Happy Ending
I gave a slight nod in response to her greeting as well.
“Her Majesty has come to see Sophie too.”
The Archduchess's intentions were obvious.
I immediately shifted my gaze to the cradle.
My daughter.
“Sophie.”
As I approached the cradle to pick up the child, Baroness Bendel quickly stepped forward.
“Your Majesty, she just had her milk—”
“When the mother herself wants to hold her child, what worry is there about a little spit-up?”
I cut her off firmly, and she looked not at me, but at the Archduchess.
“Empress, court protocol does not supersede the child's health. The baroness is simply voicing the opinion of an expert who has raised imperial children.”
I carefully lifted Sophie into my arms.
She wriggled a bit in my embrace before settling into a peaceful expression.
“I know my daughter's condition better than anyone.”
I stared straight at Archduchess Sophie.
“The Empress is still so young.”
“Youth doesn't mean a lack of maternal instinct.”
The Archduchess gazed at Sophie in my arms as she spoke.
“I've never said your maternal instinct is lacking.”
With a tilt of my chin, I signaled Baroness Bendel to withdraw.
Tension filled the room once the baroness had left.
“But Empress, that maternal instinct of yours cannot justify ignoring imperial order and expert advice.”
Sophie continued in an emotionless tone, still seated.
“You've dismissed advice given out of concern for the child's health as worthless. It's hard to tell if that maternal love is truly for the child... or just childish rebellion against me.”
Using my youth and maternal feelings as weapons in an emotional spat?
Sophie glanced at the clock in the room before concluding.
“The child must be tired. Bedtime is in five minutes, so enjoy your motherhood until then.”
I had no comeback.
Any retort would make me the emotional empress she described, playing right into her hands.
Fighting that five minutes was too short or clinging to the baby would be falling into her trap.
...Wait a second.
Playing right into what Archduchess Sophie wants... No, for now, let's just go with it.
My influence is still weak, and hers remains strong in the court.
Getting Joseph to side with Russia in the war is achievement enough.
She's probably just being petty about that.
Because the empress she hates got involved in politics.
I focused on Sophie for the remaining time.
“Maa—”
So cute.
“Your Majesty, time's up.”
Baroness Bendel, who had re-entered and been waiting, approached me right on cue with Sophie's announced time.
“Baroness, take the child.”
I kissed Sophie's forehead, handed her to the baroness, and bid my daughter goodnight.
“Jó éjszakát.”
I'll come get you soon.
I glanced at the irritated Archduchess and turned to leave.
“Chief lady-in-waiting. Let's go.”
What are you gonna do about it, Archduchess Sophie?
Pfft, she couldn't hold back.
The Austrian Empire's official language is German. Officially.
But it varies by region. In Hungary, Hungarian; in Bohemia, Bohemian (Czech); in Poland, Polish alongside German as co-official languages.
So she can't complain about me using Hungarian.
Bohemian or Polish didn't get much reaction compared to Hungarian.
Aigoo, politics is so exhausting.
She can't just ban what she dislikes outright, right?
“If she were an ordinary archduchess, she would've chewed me out and been done with it.”
I glanced at Esterházy, but she wore a strange expression.
Not just her—the other ladies-in-waiting looked odd too.
This place isn't much different.
They're just unsure how to react since I've been subtly ignoring politics.
This mix of Hungarians and Austrians perfectly captured that delicate balance.
Ladies-in-waiting eyeing each other warily.
I wonder what they're imagining.
Hungarian families loyal to the empire, Austrian families who think only German matters.
Esterházy's from a Hungarian family but raised German, making her perfect for chief lady-in-waiting.
Now factoring in regional autonomy vs. centralization factions here too.
Politics really is tiring.
“Chief lady-in-waiting. I want to speak with you alone.”
I gave the order.
Esterházy quickly caught on and signaled the trailing ladies to withdraw.
“Your Majesty, speak.”
The footsteps that had filled the long corridor faded, leaving only ours—mine and Esterházy's—breaking the silence.
The thud of my sturdy shoes clashed discordantly with her light indoor slippers.
Aren't those uncomfortable?
Entering the empress's apartments unleashed the pent-up anger and thick fatigue all at once.
“Her Highness the Archduchess must really hate hearing Hungarian.”
Even as I said it, it sounded like the petulant complaint she accused me of.
“It's merely a difference in direction.”
That's why I like Esterházy.
She had this subtle persuasiveness that convinced me it wasn't a mere mistake, but the best choice.
“I hope the chief lady-in-waiting holds the center well. The one and only lady-in-waiting at the center of Hungary and Austria.”
I'm from Bavaria originally too, after all.
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
I hope Joseph shows something in Italy...
Tyrol, Venice, Dalmatia—Italians will claim those territories too.
That's how the Italy I know was.
...Blocked by the mountain divisions, though.
Contrary to Sisi's worries, the Italian Peninsula war went more smoothly than expected.
It seemed touch-and-go at first, but Sardinia—with its elites tied up in the Crimea—had no answer, and the French pulled back from the Lombard plains due to that miscalculation.
“...We held out thanks to the supplies sent by Her Majesty the Empress.”
Radetzky assessed coldly.
“Gyulai should be dismissed immediately. He won by luck, oblivious to supply issues. Without the milk and other provisions from Her Majesty the Empress, our exhausted troops from forced marches would have lost.”
“The field marshal is right. We must promote battle-hardened soldiers this time. Not desk soldiers, but those seasoned in the field. If you have someone in mind, speak freely.”
To Joseph, Radetzky was Austria's god of war.
In the dire 1848 Revolution crisis, he had worked a miracle on the Italian front, defeating over 200,000 Sardinian-Italian allied troops with just 70,000 men, single-handedly saving the crumbling empire.
“...Are you serious?”
Radetzky couldn't process it for a moment. The emperor he'd met in Milan just a year ago would surely have prioritized political loyalty, reciting Sophie's lines verbatim.
Joseph checked the list from Vienna and said,
Sisi's favorite dress.
“What reason would I have to not be serious?”
Joseph read down the list as the empire's top official, emotion aside.
The first item—fresh milk—wasn't requisitioned from imperial farms.
Private stock from the empress's personal farm in the palace, the one Count Grüne criticized as her eccentricity.
Sisi had been obsessed enough to set it up for her health and beauty, yet sent it to the army.
Only Sisi would think to cut up dresses for bandages and cloth without caring about the empress's dignity.
Joseph thought of his mother, Archduchess Sophie.
Mother cares for imperial dignity and politics, but she wouldn't give up her own for a soldier's glass of milk.
“She'd order national requisitions or noble donations.”
Joseph had to admit that difference brought victory.
And the urgent issue now isn't Italy, but the Balkans.
As emperor, he knew better than anyone he hadn't yet achieved true independence.
If we'd sided with Russia sooner, as Field Marshal Radetzky said, would the front be better now?
Russia was on the brink of surrender, barely breathing thanks to Austria's intervention.
Judging defeat inevitable, Joseph pondered what came next.
Having joined Russia, Sisi's influence will wane a bit.
But she won't care. She never wanted deep political involvement anyway.
She's only gone this far because I asked for her help.
“What are you looking for?”
Radetzky asked Joseph, who was rummaging through the supply crates.
“No letter.”
The thought that she might not have written one didn't even cross Joseph's mind.
Ah, I forgot the letter.
“Chief lady-in-waiting. Why aren't we sending supplies to the army faster?”
I'd sent them by carriage because trains were prioritized for military use, and civilian carriages weren't requisitioned.
Trains have limits, you know.
“Shouldn't carriages be requisitioned in wartime too?”
Common sense, right? Common sense.
“Your Majesty's question is entirely reasonable. In war, yes, they should. But the bureaucrats left in Vienna don't see it that way.”
“What do you mean?”
“To them, the front exists only on maps.”
Is the military so weak? Isn't Joseph the soldier-emperor?
“There was a decision that requisitioning civilian carriages would incite unnecessary fear among citizens and make prices uncontrollable.”
Impressive. Impressive.
The revolution's aftermath has even politicized the army.
Fine by me, but... can we win against Prussia like this?
“I hope the war ends soon.”
What kind of husband leaves behind a newborn daughter and her mother? Just come back safe.