28th December 1656
The Hofburg Palace, Vienna, the Holy Roman Empire.
A teenage boy with blond hair and blue eyes, carrying an air of nobility, around the age of 15, walked through the hallway of the majestic Hofburg Palace in Vienna, the current political and administrative centre of the Holy Roman Empire.
This boy, the Crown Prince of the Empire, is none other than Leopold I, the son of Ferdinand III the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.
Leopold, who was supposed to be cheerful and lively at the playful age of 15, had the joy and innocence drained from him due to his status as the next ruler of the great Holy Roman Empire. While he walked through the hallway, his face was grim, with traces of confusion and panic flashing in his eyes from time to time.
’Please hold on, Father,’ Leopold said to himself.
This morning, he was informed by the physician that his father had another episode of continuous vomiting and loss of appetite, and he was also told that he had to be prepared for unforeseen circumstances.
When Leopold heard this statement from the physician, more than being afraid for the life of his father, he was more worried about what would happen to the Empire and whether he could control it in such abrupt circumstances.
Leopold was scared because his father had not arranged for a trustworthy regent for him, who should have been responsible for making his rise to the throne more secure.
If his father passed away abruptly without arranging matters beforehand, the power of the Emperor would fall into the Aulic Council, and Prime Minister Johann Matthias Wolfenstein would become the uncrowned emperor and the kingmaker of the Empire.
Although Leopold knew that Uncle Johann was very loyal to his father and to the Habsburg family, he could not be sure what new-found power could do to a person. Even if Uncle Johann maintained his loyalty, what about the person after him? Similar to his father, Uncle Johann was getting old, after all.
With these complicated thoughts in his mind which should not belong to a person of his age, the careful Leopold arrived at the infirmary in the palace.
Click!
With the sound of the door opening, the blurry eyes of Ferdinand III caught the figure of Leopold approaching with worry written on his face.
Cough!
"Father!!"
Leopold, seeing his father trying to get up and getting caught in a coughing fit, immediately helped him up and gave him the medication prescribed by the physician.
"Father, please don’t move. Get some rest; you will recover quickly," Leopold said, concern visible on his face.
Ferdinand felt like his body weighed a ton as he could not move at all. Fortunately, he had someone to support him.
In this way, two of the most powerful people in the European aristocracy spent their time like a normal father and son, full of warm feelings. Unfortunately, this heartwarming atmosphere was destroyed by the arrival of the prime minister, Johann Matthias Wolfenstein.
Ferdinand, who recognized the figure, did not have the energy to complain, whereas Leopold did not have the authority to.
Leopold, looking at Johann, who abruptly entered the room, did not have any good feelings towards this uncle, but since he did not know the intentions of the other party, he would not do something as thoughtless as offending him for no apparent reason. Instead, he put on a smile and welcomed the Prime Minister in.
Johann was also embarrassed to interfere with the personal time of His Majesty and His Highness, but the news he had brought could not wait.
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"I am extremely sorry, Your Majesty and Your Highness, but the news I brought with me this time is of great importance, so I have no choice but to take your orders."
Ferdinand III was curious as to what could make the always calm Prime Minister so restless, hence he asked, "What is it?"
Johann responded, "Your Majesty, we just received an invitation from the Indian subcontinent, from the Dakshin Bharathiya Empire, and according to the letter, the subcontinent has been unified and a new empire is being established."
"The letter, written by Emperor Vijay Devaraya, invited the delegation from the Holy Roman Empire and the people from the royal family to attend the founding ceremony."
Boom!
This news momentarily brought great stimulation to the body of Ferdinand III as he immediately figured out what the situation meant. It meant that an empire encompassing more than 4 million square kilometres of land, with an arable area of nearly 1.5 million square kilometres, a population of more than 150 million people, and the ability to project power around the world had been born.
"Maybe I should have taken action," he thought to himself, not sure whether the appearance of such a powerful nation was a good thing or a bad thing for the Holy Roman Empire. But now that things had already happened, there was nothing for him to do, especially in his current circumstances.
He looked at Leopold and warned with a serious expression, "Son, if there is no direct conflict of interest, you don’t have to offend this new Indian Empire. If possible, maintain good diplomatic ties with it. Maybe it could come into use."
Leopold nodded his head, understanding his father’s worries. However, truth be told, he would not interfere in the matters of the Indian subcontinent until the nation’s current domestic stability had risen and he had the power to exchange blows with the four naval countries of Britain, Spain, Portugal, and the Netherlands.
Even if he reached that point, he might fight more for the city of Constantinople than for interests in such a faraway country.
Returning to the topic, Ferdinand was troubled about how to handle the situation. "It’s tricky, given the current situation the Empire is in, we cannot send a delegation that is too high-profile, and at the same time, members of the royal family are also very inconvenienced by travelling such large distances.
But we cannot completely ignore this invitation from a power that is obviously very influential, even if this power is half a world away. This is not something we can ignore."
*COUGH!*
"Alright, let’s do it like this: along with a small delegation, also send some diplomats to establish an embassy in that country. I will also write a letter of apology explaining my situation, so it should be alright," Ferdinand said.
Johann, getting the answer he needed, quickly wished the Emperor a speedy recovery and left the infirmary. Leopold, looking at Johann’s departing figure, thought to himself, "I have to finalize the inheritance with my father as soon as possible while he is still sane."
---
Spanish Empire
Balthasar Charles, upon receiving the invitation from the Bharatiya Empire, was surprised that the Indian subcontinent had been unified, and the surprise soon turned into worry.
"With the existence of such a powerful country in the East, will the colony in the Philippines be affected?" he thought to himself. However, since he did not have much knowledge about the Philippine colony, he decided to study it carefully.
---
France
"Cardinal, it looks like the news of our involvement has not been leaked."
Louis XIV said, letting out a sigh of relief after receiving the invitation letter from the Indian subcontinent.
The Cardinal nodded his head and agreed, "It seems to be the case. But I must say, Your Majesty, you made the right decision to hide our identity while funding the Swiss mercenaries."
Louis was also a little proud. "Yes, it looks like I was careful enough."
"Cardinal, let’s maintain this relationship with the new empire in the Indian subcontinent."
"It is not wise to directly offend an empire that controls such a large amount of resources."
"We should be cautious."
"As for the reply to this letter, we can send out a diplomatic team to establish an embassy and, at the same time, sign a few trade deals, as long as they are profitable."
The Cardinal nodded in agreement to all the orders.
However, Louis leaned in to ensure privacy, lowering his voice and whispering, "At the same time, let our intelligence network keep an eye on anyone who plans to make a move on the Indian subcontinent. Let’s see if we can use the same strategy as last time, which keeps risks at a minimum without having to do the dirty work ourselves."
"Yes!"
---
Venetian Republic
Giovanni Morrassani, reading the invitation letter, had a complicated expression on his face. He had anticipated this event might occur someday, but he did not expect it to come so soon.
"Your Excellency, Marco Molin, haven’t you been restless recently? You can go on this trip and lead the delegation yourself."
---
Portuguese
Alfonso IV de Braganza, upon receiving the invitation from the Bharatiya Empire, had a complex mix of emotions. Unlike other countries, he felt that there was a lot of potential to be exploited in the Asian region. However, seeing how his prospective ally had become so strong, he knew that he would have to set his thoughts aside.
Sigh!
"Looks like for the certain victory against the Spanish, I have exchanged the potential interests of the Southeast Asian region. What a loss-making business," he said to himself, ignoring the fact that even if he had won the war without the help of the Bharatiya Empire, he still wouldn’t have had the power to meddle in Southeast Asian affairs with the involvement of the British, Dutch, and Spanish.
---
Russia
The countries of Sweden, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Brandenburg-Prussia, and Tsarist Russia were relatively unresponsive to the invitation sent by the Dakshin Bharatiya Empire. However considering that this new Indian nation was indeed powerful, they all collectively decided to send representatives and establish embassies in this new nation in the Indian subcontinent.
It was only Tsar Alexis I of Tsarist Russia who had a different reaction. The letter he received mentioned intriguing details about possible cooperation between the two nations.
Alexis did not know how this cooperation could take place, but since the letter was written by Emperor Vijay himself, Alexis chose to believe it and sent a member of his family as a representative from his country.
---
In the meantime, the Little Northern War fought between the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Russia, Brandenburg-Prussia, the Habsburg Monarchy, Denmark-Norway, and the Swedish Empire had entered a crucial stage.
The main players in the war, the Swedish Empire and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth had been splurging money and troops continuously, while the other participants were changing sides regularly, depending on the interests of their respective countries.
---
Ottoman, England & The Dutch
Muhammad IV had an ugly expression after receiving the news about the complete destruction of the Mughal Empire and the establishment of the new empire.
Naturally, he did not receive the invitation like the rest of the European powers. He only learned about the news through merchants travelling from the East.
"Damn Venetians! Damn Indians!" he cursed, as the war he had initially thought would be relatively easy had dragged on for so long, and the losses had become unexpectedly painful.
A similar experience was felt by William III of Orange and Charles Stuart of England, who not only failed in their mission of assassination but also found themselves with a very strong enemy out of nowhere. "What a loss," they thought.
---
No invitation had been sent to either the remnants of the Ming dynasty or the new ruling Qing dynasty. Since the situation in China is unstable and Vijay does not yet have an interest in dealing with this country for the time being, he wishes instead to make the situation in this potential enemy country more chaotic. This way, he can fully determine the situation in Asia for the next few decades.
P.S. Thank you, Lord_Telzekar for the Massage chair.
P.S. Thank you, Lucifer_6671 for the Pizza