Josephine

𝓔𝓹𝓲𝓼𝓸𝓭𝓮 32: 𝓣𝓸 𝓦𝓪𝓻 𝓘 𝓖𝓸

October 2, 1972

After five months, Vittorio had held up to his word. Regularly sent letters and phone calls, he even visits twice a month. Obviously not for very long as he is the King of Italy, but he has been following up on his promise, which is nice. In fact, at this moment, I was replying to one of his letters.

Dearest Vittorio,

It, as usual, was so nice to hear from you. I am really happy that you and I have managed to mend our relationship over the past months. According to word from Field Marshal Mackenzie, the Italian regiments have shown unbelievable bravery in battle, equal to or more than that of the Hanoverian ones. I am thankful as well that you are willing to send your young men thousands of miles to help me.

Meanwhile, how has your dispute with my half-brother progressed? I don't want my husband and stepbrother fighting over Venezia... I would obviously like to take your side... but at the same time... neutrality might be the best option. But if necessary, I will mediate a settlement, because in general, a war between Italy and the Holy Roman Empire is a disaster waiting to happen.

Tell me, how is Italy this time of year? Is it cold and drab? It is getting to that point here and I hate it, but alas, there is nothing to be done about it. I may rule the strongest nation in the world, and the world may revolve around me economically and militarily, but the weather is out of my control. 

More soon,

Josephine

I put the feathery quill down on the desk and closed the pot of ink. I neatly folded up the letter and addressed it to him. I held it out for an aide to take.

"Send this to Milan, to Vittorio," I said with a smile.

"Of course your majesty- oh, I nearly forgot, this is for you, it's from the front," She replied.

I nodded and took it from her. Then the aide turned and left to complete her previous task. An update from William perhaps? He did just send me one three days ago, signifying progress on the Second Battle of Sudbury. But maybe something major has happened in those three days worthy of informing me. I opened the letter, but immediately noticed that the handwriting was not his, nor was it close.

𝓨𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓶𝓪𝓳𝓮𝓼𝓽𝔂,

𝓘 𝓻𝓮𝓰𝓻𝓮𝓽 𝓽𝓸 𝓲𝓷𝓯𝓸𝓻𝓶 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓪𝓽 11:24 𝓹.𝓶. 𝓸𝓷 𝓞𝓬𝓽𝓸𝓫𝓮𝓻 1, 1972, 𝓕𝓲𝓮𝓵𝓭 𝓜𝓪𝓻𝓼𝓱𝓪𝓵 𝓦𝓲𝓵𝓵𝓲𝓪𝓶 𝓙𝓸𝓼𝓮𝓹𝓱 𝓜𝓪𝓬𝓴𝓮𝓷𝔃𝓲𝓮 𝔀𝓪𝓼 𝓪𝓽𝓽𝓪𝓬𝓴𝓮𝓭 𝓫𝔂 𝓪 𝓒𝓪𝓷𝓪𝓭𝓲𝓪𝓷 𝓶𝓮𝓻𝓬𝓮𝓷𝓪𝓻𝔂 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓼𝓱𝓸𝓽 𝓽𝓱𝓻𝓲𝓬𝓮 𝓲𝓷 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓱𝓮𝓪𝓭 𝔀𝓲𝓽𝓱 𝓪 .44 𝓻𝓮𝓿𝓸𝓵𝓿𝓮𝓻. 𝓜𝓪𝓬𝓴𝓮𝓷𝔃𝓲𝓮 𝓲𝓶𝓶𝓮𝓭𝓲𝓪𝓽𝓮𝓵𝔂 𝓫𝓵𝓮𝓭 𝓸𝓾𝓽 𝓯𝓻𝓸𝓶 𝓱𝓲𝓼 𝔀𝓸𝓾𝓷𝓭𝓼. 𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓼𝓱𝓸𝓸𝓽𝓮𝓻 𝓮𝓼𝓬𝓪𝓹𝓮𝓭 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓬𝓪𝓶𝓹, 𝓶𝓸𝓼𝓽 𝓵𝓲𝓴𝓮𝓵𝔂 𝓽𝓸 𝓻𝓮𝓫𝓮𝓵 𝓵𝓲𝓷𝓮𝓼. 𝓘 𝓪𝓶 𝓽𝓮𝓻𝓻𝓲𝓫𝓵𝔂 𝓼𝓸𝓻𝓻𝔂 𝓯𝓸𝓻 𝔂𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓵𝓸𝓼𝓼, 𝔂𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓶𝓪𝓳𝓮𝓼𝓽𝔂.

-𝓒𝓸𝓻𝓸𝓷𝓮𝓻 𝓐𝓭𝓪𝓶 𝓩𝓮𝓫𝓮𝓭𝓮𝓮

I carefully folded the letter, trying to suppress tears. Now Mackenzie was dead... my god what do I do!? He was my last commander, and none in training or on the field was nearly as gifted and qualified as William. Goddammit... I pressed on a button to summon an aide, or at least send a message down to the steward's hall to send one up. It wasn't as though I was guilty anymore. Vittorio and I had saved our relationship... he even proposed to me over a private romantic dinner- Josephine focus! Jesus Christ, you get so bloody distracted all the time!