The most popular topic in the empire at present was the war between the Empress and the Archduchess.
“However poor their relations may be, is it right for the imperial family to be divided in the midst of a war?”
Those who subtly criticized the Empress and supported the Archduchess.
“Isn’t it remarkable enough that Her Majesty has endured it all this time? They say the victory on the Italian front this time was thanks to Her Majesty the Empress, don’t they?”
Those who belittled the Archduchess and supported the Empress.
They also sparred over other subjects.
“These days, Bach’s tunes feel far too classical.”
Voices opposing the Bach system.
“There is a reason the classics are called classics.”
The rebuttal from those who supported the Bach system.
Pauline elegantly lifted her teacup and took a sip, then glanced around and lowered her voice.
“… That reminds me of an interesting story I happened to hear yesterday.”
“What sort of story?”
“Lately, there has been quite a lot of talk about the gardens of our court, has there not?
Some people look upon a French garden and marvel. Every tree is in perfect symmetry, after all. Seeing such orderly arrangements can make one feel at ease.
But, well. These days I find myself interested in English gardens as well. They are a little rough, filled with wildflowers that never seem to go where one expects… but at least one can breathe there, can’t one?”
A French garden that tolerated not a single weed, and an English garden that achieved harmony between a little management and nature.
The contrast between the two gardens was clear.
“What a fascinating time this is. Will this new wind truly be able to topple those sturdy walls? Or will it end as nothing more than a childish gust that passes by?”
At whom were those words directed?
Pauline had still not made a perfect choice. It was true that she had become friends with the Empress. But it remained unclear whether what she truly wanted was a friend or a political alliance.
If only Her Majesty would involve herself more in politics, others would be able to feel certain as well.
Pauline’s worries deepened. If she were to form an alliance with Sisi even in politics, that would be tantamount to betraying her family.
***
I never thought I would end up meeting this man.
“How long do you intend to keep this old man waiting?”
“Duke Metternich.”
Metternich smiled at me like an ordinary grandfather.
“Hoho, you need not worry. I fell from power in the revolution, went into exile, and returned to Vienna. What power could I possibly have now?”
Hadn’t Joseph said he had laid down real authority and lived as something like an elder statesman who occasionally offered him advice?
“I heard that the child who will become my daughter-in-law had become friends with Your Majesty, and so, despite the discourtesy, I requested this meeting.”
“Even if the man once called the coachman of Europe has lost his power, who would dismiss this meeting as nothing more than a connection through his daughter-in-law?”
The Hundred Years’ Peace.
If Bismarck was the representative of its later period, then the representative of its early period was Metternich, who stood before my eyes.
And… he was Archduchess Sophie’s political teacher.
Metternich’s smile remained serene.
“Hoho, it seems this old man has forgotten how to speak frankly over the course of his long life.”
I showed him the most harmless smile I could.
“It is only natural for an elder of the family to feel that way. I fully understand and respect that sentiment. I, too, would be curious if Sophie made a new friend.”
Please, couldn’t you just leave?
“Your Majesty is quite right. Now that I have met Your Majesty in person, I understand why my daughter-in-law follows you so devotedly. Pauline may not seem so at first glance, but she is affectionate and has a lonely side to her. To hear that she has become friends with someone as warm as Your Majesty puts this old man’s mind at ease.”
… Is he really speaking only as a father-in-law?
“The time I spend with Lady Slavnica is enjoyable for me as well. She is a young lady with a beautiful heart, one who helps others without selfish motives.”
“You honor her too much. To hear that the child has become such a good friend to Your Majesty—there could be no greater joy for me as the head of the family.”
Even after that, he truly added nothing more.
This meeting ended as a conversation between a father-in-law asking after his daughter-in-law and me reassuring my friend’s father-in-law.
“I have kept Your busy Majesty for far too long.”
Metternich rose, leaning on his cane.
“I sincerely thank you for granting me your precious time today, and for being a good friend to my daughter-in-law. This old man will now withdraw with an easy heart.”
Before leaving the room, he bowed politely to me.
I did not relax until he had completely left the room.
He finally left.
Only after the door closed did I let out the breath I had been holding.
From the tension of meeting the coachman of Europe alone, the hand that held my teacup was damp. I still could not tell whether he had truly come out of concern for his daughter-in-law or whether he had come to test me.
“Head lady-in-waiting. Bring me tea.”
I called Esterhazy and asked her to replace my empty teacup with a fresh one.
Would a great figure like Metternich have come to visit me, shut away in the Empress’s palace, for no reason at all?
“Here is your tea.”
I took a sip of warm herbal tea and set it down again.
“Your Majesty, as I told you repeatedly on the first day, the Empress must not reveal her emotions.”
Ah. I was so nervous that I slipped.
“Rather, Duke Metternich must have found you suspicious.”
Suspicious of me? I thought I had gotten through that well enough.
“Do you know how long Duke Metternich has been in the palace?”
“He has been here since the Napoleonic Wars, so roughly forty years, I suppose.”
“The Empresses the Duke remembers were all women of perfect formality. Since you allowed such a man to read your expression, he would have found it all the more suspicious.”
Esterhazy would know more about Metternich than I did.
“Head lady-in-waiting. Truly, you struck at the heart of the matter. That answer just now was really deep. Very deep.”
I had been trapped in suffocating tension until just a moment ago. Couldn’t she overlook a little?
“… What are you talking about?”
Tsk, was that not it? I thought that was how flattery worked.
As if paying the price for that, I had to relearn court etiquette under Esterhazy’s instruction.
***
Metternich returned to his residence and reviewed his meeting with the Empress.
She could not possibly have been unaware of who I am.
Even if Metternich did not boast of his own achievements, it was impossible that she knew nothing of his name.
Rather, if she had not been nervous, that would have been stranger.
It would have been proof that the Empress was excessively arrogant, or else so foolish that she knew nothing of the world.
“It seems it is true that Her Highness Archduchess Sophie has been tormenting the Empress like a cat with a mouse.”
“Have you met Her Majesty the Empress?”
He did not answer his son’s question and merely closed his eyes, lost in thought.
Archduchess Sophie, who despises liberals, and the Empress, who despises nationalism.
He had advised the Emperor that nationalism would bring about the empire’s destruction, but the Emperor, hidden in Archduchess Sophie’s shadow, dreamed of Greater Germanism.
“Your Excellency, Her Majesty the Empress Dowager has sent a letter.”
“Burn it.”
Even without opening the envelope, he could see its contents clearly.
She must be telling me not to approach the Empress.
The members of the imperial family regarded Metternich as a thorn in their eye.
They believed that, though he had been a mere subject as chancellor, he had manipulated the imperial family’s power for decades and reigned above the Emperor.
“My son, my era is over.”
He recalled the brilliant past.
“The system I created has collapsed, and now the time has come to choose. If we cannot suppress both liberalism and nationalism…”
Metternich gave his final advice for the empire.
“At least preserve the form of the empire.”
***
“Reading lady-in-waiting. I wish to know what is fashionable in Vienna these days.”
Ferenczi, who had been writing my letter for me, answered at once.
“They say photography is in fashion.”
“Photography?”
Hmm.
Good. I’ve decided.
“Head lady-in-waiting. Bring a photographer here. Along with my letter, I would like to send His Majesty the Emperor a photograph so that he does not forget my face.”
Esterhazy left with a word of acknowledgment.
This is taking quite a while.
After some time, while Ferenczi was reading The Three Musketeers to me, Esterhazy returned in person with a camera.
No, was it right to say she had brought it?
Two sturdy attendants carried in a large wooden box, groaning with effort, and behind them another attendant followed with a tripod slung over his shoulder.
The maids carefully carried glass bottles filled with unidentified chemical agents and boxes of thin glass plates on silver trays.
What is that smell?
I stared dumbfounded at the enormous machine.
If she had told me she was going to bring in the sort of camera one might see in a photography studio, I would never have asked her to do it.
“So, where is the photographer?”
“There is no one in this court who specializes in taking photographs.”
“Then could we not invite one here?”
That was how it was usually done with painters, wasn’t it?
I had even sent several portraits to Joseph that way.
“A man of uncertain status cannot be allowed to enter the Empress’s palace.”
I drew in a deep breath.
I could hardly tell them to carry this back out now.
“Instead, I have noted down the method of operation, so we shall proceed at once.”
Fine. They had gone to all the trouble of carrying it here.
Once the preparations were finished, I sat in place and waited.
This is burdensome. Seeing the ladies-in-waiting around me holding reflectors and adjusting the light was far too burdensome.
Perhaps I should have told them to paint a portrait instead.
“Your Majesty, from the moment the maid opens the lens cap until the moment she closes it, you must not move. Not at all, not even a little.”
“How long will that be?”
“On a clear day indoors like today, about thirty seconds.”
“Thirty seconds?”
Thirty seconds might sound easy, but the difference from a portrait was that this was a machine.
“May I not even blink?”
“Blinking is all right, but you should endure it as much as possible. And please breathe as shallowly as you can.”
I answered that I understood, and since it was a photograph only Joseph would see, I smiled slightly.
Ten seconds. The reflectors held by the ladies-in-waiting trembled faintly.
Fifteen seconds. The smell of ammonia began to sting the tip of my nose.
Twenty seconds. It felt as though the corners of my mouth were twitching.
Esterhazy quickly closed the lens cap.
Had thirty seconds always been this long?
Esterhazy carefully lifted the wet glass plate and held it out to show me.
There was…
“…”
All the ladies-in-waiting looked at the photograph and could not speak.
Should I say it was something that was not me?
The figure in the photograph had shaken uneasily, and the forced smile was unbearably awkward. Most of all, the corners of the mouth were difficult to distinguish at all.
“I would like to be photographed with dignity befitting an Empress.”
Now I understand why historical figures were photographed with expressionless faces.