What is this supposed to mean?
“Lady-in-waiting. It seems a little noisy outside.”
“I shall have them quiet down, Your Majesty.”
Was she the youngest, did they say?
“No, never mind. It seems a guest has come.”
“Then, would you like a strawberry this time?”
Mm-hmm.
I parted my lips slightly, and the youngest lady-in-waiting gently placed a strawberry in my mouth.
This is heaven.
Soaking in water that was just warm enough, it felt as though the day’s fatigue was melting away.
Since I was taking a bath so late at night, I felt bad for the ladies-in-waiting, so I had no choice but to ask Lady Ideun, the youngest lady-in-waiting who had been attending me in my bedchamber.
I should also tell the guardsman who helped me before he goes off duty tomorrow morning that I’m grateful.
“You know nothing about the guest who has come at this late hour either, do you?”
“The Mistress of the Court may know. I shall go and ask her.”
“Would the chief lady-in-waiting not be tired as well?”
From what I saw today, unlike usual, she seemed out of sorts.
“By the way, who is Count Esterhazy? His name was not even on the list.”
“He was the ambassador to Britain until before the Hungarian Revolution.”
“Why would such a man disappear from the court rolls?”
After all, one could not become a resident ambassador unless one was trusted by the emperor.
Considering that Countess Esterhazy is the Mistress of the Court, it seems he is still a trusted noble.
“Count Esterhazy is currently in provisional retirement.”
Even as the lady-in-waiting continued her explanation, she did not forget to place another strawberry in my mouth.
“When the revolution broke out in Hungary, he briefly joined the Hungarian cabinet as foreign minister. When the Hungarian cabinet began to move in a radical direction, he resigned from all public offices in order to prove his loyalty to His Majesty the Emperor.”
Hm? The Hungarian cabinet?
“Can an Austrian join the Hungarian cabinet?”
“The House of Count Esterhazy is one of Hungary’s great noble families, Your Majesty.”
Ah… So he came to his hometown for a while… No, wait, it’s the countess. There’s no guarantee she’s Hungarian, is there?
I mean, I’m German too, but I’m Bavarian… right?
Yes, I’m a foreign queen.
No matter how strong nationalism may be, they didn’t really see me as the same kind of German, did they?
“Her Majesty the Empress Dowager and Her Highness the Archduchess are from the same house as I am, so why do the nobles of the court see me as a foreigner?”
They’re my half-aunt and my aunt.
If you go up to my paternal grandfather, it’s the same person.
“I believe that, with time, they too will come to understand Your Majesty’s sincerity.”
These strawberries are delicious.
In any case, Countess Esterhazy must have a lot on her mind as well.
To have a husband torn between loyalty to the Austrian Empire and his identity as a Hungarian magnate.
No wonder she’d shown me a bit of goodwill since I arrived here.
Should I make a tour somewhere near there so she can spend time with her husband? In any case, if he is a great noble, there’s no harm in meeting him.
Bang!
At the sound of the door opening, the lady-in-waiting attending me cried out urgently.
“Her Majesty the Empress is bathing—who dares open the door without permission… Your Majesty!”
“Continue what you were doing.”
That voice sounds familiar.
It sounds like the voice of the guy who abandoned me and left a month ago.
It sounds like the voice of that guy who ran away so thoroughly I wondered if he had sulked and fled because I wouldn’t do it with him.
To be honest, I had it hard too… I spent all day flipping through directories of names and studying, and during the time for dressing up, I called in tutors to study foreign languages, and once that was over, etiquette lessons.
What am I supposed to do if I’m so tired that I fall asleep the moment my head touches the pillow?
When I turned my head, I saw the emperor glancing over.
It really was him.
“Your Majesty.”
“Empress.”
His voice sounded strangely excited.
Is he a pervert?
“Please close the door. I will come out shortly.”
“Ahem, forgive me.”
***
Josef waited for Sisi while calming his anxious heart.
The moment he saw that his wife, whom he had thought kidnapped, was safe—and moreover, bathing in such peace—he felt relief and joy.
Josef hurried out into the corridor and closed the door.
Behind him came the sound of water splashing and Sisi’s languid voice. His heart was still pounding fiercely.
‘She was cute when she was being fed strawberries, too.’
And the silhouette visible through the chemise wet with water was…
Josef hurriedly shook his head.
‘Ah, first I should tell the guards that the empress has been found.’
He went out of the room and informed the soldier waiting there.
“We have found Her Majesty the Empress. She is safe, so halt all searches within the castle. However, double the guard on every route leading outside.”
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
Watching the captain of the guards hurry off, Josef returned to the bathroom door. The way he paced in front of it made him look not like the emperor of an empire, but like an ordinary husband fretting before his wife’s room.
A moment later, the door opened carefully, and Sisi appeared with her bathrobe neatly wrapped around her, her wet hair covered in a towel.
The youngest lady-in-waiting was pressed closely to her side.
“Lady Ideun, His Majesty the Emperor is here, so go and rest.”
“Understood, Your Majesty.”
After watching all the ladies-in-waiting withdraw, Sisi looked at Josef.
“Did something happen?”
“Nothing at all.”
“As if. It isn’t as though Your Majesty opened the door because you wanted to peep at the empress bathing.”
“My body must have reacted first because I wanted to see you.”
Sisi decided to let Josef’s absurd excuse pass.
“Since you came and the lady-in-waiting left, you dry my hair.”
Josef approached the vanity where Sisi sat, stood behind her, and slowly stroked her wet hair.
“My hair is a little long, isn’t it?”
“All the better. It means we can talk for longer.”
Sisi got goosebumps at Josef’s words and shuddered.
“Your Majesty, did you read French novels on the battlefield or something?”
“Of course not. What did the empress do today?”
‘Aside from receiving the report on changes in maternal mortality from the hospital director….’
“I had tea with the chief lady-in-waiting and took a walk in the garden.”
“Did you go anywhere in Hungary without Countess Esterhazy accompanying you?”
At Josef’s words, Sisi shook her head.
“Your Majesty, do you know?”
Sisi spoke with a smile in her voice.
“Ever since we came here, the chief lady-in-waiting has changed a little. How should I put it? She feels a bit more relaxed? Maybe because she came to her hometown?”
Watching Sisi talk while tilting her head with every sentence, Josef corrected her misunderstanding.
“Countess Esterhazy was born in Vienna. She was a princess of Liechtenstein.”
“Really? Still, since we came to Hungary, I would like her to see her husband before we leave.”
Josef’s hand stopped.
“Countess Esterhazy’s husband, you say?”
Josef tried to recall whether Countess Esterhazy had remarried, but nothing came to mind.
“I mean Count Esterhazy. The count who resigned from all public offices to devote his loyalty to the imperial family.”
“Ah. Her husband, Count Vincenz Esterhazy von Galanta, passed away more than twenty years ago. The current Count Esterhazy is Pal Antal.”
‘Then why was she being so kind in Hungary?’
Sisi had thought she had become kinder because she was a Hungarian noble, but Josef also explained that she was merely from a cadet branch of the Esterhazy family, not the main house.
‘Is it dry now?’
Josef felt somehow disappointed.
“It is finished.”
‘Hm, hmmm….’
After pondering for a moment, Sisi rang the bell and dove into bed.
“Your Majesty, please ask them to bring me some strong liquor.”
Josef understood her meaning and nodded.
He asked the servant who came in for strong liquor, and just as Josef was in the midst of steeling his heart—
Countess Esterhazy entered, swallowed dryly, and whispered into Sisi’s ear.
“…Your Majesty, it seems you are with child. You must not have relations. Shall I still prepare the liquor?”
“Wh-what, what did you say?”
“You are with child.”
“Then I wasn’t getting fat….”
“Empress, Sisi? Sisi!”
When Sisi suddenly fainted, Josef shook her, but when there was no response, he grew frantic and was about to give an order to Countess Esterhazy. But she had already quickly approached the door and said,
“You there. Bring a doctor. Hurry!”
The doctor, dragged in in the dead of night in his nightclothes, witnessed a horrifying sight.
‘No wonder the guardsman brought me here without a word.’
Being urgently summoned by the imperial family in the middle of the night was never a good sign.
The unconscious empress, the panicked emperor, and the Mistress of the Court with her cold face.
‘…I am just an ordinary doctor!’
To begin with, he had been far removed from the imperial family.
Especially after the Hungarian Revolution, after the Hofburg had distanced itself from Buda and Pest, he had been hired.
Nevertheless, he had to overcome this situation.
‘I must survive…!’
He wiped away his cold sweat and approached Esterhazy.
“What happened? Just before Her Majesty collapsed, what did she say, and what condition was she in?”
Esterhazy told him the empress’s condition and gave him a warning as well.
“Upon hearing the news of her pregnancy, Her Majesty the Empress suddenly lost consciousness. This fact must be known only to the four of us present here.”
‘…In other words, if rumors spread, it will be a disaster.’
The doctor’s vision went dark.
The emperor and empress’s love marriage… though calling it that was somewhat ambiguous, was something most subjects knew about.
‘If she is pregnant, bloodletting is out of the question.’
Just as he was about to take her pulse, Esterhazy’s thunderous scolding fell upon him.
“Do not lay your hands on Her Majesty the Empress’s sacred person as you please.”
Only after a thin layer of silk was placed over her wrist was permission granted.
‘So this is hell.’
He took her pulse and listened with a stethoscope, but he simply could not tell.
“What is the result?”
The emperor asked.
“It is similar to sleep. For now, it would be best to observe the situation further….”
***
“…”
This is suffocating.
“Doctor, are you certain you are treating her properly?”
Josef’s angry voice.
“If Her Majesty does not wake, Doctor, you may not wake tomorrow either.”
And Esterhazy’s threat.
At this rate, they’ll end up killing someone.
“Chief lady-in-waiting. Help me sit up.”
“Empress!”
Esterhazy approached and carefully propped me up against the bed.
“Thank you for being alive, Your Majesty!”
“How many minutes was I unconscious?”
“Not even ten minutes have passed, Your Majesty.”
No, then in less than ten minutes, Josef and Esterhazy were saying, Are you treating her? If she doesn’t wake up, you won’t open your eyes the next day either?
…Would this perhaps work on Sophie too?
I don’t think it would. I can’t picture Josef and Esterhazy rebelling against Sophie.
It’s late, so for now, let’s sleep again.
Right now, while the haze of sleep still hasn’t cleared. Falling asleep again at a time like this is the sweetest sleep.
“I am fine, so the two of you should go out at once.”
“Your Majesty, may you rest in peace and comfort.”
Josef, you heard that, right? It’s forbidden until next year.