Snowflakes fluttered down, heralding the arrival of another winter. Vienna, dressed in a layer of silver, was exceptionally pleasant during this winter.
Belvedere Palace
Metternich reported, "Your Majesty, the envoys from England and France have submitted a ceasefire negotiation document from the Ottomans to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It seems that the Sultan Government is preparing for the aftermath."
This did not surprise Franz; the war had been raging for so long that the Ottomans were the ones to suffer the heaviest losses, followed by the Russians. The losses sustained by England and France were merely a trifle and not worth mentioning.
Without strength, everything else was meaningless. It was inevitable that the Ottomans would have to scale back their influence. With the current support from England and France, ending the war with Austria early and retracting their forces to deal with the Greek people instead was more in line with their interests.
