Scandal: This Place is Heaven
Most of the Hofburg Palace stood empty and silent, save for the empress's quarters.
I wanted to award the biggest points for the absence of that tormentor, Archduchess Sophie.
"Your Majesty, how about a stroll?"
"Very well."
But... one thing kept nagging at me.
"Hngh...."
A tiny groan slipped past my lips.
"Your Majesty."
Esterházy immediately called me out on it.
Hey, a little slip-up is allowed.
It's been so long since I felt this free.
"Why does His Majesty seem so unwell in body and spirit?"
This time, it really hit me.
I'd even learned how to bear a son from Empress Maria and Empress Eugénie.
I can't do much about posture, but I can change my diet.
"From today, bring meat, salty foods, and strong grape juice."
"The cooks will be delighted."
Right.
Last pregnancy, I followed Maria and Eugénie's advice and ate more feminine foods—fruits, vegetables, milk, sweets.
That was my usual habit anyway.
But to hold this place with full vigor, I needed to meet the final condition: produce a crown prince.
They say a man with strong spirit sires sons... but is there any man in Vienna as spirited as Joseph right now?
Relatively speaking, he's sandwiched between two women but still says his piece.
I know changing diet is an old wives' tale unrelated to gender, but if it persists even in the 21st century, maybe it's backed by big data.
Like craving strawberries for a girl, watermelon for a boy?
Come to think of it, I craved strawberries last time and had Sophie!
"It's science."
"Pardon?"
"No, nothing. Keep reading."
Perényi continued her narration, and I sank into thought listening to her voice.
Why was Joseph so grumpy?
I'd done everything he asked.
'Mother only wants what's best for you. If you perform well as empress, she won't complain.'
So I'd worked on producing an heir as empress.
'When might we have a ball or court event...'
I hadn't done that.
We'd traveled together instead, like the provincial tour.
'Sisi, the Russian ambassador comes next week.''Mother will handle it.'
That's what I'd said.
The archduchess only imposed duties amid war, but Joseph might feel like I did nothing.
I attended the Paris Conference and such, but in Vienna, yeah, I wasn't doing much.
"Your Majesty. Are you all right?"
"What's wrong?"
Esterházy dismissed the maids and spoke to me.
"...Your Majesty, I called you several times with no response."
"The fatigue hasn't lifted, it seems."
"Shall I summon the court physician?"
"No need. Just tiredness, probably."
For now, power enough to guard the empress's quarters sufficed.
How could I beat Bismarck? He's the 19th-century protagonist.
Between fighting Bismarck for German unification or maintaining the Austrian Empire—which is easier? Nine out of ten pick the empire.
"I should write to Empress Maria."
At least we need to secure southern Germany.
Austro-Bavarian ties might make it possible.
But I had to make Joseph shed nationalism somehow, and the only path was defeat in the Bohemian War.
Not long after Sisi returned to Vienna, whispers of scandal began bubbling to the surface.
"You've heard the rumors that Her Majesty the Empress is pregnant?"
"Of course. But..."
As Joseph deliberately distanced himself from Sisi, other rumors spread.
"The talk that she had a fine time in Paris."
Doubts thickened: was the child in the empress's womb truly the emperor's blood?
"But His Majesty seemed pleased?"
"Pleased? Didn't look that way to me."
Another noblewoman joined in.
"From the day Her Majesty returned, His Majesty hasn't spent a single night in the imperial bedchamber. My footman confirmed it himself!"
"Oh my!"
The young emperor hadn't sought her, yet rumors swirled she might be pregnant.
The answer: she'd conceived in Paris already.
"Impossible. Didn't His Majesty adore Her Majesty so?"
"Adore? That's old news."
The countess smirked like a victor.
"The emperor finally realized it. She doesn't suit the role. Or perhaps... he doesn't want a wife who slipped up in Paris close by?"
"Surely the child in her belly isn't..."
No one voiced the rest, but all thought it.
"You saw that loose dress? Outdated fashion, looked suspicious. And rushing to the Hofburg right after returning."
"Baron Bach."
"Yes, Your Highness."
"Society must be idle for such useless rumors to spread."
Baron Bach broke into a cold sweat, making excuses to Archduchess Sophie.
"We in the salons have also..."
"Baron."
"..."
"I didn't place you there for excuses. To safeguard the empire."
Separate from her dislike of Sisi, the empress was the empire's pillar.
"Why doesn't the emperor sleep with the empress?"
No answer came.
Joseph faced patience tests daily. Better to sleep alone than lose control.
"I raised him as a soldier-emperor, yet I can't fathom his thoughts."
Sophie muttered coldly.
She couldn't tolerate her son—private hurt, loss, or anger—undermining the heir's legitimacy himself.
Time wouldn't heal this.
'How long did the Maximilian rumors drag on?'
Rumors were about impressions, not facts; neglect let them harden.
Sophie decided.
"Baron Bach. Contact the court gazette and newspapers at once."
"Your Highness, announcing the pregnancy...!"
"Foolishness!"
Sophie cut him off.
"Not to air the empress's private life! Spread that the emperor avoids her, and her pregnancy is from those Paris dogs!"
She took a deep breath and continued.
"Silence the loudest nobles. Your secret police aren't for show. That countess prattling about Paris yesterday—who was she?"
"...Countess Karoli."
"Send a carriage tonight to ship her husband back to his estate. Health reasons for rest, and ensure she never sets foot in Vienna again. The others will quiet naturally."
"Your Highness, but she's your..."
"Baron. If she were truly mine, she'd have held her tongue for the empire."
Hofburg Palace, emperor's apartment.
"Franz Joseph Karl."
Joseph stared at me in surprise.
"Sisi...?"
Sleepy now?
"No, this is the emperor's palace. How did you get here...?"
"You know we've been sleeping separately since I returned from Paris?"
Years now, practically.
I thought I'd trained the kaiser right, but avert your eyes and he backslides.
"Not talking like newlyweds again?"
"That's a different issue from then!"
Different issue, so what?
"Answer's the same. Just unlike Milan, you don't come to the empress's quarters at all now."
Desperate enough to infiltrate the emperor's bedroom.
"That's what you wanted."
Joseph's voice held hurt.
"Me?"
I doubted my ears.
Me?
"You packed and fled to the Hofburg right after returning. When I went to Schönbrunn, the court chamberlain blocked me, saying you needed special care. I thought you were avoiding me."
...When did you come?
I'd only seen Joseph that morning.
"The chief lady-in-waiting said that?"
Joseph just nodded.
Aish, not a child.
"So you got sulky?"
"Sulky! I only did as you wished."
Past life memories surfaced.
Men are like programming—if you don't input the code right, output goes wrong.
This was exactly it.
Time to add a line to my Heart-Thumping Kaiser Maker.
Program properly. This big-hearted sis will understand.
"How did you get in, anyway?"
Trying to change the subject again.
"Secret passage."
Palaces have plenty for emergencies. I used one.
"Why through the passage?"
"If I came normally, you might refuse."
"Forgot you're pregnant?"
"No way."
Bigger than last time; he'd notice.
That's why I secluded early.
"My feeling."
I whispered the secret to Joseph alone.
"Twins, I think."
"Twins?"
I nodded, sitting beside him, and explained.
"How else would it show this soon?"