As the chief lady-in-waiting had said, after a short while, she entered carrying an almanac containing the names of all the court officials and information on their families.
Judging from everything that had happened so far, there would surely be rules for reading, and even for sitting down.
I didn’t say it aloud; the thought only circled in my head. Yet the chief lady-in-waiting behaved as if she had read my mind.
After carefully setting it down on the enormous mahogany desk, the chief lady-in-waiting turned toward me and indicated the chair with her palm.
“Your Majesty the Empress. Naturally, there is procedure for sitting and reading as well.”
How tremendously sarcastic of you.
The chief lady-in-waiting was serene, as though she were stating an utterly obvious fact.
“The chair is a vessel that contains the authority of the Empress. Therefore, you must not sit in it carelessly. First, approach the chair from the left. The right is the direction reserved for His Majesty the Emperor.”
…Something seemed to have changed, but what was it?
I moved like a robot into which the chief lady-in-waiting had input a command, and stood to the left of the chair.
“Good. Now wait until a lady-in-waiting draws the chair back. Your Majesty must never lay a hand upon anything.”
Another lady-in-waiting approached soundlessly and pulled back the heavy chair.
And just as I was about to sit—
Her voice caught my movement.
“You must not show the weakness of leaning your back against the backrest. Your Majesty the Empress is one of the two pillars of the empire. You must always keep yourself straight, and maintain enough space between your back and the backrest for one fist to fit. That is the dignity of Habsburg.”
“Then is there any need for a backrest at all?”
After a brief silence, she spoke in the exact same tone as before.
“Your Majesty the Empress. What you just said takes the form of a question, but within it there was nothing but discourtesy and vulgarity.”
When was I discourteous and vulgar?
“Every word that leaves the Empress’s mouth must carry the weight of the empire. You must refrain from remarks that mix in emotion and shake the very foundation of etiquette.”
Ah, so ignoring etiquette was what made it discourteous and vulgar.
“Then how ought I ask a question?”
“Rather than using direct phrasing such as ‘is there any need for a backrest at all,’ Your Majesty should simply express your doubt, as in, ‘I find myself questioning the practicality of the backrest.’ Then your subjects will discern your intent and explain accordingly.”
…She seemed strangely kinder now?
“Now, I shall teach you how to read documents.”
Your tone changed!
The chief lady-in-waiting picked up a long, thin rod that looked expensive from beside the stack of documents on the desk and placed it before me.
“The hands of the Empress are treasures of the empire, and must not be carelessly soiled by the ink and paper made by mortal beings.”
It’s not like I’m an immortal, so what’s all this about mortals…
“You must not laugh so frivolously either.”
Ahem.
“Use this rod to indicate the sentence you are reading. When you have finished reading one page, move the rod silently to the upper right corner. That is the signal to turn the page. The lady-in-waiting in charge will turn to the next page for Your Majesty.”
I looked back and forth between the documents before me and the ivory rod.
“And this is most important, Your Majesty.”
She changed into clean gloves, then gently lifted my chin.
“No matter what is written in the almanac, you must never show anything on your face. The face of the Empress must be the very tranquility of the empire. Surprise, anger, joy—none are permitted.”
She took one step back and bowed at the waist.
“Now, please begin.”
Let’s think of this as an extension of a company contract. This is just part of the job.
I did this in the military too, didn’t I?
I was about to read the first word when—
“Where is His Majesty the Emperor?”
“The two of Your Majesties are not persons included on the list, but those who reign above the court hierarchy. The very thought of seeking His Majesty the Emperor among a list of subjects shakes the laws of the empire.”
Ah, I see.
“And the question Your Majesty just asked contained personal emotion, and thus goes against the Empress’s manner of speech. Rather than ‘Where is he?’ the proper method would be to command, ‘Explain the reason His Majesty the Emperor’s honored name is not visible.’”
I almost nodded, then stopped short and checked the chief lady-in-waiting out of the corner of my eye.
Looks like I did well this time.
The head must always be arrogant.
But where exactly was there personal sentiment mixed in…? I just asked.
It felt a little unfair.
“No emotion whatsoever must appear on Your Majesty’s face.”
You think that’s easy? I’m human too.
I fixed my expression again and, with my body stiff and rigid, lifted the ivory rod.
The very top, the first line.
The first thing I saw was a title.
Obersthofmeisterin Ihrer Majestät der Kaiserin und Königin (Court Minister of the Empress’s Household to Her Majesty the Empress and Queen).
How grandiose…
And when I slowly moved to the right, the name that appeared was—
Sophie, Countess Esterházy-Liechtenstein.
My intuition shouted that it was the person who had been educating me until just now.
Archduchess Sophie had surely not assigned me some mere chief lady-in-waiting, but the Court Minister of the Empress’s Household from the very beginning.
Trying my utmost not to let it show, I moved my hand as I had been taught and placed the tip of the rod at the upper right corner of the paper.
Since she’s not saying anything, does that mean I got it right?
Good, just like this…
***
Countess Sophie Esterházy-Liechtenstein stood like a statue at one side of the office, silently watching the new Empress seated at the desk.
The Empress was reading through the documents in a rigidly stiff posture.
When she finished one page, the Empress silently moved the rod to the upper right corner of the paper, just as she had been taught.
Seeing the perfect signal, a lady-in-waiting approached soundlessly and turned to the next page.
As Countess Esterházy watched that mechanical obedience, an exceedingly faint feeling of approval sprouted in her heart.
‘Her Highness said she was deeply worried because the girl had grown up freely and had never learned etiquette.’
She recalled the face of Archduchess Sophie from several days ago, when she had secretly summoned her and bestowed upon her a mission.
As an old friend, she knew how dearly the Archduchess loved her son, the Emperor; how full of distrust she was toward this young Empress from Bavaria whom that son had chosen; and how anxious she was about the future of Habsburg.
For that reason, as the mother of the empire, the Archduchess wanted a perfect Empress.
‘Yes, just like her.’
And as the instrument to carry out that weighty task, she had chosen Sophie Esterházy.
‘Make the Empress into the empire’s hardest jewel, Sophie.’
The Archduchess’s voice was still vivid in her ears.
At first, Countess Esterházy had thought the task close to impossible.
The frailty of collapsing on her wedding day; a temperament in which no formality could be found.
But when the lid was opened, the reality was somewhat different from what she had expected.
‘Of course, at first, she attempted the discourtesy of asking a lady-in-waiting’s name. But that seemed less like rebellion and more like the innocent curiosity of a child who knows nothing.’
Even when she clumsily used the word command, she seemed not to understand the weight of that authority.
But the most important point was that once she was taught the correct procedure, she followed it without complaint.
‘To be honest, even Her Highness Archduchess Sophie did not spend her childhood in an environment as prison-like as this.’
During the teaching of those painful, minute rules, she had not once voiced a complaint. That alone was enough to reveal potential.
‘A blank page is sometimes easier to handle.’
Countess Esterházy thought so.
Compared to an inept noble young lady already filled with bad habits, a pure canvas on which nothing at all had yet been drawn might be better for painting the picture she desired.
‘Her Highness Archduchess Sophie’s concerns are entirely natural, but perhaps they may have been somewhat excessive.’
This young Empress might be better material than expected.
Of course, there was still a long road ahead. She had to fill those free eyes with a dignity befitting the Empress of the empire, and make those delicate shoulders bear the weight of Habsburg.
***
“—Therefore, it is my opinion that we must adjust the severity of the ultimatum sent to Russia, Your Majesty.”
The voice of Count Buol, the foreign minister, rang out.
Franz Joseph shifted his gaze meaninglessly over the documents.
There was no way he could concentrate.
The ministers’ reports did not enter his ears, only circling endlessly in his head.
‘Russia, or Britain and France.’
In the end, the empire was walking a precarious tightrope over the worst possible choice, one in which both sides would turn their backs.
Five years ago, when the empire had been on the brink of collapse due to the Hungarian rebellion, it had been Nicholas I of Russia who had sent an army.
‘I am in a position where I must stab in the back the man who treated me like a son. A traitor.’
Could he avoid that brand?
But the moment he sided with Russia, the empire would have to go to war with all of Western Europe.
A situation in which neither side was the answer.
Franz shook his throbbing head.
At that moment, a pink thought wedged its way into the gray reality that filled his mind.
‘They said Sisi woke today.’
That single piece of news had changed the atmosphere of the court in an instant.
The old nobles who had clamored that the marriage should be annulled under the pretext that the Empress had collapsed had all shut their mouths. That alone felt satisfying.
‘Sisi…’
On their wedding day, those dark brown eyes that had looked up at him even as she trembled in fear.
She seemed like a person from a world different from this tiresome political arena.
A being with nothing to do with troublesome matters such as the wrath of the Russian Emperor, the arrogance of France, or the empire’s finances.
In the moments when he thought of Sisi, the twenty-four-year-old young Emperor could breathe, if only briefly.
“…Your Majesty? What are Your Majesty’s thoughts?”
Count Buol’s voice ended his brief escape.
Franz Joseph slowly raised his head. The human anguish from just a moment ago had disappeared from his face, leaving only the expression of an emotionless ruler of the empire once more.
“Report again from the military movements at the border.”
At the end of the continuing meeting, the sun had already set, and the day was coming to a close.
Unlike usual, Joseph headed to the couple’s bedchamber perhaps a little more quickly.
***
When the sun set and the candles were lit, I felt the tension leave my entire body.
That was because the hellish education from Esterházy had ended, and the ladies-in-waiting, including her, had withdrawn for a short while for supper.
I also sent a signal to the one young lady-in-waiting left behind with a wink, and she nodded with a smiling face.
Just as I was resting for a moment with my body leaned against the chair’s backrest—
The bedchamber door suddenly opened, and Countess Esterházy and the others returned in a rush.
“Your Majesty! You must prepare at once.”
“What is the matter?”
My question violated the etiquette she had taught me, but it seemed there was a matter more important than that.
“His Majesty the Emperor is on his way here! You must hurry and prepare.”
The Emperor?
The Emperor, you say? Was I the Empress?
Then, uh… we’re married, aren’t we?
Emergency sirens blared in my head.
“Clear the table! Bring Her Majesty the Empress’s evening dress, and you two, hurry and assist Her Majesty in changing.”
In an instant, I was seized like a doll and lifted from the table.
Two ladies-in-waiting rushed in and untied the laces of the dress I was wearing, while another lady-in-waiting brought over a blue silk dress that looked splendid yet comfortable, and I was dressed in it.
So this is what serious mode looks like.
“From now on, we shall conduct the evening ceremony, the Coucher, in abbreviated form. When His Majesty the Emperor opens the door and enters, Your Majesty must rise from your seat and perform the Hofknicks, the court curtsy, with the deepest respect.”
A posture where one foot was drawn far back, and both knees were bent deeply enough to almost touch the floor.
A curtsy?
“At this time, your gaze must be directed toward His Majesty’s toes, and you must never raise your head until His Majesty extends his hand. After His Majesty kisses the back of Your Majesty’s hand and says, ‘You have had a trying day, Empress,’ Your Majesty must answer, ‘It cannot compare to Your Majesty’s labors.’”
The moment those words, poured out as quickly as a rap, came to an end, a voice sounded from outside the door.
“His Majesty the Emperor enters.”
“Now, Your Majesty. Just as you practiced!”
With Esterházy’s final whisper, the bedchamber door opened.
Feeling as if my heart had stopped, I sprang up from my seat.
How was I supposed to do this again?
I hurriedly bent my knees, imitating the Hofknicks Esterházy had just demonstrated.
Was the Emperor supposed to speak first? Was I supposed to speak first?
What was I even supposed to say in the first place?
“W-welcome, Your Majesty.”
I… I’m doomed.