[APH][fic] What She Never Knew
Title: What She Never Knew
Author/Artist: mjhermi
Character(s) or Pairing(s): Austria/Hungary, Poland, Russia, mentions of France
Rating: PG-13
Warning: Blood and a bit of coarse language.
Summary: Austria was nothing but a huge jerk to Hungary during the 1848 revolution. But perhaps there was a little bit more to that than what he had led everybody to believe...
Author's Notes:
Just another spur of the moment piece done after lounging around at my home province and reading comments on YouTube...
For some reason I was inspired to create a fic this time instead of continuing my yonkoma spree last week. Probably has something to do with the fact that I don't have my tablet here. Heh.
This was done with the note that the character nations represent the people who associate themselves with such, and not just necessarily their boss. It was also done with the thought that during the period of time when this took place, the Austrian empire was not really a nation, but a collection of different nationalities bound to a single entity. The people in this fic whom we generally consider as "Austrians" are Germans who just so happened to live in Habsburg hereditary lands called "Austria".
--------------------
What She Never Knew
Standing still with a vacant expression on his face, Roderich watched as Ivan marched over towards where he and his emperor stood, with one of the Russian’s hands firmly clasped around Erzsébet’s arm. The Hungarian’s hands were bound behind her back; her skin marred with fresh wounds over old battle scars; her head held high in defiance, allowing him to see her green eyes seething with rage.
Genuflecting in front of the Austrian emperor, his hand still holding on to his captive’s, Ivan then announced, “I’ve come to return the insurgent, as requested.”
Roderich could feel Franz Joseph’s eyes on him as he stepped forward. “Thank you for your assistance, Ivan. Please extend our gratitude to your emperor.” he replied, his voice regal and steady.
“It is nothing. The Tsar is just doing what he can to abolish these ridiculous revolutions that Francis had started so that we may all return to peace.”
“Which is most fortunate. Rest assured, one day, we shall return the favor.”
Ivan smiled. “I shall remember that.”
Two royal guards approached Ivan with the intention of taking Erzsébet from him. As soon as Ivan let go, she suddenly sprang forward, as if intending to lunge directly at Franz Joseph and do whatever she could to inflict bodily harm. Roderich automatically moved to the front to shield his emperor, while the two guards tried to hold her back. Ivan had to step in and grasp her shoulders with his huge, powerful hands before she was finally subdued.
“Cowards! Weaklings!” Erzsébet snarled.
“Traitor,” Roderich calmly answered back. “You’ve abused the freedom we’ve granted you. And for that, you will be punished.”
“’Freedom’? What ‘freedom’? You mean the subjugation of my people under your emperor?!”
“We have granted you your request for autonomy, yet you also dared to subdue your peers. You defied orders, and you have even killed Count von Lamberg.”
“Croatia has always belonged with me! And you have no right to decide who will control my people! You promised me that!”
“I was trying to help stop a war!”
“And yet you had Jelačić attack me anyway!”
“I never ordered that!”
“Liar!”
Franz Joseph cleared his throat. Roderich briefly glanced at him, before regaining his composure and straitening his back, towering over Erzsébet both thanks to his height and the fact that he was on higher ground. Yet despite that, Erzsébet did not allow herself to look as if she has been defeated, as she unwaveringly met and held her eyes directly with his.
“For your insubordination, your autonomy shall be revoked, and all rights you previously held shall be removed until further notice,” Roderich said coldly. “General von Haynau has been assigned as your governor, and he has ordered the execution of your army leaders and of Lajos Batthyány.”
Erzsébet paled. “You… you monster!”
“Ivan, I’m sorry to ask you for another favor, but if you could please help escort Erzsébet to the dungeons where she could have the time to think of what she has done?” Roderich asked.
Ivan shrugged. “Gladly. By the way, would you mind greatly if I take those revolution banners as souvenirs?”
“I have no use for those banners, and I’m certain Erzsébet will no longer need them. You may take them if you wish.”
The Russian grinned. “If you say so.”
“You cold-hearted bastard!” Erzsébet screamed as she was dragged away. “I thought I could trust you! I thought you were different! Those men you’ve killed… individually they’re worth more than you could ever hope to be!”
She continued to shout obscenities at him until they’ve finally left the room, leaving him alone with his emperor.
It took a few minutes of silence before Franz Joseph finally spoke. “Good. You’ve done well, Roderich,” he said.
Roderich turned around and knelt in front of him. “Your Imperial Majesty . . .”
“You may leave.”
Nodding once, he stood up and left the throne room, his head held just as high as Erzsébet’s was earlier when she was brought in.
----------
He briskly made his way around the palace towards his room, careful to maintain his posture.
It was only after he had reached the relative privacy of his quarters had he allowed his shoulders to slump, a hand reaching out to rub his eyes under his glasses as he fell unceremoniously unto his couch.
Why? He thought. Why did this have to happen?! Erzsébet . . .
He recalled what she had said as she was taken out of the throne room. That she had trusted him . . . he supposed she no longer did so now. Not after what he had said, not after what he had allowed to be done. He was just another suppressor in her long list of suppressors.
There was no going back . . .
There was a knock on his door. Roderich quickly reasserted himself before saying, “Enter.”
Feliks came in, carrying a washing dish, along with clean cloths and bandages. “Hey,” he said. “It’s, like, time to wash that . . . and stuff . . .”
Roderich sighed. Feliks closed the door behind him and waited as the Austrian unbuttoned his shirt and took it off, revealing several fresh cuts and bruises, not at all different from those that Erzsébet had.
He would have preferred to have dressed his wounds by himself so as to keep news about them from spreading out, but Roderich would have had some difficulties reaching the ones at his back. Fortunately, Feliks already knew about his condition and was helping him with it, so it was not too difficult to keep his injuries away from prying, questioning eyes.
As the Polish went to work, the normally bubbly Feliks was quiet, and Roderich didn’t even have to ask to know why.
“I’m sorry . . .” he finally said as Feliks rubbed a cloth over a scar on his back a little too roughly.
“You could have, like, tried harder, you know,” the Polish snapped, slapping on the salve and causing Roderich to wince. “You should have just said, ‘Screw you, Frankie, I’d rather set her free!’ Instead you just followed him like the obedient puppy you are.”
Roderich clenched his fists. “He is my boss, Feliks. In the end, their words are absolute.”
“You could have overthrown him if you’re just courageous enough, like what Francis did with his. You already started anyway - why not finish it?”
“And then risk a war with Ivan and his emperor? You do remember what he did with his half of your land, do you?”
“Hmph. I’m still, like, going to get him back for that you know. And I’m sure Węgry’s definitely going to get back at you for this.”
Roderich fell silent. Feliks moved on to cleaning other parts of his back, his movements becoming a bit gentler, having noticed his companion’s change in moods. “This is part of your punishment, isn’t it?” he asked quietly.
The Austrian couldn’t help but snort.
“I mean, they could have, like, gotten somebody else to lay down the punishment, you know? But they got you to do it instead,” Feliks continued.
“The imperial court found it difficult to accept that I had . . . fought for her. They believe I had grown too fond of Erzsébet and is trying to distance her from me.”
“And you know what? It’s going to work. Węgry’s most definitely, totally going to hate you for what you’ve said today.”
“I know,” Roderich replied bitterly.
Feliks paused, staring at the Austrian’s wounds, and what they signified. “I could tell her, you know,” he offered. “Bem shouldn’t be the only hero who tried to help her. Becher, Jellinek, and the others . . . they deserve her recognition, too.”
“Then she’ll find out that I truly am a weakling, having lost against my own government, even with your help,” Roderich scoffed. “No, it is better this way.”
“Like, no offense, but you’ve totally lost whatever face you think you can still show to her after Ivan came to help. At least this way she wouldn’t think of you as the cold-hearted bastard she was calling you earlier,” Feliks insisted.
“No.”
“Your stupid pride is going to be your fall someday, did you know that?”
“No, Feliks.”
Feliks shrugged. “Like, suit yourself. Don’t come running to me when my best friend totally kicks your pansy ass in the future.”
Once his wounds were tended to, Feliks left for the dungeons to help Erzsébet with hers, leaving Roderich alone once more.
As he carefully inserted his arm into his sleeve, Roderich recalled the events which took place not too long ago . . .
----------
His purple eyes widened with horror; his chest heaved with heavy gasps, as Robert Blum was shot right in front of him, Blum’s blood mixing with the rest of the red stains which covered his once pristine white tunic.
“He . . . he was a member of the parliament . . . he had immunity!” Roderich raged, held back by two soldiers holding on to his arms.
“And he’s all the more dangerous because of it. He is in the position to spread traitorous thoughts across the land. Better that he dies than to let his foolish ideologies spread further,” a member of the imperial court told him.
“Look at what these people already made you do, young master!” another cried, pointing to the dead bodies of the people who had fought in Vienna . . . who fought against the Imperial Army, trying to prevent them from stopping the insurgency in Hungary . . . trying to help him keep Erzsébet free . . .
All of them were executed in front of him.
“They’ve poisoned your mind; they made you fight against the emperor!”
“And . . . and you think killing them in front of me is going to make me think any more highly of him?!” Roderich spat.
“No. It is meant to make you realize that she is causing you to kill your own people!”
“You used to be so loyal, Herr Edelstein . . .”
“She was loyal, too!” Roderich cried, still struggling against his constraints. “She could have decided to completely separate from us from the beginning, but she allowed the emperor to keep the Crown of St. Stephen in accordance to the Pragmatic Sanction!”
“And yet she had shown signs of completely breaking off from us, having decided to build her own army, and disobeying many of our orders!” a court member argued. “Do we have to remind you that she had killed the subordinate we had sent in an effort to calm the rising conflict? She betrayed you!”
“The conflict never would have started if Jelačić had not moved on his own accord without our orders!” Roderich fought back. “We promised her autonomy! She was only acting because she thought we betrayed her!”
“Jelačić is a very loyal man. His actions were done for the emperor’s benefit, and in extension, for your benefit.”
“The fact that you could not see this means that the traitor has clearly clouded your mind, Herr Edelstein. You’ve even gone as far as killing the Minister of War, and threatened the existence of the imperial government!”
“You do know what would happen if the revolution succeeds, right? Tsar Nicholas would never allow it, and would attack us, causing even more unnecessary deaths. Do you really want to sacrifice even more of your people’s lives for the cause of one woman? Is that how much we mean to you, Herr Edelstein?!”
“I . . . no . . . I . . .” Roderich faltered.
“In fact, the Tsar has already offered his help in crushing the rebellion. We look forward to see Ivan break her.”
Roderich blanched.
“An Austrian is a man, any man, loyal to the Habsburg emperor. Without the emperor, Austria ceases to exist. For your own sake, it will do you well to remember that.”
----------
Roderich slammed his fist against his table in frustration, agitating a bruise hidden on his arm under his shirt.
Loyalty can never be gained out of force. It can only be derived out of trust and understanding. He had that with Erzsébet. She still fought against him every now and then, but they’ve always compromised. Now, after what he had been forced to do, reconciliation was practically impossible.
Perhaps he should have taken on Felix’s offer. Roderich did not just sit down and simply allowed the imperial court to crush her. He fought for her rights. His scars were proof. People from his hereditary lands were executed for sympathizing with her. But he was afraid of what Erzsébet would do if she finds out that a part of him had supported her. Afraid that she might try again, and that Nicholas, Ivan, and the imperial court may not be as forgiving as the first. Roderich knew, having seen her defiant eyes, that Erzsébet hadn’t been as broken as they had hoped. She could have gone on fighting; she just surrendered because she was thinking about her people as well.
If we were only born as humans . . . Roderich thought, cursing his position for what was not the first time in his life. If we were just normal, maybe things would have been different. Maybe she and I would be leading better lives than this. Maybe she and I would have been . . .
He closed his eyes.
He loved her. Truly loved her. He never told her, and he didn’t know if she loved him back. It would not have worked anyway. He was her master, she was his servant. But it was so easy to dream . . .
“Herr Edelstein?” he heard as a human servant knocked on his door. “The imperial court wishes to convene concerning Erzsébet Héderváry, and had requested for your presence.”
. . . only to be reminded that dreams were just as easily shattered with the presence of reality.
He squared his shoulders, fixed his cravat, and looked at himself in front of his dressing mirror.
The man that looked back wore none of the vulnerabilities of Roderich Edelstein.
He stepped out of his refuge and fell in step with his escort, his emotionless mask in place. With it on, he set aside any feelings and sympathies he had for her, and allowed himself to become the man who would do anything to “protect” Erzsébet from further bloodshed, even if it meant subjugating her and teaching her a lesson for her transgressions.
It was the only way he could justify to himself what the imperial court wanted out of him.
Perhaps he really was a cold-hearted bastard after all.
--------------------
Historical notes:
- Tsar Nicholas I of Russia was known as the Gendarme of Europe for safeguarding the monarchies of Europe from the revolutions that were spreading across the continent, which began in France. During the Hungarian revolution of 1848, he intervened in behalf of the Habsburgs to suppress the uprising.
- Originally, prior to full-out revolution, the Hungarian Diet had managed to get the imperial court to agree to giving them autonomy, with the Habsburg emperor still retained as king. However, their new status and policies set them against the other nationalities in the multi-ethnic empire. A bitter dispute between them and the Habsburg-loyal ban of Croatia-Slavonia, Josip Jelačić, including an event where Jelačić attacked Hungary without any official order, finally caused the imperial court to interfere. When Field Marshall Count Franz Philipp von Lamberg was sent to take control of the warring armies, he was killed upon arrival in Hungary. The imperial court finally ordered the Hungarian parliament to be dissolved. War between Austria and Hungary has begun.
- Julius Jacob von Haynau, appointed governor of Hungary after the revolution, ordered the execution of the 13 leaders of the Hungarian army and of Lajos Batthyány, the Prime Minister of Pest. His extreme hatred of revolutionary principles and his violent temper is well known, even in the imperial circle, where he received no love either.
- After the revolution, the victorious Tsarist army took the Hungarian revolutionary banners to Russia.
- In 1831, the Polish parliament decided to depose Nicholas I as King of Poland. Nicholas crushed the rebellion, and reduced the Kingdom of Poland to the status of a Russian province.
- On October 6, 1848, a crowd of Austrians sympathetic to the Hungarians attempted to stop Imperial Troops from leaving Vienna and suppress the on-going revolution. This eventually came to be known as the Vienna Uprising, and resulted to the death of the War Minister, Count Baillet von Latour. In the succeeding days, the emperor and the Austrian Parliament had to flee the capital for their own safety.
- On October 26, a combination of Austrian and Croatian armies fought to regain Vienna. Polish General Józef Bem - a Polish and Hungarian national hero - fought alongside the sympathizers, but the capital was lost. Except for Bem, who managed to escape, all the leaders of the sympathizers were executed, including at least one member of the Frankfurt parliament.
- The thought that the people living in Austria really consider themselves more as Germans under Habsburg rule explains why they wanted to be incorporated to Germany after the empire was dissolved. Only a few ever really thought of Austria as an actual nation. Thus, right after World War I, Austria was the country that no one wanted.
--------------------
Author/Artist: mjhermi
Character(s) or Pairing(s): Austria/Hungary, Poland, Russia, mentions of France
Rating: PG-13
Warning: Blood and a bit of coarse language.
Summary: Austria was nothing but a huge jerk to Hungary during the 1848 revolution. But perhaps there was a little bit more to that than what he had led everybody to believe...
Author's Notes:
Just another spur of the moment piece done after lounging around at my home province and reading comments on YouTube...
For some reason I was inspired to create a fic this time instead of continuing my yonkoma spree last week. Probably has something to do with the fact that I don't have my tablet here. Heh.
This was done with the note that the character nations represent the people who associate themselves with such, and not just necessarily their boss. It was also done with the thought that during the period of time when this took place, the Austrian empire was not really a nation, but a collection of different nationalities bound to a single entity. The people in this fic whom we generally consider as "Austrians" are Germans who just so happened to live in Habsburg hereditary lands called "Austria".
--------------------
What She Never Knew
Standing still with a vacant expression on his face, Roderich watched as Ivan marched over towards where he and his emperor stood, with one of the Russian’s hands firmly clasped around Erzsébet’s arm. The Hungarian’s hands were bound behind her back; her skin marred with fresh wounds over old battle scars; her head held high in defiance, allowing him to see her green eyes seething with rage.
Genuflecting in front of the Austrian emperor, his hand still holding on to his captive’s, Ivan then announced, “I’ve come to return the insurgent, as requested.”
Roderich could feel Franz Joseph’s eyes on him as he stepped forward. “Thank you for your assistance, Ivan. Please extend our gratitude to your emperor.” he replied, his voice regal and steady.
“It is nothing. The Tsar is just doing what he can to abolish these ridiculous revolutions that Francis had started so that we may all return to peace.”
“Which is most fortunate. Rest assured, one day, we shall return the favor.”
Ivan smiled. “I shall remember that.”
Two royal guards approached Ivan with the intention of taking Erzsébet from him. As soon as Ivan let go, she suddenly sprang forward, as if intending to lunge directly at Franz Joseph and do whatever she could to inflict bodily harm. Roderich automatically moved to the front to shield his emperor, while the two guards tried to hold her back. Ivan had to step in and grasp her shoulders with his huge, powerful hands before she was finally subdued.
“Cowards! Weaklings!” Erzsébet snarled.
“Traitor,” Roderich calmly answered back. “You’ve abused the freedom we’ve granted you. And for that, you will be punished.”
“’Freedom’? What ‘freedom’? You mean the subjugation of my people under your emperor?!”
“We have granted you your request for autonomy, yet you also dared to subdue your peers. You defied orders, and you have even killed Count von Lamberg.”
“Croatia has always belonged with me! And you have no right to decide who will control my people! You promised me that!”
“I was trying to help stop a war!”
“And yet you had Jelačić attack me anyway!”
“I never ordered that!”
“Liar!”
Franz Joseph cleared his throat. Roderich briefly glanced at him, before regaining his composure and straitening his back, towering over Erzsébet both thanks to his height and the fact that he was on higher ground. Yet despite that, Erzsébet did not allow herself to look as if she has been defeated, as she unwaveringly met and held her eyes directly with his.
“For your insubordination, your autonomy shall be revoked, and all rights you previously held shall be removed until further notice,” Roderich said coldly. “General von Haynau has been assigned as your governor, and he has ordered the execution of your army leaders and of Lajos Batthyány.”
Erzsébet paled. “You… you monster!”
“Ivan, I’m sorry to ask you for another favor, but if you could please help escort Erzsébet to the dungeons where she could have the time to think of what she has done?” Roderich asked.
Ivan shrugged. “Gladly. By the way, would you mind greatly if I take those revolution banners as souvenirs?”
“I have no use for those banners, and I’m certain Erzsébet will no longer need them. You may take them if you wish.”
The Russian grinned. “If you say so.”
“You cold-hearted bastard!” Erzsébet screamed as she was dragged away. “I thought I could trust you! I thought you were different! Those men you’ve killed… individually they’re worth more than you could ever hope to be!”
She continued to shout obscenities at him until they’ve finally left the room, leaving him alone with his emperor.
It took a few minutes of silence before Franz Joseph finally spoke. “Good. You’ve done well, Roderich,” he said.
Roderich turned around and knelt in front of him. “Your Imperial Majesty . . .”
“You may leave.”
Nodding once, he stood up and left the throne room, his head held just as high as Erzsébet’s was earlier when she was brought in.
----------
He briskly made his way around the palace towards his room, careful to maintain his posture.
It was only after he had reached the relative privacy of his quarters had he allowed his shoulders to slump, a hand reaching out to rub his eyes under his glasses as he fell unceremoniously unto his couch.
Why? He thought. Why did this have to happen?! Erzsébet . . .
He recalled what she had said as she was taken out of the throne room. That she had trusted him . . . he supposed she no longer did so now. Not after what he had said, not after what he had allowed to be done. He was just another suppressor in her long list of suppressors.
There was no going back . . .
There was a knock on his door. Roderich quickly reasserted himself before saying, “Enter.”
Feliks came in, carrying a washing dish, along with clean cloths and bandages. “Hey,” he said. “It’s, like, time to wash that . . . and stuff . . .”
Roderich sighed. Feliks closed the door behind him and waited as the Austrian unbuttoned his shirt and took it off, revealing several fresh cuts and bruises, not at all different from those that Erzsébet had.
He would have preferred to have dressed his wounds by himself so as to keep news about them from spreading out, but Roderich would have had some difficulties reaching the ones at his back. Fortunately, Feliks already knew about his condition and was helping him with it, so it was not too difficult to keep his injuries away from prying, questioning eyes.
As the Polish went to work, the normally bubbly Feliks was quiet, and Roderich didn’t even have to ask to know why.
“I’m sorry . . .” he finally said as Feliks rubbed a cloth over a scar on his back a little too roughly.
“You could have, like, tried harder, you know,” the Polish snapped, slapping on the salve and causing Roderich to wince. “You should have just said, ‘Screw you, Frankie, I’d rather set her free!’ Instead you just followed him like the obedient puppy you are.”
Roderich clenched his fists. “He is my boss, Feliks. In the end, their words are absolute.”
“You could have overthrown him if you’re just courageous enough, like what Francis did with his. You already started anyway - why not finish it?”
“And then risk a war with Ivan and his emperor? You do remember what he did with his half of your land, do you?”
“Hmph. I’m still, like, going to get him back for that you know. And I’m sure Węgry’s definitely going to get back at you for this.”
Roderich fell silent. Feliks moved on to cleaning other parts of his back, his movements becoming a bit gentler, having noticed his companion’s change in moods. “This is part of your punishment, isn’t it?” he asked quietly.
The Austrian couldn’t help but snort.
“I mean, they could have, like, gotten somebody else to lay down the punishment, you know? But they got you to do it instead,” Feliks continued.
“The imperial court found it difficult to accept that I had . . . fought for her. They believe I had grown too fond of Erzsébet and is trying to distance her from me.”
“And you know what? It’s going to work. Węgry’s most definitely, totally going to hate you for what you’ve said today.”
“I know,” Roderich replied bitterly.
Feliks paused, staring at the Austrian’s wounds, and what they signified. “I could tell her, you know,” he offered. “Bem shouldn’t be the only hero who tried to help her. Becher, Jellinek, and the others . . . they deserve her recognition, too.”
“Then she’ll find out that I truly am a weakling, having lost against my own government, even with your help,” Roderich scoffed. “No, it is better this way.”
“Like, no offense, but you’ve totally lost whatever face you think you can still show to her after Ivan came to help. At least this way she wouldn’t think of you as the cold-hearted bastard she was calling you earlier,” Feliks insisted.
“No.”
“Your stupid pride is going to be your fall someday, did you know that?”
“No, Feliks.”
Feliks shrugged. “Like, suit yourself. Don’t come running to me when my best friend totally kicks your pansy ass in the future.”
Once his wounds were tended to, Feliks left for the dungeons to help Erzsébet with hers, leaving Roderich alone once more.
As he carefully inserted his arm into his sleeve, Roderich recalled the events which took place not too long ago . . .
----------
His purple eyes widened with horror; his chest heaved with heavy gasps, as Robert Blum was shot right in front of him, Blum’s blood mixing with the rest of the red stains which covered his once pristine white tunic.
“He . . . he was a member of the parliament . . . he had immunity!” Roderich raged, held back by two soldiers holding on to his arms.
“And he’s all the more dangerous because of it. He is in the position to spread traitorous thoughts across the land. Better that he dies than to let his foolish ideologies spread further,” a member of the imperial court told him.
“Look at what these people already made you do, young master!” another cried, pointing to the dead bodies of the people who had fought in Vienna . . . who fought against the Imperial Army, trying to prevent them from stopping the insurgency in Hungary . . . trying to help him keep Erzsébet free . . .
All of them were executed in front of him.
“They’ve poisoned your mind; they made you fight against the emperor!”
“And . . . and you think killing them in front of me is going to make me think any more highly of him?!” Roderich spat.
“No. It is meant to make you realize that she is causing you to kill your own people!”
“You used to be so loyal, Herr Edelstein . . .”
“She was loyal, too!” Roderich cried, still struggling against his constraints. “She could have decided to completely separate from us from the beginning, but she allowed the emperor to keep the Crown of St. Stephen in accordance to the Pragmatic Sanction!”
“And yet she had shown signs of completely breaking off from us, having decided to build her own army, and disobeying many of our orders!” a court member argued. “Do we have to remind you that she had killed the subordinate we had sent in an effort to calm the rising conflict? She betrayed you!”
“The conflict never would have started if Jelačić had not moved on his own accord without our orders!” Roderich fought back. “We promised her autonomy! She was only acting because she thought we betrayed her!”
“Jelačić is a very loyal man. His actions were done for the emperor’s benefit, and in extension, for your benefit.”
“The fact that you could not see this means that the traitor has clearly clouded your mind, Herr Edelstein. You’ve even gone as far as killing the Minister of War, and threatened the existence of the imperial government!”
“You do know what would happen if the revolution succeeds, right? Tsar Nicholas would never allow it, and would attack us, causing even more unnecessary deaths. Do you really want to sacrifice even more of your people’s lives for the cause of one woman? Is that how much we mean to you, Herr Edelstein?!”
“I . . . no . . . I . . .” Roderich faltered.
“In fact, the Tsar has already offered his help in crushing the rebellion. We look forward to see Ivan break her.”
Roderich blanched.
“An Austrian is a man, any man, loyal to the Habsburg emperor. Without the emperor, Austria ceases to exist. For your own sake, it will do you well to remember that.”
----------
Roderich slammed his fist against his table in frustration, agitating a bruise hidden on his arm under his shirt.
Loyalty can never be gained out of force. It can only be derived out of trust and understanding. He had that with Erzsébet. She still fought against him every now and then, but they’ve always compromised. Now, after what he had been forced to do, reconciliation was practically impossible.
Perhaps he should have taken on Felix’s offer. Roderich did not just sit down and simply allowed the imperial court to crush her. He fought for her rights. His scars were proof. People from his hereditary lands were executed for sympathizing with her. But he was afraid of what Erzsébet would do if she finds out that a part of him had supported her. Afraid that she might try again, and that Nicholas, Ivan, and the imperial court may not be as forgiving as the first. Roderich knew, having seen her defiant eyes, that Erzsébet hadn’t been as broken as they had hoped. She could have gone on fighting; she just surrendered because she was thinking about her people as well.
If we were only born as humans . . . Roderich thought, cursing his position for what was not the first time in his life. If we were just normal, maybe things would have been different. Maybe she and I would be leading better lives than this. Maybe she and I would have been . . .
He closed his eyes.
He loved her. Truly loved her. He never told her, and he didn’t know if she loved him back. It would not have worked anyway. He was her master, she was his servant. But it was so easy to dream . . .
“Herr Edelstein?” he heard as a human servant knocked on his door. “The imperial court wishes to convene concerning Erzsébet Héderváry, and had requested for your presence.”
. . . only to be reminded that dreams were just as easily shattered with the presence of reality.
He squared his shoulders, fixed his cravat, and looked at himself in front of his dressing mirror.
The man that looked back wore none of the vulnerabilities of Roderich Edelstein.
He stepped out of his refuge and fell in step with his escort, his emotionless mask in place. With it on, he set aside any feelings and sympathies he had for her, and allowed himself to become the man who would do anything to “protect” Erzsébet from further bloodshed, even if it meant subjugating her and teaching her a lesson for her transgressions.
It was the only way he could justify to himself what the imperial court wanted out of him.
Perhaps he really was a cold-hearted bastard after all.
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Historical notes:
- Tsar Nicholas I of Russia was known as the Gendarme of Europe for safeguarding the monarchies of Europe from the revolutions that were spreading across the continent, which began in France. During the Hungarian revolution of 1848, he intervened in behalf of the Habsburgs to suppress the uprising.
- Originally, prior to full-out revolution, the Hungarian Diet had managed to get the imperial court to agree to giving them autonomy, with the Habsburg emperor still retained as king. However, their new status and policies set them against the other nationalities in the multi-ethnic empire. A bitter dispute between them and the Habsburg-loyal ban of Croatia-Slavonia, Josip Jelačić, including an event where Jelačić attacked Hungary without any official order, finally caused the imperial court to interfere. When Field Marshall Count Franz Philipp von Lamberg was sent to take control of the warring armies, he was killed upon arrival in Hungary. The imperial court finally ordered the Hungarian parliament to be dissolved. War between Austria and Hungary has begun.
- Julius Jacob von Haynau, appointed governor of Hungary after the revolution, ordered the execution of the 13 leaders of the Hungarian army and of Lajos Batthyány, the Prime Minister of Pest. His extreme hatred of revolutionary principles and his violent temper is well known, even in the imperial circle, where he received no love either.
- After the revolution, the victorious Tsarist army took the Hungarian revolutionary banners to Russia.
- In 1831, the Polish parliament decided to depose Nicholas I as King of Poland. Nicholas crushed the rebellion, and reduced the Kingdom of Poland to the status of a Russian province.
- On October 6, 1848, a crowd of Austrians sympathetic to the Hungarians attempted to stop Imperial Troops from leaving Vienna and suppress the on-going revolution. This eventually came to be known as the Vienna Uprising, and resulted to the death of the War Minister, Count Baillet von Latour. In the succeeding days, the emperor and the Austrian Parliament had to flee the capital for their own safety.
- On October 26, a combination of Austrian and Croatian armies fought to regain Vienna. Polish General Józef Bem - a Polish and Hungarian national hero - fought alongside the sympathizers, but the capital was lost. Except for Bem, who managed to escape, all the leaders of the sympathizers were executed, including at least one member of the Frankfurt parliament.
- The thought that the people living in Austria really consider themselves more as Germans under Habsburg rule explains why they wanted to be incorporated to Germany after the empire was dissolved. Only a few ever really thought of Austria as an actual nation. Thus, right after World War I, Austria was the country that no one wanted.
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