Chapter 544

“Why did no one see this coming?”

Unlike in the past, when the Emperor had always laughed amiably and played the part of a good person, today he was openly and uncontrollably furious. No one could stop him. It was true that any Prussian politician would have felt much the same way. And indeed, no one had known that Bavaria was preparing a surprise attack on Pleroma. No one at all, as though such a plan had only come into existence in the world yesterday.

The Emperor shouted, his voice rumbling from his belly.

“Why did no one know Bavaria was planning this?!”

He huffed to himself for a moment before gesturing to the Chief Chamberlain.

“Minister. Take all our guests outside. Everyone except the Crown Prince and the imperial prince is to leave for a moment.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. I will do so.”

The ministers rose and left the room. Once they were gone, the imperial prince swallowed hard and straightened his neck, stiffening his shoulders as he had been taught to do in the Student Military Corps.

After everyone had left, the Emperor put his hands on his hips and paced unsteadily around the empty space.

“Bavaria knew Pleroma would make a surprise announcement and that the French Imperial Family would stab us in the back. They knew, which is why they showed no military movement until today, when they suddenly went after Pleroma! With Nikolaus Ernst at the center of it!”

BANG—!

He slammed his fist onto the table and stared into the Crown Prince’s yellow eyes, which were watching him through half-lowered lids.

The Emperor’s lips twitched as he muttered, “Again, Nikolaus Ernst.”

The imperial prince’s face had gone deathly pale. His lips were so blue that it was painful to look at him, and he could only stare down at the papers on the table.

The Imperial Dailies.

To him, who was far too tense, the letters making up the French and German words seemed to twist and writhe like some foreign language.

Fortunately—or unfortunately—the Emperor had little interest in the young student. Instead, he looked toward his own untroubled child through the acrid cigarette smoke.

“Eli.”

“You should find your reason before you say anything else.”

The Crown Prince began speaking before the Emperor had even finished, answering in a leisurely tone.

“I trusted you and entrusted you with duties that were practically an extension of my own.”

“…….”

“But what is this? In the end, you haven’t helped with either foreign or domestic affairs. Bavaria has thrown a stone at the federation centered around Prussia! Everything is about to come crashing down!”

The imperial prince’s shoulders jerked.

The Emperor’s claim that the Crown Prince had done nothing to help either foreign or domestic affairs was both true and untrue.

His father had never been particularly gifted with political instincts by nature, and he was stubborn. No matter whose advice he received, he would pretend to listen obediently, only to change things according to his own wishes in the end. Those changes sometimes produced excellent results, but perhaps he was simply ill-suited to dealing with cults, because lately, he had been unable to accomplish much against them.

And, strangely enough, there were times when even the Crown Prince did not act in Prussia’s interests. He was hardly desperate about it. Even when he seemed to have something on his mind, he would neither offer the Emperor any advice nor stop him if the Emperor decided to go against his advice. From the imperial prince’s perspective, even when his father made a choice that seemed somewhat dangerous, the Crown Prince would simply wear that inscrutable smile of his.

The Venerable One whom the imperial prince respected did not react much even to the Emperor’s thunderous shouting. He simply continued smoking as he always did and answered, “Of course I understand, Father.”

“Can’t you call me ‘Your Majesty’?”

“Haha…”

The Crown Prince leaned forward with a laugh, letting a long stream of cigar smoke escape. Even in the darkness, his lemon-colored eyes shone like lamps. He twisted the corners of his mouth just enough to give himself a gentle expression and said, “It’s pointless.”

The Emperor stared at his child with wide eyes. His child tilted his head slightly outward and whispered, “If it were me, rather than blaming the past, I would think about what we should do from this point onward.”

“…….”

“Even if we begged God to turn back time, Pleroma had been driven to do this since last autumn, and from the moment Nikolaus Ernst entered Bavaria, Bavaria was bound to become a threat to Prussia today. If there was a mistake, it was that you did nothing even as the situation continued to deteriorate…”

The Crown Prince interlaced his fingers as he spoke. A thin stream of smoke rising from his cigar obscured his face. Yet even through it, his eyes shone. There was something in those eyes, as though they were speaking directly to the Emperor, and they held his gaze.

“Rather than wishing for something beyond human ability, decide Prussia’s position before seven o’clock. I recommend that you listen when I personally offer my advice.”

“Then what should we do from here?”

The Emperor found himself drawn along by his child’s ability to take command. Or perhaps the situation itself had forced him into it. Wiping away his cold sweat, the Emperor asked, “Should we bring Adrian Askanien back? That may be the best course. That’s what the public wants, after all. To stop Nikolaus Ernst—”

“Hahaha…”

The Crown Prince suddenly burst into laughter. Still smiling, he called to his younger brother.

“Adelbert.”

The imperial prince barely managed to move his neck, stiff as ice, and looked toward the Crown Prince before answering in a low voice.

“Yes, Your Highness.”

The Crown Prince slowly lowered his head, bringing his face closer to the back of his interlaced hands. Turning his head slightly toward his younger brother, he looked at the Emperor, whose brow was furrowed, and said, “Watch closely. What do you think?”

“Pardon?”

“I asked what you think of what your father is doing right now.”

“I…”

Cold sweat trickled down beneath the imperial prince’s shirt. Caught between the Emperor and the Crown Prince, he found himself unable to take either side. He had no idea why he had been dragged into such a predicament.

The Crown Prince no longer spared his younger brother a glance. He looked only at the Emperor as he answered.

“This is the model answer, Father. Is now really the time to be thinking of ways to stop Nikolaus Ernst?”

The Emperor’s face flushed red and then purple.

The Crown Prince leaned back against the chair again, happily taking a long draw from his cigar before exhaling a plume of smoke. He raised an eyebrow and answered leisurely.

“If you tell me to leave, I’ll leave.”

“Bring in the Minister of Foreign Affairs.”

Before the Crown Prince had even finished speaking, the Emperor rang the bell and shouted. The Chief Chamberlain hurried in, then immediately went back out and returned with the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Before the Emperor could say anything, the Crown Prince spoke first, politely but in a distinctly impolite manner.

“Explain the international situation.”

Despite the sudden demand, the Minister of Foreign Affairs tried not to show his nerves. Standing beside the Emperor, he began his report.

“I shall. As you know, the French Empire is currently at odds with us. As for our relations with our allies, the Russian Empire and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, our relationship with Austria-Hungary had been relatively stable until today, but our ties with Russia are too loose to serve as a strong counterweight to France. Fortunately, as Your Highness advised several years ago, we succeeded in extending the Reinsurance Treaty with Russia, so we do not expect any military tensions with Russia. However, with Bulgaria maintaining friendly relations with Austria-Hungary, Russia and Austria-Hungary are engaged in fierce rivalry in the Balkans, so careful mediation will be necessary. The British Empire is at odds with us over colonial issues in the Pacific, but its hostility toward the French Empire over their colonial rivalry in Africa is far greater, so there is still a possibility that we may be able to bring them into an alliance with us. However, the British Empire continues to clash with the Russian Empire as it seeks opportunities to expand its influence over the Qing Empire in Asia. The Qing Empire is powerful enough that it does not seem likely to fall to either of them, but Your Highness stated after his tour of the East that the British Empire may be preparing an alliance with the Japanese Empire, given that Britain has extended a friendly hand toward Japan while Japan has shown no sign of abandoning its ambitions to expand onto the continent. If that happens, Russia will not withdraw its hostility toward Britain, so the situation is unfavorable for us at present. The Kingdom of Italy on the Italian Peninsula and the Papal States have maintained relatively cordial relations with Germany, but, as with the others, we cannot know how those relations will change after the Atropos incident was made public. The Ottoman Empire and Switzerland have yet to make their positions known.”

After the Minister of Foreign Affairs’s rapid-fire report, the Emperor was still glaring at the Crown Prince. The imperial prince hadn’t managed to understand everything the Minister of Foreign Affairs had said and was merely trying to piece it all together in his head.

The Emperor was furious with the Crown Prince, as though he were asking, Did you really order him to have the international situation explained because you thought I didn’t know even this much? The imperial prince, meanwhile, was tense at the thought that the Crown Prince might turn the same question on him.

With a cold smile, the Emperor gestured to the Minister of Foreign Affairsr and cast a soundproofing spell.

He could punish the Crown Prince, but not in a situation like this. With Adrian Askanien away from the country, the Crown Prince was the only person he had left to rely on. He did not consciously consider himself incapable, but instinctively, he leaned on his child.

The Crown Prince spoke leisurely for the Emperor’s sake.

“So, to summarize: things are good with Russia, but our relationship with Austria-Hungary is uncertain. Austria-Hungary and Russia are at odds in the Balkans, Britain and Russia are at odds in Asia, and the situation on the Italian Peninsula is uncertain as well. And in the middle of all this, France is trying to crush Germany by whatever means necessary.”

Before he could ask, So what should we do now?, the Crown Prince picked a fight over the pen in the Emperor’s hand.

“You could think it through in your head… Do you really need a pen?”

“Try not to be so insolent!”

“My apologies if I’ve offended you.”

The Crown Prince smiled and raised an eyebrow, as though he had just witnessed a beast that had never dared to defy him suddenly turn on him.

In the midst of this volatile situation, he began to wear an expression of boredom, as though wondering when he had ever shown any enthusiasm for this in the first place. The Emperor found even that irritating and glared at him.

“So? What were you trying to accomplish by having the Minister of Foreign Affairs explain the situation?”

“Think about it.”

“Enough with that nonsense. Give me an answer!”

“Even someone who doesn’t know where the Balkans are would know what we should do after hearing what the Minister of Foreign Affairs just said. Surely you know as well, Your Majesty.”

The Crown Prince matched the pace of his words to his breathing, as though he were simply speaking about something that had occurred to him while smoking.

There was no one in this room who didn’t know where the Balkans were.

The Emperor felt his anger rising to the top of his head at the Crown Prince’s choice of words. He finally gave up on relying on those maddeningly slow answers and buried his head in his hands.

After about two minutes, he spoke with determination.

“Russia.”

He raised his head and shouted toward the Chief Chamberlain waiting outside the door.

“Chamberlain, bring me a scribe! I need to send a letter to the Tsar immediately.”

Once the Emperor made his decision, a glimmer of hope appeared on the imperial prince’s face. The Crown Prince, who had widened his eyes as though he were just as clueless as his younger brother, finally gave up the act and burst out laughing.

He shook his head, snapped his fingers toward the Emperor, then went back to leisurely smoking his cigar. He didn’t exactly look like he was enjoying himself, either. It was simply the attitude of someone who thought doing something else would be more productive than focusing on a meeting room so pathetic it could bring one to tears.

The Emperor briefly wondered if he had made the wrong choice somewhere, but soon dismissed the thought.

In any case, now was the time to strengthen relations with Russia. With the Crown Prince, perhaps it would be better to discuss domestic affairs rather than foreign policy.

While waiting for the scribe to arrive, he asked the Crown Prince, “You’d better answer this one properly. This concerns the 101st Unit of the Imperial Mage Association, which you yourself were involved in establishing. What do you intend to do about the Lukas Askanien situation?”

“He seems to be causing the masses far too much concern.”

“Because those easily swayed masses are our people, whom we are duty-bound to govern justly! We and the Bavarian Central Medical Center have already confirmed that his temperament is nothing like that of those corpses. And yet, ever since Pleroma appeared openly and proclaimed their Messiah, public opinion has been spiraling out of control. There was never a problem before this!”

The Emperor shouted and clutched his throbbing head.

“If we go so far as to harm Lukas Askanien, his younger brother, Adrian Askanien may no longer wish to remain in Prussia. If the Imperial Family treats a member of another ruling house recklessly, it will destroy everyone’s trust in us.”

“Adrian Askanien is an exceptional politician beyond being an excellent member of his family. You’re mistaken about many things.”

The Emperor raised an eyebrow at the Crown Prince’s words.

In that instant, a flicker of memory surfaced in the Emperor’s mind. It had nothing to do with Adrian Askanien, but it was undoubtedly important.

He narrowed his eyes at the faint thought glowing at the end of a tunnel and murmured, “Do you remember the meeting with Pleroma’s leadership? The Metropolitan of Brandenburg said that Lukas Askanien was Pleroma.”

He quickly shook his head as he stared into empty space.

“He said that becoming Pleroma had nothing to do with Pleroma’s ideology. And then he said, ‘How could one so whole and complete on his own not be one of the glorified?’…”

The imperial prince stared at the Emperor in confusion, unsure what he had just heard.

They had already called Lukas Askanien Pleroma? So it was something they had heard beforehand, merely never made public?

The Crown Prince still wore a bored expression.

The Emperor suddenly came to a realization. He stopped dead and opened his mouth.

Then he turned toward his children and shouted.

“If there’s no problem with his ideology, then there must be something wrong with his temperament. The Bavarian Central Medical Center lied to us!”

The imperial prince grew even more confused. He didn’t believe Bavaria would stake its honor on deceiving Prussia. They certainly could have done so if they wanted, but Lukas Askanien wasn’t Bavarian in the first place. If Bavaria had been worried about suffering this kind of backlash, there was no way they could have done something like this.

He cautiously opened his mouth.

“Your Majesty, that’s…”

“Even if that isn’t the case, if it’s clear that they made a mistake, we can shift the responsibility for Lukas Askanien onto them. We in Prussia employed Askanien because we trusted Bavaria, and for no other purpose.”

The Emperor’s eyes gleamed. He quickly regained his composure, cleared his throat, and reached for the bell to summon the Chief Chamberlain.

At that moment, the Crown Prince’s slow voice stopped him.

“Are you thinking of sentencing Lord Lukas Askanien to death?”

The Emperor looked into the eyes shining in the darkness.

The two of them read each other’s intentions through their eyes and the candlelight reflected in them. Or perhaps the Emperor alone was trying to read the meaning hidden in those eyes, rather than simply giving in to the unease rising instinctively within him.

What the Crown Prince could read in the Emperor’s eyes was so obvious that he smiled benevolently as he spoke.

“You would like to, wouldn’t you? Let me offer you one piece of advice. Entrust Sir Adrian Askanien with full authority. And you should not make that fact public.”

After the review of the arrest warrant was approved with unusual speed, I voluntarily crossed into Prussia and allowed myself to be arrested. Whether it was the 91st or 98th Unit, my seniors in the Imperial Mage Association could have come looking for me, but right now, I didn’t want to see anyone.

I had an entire floor of the inpatient ward at the Bavarian Royal Medical Center, where my hospital room had been, closed off. After pitching myself to the government as Nikolaus Ernst, I moved to Prussia the moment Bavarian Intelligence caught wind of the arrest warrant being issued. His Majesty the King, Leonard, and I had already asked the Royal Intelligence Service to notify me the moment an arrest warrant was issued for Lukas Askanien.

Going into hiding for the time being wouldn’t have been a bad choice, but it would have been shortsighted. When I drew up a game tree based on my current situation, I could see that even if a choice gave me an advantage down to the fourth layer of nodes, extending that branch one level further would lead to a poor outcome.

Prussia couldn’t execute me immediately just because that was what the public wanted. No matter how foolish they were, that choice was impossible. Naturally, they would lose even the opportunity to explain that they were innocent.

For Prussia, proving that they were doing everything in their power to eradicate Pleroma was a secondary matter.

So now the question that remains is: how am I going to prove that I’m innocent? That is where my strategy begins.

The strategy I had to devise split into two paths. First, as Nikolaus Ernst, I had to establish Bavaria’s foreign policy. Second, as Lukas Askanien, I had to figure out how to survive for the time being.

Ever since I spoke with Leo, I had regained my composure, and I no longer cared in the slightest what other people had to say. Regardless of how I felt about it, however, this incident had become a major topic of discussion. All I had encountered on the way here were voices praising Nikolaus Ernst and cursing Lukas Askanien. That said, I had been holed up inside buildings ever since coming down from the church roof, so compared to everyone else, I hadn’t had many opportunities to hear the public’s reaction.

And what buildings were they, exactly? One was the secret meeting room of the Munich Residenz, the other was Prussia’s…

[What are your thoughts on Pleroma’s claims?]

…prison, presumably. Or perhaps an interrogation room, a questioning room. I was currently inside a special facility built to deal with magical crimes.

At least, that was what I assumed. The reason I couldn’t be certain was because I couldn’t see what was in front of me.

I remembered the time I went looking for Ismailov. The place where Ismailov was being detained was so secret that it wasn’t even marked on any maps, so we had all been blindfolded on the way to the interrogation room.

It was the same this time. If there was a problem, it was that I had now taken Ismailov’s place and couldn’t remove the blindfold. On the other hand, being under government suspicion this early on was something I had already expected.

I moved my bound arms and hands to make sure no accident involving mana would occur before answering.

“I have nothing to do with it.”

[Tell us what you know.]

“I don’t know anything.”

My only allegiance has ever been to the Imperial Family.

That was all I had to say. The two voices, which had sounded as though they were coming through speakers from the other side of the glass, fell silent.

Wondering if there was anyone nearby, I asked, “I question whether I really need to be interrogated like this, Your Majesty. I am not a criminal. Nor am I incapable of controlling my mana.”

Clack—

Only after hearing that sound did I sigh.

They hadn’t been here before, but they would be now. Someone had entered the room.

One person, two people.

Two.

I drew a deep breath and muttered a curse under my breath.

“Is it human blood?”

I had to ask. I could smell blood in the air.

There was no answer.

Trying not even to let out a hollow laugh, I said, “You’re asking a human to drink human blood?”

They couldn’t exactly give me pig’s blood, either. I already knew the answer even as I asked the question. If they ran the experiment with pig’s blood, declared that we in Prussia were innocent based on the results, and then I reacted differently to human blood, who would take responsibility for the confusion and the mess that followed?

So they had no choice but to make me drink human blood.

And that wouldn’t be all. They would—

“Whose blood is it?”

[It was blood from the blood bank at the Imperial Central Hospital.]

“Please apologize to the subjects who went through the trouble of donating blood.”

I answered as seriously as I could, doing my best not to laugh. Then I asked, “If it was in the blood bank, it shouldn’t have any mana in it. What about the mana? Whose mana did you put into it…?”

[We are under no obligation to disclose that.]

They cut me off.

To be honest, this was a problem.

Aside from the times I’d drunk blood when I was alone or in front of my friends, the only time I could remember drinking someone else’s blood in a controlled setting was from Abraham’s wrist. Even if I gathered every last drop, it would probably amount to no more than 50 ml—perhaps not even that much, just a few drops of blood.

On the day he kept needling me and offering me his blood, trying to figure out my disposition, I had to make a tremendous effort to suppress my core so I wouldn’t be found out.

What about this, then?

I asked as I heard the clinking sound of metal against the glass bottle.

“Would one sip be enough?”

Naturally, there was no answer.

Someone grabbed my head with a mana-coated hand, tilted it back, and forced my mouth open. A flat metal rod began pressing down on my tongue.