章節 16: Self-reproach
Austria, June 6th 1789
4:39 PM
Lukas was in the library of the mansion. He was sitting on one of the tables of the library with a book open in front of him.
'Hm, I see... so this is the map of Europe, the continent where I live in,' Lukas thought as he looked attentively at the picture in the book.
After Lukas got proficient at reading, he took advantage of his skills in order to learn more about his world. And it was working perfectly.
Lukas now had a much vaster knowledge about his world and continent. He had learned that his country, the Holy Roman Empire was a pretty old one, it was founded in the year of 800.
'Almost one thousand years of history, that's truly impressive,' Lukas thought.
Lukas did find these things interesting. He felt like that, by knowing all this information, he would have a bigger advantage over those who didn't.
He had also learned that the region where he lived, Austria, was an Archduchy, it basically was just another region, but it was governed by an Archduke.
Despite the political system of the Holy Roman Empire looking confusing at first sight, it actually was pretty simple. Although it had a lot of different regions, they were all basically governed at the same time by the same emperor, however, everyone of those regions had an official governor each.
'This division is probably meant to make the empire a bit more organized... I don't think it helps though.'
Lukas put his hand under his chin and kept thinking. 'Or it must be in order not to cause any revolution. If each region supposedly has "its own independency", it will make the people more confident about their own... although that seems like more of a cheap lie than anything,' Lukas concluded.
Although the Von Neumann house didn't have many lands they had control over, they did have some. That explains the freedom that Frida had regarding her increasing the taxes all of a sudden.
'The head of the house must have asked the Archduke for permission before, though.'
The current emperor of the Holy Roman Empire was Joseph II, he also was the Archduke of Austria.
'Well, that explains the name of the son of that dude from the Tonsburg house. People probably choose the name of the emperor to give to their children a lot,' Lukas rolled his eyes. 'Glad mom doesn't think like that. Can't imagine myself being called "Joseph".'
Lukas brushed off all those weird thoughts and keep thinking about all the things he had learned recently.
'There's another thing going on that's worrying everyone a lot,' Lukas thought. 'There's a revolution going on in France right now, and as far as I know, there's an Austrian woman in the middle of that mess.
Also, as far as I'm concerned, this revolution also started because of the Enlightenment... makes a lot of sense though, although I don't know the details of the revolution, I can't blame them for wanting this revolution to be honest.'
Lukas sighed and closed the book. 'Well, I guess it's enough for today. The more time I spend here, the riskier it gets for me to be caught.'
Lukas picked the book and went down to one of the chairs by the table and then leaped onto the floor.
After that, Lukas stored the book in the bottom shelf. Although he had quite a good mobility for a toddler his age, he still couldn't climb up the ladder in order to reach the books that stood higher.
Lukas had advanced quite a bit in his walking, and also in his drawing skills. Lukas now could walk the whole day instead of crawling, even though he would get tired in the end.
Regarding his speaking, Lukas decided to go easy on it, he would sometimes say one word here and there, but he wouldn't say almost anything. He had heard that children usually start speaking for real at 2 years old, so he would wait 'til there.
'It's better like that. It may seem strange, but I am not eager to start speaking. Don't know why, but I like to play dumb,' Lukas thought.
----
Austria, August 15th 1789
4:38 PM
Lukas was being held by Frida as she sat on a chair in the living room. Lukas was standing in front of the both of them.
"Lukas is almost turning one year old," Frida said with glee.
'Yep, I know, that's the only thing you've been saying for the last month,' Lukas thought. 'It's not that big of a deal, though, I don't know why mom is so obsessed with that.'
Olivia nodded her head with a smile. "Indeed, time passes so fast, doesn't it, Mrs. Von Neumann?"
'Stop it.'
Frida smiled and nodded her head back. "I wonder if we can celebrate it?"
'Hell no.'
Olivia tilted her head. "It's perfectly fine, Mrs. Von Neumann, although young master is a toddler, he's still a noble."
Frida chuckled. "I know, I know, but wouldn't it look strange? I mean, he's just a baby, but he... I don't know, but I feel like he has more awareness of his surroundings than it seems," Frida said with a frown.
Olivia nodded her head in accordance. "I agree with you, Mrs. Von Neumann, it does seem like it."
Lukas now felt quite a pressured about this situation. 'Stop it, both of you! If you did think that, you wouldn't say it in front of me... I guess.'
Frida nodded her head. "Yes, but I don't think Lukas likes parties very much. He always shows quite a bored expression after a bit. I don't think it's worth it to do it."
Olivia shrugged her shoulders. "You are young master's mother, Mrs. Von Neumann. He's still a baby, so you are the only one who can decide it."
'In fact! Please, choose wisely!'
Frida tilted her head. "What about his father?"
Olivia rolled her eyes. "Mrs. Von Neumann, you are the one who takes care of him! Mr. Hügel has never shown affection towards him."
Despite Lukas almost having facepalmed after listening to his mother's question, he had to disagree with Olivia. 'Although he doesn't show it much, he still does. However, it's just on his own way.'
Frida nodded her head slightly. "Yes, but... it is my fault, right? It's not his."
Lukas raised his brow. 'Excuse me?!'
Olivia showed a dumbfounded face. "E-Excuse me, Mrs. Von Neumann?! What do you have to do with it?"
Frida started shaking with an anguished face. "W-Well, directly I don't have anything to do with it, but..." Frida started tearing up and then, crying. "I-I am the daughter of the head of the Von Neumann house! Although I didn't do anything directly, it's also my fault for not doing anything!"
Lukas raised his brow. 'Well, stopping to think about it, you are prolly right, but... do you really think you should blame yourself that much for it? ...By the way, what are you blaming yourself that much for? You mean that polemics?'
"N-No, Mrs. Von Neumann! You couldn't do anything in that time! Stop blaming yourself for everything! You shouldn't do it! I told you, did I not? You can't change anything right now! That will just make young master sad!'
Frida nodded her head shakily. "Y-Yes, you are right. Thank you, Olivia."
'You are saying that, but you don't look convinced at all, mom,' Lukas thought.
Olivia nodded her head with a smile. "I am glad you understand it, Mrs. Von Neumann!" Olivia then tried to change the subject. "So, will you want to celebrate young master's birthday?" she asked.
Olivia shook her head. "No. It's okay."
'Are you for real, Olivia? What a question to ask at such a moment!' Lukas thought.
Olivia nodded her head with a smile. "Very well, then."
-----
[Author notes: Well, this's the end of the first volume. However, the novel will continue normally next week. I know this was quite short for the average of this novel, but it was on purpose, this was just a finalization.]
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