Vyrovnání: Where Did It All Go Wrong?
Where did it go wrong with the Vyrovnání?
I'd only said it out of genuine concern. I'd cautiously brought it up, trying to understand my wife, who had such a keen interest in medicine.
But her reaction? She performed her purification rite and left the palace immediately afterward.
...Is it really worth getting that angry over?
I want to follow her. But the paperwork is piled up like a mountain, and I still have to deal with the scholarship mess she's stirred up and the nobles' complaints.
"The nobles are dissatisfied."
Just looking at their names, they're all fringe nobodies of dubious origin.
No wonder the nobles feel deprived. After centuries of propping up the empire with the imperial grace, now it's flowing to nameless commoners from the provinces. A backlash was inevitable.
"Your Majesty, even if it's the Empress's will, ignoring tradition like this..."
"Tradition. Right. So tradition requires noble permission to bestow imperial funds on the empire's subjects."
"We dare not imply such a thing!"
"The Empress is the mother of the empire. When a mother looks kindly on her poor but talented children, does she need any other reason?"
"No, Your Majesty. We only raised the concern out of fear they might harbor seditious thoughts."
"Guiding those children the Empress has taken in away from seditious thoughts—that's the duty of educated nobles to the empire, isn't it? It sounds like nobles who've upheld the empire for centuries can't handle the ideologies of a few commoners."
"Th-that could never be! Our intent was merely...!"
"Then go prove your worth out there. Don't waste time here doubting the Empress's compassion."
"...As you command."
I ended the audience and summoned Grüne.
"Grüne, reject all others who've requested audiences on the same matter, with an explanation."
Yes. If I throw some money their way, they'll realize what a solid backer I am for Sisi's charity work. Who knows? It might even lift her mood enough to bring her back a day sooner.
"And summon Rieger and von Auersperg."
Two men raised in Bohemia but divided by differing convictions.
The door opened, and Adolf von Auersperg and František Ladislav Rieger entered.
Should've called Tafe too.
The moment I saw their faces, I sensed today's meeting wouldn't go smoothly.
"We meet Your Majesty."
Putting water and oil in the same room—how could the atmosphere not be icy?
"Sit."
At my brief invitation, they took seats at opposite ends of the sofa, far apart.
Auersperg was the symbol of Austrian-German liberalism, while Rieger was the political center for Bohemia's Czechs.
"You've heard the news that negotiations with Hungary have stalled."
Auersperg spoke first.
"Your Majesty's decision was wise. Granting Hungary separate diplomatic and military rights risked fracturing the empire—especially now, with Prussia expanding northward. Central authority must be ironclad."
"Your Majesty, halting talks with Hungary carries meaning for Bohemia too. The empire must not be reshaped into a pact for just two nations. The Crown of Saint Wenceslas is not mere symbolism—it's a historical right."
"Historical rights cannot upend the current order. Who guarantees the rights of German subjects in Bohemia?"
"Demanding equal rights doesn't mean domination."
"Enough."
I cut them off before their argument could escalate.
"Auersperg. Do you truly believe Vienna has the strength to suppress both Hungary and Bohemia?"
Auersperg had no answer for that.
"Rieger. If Bohemia distances itself from the empire, do you think Prussia or Russia will leave you be?"
He had no reply either.
Now they're facing reality.
Grüne placed documents between them.
"This is the draft of the basic treaty. Rieger, as you demanded, it grants Bohemia substantial internal autonomy and legally guarantees equal status for Czech and German languages."
"...Understood."
"Your Majesty, that is..."
"No need for concern. It doesn't mean trampling German vested interests unjustly. Quite the opposite—it's about clarifying mutual rights within the law's framework."
I stared at them alternately and laid out the most critical precondition for compromise.
"However, as stated here, diplomacy and the military will remain firmly under Vienna's control. Bohemia cannot have a unilateral veto over the imperial parliament. And if unjust discrimination occurs against German subjects in Bohemia, Vienna will intervene immediately."
It was a treaty crafted through Palacký and Tafe's collaboration.
"Final ratification will come in parliament. But before that, you two must find common ground right here in this room."
Tossing a treaty draft that even the German and Czech leaders couldn't broadly agree on into parliament? It'd devolve into fistfights and chaos, plain as day.
"I don't want the empire stalled by internal rifts any longer. I expect you both to make concessions and deliver a reasonable outcome."
They gathered the draft with complicated expressions.
"Time is short. Retire and hammer out a compromise."
German liberals aren't particularly keen on compromise with Hungary anyway.
With the German Confederation's Kulturkampf unresolved, dragging Bohemia in could extend influence to South German issues.
We can secure minimal capacity to counter Prussia.
Wow, it's gorgeous.
Schloss der Träume—Castle of Dreams—the name itself carrying Franz Joseph's plea for me not to leave Vienna.
The story behind it seemed etched into the murals on my bedroom walls.
"It's a scene from A Midsummer Night's Dream."
He hasn't forgotten this, even if he blanks on everything else.
Best part of all?
"Being on the first floor makes it so convenient."
The maids smiled silently at my joke.
But...
"That bed doesn't quite fit, though."
A Baroque bed smack in the middle of dreamy murals with flitting fairies? I'm no art expert, but I can tell it clashes.
"That bed was brought directly from the one Queen Maria Theresa herself used."
Uh... so, the bed of one of Austria's greatest monarchs... relocated to a mere villa...?
You painstakingly paint pretty murals, then plop a museum piece in the center—what gives?
"Still, there's a space His Majesty took special care with just for Your Majesty."
Oh?
The steward changed the subject and opened the door to the next room.
"This is..."
I nearly gaped, forgetting all decorum.
An elegant room filled wall-to-wall with the latest Pompeian-style frescoes. Gymnastics rings dangled long from the ceiling on ropes, a sturdy pull-up bar was mounted on one wall, and even a balance beam finished neatly on the floor.
Which European palace puts a gym right next to the empress's bedroom? Art sense is still hopeless.
"His Majesty ordered this so Your Majesty could train your noble body anytime, regardless of weather."
I approached slowly and tugged the rings firmly.
"There's also a secret staircase from the bedroom straight to the garden. For when you wish to avoid prying eyes."
"...I like it."
Pretending nonchalance, but I appreciated how he remembered these little things and tailored everything to my tastes.
Even if I'm mad, how can I stay angry at this kind of devotion?
Leaving that odd from the gym behind, the steward cautiously led me outside.
"The most important place prepared for His Majesty remains."
I knew it the moment we reached the back of the building.
Stables.
"Knowing how much Your Majesty enjoys Hungarian-style riding, His Majesty specially sought out this stallion."
Hungarian riding was more the influence of Duchess Metternich than me, but whatever.
I reached out tentatively to stroke its neck, and it nuzzled my hand contentedly instead of shying away. Ticklish.
The riding prep area had saddles redesigned for the rider's freedom and speed—no trace of the cumbersome, ornate Austrian court decorations I'd once complained about.
Joseph...
At this point, I surrender. I'd planned a year away, but as I mounted up, I said,
"I'll... stay half a year, then go."
Leaving such a splendid villa behind would be a shame.
Absolutely not because I'm mad. No, it's gratitude.
"Your Majesty, it seems you must return to Vienna."
It's only been two months?
"What's going on?"
"You must appear at an imperial event."
There shouldn't be any imperial events now. The foot-washing rite is still far off.
The telegram Königseck handed me shattered my expectations entirely.
This fast?
Are we the Austro-Bohemian Empire now?