Chapter 136
Chapter 136
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 136
Chapter Title: Ich liebe dich
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Whiiiing─
"Hans, I trusted you."
Whiiiing─whiiiing─
"Because I trusted you, I welcomed you into my family, fed you, and gave you a place to sleep. You were like a son to me."
"Mmph! Mm-mmph!"
"And yet, you dare—you dare to touch my one and only daughter! You rotten brat!"
Wilhelm II's voice, thick with rage, echoed through the gardens of Windsor Castle.
But all I could do was silently endure the Kaiser's fury.
And why not? I was tied to a tree right now.
With a gag stuffed in my mouth, no less.
And standing before me was the Kaiser himself, loosening up by swinging a massive axe like one of his Germanic ancestors.
"Hah! If you have any excuses, spit 'em out. Go on, I said!"
"No, but... you're the one who gagged me, so how am I supposed to..."
George V, who had been watching the spectacle from the sidelines like it was a fire across the river, looked at his dear cousin with utter disbelief.
"And where the hell did you even get that axe?"
"Borrowed it from the gardener. Told him I needed to catch the bastard who touched my daughter, and he handed it over without a second thought."
The Kaiser muttered as he gripped the axe tighter.
Ah, looks like today was the day I got the chop.
Even I had to admit, in this situation, I deserved whatever the Kaiser's axe had in store.
What could I possibly say to a doting father who'd just seen his relatives witness me kissing his daughter?
Not that I could say anything right now, even if I wanted to—physically incapable of opening my mouth.
"Stop it, Daddy!"
"Luise! Stay out of this!"
As Wilhelm II reared back for another swing, Luise finally couldn't take it anymore and stepped between us.
His already ferocious face twisted even further—it was a bonus.
"I love Hans. And he loves me. Honestly, everyone except you already knew!"
"Wh-what? Augusta, is that true?!"
Wilhelm II turned to his wife in shock at Luise's bombshell confession.
Augusta Empress averted her gaze, answering with silence.
"You too, Wilhelm?"
"Er..."
Crown Prince Wilhelm trailed off, glancing at his wife, Crown Princess Cecilie.
But she, too, turned away without a word.
"Good Lord... You all knew too?"
"Ahem, well... yeah?"
As the princes, led by Prince Joachim, coughed awkwardly in response, Wilhelm II finally realized the shocking truth: everyone but him had known about me and Luise.
He clutched the back of his neck.
"Unbelievable. Did you hear that, George? My own family deceived me. They were all in on it!"
"I'm more surprised you haven't figured it out until now, Billy."
George V, who'd been enjoying the comedy we were putting on (a horror show for me), signaled the servants with his eyes to untie me at last. He turned to the Kaiser.
"Besides, they make a good match. Why not just let them marry?"
"It's not your daughter, George, or you'd be saying that!"
"Frankly, complaining about the baron's skin color at this point is ridiculous. He's a full-fledged noble with a title. No issues there."
"That's only possible in England!"
Wilhelm II had a point. Unlike other European nations, Britain had no laws against marrying across class lines.
They'd always had few nobles, so there was no need to regulate numbers that way.
Just like you'd expect from a backwater island nation on Europe's edge—the continental aristocratic traditions never fully took root.
"Hans, want to run away to England with me?"
"If we did, your father would chase us to the ends of the earth and split my head open with that axe for real."
Now finally free from that damned tree, I whispered to Luise as Augusta Empress calmed her fuming husband.
"Wilhelm, you said Hans would make a fine son-in-law just the other day."
"Damn it, now that I think about it, they were already cozy back then. And you knew! That's why you were acting so unusually supportive."
"I only wanted my daughter's happiness as a mother."
As Augusta Empress stood her ground defiantly, the Kaiser was left speechless.
At that moment, the other royals I was close to jumped in to help, trying to sway Wilhelm II.
"Come on, Billy, just give your blessing? Sure, it's a class mismatch, but Luise isn't in line for the throne anyway, and you already have three grandsons."
"Yes, brother. Forcing them apart now would be too cruel on the kids."
"Heinrich, Margarete, you two too..."
Wilhelm II's eyes wavered at Prince Heinrich and Princess Margarete's words.
Come to think of it, for all his tough exterior, Wilhelm II was actually introverted and timid at heart.
He was weak against group pressure!
"I agree, brother."
"I'll support the two of them as well. Nothing more worthy of cheering than young love."
"Constantine, fine, but you too, Carl?"
"The baron helped our Norwegian hero Amundsen, so we owe him."
Haakon VII, who'd once personally thanked me over the Amundsen affair, winked with one eye.
Everyone was backing me and Luise.
I couldn't just sit there as a man.
"Your Majesty, I truly cherish Luise with all my heart. For her happiness, I'd give everything I have and more."
"..."
Wilhelm II scowled at me, as if demanding what I was getting at.
I stood boldly and dropped to one knee before Luise.
Shhk─
"Hans, this is..."
As I pulled a small box from my pocket, Luise's eyes welled up.
It was the ring I'd bought thinking someday I'd give it to her.
"Princess Viktoria Luise Adelheid Mathilde Charlotte, I love you with all my heart."
"Hans..."
"Will you accept my proposal?"
"Yes, Baron Hans von Choi. I accept your proposal."
Luise extended her hand, cheeks flushed pink.
I slipped the ring onto her finger.
Clap clap clap clap────!
"Woo! Looking sharp, Hans!"
"I'll definitely be at the wedding!"
Applause blessing us rang out from all sides.
Wilhelm II, meanwhile, looked beyond flustered—utterly dumbfounded that I'd proposed right in front of him.
But as they say, it's easier to seek forgiveness than permission?
"You gonna oppose us now, after all this?"
"Urgh..."
Augusta Empress whispered in his ear, and Wilhelm II groaned.
As everyone awaited the Kaiser's response, after what felt like both a short and endless deliberation, he finally spoke.
"Hans."
"...Yes, Your Majesty."
"If you ever make my daughter cry, I'll drag you to the execution grounds and shoot you myself. Got it?"
"Yes! Thank you, Your Majesty! Or should I say, Father-in-Law!"
"Don't get creepy on me!"
Wilhelm II grimaced and barked at my words.
Though everyone else burst into laughter.
"To think the day would come when Hans calls me Father-in-Law."
That night, as Wilhelm II drowned his melancholy in a modest drink with George V, he grumbled in lament.
A few years back, he'd considered the possibility of Hans becoming his son-in-law, but never dreamed it would actually happen.
Let alone that Hans would propose to Luise right before his eyes.
"That rotten kid... After all I've done for him, he steals my precious Luise, whom I wouldn't trade for the world..."
"Give it a rest. It's done. As long as Luise is happy, that's what matters."
Seeing his cousin—the ultimate doting dad—having another fit so soon after giving permission, George V spoke up.
Wilhelm II sighed and nodded.
When Hans gave her the ring, Luise's face was the happiest he'd ever seen on his daughter.
For a father as soft on her as Wilhelm II, that expression made it impossible to tear them apart.
"By the way, shouldn't we raise Hans's title before he and Luise tie the knot?"
"Yeah, can't have him marrying Luise as just a baron. Whoever's daughter he's taking, he needs the rank to match—at least on the surface."
George V nodded without argument.
He knew his dear cousin had made many concessions for his daughter's happiness.
Besides, granting high titles from the royal house to a royal wedding's spouse wasn't unusual.
"So you'll help too, George. You stuck your nose in; now take responsibility."
"Fine, fine. But about the rank... How about adopting him into some prominent family as a formality?"
Wilhelm II nodded approvingly at George V's idea.
This marriage would draw whispers no matter what.
But if Hans joined a famous house, at least they'd shut up in public.
"Speaking of which..."
"Hm?"
George V trailed off, as if he'd already thought of something.
"Billy, what about the House of Brunswick?"
"Brunswick?! No way! Those damned Welfs would never accept him."
"Those damned Welfs are my relatives too. And yours."
The Welf family.
Former rulers of the Kingdom of Hanover.
Hanover had originally been in personal union with Britain, but when Queen Victoria ascended—being German—they naturally split, with her uncle from the Welfs, Ernst August I, becoming king.
But the Kingdom of Hanover didn't last.
During the Austro-Prussian War, they foolishly sided with Austria and were annexed by Prussia, not even retaining mediatized status.
The Welfs became kings without a kingdom, fleeing to Britain among relatives, souring relations with the Hohenzollerns to the worst.
Then, Duke Wilhelm of Brunswick—a German mediatized house and Welf cadet branch—died without heirs, leaving his title to his cousin, Hanover head Ernst August II, in his will.
'Over my dead body!'
But trouble arose.
Wilhelm II, on bad terms with the Welfs, vehemently opposed it.
As a German mediatized state, Brunswick needed the Kaiser's approval for succession.
In the original timeline, Ernst August III would marry Viktoria Luise, resolving it—but now, she was gossiping with her sisters-in-law about wedding dresses for my wedding.
Thus, the Brunswick dukedom remained vacant, and the Welfs unacknowledged.
George V decided to help the lovers and his poor relatives.
"Demand they adopt Hans in exchange for recognizing the Brunswick succession. They get the duchy; Hans gets nominal Brunswick status, smoothing the marriage."
"Hmm..."
Wilhelm II pondered.
It was a bit of a blindfold deal, but not a bad one—quite good, actually.
And for his beloved daughter, he could bury old grudges.
"Fine. We'll go with it. George, bridge the gap with Ernst August."
"Leave it to me."
Clink!
The German Emperor and British King toasted to one matter settled.
"Recognize our succession to the Brunswick dukedom in exchange for adopting Hans von Choi?"
Days later, Ernst August II, head of the Welfs, frowned at the proposal from George V and Wilhelm II.
The first part was cause for celebration, but the second? Hard to swallow.
He knew of Baron Hans von Choi, the boy who saved the Kaiser—famous in Germany despite being Asian.
But an Asian was an Asian.
No prior ties, so Ernst August II worried it might tarnish the family name.
"But Father, refusing means we'll never inherit Brunswick."
His second son, Ernst August III, thought differently.
To him, this was the Welfs' last shot at returning to Germany.
After Hanover's fall, they'd once drained their fortune in France to form the Welf Legion of volunteers to reclaim it.
It fizzled when France lost the Franco-Prussian War spectacularly.
The Welfs lived comfortably as Hanoverian princes and Cumberland dukes in Britain, but they still yearned to return to Germany—and Hanover.
Their home was forever Germany, and Hanover.
"So we have no choice but to accept..."
Ernst August II grumbled, swayed by his son.
It stung being used by the arrogant Hohenzollerns, but reclaiming Brunswick and old rights mattered most.
"Ernst, write to the Kaiser accepting the proposal."
"Yes, Father!"
Ernst August II decided, and Ernst August III replied energetically.
But why?
It was good news, yet he felt this nagging unease—like some nameless black-haired punk had stolen a lover who wasn't even his.