He opened his eyes anew and found himself lying in an endless scarlet land.

Terror instantly assailed him. He tried to get up but realized that numerous hands were holding him down. He tried to shout but failed, his throat unbearably dry. He could not see her yet, but he knew already damned well that in the distance an indistinguishable, apparently human figure, a woman perhaps, was slowly advancing, and would eventually pierce his heart with a sword dripping with the same blood he was almost drowning in. He had to absolutely run away, but the anxiety continued to rise, his eyes burned, everything seemed in flame, until he heard someone call his name and shake him. He managed to free himself from the iron grip of those hands and regained his senses, returning to reality. He was panting, drenched in sweat.

“Rudolf, what on earth-“

Rose couldn't finish the sentence as he tightly clung to her and buried his face against her chest. He was shaking like a leaf, and so, so pale. She hugged him tightly and began to caress his hair. What did just happen to him in such a short time?

"Are you feeling unwell? Or did you have a nightmare?"

And what a nightmare to terrify him like that?

No answer.

"Ru..."

…

"Let me at least get some water and a cloth to clean up, you're soaked."

"Rose, please... Don't leave me. Give me a few minutes."

She let him snuggle even more in her arms.

He was having that same nightmare pretty often, he continued after a while in a broken voice. He didn't remember when all this had begun, but it was a terrible dream that he had not been able to explain in the slightest yet nor had he ever had anyone to comfort him in those moments. He was a prince of Habsburg, he was never allowed to run into the arms of his mother, whom he had not even had the chance to know, or of his father, for the slightest inconvenience. He only had a dear nanny, whom he called Wowo, but they had to part ways when he was still very young, and an older sister that cared about him, but she got married off a Bavarian noble some years prior already. So, he had always been alone with this horrible dream.

After he had finally calmed down, Rose could get out of bed to cleanse a bit and then return to him with a damp and scented cloth.

"Let me stay here till tomorrow."

The woman sighed.

"Please…I beg you, I don't want to go back to that place, not tonight!"

 His voice cracked and his eyes were glistening with tears barely held back. He looked genuinely desperate.

"Rudolf, it's not that I don't want you here. I always enjoy your company, be sure of this. But that place is your home, and it will be your children's, and if you become Emperor one day... Fine, don’t give me that look please. Let's not talk about this now," she let out another long sigh. "But, Rudolf, aren't we getting a little too close? I ended up truly caring about you, I can't deny it but-"

"Don't worry, I won't fall in love" he cut short, with an almost annoyed tone. "I mean, don't feel offended. But I am not allowed to, I must not. I don't want to delude myself."

"No, Ru, that’s not what I mean... I'm the one who has to be careful not to fall in love with you."

Although the boy's gaze was still etched with the terror from that nightmare, she could clearly notice surprise in his eyes, bewilderment even.

"If we continue to be so intimate, not limited to just having fun, I..."

"How on earth could you fall in love with me?!" he interrupted her again, sitting up, to look her straight in the eyes. "I... What is it so endearing about me? Apart from my stupid family name!"

He seemed genuinely confused, almost outraged.

"I know that alone would be enough for many, but you are different and-"

He was infuriating her now, but she tried her best to stay calm and speak very clearly.

"Exactly, Rudolf. Indeed, not only am I different from the average I guess, but you are as well, to me and a few chosen ones to whom you have decided to show the real side of you. Oh, don't make that face, one can easily tell when you don't like someone, or, on the other hand, when you're comfortable with them. You can't fake it at all."

Her tone was stern, but she couldn’t help but tenderly smile at the end.

“And you make me different too, you know? I feel a better person with you around, I think.”

She gently pushed him to lie back down between the pillows and sat on top of his waist, kissing him on the mouth and placing his hands on her hips. He was reverently staring at her, waiting for her to resume her speech.

"You are charming, how come you don’t notice it? Aside from your goddamned hair, my dear…the profile of this face of yours, almost like a Greek statue-"

“Oh so is it because I’m handsome?”

She ignored him and began to draw a line with a finger from the center of his forehead… "these eyes, like fresh violets-"

"They are way too striking. I can never go unnoticed-"

"I like them and stop interrupting me."

"Sorry."

"Are you, Imperial Highness, apologizing to me, a simple countess?"

"But-"

"Just kidding, let's continue. Where were we? Ah yes, your defined, red lips..."

She knew that she would have been able to calm him down and make him listen by combining words with a gentle touch.

"This long, slender neck, this chest, the abdomen, so lean, and down here..."

Rudolf couldn’t help but sharply breathe in.

"Rose! Do you want to start again?!"

"Oh, perhaps? You said you wish to stay, didn't you? But let me finish first."

 That wasn’t all she wanted to tell him of course, but at least his cheeks gained some redness back.

His sincere smile, although barely hinted and so rare was one of the most attractive aspects of him, not only for the people who shared his same values, of course, but even the bigots of the court, while criticizing him so much for his ideas, were affected by it. His attentive and kind gaze, his sensitivity, sometimes exaggerated, and care for the needs of others. He managed to attract and befriend a genuine and open person like Miklòs Esterházy, while antagonising a few more arrogant officials each passing day, and even the common folk was timidly starting to discover and appreciate him. She was able to notice all that despite not even being so active in aristocratic circles – she found them so boring - and society in general, how come he was so blind towards his own achievements?

And what made him all the more so special was the fact that he didn't care how high-sounding and powerful his name was. For this reason, the fact that he wasn’t a random bourgeois revolutionary thinker, but a Habsburg, the second son of Emperor Franz I, made his whole being even more unique. But she avoided to point this out loud to him, he was already vulnerable enough that evening.

"You may not realize it, but many people like you, love you and will love you as the time goes by, in various ways. You can't keep pushing them away and isolating yourself because you don't feel worthy. I would have no problem falling in love with you, if only I was sure that you wouldn’t want to distance yourself for fear of harming me, because, trust me, you couldn’t hurt me, but in this way."

"Rose, I'm quite lost."

"I would like you to allow yourself to feel love and be loved, Rudolf. When one day you will find it, your first true love, please, welcome it and learn to appreciate yourself, yes? Rejecting someone not because you don't like them, but because you don't like yourself hurts both sides."

“But my family…and marrying someone- “

“Who is talking about marriage here?”

Learn to love yourself, with your strengths and weaknesses, and become a good ruler for the people and places you love so much, she would have liked to tell him.

"Come on, try to sleep now, you can barely keep your eyes open. But in the early morning you have to go back to the Hofburg."

After a subtle protest, Rudolf admitted defeat, and finally, that night, he managed to have a long and deep sleep.

-

That young Archduke was extremely sensitive, she had noticed it from their first meetings. But the world he lived in was not. For this reason, he felt alone, misunderstood and oppressed. She could not explain why she had this sort of vocation, perhaps simply because she had found herself being in tune with him and wanted to accomplish something during her comfortable and quiet life. She would have liked to help him to better face the reality, as much as she could. Step by step, without haste. But there was someone, to be precise the famous Miklós Prince of Esterházy, who always managed to mess up her plans. Hungarians! So proud and unrestrained.