I heard someone knock on the door.

"Come in." I said. The door opened, revealing Volger.

"I see that you made yourself quite at home in my office while I was gone, Your Highness." he said.

I looked around the room. Papers that I had worked on where all over his desk, some in the verge of falling, and others crumbled up in the garbage bin. Maps, charts, and pictures were all pinned to the wall far away from the paintings, and there was evidence that I had eaten here, considering the tray that was left on the ground. I smirked, "Yes, I certainly have."

"I came immediately from Austria-Hungary when I heard word of the assassination attempt against you." he said, "That's certainly alarming."

I swallowed hard. Just the memory of it made me uneasy. "Yes, undoubtedly alarming."

"Our informers have already told me of the incident. We cannot guess the enemy Empire who did this, given that several of them had already found out about our betrayal, as they would put it."

"Did you find that out in your absence?" I asked.

He walked around the room, stopping to observe what I had pinned to the wall. "That's right. From a very interesting fellow, I should say."

"Who is-"

"What is this?" he interrupted.

He was pointing at one of the charts that I had made. "That is a record of the Hungarian Prime Minister Count Istvan Tisza's movements."

"Is it now?" He took it and unpinned it off the wall, his eyes following the words that I had written about Count Istvan Tisza's appearances. "How did you get this information?" he asked.

Smirking, I got off the chair and lend on the desk, "From a very interesting fellow."

He gave me a dull look, "Don't play with me Alek."

"From our informers." I sighed.

"I see." He pinned the chart back to wall, and walked toward the door, turning its handle. Once he realized that it was opened, he locked it. "Listen up Alek," he said, "I have news that are for our ears only. Count Istvan Tisza wants to take part in our peace treaty attempt."

My whole mood brightened, "That's great! That means he can stop halting the free passage of food from Hungary to Austria, but why can't we tell-"

Volger held his hand up for me to stop talking. "Not quite right." He said, "He cannot stop the halt."

My mood went suddenly turned sullen. "But why not?" I asked.

"Because," Volger continued, "He will be acting as our spy."

"Spy? What do you mean by that?"

"As I have told you already, our past allies have found out about the peace treaty. Before they made their move of eliminating you, they made their first decision against us in Austria-Hungary. It seems that Germany offered Hungary a deal. If Hungary decides to start a civil war against the Habsburgs, including Austria, Germany will back them up. And if the Ottoman Empires win the war, they will make Hungary the superior power of Austria-Hungary, if they hadn't already during their civil war." Volger locked his eyes with mine. "In other words, the Habsburgs will no longer be in power, and Austria will serve under Hungary. I wouldn't be surprised if they named the whole Empire just Hungary."

My eyes widened, "No, there is no way in heavens that, that is going to happen!"

"But it can, Aleksandar. This is war. Anything can happen."

I backed away from the desk, and paced the room. "No," I whispered and unconsciously let myself fall into one of the chairs. Just when we advanced in ending this war, something like this has happened.

"I haven't finished yet Alek." Volger said.

I stayed sitting, feeling a headache rolling in.

"The one that helps make that decision is the Prime Minister, in this case being Istvan Tisza. He may dislike you but he has no desire for a civil revolution, as he told me, and therefor agreed to spy on the German power. Germany will keep a close eye on them, and if he finds out that Istvan Tisza raised the halt, they will believe that they didn't except the deal, attacking Austria-Hungary sooner than expected."

I raised my head, "So you are basically stalling to buy some time?"

"That is part of it." he said, "But keep in mind Aleksandar, Istvan Tisza may be the Hungarian Prime Minister, but there are others Ministers within the Hungarian estates. They all come together to make a decision, and if the majority wants a civil war, a civil war they will get."

"So when you went to Vienna, you contacted Count Istvan Tisza?" Volger nodded. "And how will he manage to spy on Germany?"

Volger sighed, "German representatives will be staying in Hungary, obviously making them seem like they know nothing about the treaty, and the Count will make them believe that they hold interest in the deal. When he achieves that, he will have close connections to German affairs."

I got up and rubbed my face. "One more question Count," I said, "Who informed you that some of Ottoman powers knew about the treaty in the first place? And please don't reply that you heard it from an interesting fellow," I whined.

Volger seemed to be in thought before he replied. "That's another matter for another day." He then unlocked the door and opened it.

"Ah, just in time." One of the inspectors was at the door. "I was about to knock when you opened it." He saw me and bowed, "Your Highness."

"What are you in need of?" I asked.

The inspector took out his notes and evaluated them. "Actually," he said, "I may have found a culprit."

Facts: Count Itsvan Tisza was the only one that voted against going to war with Serbia, but he later saw reasons as to why they should go to war, and supported it all the way through. (In the story I make him go back to opposing war) Hungary was also the junior partner in the Austro-Hungarian relationship, and the Austro-Hungarian ruler was referred in two names; Emperor for Austria, and King for Hungary. Hungary and Austria functioned separately, but they both served under the same ruler, in this case (and time) being the Habsburgs. And finally, both Austria and Hungary have their own estates that they are responsible for, and the ministers from each estate do meet up to make decisions.

Author's Note: So today's chapter is short, but the next chapter will hopefully be longer (which will probably be posted next Friday or Saturday). Anyway, I am sorry guys, but I am no longer going to look for that painting. I honestly tried to look for it over, and over, and over, and when I finally got a lead, it turned out that it wasn't the painting I described! So who knows, I might just end up finding it by accident just like I did the first time I saw it. Anyway, for those who do read the facts, if you find anything that is wrong, please feel free tell me. (I just write them for my own enjoyment ;)