I Became A Hidden Powerhouse Of The British Empire [EN]: Chapter 412

< Royal Family vs. Royal Family (2) >

[The Black Overlord? A massive mastermind pulling the strings of the world from behind!]

[Was Russia also a victim of a massive scheme? The conspiracies of the British Empire are being revealed one after another!]

[Is the British Empire behind the Reds as well? What does the true face hidden behind the mask look like?]

“Newspaper! Give me another newspaper here!”

“Me first! Me first! I’ve been waiting for 30 minutes!”

“Hey! I’ve been waiting for two hours, so I should get it!”

The newspaper revealing the secrets of the British Imperial Family, which had begun to set the world on fire, was naturally selling like hotcakes in Russia.

Alexander II did not expect the rumors to spread on such a large scale, but he had heard about it in advance, so he was inwardly enjoying the current situation.

“Your Majesty, those newspapers are selling like hotcakes in Moscow and St. Petersburg right now.”

“Good, good. I never imagined that Friedrich and James would go this far.”

“Is it okay not to stop them?”

“I have to pretend to try. But with such an enthusiastic response from the people, how can I suppress such fervor? Right?”

“Yes. We will do our best to stop it, but we can say that the rumors spread too quickly for us to do anything about it.”

As expected, it was effective to have Friedrich step forward and contact James while he stayed behind.

And no matter how he thought about it, James was not normal either.

To think that he actually blew up his own imperial family. At first, he suspected that he might have other intentions.

To think that such insolent traitors were running rampant; the British Empire was not as solid as he thought.

“Foreign Minister, what are the reactions of other countries right now?”

“It’s similar. The news spread on a large scale first in Prussia and France, and now it has spread to Spain, the Vatican in Italy, and even the American continent.”

“Oh, it’s really getting serious. The power of capital is indeed great.”

To print newspapers on such a large scale simultaneously, an enormous amount of capital must have been invested.

Friedrich couldn’t have done this alone, so James’s power must have been involved here as well.

If he hadn’t received any prior notice, Alexander II would have been surprised.

“Has the Crown Prince said anything more to Your Majesty? It’s a good flow right now, but it would be more perfect if there were subsequent plans or additional revelations.”

“He said he would reveal something more. Shouldn’t we just sit back and watch comfortably here?”

Even within the Russian Imperial Family, the number of people who know the truth about this incident is less than ten, including the Emperor and Foreign Minister Gorchakov.

Because it was such a top-secret operation, the government and citizens are sincerely denouncing the British Empire.

In fact, Alexander II was also surprised.

“But how many places has this human reached out to? Isn’t it absurd that this is all true?”

“…That’s right. Frankly, I still can’t believe it even while seeing it. He has been manipulating all the major events in the world from behind…”

“If the tail is long, it will eventually be stepped on. He has been manipulating everything as he pleases, so the day has come for him to pay the price.”

“Yes. That’s true, but… it’s still a bit unexpected.”

“Unexpected?”

“Did you honestly expect Crown Prince Friedrich to be able to do this much?”

It was a very rude thing to say, but Alexander II smiled bitterly and shook his head.

To be honest, he didn’t think Friedrich could do anything great.

All he wanted from him was to probe James’s intentions and, if possible, get some useful information from him.

“The Crown Prince wouldn’t have done anything amazing. I think James led most of this, right? The Crown Prince just helped.”

“I think so too.”

“When Friedrich first said he was going to London, I was worried that things might go wrong, but it turned out so well. You never know what will happen. Thanks to being in London, he was able to get information more easily.”

“It seems that God is also helping Your Majesty.”

Looking back, Russia has been unlucky so far.

Whenever something was about to go well, strange interference would come in and things wouldn’t work out. Could all of this be because of that damn British Empire?

So now, if everything returns to normal, the Russian Empire will be able to regain its former glory.

Alexander II, feeling much better, poured a glass of his favorite wine into his own glass.

“It seems like the world is finally returning to what it should have been. Ah, but with this, the marriage talks between the British Empire and Prussia that are currently being discussed will be off, right?”

“Of course. Prussia and France are direct victims.”

“That’s right, that’s right. Then, if the marriage talks with the British Empire fall through, how about we try to push for a marriage with us?”

“Bringing Prussia in is also an excellent choice diplomatically. There’s no reason not to do that.”

No matter how much Russia develops or what it does, the balance of power will not be established as long as the British Empire holds France and Prussia on both sides.

But if Prussia is brought to the Russian side, this side’s power will naturally become stronger and the other side will become weaker.

Moreover, France will inevitably become distant from the British Empire, so Russia will automatically benefit even if it just stays still.

And that’s not all.

If a firm alliance can be formed with Prussia, this side can once again wage war against the Ottoman Turks without worry.

If Russia supports Prussia in taking down Austria in exchange for Prussia’s support, the interests will coincide and there will be nothing bad.

“The rise of the Russian Empire that my late father could not achieve, finally in my hands…”

Now it’s really almost here.

The very moment he was convinced that he could push them off the cliff and take the last step.

[…As a result of a thorough investigation by the British Imperial Family, the origin of this malicious false rumor has been identified as the Russian Imperial Family, and we hereby officially request an explanation from the Russian Empire.]

The official rebuttal from the British Empire was released, and the news agencies that had been gleefully producing conspiracy theories until now quickly seized this scoop and began to spread it in all directions again.

“What? How are things going?”

“Russia slandered the British Empire?”

“What happened? Is it really true?”

“I knew it! Do you think it makes sense for His Majesty Killian to do that?”

“No. What doesn’t make sense? According to the article, all these things have been flowing in favor of the British Empire! He may have been plotting conspiracies behind the scenes. And if it’s not true, he can just refute it right away, but it’s strange that he’s blaming Russia now.”

“Are you blind? It’s already out that the investigation was done secretly, so it was late! If you openly say no, the guys who spread those lies might hide!”

With the British Empire’s rebuttal, public opinion condemning the conspiracy theory surged rapidly, and public opinion engaged in a fierce melee.

“What is this! What the hell happened? Why is our name coming out here!”

“C-Calm down, Your Majesty!”

“Send a telegram to Friedrich right now! Get an explanation of what happened!”

“First of all, that’s just a unilateral claim from the British Empire. They’re just trying to avoid responsibility by pointing fingers at anyone because they’re cornered right now. We have to deal with it indifferently and nonchalantly here, and if we overreact, we may be suspected of being poked somewhere.”

He was suddenly caught off guard by being singled out, but when he thought about it, Gorchakov’s words were all correct.

In the first place, if the British Empire really knew the inside story of this incident, they wouldn’t have singled out only the Russian Imperial Family.

This is just an attempt to avoid the situation by making random remarks because they can’t just admit it as it is.

“Okay. Then respond immediately. We have nothing to do with this and officially state that it would be better to give a proper explanation rather than trying to evade responsibility in this way.”

“Yes. I will send the position of the home country to other countries as well.”

“And just in case, ask Friedrich how the situation is going.”

“I will take care of that too.”

He didn’t expect them to suddenly bring this up, but in a way, it was a good thing.

If they are refuting without proper evidence, they can just push them down in reverse.

The problem is whether they smelled something vaguely, but he had planned in advance for such a case.

He had put a lot of effort into making Bakunin [Mikhail Bakunin, a Russian revolutionary anarchist and socialist] in the south the mastermind of this incident in advance.

He was the one who commissioned Killian to dig into his past.

If he just leaked that, the arrows of the British Empire and Europe would be aimed at him.

The public and the powerful people of each country would find it much more believable that the Red country had done the work than that the Russian Imperial Family had done this.

Friedrich wouldn’t want to be involved and go down together, so he would readily agree if he told him to cleanly blame it on that side and let the British Empire and the South sink together.

“Okay. There’s no possibility that we’ll go wrong, so let’s just step on their bullshit lightly and pass by. Deal with it as calmly as possible.”

If the British Empire falters from its position as the strongest power in this opportunity, what awaits is global chaos.

As the saying goes, the hegemony of the era is always taken by those who are prepared.

Just like Killian in the past, this time Russia will build an impregnable steel wall on top of this chaos.

* * *

After the rebuttal articles poured out in all directions, public opinion was divided in half, but of course, the doubts had not subsided yet.

The conspiracy theory was very plausible, but this side was only saying things like, “Don’t be fooled! This is a trap of Russia!” So who would trust it?

In the British Empire, public opinion had already hardened that Russia was a son of a bitch, but this was just a situation in the home country that unilaterally followed me.

Other European countries seemed to think that the British Empire was still a bit suspicious.

When Russia immediately protested and said to give a proper explanation or blame others, many articles sympathized with it.

Yes, that’s how it should come out.

It takes two to tango, and in order to raise the volume, the other side must also reach out.

As the Russian Imperial Family immediately refuted, people’s questions grew more and more, and now the size of the issue has grown to the stage of perfect suspicion.

In fact, the conspiracy theory was quite plausible.

And like the saying, “Where there’s smoke, there’s fire,” people almost instinctively say, “I knew it” when something like this happens.

Looking at the situation, the British Empire has always benefited, so doesn’t it seem reasonable?

But as with everything in the world, there is a reaction after a strong action.

If it burns up with a conspiracy theory and then goes out, it means that it will be permanently preserved in history as a dark history that people went crazy about.

I let the incident burn to the maximum and then held a press conference when I judged that the appropriate time had come.

This press conference was not only attended by British reporters.

Representatives from France, Spain, Prussia, and even Russia were all gathered in one place.

The reason for being late for the press conference was also attached with a very plausible reason that it was to wait for other reporters from overseas to arrive.

And finally, on the day of the successfully held press conference.

“Hello, everyone. I am here today to refute all the terrible and disgusting conspiracy theories that are pouring out against the Imperial Family. Many of you will have many questions in your head. Today, in this place, all these suspicions will be clearly revealed and the identities of those who have plotted the evil conspiracy will be clearly proven. Then, since time is precious, I will take questions right away.”

As soon as I signaled to ask questions, all the newspaper representatives in the hall raised their hands without exception.

Among them, I deliberately appointed a newspaper representative from a country other than the British Empire.

“Your Majesty! Your Majesty has named the Russian Imperial Family as the mastermind behind this incident! Is it because you have definite evidence to prove it that you have prepared such a place?”

“Of course.”

I nodded confidently and turned my gaze to the empty seat next to me and reached out.

“I would like to invite the person who will prove all of that to this place now. Everyone! Please welcome His Highness Crown Prince Friedrich of Prussia.”

The reporters, who were preparing to wield their pens diligently, blinked blankly and stared at the Crown Prince of Prussia, who was walking in under escort.

Why are you here?

Everyone’s eyes were asking that with one mind and one purpose.