Elsewhere across the multiverse… Young Prince Franz-Karl is the younger son of the younger son of an Emperor. He is also an Elderkin, descendant of Manifest Beings who may be Gods or Demons or merely Outsiders, depending on which philosopher or preacher or politician you ask.
In our world the Holy Roman Empire was famously neither Holy, nor Roman, nor an Empire, and the turn of the 18th century was a time of upheaval and transformation, life and death, faith and betrayal. Franz-Karl’s home is not as different from all that as he might prefer, even before you consider the Binding effects of meddling by the Manifest and their Elderkin descendants.
Survival and freedom are not guaranteed, even for an Emperor’s grandson. After reports arrive of his Father’s death, they may not even be an option.