The Tsar's Last Hope
The Korean in St. Petersburg ***
The future stayed the same? No, it got ruined even faster because of me? When I think about the annexation of the Korean Empire, it doesn't seem fair to pin everything on me alone. But in the end, wasn't this all because of Gojong?
Then how exactly should Ok Jin-seo—
I stopped myself before I could ask anything more. He'd said it was for a thesis. Pressing further felt wrong, and honestly, I was scared of what I might hear.
“It can't really be blamed on Yi Beom-yun, can it?”
A subject owing loyalty to the emperor was only natural. That meant I had to rethink my entire approach. Wouldn't it actually be better if Gojong died? Empress Myeongseong should've died during the Imo Incident, but because the Japanese killed her later, we ended up with the Eulmi Righteous Army and everything that followed. So yeah, Gojong dying seems like the optimal solution.
A military coup? No. Thinking from the standards of this era, a coup would only let me seize Hanseong before it all ended. The Japanese would intervene even faster to crush it.
Then what about assassinating him and marching the Gando Army south?
No. Killing Gojong should be saved for later. If I brought him to Gando and threatened him properly, he'd fold. He's not an idiot. Once he was up in Gando, he'd side with the nearby Russian forces just to avoid getting killed. Right. Murder is the last resort. For now, I should focus on what I can realistically achieve.
“Jin-seo! The Viceroy of the Far East has arrived!”
“The Viceroy of the Far East?”
He came all the way here? Not to see Yi Beom-yun, but specifically to see me. If he traveled all the way to Bongcheon, this wasn't some trivial matter. Was he here to question us about Japan? Are you people plotting with the Japanese right now? If he said something like that, we'd have no real way to respond. It seemed my turn had come to persuade the Viceroy of the Far East.
“You were right.”
I'd been preparing to convince him of something, but now he was telling me I'd been correct all along.
“Pardon? What do you mean?”
Why would he come straight to me just to say that? Was there another reason the Viceroy of the Far East had shown up?
“What a sly little fox you are. Open those ears wide and listen well. It happened exactly as you said. Prepare to leave for St. Petersburg at once. I already told His Imperial Majesty that I would send him an outstanding physician from the East, so you may go empty-handed.”
“What are you saying?”
Why was he suddenly telling me to go to St. Petersburg? I still had things to do in Gando. Wait… could this be it? Was this exactly what the Viceroy of the Far East was implying?
“It means the Empress has given birth to a son. And he has hemophilia.”
So the time had already come. Yeah, I'd figured this was about the right moment. Alexei would be born right around when Japan started testing us. That meant everything was ready to create a new Wanli Emperor. If I could just heal one hemophiliac child and earn the goodwill of the Tsar's family, it wouldn't be a bad deal at all.
“I see. Then I must leave immediately.”
Dealing with Gojong could wait.
“His Imperial Majesty already knows about you. You must succeed without fail. Understood? It will benefit your country as well.”
“I will do so.”
Of course I would. I was going to save Alexei no matter what. I'd turn Nicholas II into my new Wanli Emperor and use him as an ally to crush the Japanese invasion. Once Japan was repelled, the rest would be manageable.
Of course, I still needed Yi Beom-yun's permission.
“The Viceroy of the Far East wants you to go to the Russian capital? To meet the Tsar?”
“I'll explain everything later.”
Telling him now would only make him doubt me, and even if he believed it, he'd have no idea how a Korean could possibly save the Russian heir. It was better to avoid creating unnecessary trouble.
“This seems like a personal summons. While I'm gone, General, you must expand the army at all costs. Whether we fight Russia, England, or those Japanese bastards, we need to be prepared.”
Yi Beom-yun made a troubled face but eventually nodded as if he couldn't argue.
“Very well. Still, just in case, I'll assign you a staff officer. You should have an escort, shouldn't you?”
“A staff officer?”
Wasn't he being a bit too concerned about me?
“The Chief of Staff of the Sapodae, An Jung-geun. Take good care of him.”
What the hell. An Jung-geun appears here? Was he originally Yi Beom-yun's staff officer? I know Doctor An Jung-geun assassinated Ito, but I thought his actual military capabilities were nothing special. Is he still going to assassinate Ito like in the original history? I don't remember exactly what An Jung-geun was doing at this point in time, so I can't be sure. He's famous for killing Ito, but history here has already changed. I have no idea how this will play out. A snowball only gets bigger once it starts rolling. No one knows how far the stone I threw will roll. I have to take responsibility. And to do that, I need to go all the way to St. Petersburg.
Yi Beom-yun watched from afar until Jin-seo disappeared from sight. To think she would head to the Russian capital without a shred of fear—she truly was remarkable.
“If only she had been born a man, she would have become an outstanding general.”
Yi Beom-yun suddenly recalled the last words spoken by Ok Jin-seo's father, the peddler who had helped him so much before vanishing without a trace.
If anything happens to me, please take good care of Jin-seo. She is my only remaining bloodline.
At first he'd thought it was simply a father's love for his only daughter. But that child did things no ordinary girl would ever attempt, and she had even turned Gando into a matter of interest for the great powers. No matter how he thought about it, it was impossible that a peddler's daughter had traveled across Europe learning languages. Perhaps she had taught herself from European language textbooks?
Come to think of it, her father had left something behind to be given to Jin-seo later. A few pieces of jewelry and what appeared to be a genealogy book.
Thud—
“Ouch.”
When he accidentally dropped the book and picked it up, Yi Beom-yun caught a glimpse of its contents and his mouth fell open. The names of Taejo Wang Geon’s grandfather Jakjegeon, Wang Geon himself, and King Gongmin.
“Jakjegeon, Taejo Wang Geon, Wang Bayan Temür (King Gongmin)… what is this?”
Why were names connected to the previous dynasty's royal family appearing in Jin-seo's genealogy?
Didn't Princess Noguk and her unborn child both die?
Whatever the case, it was clear that Jin-seo was the descendant of a family tied to the previous royal house. He'd already found it strange how she charged across battlefields earning merit. He'd assumed there had to be limits to what a woman could achieve. But he had never imagined it would lead to this.
By now, the name Ok Jin-seo was probably known even in Hanseong. If this truth ever came to light…
Jin-seo will die.
Even though she was a girl, she was talented enough to lead soldiers and repel the Qing army. He could not allow her to be killed. If, by some one-in-a-million chance, disaster struck the homeland and the Korean Empire fell, Jin-seo would become the new hope.
Russian Empire, St. Petersburg
In St. Petersburg, Russia, the year had already passed 1906. The Russo-Japanese War had not yet broken out, but the imperial palace was in poor condition. Every day, Nicholas II flew into a rage and berated the doctors.
“What is this! You say you cannot cure hemophilia!”
“Your Majesty, we do not even understand how hemophilia occurs. No doctor in the world can cure it.”
The doctors were in hell. It really was an incurable disease—what could they possibly do? In the end, they had no choice but to endure the Tsar's fury for hours on end before retreating utterly exhausted.
“Damn it! These so-called imperial physicians!”
Nicholas II slammed his fist into the wall. How could it be that after finally having a son, the boy's body was so frail?
“Then shouldn't we entrust the matter to that Korean child the Viceroy of the Far East spoke of?”
Yes. The person Olga had been longing to see. The Viceroy had called the man an excellent Eastern sorcerer, but did that even make sense? This was nothing more than grasping at straws.
“It's the child Olga wanted to see. Even if he's called a sorcerer, he's still a doctor, isn't he?”
“If he fails, we can punish him and cut off support to Korea.”
“Fine. Let us see what he can do.”
Even though it was the child Olga wanted to see, if he failed to heal the boy, Nicholas II did not know what he himself might do. And so the Tsar placed his final hope on this last resort.
The moment we arrived in St. Petersburg, An Jung-geun and I were placed under the protection—and surveillance—of Okhrana agents.
“Is this really okay?”
“Chief of Staff, please be patient. Now that we've come this far, returning is no longer up to us.”
I acted relaxed in front of An Jung-geun, but the truth was, now that I was actually in Russia, I couldn't help wondering if I could really pull this off. Above all, in my previous life I'd never even properly traveled to Japan, yet here I was.
“To think I'd come to Russia, a place I couldn't even visit in my past life.”
“What are you muttering about?”
The Okhrana agent guiding me shot me a sharp glare, but I smiled brightly on purpose. Right now it was more important to appear confident than intimidated. If I looked weak, they'd start doubting whether I could actually treat the boy.
“My apologies. This is my first—no, it's been a very long time since I've been to Russia.”
“To speak Russian so fluently at such a young age. The rumors were true after all.”
Huh? Was I already famous here or something? I wanted to know what these rumors even were.
“You will soon have an audience with His Imperial Majesty. Show the utmost respect you are capable of.”
I was currently wearing nothing more than a Korean Empire military uniform. If I greeted him in this body… yeah, maybe prostrating myself flat on the ground was the right move. At the very least I needed to appear as deferential as possible.
And so I was led to the Tsar's Winter Palace, a place I had no connection to in my previous life.
However…
“This humble one, Ok Jin-seo, Chief of Staff of the Sapodae of the Korean Empire, is honored to meet Your Imperial Majesty, Emperor of the Russian Empire.”
“This humble one, An Jung-geun, Chief of Staff of the Sapodae, is honored to meet Your Imperial Majesty, Emperor of Russia.”
The greeting itself was fine. The problem was that it felt like we were monkeys on display at a zoo. High officials, military officers, and even the princesses and the imperial family I'd only seen in photographs were all present.
“So that's the woman who rampaged across Manchuria.”
“I thought she'd look like a monster, but she's no less beautiful than a white woman.”
“Is this truly what an Eastern woman looks like?”
They were talking so openly. Wasn't this a bit too blatant?