Bruno, as always was apt with his foresight. Roosevelt’s death did not end the fighting in the United States. If anything, it acted as an imdiate escalation.
In a ti of collapse, weakness was the greatest sin of all. And the death of a national leader was the greatest weakness a faction could display to the world. One that was difficult to hide.
Despite initially planning to hold off on their plans to invade and annex the District of Columbia as part of Virginia’s borders, the New Confederacy’s armies marched into the city in full force the mont Roosevelt’s death was announced.
The city fell without a shot being fired. As many of the soldiers on the "Union’s" side had been thoroughly defeated long before the battle ever began. And the death of their President was the end of whatever will to fight they had left within them.
But the capture of the old capital did not have imdiate stabilizing reverberations for the rest of North Arica.
If anything, it spurred the other factions to act. While nearly everyone had given up on the idea of re-uniting the country under their banners, the truth of the matter was that capturing D.C. was still seen as a legitimizing act.
It was one thing for Roosevelt to hold on to the forr capital, as he was the last President of the United States of Arica, and claim continuity in his little rump state.
But for another faction to seize the White House, and wave their flags on its lawn. That was a step too far.
Imdiately, the Great Lakes states found themselves declaring war on the Neo-Confederacy. Marching their armies into the South with armored columns and motorized logistics.
Detroit had beco the capital of vehicle production the mont the nation fell apart. And its manufacturing plants gave the Great Lakes States the most modernized army in North Arica.
anwhile, the Neo-Confederacy largely relied on irregular militias, and whatever weaponry was shipped to their shores from German-occupied Cuba.
Bruno watched the war unfold from the safety and comfort of his ho in Tyrol. Weeks passed as preparations were made to host the peace accords between what remained of the Anglo sphere and the central powers in Hanseong.
During this ti, Bruno witnessed occasional headlines appearing of so violence unfolding sowhere in the forr United States. He would read the article briefly before moving on to matters more important to him.
And eventually, he found himself on a train bound for Berlin. Before setting off on a flight to Korea. He was not alone in representing Germany at this summit.
Unlike the one held in Geneva not long before, where the Latin Arican countries surrendered. The Kaiser himself planned to make this visit. As did the Tsar of Russia, and all the petty monarchs of Europe who had pledged their realms to the Central Powers.
Kaiser Wilhelm II was old, older than he had been when he passed away in Bruno’s past life. Modern dicine kept him alive longer than he should have; he seed healthy for the most part.
But there was a quiet look in the man’s eyes, as if he knew he could only stave off the reaper for so long.
When he sat next to Bruno on the plane with a stiff drink in his hand, Wilhelm said sothing that Bruno never expected him to.
"I suppose it is only fitting..."
Bruno looked over at the man, who in this life had been sothing akin to a friend, and smiled. He could reasonably surmise what the Kaiser was about to say, if he wanted to. But for once, Bruno shut his inquisitive mind off and simply flowed with the conversation naturally.
"Oh? What is?"
The Kaiser took a sip from his glass before placing it down on the countertop next to him. He listened to the roar of the turbopropeller engines as they ripped through the sky, and breached the edge of the European continent with unnatural ease.
It was only after he was silent for a sufficiently dramatic amount of ti, did he finally responded.
"It is fitting that your last war will also be my own. I don’t pretend that I have many years left in , Bruno. But I have a feeling this will be the last peace that I see. And I hope to make the most of it..."
Bruno chuckled, shaking his head. Reflecting on how many wars he had fought on behalf of the Kaiser, kin, and fatherland in this life.
The number was almost bone-chilling to him. But he refused to let their conversation end on a grim note and was quick to make a crass remark.
"Well, it could have been worse... I could have lost one of them."
The Kaiser scoffed and rolled his eyes. The idea was inconceivable to him. He thought about the remark for a mont before firing back at Bruno with so witty banter of his own.
"I still haven’t forgiven you after all these years, you know that right, Bruno?"
Bruno looked over at the Kaiser as if the man had suddenly been overco by a severe bout of dentia.
"You haven’t forgiven ? For what? What sin have I inflicted upon you so grave that you will carry a grudge against to the grave?"
The Kaiser’s lips upturned into a cruel sneer as he made a joke that nearly made Bruno’s heart give out.
"I haven’t forgiven you for breaking my daughter’s heart all those years ago. You would have made a better son-in-law than the one I ended up with...."
Bruno sighed and fell back into his chair. And an almost defeated expression ca over his face as he rubbed the bridge between his eyes.
How many years? How many years had the Kaiser been giving him grief over this single question?
In the end, Bruno couldn’t help but respond in the sa spirit the statent was directed at him with.
"Your Majesty... I was already betrothed to Heidi for nearly a decade when she and I showed up at your daughter’s second birthday. You do rember that night, right? It was how we beca acquainted after all...."
The Kaiser didn’t make any sudden movents or comnts. Instead, he gazed off into space as if trying to recall the night that was now so distant to both of them.
"Oh, yeah... That’s right...."
The two of them shared a laugh over the absurdity of the situation, as the flight captain’s voice ca over the intercom.
"We are approaching Hanseong now... Estimated landing ti is about 24 minutes."
Bruno fastened his seatbelt, as did the Kaiser, all the while the plane descended upon the airstrip.
The Kaiser’s Leibgarde had already landed long before he and Bruno had. They were already on the runway prepared to take the two n to their accommodations for their stay in the Korean Empire.
The drive was short, but they eventually found themselves in the halls of Deoksugung Palace. The current residence of the Joseon Dynasty, who reigned as emperors over the Korean Empire.
Ever since its liberation by the German Reich during the German-Japanese war, the Korean Empire had remained largely neutral in world affairs. And occasionally acted as a hub for major diplomatic conventions and treaty signings within the Eastern world, like the one that would soon be held between the Central Powers and what remained of the Allied Powers.
Bruno walked around the estate grounds with his own personal escort. And there he found the Korean emperor, standing, and waiting for him.
Bruno had t the man occasionally over the years. But today his expression seed unusually hopeful.
He approached Bruno while surrounded by his own royal guard. The two n stood before one another, dressed in their own colors, and adorned with their own dals.
But only one of them had earned their with blood and iron. And the Korean Emperor seed to recognize that, as he looked away from Bruno’s ribbon bar with a hint of sha in his eyes.
Even so, Bruno did not make a comnt on it, as he instead thanked the Korean Emperor for his hospitality.
"Your Majesty, allow to express my thanks for once more holding a diplomatic cessation of hostilities in your ho. I know it has not been the first ti since I asked you this. But considering the admirable state of neutrality your nation has maintained over the years. I feel like it is the best place to have such discussions."
The Korean emperor didn’t stand on ceremony, and instead looked Bruno square in the eyes, asking that appeared to be burning in the back of his mind.
"So... this is it, isn’t it? This is truly the end? The end of the war? And the end of your career, Mamushi?"
Bruno sat in silence as he heard that last word. It was a nickna he gained long ago, given to him as a sign of respect by the late Emperor iji of Japan.
For the Korean Emperor to use it, despite the complicated history his nation had with the Japanese, Bruno couldn’t tell if it was said as a sign of respect, or grim recognition. In the end, it didn’t truly matter, and Bruno answered all the sa.
"I suppose it is... Co, let us witness the death of an era together. And with it, the birth of a new world...."
Bruno said nothing more as he walked past the Korean Emperor, and towards the audience hall where the delegates from each nation, and their respective sovereigns had all gathered for a singular purpose. To end the Second World War.
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