From the desk of the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs:
Greetings to all imperial, royal and ducal monarchies!
His Imperial Majesty Emperor Maximilian IX wishes me to announce that his eldest son and heir is seeking a bride for himself. The Emperor has expressed his wishes that she be of one of the many royal families of the world, in the hopes of fostering an alliance between our own nation and that of the bride's.
Those wishing to present candidates please do so. However, please be advised:
By Imperial custom, the prince must wed a bride of equal birth (i.e. the daughter of a royal, imperial, or ducal house).
The lady in question must also be of a good pedigree, with all four grandparents also of royal or noble birth.
The perspective groom is His Majesty Ferdinand Maximilian Josef Albert, by the Grace of God, elected King of the Tharrans, heir to the Holy Roman Empire of Tharra, Archduke and Prince Royal of Burgundy, or simply "Archduke Ferdinand" as he is known.
He is twenty-two years of age, born in the imperial capital at Pavia, in the Hofburg Palace. The archduke is very handsome, with auburn hair and dark eyes, standing around 5'10". He enjoys horseback riding, shooting and football (soccer) in his spare time, and is fluent in Latin, German, French and Italian.
Signed,
His Excellency Charles-Lucien, Count d'Ursel
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
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Ferdinand hurled his glass of brandy at the wall of his personal drawing room, watching it shatter against the oak paneling and spill its full contents all about the Turkish carpet. He knew full well the magnitude of this last meeting with his father. The man's words stuck in his mind, along with all the ridiculous and rigid court etiquette that was always imposed upon him when coming into the emperor's presence.
His father had greatly desired that he abandon his 'wild and most immoral lifestyle' as he referred to it, and take a wife for some time now. It sickened him to think of the control and power that the man possessed over him--though he reminded himself that this was only to be expected with any monarch. "Duty." The word stuck in his throat in the most foul of manners.
"He's only attempting to anger you, you know, Ferdinand." Said a low and familiar voice from behind him. Turning, the archduke sighed, then smiled wryly at the beautiful woman before him.
Ferdinand had met the Countess Karoline von Schwarzburg two years prior. A beautiful woman, the daughter of a minor noble family and five years his senior, he had been greatly impressed by this lady in waiting of his mother and had soon enough taken her to bed. Now, as things stood, she was his legal concubine--an arrangement which his father cared little for, though he was even less enthusiastic over the idea of any possible offspring from the union, as they would be legal children of the archduke and have a place in the succession.
"Alas, you're right, as always."
"And anyway, it's not as if any of this really matters. It's simply politics, that's all. You don't have to put me away any more than I have to leave you. Let him arrange a match and get you a wife."
He smiled then, remembering the full weight of the situation. Indeed, what did it matter?
