Why do the Hungarians like me, their empress?
It’s obvious without even looking.
They’re trying to probe whether the rumors that I don’t get along with Archduchess Sophie are true.
“Let us show how fervently we support the empress. How enraged will that make our enemy in Vienna, Sophie? And if this empress truly is Sophie’s enemy, she may use our support as a foothold and come over to our side. Isn’t that right?”
“Precisely, Your Majesty. So no matter how kindly they treat you, to His Majesty the Emperor—”
“I know. Watch my mouth.”
I brought a hand to my lips and made a gesture of zipping them shut.
“Your Majesty.”
Oh, right. Did zippers not exist yet?
“Now, honestly, have I not been properly acting as a dignified empress when I’m outside?”
“You still have a long way to go. We must resume etiquette lessons… No. I hope you will at least be comfortable during this visit to Buda.”
What?
Who are you? Where did Countess Esterhazy go? Have you been possessed?
This isn’t the Miss Etiquette who would let that slide.
“Your Majesty?”
I got so scared without realizing it that I sat up straight.
“You may lean against the backrest.”
Why are you suddenly acting like this…?
I think our relationship needs an appropriate distance.
As I sat there blankly for a moment, Joseph suddenly came to mind.
“Chief lady-in-waiting.”
I still needed that.
“Prepare some strong liquor for the day His Majesty the Emperor arrives.”
“… It is not your first time anymore, is it?”
How am I supposed to do that sober! Strong liquor is like my last line of defense!
***
Esterhazy knew that the imperial couple had not shared a bed since their first consummation. That was why pregnancy had not even occurred to her at first.
But.
‘She still has some childlike parts left in her.’
At times, when she had brought strong liquor as an aperitif and saw that the empress did not drink it, she had judged that it was no longer needed. But when she saw the sheets clean the next day, she had realized.
‘… Must I tell Her Majesty?’
A secret she had not even told Archduchess Sophie.
“I feel as though I’ve gained a little weight lately.”
Sisi said with a slightly crestfallen expression.
‘Does she mean to reduce her meals?’
That was absolutely out of the question.
Word had already spread through every royal palace about what had happened when Princess Charlotte of England reduced her meals according to a doctor’s diagnosis.
The incident in which the only direct heir of the British Empire died in vain along with her child because of a doctor’s mistaken judgment. That incident had plunged all of Britain into tremendous shock and sorrow, and the attending physician, tormented by guilt, had ultimately taken his own life.
‘Should I tell her the truth? What if it shocks the young empress, who is not yet prepared for it?’
Esterhazy did not notice at all, not even at the very moment the carriage stopped.
“Chief lady-in-waiting. Chief lady-in-waiting?”
“My apologies, Your Majesty.”
“It is all right. The distance from Vienna to Buda was quite long.”
The empress passed it off as nothing, but for her, as Mistress of the Court, it was something that must never happen.
***
In any case, I understand why Elisabeth fled to Hungary so often.
When I was in the Hofburg, I had to read the room everywhere I went, but here, everyone smiles brightly whenever they see me.
Political issues are mixed in, but still, I can’t help feeling good.
“Long live Empress Elisabeth!”
“Her Majesty Empress Elisabeth!”
Hehehe.
When I got out in front of Saint Rochus Hospital on the streets of Pest, praises directed at me rang out.
It feels like I’ve become some kind of idol.
Escorted by the director, who had been waiting at the entrance, I went to the director’s office and exchanged brief talk about business.
That I would provide sponsorship, just like in other places. That sort of thing?
Perhaps because it was a place Archduchess Sophie detested, it was no different from a gold mine.
Now then, time to slowly get to the main point.
“I heard there is someone here who was driven out of Vienna General Hospital.”
“Ah… that… do you mean Semmelweis? His personality is somewhat… eccentric, and he has, well, frequent friction with his colleagues….”
Why is he stammering so much? Is his personality really that eccentric?
“I wish to hear about his ability, not his personality. I heard that while he has been working at this hospital in an unpaid honorary position, the mortality rate has dropped dramatically. Is that true?”
As if he had judged that he could no longer talk around it, he reluctantly nodded.
“It is… true. There is much controversy regarding his methods, but… if one looks only at the results, yes.”
How frustrating.
“Good. I would like to meet him. Where is he now?”
*
The place I arrived at under his guidance was the maternity ward, located in the most secluded part of the hospital.
A space where the smell of medicine and faint groans mingled together.
The smell is a little strong.
Countess Esterhazy handed me a handkerchief, and she too covered her nose and mouth with a handkerchief, revealing open displeasure.
At the far end of the corridor, I could see a man grabbing a young doctor by the collar and fiercely pressing him.
“Do you know how many have died by your hands! Tending to mothers with the same hands that touched corpses—how many times have I told you that bastards like you are no different from murderers!”
Ah, so that’s him.
“Stop.”
When the director, showing me proper courtesy, tried to separate him, I spoke first.
Semmelweis turned his head and glared at me with eyes full of irritation and wariness.
“Dr. Semmelweis! Show proper respect to Her Majesty the Empress!”
“It is all right, Director.”
I raised a hand to stop the director, who was trying to block my way.
“Dr. Semmelweis, I would like to speak with you for a moment in your office.”
Semmelweis’s expression did not change at all even after hearing my proposal. He merely let go of the young doctor whose collar he had been holding and offered me a very formal bow of the head.
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Had he changed after being driven out of Vienna, or had he always been like that?
As for my impression of Semmelweis’s office, well….
“I am sorry, but there is nowhere to sit.”
“It looks that way without your saying so.”
The only chair was the one in front of the desk, used for experiments.
He gave me the chair, then picked up the documents on his desk and began to read.
I looked at Esterhazy’s stiff face and signaled that it was all right.
“Doctor, I read your paper with interest. The hypothesis that cadaverous particles are the cause of puerperal fever, that is.”
Without even taking his eyes off the documents, he answered mechanically.
“It is not a hypothesis, but fact, Your Majesty.”
He does add “Your Majesty” every time.
“And despite proving that fact, the academic circles of Vienna did not acknowledge you.”
“Their ignorance is not my concern, Your Majesty.”
Even while conversing with me, he was doing his own work, making notes on the documents and so on.
“My concern is only the mortality rate of mothers in this hospital.”
Throughout, he did not properly meet my eyes even once.
Every action Semmelweis took was the same as saying that he had no time to spare for me.
No matter how much I was rumored to be an empress without real power, if he disregarded me this much….
“Doctor. Show Her Majesty the Empress proper respect.”
Esterhazy would get angry.
He quietly put down the pen he was holding and, at last, raised his head to look at me.
“Your Majesty. If it is not discourteous, my rounds are running late, so I must take my leave.”
He rose from his seat and lightly lowered his head. Then, without the slightest hesitation, he opened the door and left.
Esterhazy, I, and the hospital director trembling beside us were left standing awkwardly in the office that had lost its master.
Does he have two lives?
“Th-that is outrageous!”
“Director.”
I am human too, and I have no desire to look after someone who doesn’t treat me properly.
The director dropped to his knees with a thud.
“Yes, Your, Your Majesty…!”
“I will consider everything that happened today to have never occurred.”
The hospital director cried out almost as though wailing.
“Thank you, Your Majesty!”
What does sponsorship money matter? Life is more important.
*
“You did very well, Your Majesty.”
Why is she praising me? When I think of the original Esterhazy, I thought she would say, just like Archduchess Sophie, that I should have punished him for an act that disregarded authority.
Ahem.
I cleared my throat.
“What just happened is not merely a matter of rudeness. In an official setting where Her Majesty the Empress personally visited, a subordinate publicly insulted her and left before Her Majesty the Empress did. This is a direct challenge to His Majesty the Emperor’s authority, and the director responsible for this place is the person accountable for managing this great treason and is his accomplice. You should have sentenced him for the crime of insulting the imperial family.”
“… Did you, by any chance, imitate me?”
Yes.
Honestly, who do I even meet?
Since I’m an introvert, except when I occasionally go out for a walk, I’m always stuck with Esterhazy, so I’ve grown used to it now.
I’ve almost never heard the voices of the other ladies-in-waiting, I don’t even want to exchange words with Archduchess Sophie, and I actually spend more time with Esterhazy than with Joseph.
“… You truly did well, Your Majesty.”
So she’s decided to just ignore it.
“Although you were publicly insulted and disregarded by a doctor at the hospital you came to sponsor, you perfectly controlled your emotions and carried out only your role as empress. Severe punishment is not the only answer, and mercy can also become a way to win the loyalty of subjects.”
Mm….
“Chief lady-in-waiting.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Are you hiding something from me?”
If not, there’s no way she would be this kind.
Did Archduchess Sophie order her to treat me kindly so I’d come to rely on Esterhazy?
Oh, that seems more likely.
So that’s it, isn’t it?
“There is nothing, Your Majesty.”
It doesn’t seem like she’s lying.
“Or is it because you think I won’t return to Vienna?”
“No, Your Majesty.”
… I think it is?
I think her eyes just wavered a little?
“Do not worry. Would I abandon my home and leave just because I stayed here for a few days?”
For the first time, Esterhazy smiled at me.
Seeing that the carriage has stopped, it seems we’ve already arrived.
***
As soon as the negotiations with the tsar ended, Joseph immediately headed to Buda Castle, where his wife would be.
The moment he entered the castle gates, he sought out Countess Esterhazy.
“Is it true that Count Andrássy and Deák Ferenc are here?”
Esterhazy struggled to compose her expression before the emperor, who was saying something absurd.
“Would those traitors be here? Andrássy has vanished from Hungary, and Deák is still living in seclusion.”
How could the empress, who did not even go out often, possibly meet a condemned man like Andrássy and those who had withdrawn to their own estates in Buda? Esterhazy could not understand the reason.
“… The letter from the Empress’s Palace clearly said that the empress was staying at their house.”
At the words “a letter from the Empress’s Palace,” Esterhazy failed to keep her expression under control.
‘Who dares do such a thing….’
All information from the Empress’s Palace had to pass through Esterhazy, the Mistress of the Court.
It meant there was a hole in the control system, and it was a serious infringement upon her authority.
“Your Majesty, please excuse me.”
Worried for the empress’s safety, Esterhazy asked the emperor’s pardon for a moment and made her way to the empress’s quarters. Before she could even finish telling the attendant guarding the door to wait, she opened the door herself, but only silence lingered inside the room.
“… Where has Her Majesty the Empress gone?”