Chapter 561

The student council president seemed to wonder why I was making such a big deal out of it. She nodded and replied, “Go ahead. Why even ask? If you can, share some updates on the progress of the budget proposal, too.”

“So that is your real motive?”

I tilted my eyebrows and asked with a smile, pretending to look dejected. The president laughed, patting my arm.

“I am kidding. I feel like we get along pretty well, too.”

She glanced at the enormous clock at the back of the lobby before continuing.

“We really are different. Very different, in fact… But I think that is exactly why we need to talk to each other. It is rare to find someone who can discuss things from different perspectives without misunderstanding the premises. Since we are both willing to make an effort not to misunderstand each other, it should be easier to share what life is like in our respective circumstances.”

Conversations between people from different backgrounds were meaningful, but first, they had to make an effort not to confine themselves to their own kind. Only with that as a foundation could they communicate with others. Otherwise, a conversation was nothing more than an echo. And in every era, people who found validation in those echoes came to believe that certain people they singled out deserved to be destroyed—or that it was perfectly acceptable for them to be destroyed.

That was what she was getting at.

“Exactly. Think about it. It is a good idea. We could broaden our perspectives by sharing what the light passing through the prism of each of our lives looks like. I could tell you about my life as one of the many Old Human women from the middle class who have lived fairly ordinary lives, and you…”

Her smile faded as she thought it over. Silence followed. At first, I didn’t understand why, but I soon figured it out. She’d fallen silent as though she couldn’t find the right words. Perhaps she’d been about to talk about how she’d lived a life society considered normal all along, while I’d spent my entire life living one it considered abnormal. Or perhaps she’d meant to talk about being a victim of public persecution—a famous person isolated and effectively killed by the masses. Either way, it would encompass everything from Lukas Askanien of Pleroma to the Lukas Askanien standing here today.

The student council president waved a hand and roughly wrapped up her thought.

“You have a background unlike that of most members of ruling houses. And, well, perhaps you could share the way New Humans think, too. We don’t really need to hear how the rich think, but anyway.”

“I am sorry I don’t seem to have much to offer.”

“What can you do about the way you were born? Some things just can’t be helped.”

I grinned at her teasing remark, just enough to show a little of my teeth. The student council president pulled a notebook from her jacket and wrote down her address. Then she held out the blank notebook to me. I wrote my own address in it, carefully tore out the page, and folded it into a little note. It was a bit ragged around the edges, but it would do. I slipped the note into the student council president’s jacket pocket and smiled back at her with the same expression.

She looked me over with a satisfied expression before speaking.

“I couldn’t tell from the newspapers, Your Highness, but you really are like a child.”

She’d completely forgotten that I belonged to a ruling house. That was a welcome development. Still, hearing something like that…

“We are only two years apart. What is that supposed to mean?”

I briefly closed and reopened my eyes, muttering awkwardly. She’d probably said that because my smile made me look younger than my usual expressionless face—and, of course, to me, she looked like a kid, too. Perhaps it was true that I looked like a student, but how would she react if she found out I was actually older than her? In European society, where even a small age gap could be enough for people to treat each other as peers, she might just shrug it off and ask what the big deal was…

But the most exhausting part was that no one would believe I was too old to be spoken to like this, and there was no way for me to prove it, either. I could only laugh at the sheer absurdity of a twenty-year-old teasing me while I was stuck in a body that had only been alive for eighteen years like some lunatic. I’d never been particularly old to begin with, and I’d wanted to grow older as quickly as possible, so I wasn’t at all happy about being dragged back into minor status after finally escaping it. This wasn’t rejuvenation. It was being thrown back into confinement.

The student council president chuckled for a moment before speaking again.

“If there is one thing that surprised me—”

Just then, I heard movement from far behind us. I quickly dispelled the soundproofing spell and turned around. Abraham and the school staff were descending the massive staircase.

“I will have to tell you what surprised me in a letter,” the student council president added.

The headmaster who had greeted us earlier gestured toward the student council president.

“Your Highness, this is Sophia Nussbaum, the student council president of Victoria Lyceum.”

The student council president bent her knees slightly in a polite bow. When we met again, Abraham responded with a relaxed smile rather than a verbal greeting. Without even looking in my direction, he exchanged a few pleasantries with the headmaster among the students lined up in a row, then left through the main entrance.

Abraham hadn’t said whether the negotiations had succeeded or failed, but it was clear they’d gone well. I hadn’t figured that out by studying his complexion or expression. The guy rarely showed much change in his expression. Instead, he simply observed what was happening around him.

Then what was it? If he’d failed, he would’ve used that as an excuse to pick a fight with me by now. So he must have succeeded.

Having reached that simple, clear conclusion, I stopped in my tracks. Beneath the shade of the trees stretching beyond the school walls stood a Hohenzollern carriage and its escort carriage. Abraham turned to look at me from beside the carriage door his coachman had opened.

“If you have had your fun, it is time for us to leave. Your Highness, you should go fulfill your appointment.”

“What a considerate teacher. You even waited until I had had my fun.”

Before I could respond, he smoothly continued.

“If you don’t mind, may I take you to the hospital?”

I stared intently at his face, thinking of the guards and coachman standing around us. I slowly leaned closer to his ear. Without even trying to whisper, I said, “No.”

Abraham smiled and turned away, unfazed by my answer. The guards and coachman looked noticeably taken aback for a moment, but once Abraham climbed into the carriage, they shut the door without a word of protest. The two carriages soon set off and disappeared from sight.

Now, the question was this. What reason could someone who wasn’t the type to leave without a fight have for departing so calmly?

It wasn’t hard to figure out why he’d left so willingly.

He’d offered to take me to the hospital, but that wouldn’t do. Since Abraham had ignored my wishes and meddled with the press, there was no reason for me to honor my agreement with the Imperial Family. So I’d moved my belongings back to Bavaria. After that, I received Abraham’s letter, and Lukas Askanien’s identity was registered as having reentered Prussia.

“Lord Askanien is prohibited from leaving Prussia.”

That was it. That was why Abraham had disappeared in front of me. He trusted the little trap he’d set and had let me go without a fuss.

The checkpoint officer fluttered the letter as he read it, then added in a solemn voice, “Ahem. These are the instructions of the Prussian Ministry of the Interior.”

Sensing the people lined up behind me craning their necks curiously to see what was happening, I asked calmly, “I see. Until when?”

“Until His Majesty determines the duration.”

“Is that so?”

I answered in an even tone. The officer then took a slip of paper from a small envelope in his desk drawer and handed it to me.

“The Ministry of the Interior instructed us to give this note to you.”

I unfolded the note, which was red with gold embellishments.

[Charlottenburg]

“Hmm.”

The black letters typed on the typewriter stood out clearly against the red background. The checkpoint officer watched me with bright, curious eyes, wondering what was written inside. I gave him a faint smile and said politely, “Understood. Thank you.”

I folded the note neatly, slipped it into my pocket, and walked out of the checkpoint.

He was a tireless talent when it came to screwing people over. From his and Prussia’s point of view, that was only natural. He would argue that this decision didn’t violate the demand that he avoid creating a conflict between Nikolaus Ernst’s identity and Lukas Askanien’s. Or he might claim that it had already been planned before he took me to Victoria Lyceum. The former was far more likely.

He wanted me to come to Charlottenburg, but even after we’d spent quite a while talking earlier, he was still pulling this kind of stunt. It was worth thinking about why. His objective wasn’t hard to figure out. In this crisis, there was nothing wrong with staying close to the Imperial Family, and I appreciated the plan he seemed to have in mind. But his attitude needed correcting. So, should I just ignore him and warp to Bavaria?

It wasn’t entirely impossible. Was it…? We could step over the subway ticket gates and onto the platform, but we didn’t because doing so was illegal. Still, in many cases, it was perfectly possible to step over the gates. That was the kind of situation this was. Warping to Bavaria wouldn’t pose a problem for me. Not in practical terms.

But just as someone under a travel ban might be capable of going to another region yet still mustn’t be found there, this was a problem. Definitely.

I smiled and snapped my fingers. When I opened my eyes, I was standing in front of the Wittelsbach residence in Berlin.

After changing into my uniform to look a little more dignified and fixing my hair, I headed straight for Charlottenburg. Perhaps they’d been informed in advance, because the moment I arrived, the guards opened the gates and stepped aside. A palace attendant who had been waiting inside fell into step beside me as if it were the most natural thing in the world, then led me to an upper floor. The hallway was softly lit by yellow lights so harsh they hurt my eyes. Darkness had already settled outside.

When I reached a massive wall with a pair of doors unlike those of the other rooms, the guard stationed in front of them swung the doors open with a crisp, practiced motion.

It was the meeting room. I could see the government ministers seated around the room and Abraham at the head of the table. Abraham, too, was dressed more formally than he had been earlier. He sat with a solemn expression, merely lifting his eyes to look at me. He stopped rifling through the documents with his gloved hand, covered them again, and spoke.

“You have arrived at just the right time.”

He took a sip of the whiskey beside him and regarded me quietly. The other cabinet ministers looked at me with varying degrees of displeasure or unease at my appearance. Their expressions soon shifted to something that said, If you’re here, why are you just standing there instead of sitting down? I stood by the door and spoke politely.

“Your Highness, I request a private audience.”

“I would prefer to speak here.”

“There is something important I need to discuss with you. I must ask you to make an exception.”

Abraham held out a hand with an indifferent look and rose from his seat. The ministers, understanding his signal, bowed their heads slightly.

Once we were outside, Abraham snapped his fingers and cast a soundproofing spell that extended all the way to the guards. I watched him quietly. Abraham did the same to me. I smiled warmly.

“You certainly have a talent for making yourself a nuisance.”

“You say that even after seeing the stage I have just set for you? What an interesting personality you have.”

Abraham said this as he tugged lightly at the front of his shirt, loosening it for comfort.

“I’m sorry, but it is not as though I want to keep seeing you, either. I am playing along with the rules of the elaborate game you have devised, so why resort to sarcasm just because one of your pawns did something a little unpredictable along the way?”

Abraham leaned against the window and continued.

“I have absolutely no doubt that you will win. All I have to do is set the stage for you, and you will keep rising higher and higher. It is a wonderful thing, of course, but… when I thought about it, I could picture you fretting over what sort of scheme I might have up my sleeve in the face of such overwhelming generosity.”

“You think about me far too much. Good grief, what would you do without me, Your Highness…?”

“That is precisely why I have prepared a gift to cure your paranoia, isn’t it? Before you start reading too much into my goodwill and jumping to conclusions about my intentions, this should put your mind at ease. I would say I have lived up to your expectations, wouldn’t you?”

It had been a long time since I’d met someone so shamelessly willing to do something for his own benefit and then insist he was doing it for my sake.

In other words, he couldn’t bear to sit back and watch me get ahead without getting something out of it himself. Give and take. If I gained something from him, then he had to take something from me in return. Since it was obvious I’d seize control of the game he’d set up, he just had to get one jab in at me first…

He was just as inefficient and petty as you’d expect from someone who demanded that I drink his blood in exchange for a single piece of information. No, the reason he was desperately trying to make me drink blood was the same as I’d suspected before—to wear down my humanity. It was a plan to make me grow accustomed to inhuman acts. He believed that was the way to bring out the abilities of those extraordinary people who drank blood and used magic, ‘like us.’ Or perhaps he simply found it entertaining to watch me lose my humanity. No other consideration. Just entertainment. Even if preventing Lukas Askanien from wandering all over the country was practically Prussia’s duty, I tilted my head at his little game.

“Just admit you pulled this stunt because you didn’t want me to have the advantage.”

“To put it in your terms, you could say I was trying to teach you some manners. Neither of us is particularly well-behaved, so wouldn’t it be nice if we could teach each other a thing or two?”

“You are certainly the one who needs a lesson in proper conduct.”

“If you are willing to teach me, by all means.”

Abraham folded his arms and tilted his head slightly inward. I’d grown immune to the way he never let a single remark go unanswered, so I didn’t feel like reacting. Instead, I leaned my head back a little. His words went in one ear and out the other.

“Are you planning to stay out here? If we keep standing around outside, the people inside will think we are plotting something, and the more they think that, the more you will…”

I left him behind, strode over to the door, pushed the guard aside, and opened it for him. When I gestured for him to go in, the people seated in the dimly lit conference room looked at me in surprise. Abraham had been leaning indifferently against the window in the corridor, but only then did the corner of his mouth curl upward. He patted my shoulder a couple of times at the door, then returned to the seat of honor. Unlike when we’d been alone, Abraham began speaking in a courteous tone.

“I suppose we should bring Lord Askanien up to speed on what we have been discussing. Since he was invited on such short notice, he hasn’t had time to prepare anything to present.”

Perhaps the ministers were uncomfortable with the idea of giving a seat at the cabinet meeting to someone who hadn’t even had time to prepare and, strictly speaking, wasn’t a politician. One of them turned to Abraham and asked, “Your Highness, then why…?”

“I intend to bet on a possibility. Wouldn’t it be the greatest stroke of luck if there were two Adrian Askaniens in our country?”

The ministers sat with expressions that suggested they were holding their tongues. In their eyes, the Empire already had someone like Adrian Askanien. With Nikolaus Ernst standing right there, wide awake and very much alive, saying they would create another one now meant refusing to acknowledge Nikolaus Ernst. That was only natural from Prussia’s point of view. Perhaps not publicly, but certainly internally.

There was no reason I couldn’t participate in this meeting. My membership in the Imperial Mage Association alone granted me a status comparable to that of a politician. The problem was that I was one of its newest members, belonging to the 101st Unit. If someone from the 80th or 90th Unit had come as acting representative, no one would have thought twice about it.

“Now, Lord Askanien. Up until this point, the temporary cabinet meeting has been determining the direction of the Prussian government’s administration starting tomorrow. We have only just begun, so feel free to listen in. Simply answer when we ask you a question.”

“Understood, Your Highness.”

As usual, Abraham’s slow voice put everyone on edge. However, since he was presiding over the cabinet meeting as the king’s representative, he refrained from rudely cutting into the conversation and making others stiffen up, as he had done before. At least, so far.

The reason I had come to Charlottenburg Palace without protest and was sitting here now was that this benefited me. There was no denying that. These established politicians would undoubtedly view me favorably to some extent while keeping me in check to some degree. I had already anticipated that I would face the same level of scrutiny as Adrian Askanien, and it would be difficult to avoid. If anything, that was all the more reason to take full advantage of the current situation.

So, what made this particular moment so opportune?

We were facing a national crisis. When a country had to eliminate an external enemy, patriotic sentiment made it easy for its people to unite. If I played my cards right, I could turn some of their wariness toward me into goodwill. I could capitalize on the circumstances.

I knew all too well how these people conducted politics. Whether they accepted my opinions or not, this was an opportunity for me, someone confident in my ability to choose the right answers, to establish a stronger presence and position for myself in their minds.

Abraham slowly spoke, tapping his fountain pen against the documents.

“I have heard the Ministry of the Interior’s opinion. Next, the acting deputy minister of Magic.”

“I will begin with the current situation. The magical academic community is still busy studying the newly discovered Bible manuscript today. We are also suffering significant losses due to personnel who have yet to be replaced following the kidnapping incident. Under the circumstances, we need to redirect these personnel toward our strategy against Pleroma. The problem, however, is that studying the Ain Feshkha manuscript is itself part of the Prussian mages’ strategy against Pleroma. As a result, the mages are deeply divided, and reaching a consensus has proven difficult.”

So studying the manuscript was itself part of their strategy against Pleroma. In other words, they needed to compare the newly discovered biblical manuscript with the existing Bible and figure out what was written in it to predict Pleroma’s next move. After all, Pleroma hadn’t simply ceased their activities after announcing their Messiah. They still had to be wary of what Pleroma might do next… I see. I nodded slowly.

A government run like this was always something new and astonishing, no matter the time or era. Some of the other ministers looked a little troubled, while others didn’t seem to give it much thought. I wondered who had chosen this person as one of Adrian Askanien’s subordinates, and why no one was taking open issue with what he’d just said.

My eyes met Abraham’s. Abraham, who had been perfectly composed, gave me a slight wink. I’d never said I wanted to be friends with this guy, yet here he was, sending me signals with his eyes. While I was busy having these thoughts, the acting deputy minister of magic seemed to interpret Abraham’s expression as displeasure. He froze and swallowed nervously.

Abraham quickly resumed his usual nonchalant expression and flicked his hand.

“Ministry of Foreign Affairs.”

“The unrest on the Italian Peninsula has been resolved to some extent, thanks to renewed attention to His Excellency Adrian Askanien’s decision to remain. The Austro-Hungarian Empire appears to be using the press to denounce the Kingdom of Bohemia for signing a pharmaceutical trade agreement with Bavaria, apparently in an attempt to prevent its federated states from making independent foreign policy decisions. However, we cannot yet determine whether this is an order from the Empire itself. Until yesterday, Switzerland had indirectly conveyed the message that ‘Germany must cover 10% of Switzerland’s public security costs, or we will cooperate with France.’ There has been no notable activity from them today. Sir Nikolaus Ernst’s announcement regarding the distribution of divine power appears to have had a temporary effect, but unless Prussia responds appropriately, Switzerland will raise the issue again tomorrow or the day after.”

There was still one crisis after another.

The demand that Germany cover 10% of the costs of maintaining public security had originated with France. While the Empire was still in turmoil over Pleroma’s declaration, the French imperial family, Terminus Eukairia, brought up the Atropos issue and demands for compensation. Afterward, French economists began arguing that Germany should provide each neighboring country with a ‘mana contribution’ of at least 10% and up to 30%. Their reasoning was that countries were being forced to spend excessive amounts on national defense and public security in preparation for the possibility that the cultists Germany had failed to stop would go around killing mages, who were both key personnel and vital contributors to their economies. The fact that this argument had been published in the Imperial Dailies without any attempt to soften its wording made France’s position clear.

“France hasn’t taken any notable action yet, but as Your Highness knows, they have been giving our government halfhearted responses. They have no real intention of engaging in dialogue. Our communications with Britain, on the other hand, have been very successful.”

Of course they have.

If history unfolded as I remembered it, Britain, pursuing an expansionist imperialist policy, would clash with France at Fashoda in Africa a few months from now. The colonial rivalries between the imperial powers had taken a considerably different course in the post-magic world. That didn’t mean imperialism had failed to emerge altogether. Rather, the rivalries had shifted toward targeting countries whose magical power—and thus national strength—had declined at a particular point in time.

In other words, the flames of colonial rivalry between Britain and France were still burning.

Germany was a country that had benefited enormously from the momentum of the Industrial Revolution in the late 19th century, growing rapidly in a short period of time. It had already reached the pinnacle of Europe’s chemical, mechanical, and electrical engineering industries. Why wouldn’t Britain join forces with a powerful Germany, a country at odds with France? Well…

There was no reason not to. The problem was that, with us backed into a corner, Britain could demand a much higher price for its cooperation. However, Russia’s presence in the Far East, where it was seeking to expand its influence, kept Britain in check.

I couldn’t believe they’d actually debated such an obviously successful path to an alliance and then gone ahead with it only after receiving advice from Adrian Askanien.

Perhaps it wasn’t such a bad thing that Abraham had temporarily taken charge of the Prussian cabinet meeting.

“Therefore, with Your Highness’s approval, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs intends to arrange negotiations for tomorrow, on the understanding that we will gain access to Britain’s maritime network in exchange for cooperating with them by sharing our raw-material processing technology.”

“Very well.”

Abraham replied briefly, then slowly raised his head. He glanced at me and spoke.

“This time, there will be quite a few blank spaces in our Empire’s newspapers.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“We will need to fill them in. Think about what sort of articles we should publish.”

“…….”

Just as Abraham seemed interested in what the ministers had to say, everyone else in the room found this conversation absurd. Abraham sat in silence along with the rest of the meeting, where not a word was spoken. Then he lifted his glass, tilted it toward me, and took a sip of wine. Everyone’s eyes turned to me.

I’d seen enough of the sorry state of Prussia’s governance. At first glance, they seemed to be doing a decent job. The problem was that doing a decent job wasn’t the same as doing the best they could.

I hadn’t heard the Ministry of the Interior’s report, so I couldn’t speak for them. But after listening to the Ministry of Magic and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the two most crucial departments, what was there to think?

It seemed that everything worth mentioning had been covered. The Ministry of Magic also found Pleroma’s silence strange and had been doing what it could to prepare countermeasures, while the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was making steady progress in its negotiations with Britain.

But wasn’t there one party missing from the discussion? One that had helped push the situation toward catastrophe and shouldn’t be brushed aside so briefly and casually?

“We need to consider France. I suggest publishing an article about France.”

France was a tricky subject, though. The great powers of the continent were bound together by mutual most-favored-nation¹ agreements, so it was difficult to retaliate against any of them or provoke them without risking consequences. After a moment’s thought, I finally spoke, and Abraham smiled in satisfaction.

“What sort of article?”

“Something along the lines of: ‘A Boycott of French Manufactured Goods and Luxury Items Is Spreading Among the Public.’ That should be enough.”

Translator Note

1. A most-favored-nation (MFN) arrangement is a legal or contractual requirement that a party grant the most favorable terms, treatment, or pricing it offers to any other party to the current agreement. ↩︎