"Your Highness, the preliminary interrogation results... It has been confirmed that one of the masterminds, Danilo Ilić, was captured at a checkpoint while attempting to flee."
In a ward at the Sarajevo State Hospital, Karl, his head wrapped in bandages and his face pale, stood in an area heavily guarded by soldiers hastily dispatched from the barracks. He was listening to Zdenko's low-voiced report.
Damn it, his head felt like it was splitting open. The doctor diagnosed him with a concussion and significant blood loss, insisting on absolute rest.
"Your Highness, you look terrible. Are you really alright? The report can wait; you need rest."
"I'm fine. I can handle this much. Continue.", Karl closed his eyes, forcing himself to concentrate.
As he listened carefully to Zdenko's briefing, Karl realized the turn of events was not entirely what he had anticipated.
Although most of the direct executors of the assassination attempt had been captured, they were unusually stubborn during the initial questioning. Deeply influenced by Yugoslav nationalist ideology, they refused to immediately betray their accomplices who were still at large.
This ideology was deeply rooted among the youth of the Balkans; many viewed opposing the rule of the Austro-Hungarian Empire as a mission akin to religious devotion.
However, fate decided to play a cruel joke right here.
During a completely routine inspection, the soldiers apprehended the true mastermind, and this person promptly confessed the whereabouts of all the accomplices who had evaded capture.
"...This is truly an interesting farce."
Hearing this, Karl turned his head. The voice came from the adjacent hospital bed.
The voice was so weak it sounded like it could cease at any moment, yet it carried a thread of tenacious vitality.
Archduke Franz Ferdinand lay motionless on the bed, half his face and his entire chest wrapped in thick bandages, one arm in a cast.
During the second explosion, he had almost instinctively shielded Karl and Sophie with his body, bearing the main impact and shrapnel. His back and side sustained extremely severe injuries, and he was once near death.
Yet, this Crown Prince, known for his tough stubbornness within the Austro-Hungarian Empire, had stubbornly clung on, just like his troublesome personality, snatching his life back from the clutches of death.
"Only by narrowly surviving... can one hear such a comedy."
Franz Ferdinand offered a faint smile.
It was the smile of a survivor. Yes, both he and Karl had lived, but the matter could absolutely not end as a comedy here.
Because among the numerous names and clues revealed by Danilo Ilić, one person had already emerged whose stature was significant enough to shake the entire situation in the Balkans.
Dragutin Dimitrijević.
The name codenamed "Apis" meant everything in the shadowy world of the Balkans. As the core figure in the Serbian military intelligence system and the soul of the secret organization Black Hand, it was he who had been secretly planning and driving the terrorist actions against the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
"Serbia must pay the price for this."
Franz Ferdinand slowly pulled the corner of his mouth wider.
...
"Extra! Extra!"
The quiet streets of Paris, France, in the early morning were disturbed by a boy shouting loudly while holding up a newspaper. A gentleman who was disturbed clicked his tongue impatiently.
These tabloids were experts at twisting a heartwarming story of a polite young man helping an elderly person with luggage into a bizarre tale between a young robber and an old woman in love with him, and then selling it.
How did he know? Humans are learning animals.
The word "Extra!" was indeed good at piquing curiosity, but the gentleman, unwilling to waste more money, covered his ears, intending to push past.
But covering his ears was useless. As soon as the newspaper was thrust before your eyes, it was over.
"Sir, Extra! Won't you buy a copy to read?"
"What extra? Trying to spin some outlandish story to fool people again?"
Although he verbally declared he absolutely wouldn't buy, the gentleman's attitude instead sparked the newsboy's fighting spirit.
"You will regret this."
Children nowadays really lacked manners.
"I'm not buying, go away!"
"Two heirs to Austria were nearly assassinated!"
"What?"
He waved his hand, trying to move away, but his steps suddenly halted upon hearing the word "assassination."
Assassination? Who? Austrian? Heirs? And two of them?
"Extra! Extra! Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austrian throne, and another heir, Archduke Karl, survived an assassination attempt!"
The newsboy's shouts seemed to freeze everyone's movements on the street.
This news was too sudden; no one's mind could process it immediately.
What kind of country was Austria? It was an empire pieced together from multiple ethnicities, riddled with internal contradictions, but certainly not a weak nation that could be bullied at will.
With a population exceeding fifty million, it ranked third in Europe, and its territory was second only to the Russian Empire. Even if it wasn't as prosperous as Britain, France, or the German Empire, it was still a genuine Great Power, one of the major players.
To truly grasp the Empire's strength, one only needed to look at the Balkan Peninsula. Wars had erupted there repeatedly in recent years—two in total—with Greece, Serbia, Montenegro, Bulgaria, the Ottoman Empire, and Romania taking turns, the flames of war never ceasing. But if Austria wished, the military force it could mobilize was enough to exceed the combined total of these six nations.
Asking any country to go to war with such an opponent without just cause would make people shake their heads repeatedly. Even if they won, the victory would inevitably be scarred.
But now, an assassination attempt on the Austrian heirs had failed? This news made it impossible for people not to spend money.
"Give me one! Quickly!"
"I was here first!"
"I got here before you!"
"Don't, don't rush! There are plenty of papers! Seriously, there are so many! Hey! Who's just grabbing them directly!"
The gentleman took advantage of the chaos and quickly snatched a newspaper.
Although he hadn't paid, he had been fooled by these papers several times already, so this one could be considered compensation.
He found a place to sit, plopped down, and immediately unfolded the newspaper.
【Bullets Threatening the Past and Future of the Habsburg Dynasty! Archduke Franz Ferdinand and Archduke Karl Narrowly Escape Death!】
June 28, 1914. On the day originally set for memorial ceremonies and a military review in Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia, the heir to the throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, and the heir presumptive, Archduke Karl, personally attended to grace the occasion. However, an assassination attempt occurred during the event, plunging Sarajevo into temporary chaos.
The assassins were apprehended on the spot, and the case entered a full investigation phase. Although both Archdukes sustained serious injuries, they have been treated at the hospital and are currently out of mortal danger.