#archdvchess

location: the gardens. 

charlotte used to consider alix’s in laws her own relatives, after all, they welcomed her sister in their family, and the younger princess couldn’t be more happy for her sister. sometimes, she wished her family was big as the habsburgs as she probably wouldn’t be as alone as she was growing up. she had some cousins from her mother’s family side, but they were overseas, and the cousins from her father’s weren’t the best people in the world. before being made the king’s heir, she had some fond memories with rené, but that’s all. before her marriage to vasily, she felt them to be strangers, without the complicity she thought they shared. 

but with alix’s unusual behavior, charlotte was starting to think that the habsburgs weren’t as nice as she pictured them to be. she knew her sister was harsh and cold --- being like that since their childhood days ---, but the lack of feelings she demonstrated upon discovering charlotte’s pregnancy was something else. if the roles were reversed, charlotte would be so happy for alix. a child was a blessing to any marriage, to any family. she didn’t want her child to grow up without the presence of their aunt, and needed to discover why --- and what --- her sister’s heart was more cold than ever.