Chapter 170: Diplomacy and Business

Chapter 170: Diplomacy and Business



Bruno had more or less entertained the Japanese aristocracy for the night, or at the very least, the Royal Family of the Eastern Empire.

Sakura, of course, was very angry with Bruno for not immediately recognizing her and had stormed off to her room to write a series of angry letters, venting her frustrations to her pen pals, who just so happened to be the other princesses with whom Bruno was acquainted.

It wasn't all too surprising that these young women all knew each other. After all, the German Reich, Austro-Hungarian Empire, Russian Empire, and the Empire of Japan were in a military alliance with one another at the moment.

To say that there was at least one opportunity over the past few years for them all to meet up together and hit it off was an understatement. Diplomacy was an important part of a monarch's duties, and oftentimes it was conducted in person, over dinner, with one's family. What was diplomacy if not business conducted over the scale of international boundaries? And because of this, Princess Sakura was well acquainted with the other princesses Bruno had more or less established some degree of familiarity with over the years of conducting operations overseas.

By morning the next day, however, Bruno found himself in an awkward setting. He was eating dinner with Emperor Meiji's family, and Sakura was giving him the stink eye, much to the amusement of her father, mother, uncles, and grandfather, all of whom felt a bit of joy at Bruno's misfortune.

Because of this, Bruno eventually sighed, coming up with some line that would only further the misunderstandings that existed between him and the adolescent princess, albeit in the opposite direction.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

"I must humbly apologize, Your Highness. I did not realize who you were immediately. And though I am entirely at fault, I must admit the last time I saw you; you were but a young girl, but now you have blossomed into quite the beautiful woman. I'm sure whoever you marry in the future will be a very lucky man."

Bruno's words were more or less honest, if not exaggerated in terms of flattery. After all, nobles loved to have their asses kissed especially; it was one of the reasons Bruno seldom liked finding company with his own class in society.

Nevertheless, it seemed to have worked, as the girl blushed and muttered something beneath her breath that Bruno did not hear.

"You really think I'm that pretty?"

Bruno quickly asked what Sakura had said, as he did not hear anything other than a mutter, causing the girl to panic and pretend like she hadn't said anything. And since she wasn't willing to reveal it, he left the matter be. Meanwhile, the teenage princess's mother simply smirked and did not say a word.

Bruno's defensive strategy was designed to inflict the most pain and suffering possible on the British and French armies so that their people would never again question the German Reich's hegemony over Europe, and hopefully deter them from waging another pointless war that would only wreak more havoc and destruction on the world.

That was his hope, but whether or not any of these plans would come to fruition was dependent entirely on the butterfly effect and how his actions in this life, both significant and insignificant, shaped the world around him.

Ultimately, it was Princess Sakura who broke the long silence, as she begged her royal grandfather for a favor, shifting everyone's focus to her.

"Beloved Grandfather, may I please be excused from this meal? I just realized that I have a few letters... which... which I need to... erm... change the contents of! And if I don't go fetch them quickly, it will be too late!"

Sakura had been won over from her poor attitude rather quickly. All it took was a charming smile and exaggerated flattery, and the girl was back in Bruno's good graces. Bruno, of course, did not know the letters she wanted to dispose of were the ones she had written about him, addressed to the other princesses.

Letters which contained all forms of slanderous and scandalous statements. Now that she had reverted back to being his admirer, she did not want these letters to be sent, and because of this, she had requested to leave the dinner early.

An unusual request, but Meiji was wise enough to suspect something was amiss, and he silently nodded his head, causing the adolescent princess to scurry off like a frightened rabbit as she ran out of the dining hall, her jet-black twin tails flailing behind her as she did so.

Unfortunately for the Japanese princess and Bruno alike, by the time she managed to get to her room, the letters on her desk, which had been sealed with her signet ring, stamped, and addressed to her pen pals, were gone.

The maids had collected them and sent them off to the postal service on her behalf. Meaning that in a few weeks or perhaps even months' time, the princesses of the German Reich, Austro-Hungarian Empire, and Russian Empire would believe that Bruno was a man most heinous-one who they would be disgusted by whenever they caught his glimpse and whose name they would tarnish every time they spoke of it.

That is, of course, at least until Bruno could find a way to properly correct the tangled web of misunderstandings between him and the three royal daughters of the world's most powerful emperors—a task that would require careful diplomacy, patience, and perhaps more than a

little charm.

But that was a story for another time.