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Beria, observing the speeches of the Romanian workers (German communists) from afar, couldn’t help but exclaim in admiration.

“Indeed, did the Tsar see this far?”

The Saint of All Russia undoubtedly had a perspective to match her beautiful appearance. It would be unthinkable for her to ask him to collect evidence of Romania colluding with the German Communist Party without having seen the clear signs of the German communists openly infiltrating Romania.

Honestly, if Communist Germany had just stayed still, Beria wouldn’t have hesitated to try seducing the Queen to set up damning evidence of the Romanian royal family’s collusion with the communists, hiding it in the Queen’s bedroom for a more elaborate plan.

However, given the situation, things were now significantly easier.

The head of the Okhrana in Russia had already instructed to utilize that German Communist Party, so all was said and done.

“I should give those guys a little support.”

With a wry smile on his lips, Beria gazed distantly at the communist who was stirring up the crowd.

He immediately decided to mobilize fellow Okhrana agents from the Romanian branch to create new material.

“Mr. Beria, what should we do?”

At the question from his colleague, Beria chuckled humorously.

“Right now, the Queen isn’t exactly suppressing that protest, is she?”

(Pointlessly poking at that could stir trouble, so there’s no reason to intervene directly.)

However, it could be used to their advantage.

The Queen’s conduct was scandalous. If she had suffered a defeat in war, that protest would have been much larger.

“Then, let’s say the Queen, unhappy with the air defense agreement signed by her husband, turns a blind eye to the protests in order to hand over power to the communist she’s been having an affair with. Would that suffice?”

“Do you really think that will work?”

In response to his colleague’s question, Beria smirked and flicked his fingers dismissively.

“Of course, while the Queen has been up to something, the German reds might panic and try to escape. But one character can definitely be used.”

Beria tossed a photograph onto the desk.

The person in the photo was none other than Prince Carol.

“Surely not.”

“It’s Prince Carol. What if the poor Queen’s firstborn, who has had his place usurped by his son, uses this situation to pressure the Queen into making Romania stable again? Even if Prince Carol’s reputation is rather tarnished, his mother, the Queen, is known for her infidelities, so it shouldn’t be too big of a problem. If he stands up to reclaim his position, he might find some allies.”

“That certainly seems plausible.”

To the Okhrana, Prince Carol would rise if he had sufficient justification to reclaim his position.

If conflicts arose, they’d likely see immediate intervention from Hungary or even Russia. When that time came, it would all be over.

“We just need to push him gently.”

The Okhrana wouldn’t take direct action.

They’d simply nudge Prince Carol, who needed justification.

* * *

10 Downing Street, British Empire, London.

The Prime Minister’s residence, 10 Downing Street, had been buzzing lately.

This was due to the chaotic political storm created by Communist Germany’s antics, leading to mountains of paperwork piling up in the Prime Minister’s office day after day.

As a result, Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin felt like he was losing his mind.

In actual history, he was quite popular due to various welfare policies, but upon taking office, he withdrew the troops from the Baltic states, Poland, Ukraine, and Austria, only to face provocations from Communist Germany.

On one of those all-too-typical days, Winston Churchill, who had now been appointed the Minister of Reconstruction, hurried into the Prime Minister’s office.

“Minister Churchill, what’s going on?”

“I caught Germany trying to absorb the fleet, and now Russia, having regained its footing, intends to return to the sea. I’ve heard they recently received technical cooperation from Japan.”

Churchill’s reason for visiting was straightforward.

Now that Russia was recovering its former strength, they were once again trying to rear their heads.

As the victor of the Great Game, Britain had the duty to stop Russia.

“So? Sorry, but now you’re the Minister of Reconstruction, not the Minister of the Navy. I have enough annoying tasks at hand without you adding to them.”

Baldwin waved his hands in dismissal. However, Mr. Gallipoli had no intention of backing down.

After all, this was a matter of great importance for the British Empire’s prestige and hegemony.

“Right now, Romania is under pressure from all sides due to loopholes in the air defense agreement. Doesn’t that suggest a connection?”

“I see. Russia and Hungary likely want to tear Romania apart. What are you getting at?”

“We need to immediately tell Russia to keep its hands off Romania. They’re poised to take half of Ukraine, and we must crush their intention to divide Romania! At the very least, we should threaten military action to suppress Russia before it grows too big!”

“Who do you think is responsible for this mess?”

Prime Minister Baldwin smirked.

It was a consensus among the cabinet, and France and the United States also concurred, but it was Winston Churchill who had pushed to capture the communists first.

As a result, on the surface, it seemed like Britain was successfully cracking down on the reds, only for Russia to now emerge once more to threaten Britain.

In reality, what Britain truly hoped for was that Russia would drag on its civil war, ensuring that it could never again lay a finger on Britain. But the current Tsarina was more capable than expected, and the German Empire suspiciously aided Russia by building factories, helping White Russia.

In hindsight, it was certainly a Kaiser’s folly.

However, if one imposed too many restrictions, a new war could easily erupt, and thus the German Empire was wary. Their plan to squarely slap France was complicated by the revolution, forcing the Kaiser to flee to East Prussia.

“What’s this?”

“You ignored everyone’s opinion to beat Germany first and now look where we are?”

Churchill had no comeback to that and turned his head away.

Yet soon after, he fixed his gaze back on Baldwin.

“Ahem. That’s a Kaiser problem from the start, right? Who would have thought that the Kaiser, who helped Russia the most out of fear of another revolution like in Russia, would come up with such a crazy plan to strike France again?”

“That’s true. I know that well. The picture you painted as the Minister of Reconstruction is that the current Tsar hoped that the civil war would drag on so that Russia would never think of challenging Britain again. But look at reality. In the end, didn’t it fail?! Perhaps you’re aware? The current Secretary-General Karl and Rosa Luxemburg might have succeeded in their revolution by watching Russia’s civil war.”

“Prime Minister, this is not the time for that. We need action, even if it’s rash.”

It would have been better to act while things were still cordial.

Baldwin was starting to feel his temper rise.

“Who doesn’t know? But right now, we simply can’t afford it! We can barely handle surrounding Communist Germany, and you want to threaten Russia? We should be trying to persuade Russia to lend us their army!”

The British on the island of Britain, having experienced the horrors of the great war, following a brutal defeat to the Red Army in Ukraine, did not want to engage in war.

To be precise, the trauma was just too deep.

“What does that mean?”

“Minister of Reconstruction, you can’t possibly think that Communist Germany is only spreading communism in Algeria?”

“Huh? No way.”

“Moreover, we have debts to pay back to the United States. The British Empire, which you’re so proud of, is struggling to maintain the status quo! In this situation, we can’t protest against Russia for just Romania! The very fact that a war-torn Russia is growing so much, and the birth of Communist Germany, implies that the current British Empire is in over its head!”

Winston Churchill staggered.

Could it be that the British Empire had sunk this low?

“Just how low are we talking?”

“Honestly, at this point, we might need to grant autonomy to our colonies to keep them in line.”

Churchill’s eyes widened at Baldwin’s statement.

Are the colonies really that bad that they might need autonomy?

His head spun.

Of course, Baldwin wasn’t serious.

No matter how dire the situation in Britain was, it hadn’t reached the point of begging the colonials to stay put, stating that autonomy would be granted if they did.

However, it was true that, at least for now, things were murky.

With debts to the Americans, and the damned Germans proclaiming a revolution while tearing up Versailles.

They may have been cautious, not trying to nullify everything, but couldn’t commit to paying the vital reparations.

Consequently, the situation was dire, and these wretched reds were seeding communism in the colonies.

While they had captured everything in sight, they had been unsuccessful in halting the spread of ideologies.

It might not be immediate, but soon there would likely be calls for granting autonomy.

‘No, to protect the colonies, we need to withdraw from Europe.’

Right now, Britain couldn’t do both.

Maintaining the colonies while also preventing the expansion of Communist Germany in Europe.

Of course, Russia was trying to fill that role, but that posed its own problems.

It meant they might one day have to concede European hegemony to Russia.

“We absolutely must not let go of our colonies!”

“Of course, I don’t intend to go that far. But we will need to concede a bit to Russia in Europe. Right now, we can’t manage both. Fortunately, it seems that even if Russia has received Japan’s technological cooperation, they aren’t considering bolstering their fleet. Right now, maintaining the status quo is critical.”

Churchill could no longer speak.

It became clear that arguing would only frustrate him further. With reality being as it is, it made sense to concede to Russia.

He was a fervent imperialist yet a pragmatist, only voicing complaints as he left Downing Street.

With his glimmering head, stout frame, and slumping shoulders, Churchill sighed repeatedly.

“Ah, how did the great British Empire end up like this?”

How did the great British Empire end up like this?

They had risen among the victors and received everything the reds had surrendered to Germany through secret deals.

Sure, half of Ukraine had fallen into Russian hands, but still.

The magnificent British Empire was supposed to remain great.

But now the current state of the British Empire was tragically pathetic.

“This is all because of those communist bastards.”

Yes—this is all the fault of those communist bastards.

Those damn Bolsheviks had set off the Russian revolution, dragging Britain along, which in turn invited German negotiations, only for Germany to be chased into East Prussia by the communist revolution.

And that’s not all.

Now, those vermin were maliciously spreading red seeds into British and French colonies.

Yes. If Britain wished to regain its greatness, it had to uproot those communists entirely.

To accomplish that…

“Understood, Mr. Gallipoli.”

That Russian tsarina who once mocked him by calling him Mr. Gallipoli.

Back then, he thought maybe she didn’t know the circumstances. But given her current abilities, she must have known what transpired at Gallipoli during her time as a princess.

So she could have been mocking him all along.

But that didn’t matter.

Since the Tsarina had been quite the troublemaker in her youth, Churchill was able to accept it humbly.

The reason he recalled the Tsarina wasn’t due to any newfound fascination with her as a young girl.

Since the accession of the heroic Tsarina after the civil war, Russia had been advancing day by day.

With a strong ruler at the helm, the nation was rising alongside her.

A powerful monarch was indeed the antithesis to those communist scoundrels.

In other words…

Now was precisely the time for a strong king to take the reins.

“Yes. A king. That would be good.”

Churchill began to envision a new future for the British Empire.

* * *

Finally, trouble erupted in Romania.

It was reported that laborers were protesting every day.

People who had suffered at the hands of the German army during the Great War had joined in.

Their rage was directed towards the Queen, Marie.

“Isn’t that strange? Isn’t the Queen supposed to be a stunning lady with a boyfriend?”

“It seems the communists only gathered those who have grievances. Rumor has it she’s been branded as a British whore as well.”

“Well, they may have won, but is it really coming to this?”

“The country won the war, but the wounds inflicted on individuals likely haven’t healed.”

Honestly, whether Romania could have avoided joining the First World War remains uncertain.

But from the outcome, it’s clear Romania came out as the victor.

However, the communists were now capitalizing on the security situation in Romania, reminding many of the time they were brutally oppressed by allies in the previous war.

Given that the communists themselves were German, it was somewhat peculiar.

“Still, I doubt this will lead to a full-blown revolution.”

In my view, this seems to be a minority voice.

But hey, she’s the Queen who led them to victory.

To be frank, even if Romania switched allegiances to the allies, I don’t think Germany would win either way.

They might have had no other choice but to join the war.

Nonetheless, the allied nations had won the war.

Had Romania suffered a defeat, it might be different, but ultimately, given the victory, this protest could fizzle out as a simple minority revolt.

Unless there’s concrete evidence of communist involvement.

“But wouldn’t it act as a catalyst for internal chaos?”

That could be true.

At the very least, the reports coming from Romania are rather amusing.

Calling the Queen a whore? That’s quite something.

Some even testified to having slept with a prostitute that resembled her.

I wonder if those who made that remark ended up arrested.

In Joseon, the devaluation of the royal family was deemed successful.

So I wonder if they’re also going to use security issues to undermine the royal family here too.

 

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