Withdrawal Symptoms
We finished our final check inside the carriage.
"His Majesty's appearance at the Place du Concorde didn't give the French anything to criticize."
Count Buol said, straightening his mustache.
"Of course, the most fervent nationalists are criticizing Your Majesty... Does it bother you?"
What?
"Why should I care about them? I'm not their empress."
"There's no need. If anything, it was more like Your Majesty covered for the French empress's blunder."
"Still, it's a blessing the conference wrapped up early. If it had dragged on like the Vienna Conference..."
Ugh, I don't even want to imagine it.
Count Buol offered me praise.
"It's fortunate that Your Majesty has built a connection with the French empress. Thanks to that, we've bought a little time with Italy."
"Why is that?"
"Bonaparte is passive on the Italian issue because of the French empress."
"Because of Empress Eugénie?"
"She's a devout believer, after all."
Aha.
To unify Italy, they'd have to attack the Papal States. That's what he means.
"But even if the empresses are friendly, that doesn't mean she'll meddle in politics, right?"
"France is a bit different. The empress doesn't usually interfere... but there are cases like Your Majesty, where she sways the emperor's heart."
Count Buol was a pan-Germanist too.
"Foreign Minister."
"Yes, Lord Chamberlain."
"Are you trying to lecture Her Majesty?"
"Heavens, no."
Count Buol laughed it off like a snake slithering over a fence.
"If I've caused Your Majesty any discomfort, I apologize here and now."
"I'm fine."
We'll be riding separately from now on anyway.
I'd come because, as the senior, I needed to know the details first.
I gave the signal, and he stepped out of the carriage.
"If you'll excuse me, Your Majesty."
See ya.
Now that the external enemies were gone, the internal power struggles would begin again.
"Schönbrunn is in sight."
The imperial family alternates between Hofburg and Schönbrunn.
The summer breezes are nice, but in winter, those same winds make it unlivable.
"Every time I see it, I can't help but think..."
"Your Majesty."
Got it, got it.
I won't say it looks just like Versailles.
As I stepped down from the carriage, Sophie Archduchess eyed me with clear discomfort.
Probably because she hated the Empire-style dress itself.
Franz Joseph stood right beside Sophie Archduchess.
He must really hate this situation.
Unlike his mother, his face mixed relief and joy, as if he might run to me any second.
But with his mother-in-law there, he was struggling to maintain his imperial dignity.
I hid my smile toward Franz Joseph for a moment and greeted Sophie Archduchess first.
"I'm back, Archduchess."
"The free air of Paris must have been too much for you, Empress."
"Who knows."
Hofburg suited me better, honestly.
There's a reason they say leaving home means suffering. But... did it really? Kinda ambiguous.
"I had no choice but to wear this."
Sophie's eyebrow twitched slightly.
"Don't worry about the rumors."
Sophie just said odd things to me.
Franz Joseph, judging our conversation over, offered me his hand.
"You must be tired, Empress. Come inside."
With his escort, I returned to the palace, ending this long journey.
Franz Joseph acted like Franz Joseph, as always.
He escorted me to my room and went straight back to work.
"No riding for a while."
"Stairway to Heaven is forbidden too."
...When did he see that?
"I thought I'd hidden it well."
"There are no secrets in the empress's apartments that I don't know."
Banned from the StepMill.
"I didn't like seeing Your Majesty use something fit only for convicts."
Something for convicts?
"Isn't it for multiple people?"
"Whether you pedal with others or alone makes no difference."
What...? Still, I had plenty of other—
"Naturally, the gymnastics rings, wall bars, and balance beam are forbidden too."
Lightning struck from Esterházy's mouth.
"You let me last time."
"When I judged it appropriate exercise."
Esterházy flatly ignored my plea.
"And this is Schönbrunn, not Hofburg. There's no gymnastics room prepared for Your Majesty."
Oh, right.
"I'll head back to Hofburg early tomorrow anyway."
During pregnancy, they usually stayed at Hofburg rather than alternating between Schönbrunn and there.
"You must be tired from the long trip."
"We'll prepare for bed soon."
Franz Joseph had recently fallen into withdrawal symptoms.
Even after two months glued together, not seeing Sisi for over a month had been torture for him.
"Your Majesty seems in good spirits today."
Franz Joseph snapped to attention at Count Grüne's words and composed his expression.
"Merely that the empress has returned safely—one less worry for the empire's security."
He cleared his throat unnecessarily and turned to the papers on his desk, but the words didn't register.
Grüne wasn't close enough to pry into the emperor's heart.
He simply slid the next report across the desk.
"Your Majesty, a report from the Italian garrison."
"I'm reading it."
His mind was filled with the image of his wife he'd just seen.
Sisi, back after a month. Her face somehow more mature than when she left Vienna, and... that loose dress that didn't cinch her waist at all.
He couldn't have missed his mother's openly displeased expression.
'Rumors, though.'
To Franz Joseph, it was just his wife, comfortable in loose clothes after a tiring journey.
'Beautiful.'
He regretted not telling her that at the palace entrance.
"Your Majesty?"
Grüne called again.
Franz Joseph hastily scrawled his signature on the document.
"Next report."
He skimmed the rest, tossing them into the approval box one by one.
"That's enough for today."
"Your Majesty, but Baron Bach's interior ministry report is still—!"
"We'll review it early tomorrow morning."
Franz Joseph stood abruptly.
Count Grüne realized he couldn't hold the emperor back and bowed as he withdrew.
"Understood, Your Majesty."
He headed to the couple's bedroom in Schönbrunn Palace, but the empress wasn't there.
'Why?'
He'd assumed they'd share a bed after a month apart, but Sisi wasn't in the couple's bedroom.
He went back out and headed to the empress's bedroom, where he saw maids waiting outside.
"Lord Chamberlain."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
'How should I put this?'
"What is the empress doing?"
"Her Majesty is resting to recover from the fatigue of the long journey."
'Couldn't she do that in the couple's bedroom?'
Franz Joseph frowned slightly at the unsatisfactory answer.
"Can't she rest with me?"
Esterházy bowed without a hint of hesitation.
"Your Majesty, the empress requires a bath and special care to recover from the exhaustion of Paris."
"Special care?"
Esterházy answered without pause.
"After over a month in a carriage, her body needs the maids' attention in many places. Please wait just until Her Majesty finishes preparing."
Franz Joseph recalled his mother's displeased gaze at the clothes once more.
Esterházy's words were correct.
It was proper etiquette for the empress to prepare herself before meeting the emperor.
"...Very well. Send word to my office when the empress is ready."
Franz Joseph hid his disappointment and turned with heavy steps back to his office.
'To rest tomorrow, I need to handle Baron Bach's report.'
Watching the emperor leave, Esterházy returned to her composed demeanor.
'Indeed... even His Majesty has changed a great deal.'
Things unimaginable before.
The emperor wouldn't personally seek his wife if she wasn't in the couple's bedroom.
An emperor summoned attendants—he didn't come to the empress's door himself.
The Archduchess's lady-in-waiting arrived separately.
"I wish to examine Her Majesty's condition."
Esterházy nodded.
The Archduchess had likely already noticed.
The lady-in-waiting took the pulse of the sleeping Sisi a few times, then tilted her head slightly.
"Is it pregnancy?"
Esterházy asked, but the physician still seemed uncertain.
"The pulse... it seems to match pregnancy for now."
'For now?'
"We'll know for sure with fetal movement, but this is the best we can do now."
"Physician. I must know Her Majesty's body better than anyone. Answer properly."
"...The pregnancy pulse seems correct, but it's subtly different from what I'm used to."
"Be specific."
"Well... this is my first time with something like this. We'd need a midwife or obstetrician for certainty."
Esterházy realized she wouldn't get the answer she wanted from him.
"Then, can we return to Hofburg as soon as preparations are made?"
"Yes, do so."
The next morning, Franz Joseph approached the bustling empress's bedroom.
"Your Majesty."
"Empress, what's going on?"
I approached Franz Joseph carefully.
"It seems I'm with child."
"Who—no, you mean you, Empress?"
I nodded.
"So we're returning to the main palace now...?"
"We have to. Can't spend winter here."
...He's not looking happy at all?
Wasn't it different when Sophie was pregnant?
"...Your Majesty?"