After talking with the Emperor, and rejecting his offer, I walked in the imperial gardens and observed the flowers and fountains there.
I arrived in the room a few minutes ago, but I haven't taken off the clothes.
I can't do it alone, and I don't know where Kate is. Nor any other maid for that matter.
I sit on the sofa and lean back, trying to ease the pressure of the corset on the bruise.
The Emperor asked me what I wanted in exchange for my counsel, and I didn't change my mind until the end. If he wants this Duchess to help, he needs to offer me something worthy.
Unluckily, there is just one single thing that his majesty can give me, now, and it's my husband's original title.
In the end, the Emperor even proposed to give me an honorary title, as long as I renounced the archducal one.