Epilogue - But Carthage May Rise Again One Day!

Hildegarde von Mariendorf, the only child of Count Franz von Mariendorf, was dressed in a light blue men's suit when she came calling on Count Grantham. Her short-cropped blonde hair curled lightly around her ears, and she smiled up at the bright spring weather as she waited outside the door to be let in. Someone did, a moment after she rang the bell: a tall, handsome man, who asked what business she was calling on. She explained it, and he led her to the richly decorated library, waiting for Count Grantham.

Count Grantham appeared a moment later, and the servant who had let her in stood in the corner of the library. She could feel that he was watching her, even though his expression was neutral and his eyes stared blankly ahead.

"Fraulein Mariendorf," Count Grantham said as he came in, "to what do I owe the honor of your visit?" His expression when he looked her over was decidedly not neutral, and in fact seemed highly scandalized by her outfit, but he at least kept it out of her voice. "I haven't seen you in years."

"I'm afraid I've come on business, Count Grantham," she said.

He gestured at one of the couches, and she sat, crossing her legs and smiling at him. He sat down across from her. He was dressed in his uniform, a vice admiral's stripes upon his shoulders.

"And what sort of business is it? I'm not sure what I can help you with."

Hilde folded her hands on her lap. "I won't waste your time," she said. "In plain terms, I've come to ask you to reconsider your alliance with Duke Braunschweg, and consider allying yourself with Count Lohengramm, to support Erwin Josef for the throne."

Lord Grantham couldn't keep the surprise off his face. "You always were a direct young woman," he said. "I wasn't aware that your father favored anyone."

"My father favored Duke Braunschweig," Hilde said. "But I convinced him to switch my family's allegiance."

Lord Grantham leaned back in his seat in surprise. "I didn't know your father to be that changeable."

"He's not," Hilde said. "But he's a pragmatic man, and it has become as clear to him, as it always has been to me, that Duke Braunschweig is not the one who will be victorious in this battle, not even if he aligns himself with Marquis Littenheim against Count Lohengramm, which he is going to do, and soon."

"How do you know?"

"Because alone, either of them will fall to Count Lohengramm far too quickly," she said. "He has the backing already of many minor families, and Secretary of State Lichtenlade is going to grant him authority to use much of the official forces against those they see as impeeding the correct line of succession." She tilted her head. "After all, Erwin Josef, of all the three grandchildren, is the only boy, and the only son of Prince Ludwig."

"I'm surprised that you find it so vital that we don't have a Kaiserin on the throne." It was a pointed remark.

Hilde shook her head. "It's not about the throne itself, it's about who puts the future ruler there. If Count Lohengramm were supporting Elizabeth or Sabine, I would still support him."

"I'm willing to listen to you explain why, but I do not think you will be able to change my mind."

"Count Lohengramm is a military genius," Hilde said. "Duke Braunschweig is not. Although he has attracted plenty of capable talent to his side, such as Admiral Merkatz and his supporting staff, Admiral Ovelesser, yourself, and others- it's clear that he is more swayed by political considerations than military ones. If Count Lohengramm, for example, decides to target the ancestral homes of one of Duke Braunschweig's subordinates, even with a glancing blow, Duke Braunschweig would be forced to expend resources there, rather than protecting the capital. And while Duke Braunschweig is highly ranked, he has very little combat experience, unlike Count Lohengramm."

"Is that all?"

"I also have personal trust in Count Lohengramm to act fairly to those who work with him, and to make efficient use of the resources that my family is giving him. I would not trust Duke Braunschweig with the same."

"I hope it's not simply a coalition of youth," Lord Grantham said after a moment. "I would not want to feel like I was destroying the Empire's future by opposing him. If all of the rest of the young nobility feel as you do."

Hilde ignored the implied insult. "May I ask why you are supporting Duke Braunschweig?"

"Simply put, I trust him." Lord Grantham ran his hands over the legs of his pants. "I trust him in a way that I find I cannot trust Count Lohengramm, or any of his staff, or anything he says." He smiled a thin smile. "But I doubt I will be able to convince you, Fraulein Mariendorf."

"I was told that you had been social with Count Lohengramm this past season," Hilde said. "Is there a reason your opinion of him has fallen so far?"

"One of my daughters, Sybil, decided to make a terrible mistake and run away to Phezzan. Count Lohengramm offered to find her and bring her back home. But when he found her, he simply let her go again. And now my daughter is-" He shook his head. "Among other things. He is not a man who knows about what it means to need to protect your family," he said. "And I'm afraid he is never going to learn."

"I see," Hilde said. She hesitated, then decided she could try one last tactic, since she wasn't likely to get anywhere through conventional means. "Count Grantham, if Lady Sybil was here now, do you think she would prefer you support Duke Braunschweig over Count Lohengramm?"

The count's face reddened. "She's not here, is she?" He stood, and Hilde stood as well. "Thank you for coming by, Fraulein Mariendorf. I'm sure you have many other places to go today."

"I do. Thank you for your time, Count Grantham." She nodded at him, and Lord Grantham gestured for the servant standing at the door to escort her out.

When they were outside, before she started walking away, the servant said, "Lady Mariendorf-"

"Yes?" she asked, turning to him.

"Is Count Lohengramm really going to win?"

She looked up at the old house, the darkened, empty windows, the clouds full of spring rain gathering quickly on the horizon. "Yes," she said. "He is."

"Good," the servant said.

She smiled at him, but he just nodded and turned back inside, shutting the door behind him.

Author's Note

i know the poor downton abbey reader is probably like "noodle, why the fuck have you introduced a new and unknown character in the epilogue, of all things". and i'm sorry. but i love hilde so i thought it was fun to get to sneak her in here.

anyway, i hope you have enjoyed reading this story 33 it's been very entertaining to write. i know that it was a bit of a silly premise from the getgo, but i hope that regardless of which side of the canons you came in from, that you've had a good time reading.

this fic is structured very much like a downton abbey episode (or couple of episodes) since we've had like intermingling upstairs/downstairs plots, everybody going every which way, disasters happening and then being solved in some of the most anticlimactic ways possible (DA, as much as i like it, does this a lot lol), etc. i hope that i've done both the format and the characters justice.

thank you so so much for reading 3 i've really appreciated all of your comments and am very grateful for you all giving this weird story a chance. if you've enjoyed this story, you would honestly probably like my long LOGH fic, A Wheel Inside a Wheel, (even if you have no interest in watching LOGH at all- it should be just as, or more, comprehensible without canon knowledge as this fic) because it has many of the same elements (i'd describe many parts of it as "a tragedy of manners").

as always, you can find me on social medias: javert on tumblr, natsinator on twitter, and my links are all over at gayspaceopera. carrd. co . you can also join my discord if you like discord. gg/2fu49B28nu