in his plans and opinion but this is the only solution he can think of to make the people and lands in the future to be under the Austrian Empire assimilate and build positive affinity with everyone. A sense of globalism and internationalism would be his goal to combat the incoming rise of revolutions due to extreme nationalism and patriotism.

Also, the term Landsknechte in the Austrian Foreign Landsknechte, who are the once proud mercenaries of the Holy Roman Empire would be a useful identity to make the people remember the Holy Roman Empire or if possible the Roman Empire. This would be a secret declaration to the world of his dream to re-establish the Holy Roman Empire or if possible the Roman Empire.

Some people may understand or perceive the hidden declaration but to most, it would be a harmless and just the right of the Habsburgs as the once ruler of the Holy Roman Empire. It can also divert the other powers to thinking that he wants to regain control in Central Europe from his plan to conquer the lands in the Middle East and the Arabian Peninsula that would be an essential source of fuel and oil in the future.

Other Transmigrators might know the importance of the Middle East and the Arabian Peninsula but he was able to make deals and negotiations with Princess Charlotte who is the only other Transmigrator he knows and had the power to stop him.

“Your Imperial Highness, there is a more important and urgent problem that you need to personally handle. It is about your relationship with the foreign girl.”

“What do you mean Lord Alexander?”

Crown Prince Justinian is agitated when Prince Alexander Friedrich said about his relationship with Lin. He knows that the Minister would not talk about such things if it is not related to the matter of security of the Austrian Empire. If he talks about such a thing, it means that it is related to his work.

“Your Imperial Highness, there are a lot of nobles who feel wronged and furious about your actions. It is just fine if they were just angry but the problem is that they are doing something and secretly… they are even some nobles who make contact with the Hungarian nobles who we are monitoring.”

“I know that it would happen but I didn’t expect that they immediately make contact with the Hungarians.”

“What do you mean Your Imperial Highness?”

“Sir Alexander, we are at the crossroads between life and death for Austria. We are betting everything for the continuing existence of our Empire and I believed that we must weed out the people who can’t keep up with the fast change in the world.”

“And you are planning to use your relationship with Lin as the bait to trap all those nobles Your Imperial Highness?”

“Yes, to clean the dirt and rusted slate of the Austrian Empire. Everything that can harm it must be uprooted and destroyed. To make Austria reborn as a world power, it needs to change both internally and externally.”

Prince Alexander shuddered at the thought of laying an intricate trap using the Crown Prince’s relationship with a foreign woman. The Minister knows that the Crown Prince is cunning and smart, but he didn’t expect that he would even use himself and someone important to him in his plans. Is there another person in the world who would take great lengths to just trap any traitors and problems in the ranks other than the Crown Prince? The Minister thought.