“You don’t believe me, do you?”
Josef shook his head.
“No, no. But this place is far too dangerous. If you were to be taken prisoner…”
I gently laid my index finger over Josef’s lips.
“I told you, it’s a慰問—a morale visit. Naturally, starting tomorrow, I’ll withdraw to the rear, where the wounded soldiers are gathered.”
It’s not as if I’m of any help in the war, so what would be the point of staying here long?
I am not some madwoman who would hold out in Cholet, singing hymns as the Hell Unit approached.
I cupped Josef’s cheeks in both hands and whispered.
“It was hard, wasn’t it?”
His rough hand settled over mine.
“If hell exists, this must have been it.”
From what I had heard on the way here, the fighting had gone on for nearly fifteen hours.
No commander could remain sane after watching tens of thousands of soldiers die or be wounded in a matter of hours.
“It wasn’t your fault.”
This era itself is one no one can live through sanely.
The fervor of nationalism, militarism that raises armies while crying out for patriotism.
A turbulent age just before the advent of the so-called beautiful era, the peace known as the Belle Époque.
Well… our empire was busy even during the Belle Époque.
The names alone are Pax Britannica and Belle Époque, aren’t they?
Had Josef been comforted?
“Thank you.”
He glanced at the clock on the table, then lifted me into his arms before setting me back down.
“I am sorry. I am due for a discussion on tactics.”
“It’s all right.”
I whispered softly into Josef’s ear.
“Countess Esterházy has procured some strong liquor.”
You know what that means, don’t you?
“I’ll be back soon.”
Josef kissed my cheek briefly, then hurried out of the tent.
*
Ow, that stings.
“Today, while I was walking, I tripped over a stone and ended up falling.”
At my awkward excuse for a question no one had asked, the court ladies looked at me with the expressions of aunts watching a niece who had gotten into trouble.
…How was I supposed to know Josef was suffering that much?
He had simply needed somewhat intense comforting.
“All done. Does it trouble you when you move?”
The army doctor, who had wrapped cloth around my knee, asked.
I nodded and glanced around.
Still, it isn’t as filthy an environment as I expected.
“It is entirely different from the hospitals in Vienna.”
Did they perhaps prepare for a whole day because I was coming?
Judging from the army doctor’s awkward expression, it seemed I was right.
“Even so, thanks to Your Majesty, the death toll has decreased.”
“Thanks to me?”
“Dr. Semmelweis’s handwashing. His Majesty the Emperor enforced it.”
Josef did? I had mentioned it in passing before, but when nothing changed, I had half given up.
He could have made it a little more obvious….
“Every place I go will have been prepared this cleanly, then?”
“Most likely.”
Would they listen if I gave the order? Even Nightingale took ages, and even now, she only gets one or two lines in the newspapers.
“Then I can simply go around visiting every ward.”
“Pardon?”
“I said I intend to visit every ward.”
At least that way, I can force them to keep up appearances.
“Chief lady-in-waiting.”
“You called, Your Majesty.”
“Inform every military hospital. Tell them the Empress herself wishes to see the wounded soldiers.”
“Understood, Your Majesty.”
I am the Empress.
The reason everyone bowed their heads to me at that first tea party and gave me a Hofknicks was because I was the Empress.
Because my very existence alone could drive them all mad.
“First, let us look after the wounded here.”
I stood, doing my best to ignore the dull ache in my knee.
“Lead the way.”
“Yes? Ah, yes! This way, Your Majesty.”
The army doctor hurriedly took the lead. The moment I followed him and pushed aside the curtain of the ward, my breath stopped.
So this was the hell Josef had spoken of yesterday.
“Your Majesty.”
Esterházy handed me a handkerchief sprinkled with perfume.
I brought the handkerchief to my nose.
“Your Majesty, even now, perhaps you should return…”
“Army doctor, do not try to go against Her Majesty’s wishes.”
Esterházy immediately restrained the army doctor.
“…Are these all the wounded from a single day of battle?”
Inside was even more hellish.
A soldier lying on the nearest bed, his arm wrapped in bandages, widened his eyes as if he had seen a ghost when he saw me.
“Y-Your Majesty the Empress…?”
I approached the soldier’s bed and took his uninjured hand.
“What is your name?”
“Lakatos, Lajos Lakatos.”
“You are Hungarian?”
“Yes…”
“Jobbulást kívánok (I wish you a swift recovery).”
“…”
When I wiped the endless tears flowing from the soldier’s eyes with my handkerchief, he burst into even more sorrowful sobs.
Esterházy’s voice sounded close by.
“Your Majesty, that is the handkerchief with perfume on it.”
…So he hadn’t been crying from emotion.
I had simply handed him whatever I happened to be holding.
“…You speak Hungarian?”
“Of course. I am the Apostolic Queen of Hungary. I strive to know as much as I can of the cultures of the subjects I govern.”
So that those words would not become a lie, I did the same for the other soldiers.
“Guarisca presto.”
The wealth of the Austrian Empire. Queen of Lombardy–Venetia, Italian.
“Brzy se uzdravte.”
The treasure of our industry. Queen of Bohemia, Bohemian.
“Brzo se oporavite.”
Brave soldiers. Queen of Croatia–Slavonia, Croatian.
“Vă doresc sănătate.”
Grand Duchess of Transylvania, where Dracula is, Romanian.
“Szybkiego powrotu do zdrowia.”
Just, just Poland. Queen of Galicia–Lodomeria, Polish.
I showed off, without reservation, the languages I had learned during the hours spent caring for my hair.
Josef might be angry if he saw this, but I had to consistently display this sort of behavior.
When would I ever have another chance to be this close to my subjects?
***
A French envoy entered the tent where Josef was.
‘They want to negotiate an end to the war?’
“His Majesty the Emperor wishes for a separate peace with Austria.”
Count Buol, who was with him, let out an incredulous laugh.
“If that was a joke, it was not amusing. Even Prussia’s jokes would be funnier.”
The Crimean War was a war in which many nations were involved.
With the war between Britain and Russia not even over yet, it made no sense for France, which showed a pro-British stance, to make a separate peace with Austria.
“If the army on our main front returns, will Austria not be certain to collapse?”
Josef glared at that arrogant French envoy.
‘He is not wrong.’
For France to secretly make peace with Austria would be a betrayal of Britain, and Austria too would be casting aside its long-standing trust with Russia.
“The war will continue.”
“Understood. I shall convey that.”
When the envoy left, Count Buol asked Josef,
“Your Majesty! This was an opportunity to remove the immediate threat!”
Josef recalled the reason he had taken part in this war.
“Count Buol. Have you forgotten why I entered this war despite your concerns and my mother’s?”
It had been to strengthen the Holy Alliance with Russia.
“Your Majesty, a messenger has arrived from Vienna.”
“From Vienna?”
The messenger who entered the tent made it clear why France had been trying to negotiate alone.
“Prussia, Bavaria, and Baden are conducting military exercises in the Rhine region…”
At the news, Count Buol stroked his chin with a displeased expression.
“Hm, how strange.”
“What is?”
“Is it not suspicious that Prussia, which signed an agreement at Olmütz, would take our side like this?”
As Count Buol said, this was the perfect opportunity for Prussia to take revenge on both Russia and Austria.
“And yet, I find it difficult to fathom why they are helping the Empire.”
The question Count Buol had posed continued to trouble Josef’s mind.
***
It was around the time I had been making the rounds of hospitals like a pilgrimage for nearly two months, ignoring Sophie’s order to return.
“Your Majesty, negotiations are to be held.”
…It’s finally over.
“Where will the negotiations take place?”
“Paris.”
We lost.
“Empress.”
Josef called me in a slightly raised voice, as if he were terribly excited about something.
“The war will soon be over.”
“Will you be all right…?”
“What is there to be upset about? We have further strengthened our alliance with Russia, which was our strategic objective, and we will not lose any territory.”
“Have Sardinia and France given up on Lombardy?”
Josef suddenly burst into laughter.
“What is being held in Paris is merely something Britain and we agreed to because France’s upstart kept throwing a tantrum.”
So it was a draw.
Just as Josef’s hand was drawing closer and closer, another telegram from Sophie arrived for me.
“Your Majesty the Empress, Her Imperial Highness Archduchess Sophie says you are to attend the Treaty of Paris.”
What?
When I looked at Josef, he failed to manage his expression and frowned.
“I am grateful for the sacrifices the Archduchess has made for the Empire, but sending the Empress to Paris would be no different from admitting we were defeated.”
Count Buol, who had been standing quietly beside Josef, conveyed Sophie’s thinking.
“Your Majesty, I do not believe Her Imperial Highness intended it that way. That upstart must have made a great many concessions to have the negotiations held in Paris.
And what would be the reason for that? Legitimacy. He is different from us. He is an emperor elected by his subjects.
We and Britain indulged his vanity in order to end the war. Her Imperial Highness sending Her Majesty the Empress means that we can soothe Napoleon III’s vanity and secure every practical advantage.”
That… makes sense!
Whatever one might say, Archduchess Sophie is a great figure who kept the Empire together. There is a reason Josef cannot easily free himself from his mother’s influence.
But do I really have to go?
“If you do not wish to, you need not go.”
He said that, but his expression looked like he was asking me to go.
“I’ll go.”
Still, this is better than before, when he wouldn’t say anything at all.
I don’t think it is a bad idea either. If I went back to Vienna, I would only have to see that exhausting Archduchess’s face again.
For the past year, she picked fights with me over every little thing. She even drove someone like me, who likes staying at home, all the way out here.
“Who will escort the Empress?”
The messenger glanced at Count Buol.
“Count Buol.”
Josef’s head began to turn to the side.
“Count Buol. Do not entertain any foolish thoughts.”
Josef….
“Do you even know how old I am…?”
He is a grandfather who ought to be celebrating his sixtieth birthday next year.
And I am only eighteen.
How ridiculous.