“His Majesty is in poor spirits, so bring him some dessert, at least.”
I heard all of it.
Esterhazy, who was getting older and found long journeys burdensome, waited at the Empress’s palace, and Hunyadi temporarily took her place.
“Your Majesty, here is a violet lemon sorbet.”
I ate the sorbet the maid brought and thought of my children.
They’ll be fine, right?
I wanted to bring them to London, but Sophie is anxious, so that’s impossible; Gisela and Rudolf are young, and Ferdinand is a newborn who was born not long ago, so overseas travel is out of the question.
The journey is one thing, but seeing that black smoke in the distance….
“I’m glad I didn’t bring them.”
Better than having them come here and cough up a lung for no reason.
Hundreds of trade ships filling the Thames, factory chimney smoke covering the sky.
It was incomparably murky compared to Vienna’s clear air, but that murky air reeked of money.
To defeat Prussia and Russia, we too must get our hands stained with grease. Still, seeing this sight, Britain is not someone we should turn into an enemy, at least.
Charlotte beside me seems a bit excited.
Was she related to Queen Victoria?
Charlotte’s father, King Leopold I of Belgium, is Queen Victoria’s most trusted maternal uncle.
Anyway, I can see right through her.
The smile on Charlotte’s lips was closer to a sense of superiority than joy.
In Vienna, she had been relegated to second place by me, the Empress, but here in the British royal family, she must want to show off that she is the one with purer royal blood.
“Archduchess, you look to be in a good mood.”
At my question, Charlotte closed her fan and lifted her chin slightly.
“I’m delighted at the thought of meeting my cousin after so long. We used to play often at Windsor Castle when we were young.”
Cousin, she says.
That intention of calling her “sister” instead of “Your Majesty.”
She’s sneering at me, saying I have no connections here.
“Albert brother doted on me greatly as well. He will welcome me with open arms.”
She was implicitly looking down on me for being ignorant of London society.
So for Charlotte, this London must be a comfortable place no different from her parents’ home, rather than her in-laws’.
Yeah, you’re so great.
I don’t know why she only acts like this to me.
I’ve read in the papers how intellectual Charlotte is.
I also know that the people of Milan hold her dear. But why does she act like this only when she meets me….
Should I style her hair into rolls next time?
Covering her mouth with a fan, tossing out frivolous words with an oh-ho-ho laugh—it would suit her well.
Looking at Charlotte, I see why villainess noble lady characters aren’t popular in real life.
“Let’s go to Greece together sometime.”
My cousin Otto is guarding it for now. In Greek, Othon.
He had sent a letter asking for help anyway. I should go with Sophie sometime.
At least we sided with Russia, so unlike originally, they aren’t pressing the blame for defeat—is that a relief?
When I glanced at Charlotte sideways, she was glaring at me, clutching her fan.
What, why. What’s she going to do just by glaring?
I shook my head.
I should have endured it as an adult. But that woman from the Austrian Netherlands kept getting on my nerves, so I ended up doing that without realizing.
“Sisi, Lottie. Did you fight again?”
“Do you think we fight all the time?”
Max, who had been enjoying the harbor scenery on deck, returned.
He wrapped his arm around Charlotte’s shoulders with a sly smile.
“Stop it, Lottie. Keep frowning and you’ll get wrinkles? Sister-in-law, please let it go as well. I suppose she’s excited because coming to England reminds her of home.”
Maximilian brought a chair from nearby and sat down.
“By the way, next time you’ll hold the coronation in Milan, right?”
I suppose so. Hungary is different from other places because the population ratio is similar to the Germanic one.
“Are the nationalists still making noise these days?”
“Not that, but….”
He dismissed the attendants nearby.
“Rumors are circulating that Sardinia will invade the Papal States.”
“Really? I haven’t heard anything from His Majesty.”
Count Metternich hadn’t said anything like that either.
“It seems Napoleon has a headache too because France didn’t intervene on our behalf in the last war with Sardinia.”
…No, this is absurd. Those Savoyards are hilarious too. They’ve got no shame.
“So Lombardy-Venetia is in a difficult position right now, and because they have no money, they’re going to war with the Papal States? What about the other Catholic states?”
Originally, they couldn’t attack the Papal States until the Second French Empire fell, right?
“It seems they’ve been given permission except for Rome, and Spain is preoccupied with Morocco right now.”
“…Got it. I’ll try having the next child in Venice first.”
I was planning to take care of Croatia first… but I’ll have to change the order.
“What about the coronation?”
“That’s up to His Majesty. I’m the Empress.”
If Joseph wants to do it, he will. Do they think I’m the Empress-Regnant?
“Your Highness, my brother is helpless against your charms.”
“That’s enough. Worry about your Archduchess instead.”
See, she pouted again.
“Lottie doesn’t care about things like this.”
Is that what not caring looks like in your eyes?
She looks like she’s about to crack your head open with her fan any moment now.
“That’s a relief.”
I tossed out those words and rose from my seat.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
If the ship hadn’t stopped, his head really would have been cracked open.
Escorted by Maximilian, I disembarked, and the Prince of Wales of Britain was waiting to greet us.
He was wearing a ceremonial smile, but the moment he saw me, his eyes widened and he froze.
His outstretched hand twitched in the air as if momentarily losing its way, and he, who had been staring blankly at me, soon came to his senses and hurriedly extended his hand to me.
“The rumors were far too inadequate, madam.”
“…Pardon?”
He kissed the back of my hand politely, then raised his head and smiled with a playful gaze.
“Words calling you the greatest beauty in Europe are woefully insufficient to capture Your Majesty’s beauty. Now I understand why London’s dreary fog fled the moment it beheld Your Majesty.”
Ha. Joseph can’t even reach the soles of his feet.
He’s only seventeen, isn’t he? His lines flow like a stream. Could that brief pause all have been an act?
Fortunately, Joseph still can’t speak at such length like that.
“Thank you for the Prince of Wales’s hospitality. Thanks to the Prince’s kindness, the fatigue from my journey seems to be fading. So that I may convey my regards to Her Majesty, would you guide me to Buckingham Palace now?”
At my reply, Edward offered his arm courteously and naturally.
“It is my greatest honor to attend to Your Majesty the Empress.”
I took his arm and boarded the carriage together.
Charlotte, I’m sorry, but I’m the Empress here in London too.
You follow along in the back.
“Is this your first time in London?”
Edward asked with a bright smile.
“It certainly feels like lively air.”
“Is it a bit different from Vienna?”
Hmm, well… The Vienna I experienced was a bit different. The palace was suffocating, but the city wasn’t that bad.
“It wouldn’t be so suffocating if not for politics. As the Prince of Wales would know well.”
That uniquely Austrian disposition—leisurely, romantic, with a somewhat relaxed human scent.
“In Berlin, the situation is serious but not desperate; in Vienna, it is desperate but not serious. Have you heard that saying?”
It’s funny that Britain actually thinks the opposite of the Germans.
“Had I known Vienna was such a delightful place, I would have visited long ago. The letters from my cousins in Berlin are nothing but suffocating words like duty and discipline.”
“A parade ground and a cafe cannot be the same.”
I replied thus and received a candy from Hunyadi to hand to him.
“He is quite similar to my son in personality.”
At my words, Edward’s sly smile vanished and he stammered as if flustered.
“Son… ah, my son? Th-that two-year-old.”
“Yes. I mean Rudolf. He’s so curious that he can’t stay still for a moment.”
“Ah… haha. I-I see. You mean Crown Prince Rudolf….”
I’ve received so much flirting in my life. Humoring such obvious tricks… it’s amusing but troublesome in many ways.
“Tell me if you need more snacks. I have plenty prepared.”
So this is where the line is?
He popped the candy I gave him straight into his mouth.
“Your Majesty, may I call you… Sisi? Only in private. I’ve never had a friend who suited me so well.”
“Very well. I’ll call you Bertie as well.”
“What an honor! It feels like I’ve made a friend behind my father’s back.”
“A friend behind your back? Prince Albert would be hurt to hear that.”
“Father is a man who needs no friends. For him, Mother, rules, and lessons are all that is needed.”
Bertie grumbled, but his tone was strangely mixed with rebellion and affection for his father.
“I live under someone similar, so I know that feeling well.”
“Sometimes it’s suffocating to be with such people.”
That’s true.
I empathized with his words, resting my hand on my waist.
“One corset is enough for feeling suffocated, at any rate.”
Bertie seemed to like my joke, clutching his stomach and snickering.
Different nationalities and ages, but we became fast friends thanks to our common denominator of suffocating royalty.
“Sisi. When the official schedule is over, I’ll show you the real London. Not boring Buckingham or museums.”
“The real London… theaters or racetracks?”
“If you wish, let’s go hunting together as well.”
His eyes sparkled playfully.
It was a proposal that would make Prince Albert clutch the back of his neck and collapse if he knew, but to me it sounded quite attractive.
“It will be an opportunity to verify the reputation of Europe’s finest rider.”
“Look forward to it, Bertie.”
Until the carriage passed through the main gate of Buckingham Palace, we got to know each other.
I seem to get along quite well with Bertie.
The carriage stopped in the courtyard of Buckingham Palace.
“We’ve arrived, Sisi.”
Guided by Bertie, I stepped down from the carriage, and once here, it didn’t seem very different from Vienna.
“Mother and Father are waiting.”
We passed through the line of guards and entered the palace interior.
The reception room door opened, and there Queen Victoria and Prince Albert greeted us.
“Aunt! And Uncle!”
Charlotte approached them with a bright smile, as if momentarily forgetting the etiquette she should observe before the Empress.
And the Empress is right here. It’s not that she forgot the etiquette she should observe before me.
For them to just accept that… did I do something wrong?
For now, I had confirmed that Charlotte’s words were true.
Queen Victoria looked me up and down with lowered eyes.
My dress, my expression, and even my gaze.
She greeted me curtly when our eyes met.
“Welcome, Empress. We are well acquainted with thy fame.”
Terse words?
…How rude.