I Became A Hidden Powerhouse Of The British Empire [EN]: Chapter 479

< The British Empire's Royal Family (4) >

1871.

In the past, as the years went by, it felt like only the numbers on the calendar and my age increased by one, but recently it’s been different.

I used to dismiss age as just a number, but now I can’t just laugh it off.

Immediately, there’s a big difference between being in your 40s and 50s, and another world of difference between your 50s and 60s.

Besides, the kids are growing up differently every year, so the feeling of each passing year is bound to be different.

It seems there’s a reason why they say parents suffer twice as much when there’s a big age gap between their children.

Just when I thought I could relax a bit after raising the two well, now it’s time for the other children.

It was a stroke of luck that the Crown Princess issue, which seemed like the biggest headache, was going to be resolved in the best possible way, contrary to expectations.

Now that the family affairs have been settled, it’s only natural to turn our eyes outward.

“The war between Prussia and Denmark… or, to be precise, Prussia’s occupation of Denmark is becoming more and more of a reality. Not only France, Austria, and Russia, but even the Ottomans and Italy are paying attention, so it’s time to intervene, isn’t it?”

“Ah, Prime Minister, if you say that, it sounds like our British Empire is calculating the timing to step in and mediate in a petty way. We were too busy with the important task of selecting the future Empress of this country to pay attention to other things.”

“I had a bit of a problem with my choice of words. As Your Majesty said, now that we have some leeway, I think it’s time for us to resolve the concerns of Europe.”

Leaving Prussia alone was partly to find the optimal time, but it wasn’t without other purposes.

First, we need to gauge how much Prussia’s current military power is, and how much stronger it has become compared to the original history.

Especially since Russia is weaker than in the original history, Prussia’s military power has a lot of room to become even stronger.

France was similar, but I didn’t have high expectations for the French in the first place, so I’ll put them aside.

“What does the Parliament think? Are there any opponents? There wouldn’t be any radicals who want to join Prussia and completely push Denmark out of the way, would there?”

“There were a few in the beginning, but as Prince Edward developed a good relationship with Princess Gisela, they’ve mostly died down. The media has been focusing on reporting Princess Gisela’s kind nature and contrasting her with Princess Thyra, which seems to be contributing greatly to sales.”

“I suppose so. From the perspective of a newspaper company, Denmark is like a magic lamp. All they have to do is stroke it, and money will be copied.”

At first, they made a lot of money by writing articles denouncing Denmark for humiliating the British Empire, but now they are using Thyra as a scapegoat to promote Gisela.

In fact, the royal family was just leaving it alone, as it was something they would rather encourage than discourage.

Originally, isn’t comparing and criticizing different subjects the content that people like the most, from the Messi-Ronaldo rivalry to the Gald Cup [likely a typo and should be Gold Cup, a soccer tournament]?

Especially since Thyra and Gisela’s actions in the British Empire were so extreme, they were very good to use as comparison.

[Austrian Princess Gisela Participates in Royal Family’s London Poverty Relief Project Every Week!]

[A contrasting move to someone who just eats and leaves, what is the dignity befitting the mistress of the royal family?]

When these articles came out, people would gather in groups of three or five to criticize Thyra and Denmark, and it had been a long time since it became an annual event to say that it was fortunate to filter out such people.

Therefore, unlike other European countries, the citizens of the British Empire were not uncomfortable with Denmark being beaten by Prussia.

After all, Prussia was an ally, and they were confident that the British Empire was much stronger, no matter how strong Prussia became.

“There was a point that the parliament shouldn’t appear to be taking Denmark’s side, given the domestic public opinion. Of course, I think that’s only natural.”

“Of course, it should be. That’s how we can naturally demand what we want from Denmark.”

“And for that reason, I think it would be good for Your Majesty to take the lead in this matter.”

“Me? Ah, I guess so. I understand.”

Even if we gain something, the fact remains that the British Empire is giving Denmark, which is being beaten by Prussia, a chance to breathe.

But what if the parliament takes the lead in this matter?

Some complainers might express displeasure that the parliament is saving Denmark, which has openly tarnished the face of the royal family.

So, Wellesley asked the royal family to take the lead in handling this matter to reduce the burden on the parliament and the cabinet, and I also thought it made sense.

“Then I’ll take care of this matter, so Prime Minister, please pay more attention to other matters. The Crown Prince of Austria will be coming to London soon, so it would be nice to prepare some more special events.”

“Of course, we are preparing without any gaps.”

“Really? Let’s hear about it.”

“First of all, we have chosen the best location in London, and we have standby attendants who have received the best education so that they will not feel any inconvenience during their stay. And the instructors as well…”

“No, no, not that. Something important is missing. I’m glad I checked in advance.”

Crown Prince Rudolf is only twelve years old, turning thirteen this year.

A luxurious and comfortable life is certainly good, but based on the information I heard from Gisela, what this child needs most is not such material elements.

“Do you understand? The most important thing when dealing with Crown Prince Rudolf is, first, second, and third, from beginning to end, is this: ‘affection’ and ‘warmth’. Please convey to the staff to focus on these two elements and structure everything.”

“You mean to focus on giving him emotional satisfaction.”

“That’s right. According to Gisela, Crown Prince Rudolf had a childhood that you can’t help but feel sorry for. So, the primary goal should be to make him feel like the British Empire is his second home and to return with only warm memories.”

Specifically, arrange a residence as close as possible so that he can meet Gisela at any time, and invite him to family gatherings on a regular basis.

And the members of the mansion will be selected from people with good character and both fatherly and motherly qualities, rather than knowledge or ability.

“Don’t forget that the Crown Prince has been suffering from harsh education since he was young, and create an environment where he can feel as comfortable as possible. Then the rest will work out well on its own.”

“I understand. I will make sure to tell the staff as soon as I get back.”

If we make a fuss about remodeling Austria into a pro-British faction, even things that could have been done will be twisted.

First of all, emotional exchange, step by step.

The other things can be thought of later.

* * *

The fate of Denmark, which has been pushed all the way to the mainland, not to mention losing the entire Schleswig region to Prussia, was truly at a crossroads.

They urgently requested help from Russia, but Russia, which was in turmoil due to domestic political issues, could not easily intervene.

France was an ally of Prussia, and Austria was just watching, so it was like being completely isolated.

As they were consumed by the anxiety that they might actually be occupied all the way to the capital, a ray of light came down to them.

-Since all of Europe is uneasy, how about ending the war and negotiating a truce?

The situation changed 180 degrees when the world’s strongest power, the British Empire, which was the beginning of this turmoil, directly intervened in the war.

“There’s no reason for the British Empire to take our side in a common sense way, is there? There must be some kind of conspiracy!”

“But if we reject this offer, what will be left for us? Do you really want to be occupied all the way to the capital?”

“Let’s accept the British Empire’s mediation for now. It’s not too late to think about other things later!”

At this point, when even the king had collapsed and the main forces had been annihilated, there was no choice left for Denmark to make on its own.

Denmark quickly announced that it would follow the British Empire’s words, and Prussia also stated that it was willing to accept mediation if the conditions were reasonable.

However, as everyone expected, Denmark’s right to speak at the truce negotiations was virtually non-existent.

“Our Prussia wants the entire Holstein and Schleswig regions. If you agree to this, we are willing to withdraw our troops and conclude a peace treaty with Denmark right now.”

A meeting for the truce agreement held in London.

Prussia strongly preached their will with Prime Minister Bismarck himself participating, and Denmark’s plenipotentiary ambassador, Carl Ernst, was sweating profusely and scratching his head repeatedly.

“That’s too much of a condition. In the first place, Prussia made a similar request last time, but wasn’t it agreed to form the current structure for the sake of peace in Europe?”

“That’s just something that happened 20 years ago. Besides, strictly speaking, isn’t Denmark entirely responsible for providing the situation in this case? They forcibly promoted marriage talks with the British Empire in order to secure sovereignty over the Schleswig region. I won’t bother to mention what kind of unfortunate incident happened as a result.”

“Cough, cough… that’s speculation. That incident was just an unfortunate accident and never our will…”

“So, we have to prove it with actions, not words. Denmark must take responsibility for this incident and give up the Schleswig-Holstein region.”

It was true that Denmark tried to form a marriage alliance with the British Empire, but it was never the case that they forced the marriage even though they knew that the princess had someone she loved.

But because the man who impregnated the princess said so, the world understood the whole story of this incident as Denmark’s self-inflicted wound.

So, what country would send sympathy and openly support Denmark?

Kilian, who was watching Ernst being unilaterally beaten without being able to make any rebuttal to Bismarck, opened his mouth in an indifferent tone.

“First of all, Prime Minister Bismarck’s words are reasonable, and Prussia’s position is understandable enough. However, it is also true that Schleswig, unlike Holstein, which also belongs to the German Confederation, has no justification for belonging to the German sphere.”

“There are many Germans living in southern Schleswig.”

“Your Majesty Kilian, Prime Minister Bismarck’s words are only half true. The vast majority of northern Schleswig are our Danes.”

Prussia, who wants to swallow it whole, and Denmark, who wants to avoid it as much as possible.

In fact, Kilian’s scales were already tilted to one side, but that was never for Denmark.

“Such an argument will only run parallel forever, so how about making an agreement like this. Since Holstein belongs to the German Confederation, there is no room for argument in the first place. But it is most democratic to leave it to the citizens living there to decide which side they want to belong to. The same goes for Schleswig. So, if we divide it by region, hold a referendum, and decide which side to belong to according to the results, there will be no noise and the integration will be done neatly.”

“Decide by referendum… then.”

“Hmm…”

If decided by vote, Holstein will be 100% attached to Prussia.

However, in the case of Schleswig, there is a 90% or higher chance that the south will go to Germany and the north will go to Denmark.

In this case, Prussia can eat half of Schleswig, and Denmark can keep half of it in a situation where it could lose everything.

The British Empire will have given Austria’s demands to a certain extent, as Prussia has been prevented from eating it all up, so this is a compromise that all countries can accept just barely.

However, Kilian’s demands, of course, did not end there.

“However, as the British Empire, there have been unpleasant incidents with Denmark recently, so there are many public opinions that feel uncomfortable with mediating in this way. In this case, it is not known how long the binding force of this agreement will last. So, I feel that it is necessary to improve relations with Denmark in order to prevent that point, what is the ambassador’s opinion?”

“If we can cleanly liquidate the unpleasant things that happened before, the home country will have nothing more to ask for.”

“I suppose so? So I was thinking, these days, when British Empire’s merchant ships head to Canada, they often feel threatened. The reason for this is that there is no area that can serve as a bridge between Canada and the British Empire’s mainland. Doesn’t Denmark happen to have such areas?”

“…Yes?”

Ambassador Ernst’s eyes trembled as he sensed something unusual, and Bismarck’s lips, who knew this would happen, curled up very slightly.

“The damage that Denmark suffered while fighting Prussia is by no means negligible, is it? It will cost money to restore it, and in the meantime, the security of Greenland and Iceland will surely become unstable. If that happens, the safety of our merchants who travel near there will naturally be threatened. But if we buy Greenland and Iceland from your country, everything will be solved.”

How does the security instability of Iceland and Greenland threaten the safety of Canadian and British Empire merchants?

“That is…”

“I see, now that I hear it. The British Empire cannot mediate unless it is supported by public opinion. It is admirable that Your Majesty is mediating like this when your own citizens may not want it.”

Ernst, who was about to say something in rebuttal, swallowed his words at Bismarck’s praise that followed.

If the British Empire’s citizens make a fuss about why they should mediate when they are not getting anything, the British Empire can withdraw its feet right away, right?

Then what’s left is the resumption of the war.

Ambassador Ernst trembled and signed the agreement to sell Greenland and Iceland to the British Empire.

I can’t help it. It’s land that should never be sold, but it’s better than the country going bankrupt.

The current Denmark had no choice but to take comfort in that fact.