"Carlo, where are you?"
A shout from high up in the luxurious palace interrupted Carlo's thoughts, pulling his soul back to this real world.
"I'm here, Father," Carlo promptly replied.
"Thank God, my child, are you feeling better?" Just a few minutes later, the voice moved closer, and the owner of the voice was now behind Carlo.
Carlo turned slightly, still a bit incredulous.
The middle-aged man in luxurious attire before him surprisingly was the biological father of this body, the renowned current ruler of the Savoy Dynasty, the first King to unify the Kingdom of Italy, Vittorio Emanuele II.
"I'm feeling better now. The medicine the doctor gave me was effective," Carlo nodded honestly, but his mind was pondering how to converse with this unfamiliar father.
Vittorio Emanuele II did not mind Carlo's complex thoughts but rather lovingly patted Carlo's head and said earnestly, "It's okay, child. Although Adone is not here anymore, you still have us, don't you?"
Adone was Vittorio Emanuele II's third son, who was granted the title of Duke of Monferrat soon after birth.
In Carlo's memory, this brother was very kind to Carlo, and their relationship surpassed those with the two older brothers.
But unfortunately, when Carlo's soul arrived in this world, Duke of Monferrat Adone was terminally ill and soon passed away.
Due to the extremely poor medical standards of this era, the cause of Adone's death was never discovered.
For a Prince to die so inexplicably added a touch of fear for Carlo towards this real world.
For a regular person who experienced advanced technology and society, to feel the technology and life of 160 years ago was truly torture.
Even though Carlo was the most beloved son of Vittorio Emanuele II, a Prince of the newly established Kingdom of Italy, it couldn't offset this awful feeling.
Seeing Carlo still silent, Vittorio Emanuele II patted Carlo's head again, squeezed out a smile, and said, "It's going to be okay, everything will get better, child.
I won't allow anything to take you away from me, not even God. Adelaide and I will protect you, you will be okay, I promise you."
For Vittorio Emanuele II, known for his devoutness to God, such a promise was clearly heartfelt and sincere.
Carlo knew well of Vittorio Emanuele II's reputation; for this father who cared so deeply about him, Carlo felt no rejection.
"I'm much better, Father. Thank you for your concern, I'm fine now," Carlo said.
"That's good, child. May God bless you, and I'll be here for you," Vittorio Emanuele II lovingly patted Carlo's head again, then gestured to the maid beside him to escort Carlo back to his room.
Historically, even though Vittorio Emanuele II had six sons (only counting those born by Queen Adelaide), only two did not die young; it was rather a case of having many sons but little fortune.
Among them, besides Prince Oddone who died young close to the age of 20, the other three children who died young all passed away unexpectedly during infancy.
Even though this world due to Carlo's arrival caused Vittorio Emanuele II to lose one less son, losing children one after another in middle age made Vittorio Emanuele II particularly cherish kinship.
And Carlo, as the youngest son now, was the most favored by Vittorio Emanuele II, born a noble Duke of Chablais, whose estate includes vast lands, several castles and estates, with hundreds of servants always ready to attend to Carlo.
While Vittorio Emanuele II was pondering something, Carlo was already being helped into his room by two maids.
Looking at the two maids, one pure and beautiful on the left, and the other with an alluring figure on the right, Carlo swallowed the words he was about to say.
Though the West prevalent one man one wife system, for noble identity, the word "mistresses" wasn't unfamiliar.
Especially to the upper echelons of nobility, as long as Carlo wished, the queue of girls wanting to be his mistress could stretch from the Italian capital Florence to the northwestern city Turin.
At least in this regard, Carlo was willing to admit that the world of 160 years ago indeed had some fun.
Of course, mistresses were an unspoken enjoyment among the nobility, generally not publicized.
To the top-tier nobles, maids were indeed a safer choice than mistresses, also trustworthy in loyalty.
Especially for young noble boys, maids were more fitting for enlightenment education, which was the primary choice in educating offspring among most European nobility.
The two maids serving Carlo were carefully chosen by Vittorio Emanuele II as Carlo's enlighteners, combining purity and allure, both exceedingly beautiful.
Initially, Carlo enjoyed the massage by the two, but the pleasure from below abruptly brought Carlo back to reality. Turning his head, he saw the innocent-looking Anna had already put her hand into Carlo's pants, quietly teasing.
"Enough, Anna," Carlo patted Anna's head and finally smiled looking at Anna's small blinking eyes, "Not there yet."
"Alright," Anna responded, nodding with slight disappointment, removing her hand from a certain place.
"I'd like to be alone for a while," Carlo finally relaxed a bit after enjoying the skilled massage by the two maids, and instructed the two women.
Soon, the two maids left the room, leaving Carlo alone lying in the room, immersed in thought.
Carlo reluctantly accepted traveling to this era. At least as a noble, there were many ways to enjoy oneself, far better than the hard life in later generations.
But the problem was, even though currently monarchies were the mainstream worldwide, they could only persist for a few decades.
Once World War I and II burst consecutively, it would be a devastating blow to monarchies worldwide, nearly removing monarchies from public view.
In the later generations, aside from the United Kingdom where monarchial power was almost nominal, people's understanding of monarchies was negligible, hardly recalling a few existing monarchies.
Carlo's Kingdom of Italy achieved the republic status only after WWII, but in the phase of Mussolini's rule, the power and status of the Italian Royal Family was already precarious, abolishing it would be just a word from Mussolini.
Even though he didn't know how he traveled, since he started a new life with such a high starting point, Carlo naturally nurtured greater ambition.
To hold future destiny in his hands, Carlo devised a new plan.