The next thing to do after I felt the baby move was to cancel my afternoon schedule.
“Court lady, summon the court physician.”
It is rather late to be saying this, but… there really are too many court ladies.
The position of chief lady-in-waiting is currently vacant, the reader is Ida Ferenczy, and all the rest are court ladies.
Their roles are divided, but… their official title is all “court lady.”
Perhaps that was why no one moved.
Swallowing my irritation, I pointed out a specific target.
“Maid of honor, you go.”
Lady Bellegarde made her curtsy and left to summon the court physician.
The unmarried ladies-in-waiting are maids of honor, but at present, the only maid of honor is Lady Bellegarde.
Since I had singled her out, refusing would have been no different from open insubordination.
Ha. To think I had to engage in a power struggle even in my own room, where I should have been most comfortable.
Before long, Schkoda arrived.
His expression showed puzzlement and a little concern at the Empress’s sudden summons.
“Your Majesty, I was told you called for me. Is there something troubling you?”
“Everyone except the court physician may leave.”
As always, Bellegarde revealed her displeasure in formal language.
“Your Majesty, the court physician is a man, and he cannot be left alone with Her Majesty the Empress.”
Is that so?
“Then the maid of honor may leave. Only the court ladies may remain.”
“Your Majesty, if this is a deserved punishment, I shall obey, but it is improper to treat me so coldly merely because of the misunderstanding that I am a close attendant of Her Highness Archduchess Sophie.”
Misunderstanding, my foot.
I looked at Schkoda.
“Court physician, I imagine you can guess why I called you.”
Schkoda bent at the waist and answered.
“Yes, Your Majesty. It is as Your Majesty surmises. I believe you felt the heir in your womb move and sought me out.”
I looked at Bellegarde.
The court ladies are married, and you are unmarried. Even if an unmarried young lady learned of my pregnancy, could she possibly be of any help?
The subject of pregnancy and childbirth was, by the current social conventions and etiquette, not something an unmarried woman was permitted to hear. If the unmarried Bellegarde continued to remain here, she would be behaving in a way that made herself an indecent woman.
“What do the court ladies think of a maid of honor who lectures me on etiquette, then tells me she intends to violate it herself?”
As expected… they are on bad terms with each other.
Whether it is a feud between their families or a matter of personal feelings, I do not know.
“It seems the conversation we are about to have is not one in which a maid of honor should take part.”
Lamberg bowed to me as she said so.
“Court lady, do not blame the maid of honor too much. Was it not simply because her loyalty toward me was excessive?”
Without any change in her expression, Bellegarde quietly left the room.
Now Sophie will learn of the pregnancy as well.
Schkoda touched and examined my lower abdomen as I lay on the bed, then became certain.
“May your august body be protected. I sincerely congratulate you on your pregnancy, Your Majesty.”
At Schkoda’s words, the court ladies also performed a Hofknicks in unison.
“May your august body be protected.”
***
Archduchess Sophie looked at Lady Bellegarde.
‘I thought she took after her mother.’
That thought circled in Sophie’s mind the entire time she listened to Bellegarde’s report.
Her younger sister, Ludovika. Kind, obedient, utterly uninterested in politics… and for that reason, a sister who had lived her whole life yielding to Sophie.
Naturally, Sophie had assumed that Ludovika’s daughter, Sisi, would be the same. Her free-spirited refusal to be bound by formality was merely proof of immaturity and lack of education; Sophie had never imagined such cunning was hidden within.
“So.”
There was no emotion in Sophie’s voice.
“You are saying that, in the Empress’s room, before the eyes of the other ladies-in-waiting, you were driven out by the Empress, who used etiquette as a weapon.”
“I beg your forgiveness, Your Highness. However, Her Majesty the Empress brought up the subject of pregnancy, and as I am unmarried, I could not possibly remain in that place—”
“Enough.”
Sophie cut off Bellegarde’s excuse.
A defeat was a defeat. What mattered was the process.
Sisi had not shouted or shown emotion. She had simply and quietly used the most powerful weapons of the court: etiquette and status.
Sophie felt a chill at how much the method resembled her own. It was precisely the way she had ruled the Hofburg for decades.
She realized that what her son Joseph had picked up in the forest was not merely a frightened little bird, but a young hawk hiding its talons. And today, that hawk had bared its talons to her for the first time.
“The pregnancy is certain, then.”
Sophie changed the subject. Reprimanding Bellegarde was now meaningless. The board of the game had changed.
“Yes, Your Highness. Court Physician Schkoda officially confirmed it.”
“I see.”
Sophie closed her eyes for a moment.
From a thoughtless girl into the Empress carrying the heir to the Empire.
Now Sisi had obtained a powerful justification that no one could carelessly ignore. The Emperor would cling to her even more, and the nobles of the court would look up to her.
Only then did a faint, cruel smile rise to Sophie’s lips.
“Good.”
“… Pardon?”
“The Empress has finally come to fulfill her role. Is that not very commendable?”
She rose from her seat.
“You may leave, Bellegarde. And have the court physician enter. I must hear about the Empress’s health myself.”
After Bellegarde left the room, Sophie stood by the window and looked down at the darkening garden.
‘Yes, Elisabeth. It is good that you are clever. Better than having a foolish Empress.’
But her thoughts were already turning elsewhere.
‘Your role ends there. Give birth to the child. As for raising that child into a true Habsburg Emperor, that has always been, and will always be, my task alone.’
She wrote letters to Count Bellegarde and to Joseph.
Letters concerning the marriage of Lady Bellegarde to Joseph’s adjutant, Alfred von Königsegg-Aulendorf, Minister of the Imperial Household, and promising to make her court mistress—in other words, the next chief lady-in-waiting.
***
I sat in the rocking chair Joseph had given me as a gift.
“Countess Esterházy.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Who is the highest authority in the Empress’s household?”
“It is Your Majesty the Empress.”
“Though Her Highness the Archduchess may possess that authority in practice, should I not at least be given a word of notice?”
“Your Majesty is correct.”
“The court physician also said that, for the sake of stability, a familiar figure would be better.”
“… Your Majesty.”
“I cannot approve a resignation that does not bear my signature.”
News of the marriage between the House of Bellegarde and the House of Königsegg spread through the court in an instant.
It sounded as though they intended to control Joseph and me through a single family. I could not simply let that happen.
Until I took control of the Empress’s household, I had to preserve the current balance of power.
“I shall not take issue with the chief lady-in-waiting leaving the palace at her own discretion while disregarding the Empress.”
“I am grateful for Your Majesty’s broad generosity.”
When Bellegarde returned after the wedding and saw Esterházy, I saw her mask shatter, if only for an instant.
“Lady Bellegarde—no. I should congratulate you on becoming Countess Königsegg.”
“I am grateful that Your Majesty shows me such consideration.”
So, Sophie favors you more than Lamberg.
Then I will aim for that gap.
“At the blooming age of twenty-four, you are still young to hold a wedding. I, too, married early, so I can somewhat imagine how you must feel, court lady.”
Lamberg struggled mightily to hide her expression.
Twenty-four is young? In the Empire, the proper age for marriage is between eighteen and twenty-two.
No matter how urgent it is, are they really trying to make a twenty-four-year-old court mistress so openly?
How wounded must the senior ladies, including Countess Lamberg, feel after being pushed aside by a maid younger than themselves by quite a margin?
Those who are not favored will inevitably seek a new line to hold on to.
And the old-generation court ladies, including Lamberg…
“Your Majesty, I would like to inform you of His Majesty the Emperor’s afternoon schedule.”
There was no way they would miss me, who bore resentment toward Sophie.
I noticed Lamberg’s signal for negotiation and dismissed everyone else.
“Court lady. His Majesty the Emperor’s schedule is not ordinarily a court lady’s duty.”
Lamberg did not avoid my gaze. The practiced composure of a woman who had survived decades at court rested on her face.
“We believed it to be our long-standing duty to set the discipline of the Empress’s household right before Your Majesty’s body grows heavy.”
Yes, there was an order to things, and out of nowhere, a young lady-in-waiting had reserved the position of court mistress.
“So you will help me?”
“It is not help.”
Lamberg lowered her head.
“It is service to Her Majesty the Empress. Her Highness the Archduchess is busy caring for the entire Empire, so we wish to take charge of the minor practical affairs of the Empress’s household and lessen Your Majesty’s concerns.”
Archduchess Sophie will take charge of the Empire, and we will serve you as mistress of this Empress’s household, is that it…
Until now, the Empress Dowager had no interest in politics, and the other noblewomen had been suppressed under Sophie’s power for decades.
Their jealousy, dissatisfaction, and ambition had found an alternative in me.
“I am pleased that the experienced ladies of the Empress’s household will lend me their strength. As it happens, the newly married Countess Königsegg will need time to assist her husband and enjoy her newlywed life for a while, rather than bear the heavy title of court mistress.”
In other words, simple practical duties such as managing the Empress’s wardrobe list or arranging audiences with visitors would be entrusted to Countess Königsegg, while the rest would be left to Esterházy, the chief lady-in-waiting, and the senior court ladies.
“We are grateful for Your Majesty’s wise consideration.”
“That will be enough regarding His Majesty the Emperor’s afternoon schedule. I intend to go to His Majesty’s office myself later.”
I added,
“Please inform Her Highness the Archduchess that, as I must rest, I shall respectfully decline visits for the time being. It is also the court physician’s opinion, so I trust the court lady can convey it properly?”
“Of course, Your Majesty. Protecting Her Majesty the Empress’s august body is now the court’s foremost duty.”
I looked at the clock and said,
“It is time for my afternoon rest.”
They drew the curtains to block the sunlight and quietly withdrew.
“We shall take our leave.”
Left alone in the room, I opened the curtain slightly and looked at the ladies-in-waiting outside the window.
The old generation, the new generation, and even Hungary.
“This place is a small empire.”
The fact that a union between high-ranking houses was decided so easily must mean Joseph’s will was involved as well.
How did Sophie coax Joseph?
Stability for the Empire? A reasonable administrative measure?
It does not matter. Joseph dislikes change, and he will not cast Countess Esterházy aside.
***
The cold war between the Empress and the Archduchess continued.
Caught between being a son and being a husband, Joseph could do neither one thing nor the other, and, calling it women’s business, raised the white flag.
And after the year turned, on March 4.
“Your Majesty, you must breathe.”