“I hope you didn’t call me all the way here merely to show me your granddaughter.”
“If you wish to see her, you are welcome to come anytime.”
Because I’ll be running away.
“Enough. I’ll be grateful if you don’t run off like last time.”
Since when did she learn to read minds?
My mother-in-law scrutinized Adriana, who lay in her cradle, with a fastidious eye.
“Thankfully, she’s put on some baby fat. I was worried the damp air of Venice might not be good for the child.”
“The court physicians and nurses are tending to her with the utmost care.”
“Don’t place all your faith in what doctors say. You must pay attention yourself.”
My mother-in-law lightly touched the child’s cheek, then looked at me.
“So, why did you call me here? It cannot be the Bourbons.”
“I intend to ask you, Mother, to stop Maximilian.”
Very carefully, yet choosing words that would grate on the Archduchess’s nerves, I cast them out.
“Max is dancing to Napoleon III’s tune.”
I linked one of the words my mother-in-law despised most in the world—the upstart Napoleon—with the Habsburgs being used.
“Max is an ambitious child. He cannot spend his entire life in Franz Joseph’s shadow. Do you think it a disgrace to the family for one who carries Habsburg blood to become the emperor of another country?”
So she already knew.
“Since even the position of Viceroy of Lombardy-Venetia was taken from him, it cannot be helped. A prince with nowhere to go says he will find a place for himself outside the empire. Are you jealous of that?”
“Jealous?”
I swallowed a hollow laugh and folded my fan.
“Mother. Napoleon III is a merchant. He is a man who looks to profit before the title of emperor.”
“What are you trying to say?”
“If it is such a good, safe, and glorious position, why would he not give it to his own cousin, Prince Napoléon—Napoléon Joseph Charles Paul Bonaparte—and instead give it to our Max?”
And Napoleon, of all people, who was fighting the Habsburgs over territorial rights in Italy.
“Do you think a man like that is fit for the title of emperor? A fat, lazy lecher.”
“That makes it all the stranger. That greedy Napoleon is so readily handing over the title of ‘emperor,’ which he would begrudge even his own blood, to us, who are no different from an enemy state.”
My mother-in-law was not someone who moved the empire by status alone.
She had urged on the conservatives and strengthened etiquette because she judged that it would bring glory to the Habsburgs.
“Mother, let us set Maximilian aside for a moment.”
By making Joseph emperor, she had shaken off her sense of debt.
But Maximilian?
Before I could open my mouth, Archduchess Sophie spoke.
“Do you know the pretext for attacking Mexico?”
…No, I don’t.
“Tsk. You send Count Buol to England and then miss the information? It was debt collection. That is why England, having bonds to collect as well, merely stood by and watched.”
“Then are they not trying to seat a Habsburg atop an empire buried in debt?”
“Did I not say England is watching? In the end, they cannot seat Prince Napoléon there.”
Ha, so it circles back to that again…
At a glance, since neither England nor France could take it for themselves, only our country remained—neutral, and yet an empire.
A mediator elevated by agreement among the great powers.
Come to think of it, it would have been stranger to judge that my mother-in-law had agreed out of maternal love alone.
“…Max must leave the Habsburgs.”
“What do you mean?”
“It is a decision for Franzi’s sake.”
The hand rocking Adriana’s cradle stopped.
“Max is too clever, and too free-spirited. After losing the viceroyalty in Lombardy and shutting himself away in Miramare, did you not see how that child began to change? How do you think I feel, watching my son suffer as he gazes only at the sea, tormented by the thought of his talents rotting away?”
“Even so, Mexico? Mother, you know how hollow Napoleon III’s proposal is.”
“Hollow? It is an opportunity to extend the Habsburgs’ prestige all the way to the American continent.”
“And if that consideration puts Max in danger?”
My mother-in-law let out a short sigh and fell silent.
Though I had spoken indirectly, there was no way she did not know. How hopeless a gamble Mexico was.
“Then I suppose I will spend the rest of my life atoning. But now… now, I have no choice but to send Max away. I want to believe that is the path that saves both Franzi, the emperor, and Max, who is adrift.”
She struggled to hide her trembling hands as she gripped the cradle tightly. Then she broke the silence and rose from her seat.
“Recommend the good Alpine mineral waters to Theresia. The sight of that child growing anxious because she cannot continue the line is a disgrace to the Habsburgs.”
My mother-in-law very briefly rested a hand on my shoulder once, then left the room.
…She knew Maximilian better than anyone.
I had believed her eyes were clouded by maternal love.
“Archduchess Sophie and Charlotte’s support, and Joseph’s opposition.”
The brief record history had left behind.
But the web of human relationships hidden behind that fleeting record was not easily grasped.
As for Charlotte… never mind. She’s more complicated in all sorts of ways.
Her rivalry toward me, the pride of a Belgian princess, and the fact that she sees Maximilian as the person who will realize her ambitions.
“Your Majesty, Prussia appointed a new minister-president today.”
Königsegg handed me the newspaper.
“The Questions of the Day Can Be Resolved Only by Iron and Blood—Prussia’s New Minister-President’s Inaugural Address”
As if Maximilian alone weren’t enough to give me a headache, now even Bismarck. One mountain after another.
Against Napoleon, who was trying to make Maximilian Emperor of Mexico, I had countered with Henri V’s invitation.
For now, nothing could be solved.
After winning the Sardinian War, the military—true to form as a conservative organization—had come to a standstill.
It was a place where a great deal of money went, and therefore difficult for me to do anything alone, so I had not paid much attention to it.
Haa.
I let out a light sigh.
Let’s stop thinking about politics.
“I’m going out for a walk.”
When resting, one must focus only on resting.
I will not worry too much about the future that is to come.
For a while, I must do what can only be done in this period.
“I will prepare. Where would you like to go?”
“Somewhere without people.”
At that single phrase, the ladies-in-waiting seemed to sink into their own thoughts.
They realized I was not going on a walk with the children.
When Esterházy gave them a look, the ladies-in-waiting moved in perfect order.
First, I took off the dress I had worn because I did not want my mother-in-law to find fault with me.
The corset, as little as possible.
“That Tyrolean loden dress from before? Yes, the short one.”
A dress that revealed the ankles. If my mother-in-law saw it, she might faint. But for walking, there was no better garment.
Next, I put on leather boots and tightened the laces firmly.
Once I put on gloves and took my fan, I was ready.
Unlike me, the ladies-in-waiting were only just beginning their preparations.
So today’s walking duty was Königsegg.
With a face full of misery, she packed an extra pair of low-heeled shoes.
“Still, Königsegg. The weather is cloudy today.”
The other ladies-in-waiting tried to comfort her, but…
Would that really be any comfort?
“Let’s go.”
When your head is complicated, you have to use your body.
If I walk until my breath rises to my chin and the muscles in my legs scream, then troublesome words like Bismarck and Mexico will evaporate along with my sweat.
We took a gondola and arrived at the island of Lido.
“Königsegg, leave the parasol behind.”
There won’t be anyone there anyway.
With a solemn expression, she retied the laces on her low-heeled shoes.
“What, are you going to war?”
Why was she so nervous?
I gathered up the hem of my skirt and began to walk.
Hungary has been quiet lately, now that I think about it. I’ll need to pay a little attention to them too.
“Königsegg.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
She’s still keeping up well.
“You said there was an oil company in Galicia-Lodomeria?”
“Łukasiewicz’s Bóbrka.”
“Invest the money Esterházy brings back from selling the cotton there.”
“Understood, Your Majesty.”
This is why I only took control of the Empress’s household and have not participated in politics since.
If I want to participate in politics, I have to be in Vienna, and it also becomes difficult to find free time like this.
I must enjoy to the fullest this freedom that will someday come to an end.
Once the war with Prussia ends, my mother-in-law’s power will end as well, and Joseph’s power will become precarious.
At that time, I will naturally move as empress.
“Phew!”
No more politics!
Sisi! You came here to clear your head!
Politics is like stocks; it keeps coming back to mind.
Let’s think about the children. The children.
My daughters will be all right… won’t they?
Didn’t Sophie almost meet with disaster while being educated?
Even if I attach etiquette tutors of my choosing to my daughters, as for the sons… I’ll have Joseph assign suitable ones.
I gave him a hint last time, so just let him attach some strange fellow.
We’ll be sleeping in separate rooms for three years.
I stretched my hand out to the side, but felt nothing.
“Königsegg, water.”
When I stopped briefly and waited, she approached, panting for breath.
“Y-Your Majesty… here it is.”
“I told you to dress comfortably when we go for walks.”
We haven’t even reached the turnaround point yet. What are you going to do if you’re already this exhausted?
“You know there are no carriages here on the beach, don’t you?”
Even at my scolding, Königsegg straightened her ragged breathing and answered politely.
“This is the prescribed traveling attire.”
Then she glanced at my ankles and added,
“I would not dare imitate Your Majesty’s boldness.”
The hem of her silk dress was covered in mud, and she wore thin leather shoes.
“Next time, dress as a man if you have to.”
“…I will try.”
So she’s saying she won’t do it even if it kills her.
Normally, if the children whined halfway through, I would have stopped.
Which meant today, there were no brakes to stop me.
“Let’s go again. We’ll just touch that end over there and come back.”
The island of Lido is about twelve kilometers long.
It must be my imagination that I can see despair in Königsegg’s eyes.
“Or should we walk for eight hours like last time?”
“N-no, Your Majesty…”
The next day, Königsegg took sick leave.