Chapter 268 Prelude: Imperial Council

Tiffania yawned as she trudged sleepily across the hallway along with Alexander and Christina.

"Since when did Christina come to Moskva? And why are we leaving all of a sudden brother?" Tiffania raised a question. So far, nothing makes sense to her right now.

She was in the middle of her sleep and at four a.m. she was vigorously woken up by a person she didn't expect to see in Grand Kremlin Palace, Christina. Of course, her first obvious question would be why she is here, but Christina didn't answer her question, instead telling her that she needs to wake up, get dressed, and they will be leaving soon.

"We are going to cut our trip here, Tiffania," Alexander replied. "There are a lot of things going on that require me to go back to St. Petersburg at once."

"So all our trips for another day…they are canceled?"

"This is just bad timing, I'm sorry Tiffania, I know you want to see a lot of things especially after seeing those aircraft. But I have to act as an Emperor for now."

***

On the other side of the Ruthenian Empire lies the Manchuria Oblast. At the border region of Manchuria and Hanese, piles of corpses are being placed on the bodyguards by the medics who responded after the conclusion of the crisis. The families from the other side of the gate watched in despair as they saw their now-deceased loved ones being taken care of.

The place reeked of blood, hanging in the thick air. The anguish cries of the mothers, fathers, and children could be heard in the background. It has been twelve hours since the shooting passed and yet for them, it felt like one hour ago. They were just trying to cross the border in search of a better life. Their homeland is rife with rebellions, insurrections, and infighting that it is too hard for the common folks to live in. And all of a sudden, a militia came in and fired at them indiscriminately. The memories of it were still crystal clear for everyone. Just what did they do to whoever it is who ordered to kill them?

But every Hanese refugee knew that the casualties could be lessened if not for the hesitation of the Ruthenians. If only they fired back the moment the militia fired upon them, then it would not lead to such a disaster where almost a thousand got killed.

Two Ruthenian soldiers were passing by and a hand grabbed them by the arm. The Ruthenian soldier looked at the person who stopped him and saw it was a kid.

"Why? Just why? Why didn't you let us in?! If only you let us enter, my mother, father, and sisters would be here...Why? Why?" The kid spoke in Hanese, so the Ruthenians had no way of understanding what he was saying. But even if that's the case, they can understand the kid's feelings, the grief he is experiencing, and the anger he feels towards the Ruthenian soldiers who had the power to stop it.

However, the two Ruthenian soldiers were silent, not giving him a reply or anything. They just shrugged and walked away. There's no point in explaining it to the kid, they are soldiers who have to obey orders from their superiors. They are not also the people they are tasked to protect so protocol applies.

"Are we really going to ignore that child?" his partner asked.

"He's not the only one who has lost their family in this deplorable act. But I can't blame him for blaming us. Yes, we could've saved them if we reacted immediately."

"You are right about that. Well, what can I say, fuck bureaucracy I guess."

"Well I can agree but we have to remember that we are not heroes, we are soldiers of the Ruthenian Empire. The Hanese Dynasty also had its own soldiers to protect its own. But after seeing all this, it is safe to assume that they have compromised. Oh, look over there, the media."

"This is going to be broadcasted all over Ruthenia, I'm sure the Imperial Council and His Majesty would now have to make decisive action."

***

At the capital of the Ruthenian Empire, inside the Building of the Imperial Council. His Majesty, Emperor Alexander Romanoff can be seen walking across the hall and towards his throne. He looked around and see the eyes of the Members of the Imperial Council trained on him.

He passed by the Chairman of the Imperial Council and exchanged a handshake. After that, he proceeded to his throne and sat.

"You may now begin, Chairman."

The Chairman of the Imperial Council, Ludmil stepped forward to the podium and cleared his throat.

"At the supreme order of His Majesty, the Emperor, Alexander Romanoff, we will now start this emergency session. The topic that we are going to discuss will be the conflict on the Manchu-Hanese border and the referendum of the Finnish state for its independence. We will begin with the border crisis. For that, we have to call the Senator of Vladivostok, Serpionov Gaspar Danilovich. You may begin your first statement."

"Yes Your Honor," Serpionov stood, all eyes on him. "Your Honor, I would like to begin by sharing my condolences to the families that were affected by the recent crisis that occurred next to our border. It is truly unfortunate for them to be in this situation. To continue my sentence, I hope for your cooperation in order to bring an end to this current dilemma, by loosening the immigration policies imposed on the Ruthenia Empire," Serpionov concluded and sat down.

"May I now call the attention of the Senator of Manchuria, Fedotov Ikovle Vadimovich, for his statement?"

"Yes Your Honor," Fedotov said as he stood. "In the recent tragedy, please allow me to express my condolences to the people who have lost their mother, father, brothers, sisters, sons, and daughters. With that aside, I will go down to the point. My constituents have something they are dear to and fear that it might be taken away by undocumented immigrants. There are over 200,000 undocumented immigrants in Manchuria alone, for me, that is a national crisis that needs to be solved. Why? Because who knew who they were before they moved to Manchuria? For that I have a solution, deport all undocumented and have them pass the requirements needed for one to enter legally into Manchuria."