Joseph had a headache over the empire’s many problems.
‘Open a map and to the north there is ambitious Prussia, to the south blazing Sardinia, to the east crooked Hungary; open the treasury and all that comes out is dust.’
Hungary still refused to pay taxes, and even if he tried to borrow a loan from Britain, Britain was dissatisfied with Austria’s political system.
The very fact that Sisi had been personally invited to the British Expo was an extraordinary circumstance.
‘Fortunately, we’re holding on with the indemnity, but… the only way left is for Sisi to win Britain’s goodwill.’
Joseph decided to curtail Bach’s authority.
At least until he borrowed a loan from Britain, he judged it better to show a liberal course of action.
He rang the bell and summoned Grüne.
“Grüne, call the Minister of the Interior.”
“Your Majesty, but the liberals will run wild.”
“I know. But right now, I am in far more desperate need of British pounds than of harmony with them.”
‘If I could have borrowed from Russia, I would have done so already.’
Joseph set aside, for the moment, any goals he could not achieve immediately.
There was only one thing that mattered slightly more to him.
The fact that he had still not received permission from the court physician to share the bed.
Unlike when she had been in Vienna, Sisi, despite the purification ritual being over, had been spending her time in only a robe and a thin chemise.
‘Damn it. I’m the emperor, and I can’t even do as I please with my own wife.’
The purification ritual was over, so the religious hurdle had been cleared.
Judging by Sisi’s complexion, she looked as though she wanted to set off on a journey at any moment, so the physical conditions had also been met.
And yet.
“Grüne. Bring the court physician.”
“Are you feeling unwell, Your Majesty?”
Grüne’s eyes were filled with sincere concern.
A man whose loyalty was second to none in the empire.
And for that very reason, a man all the more frustrating.
Joseph felt anger surge up, but barely swallowed it down.
“Not my physician. Skoda. Bring the Empress’s physician at once.”
“Understood. I will have him brought immediately.”
Unlike when he had read the letter last time, the blunt general merely nodded.
Because not adding needless remarks to private matters was the duty of a closest aide.
“… Just hurry and go.”
Once Grüne had left, Joseph let out a deep sigh.
“I would be better off speaking to a wall.”
A short while later, Skoda entered, and Joseph took a brief respite.
“Court physician, let me ask one thing. How long will it be impossible?”
Skoda had anticipated Joseph’s question and prepared his answer in advance.
“Your Majesty. Medically, and by the laws of the imperial household as well, at least one hundred days must pass.”
“It was not even a difficult birth like last time, and the Empress seems to have almost entirely recovered her strength already.”
“It is dangerous to judge by appearances alone. Even if Her Majesty’s august body appears outwardly unharmed, the place that must become the source of life has not yet fully healed.”
In the end, all that came back was that he should not do it.
‘Until when, exactly?’
As if reading Joseph’s thoughts, Skoda gave him a timeframe.
“You must wait with patience for at least two months.”
“Didn’t you say returning to Vienna was possible even now?”
“If you wish it, you may return even now.”
He thought it might be better to return to Vienna even now.
‘At least she won’t be sitting in the room wearing only a chemise.’
In the end, Joseph failed to receive permission to share the bed again today.
After finishing his day’s work, Joseph opened the bedroom door to find Sisi resting her chin on the table, gazing out the window.
The chair she sat on was one that had recently become fashionable in Vienna’s cafés.
A chair with only its frame visible, without heavy, solemn solid mahogany or lavish velvet cushions.
He himself had dismissed it as a toy for commoners.
‘That monstrosity… can look like that?’
Through the open gaps in the back of the chair, the curve of her waist, revealed above her chemise, was plainly visible.
Each time Sisi lazily twisted her body, the curve of the chair and Sisi’s figure overlapped as one, forming a harmony.
‘Damn it.’
Joseph rubbed his face dry and recalled Skoda’s warning.
But the visual stimulation was far too intense.
Tap, tap.
Even the rhythm with which she drummed on the table felt like a melody tempting him.
‘That chair is far too obscene. I should have it removed from the palace at once…’
It was just as Joseph was about to ban Thonet chairs.
“Your Majesty? You’re here?”
Sensing his presence, Sisi turned slightly and looked at Joseph.
“This chair is more comfortable than I thought. It’s light and sturdy, so I was thinking of exhibiting it at the London Expo.”
As she smiled faintly and rose, the thin hem of her garment slipped down with a rustle.
Joseph clenched his molars.
“… I am glad you find it comfortable.”
Hiding the crack in his voice, Joseph clasped his hands solemnly behind his back.
Her delicate line of shoulder, her slender waist. The hair flowing along her body, and even the expression that somehow looked languid and free.
It was Sisi’s purest form, the one for which he felt such affection and which he admired without end.
Whether she knew Joseph’s heart or not, she lifted something from the table with an innocent, excited expression.
“Do you know what this is?”
“What is it?”
It was an object made of thick paper rolled into two cones, connected by a string.
Sisi placed one cone in Joseph’s hand and stepped back until the string was taut.
“Put it to your ear.”
Without knowing why, Joseph carefully brought the cone she had handed him to his ear.
Far away, she whispered into the cone.
“I missed you, Joscha.”
The vibration that traveled along the string tickled his ear.
It was such a vivid resonance that it felt as though she were whispering while biting his earlobe.
‘This is torture. The cruelest torture in the world.’
Unable to set down the cone in his hand, Joseph moved his feet.
One step, then two.
As he approached, the string slackened and touched the floor.
Her voice no longer came across the string, but that did not matter.
Because now he was close enough for her breath to reach him.
“You are this close, and yet I am to hear only your voice?”
“… What do you mean?”
‘When did I ever say you could only hear my voice…?’
Sisi tried to protest, feeling wronged, but when she saw the look in Joseph’s eyes, she closed her mouth.
‘… Is he a little cute?’
She realized why Joseph was acting that way.
Sisi gently raised her hand and cupped Joseph’s cheek as he looked down at her.
“What the physician said we couldn’t do was only that, wasn’t it?”
Sisi lightly pulled Joseph by the neck and pressed her lips to his.
Their lips parted with a soft peck.
“After all, a husband and wife don’t have to join their bodies to share love.”
And once more, Sisi and Joseph kissed.
“Mmph…”
Unlike the first kiss, this was a deep indulgence, seeking each other’s breath and tangling their tongues.
The room was filled only with the rough sound of their breathing.
Joseph wrapped his arms around Sisi’s waist.
Her warmth and soft touch came through the thin fabric.
“Mmmph…”
The sound that slipped from between Sisi’s lips stirred him even further.
“Haa…”
After ending the heated kiss, the two caught their breath.
***
Russia, the Prussian Embassy in Saint Petersburg.
The Prussian ambassador to Russia threw firewood into the fireplace and cursed the Junkers.
“Damn it, an important post? It’s no different from a demotion.”
The Junkers of Berlin feared him.
At the Federal Diet in Frankfurt, he would smoke right in the faces of those Austrian bastards or spit venom at them, so afraid he might cause trouble, they had sent him here to Russia.
They hoped he would quietly rot away in this frozen land, hunting bears and soaking himself in vodka.
But he had not the slightest intention of doing so.
“Ambassador, a telegram from Berlin.”
The secretary entered hesitantly and placed a bundle of documents on the desk.
The ambassador downed, in one gulp, a powerful drink made by mixing champagne and black beer.
‘Tsk. What Prussia needs now is iron and blood, not ink and pens.’
He picked up the documents and checked their contents.
「High possibility that the Austrian Emperor will hold a coronation in Prague.」
“Ha! Would you look at this.”
He let out a hollow laugh.
‘Those Austrian bastards have been using their heads.’
Here in Saint Petersburg’s society, all one heard was praise for Austria.
Emperor Joseph, who had not betrayed them and had kept faith, and the Empress who had made him support them.
Thanks to that, relations between Russia and Austria were closer than ever.
On the surface.
But unlike the Russian nobles, the ambassador detected the subtle dissatisfaction the Tsar and Tsaritsa harbored toward the imperial couple.
‘The dead may not speak, but they rule the emotions of the living.’
He wiped the liquor from the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand, his eyes gleaming.
Austria had sided with Russia in the Crimean War, but the timing had been subtly late.
That momentary hesitation remained as an ember of betrayal in the hearts of the proud mistresses of the Russian imperial household.
And now, the card that had fallen into his hands: this Prague coronation.
It would make for excellent kindling.
“Secretary.”
“Yes, Ambassador.”
Bismarck ground out his cigar in the ashtray.
“Arrange an appointment with Foreign Minister Gorchakov for tomorrow evening. Even if I must pretend to run into him by chance at the hunting grounds, I have to meet him.”
“On what pretext do you intend to meet him?”
“To convey Prussia’s concerns regarding the news that the Austrian Emperor will wear the crown of Bohemia.”
He sank deep into the back of his chair and thought of a decent idea to drive a wedge between Austria and Russia.
“If the Kaiser holds a coronation in Prague, that is a gesture of embracing the Czechs, that is, the Slavs, after Hungary. They will say it is for the stability of the empire, but from Prussia’s standpoint, it is perfect for denouncing him as abandoning his identity as a German.”
“I see. We can narrow Austria’s position within the German Confederation.”
“You fool. That is only the basics.”
The ambassador clicked his tongue as if frustrated.
“What matters is Russia. Russia believes itself to be the protector of all Slavs. But what if the Austrian Emperor dons the Crown of Saint Wenceslas, a Slavic crown, and claims to be the ruler of the Slavs?”
In his eyes, it was an unrivaled opportunity.
“From the Tsar’s point of view, this may appear to be an invasion of his sacred domain. If we whisper that the Habsburgs dare try to play the overlord of the Slavs, it will overlap with his resentment over the late emperor and produce a very amusing reaction.”
He picked up his pen again and began writing a reply to send to Berlin.
「The Prague coronation signifies Austria’s departure from the Confederation. Make that truth known in full within the German Confederation. Here, I will devote myself to provoking the Tsar’s anger.」
The man smiled in satisfaction and refilled his empty glass.
“We ought to repay the humiliation of Olmütz.”
Finally, he wrote his name at the end of the letter.
「Prussian Ambassador to Russia, Otto von Bismarck.」